Time To Fill The Void.

Things to watch now that it's over
We all know by now that Breaking Bad was the greatest television show ever made. So let's talk about what to watch to fill the void.


Adventure Time.

Hear me out, it's a wild card. I initially dismissed Adventure Time, as I'm sure most of you did, as more of this childish, My Little Pony ridiculousness. Loved by 25 year old men on reddit because they thought it would be ironic and funny at first, and accidentally got hooked. Just like saying fucking "yolo" and "swag". However, I was compelled to watch it recently because one of the few people who's opinions I generally defer to in matters of television recommended it. Turns out it's a wonderful, mature, hilariously refreshing comedy full of ridiculous non-sequiturs and an absurdly pretty visual style. The Lore and history of the Land of Ooo is one of the richest and most detailed and most emotionally stirring I've ever seen on television. Also, by later seasons, when the character's backstories are properly delved into, It becomes a harrowing emotional journey which I've heard of several grown-ups tearing up at. Even I get glassy-eyed at times. Watch it.

Sherlock.

Seriously, if you haven't seen this yet, you're doing yourself a disservice. It's only 6 episodes, you have no excuse. And the first episode of season 2, A Scandal In Belgravia, is my single favourite episode of television ever made. I am not exaggerating.

Doctor Who.

Just start from the beginning of the 2005 reboot, and watch it. Its dumb, and ridiculous, and cheesy, and stupid, and moronic, but it has so much charm, and so much good writing, that it's worth every flaw it has. It's just full of ideas. I mean fucking brimming. Here's an example: A ship has a distress beacon. there's lots of life signs on board. But it's empty. Turns out the ship is being run by futuristic, super high-tech clockwork robots, who have a series of portals into the life of Madame Du Pompadour, the ancient french aristocrat. The story follows the Doctor jumping back and forth through the ship into different points in her life to figure out what the robots want, and eventually fix them, while the Madame falls in love with him. 

The best scene involves The Doctor literally riding into a ball on a white horse, before whisking her away, he is stopped by a pompous man who declares:

"I am the King of France!"

"Oh yeah? Well I'm the Lord of Time."

Only a soulless monster would not love such a programme.

Black Mirror.

Another great British drama with only 6 episodes. Made by the incomparable Charlie Brooker, Black Mirror is a modern update on the theme of The Twilight Zone. Separate stories connected only by the theme of the dangers of technology and hubris, focusing mainly on our media and the complete overtake of our lives by the devices which surround us all the time. Your television, your phone, your computer. When they're on, they show us a dark reflection of what humans are capable of, and when they're off, we see a more literal black mirror.

All the episodes are on youtube in full HD. The episode "15 Million Merits" is definitely in my top 5 episodes of television ever. It's beautiful, it's a fantastically tight story, and the soundtrack is brilliant.

Game of Thrones.

Although this comes with the caveat of me imploring you on bended knee to read or listen to the books first, this programme, when considered separate to it's subject material, is one of the best ever made. We'll leave further discussion for a later date. Just watch it.

LOST.

Yeah, I know. Either you've never seen it and think it won't be very good because of all the hype (you're wrong, it's fantastic.) or you watched it when it first came out and don't want to go back again because you expected way too much resolution (a camp I once counted myself in). In both cases, ignore your instincts. Put the first episode on. Then the second. Feel the mystery, feel the characters, let it draw you in, and you'll remember why everyone harped on about it so bloody much when it was still on the telly.

House of Cards.

This show. Oh my God, this show.

It feels strange to call this Kevin Spacey's finest performance, but that's what it bloody feels like. Anyone who's seen him play John Doe, or Verbal Kint, or whatever his name was in American Beauty, will be ready to disagree with me. But you just need to watch this thing. You need to watch it yesterday. It's a deliciously complex political drama, based on the original British show of the same name. Kevin Spacey is Frank Underwood, a brilliant and ruthless congressman who, after being promised the job of Secretary of State by the newly appointed President, is passed over. he decides to use his considerable genius to topple the house of cards and get his revenge. Probably the best directed and produced and most beautiful show I've ever seen, this one should be right near the top of your list.

Arrested Development.

I'll put this simply: Arrested Development may be the funniest comedy ever put on a television screen which didn't involve John Cleese. I'm serious. I'm talking, The Simpsons, South Park, American Dad, Peep Show, Futurama and goddamned Black Books. But it won't be better than these shows the first time you watch it. I've seen the whole thing easily 4 times, and I think I might finally have noticed more than 90% of the jokes. I am not fucking with you. This is probably the most complex comedy ever. Some of the things in this show have had me unable to breath for hours. And the fourth season, released after the show had been cancelled for 8 years, is one of the most ambitious undertakings in modern television, and by G.O.B. did they pull it off.

Justified.
Timothy Olyphant plays Raylan Givens. A modern day U.S. Marshal and one of the coolest people on television. He wears cowboy boots, hates racists and shoots bad guys. It starts out as pure, escapist fun of the best kind. But Boyd Crowder, played by Walt Goggins, strolls into the mix and makes it not only one of the most interesting character-driven dramas in a long while, but one of the most enjoyable and entertaining shows to ever feature meth amphetamine.

It's also brilliantly written. Especially after the first season, when the show becomes a proper, serialised, novel-like story, exploring the different factions and feuds which exist between the old families of Harlan County. With some of the best and scariest villains in modern television.

And Finally-

There's one more. And you already know what it's going to be. Because everyone knows it. And everyone knows it's probably the best show ever. It's complex and brilliant and tragic and realistic and it wouldn't be caught dead selling merchandise in a comic-book retailer. I am of course talking about The Wire. 

The Wire is a very different show to Breaking Bad. It has a huge cast, and unlike Breaking Bad's tight, singular focus, The Wire is a sprawling epic, which starts as a show about the police investigating the criminal underworld, but continually expands to eventually paint a truly incredible and accurate picture of the city of Baltimore, Maryland. It has some of the strongest characters in the entire history of television. The acting, screenplay and dialogue is certainly better than anything you'll see on Game of Thrones, and the density of the story is riveting.

I'm going to stop trying to describe it, because I will never be able to do it justice. Just watch it. Please, just watch The Wire. And if you're one of those people who stopped after the first season, then go back and fucking well finish it!


This has been an Empirical Opinions Journal, allow me to play you out: