Counting Down
Though last year I shared my top 5 TV shows of 2020 and expressed hope for a better 2021, this year has also provided downtime for us to watch TV, whether we wanted to or not. But as a silver lining, this year also became one of top notch television. Once again, records were broken. Viewers tuned in for a surprise international hit on Netflix and this year also saw the record for the greatest number of original series. A lot of great shows debuted throughout the year with a few heavy hitters arriving towards the end. As such, I'm limiting this list to shows that finished airing at least one season this year (sorry, Yellowjackets and Station Eleven). But that still made for many great options to choose from. Whatever 2022 may have in store for us, here are five great TV shows to check out if you haven't seen them already.
Only Murders in the Building
Many know that Steve Martin and Martin Short pair well together, but who would’ve guessed that throwing Selena Gomez into the mix would make for quite the comedic trio? The Hulu show Only Murders in the Building casts the three as tenants in a Manhattan apartment building who bond over their love of true crime. This bond proves especially valuable after they team up to solve a murder committed on the premises. It’s also heartwarming, as they all live alone but create a kind of found family through making a podcast of their own. The dramedy tone is a bit uneven and the mystery takes some time to become compelling, but the three detectives-in-training make it all worthwhile.
This is a Robbery
A couple years ago, I visited Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and while I found the place beautiful, one room in particular captured my imagination. Ironically, it had few paintings and several empty frames. Those empty frames commemorate the 1990 heist that saw the painting within them stolen. Netflix docuseries This is a Robbery tells the story of that night and then dives deep into the unknown fate of the artwork. While it doesn’t unearth any of them, the relentless investigation paints a picture of its own of what almost certainly befell the paintings, who had them, why we may never see them again, and why we should care.
Squid Game
Squid Game: The most talked-about show of the year and for good reason. The story of down-on-their-luck participants agreeing to play games of life or death for a shot at wealth strikes a nerve in a year of financial struggle for many. It reminded me a lot of another Netflix program, Alice in Borderland, one of my favorite shows of last year. While Alice in Borderland has better character development and plot, Squid Game clinches the win regarding its messages, structure, and style. The set design is impeccable, laying the stage for the memorable games that the characters have to survive and the emotional moments that follow.
Midnight Mass
After creating the terrific and terrifying Haunting of Hill House followed by the so-so Haunting of Bly Manor, Mike Flanagan goes two for three with new Netflix horror show Midnight Mass. While it isn’t as outright scary as Hill House, Midnight Mass delivers a tale that’s just as emotionally powerful and surprisingly unnerving in its existential exploration of a small island community hoping for a miracle. And those miracles come, as the deeply religious town gets an odd new priest. Hamish Linklater plays the confounding clergyman expertly, walking a tricky tightrope between sympathetic and sinister. This performance is also reflected in the show’s themes, which deal with the duality of religion and how faith can be used to cause healing and hurt, often at the same time.
Reservation Dogs
The premise of Reservation Dogs seems like a fun chance to riff on the title of the classic Tarantino film, focusing on four indigenous teens and the plans they make to escape the reservation. But in reality, it has little to do with the film and is so much more than its title would suggest. The FX show has moments of comedy, drama, surrealism, and tragedy sprinkled throughout, but it all works by taking its time to tell the stories of the central characters. Together, they all wish to leave the reservation in favor of sunny California. Naturally, their goal keeps getting delayed, less because of plot contrivances and more because each character has a different relationship to their community and a different level of interest in leaving. A lesser show might make this odyssey frustrating, but Reservation Dogs imbues it with pathos as we get each side of the story.
Not only does Reservation Dogs feature an almost entirely indigenous cast, but it also makes itself unique through its world-building. Backing up the main four is an ensemble of characters who vary in their levels of conventionality and bizarreness, mirth and moroseness, but who all make their home feel like a distinct place. Little details fill in the gaps to solidify the vibe of this world and don’t fall by the wayside. For example, an early off-the-cuff reference to an offbeat local legend seems like a funny joke on its own, but ends up alluding to a whole subplot down the road as we’re treated to its outlandish backstory. Reservation Dogs places total trust in its audience, delivering deeply satisfying payoffs ranging from the harrowing to the hilarious, only asking that we pay attention to the stories and messages at its heart.
