Well here we are guys the end of another year we made it we’re about to enter 2023 and while there are a lot of things to look forward to next year, I thought it would be fun to look back at what we got to see in 2022. This year in TV was full of surprises but in a way that I haven’t really seen before usually when I think about my favourite shows in one year, I probably expected to like most of them. but 2022 was different there are a number of shows that kind of came out of nowhere and completely swept me away or shows that everybody expected to be kind of mid that ended up being pretty freaking good this year just brought the Sass it had an attitude and I like it so today we’re going to talk about all that as I give you guys my list of the top 10 TV shows of 2022.
Now quickly before we jump into that I just want to make it clear obviously it is impossible for me to have watched every single show that came out this year I did watch a lot of them though but naturally I missed some stuff you know shows that are still on my watch list but that I haven’t gotten around to watching yet so maybe there are some entries that you’re expecting to see in here but they’re not because I simply haven’t seen them I mean that or the show you’re expecting to see is actually, not that good it really depends also um just to mention it uh this is my list and those are my favourite shows of the year your list might be different and that’s okay nothing here to get upset about this is the internet literally who cares but all right that’s out of the way so without further ado let’s jump into my Top 10 TV shows of 2022 starting with
Andor
You know I don’t think I would be alone in saying that I did not expect this show to be one of the best of the year people are so incredibly fed up with Star Wars and even for the franchise’s biggest fans it’s become quite the norm to expect the worst out of it so the idea of a Star Wars prequel series about a side character nobody cares about who only ever appeared in as pin-off movie from which we already know the end of his story because he dies in it.
let’s just say there wasn’t a lot there for people to get excited about expectations were at an all-time low for this show especially since Star Wars has spent the last few years releasing an endless amount of disappointing attempts at Nostalgia that made everybody bored of the franchise me included but I gotta say they’ve really shot us up with this one because holy cow this show is amazing and or finally does something with Star Wars that we have been waiting for a very long time.
It does something different it’s a show that really wants to be its own thing and wants to have its own identity despite being part of the Star Wars Universe. I think the reason this show works so well is because, it is not trying to be in your face Star Wars it doesn’t try to bait you with Nostalgia and cheap fan service no it just has a compelling story to tell about a character who was seriously lacking development in the one movie he appeared in and it’s just insane. it’s not a fun adventure story with quirky characters who joke all the time and or is a dark political thriller that explores the conflicting morals of rebelling against the regime we see characters who are putting the pieces together to write a horrifying wrong but to do so they have to do horrifying things themselves.
it’s essentially exploring the status quo of a certain era of Star Wars in an incredibly mature way a way that gets rid of the black and white vision of the world world we usually see in Star Wars kind of blurs the lines a bit more it’s a story about the Shades of Gray and honestly it makes it the most different Star Wars entry we’ve had since 1977, when the first movie came out quite honestly there are certain aspects of the show that feel less like Star Wars and more like blade runner in the Star Wars Universe Diego Luna as Cassian Andor is just incredible Fiona Shaw AKA on petunia from Harry Potter also plays a very interesting role.
I liked her character a lot Genevieve O’Reilly as mon mothima finally gets the shine in the way she has always deserved and her storyline is insanely compelling and of course Stalin Skarsgard completely steals the show as what is probably the best character to be introduced in the Star Wars Universe in a really really long time I was so surprised by this show I was not expecting anything out of it I was ready to quit like two episodes in but no now it not only made me love casting Andor as a character which I didn’t think was ever gonna happen after Rogue one but it also put me in a position where I am now and patiently waiting for season two.
Abbott Elementary
coming in at number nine we have one of the most endearing and heartwarming shows to come out this year and one of the simplest ones too I do like my dark stories but everybody needs a cozy comforting show I’m not above that Abbott Elementary is so cute for those who don’t know it’s a show about the teachers of a struggling Elementary School in Philadelphia it kind of Blends the styles of the office and new girl it’s funny and Charming it’s full of heart and it has some really solid emotional moments the cast is really good.
The all characters have really good chemistry they all bounce off of each other really well and while it’s not really doing anything particularly out of the ordinary it just really has a magnetism that makes it irresistible yeah at the end of the day Abbott Elementary is really just a story about a bunch of teachers trying their damn best to make a positive difference for their children of their community and it’s really sweet it’s heartwarming and makes you chuckle it’s really easy to watch it’s just the ideal Comfort show admittedly I was pretty late to the party with this one because I only watched it a couple weeks ago but I’m kind of glad I was, because I got to binge it and I felt relaxed afterwards.
it’s gotten quite difficult for sitcoms to find true success these days I think because of a number of shows that tarnished their genre they’re usually regarded as lazy shows now so it’s good to see one that sticks out and really brings the quality and the heart to the Forefront I love it and if you haven’t seen it I highly recommend it it’s cozy as hell.
Attack on Titan Season Four Part 2
Yeah, I mean this one is a given Attack on Titan has been absolute Peak fiction since its very first season it’s honestly quite impressive the story is incredibly unique and well-crafted the stakes are high it feels heavy and it’s all supported by some of my favourite anime characters of all time the way this show has been exploring the morals of War has been fascinating and this story specifically places such a heavy burden on the two camps season four really messes with your brain by making you sympathize with both sides of this war all while upping the stakes and making you wonder who you should really be rooting for and this thing does not stop escalating every time you think the situation can’t get worse it gets so much worse.
It just keeps escalating and season 4 part 2 really cranks it up to 11 by getting to a point where character have to make radical decisions that will significantly impact the functioning of the world watching Aaron Yeager turn into what is essentially a cult leader effectively breaking the vision of The Virtuous protagonist we met in season one is incredibly compelling it’s a fantastic and shocking way to flip the tropes of Shonen anime on their heads and it offers a very fresh take on this idea of a saviour in war this show constantly hammers in the nuanced nature of human beings and it refuses to play in absolutes every character that seems too Pure or too heroic is revealed to have fundamental flaws that are quite irredeemable and we watch them do horrible things and on the other side every character that seems too evil is given a backstory that completely justifies their way of thinking and after you see their perspective the show does a pretty good job at making you question whether that character is evil at all or if they’re just right and that’s what’s so great about it it’s the fact that this show has no clear hero and no clear villain and the fact that the story insists that it is all a matter of perspective.
It makes the characters their motivations and their decisions infinitely more compelling because the show lets you make up your own mind on what is right or what is wrong and it is not interested in answering that question for you I mean hell to this day people online still cannot agree on which side of the war is in the right some people think Zeke is doing the right thing to make the world a safer more peaceful place others believe that Aaron’s more radical approach is the only way to truly make things right and the debate is never ending I am very excited about the final part coming out in 2023. I didn’t want to read the Manga for this one because I watched the show with my best friends and it’s like sort of a fun ritual so yeah very very excited to know how the story ends Attack on Titan is a great show you should watch it even if you don’t watch anime trust me you will be glued to your seat
Pachinko
this one is kind of interesting because I had no idea this show existed and I kind of started watching it by accident but honestly I love that for me Pachinko is an adaptation of a novel that came out in 2017 I believe and it tells the story of an immigrant Korean family across four generations it’s a show of a surprisingly epic scale that sees the struggle of the family Through The Eyes of one woman from the time of the Japanese Occupation in Korea in the early 20th century all the way to 1989 where we followed that same woman’s grandson who lives in New York but returns to Japan to take care of some business it’s admittedly a bizarre show to describe it’s quite atypical but it is beautiful.
This cinematography is top-notch so are the performances and the story is just fascinating and deeply heartfelt it’s four generations of a family that fought like hell to survive in a world, that is on fair and cruel all through the perspective of a woman who survived some horrifying challenges in her life. Boychenko is one of those rare shows that kind of come out of nowhere and just completely consume you it’s such a powerful tale that has so much to say like I found myself thinking about it long after I finished it it just stays with you it’s honest and raw and it doesn’t sugarcoat things it shows you the heavy burdens of life and suffering the joys of love the horrors of cultural bigotry extreme poverty and death so many kinds of death that just feel more gut-wrenching every time it is a fantastic show jam-packed with emotion and I seriously did not see it coming if you haven’t seen Pachinko don’t sleep on it this show is worth it
1899
Okay I have been waiting to talk about this one and for good reason 1899 was simply my most anticipated show of the year for the simple reason that it was made by the creators and showrunners of my favorite show of all time dark odar and freeze are incredible filmmakers and writers with a natural Talent.
When it comes to building tension capturing an atmosphere and crafting a mind-bending mystery that always keeps you guessing they are an absolute legendary Firestorm as a Duo they are just too good priest writes odar directs and what you get is an absolute Master Class of filmmaking every single time foreign was the much anticipated follow-up to their Masterpiece dark that ended in 2020 with its third and final season it tells the story of the passengers on board of the Kerberos a massive steamed ship making a trip from Southampton in the UK to New York City in the year 1899.
The passengers come from everywhere around the world and they all have specific backstories the trip is going well despite some tensions on board but everything takes a drastic turn when the Kerberos crosses paths with the Prometheus an exact replica of the ship that went missing at Sea weeks prior so the captain of the Kerberos decides to take a small team with him to go explore the abandoned Prometheus and what they discover uncovers a dangerous mystery tied to everyone on board this story is kind of insane it’s crazy it’s such a weird concept but it’s so well executed, oh my God you have no idea how weird this story gets it’s so out there and I think that’s really cool too is that in the midst of everything happening these characters have a difficult time communicating because like I said they come from everywhere around the world and so they speak different languages and the show really commits to that it’s kind of the first time I see it done this way this show is truly multilingual.
Some characters speak English some speak German French polish Spanish Chinese Danish like it’s crazy the amount of different languages spoken throughout the entire series there are so many of them every single character has a reason for being on the ship they all have secrets some are looking for something some are running away from something others are looking for New Beginnings for very Sinister reasons but they all need to arrive in New York as fast as possible so when the ship has to stop up in order to go explore the Prometheus oh tensions start to rise now.
I know the question that’s gonna come so let’s speak clearly is 1899 as good as dark no it’s not but to be fair dark is one of the greatest shows ever made like in the history of Television so it’s a bit unfair to try and put it to that standard they clearly were never going to replicate something that perfect so no 1899 is not as good as dark no it wasn’t everything I hoped it would be but is it still one of the best shows to come out in 2022. yes, absolutely no questions asked it’s still odar and freeze there’s still some of the most talented filmmakers of our time the mystery of this show was Stellar.
it’s very layered so you have to pay attention and some bits can get a bit messy because they set up a major twist for season two but when I tell you I was glued to my seat the whole time it’s not a joke I watched this show with one of my best friends we binge the whole thing in a day and we did not skip a beat between episodes we couldn’t wait to know where it was going and now we cannot wait for season two because that final twist was something just like dark the creators will treat this show as a Trilogy so three seasons and out and they have confirmed very recently that they already know how the show is gonna end they have the whole story figured out so honestly bring it on this show was a blast
Cyberpunk Edge Runners
This was also one of the biggest surprises of the Year for me I did not expect to like this show as much as I did and I mean come on can you blame me I didn’t have much hope for a spin-off of a video game that disappointed millions of people and I love the universe of cyberpunk 2077. I think there’s an infinite number of stories that can be told in it and this show just proved me right cyberpunk age Runners really takes the potential of this franchise and cranks it up to 11.
I genuinely could not believe how much I adored this show and it’s so simple it’s the story of a young man named David who after a tragedy kinda gets caught up in the underground crime World of Night City in the year 2077. it’s a very straightforward concept but it allows itself to be weird and that’s where it excels this show is very violent and deals with fairly mature themes it’s full of intriguing and extremely charismatic characters you can’t help it get attached to which is heartbreaking because without spoiling anything this is a type of show where anyone can die so don’t get too attached cyberpunk Edge Runners has great storytelling and it’s not afraid to go to very dark places and the fact that this whole show is only one season and then the story just ends I mean I love it it makes the stakes and the sense of urgency incredibly heavy like really with the final episode of the show started I was literally sitting there like how the heck are they going to get out of this like it seemed completely impossible I was on the edge of my seat the whole time what an incredible ride I cannot wait to see what cdpr does next with the cyberpunk universe if you haven’t seen cyberpunk Edge Runners get on it this show is awesome.
The Boys Season 3
This one is also sort of a surprise but also not really season one of the boys was just incredible I not teaching anything to anyone here I was completely floored by it is a brilliant satire of the superhero genre that actually pulls off its tropes better than most superhero movies and shows we’ve seen it’s also a Darkly hilarious allegory for the deeply messed up state of the world on a society level it’s a show that manages to address some serious and real topics with a real message that has a lot of weight but it manages to do so while making fun of it at the same time not everybody can do that but the boys pulls it off like it’s a show that is very intelligent but disguises itself as silly and it’s just refreshing and the best part is in the middle of all the madness it truly succeeds at bringing a whole lot of emotions to the table.
It makes me quite an exciting experience I mean again I’m not teaching anything to anyone here season one is a tour de force like I totally understand why it instantly became one of Amazon Prime’s biggest hits and then came Season Two And while I loved season two quite a lot I couldn’t help but notice there were some issues with it some parts of the writing got a little iffy there were some gaps in logic that left me scratching my head a couple times it went to a few places I wasn’t sure I enjoyed all that much so I was really worried about where things would go for season three you see there those issues would get bigger and the quality would start to decline or they would fix those issues and get back to the slam dunk that was season one and I am glad to report we got option two season three of the boys is easily the best season of the show it’s not even fair to the other ones it steps up on every level imaginable it’s heartbreaking it’s scary it’s exciting it’s full of amazing characters that I love so much by now and most of all the boys continues to deliver us one of the most terrifying villains probably in the history of television with Homelander I’m not kidding every time this man is in a scene I am genuinely nervous like I am physically anxious you can see it like I’m fidgeting I can’t sit still because you never know when this guy is gonna snap every time.
He has a conversation with somebody you are not a hundred percent sure the person he’s talking to will come out of that conversation alive he is so unpredictable and so menacing I love it it’s crazy Jensen Ackles was a fantastic addition to the cast he brought so much Charisma to his character buddy you think you look strong you wearing a cape which would be difficult for any actor to do in a way that stands out because everybody in this show is charismatic I mean you know except Huey he’s annoying the story takes turns I did not expect and it does so while fixing some narrative issues from season two that really bugged me and overall this season really focuses on the characters and their psyche which makes a total home run if season one was a 9 out of 10 then season two was an 8 out of 10 and season 3 is an easy 9.5 out of 10. They knocked it out of the park with this one I cannot express how excited I am for season four
The Bear
So, for those of you who don’t know about this show let me just reassure you no this is not actually a show about a bear no the bear is a show that came out of nowhere and struck me like lightning and it’s about a restaurant okay I’m not selling this well basically it’s the story of a decorated Chef named Carmen who abandons his life in New York and returns to Chicago to run his brother’s failing restaurant because his brother tragically died by Suicide and left behind him an establishment that is struggling and drowning in debt so Carmen comes in and decides to sort of reinvent the restaurant to modernize it and bring a new clientele.
We follow him and the restaurant staff as they struggle but try their hardest to make their situation work and as a show the bear is pretty much Flawless it is a fantastic character study a beautiful story about human relationships and also a very honest look at the harsh realities of working in a restaurant and its biggest strength I mean you know beyond the impeccable directing and the world-class performances is simply the fact that it feels incredibly real these characters do not feel like TV characters they feel like people their situations feel like real life situations their emotions feel raw and that realism pulls you in completely it’s kind of impressive how level-headed this show is and to hammer that in even more there’s an episode of this show that entirely takes place in one take and it is stressful but also amazing it’s incredibly well executed both on a writing level and on a technical level and I know I already mentioned it but I have to reiterate this show would not be half this good if the actors didn’t bring their absolute a game the way they did these Eight Episodes are absolutely outstanding if you haven’t seen the Bear get on it trust me
House of the Dragon
Okay be honest, we all thought this show is gonna be mid be honest don’t lie we all thought it was gonna suck don’t pretend you didn’t yeah when I say this year it was full of surprises for television some of which I have already mentioned this is what I am really talking about. I know I’m not just talking for myself here nobody gave a shit about House of the Dragon before it came out nobody cared after what happened with the end of Game of Thrones.
The fandom literally disappeared in thin air it just vanished and then this show was announced and nobody really seemed interested even released trailers and everyone was like yeah it looks fine we just don’t really care like their ship at sale the interest in Game of Thrones was just a ghost by that point and hell even I’ve been on record saying I didn’t think anyone would watch this show it just didn’t make sense in my head I didn’t think I would be into this show but boy I was wrong I was wrong about everything and you know what I’m glad I was wrong because this show is dope House of the Dragon was by far the biggest gut punch of 2022.
It had no right to be as good as it was and even today months after the first season ended I am still baffled at how this show took over the world and brought the Game of Thrones Universe right back to the top of Pop Culture after one of the biggest letdowns in television history it is astronomical this show had everything going against it and it beat the odds of big time like the show broke viewership records almost every week its audience was bigger than the original series I mean HBO and George RR Martin knew they couldn’t up with this they knew they had to come out with an absolute Banger to justify making a new show and they delivered every single week they brought Game of Thrones back to its roots by understanding why people got so attached to it in the first place great writing fantastic characters and most of all the politics that’s the element the thing that makes the Game of Thrones universe so special is that it’s not a fantasy story with dragons and flaming swords it’s a political drama inside of a fantasy world that’s a very important distinction that David Benioff and dby’s completely lost track of in the last few seasons of the original show but House of the Dragon really put the politics back at the center of the table the characters were following are not righteous heroes or one-dimensional villains that turn out to not have a point at all no they’re schemers they’re powerful people with agendas everyone is playing an ankle and trying to secure power for different reasons.
Some want power for themselves others have intentions that are pure but not fundamentally right the line between good and evil is completely blurred in this show everyone is capable of both and it’s all made better by the incredible roster of characters Renera Targaryen is a fantastic protagonist her father King Viserys is one of the most tragic characters I’ve seen in years on television Damon Targaryen is amazing and interesting Alison Hightower is probably the most morally complex and intriguing character we’ve seen on TV in a really long time.
I could go on forever about how incredible the characters are in this show they’re all great honestly House of the Dragon deserves all of the praise it gets and it completely managed to shake off the bad taste Game of Thrones left in our mouths in 2019 to be able to stand on its own as a separate entity in the same universe which in most cases would have been a suicide mission but they really pulled it off and I applaud it and after the shocking way this season ends boy I cannot wait for season two
Now before we get to number one it’s time for some quick honorable mentions shows that didn’t quite make the list because others came in to take their spot but it kind of hurt me not to be able to include them so I’m gonna mention them here rapid fire Peacemaker was an app absolute blast of a comedy with fun action and a story that gets surprisingly emotional at times they’ve knocked it out of the park with this one I cannot believe how much I enjoyed this show Heart Stopper was cute as I didn’t know much about this show I just went in completely blind and I left with my heart feeling all warm and cozy the Sandman was great and while it had its flaws um there isn’t much I wouldn’t do to see more of Gwendolyn Christie as Lucifer the patient is an incredibly underrated Thriller about a therapist who is kidnapped by one of his patients who also happens to be a serial killer Steve Carell and Donald Gleason carry out of this show with some of the best performances of the year and the Dropout a very compelling drama based on the true story of Elizabeth Holmes here played by Amanda Seyfried who probably gives the best performance of her career yeah I just wanted to give these shows their little Spotlight but now that that’s out of the way let’s move on to
Severance
now this show is not nearly as popular as it deserves to be because Apple TV plus is still not the best at marketing I already talked about that in my Ted lasso video so for the uninitiated severance is the story of a man named Mark who works for a biotechnology Corporation named Lumen after the death of his wife Mark decides to go through the severance procedure a surgery that is given to certain employees of lumen that essentially accomplishes the unthinkable exploit of splitting a person’s mind in two so one version of Mark exists at work and has no idea what his life is outside of his office hours and the other version of Mark is the one outside of work who lives an entire life but has no memory of what goes on during his time at work.
He seems to be getting used to this atypical lifestyle which he uses as a way to deal with his grief but things take a very dark turn when a mysterious man approaches Mark claiming to be his best friend from work and exposes him to disturbing revelation that lead mark on a path to uncover a Sinister conspiracy behind the true nature of lumen look I’m not gonna sugarcoat it Severance is a perfect show it’s a 10 out of 10.
I cannot think of a single flaw to bring up even if I’m trying to nitpick it is visually outstanding the writing is impeccable the cast is Stellar everyone is bringing their A-game which by the way a huge shout out to Adam Scott this is by far the best role of his career and the best performance he gives in anything he’s been in there isn’t a single bad performance in this entire thing the story is gripping it is some of the best and most unique storytelling TV has seen in a very long time such a good mystery it is a masterpiece.
I would love to say more about it but I know a lot of people haven’t seen this show so I think you should just go in knowing nothing more than the little premise I just gave you don’t even watch a trailer just go right in is Nine episodes long and it is fantastic and without spoiling anything I gotta mention that with its first season finale Severance delivers what is easily the most gasp inducing and expertly executed Cliffhanger I have ever seen seriously if we want to have a conversation about some of the greatest OMG moments in television history this one is definitely up there it was a master class of tension with such an Immaculate
Crescendo my fiancé and I literally screamed at the TV when the finale ended it is that good Severance is easily the best show on television right now and I think I can say with confidence that its second season is my most anticipated TV project of the next couple years so there you go guys my top 10 TV shows of 2022. again I haven’t seen every show that came out this year so maybe there are a couple that would have made the list had I had the time to watch them I haven’t seen reservation dogs I hear
it’s excellent but I haven’t had a chance to see it I also haven’t had a chance to watch Barry season 3 yet or the White Lotus so yeah they unfortunately couldn’t make the list I’m excited to watch all of them though they’re at the top of my watch list I cannot wait as always feel free to let me know your own list in the comments
I’m very excited to go through them who knows maybe I’ll discover a show I’ve never heard about before and you know now that we gave the spotlight to the very best it’s only fair that we talk about the very worst foreign see you in a couple days
