Max - Sultan of Television: A Fond Adieu

The first things to look at over the Summer is the shows that actually came to a close. The ones that we have seen air new episodes on television for the last time (or at least we think the last time... Netflix seems to have a habit of reviving dead television). The first show I'd like to examine is Wilfred. This FX/FXX original was perhaps the most underrated show on television. Not only did the show deliver in laughs each week, it was also able to make viewers care about the drama happening to the characters. The cast, lead by Elijah Wood and Jason Gann, was small but charismatic. In its fourth and final season, the show concluded in a very satisfying fashion, leaving viewers with mixed emotions. On the one hand, the series finale was happy. Elijah Wood's character ended where he began: hanging out with an imaginary dog, happy to have a best friend. On the other hand, the series finale was sad. Elijah Wood was never able to overcome his insanity and ended where he began: hanging out with an imaginary dog, living alone in his own madness. Whatever your feeling was, the show delivered.

On the other side of the spectrum, the other show leaving television was HBO's True Blood. This campy, sexy and violent drama ended in an incredibly disappointing fashion. I just described True Blood as campy, sexy, and violent. That is what I want to see from it. Gone are the days where I expected True Blood to be as good as its HBO counterparts. Instead, I just want to see some hot vampires, some violent vampires, and some campy plot. The final season delivered on none of my criteria. There was no fun action, sex, or campy-ness. Instead, we got several plots that didn't deliver (even the Eric plot line which had promise at first ended poorly). We got violence and sex, but it felt lazily written and forced, just like some of the other seasons. I had hoped that with only ten episodes until the conclusion, the writers could have shat out something a little better. Alas, when it came time for the final episode to air, the hour was filled with unnecessarily long scenes, a lack of violence and/or sex, and a final scene that made me want to kill those writing.

After praising those that departed over the Summer, it's time to move on to those that continue on. The first talking point of the Summer, for me anyway, is Hell on Wheels. This AMC western has always been a fun hour, but with the coming of the third season in 2013, I became skeptical. The season lost a lot of the show's luster, giving us bad plot lines, disappointing character development, and episodes that seemed to have to relevance to the rest of the show. Honestly, it became the " wait for Christopher Heyerdahl to appear" show. He was the only thing keeping me watching. But, with the fourth season, beginning to air in August 2014, my interest is renewed. Not only are the plot lines much more intriguing, but the new villain, John Campbell, played by Jake Weber, is a great addition to the show. Since Christopher Heyerdahl's "The Swede" has a rather independent plot, he can no longer be the primary villain of the show. Enter Campbell. Also, with the surprising death of Elam Ferguson, a whole new emotional layer has been added to the show, as well as making one of the best episodes of the series with his death.
The other continuous show this Summer was Orange is the New Black on Netflix. I won't lie, after the first season, I was pretty skeptical as to whether or not I would watch the second one. Although it is nice to see so many strong female characters, that was one of the only things keeping me watching. It's not as if Orange was bad, it just isn't really my cup of tea. Being a younger male, I guess I'm just not really the target demographic. All of this being said, I must admit that the show was a lot better in its second season. The premiere, directed by Jodie Foster, was successful in buying my interest for the show back, and although the second season wasn't perfect, it was certainly worth the time. After a pretty satisfying conclusion, I am hooked in enough to continue on to the third season, probably airing in Summer of 2015.

Thus far, FX has had a pretty good track record with comedy. I love Always Sunny, The League, and Wilfred. I also enjoy their more dramedy type shows like Louie and Legit. I'll watch (or have watched) all of these to the bitter end. So, with two new ones airing on FX, I was happy to try them out. Neither was very good, but neither was that bad either. Both were pretty "ehh", but the more "ehh" of them was titled You're the Worst. Essentially, the plot is that two self-destructive people fall in love and try to make a relationship work. Their friends are the supporting cast. You're the Worst had its funny moments, but it really didn't make me care about the characters. Both of them were pretty unlikable, but not in that Seinfeld type way. Where George Costanza could rejoice over his fiancee's death and I'd still side with him, the protagonists of You're the Worst make fun of someone at a party and I side with those they make fun of. So, when they had relationship drama, my thought process went a little something like this: "She flirted with someone else! You two should totally break up! In fact, you two should break up and leave the show, letting the supporting cast become the main characters!" While good enough to maintain my interest for 10 twenty minute episodes, it didn't do much else.

The other new FX comedy was titled Married. This show seemed to have the opposite effect of You're the Worst. I found myself liking the main characters, played by Judy Greer (Kitty from Arrested Development and Cheryl/Carol/Sherlene on Archer) and Nat Faxon, were sarcastic and somewhat cruel, but overall good people. I really wanted their marriage to work. The problem though, was that the writing wasn't all that funny. While I am a huge fan of Greer and a fan of Faxon, their acting couldn't really save the show from rather drab writing. I'm not saying it was terrible, since the writers had their shit together for the dramatic parts, but as far as comedy goes, it wasn't great. Unfortunately for Married, I see cancellation in its future. You're the Worst will probably get a second season because of its small popularity in the younger demographics, but to make me watch again, it will need to amp itself up.
On the topic of FX, let's talk about its other new show, The Strain. This one had a lot of potential. Being created and directed by Guillermo Del Toro was already an intriguing lead. Also, the plot of non-sexy but ultra-violent and scary vamps taking over the world was a pretty cool one as far as I'm concerned. I had very high hopes for this one. With its season finale airing next Sunday, I am still watching, but with a lot less hype. The show delivered on the "fun" factor. I really enjoy watching each episode. With that said though, I watch the show without taking it at all seriously. While it's fun, a lot just doesn't make sense. It's episode 12/13 and vampires are eating people in public in the center of New York City. The police have yet to do anything. The military has yet to do anything. The world has yet to do anything. Instead, an old man, a CDC scientist and his girlfriend, and an exterminator are the only ones trying to stop the end of the world. Somehow this just doesn't make a lot of sense. I'm definitely disappointing in the lack of really good quality that I thought the show would've had, but I'll definitely stick around for season two anyway.

Okay, last FX one. Only a bit more to get through! This one will be brief anyway. FX's last new show, a drama called Tyrant also aired this Summer. This show was about a philanthropist in California named Barry (which is fucking hilarious) Al-Fayeed who is called back to his home-state of TerroristDictatorship-Istan. His father is the evil dictator and his brother is next in line. Of course, his father is killed and his brother, a really shitty leader, can't really handle the throne. Barry (or Bashar as they call him in TerroristDictatorship-Istan) must stick around to help control the country. He tries to rule through democracy and good ol' American values, but is forced to become a tyrant (hence the shows ridiculously creative title). This show just... kinda... sucked. I got about seven episodes in, and then quit. The characters were poorly written, the plot was uninteresting, and Barry's name was Barry. I just couldn't take him seriously. Oh, not to mention the fact that the guy playing Barry or Bashar Al-Fayeed or whatever was English. That's right. The guy playing a middle-eastern dictator was a white fucking Englishman. They could have cast me, a skinny, white, Jewish kid from Pennsylvania to play him and it would have been more believable. At least my ancestors were in the middle east a thousand years ago.

Next up, Cinemax! That's right, Cinemax actually produced a pretty good show! Directed by Steven Soderbergh, The Knick, a period piece about the Knickerbocker Hospital in the year 1900 began to air in August. Right off the bat, this show had potential. With a great cast led by Clive Owen and a one man directing team of the great Soderbergh, there was already promise. The pilot was very strong, introducing us to all of the major characters and setting up the coming conflict. Its season is ending in a week or two, and I've kept with it all the way. My favorite thing about this show is A - the awesome 1900s clothing and architecture. Seeing the New York of 114 years ago is really fucking cool. Also, as I said in my Boardwalk Empire review, I just can't get enough of three piece suits and hats. In addition, the major characters of The Knick are very strong. Clive Owen's portrayal of John Thackery is mesmerizing, and the supporting cast does their job very well too. My biggest problem with this show is its realism. I know that's a weird sentence, but hear me out. I really hate gore. I really hate blood. Yes, I watch a lot of violent shows, but even at their worst, they are pretty tame in terms of graphic surgery scenes. The Knick is not. We see a C-Section performed in the pilot episode. There is a lot of blood and a lot of guts. It's not pretty. Call me a total pussbag, but it's a lot for me to watch. Also, though the writing is good, it's not quite as compelling as my top newcomer for the Summer, HBO's The Leftovers.

Here we are, the last new show I watched over the Summer. HBO, with the exception of True Blood, has an amazing track record. From Deadwood to The Wire to The Sopranos to Rome to Oz to countless others, they have proven themselves the top channel for good content. With the introduction of their newest show, that standard was set. The Leftovers, created by Damon Lindelof of Lost, started out very slowly, testing its viewers. While the first four episodes may be criticized of being too depressing or too slow, it paid off. Later in the season, especially in the final three hours, everything came together beautifully. All the time we spent developing characters, showing how dark life had become after the disappearance of 2% of the population, and giving us cryptic images and messages built up to the satisfying season finale. The show's first season was powerful, emotional, and intriguing. After being thoroughly depressed, The Leftovers leaves viewers with a lot to think back upon and a lot to wonder when the second season airs.