TV20: Rectify

In my opinion, Rectify is the slowest-moving show in the history of television. 

In my opinion, Rectify is one of the very best shows in the history of television.

The first two seasons of Rectify take place in a remarkably short period of time and very little manages to happen in that time, but WOW this is great television (yes, even better than Mad Men). 

Aden Young stars as Daniel Holden, a man who spends nineteen years on death row in Georgia before new DNA evidence forces his release. The local DA and associates remain convinced that Holden is guilty (after all, he confessed to the crime), so they start work on finding more evidence and creating plea deals. Meanwhile, Holden experiences life as a free man (in small-town Georgia) for the first time since he was eighteen. It’s not pretty, but there are people who support him, including his sister Amantha (Abigail Spencer), his mother Janet (J. Smith-Cameron), his step-brother’s wife, Tawney (Adelaide Clemens) and his lawyer, Jon ((Luke Kirby).

Rectify was created (and the episodes frequently written) by actor Ray McKinnon. He has done something so unusual here that it feels like a new art form. It’s a meditation on life and death and spirituality and guilt and on what it means to be human. Sometimes deeply sad, sometimes funny, always haunting.

Intense (often breathtaking), thoughtful, profound, gorgeous, brilliantly-written, perfectly acted and so deliciously slow - television just doesn’t get any better than this, folks. Rectify gets an easy **** and is on my list of the top ten TV shows of all time.