Wire in the Blood  (2002- present).  Wire in the Blood is a detective series that focuses mostly on serial murder, and Great Britain, I guess, is just crawling with serial murderers. The show is based on a book series by Val MacDermid. While I find it a consistently entertaining and quality show, often quite shockingly gritty, no subsequent season has gripped me as thoroughly as Season One. The bookend episodes of Season One: "The Mermaid’s Singing" and "Justice Painted Blind" were riveting, thanks in large part to the chemistry between Carol and Tony, attractive, intelligent but believably ordinary people who share so much sexual tension it just about melts the film. This is a favorite of Carol Frank's and of mine, too.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2002). One of my personal favorites, and certainly has what I consider the best overall story arc in television. Buffy had its highs (the Angel and Buffy love story) as well as its lows (the Angel and Buffy love story); it had comedy, romance, terror, tension, philosophy, psychology, and all manner of monsters. You really couldn’t ask for more from a TV show. What I loved the most about it was the characters, each of whom had a distinct personality that stayed true through all seven seasons. Almost without fail, when a character on this show acted in a certain way or made a decision, it was completely believable, and when a life-altering event happened, it was not conveniently forgotten for the sake of the next episode. I started watching this on DVD when the actual televised show was well into its later seasons, so I came late to the Buffy-verse, but better late than never!   The Season Two finale was one of the most traumatic TV experiences of my life, particularly since Season Three wasn't available on DVD yet.  Anyone who has seen it will know exactly what I mean.

Angel (1999-2003) Buffy's snuggle-bunny Angel goes to Los Angeles and opens a sort-of detective agency that deals with paranormal cases. Not like The X-Files, wherein the paranormal matter would be, “I saw strange lights in the sky. What does it mean?” No, this is more like, “Dang, there’s a flesh-eating demon in my crawlspace. Can someone kill it for me?” This spinoff of Buffy was a mixed bag, and when it was good, it was very, very good, but when it was bad, it was just . . . meh. I appreciated the more adult tone of the show. These were young adults (or young-looking vampires) with jobs, rather than high school and college students. They had to deal with the realities of paying bills in the midst of all the monster-fighting. Obviously, the idea of a truly evil law firm manipulating most of the underworld (literally) activity in Los Angeles had a lot of appeal to me, the legal secretary. The show sure had its ruts, mostly because of the nature of Angel himself, who has to feel guilty, guilty, guilty about everything. I’ll say one thing, though. Despite its utter lack of resolution, Angel had what I think is my favorite series finale ever. If the rest of the show had been that exciting and emotional, it would be right up there with Buffy in my top-five favorite TV shows.

   

Battlestar Gallactica (2004-Present). This is not really a supernatural show, but this is the best category in which to place hard science fiction.  The updated and revamped version of the campy old show is almost too good to believe. Those of us who tend to get emotionally involved in TV shows may need a support group after some of the mind-blowing twists and turns in the sprawling story arc. A dwindling number of survivors from a devastating attack on their home worlds band together and limp across space trying to find the mythical planet Earth, where they believe their ancient ancestors set up an inhabitable colony. They are relentlessly pursued from without and from within—and seriously, they can trust no one. The show starts out tense and never really lets up. I’d recommend it to anyone who appreciates a frakking well-told story, not just lovers of sci-fi. Be warned if you’re easily shocked, though. It’s mature stuff, though, just skirting the edge of an R-rating at all times.

thirtysomething  (1987-1991) Of all of Carol’s TV shows, this is the only one that doesn’t deal with detectives or paranoia or the paranormal, but that doesn't mean there isn't something freaky going on.  This one is just about a bunch of, um, thirty-something yuppies who are all disgustingly slim and attractive, chit-chatting about the ordinary stuff they do. That being said, I was sucked right under its spell, as I’m sure most people were. I think there were subliminal messages in it. "You will watch me! You will care about Gary, and Hope, and Nancy’s cancer! You will worry about the advertising business! You will tune in every week! This I command, for I am thirtysomething!" This is not available on DVD at present. It is probably under FDA investigation for being an addictive substance.

Lost (2004-present). In this spinoff of Gilligan’s Island, forty-some stranded castaways have lots of flashbacks as they glower at each other on the shore of this uncharted desert isle, while the Headhunters plot the Dharma Initiative. With Gilligaaaaaaan . . . the Skipper tooooooo . . . the millionaaaaaaaire . . . . and his wiiiiiiife . . . the con artiiiist . . . the sulky doctoooooor . . .the bald guuuuuuuy . . .and the dooooooog . . .

The Prisoner (1967-1968). A cult favorite, The Prisoner deals with a nameless secret-agent-type who is abducted and dropped on an inescapable island that is sort of like James Bond’s favorite resort hotel and also an Orwellian nightmare where his every move is watched, and mysterious weirdos keep trying to break his spirit, or get him to admit to something, or whatever. I watched this one because I’d heard its reputation and then I just couldn’t stop watching the craziness, though I can’t say I ever liked it very much. Our protagonist (Number Six, he’s called on the island) is a fairly unlikable snot, and his whole fight against the power is way too far down the 60’s hippie road for me to relate. No offense to 60’s hippies, mind you. Also the "conclusion," if you could call it that, is an astonishing combination of stupid, infuriating and confounding. "Who is Number One?" our hero asks repeatedly. "Who gives a damn?" is my response. But I love those evil white balloons that act as island security, and the opening credits kick butt.

Nowhere Man (1995)  There was only one season of this show starring Bruce Greenwood, which was influenced heavily by the older TV series, The Prisoner. In this series, a photojournalist named Thomas Veil is suddenly jerked out of his happy life and told he no longer exists. That in fact, he never did exist. His wife claims to not recognize him, his house keys don’t work, he no longer has any identity. Determined to figure out what has happened to himself, Veil goes on a quest that leads us through the season. Nowhere Man is a fun series if you like this sort of thing, and as usual, some episodes were quite good and others just seemed to be filler. It’s very paranoid, of course. Because the series was not renewed, it ended with many questions unanswered, particularly frustrating since a whole new mystery had been opened up (a key piece of evidence on which Veil was relying turns out to be something entirely different than what he thought it was). However, I sometimes prefer a series to end without resolution rather than to avoid resolution for nine seasons and drive fans to distraction, as is the case with . . .

The X-Files (1993-2002). Carol Frank may be able to refer to The X-Files with casual disregard, but talking about this show is difficult for me. I do get emotional. You’d think I was discussing a really bad divorce, and actually that’s what it felt like. I won’t summarize the show because I find it hard to believe that there’s anyone out there who doesn’t know what it was about. What I will say is that for the first six seasons, I was a passionately devoted X-Files fan. I watched it from the very beginning, when it was still a FOX Friday-night ratings scraper, in danger of being canceled, just barely squeaking it’s way into a second season. My family can attest that during X-Files hour each week, disturbing me was a dangerous idea. During Season Seven, however, our relationship (mine and the show’s, I mean) was beginning to feel the strain of the confusing, often contradictory, and extremely frustrating X-Files mythology. I can easily deal with the resolution-free story. What I cannot cope with is the story in which several resolutions are blatantly staring you in the face and the writers simply won’t resolve anything because they want to make more episodes about the same crap all over again. For me, it was not the location changes or even the cast changes that drove the nails into the X-Files’ coffin. It was the stubborn refusal of the creators to answer any flipping questions with one flipping ounce of sense. Oh, there I go, getting emotional again. In Season Seven I quit cold-turkey. I announced to anyone, whether or not they cared, "I quit The X-Files." This was a major leap toward recovery in my life. The first step to solving a problem is admitting that you have one. I’m sorry, X-Files. In the end, our love was simply not meant to be.