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10 Best Drama Series of 2018
10. SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS
Admittedly, Facebook Watch’s quietly observant portrait of a grieving young widow — played by Elizabeth Olsen, in an absolute stunner of a performance — sounds like a bummer to watch. But it’s actually life-affirming: emotionally astute, in the vein of This Is Us, surprisingly funny and genuinely moving, not shying away from the tough truths of an imperfect woman slowly putting the pieces of her shattered life back together. It’s worth adding yet another streaming outlet to your watch list just to catch this unheralded gem.
9. MY BRILLIANT FRIEND
HBO’s adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels are a gorgeous, often brutal look into exactly how complex a lifelong friendship between two women can be. The series captures the tough realities of life in 1950s Naples, when Lenù Greco and Lila Cerullo (played by two sets of young actresses as the characters age) are reminded too often of what women — and the working class — can and can’t do in society. Everything about the show, from the girls’ nuanced performances to the subtitled Italian, forces you to slow down and soak it in: This is molto buona, indeed.
8. SUCCESSION
The caliber of Dynasty update that we really wanted but didn’t get, this HBO drama over the course of its freshman run enjoyed a fantastic snowball effect — evolving from expletive-laced family melodrama into a compelling bit of Media Empire satire. The ensemble boasts some gems, including Jeremy Strong’s hair-trigger take on heir apparent Kendall Roy, Matthew Macfadyen as suck-up son-in-law Tom, and the always intimidating Brian Cox as a crusty, indefatigable and Murdochian patriarch. Worth a binge ahead of Season 2’s arrival.
7. THE GOOD FIGHT
After spending its inaugural season working those pesky rookie kinks out, the Good Wife spinoff returned with a vastly improved sophomore run that lived up to the lofty standards set by its Emmy-winning predecessor. Series creators Robert and Michelle King took a big creative risk by letting art imitate our current, extremely incendiary political life, and it paid huge dividends. The series’ eerily prescient and stingingly satirical take on all things Trump was alternately entertaining and sobering. As a result, The Good Fight has emerged from The Good Wife‘s shadow, establishing itself as both a thoroughly addictive and wholly distinct series in its own right.
6. POSE
Words like “important” get thrown around so often, you almost forget what they mean — until a show like FX’s Pose comes along, a powerful drama based on the real-life experiences of LGBT people of color in the New York City ballroom scene of the 1980s. Not only does it shine a spotlight on a devastatingly underserviced group, but it does so with conviction and authenticity, boasting the largest transgender ensemble in television history. And despite its extremely specific setting, Pose’s message is timeless, underscored by universal themes of love, acceptance and belonging.
5. THIS IS US
The fact that Jack Pearson’s death in this year’s post-Super Bowl episode was such a heartbreaker — despite the audience having known it was coming for quite some time — speaks to how well This Is Us has sustained its mojo since it premiered. Meanwhile, those flash-forwards set up another mystery that has given the NBC drama a sense of urgency in its so-far excellent third season. But we’re the most taken with the show’s focus on Jack’s Vietnam War experience, giving us a window into exactly how Pearson’s time in-country shaped him into the damaged-yet-grounded man he became.
4. HOMECOMING
Amazon shipped us an early Christmas present with this endlessly intriguing puzzle box of a drama, spinning a riveting mystery out of a therapeutic facility claiming to help troops returning home from war… and the sinister truth behind it. Mr. Robot mastermind Sam Esmail delivered a refined version of his trademark tech-savvy paranoia, directing each episode with a stylish, Hitchcockian flair. And Julia Roberts put her immense star wattage to good use, serving as the human face of this twist-heavy thriller and ensuring that its final reveal packed a formidable punch.
3. THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE
Sure, Shirley Jackson’s 1959 gothic horror novel had been mined, with varying degrees of success, before Mike Flanagan turned it into one of the year’s buzziest series. But by using Jackson’s work as the inspiration for a new story about a long-suffering family, Flanagan expertly delivered hug-your-loved-ones heartache wrapped in cover-your-eyes frights. The ensemble was strong, the then/now storytelling was engaging and the scares? Well, they linger. (Yeah, we’re still not over that moment in the car.)
2. THE AMERICANS
With a powerhouse final season, FX’s Cold War spy drama ratcheted up the tension to damn near unbearable levels — and cemented its place as one of the decade’s very best TV dramas. Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys were never better, as married Soviet assets Elizabeth and Philip Jennings were faced with impossible decisions and suffered through unimaginable heartbreak. The enormously satisfying series finale was a slow-burn instant classic, distilling the entire series’ elegantly gloomy vibe into an emotionally wrenching swan song. If The Americans was ultimately a Russian novel, they saved the best chapter for last.
1. KILLING EVE
The year’s top TV drama also happened to be the year’s happiest surprise. BBC America’s irresistible cat-and-mouse thriller put a wickedly clever spin on the standard crime drama, with writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge layering plenty of pitch-black laughs into her tale of a lowly intelligence analyst hunting down a glamorous assassin. The pulse-pounding pace made it a perfect binge-watch, and it boasted a pair of 2018’s most unforgettable performances: Jodie Comer, as seductive contract killer Villanelle, and Sandra Oh, as bored paper-pusher Eve, who doggedly tracked Villanelle across the globe… and discovered her inner badass along the way.
Image: Courtesy of Facebook Watch
Image: Courtesy of HBO
Image: Courtesy of HBO
Image: Courtesy of CBS All Access
Image: Courtesy of FX
Image: Courtesy of NBC
Image: Courtesy of Amazon
Image: Courtesy of Netflix
Image: Courtesy of FX
Image: Courtesy of BBC America
