Rectify
I have been asked, and I often, perhaps more often, ask myself, what is the greatest television series that I have ever seen? The best comedy series for me is definitely The Misfits. This strange and quirky British series overcomes it's low budget very early on to be so consistently hilarious and weird that nothing else even comes close. As far as drama goes there are a number of truly great contenders. Deadwood tops the list. But through no fault of the show makers it never got to bring itself to a satisfactory conclusion and the movie, made years later just lacked the edge, many of the actors just seemed to have trouble falling back into the rhythm of David Milch's unique rhythmic dialogue. And so, great as it is, it is not quite the best that I've seen. Another of Milch's creations, NYPD Blue, is definitely the greatest of the old television dramas. But the removal of Milch towards the end, through no fault of the producers, Milch once again falling into the deep dark hole of his addictions, leaves the series flawed, though most of it, particularly the Jimmy Smits episodes, still the best the network television ever saw. The Sopranos definitely belongs up there. But take away James Gandolfini and you have a great show but not one of the greatest shows. It was really his performance that raised its level to something truly special, and, for me, while that still makes it one of the greatest shows, that eliminates it from being the very best show that I've ever seen. The very best show would be the result of superb writing, directing and an entire cast coming together to make something truly special. Many might disagree with me on that. Hell on Wheels, a show that many people have probably missed, comes very close. But it goes on too long and becomes repetitive in the last few seasons. Though I'd still say the Swede is one of the best villains that I've ever seen in television or movies. You never forget his almost sweet yet pathological sorrow each time he committs the most evil acts. Kingdom, another series many people missed out on, largely because it was based around Mixed Martial Arts comes the most close of all the contenders. It is fun to watch, it is compellingly dramatic, and it's ending is pitch perfect. Jonathan Tucker is the standout in this series. I don't know why he's not a star. I don't know why I'm still seeing him in bit parts in other shows. And if you watch Kingdom, which you definitely should, you will be just a bothered by this question as I am. Kingdom should be the best series I've ever seen. And it would be, were it not for Rectify, which most of you have almost definitely not seen, and which I have now watched twice. Rectify was created by, and is mostly written by Ray McKinnon, who is the actor who so beautifully played the Preacher in Deadwood, and who you'll know as an actor from so many other things such as Sons of Anarchy. He's a terrific actor. And somehow he's an even better writer. And his brother, Bruce McKinnon, plays the step-father in Rectify and does it beautifully. What the hell were those kids fed for breakfast?! The cast is lead by Canadian/Australian actor Aden Young (I put Canadian first, because it makes me proud as a fellow Canadian to be able to lay what little claim we have on him...) who sets the haunting, haunted tone of a series that will leave you both haunted and aghast at it's somber beauty. It is a flawless series. The entire cast, the writer, everything about this show is like Faulkner, Thomas Wolfe or Cormac McCarthy 's best novels. The series is set in the Southern U. S. and, as with those writers, the South is very much a character here. The story is of a man, Daniel, played by Young, released from prison after years on death row because of DNA evidence. But the DNA voids the trial the found him guilty. There is still his confession. And he himself does not know if he committed the murder/rape of which he is accused of. He was under the influence of psychedelic drugs and is not sure what exactly happened. So he returns home to a town where many think he is still guilty and where the legal authorities are still out to make a case against him. And we the audience are also left unsure. Both Mckinnon, the writer, and the cast, do a masterful job in presenting us with fully dimensional human beings. Even those who are against Daniel, or who are not necessarily for him, are shown in all their humanity. Though we see the world mostly through Daniel's eyes we are not sure how to feel ourselves except that something truly tragic took place and something truly tragic, this man living a life for years on death row, where he learned not to expect tomorrows, followed that. We see mostly through Daniel's eyes, develop a relationship with another inmate through the walls of death row and in a beautifully tragic way the ways that relationship has stayed with him in the present. This is still a man who doesn't know how to live in the world. This is still a man who doesn't know how to be alive. As I've said, I've now watched Rectify twice. It never hits a false note. And unlike so many shows, it's ending is unfailingly true to the rest of the show. Rectify is in short, a masterpiece. That phrase gets overused. But here is the one place it applies. You should definitely watch all those other shows that I've mentioned if you haven't already. But you should seek out and watch Rectify if you want to see true art. You can find many shows that will entertain you. But will find only a few shows that move something deep within you. And Rectify, above all others, will do that and do that in the most profound way. That for me is what makes in the greatest drama series that I've ever seen.
Review of Rectify
