Of seasons one through three, two were brilliant and one (I forget which) was simply very, very good. And now comes season four and it's different. The canvas is larger, the setup more drawn out and it could so easily have been what others here have accused it of - but it isn't. I doubt those most vociferous critics of this latest season watched beyond the first episode, which is a shame because they denied themselves an extraordinary pleasure. Deeper and more complex than earlier seasons, number four is a multi-layered, sprawling epic which retains the trademark sly, black humor but adds real depth. And against all the odds given the racial subplots, there's a remarkable lack of preaching. Not much American TV or film has managed that recently. Without revisiting the first three seasons, I can't be sure but this one feels like the best.
