The 3 current best series end this week and something like that should be banned

Saying goodbye to a series after many years is never easy. Especially not if it was a really good series. These weeks celebrate the same 3 of the best series of the present for me their finale: Succession, Barry and Ted Lasso. Although “celebrate” might be the wrong word, because the end of the series throws me into a quandary:

On the one hand, of course, I want to know how it ends and I’m glad they ended properly (rather than abruptly canceled). On the other hand, I’m reluctant to watch the final episode because it’s really, truly over. How can you be so incredibly cruel to have everyone end up in the same week?

Do you feel the same? Then welcome, dear mourners: I hold one Eulogy for three of the best series of our time. And ask myself: How do I fill this hole in my streaming heart?

Series Farewell 1: Succession, you taught me to enjoy the wickedness of the world

Succession and I got off to a rocky start. Right from the start I watched the first episode… and didn’t understand why I chose one Family of consistently bad people who squinted at succeeding a media empire, should inspire. But the praise for the Roys did not fade away in my environment and so I dared a second attempt. To my surprise, it was really worth it: by season 2 at the latest, the love-hate relationship between family members became a pleasure for me too, when the intrigues of the intrigues took on Game of Thrones-like features.

When I looked, I always wavered between Disgust at the power- and money-hungry top 1 percent and at the same time longed for the brief moments of connection between sibling enemies. TV history was made with the smallest of gestures and decisions as he fought for the attention of domineering father Logan Roy (Brian Cox). As quickly as the Roys switched allies, my sympathies flew to Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Shiv (Sarah Snook), and Roman (Kieran Culkin) again.

Season 4 finally escalated the fight for the eponymous succession to the throne of the Succession family empire and when you thought you had seen the absolute best episode, the series put the next highlight on top a week later. Jesse Armstrong’s series was great character cinema on the small screen. I will probably never experience the clash of such egos again.

Series Farewell 2: Barry made me realize that laughter and shock go hand in hand

Barry, on the other hand, proved to me, an old comedy muffle, that humor and drama don’t have to be mutually exclusive. I kind of forgot about that since Breaking Bad, but the Contract killer who wanted to be an actorbrought back the Breaking Bad feeling.

Thanks to Barry, I rediscovered actor Bill Hader and was amazed at the creativity of the series combined absurd situations with grandiose camera gimmicks and dramatic character twists. I could be laughing out loud on the sofa one moment and staring at my screen in stunned shock the next. Series very rarely succeed in mixing genres.

Whether it was Barry fighting little girls, baring his soul on the theater stage, or taking up arms without batting an eyelid, he was the new Dexter to me. A somewhat ambivalently loved character that I was never quite sure whether I was allowed to like or not. The fact that every 30-minute episode became a roller coaster ride of emotions was a true art.

Series farewell 3: When everything was terrible, there was always Ted Lasso

Luckily, if Succession had me staring into the abyss and Barry bathing in ambivalence, there was still Ted Lasso: The Story About One by midweek American football coach who takes charge of an English football team, brought so much heart that I could start believing in the good in people again. And I say that even though I have nothing to do with the sport itself.

As The epitome of the Feelgood series with substance Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) knew how to tease out the strengths in his fellow human beings, from the grumpy old footballer Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein) to the embittered boss Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) or footballer friend Keeley (Juno Temple), which were only on the surface looked like clichés.

Ted Lasso set the example when it came to to change the world with kindness. That has become rare. His balancing influence on my emotional balance of the series will be sorely missed.

Farewell to the best current series – and now?

The fact that all these three series favorites end in one fell swoop is certainly due to the fact that in the USA the deadline for qualifying for an Emmy nomination ends on May 31st. Nevertheless, this cruelly timed triple farewell is hard for series fans like me to cope with, because I now standing in front of a hole three times as deepwhen the finale of just one of these brilliant stories would have snapped.

That’s right I don’t feel like just starting the next series now. Also because I ask myself after the so fresh wound of the farewell, who should reach this high bar of enthusiasm. It’s like just replacing my lost child with the next one!

Of course, there’s an opportunity to revisit the three series in the future and just watch them again (which is guaranteed to happen). But in the end, this first acquaintance and accompaniment through unexpected character ups and downs remains a unique experience.

Shiv, Roman, Ken, Barry, and Ted: You’re going to leave a hole in my streaming life that the next best merely “good” series can’t easily fill. But real friends deserve to be missed, because they have all enriched me in their own way. Even if saying goodbye is one thing above all: painful.

Podcast: The 20 best series launches in June on Netflix, Amazon and more

You are also in a hole and urgently need fresh streaming tips? The most exciting series that you can stream in June on Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and more can be found here in the monthly preview:

We have checked the long starting lists of the streaming services and present you the 20 big highlights of the month in the Moviepilot podcast stream trawl. Also included are Netflix’s big sci-fi return Black Mirror after 4 years, Henry Cavill’s final appearance as The Witcher, split personality Tom Holland in The Crowded Room, and the hilariously hilarious Pirates of the Caribbean replacement Our Flag Means Death.

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