Tag Archives: Top 10 TV

Top Tens – TV: Top 10 TV Series (8) My Name

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(8) MY NAME (NETFLIX 2021)

 

Funnily enough, I happened upon this Korean action thriller drama not through another Korean entry in this top ten at about the same time (my very next entry in fact), but because of the abject failure of the first season of The Rings of Power.

Not directly, that is, but through some Youtube commentator – that I can’t even remember – pointing to the failure of that series to depict its female lead Galadriel’s quest for revenge, at least plausibly or for any audience engagement in her character, in contrast to this series doing it right.

And My Name does the roaring rampage of revenge right – as well as a female lead that is not as insufferable as Galadriel in the Rings of Power, nor the proverbial “girlboss”. I don’t entirely agree with that term, given that it is too widely used in criticism – although if one character embodied the term, it was Galadriel in The Rings of Power (“both a Mary Sue and a Karen”), succeeding effortlessly and failing upwards.

Contrast the female lead in My Name, Yoon Ji-Woo, bent on avenging her father’s death by proving herself as a member of his criminal gang, who has to fight every step of the way, usually literally and at visceral price or at least high cost (to pretty much everyone involved) – indeed higher than she ever could have known, as is ultimately revealed.

 

 

 

RATING: 4 STARS****

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Top Tens – TV: Top 10 TV Series (9) Beef

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(9) BEEF (NETFLIX 2023)

 

Beef was my favorite (non-genre) TV series of 2023 (and hence former wildcard tenth place entry as best of 2023).

It’s a series by Korean-American showrunner Lee Sung Jin, featuring an Asian-American cast led by Steven Yeun and Ali Wong – and is virtually a parable or fable of the all-consuming, self-destructive nature of vengeance as its two star-crossed leads escalate a feud originating from random road rage into a roaring rampage of revenge. And oh boy – that leads to some very dark place indeed.

Originally a mini-series, there’s a second season on the way – but by way of anthology series, with a new cast to a similar premise.

 

FANTASY & SF

 

Not really – except for some literally toxic trippy moments

 

COMEDY

 

Yes, indeed – dark comedy

 

RATING: 4 STARS****

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Top Tens – TV: Top 10 TV Series (10) The Gentlemen

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Netflix promotional art

 

(10) THE GENTLEMEN (NETFLIX 2024)

 

“Everything you want from a Guy Ritchie caper”.

 

My usual wildcard tenth place entry for best of the present or previous year – in this case, The Gentlemen as best TV series in 2024. (Disclaimer – I have yet to see Shogun, which from what I heard might well have eclipsed The Gentlemen for this spot).

The Gentlemen is a spin-off created by Guy Ritchie for Netflix from his 2019 film of that name. By spin-off, I don’t mean a spin-off from a character or characters in the film, or even the plot, but the premise of the film of English aristocratic estates fallen on hard times and seeking a reversal of fortune by high times instead, by growing cannabis on a plantation scale.

Like the film, it profits from a charismatic cast with good chemistry – and the usual Ritchie narrative twists or gags, such as that chicken suit from the standout (black) comedy scene of the series.

 

FANTASY & SF

 

Not really – Ritchie tends to steer clear of fantasy or SF elements, except perhaps for a certain comedic surrealism.

Speaking of which…

 

COMEDY

 

The works of Ritchie tend to be action-comedies – and The Gentlemen is no exception, albeit Ritchie’s comedy tends to be black, character-driven, and dry.

 

RATING: 4 STARS****

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Top Tens – TV: Top 10 TV Series

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Yes – it’s an Emmy!

 

Exactly what it says on the tin – my Top 10 TV Series.

Well, perhaps not quite exactly as these are my top ten non-‘genre’ TV series – that is, excluding ‘genre’ TV series such as fantasy or SF, animated, or comedy series, all of which have their own top tens.

That said, occasionally fantasy or SF elements pop up in my non-genre TV series, just not enough as to rank them as fantasy or SF – but I will have a special section in each entry to note fantasy or SF elements. Also, almost every TV series has comedic elements or at least the odd gag – after all, one could classify almost every narrative work by the comedy-tragedy dichotomy of classical Greek drama – so I will also have a special section for comedy in each entry.

And yes – I know animation is more a medium than its own genre, although animated TV series are predominantly fantasy or SF genre.

Anyway, these are my Top 10 TV Series.