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You can’t stop The Power Rankings! You can only…well, you know, put life in front of it and a real ability to get overwhelmed. Even then — even then! — you can only hope to contain it. Or delay it until a Wednesday. And yes, people, I know all the good SportsCenter callbacks. After a couple of amazing season finales last week, we not only got three episodes back in the rotation, but a bunch of others that wanted to take a breather before their last mad dashes got a bit introspective simultaneously.
No problem with that – we love introspection at Power Rankings! World Headquarters. But that did open the door for a wild Game of Thrones episode to dominate. So, let’s see what the damage is. Oh, and let’s not forget, for argument sake, that these rankings are for the week ending June 1. Which means nothing you saw in the last two days counts. Because I was late again. Happy now? OK, on my command, unleash hell! (Wait, as a reminder, these episodes are for the week ending June 1. OK, got it?)
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FYI: The Power Rankings! are where television series are ranked on a weekly basis according to their most recent episodes and the ever-changing-moods of yours truly. If you want to learn how The Power Rankings! started and the methodology behind them, check out the link to the Bastard Machine post on those issues of great import. Also: The Bastard Machine is on Facebook. And Twitter.
RANK | SHOW | PREVIOUS | TREND | COMMENT |
1 |
Game of Thrones |
N/A | ↔ |
Fresh from a little relaxing week off, we got “The Mountain and the Viper” which was, duh, a doozy. A big fight. Dashed hopes. An unhappy Dany. A radiantly new Sansa Stark. Etc. But given everything, I’m going with the wonderful and energizing cackle that came from Arya Stark as the defining moment. FTW. |
2 |
Fargo |
2 | ↔ |
Brothers can be so dark to one another. And the tormented brother is always the most dangerous. This was another slowly haunting, great episode. And Allison Tolman is just killing it in Fargo. Did you hear that, Emmy voters? Killing it. Also: “Deaf Fella.” |
3 |
Orphan Black |
4 | ↑ |
You can’t keep this show down. It’s a clone world. Everyone else is just living in it. And, speaking of deserved Emmy nominations, do you know why nobody has knocked off this Orphan Black idea? Because they can’t find anyone to be as superb as last year’s winner (OK, only in my mind did that happen, but you know I’m right) Tatiana Maslany. |
4 |
Louie |
5 | ↑ |
Let Louis be Louie. |
5 |
Silicon Valley |
N/A | ↔ |
After a week off, one of television’s best comedies returned for its season finale and, like it has every week, delivered. I’ll miss the guys at Pied Piper. And even though the elaborately staged dick joke in the finale didn’t match the brilliance of the dick joke where Dinesh (Kumail Nanjiani) mocked the Pied Piper logo, it was still a thing of beauty. And the show went out in a way that has me wanting it back, with more episodes, real soon. |
6 |
Halt and Catch Fire |
N/A | ↔ |
Yes, it was only the pilot (still grumpy about that). Yes, AMC botched the rollout. But I still want to see the next one asap and that’s always a good sign. Oh, and yes, Lee Pace was wonderful in this. Nice work, Pie Man. |
7 |
Veep |
N/A | ↔ |
No “debate” here – Veep is spectacularly funny. And yes, that was a really hacky way for me to make that point. I know what I’m doing people. I’m self aware. I’m also just a tad bit lazy as summer kicks in (where I live). So deal with it. |
8 |
Penny Dreadful |
9 | ↑ |
Validation: Penny Dreadful has been renewed for another season. Good work, freaks. |
9 |
Moone Boy |
6 | ↓ |
As I’m wont to point out when it comes to flux – sometimes it’s not about your own level of quality (which, in this fifth episode, was quite good), but that of others. And just look at this list of shows!~ All-Stars. So, no worries about my beloved Moone Boy. I get one more week to be in my happy place. |
10 |
In the Flesh |
10 | ↔ |
As I mentioned last week, I’m late to the party. But I think I’ve found something here. You should as well. |
11 |
Inside Amy Schumer |
8 | ↓ |
Forget the flux and the drop. That Amy, she rocks. If you haven’t already, make a note to start watching this show. It has held up in this battle very admirably. |
Out: Silicon Valley finished its season this week.
In peril: I’m not sure there will be any newbies who are knocking on the door this week. There goes my threat that every week there’s peril. Hmmm. Time for something more clever.
In the mix: Salem, DaVinci’s Demons, Turn.
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