Awake

"Parade's End" is a British television miniseries that aired in 2012. It is based on a series of novels by Ford Madox Ford and is set during World War I. The story revolves around a wealthy Englishman named Christopher Tietjens, who is in a troubled marriage with his adulterous wife, Sylvia. He also falls in love with a young suffragette named Valentine Wannop, who becomes his confidante and ally during the war.

"The Staircase" is a biographical drama streaming television miniseries created by Antonio Campos and based on the 2004 true crime docuseries of the same name by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade. The show follows the story of Michael Peterson, a crime novelist who is accused of killing his wife, Kathleen Peterson. Kathleen was found dead at the bottom of a staircase in their home, and as the investigation unfolds, Michael's family becomes embroiled in a legal battle.

Those familiar with Law & Order will appreciate the concept of approaching legal cases from more than one perspective. In The Whole Truth we see each case from both the prosecution and the defense angles so have an opportunity to decide whether a defendant is guilty or innocent judging by the evidence presented to us and to a judge and jury. One memorable episode includes the addition of Judd Hirsch (Taxi) to the cast as a beloved judge who has been charged in a murder. Seems he approved a wiretap on a dangerous drug lord before it turned into a far larger problem involving federal charges. Rob Morrow (Numb3rs, Northern Exposure) portrays Jimmy Brogan is the prosecuting attorney for the state of New York (actually the filming was done in Los Angeles, California) and Maura Tierney (ER) is Kathryn Peale a strong advocate of personal and legal rights for her clients. The two attorneys are on opposite sides of the courtroom in each episode and we must decide who we think has the upper edge or who puts on the best case for their clients, then we see the results in the finale.

It's one thing to be a member of a large traditional "cop" family but when one joins up with the Internal Affairs division of their Chicago Police Department things can become a bit unstable. Rachael Carpani (seen on TV's The Glades & True Blue) is Abby Kowalski, who moved over to IAD when a job offer to move upward in the department came about. She has designs on eventually becoming a detective. Her father is Don Kowalski (Treat Williams from 127 Hours, A Little Bit of Heaven) a sergeant with CPD who absolutely hates the idea of his little girl joining the IAD. Kathy Baker (Last Chance Harvey, Boston Public) is Sheila Kowalski, wife of Don and mother to Abby, Richie, Steve, and Donnie Kowalski. Abby Kowalski and her family squabble over the fact she has joined the IAD, seeing her as a spy and turncoat. This makes family gatherings difficult and the usual football games become a battlefield in their yard. But Abby is a dedicated police officer and still chooses to solve crimes whenever possible. This show is fast paced and has some good writing to keep it moving each week.

One of two intense medical dramas NBC introduced in the fall of 2009, "Mercy" had all the advantages its one-named rival "Trauma" did not. First, it had talent behind the scenes. Liz Heldens from "Friday Night Lights" created the show and led the writers, proving once again that the best way to dramatize the real world is to show it realistically"”ugliness and all. Second, it had attitude and guts to stay true to its revolutionary premise, the well-informed notion "that nurses remain [not only] more generous caregivers, but that they are more intuitively apt, smarter, more committed and as technically able as their [physician] superiors, with none of the accompanying arrogance." In a winner-take-all ER smackdown, you always would go all-in with the Mercy Hospital nurses. The main character, nurse Veronica Flanagan Callahan, has just returned from a tour in Iraq, where she clearly learned more in each day than the pompous, presumptuous doctors learned in all five years of medical school. Of course, Veronica gets neither the respect nor the reward she deserves, but "Mercy" dangles the possibility of true love as just recompense for Veronica's skill and compassion. Taylor Schilling plays Veronica with exactly the right balance of toughness and vulnerability, skillfully juxtaposing her consummate skill as a nurse with her intrepid ingenuousness in matters of the heart. If only "Mercy" had survived into a second season, all the tangled threads in the story might have come to their proper denouement. If only.

Emily VanCamp, who was previously seen on ABC's Brothers & Sister now gets far more serious and sinister as she moves to the Hamptons seeking Revenge for wrongs committed on her family. The close knit community welcomes her but has no idea what she intends to do while getting her Revenge. The concept comes loosely from an Alexandre Dumas novel titled The Count of Monte Cristo and revenge is something most of us have wanted as some point. Other stars of Revenge include Madeleine Stowe (Unlawful Entry, Twelve Monkeys) as Victoria Grayson, Gabriel Mann (The Thacker Case, Dark Streets) as Nolan Ross, and Henry Czerny (Clear and Present Danger, The Pink Panther) is Conrad Grayson. Exacting Revenge can be dangerous but also rewarding and we will enjoy following along each week as Emily Thorne gets even with those who shaped her future ever since her childhood. She finds plenty of "skeletons in the closet" of the rich and powerful living in the Hamptons and does not want to forgive any of them. She will get her revenge one way or another!