In 2014, we let Russian spies, biker gangs, Silicon Valley techies, and existentially frustrated detectives into our living rooms. As these 25 picks reveal, we had good reasons for doing so.
Network: FX
Cast: Charlie Hunnam, Katey Sagal, Mark Boone Junior, Mathew St. Patrick, Walton Goggins
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Sons of Anarchy
FX
The final season of Sons of Anarchy brings the legacy of SAMCRO well and truly full circle in more ways than one. In doing so, the “final ride” gibes us the casually terrifying Moses Cartwright (Mathew St. Patrick, reminding us how far in the past Six Feet Under is), far from both Egypt and the Ponderosa. It brings us a version of Jax Teller (brilliantly realized by the colossal talents of Charlie Hunnam) at the end of his rope, putting his house in order, knowing full well that Warren Zevon himself would say that “my ride’s here” in his position. But finally, and perhaps most importantly, the swan song season has perhaps the series’ finest moment in the now-famous “Faith and Despondency”, as SAMCRO Sergeant-at-Arms Tig (Kim Coates) and transgender escort Venus (the beyond incredible Walton Goggins) discus and attempt to define the nature of their ever-growing romantic relationship in a scene that, for many viewers, stops time. Yes, the final season is amazing, and Kurt Sutter and company all deserve a standing ovation. Above all, though, the transcendent, affectionate work put into the relationship between Tig and Venus gives these last episodes that little boost they needed to go over the top and ride the show, assuredly, into its rightful place in television history. 
Kevin Brettauer
Network: HBO
Cast: John Oliver
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Last Week Tonight
HBO
At first, the formula for John Oliver’s “mock news” show for HBO seems too simple: “The Daily Show plus HBO swears”. Indeed, much of Last Week Tonight bears that strategy out, albeit Oliver only takes to the air once weekly rather than four times, like The Daily Show and the recently departed The Colbert Report. Oliver developed serious chops during his many years at The Daily Show, and as he’s proven in his standup comedy, he’s more than capable of holding an audience on his own. But while the first few episodes of Last Week Tonight prompted the question, “Just how different is this from The Daily Show, after all?”, by the end of the year Oliver came to his own. The peak of each episode comes when Oliver takes to a long-form examination of a major international issue; these segments include hilarious and enlightening takes on Scottish independence, the death penalty, and predatory lending. Many of these topics, such as civil forfeiture, are subjects that even major news outlets either under-cover or skip entirely. Much like Stewart before him, Oliver has distanced his program from the “journalism” label, for reasons that are understandable and predictable. However, make no mistake: few programs on the air offer a take on current affairs as creative, enlightening, and riotously funny as this one. Call it journalism, call it comedy; no matter the label, you’ll leave Last Week Tonight being more aware of what’s going on in the world. Brice Ezell
Network: Showtime
Cast: Claire Daines, Rupert Friend, Nazanin Boniadi, Laila Robins, Tracy Letts, Mandy Patinkin
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Homeland
Showtime
After the mediocrity of the second season and the utter and complete fiasco that was the third season, many viewers returned to Homeland quite ready to give up on it. Yet lo and behold, following those tepid seasons the show has undergone a complete rejuvenation, owed partly to the showrunners killing off one of the leads in the previous season finale. Instead of having complex heroine Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes who has remained consistently brilliant season after season) dwell in the past, the writers immediately shipped her off to yet another deadly mission, this time set in between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Refocusing on the show’s thriller potential, the creators have come up with some of the most nailbiting-ly watchable episodes in the entire series. Carrie is given the chance to battle her own demons, particularly those related to motherhood and mortality. More ruthless than ever, the showrunners have had no fear of killing beloved characters unexpectedly, making for what might very well be the show’s most courageous season yet. Jose Solis
Network: HBO
Cast: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Anna Chlumsky, Tony Hale, Matt Walsh, Reid Scott
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Veep
HBO
Veep, HBO’s funniest series, returned with a vengeance in 2014. Its third season is arguably the most accomplished to date; in it, Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and company struggle to assert their power in a political system that has no place for them. More than anything else, Veep deserves credit for showcasing the art of the insult. Each line is a brutally funny takedown of someone’s incompetence, and the excellent cast delivers them as if they were written by Shakespeare. Creator Armando Iannucci has crafted television’s pure comedy series. At a time when the “dramedy” is considered the ultimate desideratum, Iannucci’s priority is to make the audience laugh, and he could care less about sentimentality. This is never clearer than with the episode “Debate”, in which we watch a slew of political candidates display their idiocy on live television. None of them deserve their positions of power, and as they try to make a case for themselves, Iannucci wants us to draw comparisons to the many unqualified individuals that regularly run for office in the United States. The joke may be on us, but Veep dares us to laugh at the absurdity of it all, and we do every single time. Jon Lisi
Network: The CW
Cast: Gina Rodriguez, Andrea Navedo, Yael Grobglas, Justin Baldoni, Ivonne Coll
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Jane the Virgin
The CW
Loosely inspired on a Venezuelan soap opera of the same name, The CW’s Jane the Virgin is a refreshingly charming comedic drama about a young religious woman (breakthrough star Gina Rodriguez) whose plans to save her virginity until marriage are slightly altered when she’s accidentally inseminated during a checkup. Torn between her devotion to her boyfriend (Brett Dier) and the feelings she starts developing for the baby’s father (Justin Baldoni), Jane must deal with problems she thought were reserved only for the heroines of the telenovelas she loves so much. A show that embraces Hispanic culture without being stereotypical or condescending, Jane the Virgin might very well be the first mainstream television show that acknowledges the growing Hispanic population in the United States. Instead of going for on-the-nose politics, the showrunners simply weave a well-told tale into a larger social context where people don’t sit around and discuss cultural differences, but instead enjoy them, and in the process become smarter. The show does everything so effortlessly, that you don’t even notice the fact that the weekly installments are simply not enough, and you crave for daily episodes, like you do with any great telenovela. Jose Solis
20 – 16
Network: Starz
Cast: James Nesbitt, Frances O’Connor, Tchéky Karyo, Jason Flemyng
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The Missing
Starz
With anthology series becoming the new “it thing” on TV, it was just a matter of time before the BBC showed viewers how it’s done. (Apologies to the rambling, aimless True Detective). The Missing presents us with something we’ve seen many times before: a child disappears, leaving his parents completely devastated. If the performances by James Nesbitt and the divine Frances O’Connor as the parents weren’t compelling enough, the case itself is also remarkably explored through the eyes of a French detective (Tchéky Karyo) who inevitably clashes with the British way of mind, leading to a cultural shock that is surprising in how well it captures sociopolitical tensions in Europe. 
Jose Solis
Network: NBC
Cast: Joel McHale, Yvette Nicole Brown, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, Gillian Jacobs, Ken Jeong, Jim Rash
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Community
NBC
There’s no two ways about it: the very existence of Community’s fifth season, in any format, would have been a miracle. What’s doubly a miracle, of course, is the re-hiring of series creator and showrunner Dan Harmon, who was fired after the third year to great controversy. Gleefully embracing his re-acceptance to Greendale Community College with the vigor and aplomb of a schoolwide game of the Floor is Lava, Harmon took the show to new heights, welcoming back John Oliver to the show as Professor Ian Duncan and ushering in the arrival of Jonathan Banks as the delightfully abrasive criminology teacher Buzz Hickey. The show also bid adieu to former series regulars Troy Barnes (Donald Glover) and Pierce Hawthorne (Chevy Chase). Perhaps the season’s finest addition to the Little Show That Could was “Basic Intergluteal Numismatics”, an episode revolving around a throwaway joke from three seasons earlier that helped move the series forward tonally and structurally, all while parodying David Fincher and the recently-concluded series The Killing. Well done, Dan Harmon, and welcome back to Greendale; you’re already accepted. Kevin Brettauer
Network: CBS
Cast: Julianna Margulies, Matt Czuchry, Archie Panjabi, Graham Phillips, Makenzie Vega, Alan Cumming, Zach Grenier, Matthew Goode, Josh Charles, Christine Baranski
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The Good Wife
CBS
Lawyers. They’re the scum of the earth, the catalyst to our salvation, and the fodder for damn good television. Archbishops to the politicians, they may have supplanted our priests with their minions, our lowly public servants, but they’re no less Catholic in their relentless retribution of the human spirit — and their abjection to the god almighty dollar. All that lawyers (and politicians) embody is personified in the glossy, good-looking characters that populate The Good Wife, whom we flock to with the airing of each episode, for which we are rewarded with some of the best writing in television. (As much as we adore the actors in this deservedly award-winning show, shouldn’t it be the writers whose praise we sing? Perhaps we’ve lost sight.) Funny, intense, and smart, The Good Wife is consistently progressive in its depiction of intelligent women, here in the forms of the ever-watchable, preternaturally composed Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies) and the brilliant but ruthless Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski). In this ongoing season, the dreamy Cary Agos (Matt Czuchry) becomes mired in the dark machinations of his profession. It seems they are sacrificing one of their own, and we cannot look away. Perhaps Alicia and Diane can lead Cary out of his seemingly impossible situation. Perhaps, too, the highly intelligent and crafty Kalinda Sharma (Archie Panjabi) has been seduced by the Devil (in the form of the slick, sexy Lemond Bishop, played by Mike Colter). He holds us enthralled as he dances her ever closer to the edge of her own abyss. Karen Zarker
Network: HBO
Cast: Thomas Middleditch, T. J. Miller, Zach Woods, Zach Woods, Kumail Nanjiani
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Silicon Valley
HBO
All this, and brains too? Yes, there’s more to HBO’s smart new comedy Silicon Valley than Big Bang Theory meets Entourage. This charming “Bro’s before CEO’s” tale of computer geeks hitting the big league proved to be the real feel good hit of the year. The show is a true underdog “Zero to hero” yarn as our dorky dukes carry their potentially game-changing “Pied Piper” compression app from their windowless basements to a “death-or-glory” showdown at the prestigious “TechCrunch Disrupt” competition. Our lovable losers intend to win… even if shaggy scruff Bachman has to “Personally jerk off every guy in the audience”. Although they swiftly realize that may prove a challenge too far, as they’ve only a ten minutes slot and there’s “Likely 800 guys there” — cue the gang’s considered and hilarious “MJT” and “DTF” calculations. It’s surely another beloved cult classic in waiting from the gonzo genius Mike Judge (Beavis & Butthead, Office Space, Idiocracy). Who knew the “Weissman Compression Quality Rating” could be so intensely compelling? Turns out a 5.2 is pretty damn spectacular. You’ll laugh! You’ll cry! You’ll hurl in a dumpster! Matt James
Network: HBO
Cast: Frances McDormand, Richard Jenkins, Zoe Kazan, Rosemarie DeWitt, John Gallagher, Jr.
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Olive Kitteridge
HBO
Frances McDormand gives the performance of a lifetime in Olive Kitteridge, HBO’s adaptation of Elizabeth Strout’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel about life in the coastal town of Crosby, Maine. Her portrayal of Olive, a stubborn woman who always says and does the wrong thing, is masterful, and it reinforces her legacy as one of our most gifted actresses at a time when older actresses are in dire need of juicy roles into which they can sink their teeth. She is supported by an excellent cast of character actors, including Richard Jenkins as her devoted husband Henry, Zoe Kazan as Henry’s endearing employee Denise, and John Gallagher Jr. as Olive and Henry’s long-suffering son Christopher. The novel was considered unfilmable, but director Lisa Cholodenko and screenwriters Strout and Jane Anderson have rendered it beautifully and brought its major themes to the forefront. Olive Kitteridge is television at its most sophisticated, and reminds us why HBO was and always will be the leader. Jon Lisi
15 – 11
Network: Comedy Central
Cast: Ilana Glazer, Abbi Jacobson
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Broad City
Comedy Central
Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson have created a series that’s partly absurdist and partly a genuine take on friendship. Broad City’s Ilana and Abbi are constantly getting into ridiculous situations, but no matter how weird or how over the top it is, the sincere friendship between the two grounds the series enough so that it doesn’t turn into a comedy exercise. The first season’s finale, where a fancy seafood birthday dinner for Abbi turns into a battle of wills between their food and Ilana’s severe seafood allergy, is perhaps the greatest encapsulation of that dynamic. That scene is simultaneously ludicrous and sweet, and it’s in moments like these that Broad City achieves both comedy gold and character likability. Apart from the episodes where story and bits come together seamlessly, the series also knows how to play up its running gags perfectly. Whether contrasting Ilana’s completely lax work environment with Abbi’s stricter job, or Ilana’s seemingly endless quest to kiss Abbi, or Lincoln’s repeated attempts to make his take his relationship with Ilana to the next level, Broad City always finds the funny, the ridiculous, and the oddly sweet in every situation. 
J.M. Suarez
Network: HBO
Cast: Peter Dinklage, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington, Aidan Gillen
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Game of Thrones
HBO
Season four of Game of Thrones takes everything the show is already known and loved for — political intrigue, gruesome violence, trashy sexual exploits, major character death — and pushes them each to their absolute limits. The season is marked by most major plotlines hitting their greatest climactic peak in some time, while more ambitious production give us an episode-long, Lord of the Rings-scale battle, not to mention the most horrifying character death in a series that basically gets off on them — you know the one. If Game of Thrones has been criticized for spinning its wheels in previous seasons, season four should be recognized as having capitalized on the slow-building tension by delivering payoff after satisfying payoff, whether dramatic or, more often than not, tragic. Colin Fitzgerald
Network: FX
Cast: Louis C.K., Hadley Delany, Ursula Parker, Susan Kelechi Watson
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Louie
FX
After an extended absence, season four of Louis C.K.’s brilliant Louie arrived both older and wiser. The singalong theme tune has gone and the tone is lonelier and more reflective. It’s a challenging watch at times, particularly during the dying embers of a six-episode story arc following Louis’ doomed romance with Amia. As always, Louis C.K. refuses to conform to sitcom traditions, preferring to dance around the real and surreal like some hotwired, jazzy beatnik daring you to keep up. You never know where he’s heading next, the gutter or the stars.
But Louis C.K. remains a sharp storyteller who’ll make you think and his unique sketches of life amuse, haunt and puzzle long after the credits roll. He’ll still make you wet yourself laughing, though. Vindictive garbage men, “Bang Bang” feasts, dildo shopping, “accidentally” punching Yvonne Strahovski, almost capsizing Pamela Adlon’s bathtub — when it comes to comedy on Louie, you name it, you got it. Some may prefer Louie‘s “early funny ones”, but there are deeper and richer ideas to be found in season four — lessons for the long haul.
While Louis C.K. himself is in fine form, it’s Charles Grodin as the exasperated doctor who steals this season. Chastising Louie over his petty love pains he reminds him others endure real suffering, such as folks whose “bones dissolve” or are “born without eyes or a face”. “Nobody Cares!” he sighs. It’s the hard, knock-knock life. Matt James
Network: Fox
Cast: H. Jon Benjamin, John Roberts, Dan Mintz, Eugene Mirman, Kristen Schaal
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Bob’s Burgers
Fox
There are hundreds of sitcoms on TV; a few of them are actually funny. So it’s especially surprising that the funniest of all of them also happens to be animated. Simply put, Bob’s Burgers is to the 2010s what The Simpsons were to the ’90s, only without all of the media attention and merchandise. (This decade isn’t even half gone yet, so all of that will be coming any day now.) Bob Belcher has never won a safari trip to Africa in an old box of animal crackers or defeated two different types of evil robot armies in two separate episodes, because this is the rare sitcom that’s not only grounded in reality, but also has the potential for any number of absurd situations. For instance, the season 5 premiere closed with Carly Simon singing with the cast of their school play, a mash-up of Working Girl and Die Hard.
Critics are only just starting to warm up to the show, perhaps because it appeals to regular, otherwise boring people. But the moral of Bob’s Burgers is that even a relatively ordinary family of burger-flippers like the Belchers can find themselves racing in a pedicab in order to win a local TV contest or enrolling in a bogus “stuntman school” in order to help out a friend. In one of season four’s best episodes, a kid named “regular-sized Andy” helps the Belcher kids swipe a cart full of chocolate from an uncaring train attendant. After learning that he’s allergic to chocolate, the kids ask him why he bothered to help. “Just for the fun of it”, he responds. Sometimes TV, and life in general, needs a little ridiculousness: just for the fun of it. Jessy Krupa
Network: Showtime
Cast: Dominic West, Ruth Wilson, Maura Tierney, Joshua Jackson, Julia Goldani Telles
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The Affair
Showtime
Many of 2014’s films emphasize the he-said/she-said dynamic, with flicks like Gone Girl, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, The Blue Room, and The Heart Machine dissecting relationships based on the discrepancies between what men and women saw. While those movies were quite effective in their own right, they didn’t have the luxury of expanding this narrative the way Showtime’s stunning The Affair does. Creators Sarah Treem and Hagai Levi turn what could be just a soapy melodrama and invite us to look closer into the complex lives of its protagonists (played by Dominic West and a fearless Ruth Wilson) who are having an extramarital relationship. Week after week the show delivers mordacious commentary on social status, gender and marriage, all while being the only television show in recent years that begs for repeat viewings to take in all the rich detail of the scripts. Jose Solis
10 – 6
Network: BBC
Cast: Dylan Bruce, Tatiana Maslany, Jordan Gavaris
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Orphan Black
BBC
Orphan Black is not just a seriously smart sci/fi series; it’s also a showcase for the best actress working in television today. Tatiana Maslany’s more than seven character roles is a feat of acting magic. She manages to make them all distinct and separate from one another in a way that makes it easy to forget that it’s one person playing all these parts. Apart from Maslany’s performance, Orphan Black is a science fiction thriller filled with clones, nefarious organizations, religious cults, and a twisty plot that rarely disappoints. In putting Maslany front and center, the series also underscores the variety of three-dimensional roles for women that exist when they’re not reduced to reacting to the men around them. In addition, the series represents sexual and gender identities in such matter-of-fact terms as to also demonstrate that they are but one of a number of traits that make up a compelling character, rather than the reason a character is compelling. Orphan Black continues to build upon Maslany’s brilliant performance without sacrificing story, certainly making it one of the best shows of the year. 
J.M. Suarez
Network: IFC
Cast: Scott Aukerman, Reggie Watts
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Comedy Bang! Bang!
IFC
It was a banner year for IFC’s absurdist talk show Comedy Bang! Bang!, in which the scope of the show’s sketches and gags — an update of “The Tell-Tale Heart” in which the Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne is haunted by a stolen audio sampler, for instance — finally began to match the ingenuity of the off-kilter interview segments. Creator and host Scott Aukerman and “bandleader” Reggie Watts collected the broadest cast of comedians in the show’s history, from series and podcast regulars Paul F. Tompkins, Andy Daly and Lauren Lapkus to superstars Fred Armisen and Dane Cook. Add in celebrity spots from Kevin Smith, Alison Brie, and Tony Hawk, plus cameos from the Lonely Island, Josh Groban, the National, and Future Islands, and you’ve got one of the weirdest variety shows on television. With the announcement of a 40-episode fourth season slated for early 2015, it’s also one of the most ambitious shows of its kind. Colin Fitzgerald
Network: HBO
Cast: Lena Dunham, Zosia Mamet, Jemima Kirke, Allison Williams, Adam Driver, Andrew Rannells
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Girls
HBO
It’s been a true pleasure to see Lena Dunham grow as an actress, writer and director with each season of Girls; she continues to make the conscious effort to stay out of her comfort zone and reach deeper into the characters she writes and the one she plays. In the show’s third season, we see her Hannah Horvath sabotage her professional and personal lives because they were becoming just “too real” for her. Dunham knows that none of the characters in the show are particularly likeable, but she is so confident in her skills that she lets the audience’s rage and frustration be aimed towards Hannah, whose self-destruction inspires more compassion than schadenfreude. The season is also notable for containing the single best episode in the series yet, the strangely melancholy “Beach House”, which sees the girls leave the city and find chaos in paradise. Jose Solis
Network: Netflix
Cast: Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright, Kate Mara, Michael Kelly, Molly Parker, Michael Gill, Mahershala Ali, Gerald McRaney, Nathan Darrow
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House of Cards
Netflix
While Kevin Spacey’s Southern accent continues to skirt the lines of authenticity, House of Cards has not lost any momentum, particularly in its thrill-a-minute second season. The first season of Netflix’s first major dramatic series outlined Congressman Frank Underwood’s (Kevin Spacey) ability to manipulate and deceive his way to the top; season two now sets his machinations in motion, with Underwood’s eye on the biggest prize there is: the presidency. Joined by his wife Claire (the icily perfect Robin Wright), Underwood cleaves his way through Washington D.C.’s political infrastructure, spanning the news media to the very executive itself. With two terrifying and determined knocks on wood in the season finale, the stage is perfectly set for season three. However, there are more than a few inklings provided throughout these 13 episodes that for all of Underwood’s scheming, one can’t build his way to the top without leaving some exploitable weaknesses in his wake. Even though this run of House of Cards feels like an interstitial rush between the first and soon-to-be-released third seasons, Netflix’s flagship series remains an addictive and impressive achievement. Brice Ezell
Network: NBC
Cast: Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen, Caroline Dhavernas, Aaron Abrams
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Hannibal
NBC
There are at least three or four “what the fuck?” moments in every episode of NBC’s Hannibal: proper, wide-eyed, hand on mouth, jaw-dropping “What is this? Did you see that? Did I imagine it? Where’s my mom?” moments. Hannibal‘s aim is to blow your mind on a weekly basis — in style. It’s hard not to believe season two was some elaborate mass hallucination. Folks sewn up inside horses? Sure. A woman sliced-up like one of Damien Hirst’s sharks? Check. Trippy ménage à trois? Oui. Heavily sedated comedians eating their own leg? M’kay. A doctor with a stag’s head? All aboard. A crucifixion in Speedos? Dive in. Lobotomised beestung eyeless old men? Yup, them too. In case it’s not clear already, Hannibal is a rollercoaster ride through hell. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any more batshit crazy, the season finale flips it to 11 and literally guts all of the surviving cast before your very eyes. Kids, Hannibal is what your television looks like on drugs. It probably takes a sick mind not only to make this, but arguably one to watch it too. Then again, if loving Hannibal is wrong, I don’t want to be right. Matt James
5 – 1
Network: FX
Cast: Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Noah Emmerich, Maximiliano Hernandez, Holly Taylor, Keidrich Sellati
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The Americans
FX
Season two of his award-winning, Reagan-era drama not only continues to bring the chill of the Cold War into the homes and neighborhoods of America’s comfortable middle class -– it lowers the temperature. The Americans is relentlessly addictive in its intimate depiction of Soviet vs. US interests, as depicted by the stories of a handful of compelling characters living in a suburb of D.C., courtesy of creator and former CIA officer, Joe Weisberg. The pressure is increased in season two, as the spies we’ve come to know and care about are compelled to endure increased pressure not only from their KGB handlers and the encroaching FBI, but also their own conflicting identities and desires. Indeed, Elizabeth (Keri Russell) and Philip Jennings’ (Matthew Rhys) internal struggles are as riveting as the political drama that unfolds in a variety of violent ways; from thrilling espionage in a submarine parts factory, wherein Elizabeth’s steel-like discipline slips with compassion for a terrified security guard, to the soul-crushing demise of the beautiful FBI informant Nina (Annet Mahendru). The season’s finalé has me wondering if Elizabeth and Phillip’s imminent downfall will be not at the hands of political forces, but by those of their own children; specifically, their very American, inquisitive teenage daughter, Paige (Holly Taylor), who’s trying out her own identities, and doing a bit of spying, herself. 
Karen Zarker
Network: Netflix
Cast: Taylor Schilling, Michael J. Harney, Kate Mulgrew, Laura Prepon, Uzo Aduba, Danielle Brooks, Natasha Lyonne, Taryn Manning
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Orange is the New Black
Netflix
A series centered on a women’s prison could’ve very easily devolved into cliché and caricature. Fortunately for Netflix’s Orange is the New Black, it was immediately apparent that is not the case when it first debuted. The show’s second season builds upon a group of characters that range from serious criminals to those in prison for smaller infractions or non-violent crimes. The series’ biggest strength is its ability to blend the reality of prison life, in all its respective mundanity and horror, with the humor that runs the gamut from the dark to the ridiculous. Furthermore, its depiction of so many different kinds of women and their relationships with one another has rightfully established the show as a unique presence in the television landscape. Orange is the New Black understands how to balance story with character, without a doubt, but it is the women of the series that make it so immensely watchable and keep the audience invested enough to marathon a full season the instant it becomes available. J.M. Suarez
Network: HBO
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, Michelle Monaghan, Michael Potts, Torey Kittles
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True Detective
HBO
In a year of intense and important TV debuts — The Affair, The Flash, Helix, Fargo, The Knick, and more — Nic Pizzolatto and Cary Joji Fukunaga’s wildly inventive, visually stunning and philosophically provocative True Detective stands alone. With a narrative molded by the works of H.P. Lovecraft, Chambers, Moore and Morrison and seemingly emerging fully formed from the head of a literary Zeus, the show’s eight-episode first season tore down the confines of how we view television and showed us what the medium can really do. Brilliant performances by movie star luminaries Woody Harrelson and Michelle Monaghan helped bolster already-brilliant writing, set design and direction. Best of all is Matthew McConaughey in a career-best performance, starring as the philosophically nihilistic Detective Rust Cohle, no doubt the breakout TV character of the year. All of this adds up to define, in no uncertain terms, a clear place for True Detective in even the pickiest version of the TV pantheon. Kevin Brettauer
Network: FX
Cast: Timothy Olyphant, Nick Searcy, Jere Burns, Joelle Carter, Jacob Pitts
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Justified
FX
With the sun about to set on Harlan County, it’s perhaps fitting that things got a little darker in season five of Justified. Even from the early days of this lovingly crafted, modern “Western noir”, you knew things were only heading south, and that Raylan Givens and Boyd Crowder’s fates were inexplicably and inescapably linked. Some things you just can’t outrun. This year’s “Big Bad” was the psychotic — aren’t they always? — Darryl Crowe Jr, played with wild, trigger happy menace by Michael Rapaport. Crowe’s a character so despicable he’d feed his own family to his gators to get what he wants. The season’s most memorably gripping scene though belonged, typically, to Boyd Crowder. Following a tense, drawn out, face-off with Ethan Picker, Crowder coolly tosses him a pack of cigarettes with explosive, messy consequences. “Fire in the hole”, indeed. Season five has dressed the stage for a Shakespearian tragedy of a finale, the slow turning of the screw drawing our players toward their endgame in season six. Now that Ava and Raylan are united to finish Boyd, his days are surely numbered, though one doubts Givens will quite reach Florida. Either way, there will be blood. Matt James
Network: Amazon
Cast: Jeffrey Tambor, Amy Landecker, Jay Duplass, Gaby Hoffmann, Judith Light
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Transparent
Amazon
Amazon Prime’s groundbreaking series Transparent is the kind of show that feels so wholly of its time and so sure of its place that there is never a sense of any kind of misstep, regardless of how uncharted the premise. Though the series is ostensibly about a family dealing with a transsexual parent who has recently come out, Transparent is just as much about the changes that happen in families over time. What makes it so unique, though, is how unapologetically it deals with these changes — gender, sexuality, relationship status, and aging — and treats them all as equally important and mundane all at once. It succeeds in balancing so much so well because it never takes itself too seriously, yet also understands how vulnerable the characters are and treats them care. Beautifully written and acted, the series makes the Pfefferman family relatable, no matter the circumstances, which makes Transparent a brilliant and welcome surprise to this year’s crop of television shows. J.M. Suarez