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Sam Woolf’s 10 Best TV Shows Of 2013

The amount of good TV this year was really kinda ridiculous. Like, truly unfair. I don't know whether it's an accomplishment or grounds for psychiatric evaluation that I managed to fit in over 30 shows this year while working a full-time job, but the real crazies out there are the ones responsible for making my viewing habits look casual compared to the hours and days you'd need to commit to really be on top of your TV game in 2013. To wit: there was a ton of no doubt great programming out there that never had a chance at making my Top 10 list, simply because I didn't have time to watch it. I walked out on Boardwalk Empire (mistakenly, it would seem) after Season 1, and haven't been in the mood for Masters of Sex just yet, to name just a few of the shows popping up on "Best of" lists right now, but not my own.

[h2]9) Rectify[/h2]

Rectify

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Tom Hanks could turn any name in the phone book into a character worth watching, and Morgan Freeman reading from the same book would be completely enthralling. But Rectify’s Aden Young could just stare at a stack of Yellowpages, and I’d be happy to just watch him do so. Saying little, his big, sad doe eyes were the reflecting pools from which show creator Ray McKinnon drew deeply when exploring themes of redemption, family, and spirituality, all without having to make big statements, or condescending to people of faith.

The Sundance Channel carved out a strange little niche for itself in 2013, taking potboiler premises (in this case: wrongfully imprisoned death row inmate released after 19 years in a hole), and delivering some of the most visually arresting and thought-provoking stuff on TV. I won’t blame anybody for being turned off by the show’s glacial pacing, especially when the pilot gives the impression of a more traditional type of series. But Rectify was part of an encouraging movement in TV, where plot wasn’t the only thing that mattered anymore: you don’t need to have the dizzying scope of Game of Thrones, or try to set a landspeed record for storytelling like Scandal. Your show can just be, and if it’s asking the right questions, that can be more than enough.