By COLIN BALDWIN
STAFF WRITER
In 2013, Breaking Bad, one of the most critically and commercially popular television shows of the past decade came to a close after five seasons on the air. When citing groundbreaking television, many critics reference Breaking Bad and many placed the show at the top of their 2013 year-end lists, except for The A.V. Club, website Salon, and Time magazine. All three publications, including several others, found another television show to be even greater than Breaking Bad’s final season. This show is the underrated Enlightened.
Co-created by Mike White (writer of School of Rock) and Laura Dern, Dern plays Amy Jellicoe, an executive in the Health and Beauty division at the fictional Abaddon Industries who undergoes a change in character and perspective of the world around her after a breakdown stemming from depression and several other personal issues Amy has never confronted. Amy goes to rehab in Hawaii and comes back to her life only to find that she cannot simply pick up where she left off. Her position at Abaddon has been filled, she finds hostility from former coworkers, a new sense of estrangement from her mother appears, and she seeks out to establish a better relationship with her ex-husband. Amy confronts all of these obstacles to happiness with optimism and a sense of hope. She is not a perfect character at all, and viewers may find themselves at odds with Amy, even several times throughout an episode. But Amy’s spirit and passion makes her one of the most fascinating characters on television.
The show may sound like it is about one woman’s “journey” in finding herself, but it accomplishes so much more. Enlightened highlights corporate culture in Amy’s new position in the basement of Abaddon as well as developing truly compelling supporting characters. Some of the best episodes focus on Amy’s ex-husband Levi (Luke Wilson) and her co-worker Tyler (White) as well as Sandy (Robin Wright), a friend she made in rehab. These episodes are not written simply to experiment with narrative; they can easily stand alone as masterful pieces of television. So much depth is given to the characters and the viewer begins to care very much over the short eighteen episode span of the show. Once the show establishes Amy in her environment again, the narrative shifts with Amy fighting against Abaddon for their illegal activities with government officials. You cannot help but stand in solidarity with Amy and cheer for her.
Enlightened aired on HBO from 2011 to 2013 for two seasons and was cancelled due to low viewership. However, it was so critically adored that some television critics were prompted to go out of their way before its cancellation and write articles citing all of the reasons viewers should watch the show. Hank Stuever of The Washington Post wrote, “[Enlightened] is the most hauntingly nuanced and carefully written show currently on TV” and Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club chose Enlightened over shows like Mad Men, Game of Thrones, Homeland, and Girls at the end of 2013 to make the top of the list.
Enlightened will stand the test of time and remain one of the best stories on television from the past decade simply because the story and characters are so human. It is easy to create elaborate plots with questionable characters, but depth is what separates Enlightened from its hollow counterparts. It may not be overly sentimental or “heartwarming,” but Enlightened will hopefully provide new perspectives, which is everything anyone could ever ask from television.