As a network, HBO has offered some of the most innovative stories on TV. Classics such as The Sopranos and Game of Thrones defined entire generations of television audiences, their controversial final episodes being discussed as major events unto themselves.
In fact, over the past decade, the most celebrated show around was Game of Thrones! However, it was just one of the many amazing HBO series to receive critical acclaim. From the gunslinging cyberpunk thriller Westworld to the cutthroat sordid New York streets of The Deuce, the premium cable channel continues producing top-notch television. Here are ten storylines that appeared in the past decade which were the absolute best of what HBO has to offer.
Boardwalk Empire: Margaret's Empowerment
Boardwalk Empire tells the story of the Prohibition-era gangster and community leader, Nucky Thompson. While outwardly presenting himself as a respectable member of society and even speaking with the Women's Temperance League, Nucky himself is a savvy entrepreneur and unapologetic hedonist who understands how to turn a profit as a bootlegging kingpin.
Nucky might be the protagonist of the series, but one of the most interesting stories is that of Margaret Thompson. At the start of the show, she was a desperate immigrant being battered by her drunken husband. However, over the course of the series, she ends up in a relationship with Nucky, even marrying him. What makes her journey so fascinating is watching how she transforms her life around, starting a victim and becoming a powerful force in her own right.
The Watchmen: Interdimensional Squids
The Watchmen is still in its first season, so how this story arc will end is yet to be seen. A loose sequel to the critically-acclaimed graphic novel of the same name by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, this sci-fi superhero crime drama has a lot of plot threads to untangle. One mystery introduced in the first episode is a strange weather phenomenon where squids rain from the sky.
The fifth episode of the show opens with a flashback where New York and New Jersey are devastated when a massive transdimensional squid unleashes a massive psychic attack. Of course, there's more to this mystery than most people realize.
Gentleman Jack: The Romance of Anne Lister and Ann Walker
Gentleman Jack follows the Victorian Englishwoman Anne Lister, an accomplished physician, and industrialist who returns home to find her family's estate in disarray. She is determined to dig a coal mine, fully aware that people on a neighboring property have dug one of their own and are stealing her coal.
The most interesting part of the show is not one of Anne's dashing worldly adventures as she defies the conventions of Victorian gender roles, but rather the romance she strikes up with her neighbor, a young woman by the name of Ann Walker. Their romance is one of the most interesting on TV!
The Deuce: Candy's Film Career
Two of the masterminds behind The Wire, George Pelecanos, and David Simon, teamed up again to create The Deuce, a show about the pimps and prostitutes of 1970s New York during the period in which porn became legalized in the United States. Police corruption, the influence of the mob, the cruelty employed by pimps, and citywide crime are front and center in this gritty drama.
One of the most interesting stories in the show is that of Candy Merrell, a sex worker whose creativity is sparked by the film industry as adult films become legalized. Her passion, artistic spirit, and independence leave audiences star-struck.
Game of Thrones: Tyrion's Rise and Fall
It is doubtful that anyone reading this is unaware of the impact Game of Thrones has had on the world. This fantasy series about fire-breathing dragons, northern ice zombies, and massive thousand-foot-high fortifications made of enchanted ice was clever enough to seduce non-fantasy fans into watching it by slowly teasing out the supernatural elements while putting its amazing character-driven plot in the foreground.
One of the two best characters of the first season is the sharp-tongued quick-witted little person, Tyrion Lannister, a (mostly) good man from a disreputable family. Because of his stature (and his predilections for brothels and drink), he begins the series as an outcast. However, his cleverness, good deeds, and hard work are rewarded as he rises to greater power and influence--only to have it all stolen away.
Westworld: Dolores Awakening
Westworld is one of the best cyberpunk shows around. It is also one of the best Westerns. Unusual as that combination might seem, the show pulls it off with clever writing, rich characters, and an engaging premise. Its setting is an amusement park that recreates the historical setting of the American West, where visiting guests are able to go on adventures in the coolest live-action RPG around.
In a twist, the various Wild West cast members of the park, called hosts, are actually androids. When one of them, Dolores, begins to awaken into the realization of who and what she is, events begin spinning out of control as she defies her programming to seize control of her life.
Westworld: The Man in Black
The second Westworld entry on this list is a bit darker. Hosts do not just emulate human emotions, but actually can experience genuine emotions of their own. When guests at the park decide to treat the experience like a video game and torture the android hosts, sometimes memories of the trauma linger.
One character introduced early in the first season is the mysterious Man in Black, a cruel elderly patron who sadistically misuses the hosts. The identity of this individual is only revealed in the climax of the final episode of the season, but in that singular moment, everything that led up to it suddenly takes on new meaning!
Game of Thrones: Daenerys in Love
As the Mother of Dragons and Queen of Crazy Out-of-Character Citywide Massacres, Daenerys is not fondly remembered by fans who had to endure the disappointment of that final season of Game of Thrones. It can be hard to remember just how far she has come since Season 1.
Daenerys is introduced as a child bride, married off to the warlord Khal Drogo, a man whose language and culture are completely alien to her. She learns to love him, the tragically loses him. However, with each new romantic partner Daenerys has, she grows, becoming a Khaleesi, a Queen, and the Breaker of Chains! ...Until her final romance ends in a fiery incestuous blaze of messy symbolism.
The Newsroom: A Mission to Civilize
No one in Hollywood writes dialogue quite like Aaron Sorkin. He created such notable political dramas as The West Wing, A Few Good Men, and Charlie Wilson's War, but it was when he and HBO worked together to make The Newsroom that he got to address the internal workings of corporate media, showing just what happens behind the scenes at major news networks.
What makes this show so good is how it uses fictional people to address real issues. From the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico to the rise of the Tea Party, this show has managed to find the story behind the biggest news stories around while exploring the messy moral quandaries that face journalists.
Game of Thrones: Ned's Honor
While showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss seem to have lost their hands during the writing of the last two seasons, Game of Thrones has a lot of great moments worth remembering--all of them adapted from the brilliant book series by novelist George R. R. Martin.
The first season is really all about one character, Ned Stark, an honorable man living in a dishonorable world. Ned is defined by his bravery, his honesty, and his commitment to family. His struggle to do the right thing amidst the backstabbing intrigue and corruption of King's Landing is one of the great morality tales of modern times!