Best TV Series: The Top 5 of May 2019

The month of May frequently becomes a leap ahead of streaming television, while many shows are gearing up to make their debut by May 31 – the deadline to qualify for the Emmys in the fall. As a result, the end of the month often becomes an overabundance of bingeable television. (March and April bring a similar surge in cable, where networks still tend to broadcast one episode a week.)

In May 2019 alone, we had a strong start in awarding prizes on Amazon (including Fleabag and Good omens), Netflix (including Death for me and When you see me) and Hulu (Catch-22). Will one of these shows pay off? May be! The modern Emmy race is largely determined by the amount of money network investments made in their leaders' campaigns – thus ensuring visibility among voters in this age of endless content – and Amazon, Netflix and Hulu are all very well funded.

But what about quality? Is any of these shows something you want to watch? The gap between what is worthwhile and what is not is surprisingly vast.

So here at Vox, we went through May's numerous releases to find the five must-have watches of the month, as well as seven other shows to consider. (And if you're always looking for more, check out our lists for January, February, March and April.)

With the show (s)!

Chernobyl transforms a real disaster into a haunting meditation on bureaucratic dishonesty

HBO Chernobyl, a five-episode mini-series produced jointly with Sky Atlantic of the United Kingdom, is a sinister affair, just as The servant's tale and AMC Terror are sinister. he start with a man who hangs himself, then jumps back two years to show the 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power station, still in Soviet times. The first episode ends with children laughing and playing, forgetting the singing bird that has just fallen dead, victim of toxic radiation vomiting into the atmosphere.

Chernobyl is also extremely dense. Much of the dialogue is an exhibition, and there are long scenes in which characters simply explain nuclear physics to each other. These explanations are always clear and the stakes – if things get worse, they can endanger a whole hemisphere – make the exhibition fascinating. But you still watch a lot of people talking in low voices over schemes of nuclear power plants. The series does not really try to inject fake dramas for the purpose of escape. It's not necessary.

And even Chernobyl never feels oppressive Craig Mazin's texts are detailed and thoughtful, Johan Renck's staging is admirably restrained, and the interpretations (especially of Jared Harris) are rigid and stoic, in a way that seems to capture the "real" Soviet Union.

Especially, Chernobyl does not feel like a polemic against nuclear, communism or Soviet Russia in general. Instead, it focuses on the danger of what happens when an egoistic lie enters a bureaucracy and blazes a trail in the chain of command. What happened in Chernobyl was bad. But many of the deaths he caused occurred because various authorities refused to believe it was bad. The fact that it has not worsened bears witness to the bravery of those who put an end to the disaster and the work they had to do to fight against the lies of the bureaucracy.

Beyond wickedness, Chernobyl has something else in common with The servant's tale and TerrorHe tells a story about our world by telling a story about a completely different time and place. The systems are only as good as the information that is brought to it, argues the series. Beware of any system built on selfish lies. And be skeptical of any story that insists that it's the whole truth.

Watch Chernobyl if you want: In addition to the above Tale of the maid and Terroryou will probably like Chernobyl if you like the BBC or Denmark's police dramas, which have a dark and gloomy atmosphere.

Where to look: New episodes of Chernobyl Mondays at 9:00 pm Eastern Time on HBO. The final will be broadcast on Monday, June 3rd. Previous episodes are available on HBO streaming platforms.

Fleabag season 2 could be the best TV show of the year

Here is an excerpt from my five-star review of Fleabag season two, which recently debuted on Amazon Video:

Here is the problem with talking about Fleabag: The audacity of her presentation is due in large part to the great skill with which Phoebe Waller-Bridge (who wrote every episode and star in the role of Fleabag) slips between Fleabag in her reality and Fleabag who looks through the camera ours. But this presentation is difficult to describe with words.

"She sometimes looks at the camera" does not seem so impressive in itself, as many movie and television characters are well aware of the presence of the camera among them. (The obvious, the kind of terrible example is Frank Underwood's Room of cards.) It is so easy to exaggerate the shameless theatricality of this idea if all concerned do not pay attention to it.

Watching his work is a basic reason to check Fleabag: Waller-Bridge's ability to play the relationship between Fleabag and viewers is remarkable in that it is a virtuoso performance of an actor at the top of his art. The character is constantly aware of two levels of reality – the characters with whom she comes out and everyone – and Waller-Bridge plays this awareness a little as if Fleabag was constantly distracted by something, as if we were the phone. screen, she can not look away, even if she talks to someone else.

Watch Fleabag if you want: Kill Eve, drama show, My so-called life

Where to look: The two seasons of Fleabag (which, according to Waller-Bridge, will not continue beyond the second season) are available on Amazon Video.

State of the Union is an argument for why less is often more on television

State of the Union, a new 10-episode mini-series from Sundance (both the TV channel and the Sundance Now streaming app), is part of the most notable TV trend of the year: to look at the idea that less is more.

At first glance, the "miniseries of 10 episodes" does not really sound like "less". But then you learn that each of these 10 episodes only lasts 10 minutes, so the entire series is only half the length of something like Avengers: End of the game. His two stars are true movie stars – Rosamund Pike and Chris O'Dowd – and he boasts a fresh and witty screenplay by novelist Nick Hornby. Even 10 years ago, State of the Union could have been an Oscar nominated film. But in this new era of televised shop, it is quite another thing.

What gives the impression that it is a televised project and not an arbitrarily cut film is the episodic way in which it is punctuated by history and structure. Each episode includes the minutes immediately preceding a marital counseling session attended by the main characters, hoping to save a broken relationship. They talk, talk, flirt and fight. They drink a lot, a lot of pints in a pub nearby. And we begin to feel that these moments they spend together before being accompanied may help them more than the animation sessions.

In the end, 100 minutes of television encompbad several weeks of "real" time. And at that moment, we see the relationship of the couple develop and change, freeze and regenerate. Over the years, television has repeatedly tried to write stories about couples attending counseling sessions. State of the Union Perhaps this is the first series that really shows how the hard work of trying to repair your relationship can bear fruit in other parts of your life – or not.

State of the Union is light enough for you to be tempted to miss this one when looking for something to watch (and do you even have Sundance Now?). But that deserves a look, and if you only have one afternoon, there are not many better options.

Watch State of the Union if you want: milf, in treatment, the Americans

Where to look: State of the Union is fully featured on Sundance's website and Sundance Now's streaming service.

Tuca & Bertie is the latest version of the inner life of the cartoon animals of the BoJack Cavalier people

Netflix Tuca & Bertie is a delightful look at the lives of female birds in their thirties, with the amazing performances of Tiffany Hadish and Ali Wong. The pilot Viruet had this to say in his four-star review for Vox:

There is a feeling of chaotic energy everywhere Tuca & Bertie, The new adult animated series from Netflix. It is a kind of welcoming and specific chaos, of the kind that is only possible in a sitcom about two "women-birds" of about thirty years who live in a world populated by metros composed of caterpillars, headless anthropomorphic plants and STDs in dance; and where the bad of a woman (just one!), tired of badual harbadment in the workplace, can escape and stumble for a drink.

This is the world created by Lisa Hanawalt, best known for her indispensable work as a designer and producer on BoJack Cavalier. To get him out of the way: Yes, Tuca & Bertie will be immediately grouped with Bojack Rider, thanks to its anthropomorphous animal characters and Hanawalt's distinctive style. But it is also an unfair comparison because the two series are very different.

Tuca & Bertie much lighter and more fantastic, it exists in a strange and surreal universe that comes out of the screen with an almost tangible pleasure. It's more years between Broad City and House of play, mixed with the absurdity of Lady Dynamite; there are even parts of his first season of 10 episodes reminiscent of the video game Night in the woods. But these are all more points of reference than comparisons, because Tuca & Bertie – Despite the existence of many other comedies that seem to share some of its DNA – manages to feel like something completely new.

Watch Tuca & Bertie if you want: BoJack Cavalier (it had to be done), Broad City (you had to do it too), Mission Hill (remember that one?)

Where to look: The first season of Tuca & Bertie is streaming on Netflix.

Vida is a sweet triumph and a wonderful story about fraternity – and so many other things

is Vida, in itself, is worth the cost of a Starz subscription? Well, listen, do not let me tell you what to do, but the half-hour drama about two sisters returning home and reconnecting after their mother's death was already one of my favorites after first season, and it has only deepened and enriched in season two. Then yes. Yes, that's it.

Created by Tanya Saracho, the series is one of the most political TV shows, but not as you might think after reading this statement. His portrayal of the eastern part of Los Angeles and predominantly Latin American communities (and more specifically of the Mexican-American community) goes beyond the long-awaited portrayal of Latin identities it brings to television.

This is particularly true in season two, which has more room for maneuver than establishing characters and premises, with season 1 necessarily focusing. Now that sisters Emma (Mishel Prada) and Lyn (Melissa Barrera) are firmly established as new owners of their mother's bar in the Boyle Heights neighborhood, the series can understand what it means to belong to a community.

More than any other show on television, Vida is interested in the issue of gentrification and what is lost when a neighborhood becomes like another. And this allows Emma and Lyn to struggle with each other to find out how ready they are to accept the neighborhood as it is and how much they want to help it change. Along the way, it also becomes a catchy series on restoring your life to adulthood, returning home and creating a space for queer identities in America in the 2010s.

Vida exchanging some of his secondary characters, which is a half-hour derivative with which to work each week, but in the center is an absorbing story, full and almost eager for life.

Watch Vida if you want: North exposure, Cheers, Frank's Place

Where to look: New episodes of Vida airs on Sunday at 10 pm EST on Starz, with two episodes aired each week. The entire second season is currently available on Starz's streaming app.

7 other shows that are worth a visit

HBO

The deluge of May programming continues until the very end. Seriously, three of the programs listed below make their debut on the last day of the month. Honestly, so you can probably find something interesting.

• I do not know anyone who looks Animal Kingdom (TNT, Tuesdays at 9 pm Eastern Time)and a lot of the viewer's unique experience seems to make fun of the many promos that TNT made for her during the NBA playoffs. But it's a delirious summer show about criminals who do the wrong thing, and I like it, even though I admit it makes strange missteps here and there.
• is Catch-22 (streaming on Hulu) a funny and funny comedy about the Second World War? Or is he treating his subject so simply that he betrays the deeply satirical novel on which he is based? The critics are clearly divided. (I've found the first two episodes more pleasurable.) But, in one way or another, it is worth watching actors Kyle Chandler and Charlie Abbott, in particular. George Clooney also introduces himself.
• Many people are crazy about Death for me (streaming on Netflix). I think that comedy – about two women meeting in a support group and not realizing that they share an unexpected bond – is fiercely reverberating between tones in a way that does not really suit me. But hey, Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini are great as these two women.
• I have so much more to say about Deadwood: the movie (HBO, Friday, May 31 at 8 pm ET) in my comprehensive review. But here, I'll note that as a longtime fan of the series, this long and long awaited conclusion of two hours is a wonderful goodbye to the characters that I love so much.

• I did not see Good omens (Streaming on Amazon Video), the new adaptation of the well-loved comic novel about the end of the world by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. But Aja Romano, who criticizes Vox, said: "It's not perfect, but it's done with great care and will delight fans of the book." Look for their opinion elsewhere on the site.
• is The society (streaming on Netflix), a new series about teenagers trying to rebuild civilization after the disappearance of all adults, as stupid as it sounds? Absolutely. But sometimes you need a stupid genre show to watch when you do something else, and The society absolutely qualify.
• I did not see either When they see us (streaming on Netflix), Ava DuVernay's new miniseries on the horrific injustices suffered by Central Park Five. But Vox's film critic, Alissa Wilkinson, said, "She's stimulating and structurally interesting. He is more interested in the crime committed against young men but in the form of a real detective series, which is an overwhelming and captivating subversion of the popular form. "That sounds good!

Phew, that's a lot of television. Once you're done, join us in June for HBO returns. Big little lies, Hulu's The servant's taleand Netflix Black mirror.