There’s a scene in Mindhunter — I have very few anecdotes these days that aren’t TV references — where a cop is trying to empathize with a mom who has an infant, telling her that him and his wife were zombies for the first few months from the lack of sleep. He mentions that people talk about the good about having a baby, but they don’t mention the bad. This show takes place in the 70s. I wonder if as a society we have overcorrected, or if I’m just exposed to the wrong kind of media, because I rarely hear about the good of having babies or even kids in general. Anyway, I’d like to hear more about the sunshine and roses that other people supposedly only hear.

I ate a lot of Gummy Tummies today.

Related note: I rather miss those Trader Joe’s noodle boxes. I lived on them in college.

Another related note: I like the 7-11 gummy bears. They are cheap, squishy, and come in lots of flavors.

I’ve decided to blog about more mundane things, though not exclusively.

Here are my favorite shows for 2017. This list is kinda arbitrary. Ask me on a different day and I’ll probably switch the order. This is in order of my personal favorites, which doesn’t necessarily overlap with how good a season/show is. Gonna list the shows first, then give spoiler-filled commentary afterwards.

1. The Leftovers
2. Comrade Detective
3. The Young Pope
4. Bojack Horseman
5. Rick and Morty
6. Attack on Titan
7. Legion
8. Bob’s Burgers
9. Mr. Robot
10. GLOW
11. Steven Universe
12. The Good Place

Other shows I enjoyed: Game of Thrones, You’re the Worst, Silicon Valley, Veep, Insecure, Master of None
Unfinished, but enjoying: Mindhunter

If it’s not on the list, I either haven’t watched it or I forgot about it. In fact, as I was writing this, I had to add Bojack Horseman.

SPOILERS BELOW

1. The Leftovers

The Leftovers, wow. Season 3 started airing and critics all loved it. I skipped season 1. Partially so I could catch up before it ended, and partially because Andy Greenwald didn’t really like season 1 and my tastes tend to align with his. Season 2 starts with kind of a soft reboot, so it wasn’t a problem for me figuring out what was going on. Season 2, which aired last year, is an almost perfect season of television. Season 3 is not as perfect, but I think season 3 sticks the landing perfectly for a season finale. It does ambiguity right. It’s kind of an anti-puzzle box show, I think. We don’t know if Nora really went to the other side or not at the end. I’ve convinced myself either way multiple times, and I love the show for it. You can look at the evidence either way, but there’s no mathematical formula to decide which one is correct. Part of the reason I convince myself either way is that both ways make sense thematically.

2. Comrade Detective

I had to rank it so high because it was just so different from anything else on TV. The premise is amazing and ridiculous. But then the show takes that ridiculous concept and plays it straight. It’s not really a parody. The acting is good, the voice acting doesn’t use any cheap jokes. The whole thing isn’t a laugh-a-minute jokefest. In fact, it’s less a parody of a pro-Communist show, and more of a funhouse mirror look at American propaganda. We get to see New York as a horrible place, depicted on a cheap set. Christianity is shown as a cult. Plus, the show has some really great lines, and I wish it was more well-known because the memes would be fantastic. I particularly loved Daniel Craig as the religious villain, and the stuff about Monopoly.

3. The Young Pope

This show surprised at every turn, without being about twists. Every time I thought I had the show figured out, it became a different kind of show. The acting is superb. I mean, Jude Law should get an Emmy just for that wink in the intro, haha. The show is gorgeous; it’s amazing how they created a Vatican City out of thin air. I almost put this as #1.

4. Bojack Horseman

I don’t know how this show gets stronger and stronger. It continues to do a good job having you empathize with Bojack being shitty but not excusing his shittiness. This season, we get to see more of Bojack’s family before he even existed and how the ghosts of the past affect his actions now. Also, I really, really like the Princess Carolyn episodes now. When this show is over, it’ll probably be one of the best ever. I’ve already watched each of the first three seasons probably three times each. And that’s actually watching, not leaving them on in the background while I wash dishes.

5. Rick and Morty

I feel weird putting it this high. The show is so popular now, and the fans so obnoxious, that it feels a little weird to be praising it this much. Part of the obnoxiousness has to be a function of the show because people can’t figure out that you shouldn’t emulate anti-heroes. (See also Breaking Bad, which is actually a pretty good critique of toxic masculinity. Bojack Horseman doesn’t fall into this trap because they make sure not to make Bojack cool. I read this somewhere, but don’t remember where.) But I think part of it has to just be because of its sheer popularity. Anyway, the season didn’t disappoint after a long hiatus. Pickle Rick was a highlight, not just for its inventive brutal violence, but for a surprisingly healthy take on therapy. Oh and it’s one of the funniest shows on TV.

6. Attack on Titan

This is ranked high merely because this was the show I most looked forward to watching every week. Every week, it left me wanting more. I dunno, it just got me hyped. I guess it was the action. I like the Titans as villains because the show doesn’t shy away from how grotesque they are.

7. Legion

This show was less convoluted than people thought it was. Plot-wise, and backstory-wise, things are actually very straightforward. But I liked what it did to put you in this confused mood, so that you could empathize with David. Mostly, I ranked it this high because I love Aubrey Plaza and she knocks it out of the park with her performance as the villain. Best villain of 2017, by far.

8. Bob’s Burgers

Recency bias helps put the show this high for me this year. I’ve just really enjoyed the new episodes I’ve been watching. The show leaves me with a smile on my face every time I get to the end credits and a goofy song is playing. The newest season has been really strong, and the Christmas episode was particularly awesome.

9. Mr. Robot

This season was really great. It feels like less people are watching the show because they didn’t like season 2. I still enjoyed season 2. Thematically, it was weird to make the whole struggle be about finding balance with Mr. Robot, and yet they aren’t working together at the end. So could’ve been better, I guess. Season 3 moves a lot faster. The use of the Knight Rider theme is one of my favorite TV moments this year. The highs this season are really high. The episode where E-corp’s building is attacked by protestors is an excellent piece of TV. I felt like I had to rank it high because it works as great TV. Still, I’m a little less enthused about this show because I feel like it has lost its revolutionary fervor. (It’s ultimately not that surprising for liberals to argue for the preservation of the status quo.) We’ll see what happens in Season 4.

10. GLOW

Hm, don’t have much to say about this show besides that I liked it. Alison Brie and the rest of the cast are great. The story they told was good. I do wish, though, that the rest of the ensemble could’ve gotten more story.

11. Steven Universe

Normally, I’d rank this show higher, but I looked at the actual episodes that aired in 2017 and they weren’t super impressive. The problem is that Steven Universe gets graded on a curve. Last year, had Mindful Education and Mr. Greg. This year, we got a lot of Lars. And while I am impressed how his character is developed and we get an empathetic look at social anxiety, Lars is still not my fav. And this is a ranking of my favs. Also, changing it so that Pink Diamond wasn’t killed by Rose Quartz was a bad move. I thought it brought a lot of complexity to Rose Quartz’s character and also made things interesting for Steven’s future choices.

12. The Good Place

Hard for me to figure out where to rank this because I’m talking about 2017, but this is a fall show, so am I judging this based on half of Season 1 and half of Season 2? Season 2 seems good so far, but I want to see where it goes before judging it more. Season 1 was great, and I actually binged all of it this year on Netflix. Anyway, this is probably the best non-animated sitcom for 2017. It’s a really fun show.

Other shows:

I thought Master of None had a strong season 2. It’s a show that takes risks and largely succeeds at trying different things. The thanksgiving episode was my favorite.

Game of Thrones is still as epic as it was, but it’s a more flawed show now that it has outpaced the source material. I don’t think this season was as bad as some people claim because I think its flaws this season are still the same flaws that its had before, aside from instantaneous dragon travel. It’s still one of the most impressive shows on TV. The Loot Train battle (what a fucking shitty name) had a great sense of drama and geography.

You’re the Worst had a solid season, after last season was a bit disappointing. Silicon Valley and Veep continued being good. I will miss Erlich a lot. I still really like Insecure but I wasn’t as excited about this season as last season for whatever reason. That’s not a critique. It’s a great show. And I liked it more on rewatch with my friends, than I did the first time around.

I decided not to put Mindhunter on the list because I haven’t finished it yet, but I am thoroughly enjoying it. It probably is one of Stevie’s top shows for the year.

I also finally gave in and watched Westworld. There’s a lot to like about the show, but I didn’t think the character arcs were particularly good.