A Criminal Year: 8 Best TV Series That Debuted in 2016
Dec 26, 2016 • Karl R. De Mesa
The Crown
.
Did you ever think that Queen Elizabeth II’s story could be so compelling? Well, Claire Foy (who was also a queen in BBC’s Wolf Hall) and Netflix come out with guns and royals blazing in this visually sumptuous historical funded at an estimated upwards of £100m. If you liked Downton Abbey, this is your new best friend.
The Night Of
.
Amnesia, drugs, murder, and the vicissitudes of innocence through the meat grinder of the American penal system. Could Nasir “Naz” Khan (played to excellence by Riz Ahmed) really be sure he didn’t murder the pretty Upper West Sider Andrea during their kinky, but drug-fueled, one night stand? One of the best think pieces of the year, and a rarity that you could mull in your mind and talk about with your friends even after it’s done. Based on the British TV series Criminal Justice, directed by Moneyball’s Steve Zaillan, and graced by an almighty performance by John Turturro, this HBO mini-series was a bravura meditation on mystery and the risks and torturous process of solving such puzzles.
Westworld
.
“Do you know where you are?” This TV show is Michael Crichton’s 1973 robotic theme park romp given a shot of steroids and left to run amok inside a cage. At its root, the series narrates how robotic “hosts”, who play as characters inside an adult adventure park set in the Wild West, gain their freedom by becoming self-aware AI, but this also quickly became a meditation and manifesto for the debate on attaining consciousness. When does a technical schematic become the spark of intelligent life? When does homo sapiens become obsolete and homo roboticus (aka Humanity 2.0) take over? Let A-listers like Thandie Newton, James Marsden, Evan Rachel Wood, Rodrigo Santoro, and Sir Anthony Hopkins tell it like it is. Too bad we have to wait until 2018 for the second season.
Stranger Things
.
If you haven’t watched this series then it’s time to binge on this homage to the 80s by The Duffer Brothers where layers of narrative are given their genre due: the kids are in a Goonies movie, the teens are in a Cameron Crowe movie, and the adults are in a Stephen King/Michael Crichton movie. Oh, and it features the return to form of Winona Ryder (Lelaina Pierce forevah!). The best thing is, after you play catch-up, there’s already a season two slated for 2017.
Got your own list for best TV series of 2016?
