Three acclaimed freshman series -- HBO's "Boardwalk Empire," AMC's "The Walking Dead" and FX's "Terriers" -- joined Showtime's Season 5 of "Dexter" and FX's Season 3 of "Sons of Anarchy" in providing viewers an almost unheard-of opportunity to explore excellence.
Unfortunately for the private eye noir "Terriers," which FX canceled because of extremely low ratings, its finale will be just that. The four others will return, and though they demanded attention and proved worthy of devotion, each has issues to address.
The expectations on this series were probably unmatchable. It wasn't the hype so much as the lineage. The "Sopranos" fruit tree is impressive -- already, former writer Matthew Weiner has delivered "Mad Men." Terence Winter got his shot with not only a cache of Sopranos directors but with a pilot directed by executive producer Martin Scorsese. Sprinkle in amazing actors, a huge HBO budget and -- let's not kid ourselves here -- the bar was too high. Yet "Boardwalk" impressively laid the groundwork for a series that should be engaging and expansive for years.
Full-on greatness in Season 1? Pretty close but not quite. The pacing might have put people off. The series swiveled on backdoor deals, and those don't always come with machine-gun fire. But there was much to love here. Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt, Kelly Macdonald, Michael Kenneth Williams, on down the line -- top-notch actors fleshed out nuanced and intriguing characters. "Boardwalk" was a flat-out success creatively, and Season 2 should go a long way toward cementing its reputation. Especially if it attains the urgency viewers are seeking.
Could this be the first crossover zombie hit? If any series managed to pull in people who wouldn't normally dabble in a big-screen gore-fest, this was the one. Leave the big screen to cheap thrills. "Walking Dead" managed to prove that not every arm will grab a throat, not every bit of evil lurks near a snapped twig in the forest. In fact, the real fear factor here is human behavior in the face of the collapse of civilization. Beyond that, sure, who doesn't want to see some splattered zombie brains? The challenge next season -- when "Walking Dead" moves up to 13 episodes from a mere six -- will be to keep the story interesting, fresh and relatable.
Blame the name, blame the branding or whatever might come to mind. But television is littered with wonderful shows that never caught on. The best way to eulogize "Terriers" is to liken it to a British series: they often come out, display their brilliance and disappear (usually as planned). In time, you'll get the "Terriers" DVD -- with, one would assume, some nice extras -- and it can stand on your shelf as a monument to a story well told.
It's almost impossible not to like America's favorite serial killer, Dexter Morgan. It has been an incredible journey for the series and, even when it strains credibility -- which happens often -- "Dexter" never fails to entertain. But it's pretty clear that if this series wants to stay in that rare stratosphere of being a hit that also has critical acclaim, it needs to change the formula.
Putting Dexter in situations where he's almost found out but manages to slow his breathing and avoid detection is becoming tiresome. Repetitive patterns are emerging, such as Jaime Murray feeling strong emotions toward Dexter's dark lifestyle in Season 2, just as Julia Stiles did in Season 5. Maybe those are minor quibbles. Besides, just when you thought "Dexter" was out of ideas, John Lithgow came around and made Season 4 the best ever.
Of all the excellent dramas here, fan reaction to "Sons of Anarchy" in Season 3 is the most interesting, and baffling. This outlaw biker-club series from Kurt Sutter embraces its heightened gangster mentality, its Hamlet-on-a-Harley agenda. You'll find few series whose fans are as rabid and outspoken.
The story line that took the club from the fictional northern California town of Charming to Northern Ireland had a lot of viewers and critics claiming it meandered and that the skillfully riveting first and last episodes held together a soft middle. It's too tough on Sutter; any creator/writer/showrunner ought to take chances -- that's essential to greatness. Had he kept "Sons" in Charming for a third year, playing the same tune, the backlash would rightly have been more fierce. Fans ultimately might look back at this ambitious season as instrumental in the series achieving brilliance.
