Only when we see clearly the loneliness and pain of others, can we deal with life more calmly.

15 Mar 2022

In this article, authorized by the author @ Weili, I still want to say a few words about my fate with American TV series before writing this annual summary of watching TV dramas. My career as a drama hunter doesn't count.

before writing this annual drama summary, I still want to say a few words about my fate with American TV series. My career in pursuing TV shows is not long, only a few years. I remember that I started watching American TV dramas because of two original reasons. The first one may be the same as the mentality of most people watching American TV dramas, relaxing to pass the time. Maybe in the spare time of busy work or study, it is often more convenient and comfortable for many people to watch a two-hour movie than a 40-minute American TV series. The second is that I had a bottleneck period when I was obsessed with movies at that time. Watching movies blindly made me feel a little weary, which suddenly made me feel like I wanted a change. I was curious about the way American TV series, which does not require complete continuity, thus opened the door to a new world, and unexpectedly gradually became infatuated with American TV dramas.

if you watch too many American TV series, you will naturally have higher and higher requirements for the quality of the series. I am the kind of person who loves and hates as much as you can. A show that makes me feel very bad may make me watch it over and over again. And an American TV series that is so mediocre in all aspects is often unable to watch a single episode. Now I pay more attention to whether a TV work brings me new things and new experiences, which is very important, and it is also the key factor for me to choose the top ten, followed by practical considerations such as whether the film is good or not, whether the script is good enough, and so on.

I would also like to emphasize that this is a private list after all. It is impossible for me to simply sort out some of this year's hot shows. It must be a list with my own unique aesthetic tastes and personal tendencies. So if you do not see your favorite TV works below, please do not be disappointed. After all, everyone is an independent individual, just like these American TV dramas, with a personal brand. But I can assure you that each of these ten works has its own unique side.

the last thing I want to say is that this is the third year that I have published a list of the top 10 dramas in this form. I have seen too many people summarize the top 10 movies at the end of the year, but I have hardly seen anyone post the top ten dramas. As a person who loves American TV series, it is a slightly lost feeling. I very much hope that this list can be done year after year. Even if we do not have so much time and energy to read the characters in the future, we can at least make a list of the plays I have seen every year, and this love for American TV series will not fade.

according to personal preferences, it is still divided into two parts: new dramas and old dramas, each with five works, which are not ranked and encouraged together.

Vinyl

even though this series with great ambition to depict the changes of the pop music era will eventually have only one season, its particularity will not change. In my opinion, this is the most potential American TV series that has emerged in the past two years to become a classic, with characters as the core, and will not be told by the story. But its theme is destined to be a minority, but to be cut off. This is a rock epic. Martin Scorsese's crazy scene schedule like drugs perfectly fits the erosive temperament of the United States in the 1970s. OST is so great that there are too many hits to count. The atmosphere and lens texture are far above the vast majority of TV dramas. I can't help but be moved by my endless attachment to the passing away of the vinyl era.

Horace and Pete

as a fan of LouisCK, I said at the beginning of the year that I would be very satisfied without "Louis is not easy" this year. I didn't expect him to make a unique work that will be remembered by the history of American TV series. Uncle Louis has been working on him since he went from stand-up show to screen creation these years. This time is more thorough, it can be said that the show is different from any previous form of television. Tragicomedy in the style of stage drama, the whole play is so concise that there are only two or three scenes, which are made up of only dialogue and performance, or even a whole episode of two people sitting on both sides talking to each other, extremely bold and interesting. At the same time, it is also full of the cruel truth hidden behind life.

"Simpson: made in America"

O.J.: Made in America

in my opinion, this show is undoubtedly the best series that has appeared on TV in the past few years. Only a few great works can dissect a person's complex inner world so deeply. It was much more shocking than the other two equally popular documentaries, "New York Destroyer" and "making a Killer." each episode was a huge test of psychological endurance, and I was out of breath. I may have seen the extreme tension of drama in Simpson. The two personalities of hero and demon have never been so paradoxically intertwined on an individual. When you see that in the end, you will hate this person and sympathize with him. Sympathize with him to live under a hypocritical face all his life, sympathize with him for having everything, but finally lose love.

the first season of Atlanta

Atlanta

when you are used to watching white-dominated American TV series, watching such a show that really talks about black culture is definitely a new experience. It doesn't have anything politically correct. It just shows the real life of the black community in a very vivid way. Another American TV show that makes me feel this way is "the Line of Fire." Similarly, this is an independent work that exudes brilliance from beginning to end, and it is only exquisite.The language of the camera is much higher than other half-hour skits, with its own style and rhythm, and it is also very patient with the management of characters, and there is no lack of innovative and experimental creative attempts. It is not a comedy, let alone an inspirational story, but about the meaninglessness of life itself and how to deal with this bitter life.

Hap and Leonard

Top Ten works in season 1

Such unpopularity is nothing more than the fact that the actors are unknown and the topics are too little, but this is really a wonderful and good-looking crime drama. The humid environment unique to the southern United States creates an independent atmosphere, and the six episodes come together in one go. It's like a four-hour movie that can get addicted to it. The chemical reaction between the two partners set by the black and white male pair is surprisingly good, and even the one-liners selling trash seem very natural and interesting.

the fourth season of American impossible Dream

The Americans

it's not too much to say that this is the best feature-length American TV series on TV today. There are few episodes that not only maintain a high standard, but also get better and better as the plot goes further. I was shocked by the emotional depth shown by the writers and directors in this season's story. I was shocked and moved to explore the helpless fate of specific characters at the end of the Cold War. Each character has a strong tragic color. I can't help living in that era, especially the sad ending that the key characters encountered in the middle episodes have not been sighed for a long time. There are still two seasons left, and I believe that when the show is really over, it will leave an important place in the history of American TV series.

Better Call Saul

is probably the last TV work in American TV series to worry about quality. Sol does not have a doomed tragic ending like Lao Bai, the character tone is much brighter, and the state of the whole show is extremely relaxed, cozy, comfortable and sensual. This season as a whole is above the level. in general, compared with Sol's obvious one-man show in the first season, Sol's plot spread more slowly in the second season, and Sol became more like a major character in a string of other characters, and as the sub-line of Mike began to connect with the poisoner more and more, it also gradually changed the history of Sol to the direction of the prequel of the poisonous. There may be more heavyweight old friends next season, let's wait and see.

season 4

Rectify

there are no fancy techniques. Often, many people's confusion about life can be solved through a simple dialogue. This is the greatest inspiration that this philosophical art drama brings to us. In the final season, every character is reconciling with the past and has great hopes for the future, and the writer is always kind, after all, he has battered us too much before. Although the story of the Daniels has come to an end, but their lives are still going on, just like us in reality, no matter how much nostalgia we have after watching a play, we will turn the story and move on. This play also has a special meaning to me. This is probably the first love drama that I chased from the beginning to the end, with a lot of emotion.

the fourth season of "Women's Prison"

Orange Is the New Black

anyone who really comes into contact with Netflix's original repertoire may be because of "House of Cards", but I must say that this more approachable film, which opened in the same year, is more solid and powerful in all respects than "House of Cards". It has been said before that even in the entire history of American TV series, this show is a group play. So many characters can make each of them have a distinct character, a prison kaleidoscope, this is the way of creation that really belongs to the small screen and the film can not be done. The fourth season reached a peak at the drama level, when the accumulated emotions of the characters and foreshadowing everywhere were concentrated at the end. Please climb to another high-rise building for group portraits.

the third season of "BoJack Horse"

BoJack Horseman

seems that I don't need to talk too much about it. I believe that anyone who has seen it will indulge in it. The structure of this season reminds me of Seinfeld's peak season 4, which is also a main line running through, but gives people a blow at the end and loses new heights again. When you think everything is going in a good direction, only to find that you can only be yourself, ordinary life, but a grain of sand in this vast universe. It is difficult to imagine that such an animated character would be more vivid and real than a real character. The reason why we can find resonance in BoJack is that we have re-recognized ourselves in him. Only after seeing clearly the loneliness and pain of others, can we deal with life more calmly.