Ranking Every HBO Drama Series From Worst To Best
16. The Deuce
The latest full series from David Simon and The Wire collaborator George Pelecanos is a wide ranging, gritty and ambitious series that could only come from this mind and this network. Its initial purview is the pornography industry in the 1970s, but typically it expands to investigate the drug epidemic and institutitonal issues at all levels.
One of The Deuce’s big selling points was James Franco in dual roles as twin brothers who become embroiled in organised crime. Better still is Maggie Gyllenhaal whose sex worker turned pornographic entrepreneur is the show’s hero. Simon has often been criticised for a lack of focus on female characters, but Gyllenhaal’s Eileen is the show’s standout creation.
The Deuce’s ambition only grows as it progresses, with the show moving through the decades and illustrating how societal situations and issues snowball. As ever with Simon it’s an angry and opinionated piece of TV, but with more of an eye to pacing and entertainment than he’s ever had before.