TV Shows. There are so many of them each year and I’d say that about 90% of them are garbage. Sometimes that garbage is rightfully thrown out and other times it lasts for seasons and seasons beyond any rhyme or reason.
2013 isn’t even half over yet, there are still a lot of new shows waiting to premiere this Summer and Fall, but I thought I’d throw together a list of the five new shows that officially have my attention. As well as one that I really wanted to like, but that ended up being a disappointment.
Click below to find out which shows I picked!
Bates Motel
"Norma Bates buys a motel on the outskirts of an idyllic coastal town seeking a fresh start with her teenage son, the handsome and shy Norman."
Based upon Psycho obviously, Bates Motel is more of a …re-telling or re-imagining of that world. It takes the main aspects of the Psycho story, Norman, his mother, the motel, and transforms them into a whole new world.
Even though Norman and his mother are such an iconic pairing in film…you never really learn much about her in the film series. In fact, you don’t even see her in the (living) flesh until the forth film, Psycho IV: The Beginning. So the canvas was pretty blank as to what kind of character Norma Bates really was and I must say, Vera Farmiga is fantastic in the role. She’s made Norma sympathetic yet manipulative, caring yet condescending. She’s not quite the full blown “mother” character yet, but you can see the seeds of insanity brewing beneath the surface. Freddy Highmore is also wonderful as Norman Bates and he and Vera make a great pair.
The film never really delved too deeply into the town surrounding Bates Motel, it didn’t need to, but the series doesn’t have that luxury. You can’t just focus on the motel every week. The expanded universe of neighbours and townspeople are a strong addition to the story, as they all have secrets of their own. Finally…regardless of how entertaining and compelling the series turned out to be…it’s just cool to see the motel again, and that house perched on top of the hill.
Was it renewed? Yes, for a ten episode second season.
Orphan Black
“Sarah, a streetwise hustler on the run from a lifetime of bad decisions, witnesses the suicide of a stranger who looks just like her. Sarah assumes her identity, hoping that cleaning out the dead woman’s bank account will solve all of her problems. Instead, the street smart chameleon is thrust headlong into a kaleidoscopic mystery.”
Orphan Black is a show that I knew little about before I decided to watch it. I just knew it was about clones, but by the end of the first episode I was completely hooked. Do you remember those X-Files episodes with all the clones? This has a similar feel, but instead of following a Mulder or Scully character, we’re following one of the clones instead.
Now a HUGE part of what makes this show great is the lead, Tatiana Maslany. She plays all of the clones, including three who are essentially the main characters. The entire show would fall apart if she couldn’t pull this off, but pull it off she does. Each clone has an entirely different look, accent, posture and Tatiana performs all of them magnificently. Kudos have to be given to her (and the visual effects team) because I’ve never even THOUGHT of the word “split screen” during an episode, their interactions are so seamless and perfect.
Was it renewed? Yes, for a ten episode second season.
Vikings
“Vikings follows the adventures of Ragnar Lothbrok the greatest hero of his age. The series tells the sagas of Ragnar’s band of Viking brothers and his family, as he rises to become King of the Viking tribes. As well as being a fearless warrior, Ragnar embodies the Norse traditions of devotion to the gods, legend has it that he was a direct descendant of Odin, the god of war and warriors.”
I love me some Vikings. It’s strange how there aren’t more Viking movies out there. You’d think we’d have some huge Viking movie every year. Oh well. In my dreams.
Vikings was not the show I expected it to be, in a good way though. I was expecting some loud and violent action show and, while it definitely has its loud and violent moments, that’s not what it ended up being. At times it’s quiet and contemplative and takes its time to develop the characters. The lead character Ragnar Lothbrok, played by Travis Fimmel, is the one we’re supposed identify with, and we do. He’s charming and clever yet…he’s also a Viking. There are several moments in which he makes choices that are cruel and not ones that we can sympathize with, but I’m glad they didn’t decided to sanitize him. It was a different time, a rougher time, and these were warriors out for conquest.
The show took several interesting turns throughout the first season and by the end, I was very surprised where the paths of these characters had lead.
Was it renewed? Yes, for a ten episode second season.
Banshee
“Set in a small town in Pennsylvania Amish country and featuring an enigmatic ex-con posing as a murdered sheriff who imposes his own brand of justice while also cooking up plans that serve his own interests.”
Banshee is violet, sexy, rough, and strange. It’s definitely not for everyone and the jury is still out on whether it’s “good” or not, but it’s a guilty pleasure for sure. There’s plenty of sex, nudity, and violence (it does air on Cinemax after all) so if you’re not okay with that, large portions of this show are probably not for you. Not to say that’s all the show is about, the mysteries and double crosses and intriguing characters are the real focus here.
Antony Starr, an actor I’d neither seen nor heard of before, stars as Lucas Hood and he’s great in addition to being pretty badass in the gruff silent hero sort of way. My favourite character by far however is Kai Proctor, the ex-amish crime kingpin of Banshee. He’s played by Ulrich Thomsen and he steals every scene he’s in.
Was it renewed? Yes, for a ten episode second season.
Hannibal
“The series is based on characters and elements appearing in the novel Red Dragon by Thomas Harris and focuses on the budding relationship between FBI special investigator Will Graham and Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a forensic psychiatrist destined to become Graham’s most cunning enemy.”
I saved Hannibal for last because it’s my absolute favourite show of the season. Every aspect, from the writing to the acting to the cinematography, is top notch. It’s funny that I was rolling my eyes about this show when I first heard of it. Who would have thought that it would be the most stylish thought provoking show I’ve seen in the past few years.
As I said before, all the actors do great work. Hugh Dancy is wonderful as Will Graham, Laurence Fishburne is putting more energy into his role of Jack Crawford than he has for anything in years, and Mads Mikkelsen is absolutely captivating as Hannibal Lector. He makes the role his own and never once tries to copy Anthony Hopkins iconic portrayal. Caroline Dhavernas, who starred in creator Bryan Fuller’s sophomore series Wonderfalls, also stars as Dr. Alana Bloom, a psychiatry professor and consultant profiler for the FBI. With all the darkness and gloom the show oozes, she’s the breath of fresh air. She seems the most…human or, at the very least, the character with the least to hide. I’m extremely excited to see where the show takes us for the remainder of the season.
I don’t buy a lot of TV shows on DVD/Blu-ray, outside of a few HBO series, but…I’ll be picking this one up for sure.
Was it renewed? At the moment, no. It’s on the bubble but I desperately hope it does get renewed. I really don’t understand why more people aren’t watching this.
And now…the show I was most disappointed in…
The Following
“Ryan Hardy attempts to recapture serial killer Joe Carroll following the latter’s escape from prison. Hardy soon discovers that the charismatic Carroll has surrounded himself with a group of like-minded individuals (which he met while teaching and while in prison), and turned them into a cult of fanatical killers.”
Kevin Bacon. James Purefoy. Serial Killers. You’d think it would be my most favouritist show evah.
Sadly…the first season of The Following ended up being episode after episode of Kevin Bacon scowling and some random character being revealed as a “follower” and then being killed off before we get to know them. It’s not the worst show in the world, but it was definitely not the dark and psychological story I was anticipating. The first season finale ended things on a questionable note and I’m not entirely sure what they plan on doing next season.
Was it renewed? Yes, for a fifteen episode second season.
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