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This seemed like a really good year for TV, and narrowing down a list was tougher than I thought. But here are my Top 10 for 2022! 10. Undone – Season 2  This is a rotoscope-animated show about a woman whose mind keeps slipping out of time and space, questioning reality and trying to change the past. While I enjoyed the first season I felt like they didn’t take advantage of the animated nature of the show enough. They definitely picked up the slack this time, and had a lot of fun, trippy visuals to enjoy alongside Rosa Salazar’s excellent and natural performance. Also, more Bob Odenkirk on this list is always a good thing. Undone tackled the same kind of story as Russian Doll did in Season 2, but did so in a more coherent and interesting way. There’s a kind of limited physicality to the performers that makes it clear they were filmed in a small space, and some of the performances are better than others. But I think that the positives outweigh the negatives, and the whole thing was really interesting and enjoyable to watch. 9. Only Murders In The Building – Season 2  In Season 2 of OMITB, our neurotic podcast hosts are in the limelight themselves as they are scrutinized for a murder they (probably) didn’t commit. I wasn’t sure they could continue the charm of the first season, but the winning performances and light touch of the writing kept the whole thing feeling bright, fun and easy to watch. The beginning of the season was a bit clunky as they moved the pieces into place, but a series of fun misdirects and interesting twists brought it all around for a satisfying conclusion. I am not sure if they can keep this effervescent fun going for another season, but if they can I will keep watching. 8. After Party  The concept at the core of After Party is excellent – as each suspect is interviewed about a murder at a high school reunion party, they tell their side of the story in a different genre. One suspect lives an action movie, another recounts a musical, another sees the world as an animated adventure, and so on. This is a killer collection of B-level comedians, who all get a chance to shine in their respective episodes. Ben Schwartz and Ilana Grazer stand out, and Dave Franco makes an excellent douchebag millionaire. Some of the episodes are stronger than others, but it is a really fun and binge-worthy premise that lives up to its concept. 7. Reservation Dogs – Season 2  A group of Native American teens deals with the death of one of their friends and the varied problems and pressures of small town and reservation life. This one I just caught up on in December, and I was lucky enough to be able to watch both seasons together. What an outstanding show, and what a great cast. They walk a great line between comedy and drama, and both aspects of the show hit so well. It runs the gamut, from literal life-and-death terror on the road to a Spirit Guide who is stuck in a porta-potty, all in one unlikely package. The kids on the show are outstanding and all deserve to be stars in their own right, and it is great to see some classic Native actors like Wes Studi and Zahn McClarnon have fun with some crazier characters than we have seen them play before. Some episodes are stronger than others, and I wanted a bit more comedy in this season, but overall it was excellent. The writers clearly know the intricacies of small town life, Native life and the challenges of both. This specificity is key to the success of the story, and elevates the narrative from cute and whimsical to real and lived-in. A real triumph. 6. The Bear  Carmen, a top-level chef, moves back to his hometown to take over his brother’s struggling sandwich shop after his brother commits suicide. He struggles with finances, his personal loss and a restaurant staff who don’t want to change. At first I thought I was going to bail on this show, because the level of stress in each episode is just off the charts. These characters are all stretched thin, ground down and angry at the world, and it can be a lot. But after a couple episodes I was able to see that the actual meat of the show (no pun intended) was the exploration of the themes of grief, connection and family that they are dealing with. Richie may be the most unpleasant character that I have ever loved. What a terrible guy, I can’t wait to see more of him. Oliver Platt is also a great bit of color to the cast and elevates the episodes he is in. Probably the best praise I can give the show is that there is an episode that is one actual unbroken shot, and it is one of the most tense, heart-pounding and engaging things I have seen on TV. And it isn’t even the best episode. 5. Peacemaker  Ultra-macho patriotic hero “Peacemaker” is recruited into a secret task force to help deal with a mysterious threat known as Project Butterfly. This show was probably the biggest surprise of the year, since I didn’t expect big things from a side character in a mid-level superhero movie. But James Gunn and John Cena did an excellent job creating a complex and interesting character out of this seemingly one-note hero. Besides being actually, legitimately funny, there were some incredible emotional moments that were hit along the way, and some exciting and engaging action scenes as well. The entire ensemble was great, but special praise should go to Danielle Brooks as Adebayo and Freddie Stroma as Vigilante. These two provided the heart and the sociopathy, respectively, that helped keep the show balanced and showcased the different sides of Cena’s Peacemaker. 4. Barry – Season 3  Hitman and wanna-be actor Barry navigates his dual world with increasing difficulty, as all of his relationships begin to fall apart under the strain of his double life. What an achievement this season was. Barry has always been funny with a dark edge, but the comedy grew pitch-black this season as Barry slipped into the abyss and couldn’t find his way out. There were so many amazing scenes in this season, but several have stuck with me ever since. Barry calmly explaining how he would terrorize the TV executive to his horrified girlfriend, the intense and insane motorcycle chase scene, and the dream where Barry is standing on the shore waiting for something alongside all the people he has killed. All top TV moments, and all in one season. The ending was shocking and outstanding, and I love being in the position of having no idea how things will end. 3. Stranger Things – Season 4  The now-teens of Hawkins Indiana are terrorized by a creature from the Upside Down that can invade their dreams and destroy them from within, and must find a way to fight back and defeat this evil while discovering where it came from. Stranger Things had an amazing first season, and the next two seasons had various moments of excellence mixed with some big missteps. But this season they really fired on all cylinders, and created arguably their best season yet. The Duffer Brothers have a great handle on big cinematic moments, and they really pulled out all the stops this season. This is less a season of TV than one huge movie, and they did a great job of giving each character a moment to shine. The star of the season has to be Sadie Sink, who put in an amazing performance in Episode 4, probably the single best thing to come out of Stranger Things so far. As the story has moved along, they have leaned less and less on the 80s nostalgia and embraced the horror elements that are at the base of their concept. Their spin on Nightmare on Elm Street was a great new twist, and with it they created one of the most exciting and bingeable series of the year. 2. Severance  A group of employees in a mysterious company have chosen to separate their home lives from their work lives by dividing their brains into two sections, neither of which has any insight into the other side. It was a very close call to put this at the top spot, because this was an astounding achievement of storytelling. To take such a strange scifi concept and turn it into a compelling human drama wrapped in enticing mystery is a real masterstroke, and shouldn’t have worked. But it was one of the most compelling things I have seen in years, deftly weaving together science fiction craziness with personal stories of grief, love and loss. The finale, in which our characters’ plan starts to come together, was one of the most stressful, exciting and exhilarating pieces of media I have ever seen. Adam Scott anchors the show so well, and so effortlessly, it’s easy to miss what a great job he is doing. The subtle differences between his Innie and Outie personas are a great look into the severance process and how it works, and as the story unfolds we get to see why he has made the choices he has, and why it may have been a mistake. The show is very funny as well, but in a super dark and disturbing way. The dance party and the waffle party were both unforgettable for different reasons, and hard to explain to anyone who hasn’t seen the show. I have no idea if this concept can sustain into the future seasons, but if the first season is any indication we will have an amazing ride ahead of us. 1. Better Call Saul – Season 6  Jimmy McGill finally completes his transformation into sleazeball lawyer Saul Goodman, while in the future we see the final fate of his sad-sack disguise Gene Takovic. It doesn’t get much better than this. When you imagine a dramatic TV show, this is what you hope you will get. Vince Gilligan and team have shown that they truly know their craft by creating 2 satisfying endings for 2 very different shows, and both will stick with you. There were so many big moments this season, it is hard to single out individual scenes to praise. But I think the common element in all of them were the top-level performances. Howard Hamlin, Nacho, Gus and Mike all had their fitting endings, but the stars of course were Bob Odenkirk as Saul and Rhea Seehorn as Kim. I could heap praise on these two performances all day and not have it be enough. But two scenes have stuck with me. The first is the scene where we finally see Saul as his full, Breaking Bad-era self. He is the guy we remember, he is sleazy and womanizing, he has his earpiece in and never stops hustling. But now we can see what is actually happening, and it recontextualizes every single scene we have ever seen him in. This is a man in pain, who is hiding from his past and filling his life with loud, brash nonsense to make sure he never ever has to face the abyss at the center of himself. And, of course, Kim Wexler on the bus. When every single terrible moment comes crashing down on her at once and she literally can't take it anymore. I don't know that I have seen a better performance in anything, ever. There were a lot of great things this year, but this was the perfect ending to a great story, filled with great writing and great performances. What else can you ask for? Ishamael fucked around with this message at 17:06 on Dec 29, 2022 |
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Dec 28, 2022 18:07
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| # ¿ May 9, 2024 22:42 |
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Really enjoying everyone's writeups so far, keep them coming!
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Jan 3, 2023 15:59
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Bulky Bartokomous posted:It sounds like Severance is the best show I’m not watching. Every year this thread finds me another show I would have passed on left to my own devices. This thread in years past inspired me to watch Ted Lasso, For All Mankind, and Fleabag. Severance was really excellent, and deeply strange in the best way. Some shows I have been inspired to check out from this thread are Irma Vep, Strange New Worlds and Abbott Elementary, they all sound interesting/fun. Looking forward to digging in! I feel like a heretic for not enjoying Andor, but I am glad so many people dug it
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Jan 3, 2023 16:26
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BetterLekNextTime 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.
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Jan 6, 2023 17:17
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Chubby Henparty posted:Just because you DM'd, I'm posting to say thanks everyone for the great writeups. If I tried to do a top ten I'd be listing everything I managed to watch which would include Seal Team and The Rookie so will keep it to: Good list! But you have to write at least one sentence about each one for it to be counted toward the tallies.
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Jan 19, 2023 15:23
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Escobarbarian posted:You need to list 10 for it to be counted at all so that doesn’t make a difference Ah good point!
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Jan 19, 2023 16:42
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| # ¿ May 9, 2024 22:42 |
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Thanks so much for putting all this together, Looten! I look forward to this every year, and this was another good list. Appreciate all the hard work!
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Feb 6, 2023 01:35
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