Television in 2023

30 Dec 2023

This is a list of shows that I watched in 2023 that warranted commentary.

Andor

This series was so good I watched it twice. If you want some hyperbole, it may be the best Star Wars has ever been. It starts a bit slow, but after 3 episodes it breaks into an unrelenting pace of many different storylines an environments. It’s a heist story, a jailbreak story, a revolution story. It is grounded in a way that has the Star Wars world at its most believable. Also the music is excellent and worth learning more about. In the aftermath of the severely disappointing 2019 film Rise of Skywalker (which is the only main saga film I am content to pretend never happened), Andor was more than a return to form. Andor showed that Star Wars may actually be a environment for good storytelling. I’m eager for more of this, but terrified it won’t be as good as I now know it can be.

Watched on Disney+

The Last of Us

I’ve never played The Last of Us video game. I certainly hear it’s good. The show is certainly very good and does not require any familiarity with the game. Where something like The Walking Dead drifts too often into stories of bleak survival, The Last of Us is fundamentally about hope and love and family. Even if (no, especially if) those positives lead to terrible outcomes. I was recommended to listen to the companion podcast, which is not something I would have ever thought to do. It’s a fantastic story of talented creators being incredibly intentional about a loving adaptation, highly recommend.

Watched on HBO

Scenes from a Marriage

This year our marriage felt solid enough that we had stomach to take on Marriage Story (oof, ain’t that one a gut punch) and Scenes from a Marriage. Both have amazing performances by the actors, and both are excellent (if intense) character stories. The latter explores many facets of a transforming relationship. There’s an odd choice in the production, where each episode starts with a visible transition between the actors on set into the characters in the story. Somehow the performance is so strong that even this intentional breach of the illusion is not enough to reduce its power.

Watched on HBO

The Rings of Power

I was cynical about this one going in. Amazon Prime is not exactly a bountiful store of quality original content. And a prequel to The Lord of the Rings? After the deeply disappointing The Hobbit film trilogy? Sounds like a soulless cash grab. But I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this show. Telling the story of Sauron’s time, the forming of Mordor, the forging of the rings… yeah, I’m in for that. The younger versions of Galadriel and Durin IV really feel fully realized. There’s plenty of story to tell here, and if the quality keeps up then this is a prequel series I’m in for.

Watched on Amazon Prime

The Rehearsal

Nathan Felder’s “terrible business ideas” series Nathan for You is something I consider funny. To some… it’s too awkward. The Rehearsal takes that and transcends to another plane of awkwardness. The line between what is real and what is not gets severely blurred. I’d rather not spoil any of it for you. I found it both engaging and hard to watch. Your mileage may vary.

Watched on HBO

Love & Death

This true crime miniseries has many different moods. A romance, a murder mystery, a legal drama… it has a lot of range. I really enjoy a solid limited series (I’m reminded of Sharp Objects and Big Little Lies); something good and complete that doesn’t drag it out. This show confidently tells its story and then ends.

Watched on HBO

And the Rest

Here are some other shows that are worth a little mention.

Maybe Yes

• Hilda: Season 3: This show is a comforting warm bowl of soup. Reliably beautiful, whimsical, and charming. This is the final season apparently (surprise, the last episode is movie-length), and I’ll be sad to see it go but rather it end than trundle on endlessly.
• Succession : Season 4: This show remains a compelling train wreck of extreme nepotism. You still thrash between loathing and rooting for these terribly privileged children. More of the same, but it’s good.
• Crown: Season 6: This show has been very evenly enjoyable. It explores different storylines of the paradox of the British monarchy. Humans raised in an inhuman system, destined to dysfunction but also intertwined with history. The setting is grand but the individual storylines are often incredibly petty, in a way that seems wholly accurate. The last seasons more breached into time that overlaps with my memory, which is an interesting contrast with the generations before. Supposedly this season is the end of the line, even though the real dysfunction marches on, and I’m a bit sad to not have more.
• White Lotus: Season 1 and 2: To me, this show is about people in the hospitality industry dealing with entitled travelers… and then things going terribly wrong. The first season really lands that, and is a wild ride (with a particularly captivating hotel manager). The second season has a bit more sympathetic guests and less interesting hosts, and so doesn’t land quite as well. But I enjoyed both.
• House of the Dragon: Season 1: Given the uneven landing of Game of Thrones’ final season, I had my doubts about this one. But I think it’s good. I like the large multi-generation timeline of it all. Like the Crown… but with dragons.

Maybe

• The Marvelous Ms. Maisel: Season 5: This final season is largely more of the same. Charming, quick-witted, very New York, very Jewish, very period piece. And all of that is a pleasant watch. But it’s time to wrap it up.
• The Witcher: Season 3: Long ago we decided this was a “vibes” show, which is to say don’t think so hard about it and instead focus on the vibe. It’s best when it’s a “monster of the week” serial focusing on Geralt being a gruff monster detective. Sadly the show seems far more focused on big politics that are less interesting than when the show is small.
• The Mandalorian: Season 3: As with the Witcher, this show is best when it focuses on smaller vignettes. Space western bounty hunter, yes please. Big overwrought politics and mythology, no thank you. This third season leans heavily into the larger story, and gets more Star Wars than it should.
• Loki: Season 2: For a show about a god and time travel, this show should be more fun. It’s surprisingly dry. And focuses a lot on the precise rules of time and multiverses that frankly don’t really make sense. The show does have some moments. When Loki finally actually plays around with time travel, it hits. But my least favorite parts of the last season were Kang, and… this season leans heavily on that weak point.
• Ms. Marvel: Season 1: I’ve read the first few books of the Ms. Marvel comics, and was eager to see this live action version. And the first few episodes hit the vibe. Kamala Khan is a kid (and a nerdy fangirl at that), so small stakes work really well here. The second half of the season really muddled things though. Can we please just focus on small human-scale stories?
• Moon Knight: Miniseries: I liked that this didn’t try to fit into a crowded Marvel universe. It was a weird story of multiple personalities and Egyptian mythology. It didn’t really sink in for me; I couldn’t really tell you what it was about. But I appreciated it for trying to be different.

Maybe No

• Hawkeye: Miniseries: I watched this while my family was out of commission sick for a week. And I remember precious little about it. It certainly has very little Hawkeye in it, but maybe that’s okay? I remember it ending with some Scooby-Do quality mooks. Meh. This is not Marvel focusing on doing its best.
• The Wheel of Time: Season 1: I’ve read the first Wheel of Time book, and only that one. It didn’t grip me. The show… yeah kind of the same. I don’t know if I’ve been terrible fair to it; I never gave it a chance to be good. It’s… fine? There’s something about this brand of fantasy that just doesn’t land for me.
• Sex Education: Season 4: The previous seasons of this show have been really amazing; the fourth season… not so much. The characters and setting have turned practically cartoonish. As is, I’d recommend stopping after season 3.