The year 2022 had some highlights in store for series fans. This is how the extremely popular “Breaking Bad” spin-off ended with “Better Call Saul”, the “Star Wars” series “Andor” brought a breath of fresh air to the galaxy far, far away, and Netflix series like “Wednesday” and “Dahmer – Monsters: The Story of Jeffrey Dahmer” caused a sensation. Below are the 14 series highlights of the past year.
The “Star Wars” series “Andor” is a prequel to the popular prequel film “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” from 2016 – and brings a number of innovations to the galaxy far, far away. “Andor” isn’t about Jedi masters, lightsaber duels, villainous Sith lords, or the Force. Rather, a rebellion is shown here, which is ignited by the dissatisfaction of the people on the ground, in the ordinary places of the galaxy.
On the other hand, in “Andor” there is an empire that is primarily bureaucratic – and in many places it is even more evil and oppressive than the super villain Darth Vader. In addition, there is the sometimes originally slow narrative pace: A prison break or an attack on an imperial base extend over several episodes in “Andor” – whereby a never-before-known, grounded realism finds its way into the “Star Wars” galaxy.
One of the most popular series of recent years came to an end in 2022. In the AMC show “Better Call Saul”, available in Germany on Netflix, Bob Odenkirk (60) embodies the likeable crook Saul Goodman, known from “Breaking Bad”. The sixth and final season has now achieved what many other series have failed to achieve: not only did creator Vince Gilligan (55) and his team elegantly connect the prequel show in the finale with “Breaking Bad”, they also received “Better Call Saul”. very own, dignified end around lawyer Saul and audience favorite Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn, 50), which goes far beyond the original series.
Basically, the only thing that remains to be clarified among fans is the not inconsiderable question of whether the prequel has even surpassed the parent series.
Addams Family fans were concerned when Netflix announced a series reboot focused entirely on teenage daughter Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega, 20). Because all too often in recent years, such new editions simply did not do justice to the legendary originals. In the case of the teen horror comedy series Wednesday, however, those worries were completely unfounded.
Because gothic legend Tim Burton (“Sleepy Hollow”, 64), who directed the first four episodes of “Wednesday”, gives the Netflix series his unmistakable, dark handwriting, while popular “Addams Family” characters like the ice-cold hand or Uncle Fester (Fred Armisen, 56) shine in supporting roles.
Above all, “Wednesday” is the Jenna Ortega show. One of the brightest talents of her generation, the 20-year-old leading lady puts on a magnetic performance in the Netflix series. Special Ortega moments like her incomparable dance in episode four are undoubtedly one of the series highlights of the year.
Amazon’s brilliant superhero satire “The Boys” never took its foot off the accelerator in season three. An exciting new hero was introduced with Soldier Boy, embodied by “Supernatural” star Jensen Ackles (44), while the boys around Hughie (Jack Quaid, 30) and Billy Butcher (a diabolical Karl Urban, 50) themselves have superhuman powers equipped superheroes. As in every season so far, the show satirized and deconstructed the ubiquitous superhero genre – and also offered biting, mercilessly honest criticism of the present.
The fourth season of “The Boys” has already been ordered. Before that, the series offshoot “Gen V” will appear on Amazon Prime Video in 2023.
Without the retro mystery series “Stranger Things”, the Netflix streaming service would hardly exist in its current form. For season four, which was released on Netflix after a long wait of around three years, the Californian streaming giant made a corresponding amount of money loose. According to the “Wall Street Journal”, a single episode from season four is said to have cost $30 million, which then results in the unbelievable sum of $270 million for nine episodes.
Consequently, “Stranger Things” mutated into a veritable blockbuster show in the fourth season – with effects worthy of the big screen and extra-long episodes. Netflix viewers thanked it with a streaming record. Around 1.36 billion hours of season four were streamed in the first 28 days after its release – an all-time record for English-language Netflix series. Incidentally, season four reignited global love for ’80s icon Kate Bush, 64, and turned the character Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn, 28) into a new metal idol. The series will end with the already ordered fifth season.
The bitterly angry workplace satire “Severance”, which can be seen on the Apple TV streaming service, is based on a formidable premise: How would it be if you could separate the “working ego” from the rest of consciousness? The eight or more hours a day that an employee then spends at the unloved workplace would no longer matter. But “Severance” is not just about the supposedly newly gained freedom that this procedure offers, but also about the fate of the “Innies”, that half of one’s own self that still has to appear at work.
“Severance” is a large and significant allegory of the impersonal working life in corporations or other huge organizations, which is described here as unempathetic and at times downright cruel. Because the premise mentioned at the beginning gives rise to a completely new hypothetical scenario for the “Innies”: What would it be like if you could never leave your workplace?
The true crime genre has thrived for years – in documentaries, podcasts and fictional projects about horrific serial killers. The Netflix miniseries “Dahmer – Monster: The Story of Jeffrey Dahmer” is about the real-life serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer (embodied by Evan Peters, 35), who killed 17 young men between 1978 and 1991 and dismembered their bodies. As a result, viewers experience in disturbing scenes how Dahmer first lures his victims into his apartment and drugs them, in order to then perform unimaginably cruel acts on them.
In addition, the series “Dahmer” also shows much more than that. The inaction and incompetence of the authorities and especially the police is astonishing – and is based on a structural racism that is deeply rooted in the institutions of the United States. A lot of screen time is given in “Dahmer” especially to the perspective of the victims. Two individual episodes, which revolve around Jeffrey Dahmer’s deaf victim Tony Hughes (Rodney Burford) and his helpless neighbor Glenda Cleveland (Niecy Nash, 52), are remembered long after the end of the series.
With “House of the Dragon” the eagerly awaited first spin-off of the blockbuster series “Game of Thrones” finally started in 2022. Like its predecessor, the adult fantasy series features an ensemble cast of high-profile performers like Paddy Considine, 49, Matt Smith, 40, and Rhys Ifans, 55, who draw on newcomers and discoveries like Milly Alcock, 22, and Emma D ‘Arcy (30) bump. They all embody complex and layered characters who must navigate the courtly intrigues and nihilistic power games of the capital, King’s Landing.
And the best thing about “House of the Dragon”: Unlike the parent series “Game of Thrones”, George R.R. Martin (74) has already finished the book presentation. A similar disappointment as in the eighth “Game of Thrones” season should therefore be spared viewers. The show also easily won the fantasy competition with the simultaneously launched Amazon series “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”.
After a two-year wait, the royal series “The Crown” returned with the fifth season in November. This time it was about the extremely turbulent 1990s for the British monarchy, and especially the bitter end of the marriage of Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki, 32) and Prince Charles (Dominic West, 53). Not all critics were as enthusiastic about the fifth season as they were about the previous ones. After the death of Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022), there was also opposition from the royal family.
Despite all historical inaccuracies and excessive speculation about actual events, the fifth season of “The Crown” once again offered addictive prestige TV – in the best sense of the word. While awards season is just getting started in the US, season five has been nominated four times at the major Golden Globe Awards, including Best Drama Series. Elizabeth Debicki also thrilled as Princess Diana – and is also nominated for a Golden Globe for “Best Supporting Actress”.
Numerous “Star Trek” fans have struggled with the newer film and series universe in recent years, in which action and spectacle seem to be the main focus. However, the Strange New Worlds series now returns to the episodic format of such classics as Starship Enterprise (1966-1969) and its sequel Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994). In each episode, the USS Enterprise visits a new, previously unknown planet, or encounters other wonders and surprises in the vastness of space.
“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” thus returns to the roots of the franchise and reflects on proven virtues such as the spirit of discovery and an optimistic humanism. A great cast, smart scripts and Christopher Pike (Anson Mount, 49), who is possibly the best captain of an Enterprise since Jean-Luc Picard, don’t hurt. Available in Germany on the new streaming service Paramount. Season two is already ordered and will come.
The ten-time Emmy-winning HBO show “The White Lotus” was one of the series surprises of 2021. Season two is now set as an anthology series in a completely new location. The arsenal of figures is almost completely replaced. However, the second season is also thematically about human abysses, sex and class relations, with the series created by Mike White (52) often operating with opposites and gradations in order to show different life plans and to differentiate them from one another.
For example, in season two, the Di Grasso family represents different aspects of toxic masculinity that are only fully overcome in the third generation. The friendly couples Daphne (Meghann Fahy, 32) and Cameron Sullivan (Theo James, 38) as well as Harper (Aubrey Plaza, 38) and Ethan Spiller (Will Sharpe, 36) live very different forms of a classic two-person relationship, in which several viewers should recognize.
In the Amazon series “The Boys”, the currently ubiquitous superhero genre is completely made fun of. The DC series “Peacemaker”, available in Germany on RTL, takes a slightly different approach. In the eight episodes from season one, the genre is also targeted with a lot of self-mockery, but the story about the anti-hero embodied by ex-wrestler John Cena (45) also remains a superhero series that is to be taken seriously.
DC mastermind James Gunn (56), the series creator and director, is responsible for this genre mix, and most people probably know him as the filmmaker behind Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” films. Worth seeing not only for superhero fans. A second season has already been confirmed.
The streaming series “Ms. Marvel” stands out from a rather mixed year for Marvel Studios. On the one hand, this is a classic Origin story about the young heroine Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani, 20). Kamala will return in the summer of 2023 alongside Brie Larson’s (33) Captain Marvel in the cinema blockbuster “The Marvels”.
In addition, the main character Kamala is also the daughter of Pakistani immigrants. The Marvel series shows the ordinary everyday life of Muslim immigrants in the USA between tradition and modernity – and that’s unusual for a superhero series from Marvel.
In the Hulu miniseries “Pam
