20 Best TV Shows Of 2019
16. True Detective
True Detective’s third season still didn’t live up to its spectacular first, but it was at least better than the disappointing second by some margin. Carried by the brilliant Mahershala Ali (and surprisingly well assisted by Stephen Dorff), True Detective Season Three offered up another Southern noir mystery.
The ending wasn’t as tight as Season One’s, and showrunner Nic Pizzolatto shooting down fan theories online took some of the fun out of it, but it still marked an excellent season of television.
The balance and range between the three eras of Purple Hays was well put together, and managed to conjure sympathy, pity and contempt all at once. There was the mystery, yes, but at the heart of the show was the relationship between Hays and his wife. It came at the True Detective formula in a different way than previously explored, even if there were a few too many red herrings thrown in there.