What I'm Watching On TV These Days

You know I love my television, and at this time of the year when all my stories start winding up and nothing new is on the horizon for a couple of months I get a bit panicky and start flailing around for something to watch that I haven't already seen. Unfortunately, I've pretty much exhausted everything I have the slightest interest in, so at the moment I am reduced to rewatching The Office - both UK and US, because Noodles decided she wanted to see the US one, and I told her she had to sit through the UK one first. It's been a few years since I last watched the UK one, and I still cringe in horror through a lot of it. And Finchy... UGH. Brilliant, though.

Nurse Jackie is one of those shows I hang out for every year, and then because there are only 10 episodes a season it seems to just come and go in the blink of an eye. Then the cycle starts again. I love it - it's smart, funny, full of awesome characters, and Merritt Wever (Zoey) is my ultimate girl crush - I am legit in love with her. (I was so excited when she turned up in the last few episodes of New Girl this season!)

Oh, Mad Men. I am going to be so devo when this finishes next year (or this year if Reddit conspiracy theories are to be believed). I know it gets a lot of haters, but I've been with this show from the start and I adore everything about it, even the frustrating symbolism and MEANING every tiny thing has. And if we don't find out what Bob Benson's deal is soon I'm going to bust.

Who isn't watching Game of Thrones? I'm not a book reader so I'm following along with the story in relative ignorance (aside from book wankers who can't resist dropping hints that make it easy to put two and two together), and loving it. This is another one that seems to come and go really quickly because of the shortness of the season. They sure pack a lot into those 10 episodes every year, though.

I don't even know where to start on the creepy awesomeness of Bates Motel. The casting of Freddie Highmore is spot on - his accent gets a bit shaky when he gets emotional, but he has the ticks and mannerisms and half-gentle half-sinister quietness of Anthony Perkins' Norman down pat. And the creators hit a goldmine with Vera Farmiga - she is superb as Norman's mother. Her scenes are equal parts terrifying and hilarious. There's a definite Twin Peaks vibe going on here, and I'm loving it to death. Now the impatient dance while waiting for it to come back next year. I want it nooooooooooooow!

Confession time: I used to intensely dislike Gillian Anderson, mostly because I couldn't stand Scully. She was pretty much the reason I never entirely embraced The X Files, though I did like a lot of the stand alone episodes. However, I have come full circle after watching her in The Fall - she is brilliant. And beautiful. And such a good actress. This is a gritty Irish crime drama where she plays a British cop brought in to review a murder case in Belfast, only to realise it's the work of a serial killer. The serial killer is revealed right at the beginning and we see his life as well. It's so tense and creepy, and occasionally hard to follow because there is a side story about police corruption and everyone is speaking with strong Belfast accents and Gillian (bob love her) has a tendency to mumble between clenched teeth. It's worth the effort, though.

I don't remember where I heard about Broadchurch - there was a mention of it somewhere in something I was reading and it had Olivia Colman in it, who I like, so I decided to check it out. It's an 8 part crime drama about a boy who is murdered in a small town, and it's brilliant. I watched 6 episodes back to back and only stopped because it was the middle of the night and I had to work the next day. The set up of the final episode is amazing - the killer is revealed early on (and not that hard to guess by that time) and the rest of that episode is the town dealing with the fall out. It's so good - if you're looking to just sit back on a rainy weekend and watch a block of something, this is it.

Okay, lies - I haven't watched The Killing yet, that will be later this evening. But I'm super excited to have it back on because I loved the first two seasons, for all its faults. Also: Holder in a suit and tie! Squeeee! <3