The best TV show of the year

Stephen's scorched-earth crusade leaves no part of Catherine's life untouched, neither her weak-chinned husband Robert (Sacha Baron Cohen) nor her underachieving son Nicholas (Kodi Smit-McPhee). The “disclaimer” comes from a book Nancy wrote in her grief and anger, which Stephen finds and publishes. He claims it is the devastating truth that will bring down Catherine, now a respected journalist and documentary filmmaker known for exposing the misdeeds of others. As Stephen wreaks havoc in the present, the series looks back 20 years to the meeting between Catherine and Jonathan and the impact of the boy's death on his worried parents.

Cuarón, director of acclaimed films such as “Gravity,” “Children of Men” and “Roma,” is considered a meticulous and relentless storyteller, and his style informs the seven episodes. His camera lingers on Blanchett's expressive face, on the gray waves of the Mediterranean, on the ugliness of Stephen and Nancy's grief. The series contains graphic sex scenes that are neither exploitative nor gratuitous; Instead, they are terrifying in their intimacy and power. As the story unfolds in the past and present, Cuarón's script and direction never let the audience rest.

Blanchett is perhaps one of the few modern actors who could handle Catherine's complexities. It's hard to discuss how many emotions the character has to go through without spoiling the plot of the series, but suffice it to say that Blanchett gets to showcase her full range. The entire cast confronts the complex darkness of the material, but it is Cohen who surprises the most. The actor, known for his quirky comedies like “Borat” and “Bruno,” is almost unrecognizable in his wig and glasses, playing the straightest man with the anger and fervor of his comedic characters, but without a shred of irony. Who knew Borat could do that?

Good television subverts your expectations. The best TV takes your expectations, spits them out, throws them out the window, and makes you look at yourself in the mirror and say “Huh.”