10. Into The Badlands (Season 1 - RENEWED) on AMC 2014-2015 Rank: NEW SHOW AMC debuted a new show last year that feels a bit like a live-action anime. It takes place in what appears to be the countryside of Lousiana, but in a future far removed from anything resembling America. It instead resembles a medieval time with a lords and a feudal system in place. But with electricity and motocycles. The main description of the show is that it's a martial arts show. I actually had a hard time classifying this as either drama or sci-fi/fantasy. But as it is more action/adventure and less sci-fi/fantasy, I've decided to classify here in drama. Into The Badlands follows a character named Sunny who is a "clipper," or assassin for his lord. The show has a lot of potential, but definitely falls short of what I feel it could be. The action sequences are very good, but the story itself lacks a bit. They did get renewed for a second season, so maybe after some growing pains they can find their footing. |
9. Orange Is The New Black (Season 4 - RENEWED) on Netflix 2014-2015 Rank: 10 (+1) OITNB contines to give me trouble with classification as either Drama or Comedy (like Shameless, Mozart In The Jungle, Transparent, etc), but I will stick with my decision to consider it a drama. Though many of the characters I like are because of the humor they bring. Oh well. This season saw Caputo take over at the prison, and he tried very hard to put it first even though the company that owns it doesn't care that much. The residents of Litchfield continued to face their own independant issues. Alex killed someone in self defense and hid the body with the help of others, Piper accidentally started a white power group that led to some race tension, a celebrity chef joined the inmates, and a new set of guards caused more trouble than good. A fairly exciting season that led to one inmates death and another to pull a gun on a guard in the closing moments of the season. |
8. American Crime Story: The People Vs OJ Simpson (Season 1 - RENEWED) on FX 2014-2015 Rank: NEW SHOW Ryan Murphy (American Horror Story) helped produced this crime anthology series for FX. This miniseries was all about the infamous OJ trial from the 90s. I remember the OJ trial when I was younger, but didn't remember many of the details. It was really interesting to watch the series to learn more about all of the people invovled in the trial. Of course there was some dramatization involved, and some of the real people weren't thrilled with it, but overall it was well-received. It went so well in fact that they are going to turn this into a series and bring on another story for season 2. |
7. Mr. Robot (Season 1 - RENEWED) on USA 2014-2015 Rank: NEW SHOW Though there wasn't much hype leading into the debut of Mr. Robot on USA, the show ended up receiving rave reviews and became a must-watch. The show centers around a young hacker named Elliot. It is clear to the viewer that it is unclear if things we are witnessing are actually taking place or figments of Elliot's mind. He seems to have some issues and we witness the show in his point of view. It has been compared to Fight Club in that the viewer experiences what the main character perceives, but later finds out that what we are experiencing isn't always as it seems. Half the fun here is trying to figure everything out, and although very confusing at time, it is an engaging and interesting show. |
6. The Man In The High Castle (Season 1 - RENEWED) on Amazon 2014-2015 Rank: NEW SHOW Speaking of confusing shows that offer many questions about reality...The Man In The High Castle is based on an alternate history novel by Philip K. Dick that takes place in a 1960's America where the Allies lost World War II and the United States is split between Germany and Japan. It is a fascinating premise and interesting to experience Nazi New York and Japanese San Francisco. The show mainly takes place in those two cities, and it is implied that many other major cities did not survive the war. On the surface, the show appears to simply be about that. There is a resistance that wants to bring freedom back to Anerica and you figure the show will be about their struggle to do so. It turns out however that there is a lot more going on beneath the surface. We are introduced to a mysterious film in the first episode that shows a world in which the Allies won the war, showing clips that we know to have actually happened in our reality. Immediately there is a question about what this means. The mysterious "man in the high castle" is believed to create these propoganda-like films to help motivate people to what a free life could be. However it gets more curious when a second film is viewed, and the characters watching it see themselves in what could be the future, or an alternate reality, or something else. There are a lot of questions and I find it quite fascinating how the show has taken a turn in a direction I absolutely did not see coming going into the show. |
5. Narcos (Season 1 - RENEWED) on Netflix 2014-2015 Rank: NEW SHOW By now it must seem like every show on this drama list is a new show. Five of six shows so far have in fact been new shows. But these shows could not crack the top 4, which are all shows that have been on 4-6 years. But we'll get to those in a moment. First I must mention Narcos, a show on Netflix about the drug wars in Columbia in the 80s. Pablo Escobar was a notorious drug lord who made millions (maybe billions) of dollars smuggling cocaine to the United States. This show is based on true events, and though a dramatization, seems to follow history fairly well. We get to witness Pablo's rise from both his side and the government's side, which includes United States DEA agents in Columbia trying to help take him down. It is incredible learning about all the things that took place during this time, much of it tragic. Escobar was an ambitious man, but also an evil man. Though he didn't see it that way. |
4. Shameless (Season 6 - RENEWED) on Showtime 2014-2015 Rank: 8 (+4) The Gallaghers continue to do what they do best, struggle with life. They each have their own opportunities for good, then of course something goes wrong. Debbie got herself pregnant (on purpose!), Carl spent some time acting like a thug after leaving juvie (though found a way to turn it around), Ian struggled with Mickey going to jail but found his footing succeeding as an EMT, Lip had everything great going for him at college until he imploded and got expelled, and Fiona found a man she loved and planned a wedding (which her father Frank messed up for her). Ups and downs all around. |
3. The Americans (Season 4 - RENEWED) on FX 2014-2015 Rank: 5 (+2) This past season saw the close of two long-running storylines by getting rid of two long-running characters. The first was Nina, who had previously been imprisoned in the Soviet Union for working with the US government. It seemed for a while that she was working her way back to redemption, until she was suddenly executed. This made a major impact on men on both sides back in the US, as both Oleg and Stan were in love with her and hoped she would one day be free. The second storyline involved a character who was very finely woven into everything. Martha was targeted by Philip since she worked as a receptionist at the FBI. We worked her for a long time, including faking a marriage. But things were getting hairy near the end as she started asking more questions of Philip and the FBI got closer to discovering her secret. Philip told her everything, endangering himself and his family, but managed to get her out of the country to Russia where she seemingly won't be a factor on the show anymore. And that was only the tip of the iceberg this season, with important storylines taking place including Philip and Elizabeth dealing with their daughter knowing their secret, and deadly viruses being smuggled out of American labs to Russia. |
2. Hell On Wheels (Season 5.1 - Finishing after second half of Season 5) on AMC 2014-2015 Rank: 2 (-) This was the first half of the final season of Hell On Wheels, being separated into two Summer releases. Everything changed going into this season. Bohannon left the railroad he had become such a big part of to head West and find his wife and child who disappeared. He however quickly fell into habit, by joining the rival railroad company. This was mostly due to the proximity of the Mormons of which his family are members of. Back in Wyoming, Durant and the rest of the characters we've grown accustomed to are continuing their march west while trying to build a society in the region. Bohannon would also continue to struggle with his number one adversary, The Swede, and their story finally came to an end. |
1. Person Of Interest (Season 5 - COMPLETED) on CBS 2014-2015 Rank: 1 (-) In the final season of Person of Interest, the team of Harold, John, Shaw, Root and Fusco continued to try to help people in need while fighting against a bigger threat in Samaritan. The ong0ing battle of all-powerful AIs and the people who support each raged on throughout the season, leading to much action and multiple casualties. By the end, the team was left smaller, but their beloved Machine survived to continue helping regular people. I really enjoyed this show during its run. It's mix of action and almost too real science fiction was very engaging. The characters were people you wanted to cheer on. The conspiracies were fun (if not a bit scary) and well-written. It also represents one of the last CBS shows I watched, which seems crazy as I used to watch a lot more of the network. It's accessibility to streaming sadly is a big reason why, with networks like NBC, ABC, FOX, FX, HBO, Comedy Central and others all accessible to me via various streaming options. CBS went to their own model of selling their app separately, much like cable networks like HBO, Showtime and Starz. I still would like to watch Big Bang Theory, the last CBS show still I'm interested in, but after a decade I haven't been trying too hard to watch it. |
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11. Transparent (Season 3 - RENEWED) on Amazon