Last year was an interesting one for TV. The medium has evolved to encompass richer visual storytelling than ever before, and the new releases over the last 12 months are ample evidence. The TV beat has compiled our favorites from this array of excellence in long-form narratives, from the best animated series to the grittiest crime dramas.
— Senior Arts Editor Mina Tobya and TV Beat Editor Morgan Sieradski
“Arcane” Season Two
Picking up immediately after Jinx’s (Ella Purnell, “Sweetpea”) attack on the Piltover Council, the second season of “Arcane” centers two main plotlines: the growing conflict between Piltover and Zaun and the downfall of Hextech. With many characters at their lowest, the show dedicates time to exploring their personalities and dynamics. Characters like Jayce (Kevin Alejandro, “Lucifer”) and Ekko (Reed Shannon, “The Wilds”) get a chance to shine, which makes the show’s emotional beats hit harder than ever.
Season two of “Arcane” is also a masterclass in visual storytelling. With its expressive characters, tense action and overall attention to detail, the show remains unmatched in animation. Every scene is packed with intentionality, down to even the most minor characters. The fight scenes, which season one was praised heavily for, are back and better than ever, punctuated by the show’s original soundtrack. All of these factors combined to produce a fantastically rich world that leaves fans eager for more.
While this season’s pacing struggles a bit compared to its predecessor, “Arcane” still cements itself as one of the best series of 2024. I would highly recommend it to anyone with an appreciation for animation — just make sure to bring tissues.
TV Beat Editor Morgan Sieradski can be reached at kmsier@umich.edu.
“Secret Level”
With the sheer brilliance and innovation that “Arcane” brought to the video game adaptation scene, one could only hope that their favorite pastimes would someday also be animated into an incredible adaptation. Fortunately, directors Tim Miller (“Deadpool”) and Dave Wilson (“Bloodshot”) provided us with “Secret Level,” a collection of snapshots demonstrating the spectrum of creativity that comes with designing the story in a video game.
To say they pay homage to the intensity and excitement the games bring to players would be an understatement. Each pocket episode brings another level of enjoyment to people who are both familiar and unfamiliar with the game being portrayed. Unreal Tournament is a classic first-person shooter game that has not been updated in ages, and thus younger audiences are not familiar with just how game-changing it was. The episode based on it reflects its exhilaration and intensity, all with the story of a robot underdog who teems with revolution. Another notable episode mentions a not-yet-released game inspired by Pac-Man, which turns the classic 8-bit game into a gritty exploration-based game where the lovable character turns bloodthirsty, always demanding that you eat everything and anything in front of you.
There is nothing nicer than being able to see the love poured into this project. From independent developers to larger corporations, video games made at all stages have a story to tell. “Secret Level” provides a loving anthology to pay tribute to the hidden stories behind these beloved games.
Daily Arts Writer Avery Adaeze Uzoije can be reached at auzoije@umich.edu.
“Baby Reindeer”
In just seven episodes, Richard Gadd (“Against the Law”) manages to construct one of the most poignant, vulnerable and stylistically fresh narratives of the year. Through his limited series “Baby Reindeer,” which he both wrote and starred in, Gadd lays himself emotionally bare to the audience as he recounts his personal experience as a victim of stalking and sexual abuse. Each moment of the series is steeped in tragedy and regret, but Gadd continues to tell his story anyway because it must be told. He recounts the events of his trauma, his self-destructive struggle to cope with the pain in its aftermath and his eventual journey toward healing through his comedic art. Along the way, he takes time to mention all those who were hurt. Incredible performances from the ensemble cast denote the intensity of emotion in every scene and its contribution to the protagonist’s downward spiral. It’s a breathtaking project and it deserves all the praise there is to give.
Senior Arts Editor Mina Tobya can be reached at mtobya@umich.edu.
“The Penguin”
The mob genre likes to keep women in a box. From “The Sopranos” to “Goodfellas,” women are either overly sexualized to the point of becoming props or turned into homemakers that, funnily enough, also turn into props. It’s a vicious cycle — whenever there’s action, morally grey choices to be made or respect to be earned, women in the mob genre have to hear about it after the fact.
“The Penguin” changes that. It situates the formidable Sofia Falcone (Cristin Millioti, “How I Met Your Mother”) at the center of a power war that threatens the entirety of Gotham. Placing her alongside the eccentric, scheming Penguin (Colin Farrell, “True Detective”) for the first half of the series allows the audience to get to know her, empathize with her and follow her through the heinous crimes she commits to secure power. Episode four, “Cent’anni,” may be the best episode of the series, situating her trauma alongside her present grasp at revenge in a whirlwind of violent catharsis.
Stylistically, the show maintains a gritty atmosphere as the backdrop to this criminal world which pulls in audiences immediately. Gotham comes to life, fleshing out its catastrophes and the damage done to regular people by the whims of a few super-powered villains. It’s a grounded comic adaptation with something to say about power, its distribution and its steep cost.
Senior Arts Editor Mina Tobya can be reached at mtobya@umich.edu.
“Shrinking” Season Two
There’s nothing better to do on a cold, snowy day than bust out your laptop and throw on “Shrinking” season two. It will fuel those endorphins that dramatic comedies yearn to shoot through your veins. In season two, the show continues to explore the lives of three therapists, Jimmy Laird (Jason Segel, “How I Met Your Mother”), Gaby (Jessica Williams, “Love Life”), Paul Rhodes (Harrison Ford, “1923”) and their patients through hilarious and upsetting scenes. Having dedicated season one to character development, each character in the show begins a new journey toward the future, whether by finally dealing with personal trauma, mending relationships with family and friends or addressing the pasts that haunt them. Characters are challenged to open up to their therapists by revealing PTSD symptoms, forgiving characters who killed family members and working through self-esteem stemming from abusive relationships. While these heavy elements of the show are hard to watch, the writers balance the sadness with well-timed jokes that poke fun at each character’s personality traits in a lighthearted way.
“Shrinking” is a one-of-a-kind show, mainly because it focuses on therapy, a vulnerable space in people’s lives that is rarely portrayed so centrally in the media. The writers empathetically depict characters with a range of mental health issues like social anxiety, OCD and depression. Alongside the patients featured in the show, the characters around them consistently make major life decisions, like whether to have children, get out of situationships or to deal with infidelity. By highlighting issues that ordinary people deal with, the series connects audience members to the cast, making viewers feel understood and represented. The only element of the show that doesn’t ring true to real life is Jimmy’s unrealistic therapeutic methods that continue into this season, but those make the show unique and worthwhile all the same. To be relatable, endearing, hilarious and multi-faceted is a tall order but “Shrinking” rises to the occasion.
Daily Arts Writer Eliza Shearing can be reached at elizamae@umich.edu.
“Bad Sisters” Season Two
“Bad Sisters” is one of the greatest shows in the history of television and I cannot recommend it enough. Season two highlights the recently-widowed Grace Williams (Anne-Marie Duff, “The Salisbury Poisonings”), her new beau Ian (Owen McDonnell, “Killing Eve”) and the other four Garvey sisters as they delve into muddy waters once again. With lots of new characters joining the cast, season two opens similarly to season one with the sisters dumping a body out of the back of a trunk. We later learn that Grace unfortunately passed away and that her closest relationships were not as close as they appeared. The sisters spend the season discovering what caused Grace’s death and who was to blame in order to serve their loving sibling the justice she so rightly deserved.
Along the way, the Garveys run into trouble with the two new detectives on their sister’s case as well as their own personal affairs such as Bibi’s (Sarah Greene, “Dublin Murders”) surrogacy and Ursula’s (Eva Birthistle, “The Delinquent Season”) drug stealing problem. Despite new drama, this season sticks to the show’s roots, with the Garveys’ normal tomfoolery — like their fun-filled parties and rousing sex lives — mixed with a slew of problems to discover, and others to cover up.
There is simply nothing to not like about “Bad Sisters.” As a woman who has many people in herlife whom I consider sisters, it’s difficult to not imagine myself as another one of the Garveys. Each sister has her own unique characteristics and style, from the whimsical Becka to the organized Bibi. Who doesn’t need a little more female empowerment, right? “Bad Sisters” isn’t just a feminist’s dream — portraying five strong and independent women who have each other’s backs — it also crosses over into many other genres. It’s a drama, comedy and mystery all wrapped into one. Each style takes its role very seriously, leaving a slice of the pie for every viewer’s taste.
This season, the Garvey sisters face unimaginable amounts of pain, anxiety, confusion and anger, but they triumph and come out of it together. While a third season is unlikely, I will cherish these two for the rest of my life and will stop at nothing to encourage others do the same.
Daily Arts Writer Eliza Shearing can be reached at elizamae@umich.edu.
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