Breaking Bad: S5E8 - S5E16;

I've had a weird journey with this show, I initiallt watched the first season when it originally came iut on Netflix like 10+ years ago, and then didn't watch any of the rest. I only went bsck and watched the entire thing fron scratch within the past couple years, which I think heavily hampered my enjoyment. The novelty of the plot premise was lost on me this time, since I had already seen the first season years ago and have seen this show memed to death in the years since. I liked every season better than the last, and felt each season was capped off incredibly well, but never felt as though it was the greatest show I'd ever seen or anything - until I actually finished it.

I loved the final few eps of S4, particularly the finale, but the early parts of S5 just felt really slow to me. That was another thing that I always found tough, despite the plot moving at a relatively brisk pace, the actual episodes themselves can be incredibly slow and methodical, like Better Call Saul (except Better Call Saul doesn't really have a plot until the later seasons, the early ones meticulously build up and provide more background for characters until things start to pick up later on). But after the halfway point, I blew through the rest of S5, and it was just amazing. Looking back, it probably is the greatest season of TV ever made, and probably cements the rest of the show as the greatest, since others in contenrion like The Wire don't close out nearly as perfectly, >!BB ends exactly where it was meant to from the first ep, but the journey there was insane !<

Dark: S1E1 - S3E8;

I know a lot of people hate the 3rd season, but I didn't see anything wrong with it personally, loved the ending. This is my favorite show ever by far, and while it has a cult following for sure, it still needs more viewers. I'n more a fan of plot driven than character driven shows tbf, but this show does its massive cast of characters super well too. The cinematography and tone are great, and the plot is just absurd. This show has by far the most WTF moments of any show I've seen. It is convoluted for sure, but if you strain your brain a bit, you can figure it out. Watch Dark if you haven't.

The Leftovers: S2E8 - S2E10;

This show has the most annoying cult fanbase I've ever seen anywhere for anything that flies remotely under the radar. I had previously ttied watching Mr. Robot after seeing tons of praise for it by the same kinds of people that love The Leftovers, and found it insanely cringe from early on. So I went into The Leftovers thinking it'd just be another cringy, pretentious Reddit show that I'd understand why nobody I'll ever meet irl in my entire life will have ever even heard of.

However, I was surprised to find, that it actually deserves its praise. Its fans are annoying af for sure, but I get them, to an extent. They're screaming at the sky desperately trying to tell the whole world to notice something it never will, but needs to. And it certainly does need to. It seriously annoys me how the show never answers most of your questions, but then again the real world does the same thing. We will never have the answers to the vast, vast majority of questions we have, especially the biggest ones, and the beauty in life is how we cope with that knowledge. That's the actual point of The Leftovers, as any diehard fan of the show will tell you.

I had heard people say that the first season sucks and it only picks up during seasons 2 and 3, but as a former hatewatcher of the show, I will say that's some certified grade A prime Wagyu bullshit. Season 1, particularly the final few eps, is just beautifully written and executed, and the show as a whole is like a flawless tapestry. The final 3 eps of S2, particularly E8 and E10, have to be some of the best TV ever created, and the show's ending is great too.