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Hidden Gems/Honorable Mentions: Magpie Murders (PBS) Obviously there are a lot of British crime series. Like a lot. Magpie Murders is probably the most creative that I've seen in a while. The plot centers around parallel mysteries – the death of a crime writer and the draft of his final novel that is missing its final chapter. As the editor scrambles to recover the ending to the book, real and literary worlds bleed into each other. Borgen: Power and Glory (Netflix) You'll need to watch the preceding series Borgen before watching this follow-up. In the original three seasons, the two main female characters (Birgitte Nyborg - Sidse Babett Knudsen and Katrine Fonsmark - Brigitte Hjort Sorensen) are mostly very sympathetic characters navigating the political and journalistic landscape of Denmark. Those seasons ended in the early/mid 2010s, and we jump almost a decade to find these characters still in the game but with their heroic luster dimmed in the ever more complex world of the 2020s. The 2010's Chelsea Detective (AcornTV) A comfortable if unambitious police procedural set in current-day London. Just well done with a likeable lead detective and colleagues, not too dark. Slow Horses (AppleTV+) Unfortunately I cancelled AppleTV before the second season came out, but I already know it will be one of my first watches when I renew. Humorous combo of spycraft plus underdogs vs. the cocky folks in power. At least for S1 the short 6-episode season works to its advantage. Outer Range (Amazon Prime). Dramatic, pretty, and weird. Kind of an X-files meets Twin Peaks meets Longmire. I don't know that it nailed the finale but I liked it. Stranger Things (Netflix). The gangs back together, and the show remembered to have some fun and pick up the pace. Can't wait 'til season 5. This season took a stab at some origin stories and I thought they did a pretty good job. I also like how they played with the length/format of the season rollout. Resident Alien (Syfy). Funny and dumb. Alan Tudyk is a committed as Harry Vanderspiegel, an alien trying to pass as human in the body of small town doctor. This act would have worn pretty thin if it weren't for the supporting female cast and their interactions. Half Bad: Bastard son & the Devil Himself (Netflix) There are a lot of supernatural teen shows this year, and I thought this was the best of the ones I'd seen. So many of them are just dumb high school rivalry and/or over-the-top opulence. There's a bit of that here, although the show moves away from school days and becomes a quest. The magical world (which takes place in modern day Europe) feels fresh and most of the main trio are reasonably likeable as people. A League of Their Own (Amazon Prime) I have a soft spot for remakes or adaptations that keep the good stuff while adding something of value to the telling. The story of the WW2 era women's professional baseball becomes an unambigously queer series. It also confronts the racism of the era by adding a mostly separate african american story line. If you base your expectations on the 1990's comedy this will feel especially tacked on, but if you view the show as about womens' stories it becomes a step towards completion. best show we watched not from 2022, or at least the parts we watched... Ghosts (BBC) I guess technically S4 aired in 2022 but until it hits HBOMax we won't be able to see it. As good as the American version is, and I think it's gotten pretty good for a CBS sitcom, the original BBC show is absolute magic. Do yourself a favor and watch it. And now the Top 10! 10) Prehistoric Planet (AppleTV+) To be clear, very little in Prehistoric Planet likely happened the exactly the way it was depicted. I typically have a strong aversion to speculative science shows because the dramatization usually detracts from whatever science the show is based on. Yet here the way dinosaur life and behavior was updated based on our understanding of contemporary animals was pretty outstanding. And the show was beautiful. It felt like a really good nature doc instead of the majority of dino shows I've seen which focus on the paleontologists digging up the bones or computer modeling how fat they were or whatever. 9) What We Do In The Shadows (Fx) This show is crass and crazy, and after 4 seasons of vampire flatmate hijinks you'd think it would start to wear thin. This isn't the best season of the run but the showrunners demonstrate the ability to fully go for a gag. Scattered episodes like the Night Market and the Home Renovation plot are good enough by themselves to keep this show in my Top 10 another year. 8) The Bear (Hulu) I'll be honest that this aired early enough in 2022 that I've now forgotten a lot about this show besides that it snuck up on me and really made me love it. For the most part its wasn't build-ups to scenes or season-long plot that made the show for me, or necessarily the characters either. This show had an almost magical quality to make the bustle and day-to-day drama of this small hole-in-the-wall restaurant really fun to watch. 7) The Dropout (Hulu) I can see how this dramatization of the Theranos case might not be everyone's cup of tea. Tech companies fail all the time, and white-collar crime doesn't typically make for a gripping story. I knew the basics but hadn't read much about it or heard the podcast, and I don't have any particular insights on accuracy. The show's narrative worked for me, showing the mania and self-delusion of Elizabeth Holmes, the insane secrecy and corporate culture at Theranos suppressing reality, the heroic measures that finally daylit the problems. I was impressed with the Amanda Seyfried's portrayal. 6) Only murders in the building (Hulu). Against all odds, this show with its actors I don't adore, hit a home run in its first season and somehow followed up with another great release. Martin Short is still a bit over the top but an understated Steve Martin and deadpan-almost-comatose Selena Gomez have great chemistry. An absurdist mystery show with a lot of twists and turns that just nails it most of the time. 5) The White Lotus (HBOmax) Lifestyles of the Rich and Clueless, and those caught up in their orbit. This season shifts from Hawaii to Sicily and ups the opulence. Its plot arcs build up the tension as the season goes and clearly given the amount of digital ink spilled in TVIV a lot of people were invested in figuring out what was going to happen week after week. That said, I dropped the show a few spots from last year because the buildups didn't feel nearly as organic as last time. Rather than escalations over a room assignment or whatever, these involved more obvious scheming and subterfuge, plus I kind of wanted the volcano to just obliterate the whole resort. These are quibbles and it's still a stand out for me this year. 4) Mystery Road: Origin (AcornTV) This is probably the least watched show of my top 10. Mystery Road is an Australian franchise following Detective Jay Swan, a cop of indigenous background who is an outsider both to the first peoples community and the white settler townfolk. It's a dark and dreamy show that might give you the feels of first season True Detective, and nobody does sad and dusty town like the Outback. Mystery Road: Origin is a prequel with a much younger actor who is no Aaron Pederson but he does a credible job. You don't need to have seen the original movies or seasons to enjoy this (but you should). 3) Severance (AppleTV+) Holy crap what a ride. This show starts like a good Black Mirror episode and just keeps getting insanely better. Is it a show about grief and memory? The emptiness of modern life? Perils of tech? A love story? A sci-fi adventure? All of the above, all at once. The future/retro aesthetics are great and call back to MANIAC or something similar. 2) Bad Sisters (AppleTV+) If you want a dark comedy that nails the dark and the comedy, here you go. The show opens on the funeral of the husband of one of a tight-knit quintet of sisters. The season unwinds with three threads, flashbacks to what a loving terrible and pathetic human stain of a person the husband was, the other sisters' various plots to take him out, and the often inept attempts for a pair of hard-luck insurance investigators trying to prove the death was murder. Claes Bang does such an amazing job playing the husband, and the fact we know he got what was coming to him (however it happened) defangs him enough the audience can fully revel in hating him. 1) Reservation Dogs (Hulu) #1 on my list for the second year in a row. I love everything about this show. The central characters, the four friends, are all extremely sympathetic characters even if they aren't all sunshine and roses. Their relationships with elders as they explore adulthood is often funny and poignant. The spirit guides are hilarious. The show perfectly walks the fine line of showing the sometimes crushing reality of first peoples while at the same time expressing the full optimism and pride the community provides. This may be a "representation" show, and it is the best kind, a unique and wonderful story that could not be told by any other voices.
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Jan 6, 2023 07:52
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Ishamael posted:Great list! And I agree, this show is amazing. I love the specificity of it, how it is so cemented in its place and with its people. Even in a show with talking spirits and crazy dream sequences, it makes everything feel grounded and real. I like shows like Alaska Daily or Three Pines but it make it glaringly obvious when there's a show that's (probably written by white folks) for white folks to educate or advocate for some certain issue vs. something like Rez Dogs. I think there's a place for the former but you see what's missing if you don't have the latter. Pan Dulce posted:
I'm working through this show now. I more or less cut off my watching window at the beginning of the year or it would probably be on my list too. IMDB says 2021 but it looks like it straddled 2021/2022.
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Jan 8, 2023 00:18
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