What Wednesday #26: Rectify
Today is all about the most profound TV show I’ve ever seen.
For What Wednesday I usually write on 3 different things (save a haiku or two), but today I’m doing something different. Rectify is a show so profound and moving, that to include the requisite song and movie to fill out the post seemed like a diservice. This is a show that deserves to stand on its own. There’s not a more human show out there, and it’s the closest I’ve seen a TV show come to being true art. And not art as in “that’s pretty”, but as in “this makes me feel things so deeply it’s almost spiritual.”
The concept of Rectify is pretty simple: Daniel Holden, put on death row as a teenager, is exonerated by DNA evidence 19 years later, though plenty in the fictional small town of Pauley, GA refuse to believe he’s innocent, especially those responsible for convicting him. The show begins with him getting out of prison, which immediately sets it apart: most shows would start with the crime and end with him being proved innocent in some emotional, cathartic, totally unrealistic court room. This show is about the human cost of a gross miscarriage of justice, not the mechanics of our justice system. It’s about people, not plot.
(Though its realistic plot is still quite incredible. Damien Nichols, one of the falsely accused and acquitted West Memphis Three, says its portrayal is eeirly spot on: “Much like in my own real life case, the local politicians refuse to admit he’s innocent even after DNA testing points towards someone else. In fact, there was so much about this show that mirrored my own life I began to wonder how much of my story had crept into the script…I can tell you from first hand experience that Rectify is a very realistic show.”)
I’m not nearly a gifted enough writer to capture how powerful this show is. Though the vast majority of the show is set in kitchens and small town tire shops, the show’s scope seems to expand every episode, exploring big concepts as justice, humanity, and faith — it has the most sincere representation of Christianity I’ve ever seen on TV, all due respect to Touched by an Angel — with a subtly and toughtfulness that is largely absent from a TV world dominated by spectacle and CG dragons. It has more in common with an art exhibit at the Met than the latest Marvel slugfest on Netflix.
It’s definitely not a pop on and binge show.
First, you have to be in the right mind to watch an episode. Slow, melancholic, open-ended, it’s not exactly an exhilarating pick me up at the end of a long day. It’s also a show that rewards contemplation and focus, and though it takes its time, that slow pace makes it feel like you’re watching real people, not characters.
I’ve never watched a show that’s made me feel such powerful joy and deep sadness in the same episode, often within minutes of each other.
In that way I feel like it gets closer to representing the joys and sadness of real life. Joy and sadness are often tightly linked; tears and smiles aren’t as far apart as we’d like to think. Even in our happiest moments, past trauma and hurt lingers just under the surface. But for some reason that makes the happy times much more powerful.
The way these emotions are conveyed follow the maxim of all great entertainment: “show, don’t tell.” Characters rarely come out and say things like, “I’m happy, but emotionally reserved.” But because of the nearly flawless combination of incredible writing, direction, and performances — especially Aden Young, who puts on a masterclass in powerful but understated acting as Daniel— everything is conveyed in a beautifully authentic way. As one reviewer perfectly sums up, “Rectify remains a master class in nuance — in small looks and long pauses that say more than pages of dialogue.” Nailed it.
Rectify is easily in my Top 5 shows of all time, alongside classics like The Wire and Breaking Bad.
Who knows, it might be Number 1 by the time it wraps up tonight. Though I’m very sad to see it end, like Breaking Bad, it’s ending on its own terms, with a tightly compact 4 season story arc that doesn’t meander or go off the rails, which means it’s going out at the peak of its greatness. But you don’t have to take my word on how good it is: its fourth (and last) season is currently the second highest rated season of all-time on Metacritic. It’s even won a Peabody award. (Though it’s absolutely criminal it hasn’t been recognized by the Emmys. If it was a Netflix or HBO show, I’m sure that wouldn’t be the case. Hopefully they get it right next year.) The first 3 seasons are on Netflix, and hopefully the final season won’t be too far behind. Highest possible recommendation.
