TV shows I liked this year but just don’t have anything to say about: The Patient, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Derry Girls, Moon Knight, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Russian Doll, Grace and Frankie, Letterkenny, What We Do in the Shadows, Umbrella Academy, Shoresy, Upload, The Boys, Dead to Me.
13. House of the Dragon. … I mean, it was OK. I appreciate that establishing so much up front and jumping through time is probably difficult to do conceptually. I thought it got better at the end and the one nice little touch I liked was Alicent protecting her son from the roaring dragon, and Rhaenys choosing to spare the royal court. I probably shouldn’t judge a show on what it’s not but I can’t help seeing how much Game of Thrones had that House of the Dragon is missing. They don’t yet have any characters who are as enormously watchable as, for example, Cersei. They also don’t yet have the scope of the former show—right now we’re only seeing the Targaryens, the Velaryons and the Hightowers, and I miss the multiple houses and characters of Game of Thrones. It also misses the humor of the previous series. But I’m down for seeing how this evolves.
12. The Crown. There was a noticeable dip in quality this season. Imelda Staunton just didn’t do it for me as Queen Elizabeth II (Claire Foy and Olivia Colman were both tough acts to follow), although I did like Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip and Elizabeth Debicki, uncanny as Princess Diana. This was probably the most soap opera season, so maybe it demanded some soap opera–level writing, but some of it was ridiculous. Did Diana really tell randos about the state of her marriage? Did John Major really consider all the royal divorces happening in 1992 and ominously say how it was all about to come crashing down? I had mixed opinions on some of the more standalone episodes. I really did not need a whole episode on the Al Fayeds and certainly didn’t need to spend any more time with the Nazi sympathizers in the House of Windsor. However, I did enjoy the episode and history lesson about the Romanovs. Still, this was mostly fun and gossipy.
11. Kevin Can F*ck Himself. It was a pretty clear-eyed way to take a look at these characters and end this short series. The final reveal of what Kevin is like in the non-sitcom world was chilling and showed him as abusive without being over the top. Having Erinn Hayes, who was unceremoniously kicked off Kevin Can Wait—the inspiration for Kevin Can F*ck Himself—was deliciously petty. The pleasant surprise was Alex Bonifer as Neil. I was not expecting to be moved so much by his struggle with alcoholism and trying to break free from Kevin’s abusive influence.
10. Ms. Marvel. I don’t know much about the Ms. Marvel of the comics (the new one, not Carol Danvers) but this was a joy to watch, enlivened by a quirky animation style. I really appreciated the deeper look into the Pakistani Muslim community. You don’t often see things like the history of the Partition or a Muslim wedding on TV, and I was grateful that I could.
9. Stranger Things. A little bloated—hey, Netflix, those of us with kids want episodes under two hours to watch on a school night—but I got caught up in the epic of it all.
8. The Dropout. Amanda Seyfried got a well-deserved Emmy playing the Theranos fraudster, and deeply odd person, Elizabeth Holmes. I knew the broad strokes of this scandal and I was fascinated to learn the whole sordid truth.
7. The January 6 Committee Hearings. In addition to being tremendously important for our democracy, the House committee presented the insurrection attempt as compelling television. The clips from that day made me relive the same sick anger I felt when I watched it live. I was riveted by the testimony, particularly the shocking bits I learned about how Trump knew the crowd was armed but didn’t want to subject them to metal detectors because “they weren’t there to hurt (him).” Like many dark TV shows, there was a little levity, like the clip of Sen. Hawley showing an approving fist at the seditionists before running away from them like a little bitch. I take this very seriously, so I hope I don’t sound shallow when I say this was great TV.
6. Ozark. We binged this whole series this year, and I mostly loved it, but I’m still not sure how I feel about the finale. I had wanted Marty and Wendy to get a little more comeuppance, or at least have some self-awareness that as much as they preach to their kids that they only want to protect them, their parents are the ones who put them in danger in the first place. It was funny to see how full of shit Wendy was for four seasons of saying once they had enough money, they could focus on the issues she really cared about, but she never once did anything about those issues or even articulated them—like, you could have just cared about your causes anyway, without the drug money. Ozark did suffer in losing some compelling characters along the way, like Helen and Darlene. Darlene was a moral catastrophe but she did have a point about the how the land and its beauty were more precious than any development on it, and I missed that perspective. I was also hoping Ruth would get a happier ending, but she never did see that pool get built. Julia Garner burned through the TV in every scene she was in, and she earned every Emmy she got. She’s a hell of an actress.
5. White Lotus: Sicily. Tanya lived an operatic life and it was fitting that she died after an operatic shootout, and also fitting that her actual death was the result of a pratfall. As great as Jennifer Coolidge was in this role, it would have gotten old if she’d come back again. As blatant a show as White Lotus is, I was struck by how elliptical some of it was: we’ll never really know if Aubrey Plaza (love her) wasn’t telling the entire truth about her encounter with Cameron, or what happened between Daphne and Ethan on that island. Meghann Fahy gave my favorite performance of the show. I loved the delicious little exchange when she “accidentally” showed Harper the picture of her kids with a little “Whoopsie,” implying that the mistake wasn’t just that she showed the wrong photo, but that the trainer was her kids’ father. I also loved the emotions that played on her face when Ethan told her Harper and Cameron hooked up. She was sad to get confirmation that her husband betrayed her and disappointed that the woman she tried to befriend also betrayed her. What a powerfully subtle, deceptively complex performance.
4. Abbott Elementary. Quinta Brunson is a TV genius. She was able to shepherd Abbott Elementary—fully formed, with a clear vision—to air, catching lightning in a bottle. The show is full of unforgettable characters, especially self-involved principal Ava, and the wise Barbara. Brunson also nails the show’s Philadelphia incidentals, like the local veneration of Jim Gardner and the way people light up when Gritty comes to an event. The best part of Abbott Elementary is the show’s hopeful tone—the kids and teachers may struggle and not always have what they need to succeed, but they try their best and never, ever give up. You get the sense that these teachers go home every day, exhausted but happy how they guided their students that day.
3. Andor. This was the best Star Wars TV show by a mile, and I won’t argue with anybody who says it was the best thing in that universe since the original trilogy. I’m not even a big Star Wars lover, but I was probably primed for this since I did love Rogue One. Maybe not being a huge fan helped my enjoyment, since this was the most terran of all the Star Wars stories. Andor really humanized the struggle against the Empire, and at times, this seemed like a story set on Earth with weird technology, making it much more universal and mature. The cast is top-notch, especially Stellan Skarsgard showing the price of living a life of rebellion, and Denise Gough and Anton Lesser, who were perfectly cast as villains in the Imperial Security Bureau. The standout was Fiona Shaw as Maarva Andor, and the incendiary holographic speech she gave at her funeral: “We’ve been sleeping … If I could do it again, I’d wake up early and fight the bastards from the start. Fight the Empire!” Wow. This got at the heart of the Star Wars mythos—the fight against fascism—and that never goes out of style.
2. Severance. Would you compartmentalize your brain so you could be more efficient at work and avoid the crushing grief of losing a spouse? Severance was a fascinating exploration of people who while at work have no memory of their personal lives, and vice versa. The production design was spectacular, with computers and office supplies that looked vaguely retro and vaguely threatening. The little world Severance built in the Lumon company—like the “music dance experience” that the employees got as a reward or the Break Room (that’s great) where employees are interrogated after straying—just fascinated me. It was thought-provoking and I can’t wait to find out more about what Lumon is actually doing moving those numbers around and how Helly R will feel when she realizes she’s the daughter of the company’s worshipped founder.
1. Better Call Saul. It didn’t quite reach the rarefied heights of Breaking Bad, but Better Call Saul is up there, and the last season was a satisfying, formally daring end to the story of Jimmy McGill, the man who became Saul Goodman. The end took them from the present day of the series, with Lalo murdering Howard in front of Jimmy and Kim, and the two parting after realizing they loved each other but were no good for each other. The Breaking Bad years, other than some pointed cameos from Walt and Jessie, are mostly a mid-season ellipsis until the last few black-and-white episodes focus on Saul’s downfall after one last, sloppy scheme.
As much as we all wanted to see how Saul finally ended up, the real concern for fans over the years was what happened to Kim Wexler. Rhea Seehorn won everyone over with an astonishing performance, and this year, the crowning moment for her was that tearful breakdown on the airport shuttle, when she finally feels the weight of what she did to Howard and the relief of telling the DA. Better Call Saul was at its heart a love story of two people who had a lot of fun together but were terrible for each other, and that was the best TV I saw this year.
