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10. I Think You Should Leave – Season 3 Surreal sketch comedy about people who take every single scenario to an 11. I fully accept that this show is unbearable to some people, since every character in it is abrasive, obnoxious or insane. But drat if it doesn’t make me laugh. Robinson’s humor is very unique and very maximalist, but when it hits right it has no equal. The skit about the guy who built the deck on the nightclub has one of the best endings I have seen in sketch comedy. 9. Mrs. Davis  A nun and a failed rodeo rider go on a quest around the world to destroy a society-encompassing AI system. Throughout this show I kept asking myself, “is this genius? Or is it just weird?”. After seeing the resolution to the season I think it is much more on the genius end of the spectrum, but you can’t deny the weird. The season begins with a horse getting blown up by dynamite, and it only gets stranger. But the glue holding this thing together is the killer performance of Betty Gilpin as Sister Simone. She commands the screen in every scene, and grounds the increasingly weird story in a very human performance. I hadn’t seen her in anything before, but I will be on the lookout for her going forward. 8. Doctor Who  An alien time traveller from the planet Gallifrey jumps through space and time in a ship that looks like a blue police telephone box. David Tennant was my favorite Doctor, so I was always going to watch these new specials. But I was not looking forward to it, as it seemed like these new episodes could only mar the reputation of his original run. And after several years of poor writing and uninspired characterization, it was easy to doubt the quality. But in just a few moments, it became clear that Russell Davies understands Doctor Who in a way that Chibnall never did. This show should be campy and over-the-top and emotional and FUN. And thanks to this new run, it is all those things again. Tennant slipped back into the part like he had never left, and the new Doctor (played by Ncuti Gatwa) has charm to spare. If they can cut out the godawful musical numbers I think his new season will also be one to enjoy. 7. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Season 2  Captain Pike and the crew of the Enterprise explore the galaxy and encounter dangerous life forms, ethical quandaries and exciting new adventures. Much like Doctor Who, Star Trek should have an element of fun and excitement to it that recent iterations have lost. In an attempt to capture the success of shows like BSG, modern Trek has tended toward the dark, gritty and melodramatic. But in SNW, Trek has found its footing again. By creating characters that you like and an environment you want to be a part of, the stories have become more compelling and the relationships more engaging. For the first time since TNG, I find myself wanting to spend time with the characters no matter the story they are a part of. Anson Mount deserves a lot of credit for creating a naturally charismatic captain, but the supporting players are doing a lot of great work as well. It’s nice to see Trek firing on all cylinders again. 6. Loki – Season 2  The MCU’s God of Mischief deals with the aftermath of his confrontation with Kang, and rushes to save the multiverse from collapsing in on itself. After the first few episodes of this season, I would not have guessed that Loki would end up on my Best-Of list. The stories at the beginning of the season were meandering, and seemed to just be a random assortment of events happening to the characters. But the ending of the season (and the series) was so strong, it catapulted the show to the top tier of MCU projects and onto this list. The finale embraced its fantasy setting like never before, and created a Big Moment that was as emotionally affecting as it was fascinating. Finale spoilers: Loki choosing to sacrifice himself for the rest of humanity was a wonderful culmination of this character’s arc, beginning with his self-centered quest for power and ending with him locking himself into an act of perpetual service to the universe. And the visual of Loki in his full regalia, dragging all the timelines toward a golden throne, was a top-level visual that has few equals in the MCU or anywhere else. Tom Hiddleston did great work, and the side characters filled their roles nicely. A big shoutout to the VFX team here as well, who created some beautiful and unsettling visuals as the universe turned to spaghetti. 5. Deadloch  A gruesome murder in a small Tasmanian village puts two very different detectives onto the case together, as they try to find the killer and deal with the eccentricities of small town life. The creators of this show, Kate McCartney and Kate McLellan, were hilarious as the hosts of the YouTube cooking spoof The Katering Show. But Deadloch proved that they have a whole slew of other talents as well. Deadloch combines a genuinely good murder mystery, a sharp satire of small-town life, a send-up of police procedurals and grim detective stories, and some truly great character work, to create a very compelling package. Kate Box, as lead detective Dulcie, holds the whole thing together with a wonderful layered performance that slowly reveals her character’s past. Madeline Sami plays the abrasive and annoying Eddie, who is fascinating and unlike any character I have seen in recent memory. The two of them are well (mis) matched, and watching them slowly come together is a rewarding experience. 4. Poker Face  Human lie detector Charlie Cale travels across the US to avoid a vengeful former boss, solving mysteries along the way with her unique gift and her knack for making friends. This is one of those shows that I wish was on every week, because it is so much fun to watch. Natasha Lyonne plays a less gruff version of her Russian Doll character, but her charm is still top-notch. She is a true spiritual successor to Colombo, and brings a lot of Peter Falk energy to the proceedings. Each episode is split into two sections – the murder and the solve. Finding out how Charlie was involved in the first half is part of the fun, and watching her dogged determination to solve the problem is always entertaining. I’ve seen some complaints about her “super power” of detecting lies, but that feels like nitpicking. It is a fun way to get her into the mystery in each episode, and creates as many problems as it solves. If you really want to get into it, the more unrealistic part is the sheer number of murders this woman witnesses! Look out, Angela Lansbury, there’s a new queen in town. 3. Ted Lasso – Season 3  American football coach turned UK soccer coach Ted Lasso has one last chance to guide his team to victory. I was surprised to see some negative reviews of this season, because I felt that the highs of Season 3 were higher than almost any other show this year. There are some plots that I wish had gotten more time to play out, especially between Nate and Ted, but overall this season still hit really strongly for me. The Amsterdam episode was one of the best episodes of TV of the year (the other one is coming up in this list shortly), and was a really amazing bit of storytelling. Most shows struggle to have even two good plots in an episode, while this episode had SIX compelling storylines all woven together perfectly. The series ending was also note-perfect, putting some people exactly where they wanted to be, and others where they needed to be even if they hadn’t realized it yet. I think Nate’s story resolution needed more time to breathe, and I wanted more of a conclusion for Roy and Keely. But overall, the highs of this season still landed Ted a strong spot on the list. 2. The Bear – Season 2  Fine dining chef Carmy embarks on a plan to turn his late brother’s sandwich shop into the high-end restaurant they always dreamed about opening together. The Bear found its footing perfectly this year, and while it dialed down the anxiety for most of the episodes, it revealed its characters in much sharper detail. Watching all these people go through the wringer of the deadlines and failures of starting their restaurant was interesting, but the real joy was watching them find their passions. Marcus and Tina found a true happiness in their work by learning new skills and meeting new people. Sydney found that she had more resilience and strength than she knew. And in the single best episode of TV this year, Richie found something in his job to care about. A lot of people have rightfully talked about the excellent pressure-cooker Christmas episode, with all the cameos and fights and histrionics. But “Forks”, which follows Richie as he does mundane jobs at a super-high-end restaurant, is the one that left a mark on me. I think it’s easy to get hung up on the ritzy setting or the over-the-top discipline of the restaurant and dismiss it as frou-frou nonsense, but the real point is that Richie found a way to find joy in serving others, something he had never done before. Turning his gaze outward to helping others allowed him to also help himself.. And that’s character growth that you just don’t get enough of. Now if only Carm could find some kind of peace for himself… 1. Reservation Dogs – Season 3  The kids return from their trip to California with a new outlook, and face new challenges and difficulties as they grow up and move into adulthood. This is the show that stuck out to me more than any other this year. By all rights we didn’t need another season. The finale of S2 was perfect, and capped the story that began in S1E01. But I am so glad we got this season, because it explored the themes of family, community and culture in a way that I had never seen done before. Each of the supporting characters got a chance to shine, and we learned more about the community. One episode takes us back in time to see the elders as young adults in the 70s, and we see them struggling with a lot of the same issues our main characters have to face. An incredibly powerful episode follows the Deer Lady in the Native boarding school system as their culture and language are ripped away from them. So when the community perseveres and comes together despite all the challenges and injustice in their past, we know exactly how much effort and strength it takes to hold them all together. These characters feel more realized and true than any other on TV, and watching them grow and change together as they move out into the world was a moving and exciting experience. If you haven’t watched this show yet, I recommend it as highly as I can. Funny, charming, sad, thrilling and sweet, it is my pick for the best show of 2023. Ishamael fucked around with this message at 06:13 on Jan 3, 2024 |
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Jan 3, 2024 06:08
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Escobarbarian posted:Does this thread have a rule about not criticising other people’s choices?…….it does. poo poo. I mean, this snide comment aside, it doesn't make a lot of sense to critique someone else's list. It is a list of "shows I enjoyed and how much I enjoyed them". It's not like criticizing a list will make some retroactively NOT have enjoyed a show.
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Jan 3, 2024 18:00
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Escobarbarian posted:haha but it’s not about hating the show in general! I thought Ted Lasso s1 was great and 2 was superb. But then 3 was maybe the largest nosedive I’ve ever seen from a show I previously enjoyed. I’m just glad you were able to get this thought out there, there were people out there enjoying it incorrectly and now they can know better
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Jan 4, 2024 02:15
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demostars posted:Honorable Mentions: It’s good to see this one appear, it was on my top 20 list but didn’t quite make it in to Top 10. I agree that it was a step down from s1, partially because the “surprise” factor of the clever concept was lessened, but I still enjoyed it. And I have a new appreciation for Zach Woods, who managed to bring a different interpretation of his character to each of the perspectives.
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Jan 22, 2024 14:31
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Amazing as always, Looten! Thanks so much for putting this together! (A quick note, you put my quote for Mrs Davis in the Loki post) I know this is a ton of work, we really appreciate all that you do for this year-end fun.
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Feb 28, 2024 17:17
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