Where to Go After ‘Mad Men’? A Canadian Dramedy

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/10/arts/television/mad-men-slings-arrows.html

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I’ve been sad ever since “The Americans” ended, and before finding “The Americans,” I’d been sad ever since “Mad Men” ended. My friends and family seem unimpressed that I rewatch these shows so often. Can you help? I enjoy “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and “The Crown,” but they’re not “The Americans” and “Mad Men.” — Emily

Here’s what I think “The Americans” and “Mad Men” have in common (that “Mrs. Maisel” and “The Crown” don’t share): a lot of the dialogue has a double meaning because the main characters lead double lives, and all the ways they love and think and behave are refracted through their shattered selfhoods. Layers, baby!

Start with “Slings & Arrows.” It’s a Canadian dramedy (currently on Acorn) about a Shakespearean theater festival, which of course does not have the obvious emotional heft of Cold War espionage or the spiritual nothingness of sales-as-American-identity. Except trust me: It does in a bunch of ways. Our hero, Geoffrey (Paul Gross), has returned to direct a new staging of “Hamlet,” a play he once starred in to great acclaim. In the interim, he spent a long time in a mental health facility. So the dialogue from the characters covers the real hurt they’ve all experienced but also their deep desire never to admit that hurt; the conflicted emotions they want to draw on for their performances but also a sense of certainty that they are playing the characters in the best way; and the dissonance of making a performance “real,” even though, by nature, it is artifice.

Sometimes when I watch a show, I feel like I care more about it than the people who made it — I remember more plot lines, wonder about more characters, still care about unresolved B-stories. I never felt like that watching “Mad Men” or “The Americans,” where every date, song, font or nightie had this rich purpose. The same is true for “Rectify,” a much slower and more humid show about a man newly released from death row in Georgia. (It’s on Netflix.) Little — big, though — details abound, from the gruff way someone slams a refrigerator door, or pulls their keys out of a lock and into their palm and briefly relishes hearing them jingle. It’s slow and beautiful.

But maybe what you miss is the character integrity, the feeling of knowing everyone so well and with so much intimacy and realism that you could imagine their handwriting. If it’s that, you should watch “ER,” easily the best doctor show of all time, and one that lets its characters grow and fail and still seem like themselves. (It’s on Hulu.)

I’m jonesing for a good British or European thriller TV show to binge. I loved and miss “Broen/Bron,” so another mainland European gem or three would be great to discover if you have any advice! — Drew

“Broen/Bron” (currently on Hulu) is up there with my favorite crime dramas of the last many years, and it’s the rare European show whose adaptations are actually good: I’m cheating by recommending the American version “The Bridge,” but it is terrifically grimy, especially Season 2. The British and French version, “The Tunnel,” is solid, too. The American “Bridge” deviates more from the original, whereas “The Tunnel” is more in step, but both have a lot going for them. (The American version of “The Bridge” can be purchased on Amazon; “The Tunnel” is streaming on Amazon.)

If you like the political edge of “Broen/Bron,” you might like the Norwegian series “Mammon” (on MHz Choice), which is a combo financial conspiracy thriller and simmering family drama. If you want to get even more political, there’s “Occupied,” about a Russian invasion of Norway, and it is as good an international relations thriller as you are likely to find. (It’s on Netflix.)

If you like the supernatural, try the Belgian drama “Hotel Beau Séjour,” in which the ghost of a teen girl investigates her own murder. (Also on Netflix.)

If you want a psychological thriller but are maxed out on extreme violence — though still comfortable with a little violence — the cat-and-mouse academic drama “Cheat” (on Sundance Now) is a juicy four-episode ride. A college professor suspects a student of plagiarism, and then things go haywire. It’s tense and dark but isn’t a gross-out mutilation murder bonanza like, say, “Luther.”

But if you just want British cop stuff, “Happy Valley” is the way to go — less thriller and more just a fantastic crime drama. (It too is on Netflix.)

Do you have recommendations for shows that are friendly to melatonin production (i.e. dark)? Recently we’ve been watching (and loving) “The Expanse” on Amazon, and have noticed it is perfect pre-bedtime fodder because of the darkness of space. I am open to suggestions from all genres, just looking for shows with hygge vibes and a seasonally appropriate lack of sunshine. — Sarah

The original run of “The X-Files” (available on Hulu) is how I learned you could “brighten” your TV, so you might enjoy the shadowy basement vibes of the beloved ’90s classic. (I’d skip the revival, but your mileage may vary.) The characters don’t experience much in the way of hygge vibes, but it’s a show that makes me want to build a blanket nest and slow cook a soup.

In a similar vein, there’s “Mr. Robot,” both spiritually and visually dark dark dark. It’s a hacker conspiracy thriller, and though the plots get byzantine, the visual style is unwavering. (The first three seasons are streaming on Amazon.)

If you in fact like a weird plot and want them even weirder, there’s “Riverdale,” which is both dark and hazy, and “The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” which exists in the same expanded Archie universe. “Riverdale” is more fun and exciting, especially in Season 1, but “Sabrina” has a darker tone and thus even darker visuals, like a show painted onto burgundy velvet. For a show about spooky stuff, it is disappointingly boring, but you said you were looking for bedtime fodder, so maybe it’s just right. (They’re both on Netflix.)

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