5. “The Last of Us”
With “The Walking Dead” having already seemingly cornered the market of character-driven post-apocalyptic drama zombie survival shows, many asked how “The Last Of Us,” a video-game adaptation based on a similar pandemic, similar monsters, and the societal collapse, could offer anything new or fresh? And the answer was, the Craig Mazin-created show did it in almost every possible pay, and all zombie pandemic-based series were just not created equally. About a ruthless smuggler (Pedro Pascal) with a morally bankrupt past, tasked with escorting a virus-immune teenager (Bella Ramsey) across a cruel and ruthless post-apocalyptic United States, “The Last Of Us” is essentially a harrowing show about a seemingly irredeemable man rediscovering his humanity, and the terribly brutal emotional costs of hope and believing in something and love (our review). – RP
4. “Barry”
2024 was the year of shocking audiences with surprise endings. And while audiences were deeply surprised by the ending announcements of “Succession” and “Reservation Dogs,” perhaps none shocked more than HBO’s sudden “Barry,” which was announced simultaneously with the season four teaser that reiterated that Bill Hader’s assassin hitman comedy was done (and let’s mention here that it remained arguably the best shot show on television with an incredible sense of blocking and composition). Jumping forward in time eight years, suddenly, in the middle of the season, Barry escaped prison and the film was living on the lam under assumed names. Many believed it was another surreal dream sequence, and many were confused at first, but “Barry” made a bold creative decision by fast-forwarding to a future that wasn’t all rosy but rather bleak and grim (some of it felt very David Lynch even when it didn’t go too far into the bizarre). Eventually, “Barry” ended the way it had suggested all along. While much of this show was darkly funny, Barry’s actions were unconscionable and irredeemable. No matter how many times he tried to reinvent himself or self-delude and lie to himself into thinking, “I’m a good person,” as he said aloud so many times in various states of self-desperation, redemption was always out of reach. And the final moments of retribution were fittingly cold, unremarkable, and without absolution. Plus, the way the show gave Sally (Sarah Goldberg) the final say and final moment to contemplate her own complicity, actions, morality, and the future of her own son was a chef’s kiss poignant and perfect. Overall, one for the ages (our review). – RP
3. “Beef”
You know that general tension in the air in the 2020s? No show has captured that as well as Lee Sung Jin’s “Beef,” a thriller/comedy about two people at the end of very different ropes. Steven Yeun and Ali Wong star as a couple of ordinary people who collide after a road rage incident develops in a parking lot. What starts as an alternating series of acts of vengeance becomes even richer as the writers and performers try to understand the flaws of these two very complicated people, brought vividly to life by Yeun and Wong. The writing here is as sharp as anywhere on TV, but it’s what the performers do to play with our loyalties that’s so remarkable. We not only come to understand what drives these two, we see some of ourselves in them (our review). – BT
2. “Reservation Dogs”
Sterlin Harjo shocked the TV world when he announced that the third season of this FX critical darling would be its last, making the final run even more bittersweet. There simply hasn’t been a comedy as brilliantly unpredictable and emotionally resonant on any network or streaming service so far this decade, and three seasons just doesn’t feel like enough! There’s something to be said for going out on top and now we will always have a beautiful 28-episode study of coming-of-age on an Oklahoma reservation, an unpacking of culture, grief, friendship, and hope for the future. They don’t get much better than this one. We’ll miss the dogs (our review). – BT
1. “Succession”
“Succession” coming to an end was shocking, too, but at least creator Jesse Armstrong gave audiences a month’s head’s up to prepare themselves emotionally. As the title suggested, “Succession” was always going to be about which member of the Logan empire would take over the Waystar-Royco company built and founded by the family’s cruel patriarch, Logan Roy (Brian Cox). But when Armstrong did the unthinkable, killing off Logan Roy by heart attack in episode three, all bets of how it was going to go down were off. The unpredictable and unusual Swede Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård) became an awesome (and hilarious) new lead adversary, and by it got down to the finale, the betrayals, cowardice, double-crosses, and breakdown of family unity became the fitting conclusion to a family of scorpions always taught, no bred, to sting at the opportune moment, no matter the cost. “You are not serious people,” Roy told his family in one brilliantly cutting moment, and he meant it. In those final moments, when the “eldest boy” (Jeremy Strong) broke down in furious tantrum, audiences asked, “Who won? And maybe it was Shiv (Sarah Snook) since her husband, Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen), won control of Waystar-Royco in the end (at least in title, under the bootheel of Matsson, no doubt). But the cold truth is everyone lost, and the only one left laughing was the cold, ruthless legacy of a dead man and his irreparably broken family (our review). – RP
Honorable Mention Picks?
Not a super long list, but we also recommend Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Copenhagen Cowboy,” “Abbot Elementary,” HBO’s “Somebody Somewhere,” “Daisy Jones & The Six” with Riley Keough, Apple TV+’s “Platonic” with Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne, and you could check out our Best TV Shows Of 2023… So Far, the midway-year mark feature to see more.
