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"Watch or Washed" is a new weekly column in which Complex Pop editors highlight popular television shows that are either worth checking out or, sadly, totally washed. Here are this week's:
2.The Heart, She Holler
Verdict: Watch
When: Saturdays at 12:30 a.m.
Where: Adult Swim
Why: The latest season of The Heart, She Holler is as ridiculous as the previous two, but even more disgusting and absurd—as if that were possible. The show follows the lives of Heartshe clan, an unbelieveably dense southern family that takes the concept of white trash to new and glorious heights. The current season, "The Comening," picks up where the season two finale, "The Endginning," left off. Hurlan Heartshe (Patton Oswald) decided he wanted to skip town and see other parts of the world. Needless to say, things it does not go well.
Creators John Lee and Vernon Chatman like to bill The Heart, She Holler as a "southern gothic," but the show's true calling card is its absolute commitment to exposing the vile cultural underbelly that characterizes much of American life—even if most of us don't always want to admit or recognize it. Catch up on the first two seasons, which are available on Adult Swim, before diving into season three. You may throw up your mother's gingerbread cookies while watching, but it will be worth it. —Lauretta Charlton
3.Darknet
Verdict: Watch
When: Right away (it's currently streaming)
Where: Netflix
Why: Assuming you’ve already watched Black Mirror via Netflix streaming (and if you haven’t, what are you even doing with your life?), here’s another genre anthology series that makes American Horror Story: Freak Show seem more washed than a marathon of NBC’s Dracula. Straight out of Canada and 100% horror, Darknet isn’t your typical Tales from the Crypt acolyte—each of its six 25-minute episodes are told Pulp Fiction style, with multiple story-lines and characters intertwining and ultimately connecting in one final-second twist.
At its best, Darknet taps into the vibrant, breathless kind of horror seen in the underrated 2007 omnibus flick Trick ‘r Treat; the two strongest episodes, numbers 1 and 3, merge tropes like serial killers and When a Stranger Calls-like “Are you alone in the house?” stalking moments into tightly written and sneakily visceral blasts of nightmarish entertainment. At its worst, namely the sixth and final installment, Darknet is B-grade horror-comedy silliness, though the kind that’s infinitely better than other unintentionally unfunny bullshit you’ll find in Netflix’s streaming horror library, like Satan’s Little Helper and Chillerama. —Matt Barone
4.High Maintenance
Verdict: Watch
When: Anytime you want
Where: Vimeo
Why: You don’t need 13 episodes of hour-long dramatic programming to achieve a complex cross-section of human emotion. High Maintenance, a web series that follows the customers of a nameless weed deliveryman in New York, can make you happy, sad, amused, and all the gray areas in between, in six to eight minutes. The beloved achievement of wife-and-husband team KatjaBlichfeld and Ben Sinclair, the series will deliver three new episode on Feb. 5, meaning now is the right time to get caught up on what you’ve missed. Sixteen episodes are available on Vimeo right now and with an L and some snacks, you could knock out the entire run in one long afternoon.
Cross paths with the hipster grifter who uses OKCupid to solve her homeless problem; the really sad dude who lives with his dying mother and buys weed to facilitate short social interactions; the Airbnb guest who has way more sex than is reasonable for someone crashing in your living room; and the shittiest friend pairing SoHo has ever produced, just to name a few of the most memorable customers. Laugh, cry, etc. But above all else, smoke weed every day. —Ross Scarano
5.Homeland
Verdict: Watch
When: Binge it ASAP
Where: Showtime's On-Demand service
Why: OK, so… We owe Claire Danes and co. an apology.
A few weeks back, Showtime’s Homeland qualified as certified Washed material. Historically uneven and frustrating, the polarizing drama series started off its fourth and current season at peak garbage. In the wake of Nicholas Brody’s (Damian Lewis) death last year, Carrie (Danes) was in Islamabad seducing the college-aged survivor of her organization’s colossal drone-strike fuck-up; Quinn (Rupert Friend) was coping with PTSD by smacking backs with his overweight landlord; and Saul (Mandy Patinkin) was just fighting for screen time. Washed, epitomized.
But then something unexpected happened: At the end of the sixth episode, Homeland’s producers abandoned the season’s problematic character arcs and jumped right into no-frills CIA thriller mode. And, as anyone who’s endured through all four Homeland seasons knows, it’s a great show whenever it’s simply trying to raise your pulse. A kidnapping plot went gruesomely awry; Quinn snapped out of his fatty syndrome and became the gun-toting badass we’ve all hoped he’d turn into; Carrie stopped flirting with romance, grabbed an automatic weapon, and shot back into everyone’s good graces; and the season’s Big Bad, a bloodthirsty terrorist leader, evolved into one of TV’s scariest villains in 2014.
Once again, Homeland won its on-the-fence viewers back with an explosive latter half of a season. The good thing this time, though, is that even if next season reverts back to trash status, these last six episodes have been exceptional enough to make haters forget all about Brody’s daughter, whatever her name was. (Yes, it was Dana. #NeverForget) —Matt Barone
6.The Honourable Woman
Verdict: Watch
When: Right now!
Where: Netflix
Why: I like to tell the other Complex Pop editors that if they'd just had the opportunity to watch The Honourable Woman it'd have been their favorite show of the year. (Instead, it made it to number ten on our list based mostly on my constant evangelizing.) The mini-series, which is finally available on Netflix for your viewing pleasure, was produced for the BBC in the U.K. and SundanceTV in the States. (The spelling of "honourable" should tip you off to its origins.) Starring Maggie Gyllenhaal in a career-defining role as Nessa Stein, the head of an Israeli arms-cum-communications company, the twisty plot revolves around familial evils, double agents, and Israeli-Palestinian strife. Investigating all the subterfuge is a British spy played by Stephen Rea, whose name, Sir Hugh Hayden-Hoyle, is one of the great fictitious appellations of the new millennium. As powerful as Gyllenhaal is, Rea's performance is just as mesmerizing in his portrayal of a dogged, quietly confident agent on his last case.—Nathan Reese
7.Watch or Washed Running Tally
The Eric Andre Show: Watch
2 Broke Girls: Washed
The Affair: Watch
MasterChef Junior: Watch
Elementary: Washed
Black Mirror: Watch
Sons of Anarchy: Watch (but it'll probably be Washed)
Bob's Burgers: Watch
New Girl: Watch
Modern Family: Washed
Toy Story That Time Forgot: Watch
Peter Pan Live!: Hate-watch
Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways: Watch
The Comeback: Watch
A Very Grammy Christmas: Washed
State of Affairs: Watch
Gotham: Washed
Black-ish: Watch
Homeland: Washed
Carmilla: Watch
American Horror Story: Washed
Shark Tank: Watch
The Newsroom: Watch
The Missing: Watch
Reign: Watch
The Walking Dead: Watch
Sons of Anarchy: Washed?
Homeland: Washed
Supernatural: Watch
Peaky Blinders: Watch