For the last few weeks, I've been revisiting Justified. It's a lot better than I remembered! Since I had only seen these episodes once when they aired, with commercials, I'd pretty much forgotten much of details. It's almost as if I'm seeing them for the 1st time. Just 2 episodes into the 3rd season and it's steadily getting better. Watching via Amazon Prime w/o commercials, pretty hard to watch just one!
All the leads in Banshee are terrific actors but I've only seen the actress (forget her name!). She popped up in Gotham playing Selina's (Catwoman jr.) Mom.
Has anyone mentioned Peaky Blinders? Gang warfare in Birmingham England set in the 1920's- sets range from grime ridden, smoke stack factories to London during the 'flapper' era. Much more violent than Boardwalk Empire- some serious acting. Killer. Streamable on Netflix. (Amazon only has the first two seasons for streaming).
My wife and I both have enjoyed Lilyhammer (Stevie Van Zandt is very good in this) and The Americans.
Mindhunter, Turn (Washington's Spies), Altered Carbon, Peaky Blinders, Longmire, Black Sails, Vikings...
The first season is pretty good but the second and third seasons are pretty weak IMO. I watched it it when it aired and then re-watched on Netflix. About halfway thru the second season I realized how bad the writing was becoming and stopped watching it. If you like 24, I think you'll enjoy season one.
It is very Bladerunner-ish. Very dark future sci fi kind of thing, but at heart a detective story (I still have a few episodes left).
S'funny, while totally understanding the shows premise, I've NEVER considered Banshee a 'cop' show, let alone the best cop show. That would be the Caruso/Smits years of NYPD Blue!
The first two seasons are watchable if you like a non-stop roller coaster ride. The third season is not worth the time.
The guy who recommend it to me said they had to stop the show because it was too over top with the sex, violence and killing. Even by the 3rd episode where the sheriff fights the MMA fighter it's almost too much.
IMO it was the network it was on. Unless a show is on HBO/SHO it's a rough ride. Starz has been coming on VERY strong for the last few years with Black Sails, Power, American Gods, Outlander, Spartacus, Magic City & many more including the amazing Counterpart (currently airing). My guess would be that the viewership numbers are nowhere near the big 2!