¡Qué horror! 2014
Sidebar (1)
We're half a month out from this year’s
cut-off date, and so I thought I needed to take note of a couple of TV shows
that don’t really register as “horror,”* but were nonetheless among the absolute
best the past 12 months had to offer.
IN THE
FLESH
Series 2
This
excellent show also got a mention for its first series ‘round these parts, and
in a lot of ways, its second super-sized go-around is even better**. It takes
the whole zombie thing and sets up a narrative that makes a much more optimal
use of its scenario, operating on the level of allegory and socio-political
commentary while telling us a tale of just how human any of us (living or
otherwise) can be in the face of massive cultural upheaval.
George
Romero should be proud.
As
I said before, this is the show for those of you out there who are looking for
more from their television zombies. It’s the show that achieves disquiet and
unease without having to resort to fake bloodletting and over-the-top gore.
*
Or, at least not in the same way as this year’s television Candidates qualify
as “horror.”
**
Well, maybe except for the fact that we see significantly less of Dr. Channard
himself, Kenneth Cranham, than we did in series 1…
THE
LEFTOVERS
Season 1
In
the Sunday night face-off between ex-Lost
showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, Lindelof wins hands down, The Leftovers creaming The Strain without even breaking a
sweat.
Based
on the novel by Tom Perrotta (who also wrote Election and Little Children,
both adapted into feature films), The
Leftovers chronicles the state of the world following the sudden disappearance
of 2% of the world’s population.
It’s
a somber, weighty, and emotionally wrenching watch, this, and clearly not for
everyone.
But
I love this show, and I must give props
to Lindelof, Perrotta, and Peter Berg (who directed the pilot), for having the
balls to give us a show like this. It’s the kind of show that we need, lest the television landscape be
reduced to a sea of sitcoms and procedurals and “procedurals with a twist” and CSI’s and CSI clones and CSI clones’
spin-offs, and reality TV shows.
It’s
the kind of show that, just as all serious art must do, makes us question and ponder, makes us take a brief step back from the 25/8 madness of
the contemporary world and consider existence in all its beautiful and tragic
and brutal glory.
(In The Flesh image courtesy of
bbcamerica.com; In The Flesh DVD
cover art courtesy of twitter.com; The
Leftovers OS’ courtesy of impawards.com.)
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