2013 was an excellent year of television with new shows like Agents of SHIELD and returning favorites like Doctor Who and the Walking Dead. This is the first part of my year in review of all the television series that I watched last year focusing on the shows that aired in 2013. This is not a list ranking the best shows, but rather an overview with mini-reviews of each show that I watched. Either later this week or the next I will have a TV Awards post. In addition to being an overview of 2013's TV shows, this is also a list chronicling the shows that I watched throughout the year.
Agents of SHIELD
Being both Joss Whedon's return to television and Marvel's first forte expanding their cinematic into television, Marvel's Agents of SHIELD had a ton of hype riding on it. While the series did disappoint to a certain degree, it was a very strong series overall and one of the better ones of 2013. There are many people that hated the show and others, like myself, enjoyed it a lot. To be honest, as much as I enjoyed the show, it was not quite as good as I had expected. However, it is probably the best show on network television.
The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead, aka the most popular show on cable television, and one of the most popular period. After several years of hearing how great the show was, I finally watched the entire series through season four, and it was even better than expected. Counting season the second half of season three and the first half of season four, The Walking Dead is probably the best show of 2013. As you will read in my upcoming reviews of the each season, it is one of the best character driven stories around, and the action is the best in live-action television as well.
Elementary
Season two of Elementary started with some of the series' best episodes and then it leveled off into something that was kind of average. Thus far, season two is superior to the first half of season one, but compared to the high quality of the other shows on network television, Elementary did not deliver. This fall season of network television is much better than last year, which makes Elementary not seem as good. While most of this post was written in 2013, having now seen the new fantastic season of Sherlock, Elementary's flaws are even more apparent than before. Also, the second half of season one aired last year, and you can read my review for that by clicking here.
The Blacklist
The Blacklist, aka, James Spader being freaking awesome. The Blacklist is a thriller series about Raymond "Red" Reddington, an ex-con and number one on the FBI's Most Wanted List that offers his "Blacklist" of the top criminals in exchange for his freedom, plus one other strange request: he will only talk to a rookie FBI profiler Elizabeth Keen. The series starts strong with a few thrilling opening episodes, then drags a bit in the middle with any episode that does not heavily feature Spader, and then ends with one of the better finales of 2013. The Blacklist easily takes the most surprising new show of 2013, mostly because of James Spader's awesomeness.
Fate/Zero
Wow! What an amazing series! Technically, Fate/Zero premiered in 2011, however the English Dub was not released until late 2013, which is when I started watching this incredible show. Fate/Zero is about the 4th Holy Grail War where various contenders battle using heroes from different eras, such as Alexander the Great and King Arthur. Fate/Zero is a unique blend of contemporary fantasy, suspense, action, historical fiction, and pure intensity. Watch the show; it is brilliant! Warning though, due to the violence the show is not intended for younger audiences. My full review for the series will be post in the next couple of weeks.
Vikings
Vikings is History Channel's first forte into a scripted television series, and for a freshman effort, it wasn't bad. The show had some major flaws like major weirdness and too much sexual content, but other than that, Vikings did a good job at giving us some realistic Viking action. Sometimes the series focuses a little too much on the culture of the vikings, which can be cool, but it does distract from the story. Overall, Viking is a solid show that I will most definitely will continue to watch, but it is far from a classic.
What are some the shows that you watched in 2013? Have you seen, or are you interested in the any of the shows that I have discussed thus far? Please comment below.
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I go back and forth with Elementary. By the end of season one I was enjoying it. And, like you said, season two at the beginning had some great episodes. But now, it is back to being just okay and I got behind and don't really care. I will probably finish it, but once again it isn't high on my list.
ReplyDeleteSHIELD is still one of my favourites. Though May and Ward....a bit too weird there. It felt random and like the writers just did it because everyone assumed it was going to end up being Ward and Skye. But the mid season finale was good. I need to watch the next one now.
My thoughts exactly on Elementary, although I continue to watch it every week.
DeleteYeah, I have been conflicted on May and Ward's relationship. Sometimes I like it, other times not so much. The last two episodes were great, I believe you will enjoy them. :)
-James
I'm going to disagree on Elementary. It's picking up steam in my opinion and it's above average. I haven't seen any of the others, but I know people who are disappointed by SHIELD and prefer Blacklist.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I don't watch a lot of television apart from Doctor Who and Elementary. I usually wait until DVD to see anything, and school also eats up a lot of time.
Well, the last two episodes were better than before, maybe it will continue to get better. SHIELD probably is not the type of show that you would enjoy, but the Blacklist is worth checking out at some point.
Delete-James
SHIELD was a bit meh for me. It's become my "I'll watch if nothing else is on" show. I think part of it is that I don't care for Skye.
ReplyDeleteI watched some of "The Blacklist", took a break because it's unsettling (BUT AWESOME), and then forgot to pick it up again. Thanks for the reminder!
You might like the new show "Almost Human". Fox has been airing it out of order, which made last week's episode feel really weird, but I've been enjoying it regardless. It's on Hulu; you should watch the pilot, and then the newest episode. I don't remember the title, but it involved a "magic bullet" and it follows immediately after the pilot. IMDB has the chronological order listed, I understand.
Really? Well, I know a lot of people did not care for the show that much though, and I agree, Skye is the worst part of the show, although the latest episode was much better.
Delete"The Blacklist" is certainly unsettling at times, especially the most recent episode.
"Almost Human" is one of my favorite new shows as well, but I did not realize that it has been aired out of order. I haven't watched the most recent episode though, but I have it recorded. Almost Human will be featured on a later part of this post series.
-James
I've given up on SHIELD. I enjoyed it enough but now that my time is more limited with a job, it kinda came down between it and Arrow. And with Arrow being as awesome as it is right now, it wins that battle 10 times out of 10.
ReplyDeletethe Blacklist is superb though. The January returning episode was some of the best script writing for an antihero (Spader) that I have ever seen.
Arrow is at the top of my watch list. I wish the show would rerun the first two seasons or Amazon Prime would get it so that I can watch the series.
DeleteOh yes, that episode was superb! There were so many great moments of Spader being BA.
-James
Shield has taken small step up improvement but it's far from a perfect show for me at this point, so much so that I'd say Revolution has even past it in terms of quality.
ReplyDeletePersonal favorites like, Boardwalk Empire & Game of Thrones continue to impress. Network shows like Hannibal and The Following had a strong start. I'd suggest checking out Justified, The Americans and Bates Motel if you are looking for shows to binge on.
While I am admittedly bias towards SHIELD, I wouldn't rank it as low as Revolution, but I agree that there is room for improvement.
DeleteBates Motel is a show that I wish I caught when it first came on since Psycho is one of my favorite movies. Thanks for the recommendations, I will have to check those out this summer.
-James
Agents of Shield is fun but it's also not really what I expected. :(
ReplyDeleteTHE WALKING DEAD. IS. AWESOME. But you know that. ;)
Blacklist sounds like something I should look into as some point...
~Jamie
Yeah, it isn't what I expected either...
DeleteYes it is! :)
I think you would like The Blacklist. It is a strong thriller and Spader is playing Ultron in the Avengers 2, so you can get to see him before the movie. :)
-James
One series that many have never heard of but it excellent is Justified.
ReplyDeletehttp://thinkingaboot.blogspot.ca/2014/01/finally-something-to-watch.html
I checked Vikings on IMDB. Frankly Its HORRIBLE. All TV shows go downhill after a couple seasons because they can't spend as much time on the plot.
ReplyDelete