SHOWS YA WATCHED
Can include live-action TV, cartoons, anime, etc, whatever ya watched or didn't watch -- in separate categories or as part of the one countdown, etc again.
LIVE-ACTION
7. The Expanse (Season 3)
What were y'all doing, ignoring one of the best sci-fi shows of the decade? The adaptation of James S.A. Corey's novel series reached a fever pitch in its final season on SyFy, once again delivering star-making performances and movie-level special effects in the conclusion of its long-running Earth-Mars war arc, then moving on to a taut and intense cosmic horror plot that shakes all of its foundations to the ground. It's a damn good thing Amazon picked it up when SyFy cancelled it, because the latter story's ending sets up groundbreaking new material for all of the characters involved and it would be a crime if it wasn't seen through to the end.
6. Legion (Season 2)
The second season of Legion didn't quite live up to the promise of the fantastic first season: some of the plots dragged needlessly, there were a couple of episodes that felt like filler, it was a little frustrating to watch the villain effortlessly punk David again and again, and it could get deep up its own ass far too often -- and I'm saying that as someone who counts Hannibal, Mr. Robot, and, yes, the first season of this show as some of my all-time favorites. But what worked about the season worked so goddamn well that I can't not recognize it. From the always astounding performance by Dan Stevens as troubled telepath David Haller; to the excellent villainous turns by various actors playing the same main antagonist; to the surreal, mesmerizing, sometimes horrific visuals as David's war with his nemesis gets ever more intense, which range from a genuine dance battle to an intense all-out psychic war in the desert (a climactic scene so goofy, over-the-top, and yet genuinely satisfying after two seasons of buildup that I've watched it dozens of times). I just hope the third season picks up this season's slack.
5. Channel Zero: The Dream Door
If you haven't been watching Channel Zero, SyFy's annual anthology miniseries based on acclaimed internet horror stories, you're doing yourself a disservice. The Dream Door offers a change of pace from previous seasons, eschewing surreal realm distortion and mental illness in favor of a very grounded threat -- if one can call a woman's childhood imaginary friend being summoned into reality a grounded threat. Over six lightning-paced episodes, this woman and her possibly unfaithful husband struggle to stay together as her demented contortionist buddy Pretzel Jack tears their life into bloody pieces just to make her happy again. While it eventually gets more into violent action-horror than the more deliberate and haunting pace of prior seasons, it never sacrifices the show's previous strengths: layered and likable characters, a strong emotional backbone, and unpredictable scares delivered in interesting ways. Go check it out, it deserves more love!
4. Atlanta (Season 2)
Holy shit, why wasn't I watching this before? Consider me in love with Donald Glover's mad genius -- it's hilarious, relevant, and perfectly surreal in equal measure. I don't know how much I can write beyond that without giving away some great gags or rehashing what's already been written in the scores of articles praising it. I can say that "Teddy Perkins" is one of the most unexpectedly nightmarish things I've ever seen... anywhere, though.
3. Daredevil (Season 3)
The story of the Marvel Netflixverse is a tragic one, starting off with critically lauded event shows that everyone was talking about and slowly descending into ignored mediocrity until Disney's own streaming service put the kibosh on the whole thing. But at least we got to the point where Daredevil could be good again. In its final season, the show pulled us back almost to the heights of that first thrilling story, pitting the blind brawler against a returning Kingpin and a new, sickeningly brilliant Bullseye -- two of the best villains in the entire MCU. Whether the ending perfectly stuck the landing or not is up for debate, but I'm so happy that the writers decided to end on place that tied the show off in a complete bow, even if their teased plans for a fourth season will never see the light of day.
2. Barry (full review: http://thecommentsection.org/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8601&start=75#p269850)
Of the new ongoing shows I watched this year, none excited me for the future quite like Barry. Bill Hader's HBO passion project about a hitman trying to become an actor didn't exactly capture me at first; it starts off very funny and well made, but it just seemed like an elaborate black comedy satirizing the nature of acting and Hader's personal struggles. But as it went into the back half of its short season, its real ambitions became clear, and I was completely hooked. What started as a blood-spattered comedy ends up being a poignant, thrilling character study that shows off Hader's real acting chops, and it ends at such a high point that I can legitimately imagine it becoming the new Breaking Bad, albeit with a tone and feel all its own.
1. The Terror (full review: http://thecommentsection.org/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8601&start=75#p272928)
And now we have one for my all-time favorites. The Terror is quite simply one of the most enrapturing pieces of horror storytelling I've seen on the big or small screen. I don't know how to say again what I already said in my review, just because I love it so much from beginning to end that it almost feels disingenuous to write it all back again. It excels at every level a horror series should, from the beautifully icy atmosphere and suffocating audio to the rich story and characters to the original and creative scares, and I hold it in higher regard than any other piece of horror media or television in general that I've seen in the whole year. You need to be watching this one, even if only to see how a giant Inuit bear-monster can be dropped into a haunting period piece without sacrificing the tone or, well, terror.
ANIMATED
It's all anime here because the only other great cartoons I watched were Adventure Time (which, outside of the series finale, wasn't that good) and Steven Universe (which had just as many negatives as positives for me). Though speaking on that AT finale, the "Time Adventure" song is a perfect gut punch I'm absolutely never going to forget.
Honorable Mentions: Devilman Crybaby, which I've only just recently started despite hearing great things about it all year, because for some reason I procrastinate with a lot of really good anime. Not a lot to say about it yet other than holy fucking shit, but I imagine it's up there. Also Planet With and Hinamatsuri, both of which I fell off of for other things and need to finish.
5. Asobi Asobase
Pop Team Epic made waves earlier in the year for its oddball, surrealist sense of humor and zero-fucks-given attitude. Take all of that out of the Robot Chicken structure and slather it liberally into your average slice-of-life "cute girls do random things in a school club" show, and Asobi Asobase is born. I can't say much about this series, except that it made me laugh my ass off at least thrice an episode, for reasons I have trouble explaining.
4. My Hero Academia (Season 3) (full review: http://thecommentsection.org/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8601&start=75#p273320)
It's more My Hero. It's the world's hottest modern shonen for a reason. All Might continues to be the very best, like no one ever was.
3. Megalo Box
Megalo Box feels like an anime that would have aired on Toonami back in the days of Cowboy Bebop and the like; the days when plenty of anime fans got into gateway shows with just enough Western sensibilities mixed into the Eastern weirdness to translate perfectly. It's even got the resolution scaled and slightly blurred to look like something out of the late 90s / early 2000s. And it's a boxing anime about a scrappy underdog with a few character flaws climbing the ladder to find meaning in his life (much the same as the 50-year old show it was made as a tribute to), so the appeal is super clear -- even before you learn that this is a world where boxers wear deadly mechanized arms to do crippling damage to each other's bodies. The direction's stellar and the soundtrack's catchy as hell, too!
2. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 5: Vento Aureo
Little did I know that the year I officially got caught up on JoJo would be the year the anime finally resumed, after so long spent wondering whether the adaptation would stop with the fantastic Diamond Is Unbreakable. The tale of six gloriously gay teen gangsters taking a supernatural road trip across Italy is the first part of JoJo I read rather than watched, and seeing it finally animated adds more than I can convey to the experience. If you haven't been watching or you don't even know what a JoJo is, just watch this 50-second, zero context clip; if you laugh or are even slightly curious about it, the franchise is for you.
1. SSSS.Gridman
All right, admittedly I've only just started this one, so technically it shouldn't be allowed to be my #1 pick. But goddamn it, this is the Studio Trigger show I've been waiting for since Darling in the Franxx became a memetic mediocrity -- hell, ever since Kill la Kill, which they still haven't topped in my eyes. It's kickass mech action with hints of mystery underneath, and it's pretty much everything I wanted. I can't wait to see how it goes down from here.