Let's conclude this look back at 2018 with a quick gaze at the small screen! 2018 was a good year for TV, and I watched a lot of it. Like an awful lot of it. And while I didn't have a whole list devised, I thought I'd just focus on my absolute favourites from 2018, in no particular order, and just discuss why each of them are great. Same rules as always, if I saw it and liked it, it'll make the list. With that out of the way, let's talk about my favourite shows of 2018!
The Young Offenders
I went in depth on this one before, so check that out if you haven't already. Peter Foott kind of nailed it when he made the original movie. It was funny, sharply written and ridiculously charming. So the idea of making a series may have seemed a little odd. Turns out, there was nothing to fear, because the show was awesome. Any worries about the show just copying the movie were quickly put to bed, with direction shifts that actually really worked, broadening out the narrative and creating strange but hilarious situations for these characters to navigate. The show also kept the same charm as the movie, with a heart that was potent without being sloppy, and a gleeful irreverence that solidified it as one of the best kitchen sink comedies on the air today. The series is just so good natured and likable, and since I talked about it, we've had a Christmas special that was just the cherry on top of an already fantastic show. Long live Conor and Jock
Maniac
How do you even talk about a show like this? Maniac is a work of strange brilliance, not just in what the story is about, but how that's presented to the audience. Ideas of trauma, grief and guilt were discussed in a way that was surreal, but also, often painfully, honest. Emma Stone and Jonah Hill were just magnetic, no matter what simulation they were in, and watching their characters lose and find each other across all of these wonderfully strange narratives was just stunning. Was the genre hopping thing for everyone? Maybe not, but the way that the show used genre to explore it's characters was really impressive for me ans the way this show kept changing and shifting and keeping me guessing was awesome, and. But my favourite thing about Maniac was the message; no matter how alone we may feel, or how consumed we are by chaos, we're never truly alone in the world. Nothing is truly chaotic as long as we have other people, something that really comes through in the arc of Jonah Hill's Owen. And that ending? A powerful and fitting end to a mindblowingly cool miniseries
Derry Girls
Coming out around the same time as The Young Offenders, and possessing a similarly brash irreverence, it's easy to see how Derry Girls could be considered a sister series to Peter Foott's cracking comedy. Yet as much as I love The Young Offenders, this just had an extra dimension that the Cork-set bike theft saga just didn't have. The way the show handles the politics of its setting is impressive and deft, keeping these things largely peripheral, which allows it to just tell a coming of age story, and a damn good one at that. Sharply written and fantastically acted, this is a show that really knows how to find the funny in difficult times, with some of the best dialogue of the year. Seriously, it can't be overstated how funny this show is, but when writing like this is added to a setting like this, you end up with something stunning and impressive
Killing Eve
Killing Eve is the best TV thriller I've seen in years. That may sound like a bold statement, but I just can't remember the last time there's been something this kinetic and fresh. And I think kinetic is a good word for this show. It's always in motion, and can shift between dark comedy and stone cold thrills effortlessly. I think a lot of this comes from Phoebe Waller Bridge, who brings both black humour and a serious edge to this show, again proving that she's one of the most versatile and interesting creators working today. But of course, you can't have a cat and mouse game without the cat and the mouse, and Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh are just sensational as the deadly (yet surprisingly entertaining) assassin and the MI5 agent desperately trying to bring her down. This is one of the best dynamics I've seen in a while. They're on a similar sort of spectrum, both being women who are overlooked or underestimated, but while Eve works hard to overcome this and prove to people that she can bring this killer down, Villainelle uses this to her advantage, blending in and constantly changing identity to always seem like she belongs in a set situation. And the way the show explores both their similarities and differences is just intoxicating, as is the intense obsession that forms between the two. I love these two characters, and I really cannot wait for the second season to continue this twisted game
Flowers
And under the radar gem from 2016 gets a second season that proves to be an under the radar gem from 2018. Flowers is truly something special. If you haven't seen it, it follows a highly dysfunctional family as they navigate trauma, mental illness and tragedy. It is, broadly, a comedy, but it has a knack for really getting under the skin of its characters, with moments that are emotionally raw and genuinely moving. The second season builds on that by really starting to explore ideas of lineage, and inherited issues. It's often a pretty painful watch, but it plays out in a way that's surreal and dreamlike, and almost hypnotising at times. The emotional moments are delicate and genuine, and each of the characters are so fantastically realised, with all of them just feeling so real, with a dynamic that's organic and natural. This is all down to the cast, who are all just superb. Flowers is a gorgeously emotional and deeply strange watch, and the fact that it manages to do this while being so incredibly funny is a testament to Will Sharpe and his incredible writing. Yeah, this show is a truly stunning one that I really would urge you to watch if you haven't
Atlanta
I know I said I wasn't ranking these, but Atlanta's second season is my favourite show of 2018. If the first season was a revelation, this one is a revolution, definitive proof (if we even needed it) that Donald Glover is a creative force of nature. Following up that incredible first run was never going to be easy, but this season (Robbin' Season) somehow did. Every episode feels monumental, like eleven individual epiphanies. Because now moreso than ever, these characters are utterly trapped in their situation. This is something that's even felt in the more lighthearted episodes. Glover exhibits such a fluency and versatility in front of and behind the camera, and it's this that allows him to apply absurdity and poignancy to his razor sharp social observations. Even the barbershop episode is a social comment. This is a show that is truly unique, one in which every chapter mesmerises (that Teddy Perkins episode was the stuff of legend), and every observation resonates. I really can't think of anything else that's like Atlanta. It's a fantastic blend of comedy and drama punctuated by real world horror that's just unbelievable
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