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Mark's Best of 2017

I really never know what to write here. I aim for funny and insightful, but it often just come across as rambling. So this year I'm not even going to bother and just go straight to the list.

Best Heist - 12 Monkeys 


12 Monkeys learned to have a lot more fun in its third season, starting with this hilarious '80s set heist caper which gave us the priceless sight of James Cole cosplaying as Marty McFly.

Best Trip Through the Looking Glass - Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.


After a very uneven third season, that nearly put me off the show for good, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. rediscovered its creative spark with a vengeance in season four, culminating in the blistering 'Agents of HYDRA' arc.

Best Trip Down the Rabbit Hole - Legion 


This year gave us two shows based on X-Men comics. While The Gifted was so devoid of anything even close to resembling a new or interesting idea that I dropped it after one episode, Legion was buzzing with so much creativity and outside the box thinking that the final confrontation with the show's big bad (Aubrey Plaza's deliciously deranged Shadow King) was done in the style of an expressionist silent film set to the sweet sounds of a techo remix of Ravel's 'Bolero'.

Most Badass Baby Mama - Wynonna Earp


Not since season five of Xena has one woman kicked so much ass while eating for two.

Best Reason to Keep Watching a Terrible Show - Colleen Wing (Iron Fist)


Iron Fist was terrible, the first true disaster the MCU has put out. And yet, I loved Colleen Wing so much that I am probably almost certainly going to watch season 2.

Best Getaway Driver - Mrs Hudson (Sherlock) 


Since it will probably be a very long time before we see Holmes and Watson again, how about a Fast and Furious-type spin-off about their landlady to tide us over in the meantime?

Best Found Family - Hopper and Eleven (Stranger Things)


The relationship we didn't know we wanted, but so desperately needed.

Most "Say what?" Conversation - Tom Hardy and Adrien Brody (Peaky Blinders)


When these two scenery chewing mumblers came together, trying to understand a word either of them was saying was like trying to crack the flippin' enigma code.

Most Sobering History Lesson - The Vietnam War


No one does history docs quite like Ken Burns, and The Vietnam War (his latest collaboration with Lynn Novick) may just be his best work since The Civil War.

Most Satisfying Comeuppance - Littlefinger's execution (Game of Thrones)


I'd been waiting seven years for this moment and it did not disappoint in the slightest.

Best Supporting Character in Need of More Screentime - Drummer (The Expanse)


Season two didn't have nearly enough Drummer as it should have. Fix this for season 3, please.

Most Long Overdue Kiss - Korra and Asami (Legend of Korra: Turf War)


Sure, it would've been nice if it happened on the show itself and not just in a continuation comic, but there's no denying that Korra and Asami's first smooch was well worth the wait. The only thing that came close to topping it was Mako's reaction

Best Gob - Jessica Jones (The Defenders


The absolute best thing about this Marvel team-up was every single word that came out of Jessica Jones' mouth. The second best thing was everyone taking turns to smack Danny.

Best Table Turner - Roz Huntley (Line of Duty)


Huntley proved herself to be the most slippery opponent the officers of AC-12 have ever faced when, during one of the show's now legendary interview scenes, she pulled out a surprise file full of the department's dirty laundry and utterly destroyed their case against her, leaving even the mighty Ted Hastings completely rattled.

Most Emotional Cameo - Clara Oswald (Doctor Who)


I don't think I am ever going to be over the way the Twelfth Doctor's face lit up when he saw Clara one last time.

Best Dynamic DuoGloria Burgle and Winnie Lopez (Fargo)


If the latest (possibly final) season taught us anything, it's that Noah Hawley should ditch the anthology structure and just centre the entire show around this crack crime solving team.

Best Rug Pull - The Good Place 


I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, but it is a doozy.

Best Storyteller - Mr Nancy (American Gods)


If I have one complaint about this adaptation of Neil Gaiman's novel, it was that there wasn't nearly enough of Orlando Jones' sharp suited trickster god.

Best Ray of Sunshine - Sylvia Tilly (Star Trek: Discovery)


Just when you think Discovery is going to be the grimmest, most dour Star Trek series to date, in walks Cadet Sylvia Tilly, the purest cinnamon roll to ever wear a Starfleet uniform and the very last person you would've expected to drop the first f-bomb in Trek history.
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Mark Greig is now a cog in the Disney money making machine. More Mark Greig

6 comments:

  1. I guess we have different ideas of losing creative spark. Already mentioned my Season 3 thoughts on Lamounier's best of so I'll just say (since you made a point of it while you were still reviewing the show) that FitzSimmons was alright and it kind of bugs me that we had to split them up again (both for okay narrative reasons in S4 and now cause of actor schedule reasons recently). I mean we should be progressing the story, building on the past, and moving on from past conflicts but instead we're taking a step backwards and repeating ourselves by having to rebuild the house of cards that the writers decided to knock over (which is why the SHIELD situation set-up at the end of S4 was so frustrating). Also the fact you didn't like Fitz in the S3-4 time frame is just baffling to me. Dude upped it up a notch and really became Top 3 Character Material but it's subjective and all. And back to the creativity point they've been kind of repeating a lot of stuff so far this new season (5) so I guess that didn't work out long-term (including bringing stuff back from S3). I have a feeling I mentioned this somewhere but if they survive we got to Angel Season 5 this thing and light reboot for a little bit.

    Mrs. Hudson in The Lying Detective was all kinds of awesome.

    Tilly is OK but like the show itself, the jury is still out (insert Q as judge joke here).

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  2. I always think you're funny and insightful, Mark. :)

    Much agreement with Legion, Stranger Things, The Good Place, Star Trek: Discovery and Jessica Jones in The Defenders. We're getting the next Jessica Jones on March 8 and I'm looking forward to it so much that I bet it'll suck.

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  3. Mark is definitely funny. Can't take that away from him.

    Bit concerned about Jessica Jones S2 since S1 will be hard to follow-up on (and it also had some issues). Maybe it'll be a Veronica Mars situation (and really Jessica is Veronica, except taller (she hangs with taller people so it's harder to noice), emo and with Buffy's random grab bag of powers) where S1 was the best put together and the rest is varying degrees of entertaining. Still after Iron Fist and Inhumans it'll probably look alright.

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  4. Great list, Mark. I have rewatched Jessica Jones' scenes in The Defenders a couple of times, they are just the best.

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  5. Best thing this year for sure was Jessica Jones in Defenders

    Danny: "Whatever it is you are?”
    Jessica: “Classy.”

    I can't wait for Jessica season 2!!!

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  6. Cool, Mark...we're simpatico on a lot of shows. 12 Monkeys, The Expanse, Wynonna Earp, Stranger Things, Wynonna Earp, Legion, Fargo. I finally got around to watching Line of Duty on Hulu, or Amazon...whatever. I liked series two the best and Keeley Hawes killed me. I can't believe that she is the same actress that plays the gentle mom on The Durell's of Corfu. Thandie Newton was really great too, but it's hard to believe that she would let that painful thing happen to her arm, for so long, and that she's so cool...like, all the time. I'm voting for functioning sociopath like Sherlock.

    Do I get rotten tomatoes thrown at me if I say that I actually thought that The Iron Fist didn't suck? I liked it, mostly. Coleen W. was great and I liked her character's relationship with Danny. Sure, Danny's kind of childish, but I can watch I.F. and can't watch The Punisher. Even listening to the sounds of men pummeling other men into tomato sauce, while my husband watches it, is too much for me. I have to leave the room and turn on loud cheerful music somewhere else. I just don't enjoy a show about so much physical torture. Watching someone I love get hit in the face 10 times or so, that's a horrible thing to contemplate. I wouldn't enjoy it, either.

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