As far as TV is concerned, 2014 could be subtitled the rise of the miniseries, the one-off TV season and streaming powerhouses like Netflix and Amazon Prime.
The common thread of the shows I’ve picked as the best of 2014 is their sense of purpose. They all felt like they had a story to tell, and knew exactly how to get there, but didn’t arrive in ultra predictable ways. And the story always served the characters instead of the other way around. Here are 10 of the year’s best TV shows.
10. “Homeland” (Showtime) — “Homeland” is a perfect example of a show that might have benefited from the one-and-done treatment. But after slumping in Season 3, the show came roaring back in Season 4 — despite an iffy finale. It was nice to see Claire Danes’ Carrie reclaim an existence apart from Brody, the renewed focus on exciting espionage and the refusal to make Carrie a more sympathetic character.
9. “Being Human” (SyFy) — The final season of a TV show isn’t always its best. Sometimes it has too many dangling plot threads to clean up or collapses under the pressure of pulling off a finale that meets expectations. But for its fourth and final season, “Being Human” really went back to its basics — focusing on the core cast who just happen to be a vampire, a couple of werewolves and a ghost. “Human” is just a really, really solid genre show with sharp writing and a lot of cast chemistry. A taut story that explored the friendships of the main characters and a logical progression to a potential romance gave “Being Human” a wonderful send-off.
8. “The Americans” (FX) — The first season of “The Americans” — following Russian spies Elizabeth and Philip (Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys) posing as a typical 1980s American family — left me a little cold. It lacked stakes — the leads weren’t exactly villains (a trick to pull off considering their goal) but I wasn’t strongly invested in their fate either. Maybe it was their arrogance and their iciness. And it’s not like the FBI agents were any better. But enter Season 2 and a decision to make Elizabeth and Philip more vulnerable as they tackle thorny questions like: Does their cause come before everything — even their kids? Is it possible to live in another country, pretending to be one of its citizens, and not be changed? Or to pretend to be in love and not develop real feelings? They raised the stakes, thawed out the main characters, and it paid off big.
7. “Veep” (HBO) — “Veep” is the “Arrested Development” of political comedies. Instead of a dysfunctional brood of blood relatives, it’s a sharply written, behind-the-scenes look at the political team running things for Vice President (turned interim President) Selina Meyer, played by the genius who is Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The strengths of “Veep” boil down to this: 1) The Selina Meyer character type (sort of a more clued-in Michael Scott from “The Office”) is usually reserved only for male actors 2) the entire cast is rock solid and their characters vacillate between competence and forehead-slapping ineptitude and 3) despite how ridiculous some of the shenanigans seem, you can’t help but strongly suspect it’s not far off from real-world politics.
6. “Happy Valley” (BBC One/Netflix) — Netflix has amassed a great collection of recent British TV shows available for streaming (including last year’s excellent “Broadchurch”). “Happy Valley” is no exception and lives a lifetime in its six episodes. Sarah Lancashire is terrific as Catherine Cawood, a tough and maternal police sergeant in northern England. Lancashire just has one of those faces you like and trust immediately. Her character isn’t perfect, though, and is capable of messing up royally in her personal relationships — whether it’s alienating her grown son because she’s dealing with the grief of her daughter’s suicide or lashing out at her grandson, a boy who is the product of her daughter’s rape (a rapist who has just been sprung from prison) and therefore an unintentional living reminder of pain. Meanwhile, the overarching story is an engrossing cat-and-mouse game following a young woman’s kidnapping and how the situation escalates based on the varying degrees of depravity of her captors. “Happy Valley” feels a little familiar, but the way the story plays out still surprises. The main arc wraps up sooner than you would expect, seemingly leaving the story with nowhere to go, but it turns out it’s perfectly paced.
5. “The Missing” (Starz) — One of the worst feelings in the world is regret. And “The Missing” put an uncomfortable wormy feeling in my stomach because such a horrible thing comes out of such a small decision. A father fights his way into a crowd to watch a couple of minutes of a football game — just enough time for his young son to disappear. That’s the premise of “The Missing,” where a young boy vanishes while his family is on vacation in France. Can anyone get over such pain and guilt? “The Missing” also operates as a mystery, unfolding between 2006 when Oliver disappeared and 2014 in an impressive structure that keeps unveiling more pieces to the story. James Nesbitt is excellent as the father, acting with baldfaced panic and pain. But it doesn’t feel like acting — “The Missing” is so good, it’s hard to watch.
4. “True Detective” (HBO) — At a time when people can watch TV on all different mediums at all different times, “True Detective,” was a fun return to everyone watching and buzzing about a show together. (I was one of those panicked souls whose HBO Go crashed the night of the finale.) Part of the buzz was two big-name movie actors (Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson) signing on for a limited series even though we’re well past the point when big-name movie stars know that some of the best writing is happening on TV. Bold acting, memorable dialogue (“time is a flat circle”) and a creepy, grimy backdrop in rural Louisiana made the addictive show worth watching.
3. “The Leftovers” (HBO) — “The Leftovers” offered one of the stranger plots of the season — how the 98 percent of the population who didn’t mysteriously vanish into thin air three years earlier are coping and a look at the groups that have sprung up since, including the vile Guilty Remnant cult (I’ve never wanted to slap a bunch of TV characters so badly). “The Leftovers” is finally a successful high-concept sci-fi/fantasy drama in the vein of “Lost” after so many failed attempts in recent years — remember the promise, and eventual crashing and burning, of “FlashForward,” “The Event,” “V,” “Revolution”? Maybe it’s because “The Leftovers” understands how the recipe between flashbacks, large scope episodes and single character episodes should work. Maybe because its creator, Damon Lindelof, was one of the “Lost” creators. Or maybe it’s because the show has a group of actors — Carrie Coon, Justin Theroux, Amy Brenneman, Liv Tyler, Christopher Eccleston and Ann Dowd — giving the performances of their careers.
2. “Orange is the New Black” (Netflix) — The sophomore season of a TV show is its biggest test. So many falter under the weight of their popularity, but “Orange” soared. The show’s focus became even broader, spending more time on inmates beyond Piper Chapman, revealing surprising backstories about minor and major characters (like Lorna Morello’s sad and unexpected reason for landing in prison) and introduced a powerhouse villain in Vee (Lorraine Toussaint). Toussaint commanded the season and gave the still funny “Orange” a dangerous edge.
1. “Fargo” (FX) — No show this year was better layered than “Fargo.” It built slowly and suspensefully toward a satisfying conclusion. “Fargo” borrowed the basic premise from the 1996 Coen Brothers movie, but spun off in its own satisfying direction following the path of destruction laid by nebbish insurance agent Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman) and philosophical hitman Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton). It was train-wreck fascinating to watch the characters dig themselves deeper and deeper in trouble, especially the way it swapped positions so that the supposed bad guy (Lorne Malvo) turned out to be not nearly as bad as the supposed patsy (Lester). And on the good guy end of the equation, Allison Tolman was perfect as sharp, small-town cop Molly Solverson. For its dark plot, “Fargo” also was remarkably uplifting.