This show is so important to me. Along with Orphan Black, it's basically the first "adult" show I ever watched. I was 14 at the time when I started it, and I watched the episodes as they came out from season 3 onwards. I'm nearly 23 now and it's insane how different my perspective is on the show now that I know a lot more about the world. Binging it in 2 weeks also helped, because watching the show over 3 years as it came out really didn't help with my understanding of it. That's also ignoring the fact that my comprehension of film and TV shows when I was younger wasn't great to put it mildly. Now, while my personal philosophies prevent me from empathising with the Jennings, I can absolutely get behind their plight and mission, in a way anyway. The United States are not painted as saints by a long shot, and rightly so. It's a noble cause that the Jenningses are fighting for, even if it is completely futile. It's what makes them so fascinating, especially Elizabeth. Their tangle with duty against morals is always enthralling, and it makes for two incredibly complex characters. Honestly, forget Walter White or Tony Soprano (maybe idk I haven't watched The Sopranos yet), I think Elizabeth Jennings is the quintessential, definitive anti-hero. Season 6 in particular showcases her vicious ruthlessness superbly. Philip is a really great counterpart for her, and it's the type of duo, like Rust Cohle and Marty Hart, where you can't have one without the other.
There really isn't much to fault about the show at all. The writing is generally faultless. It does have some long stretches at times, but when it's good, it's brilliant. For me, 6>3>1>2>4>5. Season 6 is up there with the best individual seasons I've seen, with the finale being one of the best I've seen no question, which is a change from 18 year old me not being that satisfied with it the first time I saw it. Season 1 is also one of the better first seasons I've seen. I think there's no doubt that this show does tension like no other, and there were times in this rewatch where I found myself on the edge of my seat knowing full well what happens next. I do think by far my main gripe with the show was that far too often, scenes were cut too short. They ended unnaturally when there was definitely room for it to continue. It's more a shame than anything because countless opportunities were missed. I also think the show can be a slow burn at times, and most of the time it handles it well but I think season 5 especially it does kind of suffer from less than interesting storylines. Honestly I think the show could've sufficed with 5 seasons, or at least a condensed season 5, but I did still like it and it produced one of the show's best episodes, Dyatkovo.
Generally speaking, I only have praise for the show. I love it and it's without question one of my favourite shows, and one of the most under-appreciated shows of all time.
