11. One Hundred Years of Solitude
Available on: Netflix (U.S. and U.K.)
“Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.” These are the opening lines of Gabriel García Márquez’ classic 1967 novel One Hundred Years of Solitude. They are also the opening lines of Netflix’s ambitious 2024 TV adaptation of the work. This eight-episode series (set to receive a second and concluding season at an unknown time) is all about fidelity to Márquez’ beloved opus that chronicles 100 years of the Buendía family’s solitude in the fictional Macondo.
Long thought unadaptable due to its strange chronology and the sheer lyricism of Márquez’s magically-realistic approach, One Hundred Years of Solitude nevertheless received the Netflix treatment anyway. Thankfully for all of us, the show somehow pulls it off. This is a dense, deliberate, and joyful presentation of a largely inscrutable work. Filmed on several locations throughout Colombia with an almost entirely Spanish-speaking Colombian cast, One Hundred Years of Solitude goes about adapting a classic the right way. In the process it captures some real TV magic – realistic or not. – AB
10. Agatha All Along
Available on: Disney+ (U.S. and U.K.)
WandaVision continues to be one of the few Disney+ MCU series I go out of my way to rewatch, so there wasn’t much, if any, doubt in my mind that Agatha All Along would be something special. And yet, I’m still blown away by just how incredible this series is. Showrunner Jac Schaeffer has once again told a compelling story of love, grief, and loss through the lens of pop culture. After breaking the curse placed on her by Wanda, Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) is compelled by a mysterious teen (Joe Locke) to gather a coven and summon the infamous Witches’ Road.
Agatha All Along is a queer, campy, witchy, spooky delight to watch, with leads Kathryn Hahn and Aubrey Plaza sharing the most chemistry the MCU has ever seen. This show and its popularity is further proof that Kevin Feige should just let Schaeffer continue to do her thing with the witchy side of the MCU. Agatha All Along is fairly self-contained, but there’s still plenty of room for more stories in this world to be told. And if they are, I will absolutely be seated. – BA