LEGION
Get ready for a superhero show unlike any you've ever seen before, "Legion," the latest brainchild from the genius behind FX's "Fargo," Noah Hawley. Based on a Marvel character, Dan Stevens (in perhaps the greatest performance of his career so far) gets to act out his full range as David Haller, a schizophrenic with supernatural abilities who's in an insane asylum in the pilot episode and ends up part of an organisation of mutants (X-men style) hunted by the government at the end of the season. The brilliance of the show is its mix of weird, funny, stylish, creepy and smart, owing to the fact that the whole story is told through Haller's unstable viewpoint. Another plus is the supporting cast, in particular Aubrey Plaza as a very entertaining aspect of Haller's clashing psyche.
TABOO
At the height of his career, Tom Hardy (one of our generation's top actors) takes a break from movies to focus on a very personal project, the Gothic adventure drama "Taboo," which he devised with his father. Co-created by Steven Knight, the man behind "Peaky Blinders" (a show that is very similar, both in quality and style), "Taboo" tells the story of James Delaney who, after some time in Africa, returns to London to bury his father and gets into a prolonged conflict with the East India Company. Set during the Georgian period, "Taboo" is a show that addresses British imperialism from a very moden perspective, presented with an exquisitely disgusting high-quality attention to detail. The filthy world of London in the early 19th century has never been more decadent.
THE HANDMAID'S TALE
To make a great TV show you need more than a great story, great actors and great production values. A truly great TV show requires a level of ambition and inspiration behind it, and Hulu's adaptation of Margaret Atwood's classic feminist dystopian novel has just that. It not only has perfect timing, as it was released just a few months ahead of the #MeToo revolution, but it's also supported by passionate storytelling from creator Bruce Miller, director Reed Moreno, and leading lady Elizabeth Moss. This was a TV show had needed to be made and needed to be enjoyed, which it certainly has been.
THE PUNISHER
Personally, I've been a big fan of Jon Bernthal ever since he portrayed Shane in "The Walking Dead" eight years ago, so it was a pleasant surprise to see him cast as Frank Castle, a.k.a. The Punisher, in season two of Netflix's "Daredevil" back in 2016. I would in fact venture to say that Bernthal is the perfect Frank Castle, although I'm not terribly well-read on the comic book character and have only seen the film versions "The Punisher" from 2004 and "Punisher: War Zone" from 2008. The reason I can give for my opinion is that Bernthal has an intriguing mix of tough guy machismo and soft nice guy, that type of rough charm that some action movie stars used to have back in the day. A character like The Punisher needs those kinds of layers, particularly when you move him up from supporting character to hero. And you need to pace the action with deliberation, so that toward the end of the season, when things finally kick off, you really get excited to see some indiscriminately mindless violence.
AMERICAN GODS
After he finished putting a personal and brilliant touch to NBC's re-interpretation of Hannibal Lecter in "Hannibal," Bryan Fuller apparently felt it was time to do the same to Neil Gaiman's classic urban fantasy novel "American Gods." Like "Hannibal," Fuller's highly anticipated "American Gods" is drenched in beautiful, colorful, vibrant and violent imagery, the kind of grotesque art that's rather rare. The season begins to lose steam half way in, which is not a surprise considering that the season only adapts about half the novel and fills in the rest with new material. But the opening part is so strong, it carried my interest through to the end. "American Gods" also has perfect casting, with Ian McShane (who else) as Mr. Wednesday, Peter Stormare in his first non-irritating role for the first time in some 20 years as Czernobog, Gillian Anderson having a lot of fun as the new goddess Media and Crispin Glover, one of the weirdest actors in the US, as Mr. World.
BIG LITTLE LIES
Another show that became a big deal largely thanks to perfect timing was David E. Kelley's HBO project "Big Little Lies," from a novel by Liane Moriarty. Co-produced by its two main stars Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman, the multi-award winning seven episode drama focuses on spousal abuse, the trials of parenting, in particular motherhood, and rape. So it does have an air of importance to it. But it's also quite droll, and it's all told in a context that's recognizable and easily digested, namely that of a murder investigation. But what elevates "Big Little Lies" miles above your average TV murder mystery melodrama is the impeccable casting and Jean-Marc Vallée's ultra-cool direction. Although they should have kept it as a mini-series and not given in to popular demand to do a second season, it will admittedly be quite interesting to see what they come up with next.
ANNE WITH AN E
I confess there is a big gap in my cultural education, because I have never read the children's classic "Anne of Green Gables," nor seen any of the multitudinous adaptations. But that doesn't keep me from feeling quite familiar with the iconic character, which may be because she is very similar to our own Pippi Lockstocking here in Sweden. Nor does it hinder me in any way from thoroughly enjoying this new version from Netflix and Moira Walley-Beckett, supposedly bringing us a more mature adaptation of the familiar story. Although one would probably get fed up with Anne Shirley and her constant prattling after about five minutes in her actual company, on television she is positively delightful and a character that can truly be said to be a good role model for girls and kids in general; intelligent, strong, imaginative and full of hope and love.
LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS
Netflix is now the king of television, and they opened the year of 2017 in a strong way with this adaptation of Daniel Handler's modern classic. To begin with, the show may suffer a bit in comparison with the 2004 movie adaptation, which of course has to do with the fact that Neil Patrick Harris in the role of Count Olaf is no Jim Carrey. But if you drop the comparison, try to put the movie out of your mind or at least look beyond that particular scene-stealer's participation, you will come to really appreciate both Mr. Harris and this version for the brilliance it is. And toward the end of the season it really starts to get good, which might have something to do with the fact that the movie never got that far. However, "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" has all those qualities that I love in a show; it's cute, weird, smart, beautiful to look at, imaginative and at times quite dadaistic in its humor.
GLOW
This wonderful 'period piece,' loosely
based on the creation of The Glorious Ladies of Wrestling during the
glorious 1980s, co-produced and co-written by Jenji Kohan, most famous
for "Orange is the New Black," has that quality that I always felt
"Orange..." aimed for but never really reached, which is an assortment
of quirky and highly likeable oddball characters. But again, it's inherently more
entertaining to partake of a show about female wrestlers than female
prison inmates. "G.L.O.W." is often very funny and sometimes quite
moving as well, but most of all it is well-made, in everything from the
perfect recreation of the trappings of the 1980s to the acting, where
we get to see Alison Brie show just how talented she is and legendary stand-up Marc Maron receive the hilarious part he rightly deserves as the has-been B-movie director hired to bring the wrestling project to life.
IRON FIST
Despite prevailing opinions, I thought Netflix absolutely smashed it with "Iron Fist." Smashed it again, I should say, because Netflix's collaboration with Marvel has been nothing short of perfection all the way, and it doesn't look like they will ever fail (despite what some if not most people may think in this instance). Whatever your reservations about the character of Danny Rand/Iron Fist may be, I happen to love it. He's the classic billionaire vigilante superhero, like Batman, which is the best kind. And the connection with Eastern martial arts and a magical alternative Buddhist dimension is added fun. But what "Iron Fist" succeeds with most is in its villain, which I always say is the most important part of a superhero story. You need a great villain to make a great superhero, and in Danny Rand's arch-nemesis Harold Meachum, delightfully portrayed with utter slimy psychopathic creepiness by the marvellous David Wenham, we get a perfect villain.
Honorable mentions: Dark (Netflix), Happy! (Syfy), Crashing (HBO), Feud (FX), Mindhunter (Netflix)
