10. “Dead Ringers”
This shouldn’t work. You don’t update classics as flawless as David Cronenberg’s 1988 story of twin gynecologists who might not be completely sane. Alice Birch finds a way to make this tale totally fresh again by gender-swapping the leads and giving Rachel Weisz not one but two of the best performances of her career. She is stunning as Beverly and Elliot Mantle, twin gynecologists with very different personalities. As one falls in love and the other starts to go slowly mad, “Dead Ringers” becomes a shattering commentary on bodily autonomy and codependency. It’s an unforgettable miniseries that doesn’t supplant the Cronenberg but stands confidently alongside it (our review). – BT
9. “Our Flag Means Death”
The first season of Rhys Darby and Taika Waititi’s Max pirate comedy was fun, but it developed into something richer in its final episodes, building on that momentum in a superior sophomore outing. Waititi might do the best acting work of his career here as Ed aka Blackbeard, who made himself vulnerable to Darby’s gentleman pirate Stede Bonnet at the end of last season, only to feel betrayed. The trio of episodes that open the season, in which Stede does everything to find Ed while Ed does everything to forget him, stands alone as a great comedy feature film. It’s simply one of the smartest, funniest, and ultimately sweetest shows on TV (our review). – BT
8. “The Curse”
From Nathan Fielder (“The Rehearsal”), Emma Stone, and Benny Safdie, you knew “The Curse” would be cringefully comedic; Fielder is the king of discomfiting cringe after all. But audiences were probably unprepared for just how wildly uncomfortable, bizarre, and searing this show could be. Superficially, ““”The Curse” centers on a married couple (Fielder and Stone), their HGTV-like home renovation show, the untrustworthy and problematic TV producer (Benny Safdie) hired to put it together for them, and the struggling community they’re allegedly trying to help (not to mention the supposed hex that gets placed on the couple). But really, “The Curse” is a biting condemnation behind the self-serving motivations of altruism, gentrification, and tone-deaf narcissists who believe they’re the work of philanthropy, instead just breaking everything and everyone at every awkward step. Exasperatingly unbearable at times (and yet hysterical), we dare you to find something as wickedly funny and painful as this brilliantly scorching series in 2023 (our review). – Rodrigo Perez
7. “Silo”
Apple had a strong 2023, even if it did kind of falter some big-budget shows near the end (sorry, “Monarch” fans), and this is their best show, an adaptation of the “Wool” series of novels by Hugh Howey. Creator Graham Yost (“Justified”) turns the books into a dissection of free will, conformity, and class. Set in a future where thousands of people are living in a massive underground bunker, “Silo” is constantly shifting, even switching protagonists a few times over its early episodes. It ultimately settles on the riveting Rebecca Ferguson as Juliette, an engineer in the silo who unexpectedly gets involved in the investigation into a series of murders. With sharp writing and captivating production design, this is one of the best sci-fi shows in years (our review). – BT
6. “The Bear”
If “The Bear” season one dazzled audiences with its high sodium dysfunction and high-stress “Uncut Gems”-like anxiety for the kitchen drama, then writer/director/creator Christopher Storer did the brilliant move of pivoting in season two to something more minor-key, thoughtful, and soulful. Could Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) get out of his own way, and could the principals, Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), and the rest of the crew coalesce enough to taste something resembling five-star success and have it all? Self-sabotage and self-doubt suggested they could not, at least not Carmy. And along the way, we got “Fishes,” episode six, a flashback episode, but the opposite of a delaying throwaway to the past. Arguably the best episode of TV all year, this stunning jaw-dropper of brutal family dysfunction included the surprise all-star supporting cast of Bob Odenkirk, Sarah Paulson, John Mulaney, Jon Bernthal, and a showstopping turn by Jamie Lee Curtis. We’re not ones to tout stunt-casting, but if Storer and company can ever replicate that sensational drama, we’ll be drop-dead grateful (our review). – RP
