It’s been another stellar year for television, as streaming continues to dominate with a vengeance, bringing us spy thrillers, sci-fi, fantasy, comedy, tortured superheroes, dark inner-city drama, and feel-good dramedy. In fact, this is the first year without a single major network series on the Ars year-end list.
Who knows how long this cornucopia of creative goodness will last? Just about every major streamer, including Netflix, reported at least some losses in 2022, and the outlook for next year is cloudy at best. Budgets are being slashed, streamers are consolidating, and promising shows are being canceled left and right as streaming services adapt to the changing market environment. At least now we are still reaping the fruits of the investments made in recent years. Our top TV picks for 2022 are listed below, in no particular order. Make sure to delve into your own favorite shows of 2022 in the comments.
house of the dragon
Making a prequel a popular series is never easy, especially when it’s a prequel to one of the most influential blockbuster series of the last decade – a series that so badly seasoned its finale that it left some of its most devoted fans hit in the head. HBO’s house of the dragon rose to the challenge and debuted a solid, promising pilot in August. The remainder of the season fulfilled that initial promise.
The series takes place about 200 years before the events of game of Thrones and chronicles the beginning of the end of the reign of House Targaryen. The primary source material is fire and blood, a fictional history of the Targaryen kings written by George RR Martin. As book readers know, these events culminated in civil war and the extinction of dragons—at least until Daenerys Targaryen showed up. It is King Viserys I Targaryen’s (Paddy Considine) fateful decision to appoint his rogue dragon rider daughter Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) as his heir – bypassing his brother and heir presumptive Daemon (Matt Smith) – that sets the events in motion puts. As Rhaenys Velaryon (Eve Best) – also known as the “Queen That Never Was” because she was passed over by Viserys at the coronation – knows only too well: “Men would rather set fire to the realm than see how a woman ascends the Iron Throne.”
house of the dragon lacks the rousing epic scope and multiple storylines of game of Thrones, instead focusing on exploring the complex core relationships and family dynamics that will ultimately lead to civil war. The first season spans many years and makes some pretty significant time jumps – which in turn led to the younger actors having to be replaced as their characters aged. For example, Emma D’Arcy plays the older version of Rhaenyra. Maybe it would have been better to just compress the timeline or spread the events over two seasons, but then the pacing could have been delayed. And the time jumps aren’t particularly bothersome until the final episodes, when you’re tempted to pause and do a pedigree to keep track of all the incestuous marriages and generations of silver-haired descendants.
It’s still a compelling, entertaining series, with plenty of personal conflict and political intrigue, and dragons galore. House has a particularly gifted star cast, yet somehow Matt Smith steals every scene as the Daemon – even when he’s just standing there grinning. And his chemistry with D’Arcy does much to offset the squick factor of their eventual coupling and marriage. The S1 finale brought Westeros to the brink of civil war, and we can’t wait for S2 to settle that conflict.
—Jennifer Ouellette
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