The year is television is coming to a close. It is true that, unlike films, whose success or failure is measured by their box office performance, it's always more difficult to judge the best of the small screen, especially taking into account that not everyone has access to every streaming platform available on the market and that many of these services do not provide the statistics on viewership and ratings.
However, Twitter and other social networks help to at least sort the shows that are the most talked about. The winner, hands down, is House of the Dragon, the Game of Thrones prequel series that arrived to HBO Max in mid-2022. It is not the only show that became a fast fan favorite. Here are the 10 most noteworthy series of the year:
10. 'Irma Vep' (HBO Max)
Alicia Vikander stars in this miniseries that HBO Max premiered on July 25. Irma Vep is a curious series that tells the story of Mira, an actress who gets the role of a lifetime when she is cast in the role of Irma Vep, the protagonist of the remake of the French silent film classic, Les Vampires, from renowned director René Vidal (Vincent Macaigne).
The director is coming out of a personal slump which influences both the shooting of the film and his relationship with Mira. At first, she is delighted to be able to work with him, as she considers him an idol. Little by little, she discovers that not everything is as good as it seems when she and René clash regarding their opinion of Irma Vep's portrayal.
The show also features Adria Arjona in the role of Mira's assistant, Laurie; Byron Bowers as a successful Hollywood producer, Herman Ray; Jeanne Balibar as the costume designer, Zoe; and, Vincent Lacoste as the French actor in charge of playing Phillippe Guérande, Edmond Lagrange.
9. 'Severance' (Apple TV +)
Apple TV + is one of the more unknown streaming platforms, but the TV series that it produces are often successful. Severance was no exception.
Considered a metaphor for how capitalism works today, this thriller follows Mark (Adam Scott). He is one of the employees of the biotechnology corporation Lumon Industries. The company offers its employees to participate in a disturbing experiment, surgical procedure known as "demarcation." Those who participate in the program will have the ability to separate their personal memories from those they have at work. When at work, the employee does not remember anything of his personal life. Upon leaving, his work memories will be erased and he will only have access to his memory of what happens during his free time.
Patricia Arquette, Zach Cherry and Britt Lower are also part of this sci-fi series playing: Mark's boss, Harmony Cobel; Mark's partner, Dylan; and Helly, a new employee who has just arrived at the company.
8. 'The Dropout' (Hulu and Disney Plus)
Elizabeth Holmes only recently learned of her prison sentence, but her story has already led to the creation of a series that came to the small screen in early 2022. Hulu and Disney Plus presented The Dropout, a fiction starring Amanda Seyfried that recounts the Theranos scandal.
In the series, the protagonist is considered by many as an anti-hero. It follows how she designed the whole scheme that, years later, would be discovered, giving way to one of the biggest scams that took place in recent years in Silicon Valley.
The Dropout follows the unstoppable rise and subsequent fall of Elizabeth Holmes and Sunny (Naveen Andrew), her romantic interest during Theranos' early years and also the former president and COO of the company.
In addition, viewers meet Dr. Phyllis Gardner, played by Laurie Metcalf. She not only analyzed the theoretical part of Elizabeth's first experiment and discovered that it would be unfeasible, but also detected the whole scam that Holmes later organized and that put millions of people in danger.
7.'The Crown,' Season 5 (Netflix)
One of the events that will not be forgotten in 2022 was the death of Elizabeth II. The fifth season of The Crown had to postpone its premiere, and the filming of the sixth season was also stopped in honor of the late monarch. On Nov. 9, 2022, two months after Elizabeth II's death, the fifth season finally arrived on Netflix.
With a new time jump of almost 20 years, the series changed its cast again. Imelda Staunton took over as the Queen Elizabeth II; Jonathan Pryce assumed the role of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh; Dominic West played the Prince of Wales, Charles; Lesley Manville stepped into the shoes of Princess Margaret; and Elizabeth Debicki had to take on the enormous responsibility of playing the Princess of Wales, Diana.
This new batch focuses on the 1990s, specifically between 1991 and 1997. For this reason, part of the season is set in 1992, which the queen claimed to be a difficult one: "1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure. In the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an 'Annus Horribilis,'" she said in the Christmas speech recreated in the fifth season of The Crown.
6. 'The Bear' (Hulu and Disney Plus)
Disney Plus ends the year in style with the premiere of The Bear. The comedy introduces us to Carmy, a young haute cuisine chef who is forced to return home to Chicago with the intention of running his family's Italian restaurant after living through an enormous trauma caused by the suicide of his brother. As he struggles not only to transform the store, but also himself, he finds himself working alongside a team that will ultimately become his family.
5. 'The Rings of Power' (Amazon Prime Video)
It won't be considered the most successful series of the year, in fact, many Lord of the Rings lovers were quite disappointed with it, but it was a win for Amazon Prime Video. The streaming platform bet on making a show based on the well-known saga adapted from the novels by J.R.R. Tolkien. Released on Sept. 1, 'The Rings of Power' tells part of the story of Galadriel, played by Morfydd Clark.
The story begins thousands of years before the events narrated in both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The protagonists live in a time of relative peace and tranquility until the outbreak of a battle forces, leaving Galadriel's brother, Findroy, to set sail for the land of men. This happens during the second age of Middle Earth and we see how Galadriel travels to the human world in search of her brother and, without being aware of it, witnesses the forging of power rings, the emergence of Sauron, the last days of Númenor and the final alliance between the elven and human races.
With five confirmed seasons, the core cast of The Rings of Power consists of: Robert Aramayo as Elrond; Owain Arthur as the dwarf prince Durin IV; Nazanin Boniadi as Browyn; Ismael Cruz Córdoba as Arondir; Charlie Cikers as Halbrand; Markella Kavenagh as Eleanor 'Nori' Brandyfoot; and Joseph Mawle as Adar.
4. 'Wednesday' (Netflix)
The Addams Family returned in the hands of Tim Burton just a month ago. Premiered on Netflix on Nov. 23, Wednesday, the series starring Jenna Ortega, is the only one that came close to challenging the fourth season of Stranger Things for the honor of being the most watched fiction in the entire history of the platform.
Wednesday follows the early years of the daughter of the Addams family, played by Jenna Ortega, in the Nevermore Academy. The teenager tries to adapt to a new school after causing several problems in other schools, such as throwing piranhas into a pool. She also must learn to understand and master her psychic power that begins to awaken.
As if that weren't enough, the young girl and her friends investigate and try to stop a crime wave taking place in Jericho, the town near the academy. According to the townspeople, these murders are the fault of Nevermore students belonging to supernatural races including seer students, mermaids and werewolves.
The daughter of the Addams family, despite being the title character, is not the only familiar face from The Addams Family who appears in the series. Morticia, Gomez and Pugsley, played by Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Gúzman and Isaac Ordonez, respectively, are also relevant to the development of the plot. The family pet, Thing, also goes to Nevermore to help Wednesday.
3. 'The White Lotus,' Season 2 (HBO Max)
The American sitcom The White Lotus returned on Oct. 30, 2022 to HBO Max. Starring F. Murray Abraham and Jennifer Coolidge as Bert Di Grasso and Tanya McQuoid, the show proves that rich people also suffer. The show also came back to disprove the trope that sequels are always worse.
In this second season, the plot shifts and so does the location. The first season was set in a luxury resort in Hawaii, but this time, everything happens in a five-star hotel on the Italian island of Sicily.
Once again, the second season of The White Lotus begins with the discovery of a dead body that appears in the vicinity of a luxurious hotel when a number of guests are enjoying their week's vacation. Thus, as in the first season, viewers find out who is responsible for the murder while uncovering other unimaginable situations such as infidelities, misfortunes and delusions.
2. 'Stranger Things,' Season 4 (Netflix)
No one suspected when the show hit the small screen in 2016 that the 1980s would generate such a boom for Netflix. Considered the platform's most profitable series, Stranger Things returned on May 27 and was met with roaring acclaim. During its first 28 days, the fourth season managed to accumulate 1.3 billion hours played, making it Netflix's most watched series ever.
The show, starring Millie Bobbie Brown, returned with Hopper (David Harbour) imprisoned in Russia, where he must face all kinds of danger. Meanwhile, back home in Hawkins, a terrifying new villain, someone who had been hidden for several year, began terrorizing the American town: Vecna (James Campbell Bower). Thus, eight months after the Battle of Starcourt, we return to Hawkins to see the group of friends separated for the first time as they have to deal with typical problems of their age such as starting high school.
1. 'House of the Dragon' (HBO Max)
Game of Thrones left a void in our hearts when its eighth season concluded in 2019. However, three years later, the dragons returned to the small screen and House of the Dragon returned us to Westeros. The prequel, set 172 years before the birth of Danerys, depicts the Targaryen family's fall from grace and sets its plot in George R.R. Martin's novel, Fire and Blood.
Starring Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower, played in their adult version by the brilliant Emma D'Arcy and Olivia Cook, the story explains how the Targaryen royals are divided into two camps over the choice of the heir to the Iron Throne after the death of Viserys Targaryen, played by Paddy Considine. He, at the beginning of the series, had decided that Rhaenyra would be his successor, but a misunderstanding and the lust for power of other members of the family will provoke an internal war that will end the legacy and the superiority of the Targaryen house in Westeros.
