Note: One thing I noticed about the TV shows I selected as the “Best of the Year” are that setting plays a huge role in almost all of them. I can’t remember a time I’ve done this annual list, and the distinctive locations of each series were so central to them; that’s even true of the runner-ups that were heavily considered (like the working class Philly neighborhoods of “Mare of Easttown” or the idyllic Vermont campus of “The Chair” or the various factory regions in blue collar Detroit shown during “Bob Hearts Abishola”). Nearly all of the following series use their locales as a character unto themselves, and to establish a sense of place from the first episodes: the mean streets of South Korea, the gorgeous bleakness of the Arctic, the rain-soaked streets of San Francisco, the hardscrabble mining towns of the rural South that were easy targets for opioid makers, a posh apartment building in NYC, and so on. Here’s hoping this cultural distinctiveness continues on in 2022…
10. (tie) “Goliath” and “Dopesick”…The opioid epidemic will be well-represented on this countdown, and these two series were the best portrayals on scripted television. “Dopesick” is almost like one of those great anti-hero crime dramas in reverse. Michael Stuhlbarg’s ambitious opioid mogul Richard Sackler could easily have been the protagonist of another show, one where we watch him negotiate his quarreling family (who just happen to run a pharmaceutical company) into an empire. Instead, we see his real-life character’s actions for what they are: part of the modern corporate ethos where achievement is measured solely in sales, indifferent to human life or if their product needs to exist at all. “Dopesick” also has great character arcs for frustrated district attorneys trying to actually prosecute the bad guys, “junkies” who get “hooked” simply because their doctor prescribed them something highly addictive for legitimate pain, and Michael Keaton’s rural doctor, who winds up addicted to the very medicine he’s seduced into prescribing by shady pharmaceutical sales reps.
By contrast, “Goliath”‘s final season isn’t concerned with showing every aspect of the Sackler family’s notorious rise and fall. Instead, they take characters loosely based on them to craft a satisfying, twisty Neo-noir where every night is rainy, every courtroom “battle” seems predetermined, and the regulators seem determined not to actually regulate the bad guys. [One of my favorite scenes is a “Schoolhouse Rock” parody of the FDA’s insane approval process for new drugs.] All of this is overseen by the soulful Billy McBride (Billy Bob Thornton, as close to a modern “Perry Mason” as we’re likely to get), a hero I’m already missing.
9. “Reservation Dogs”…A low-key gem that is one of the best shows I’ve ever seen about “red state” kids longing to escape to more promising “blue states.” [For me, it was NYC; for the heroes here, it’s California.] Critics have gotten so caught up on the Native American cast and reservation setting, they’re not fully seeing how universal this show is for bored kids dreaming of escaping their small towns. It’s the finest “hang out” show of the year as we watch our core characters do things of no great significance like shoplift, “fight” a rival “gang” of equally-bored kids, argue with Zahn McClaron’s offbeat cop, and look up to hilariously lame local “legends” like an uncle who knocked out several people during a bar fight years ago.
“Dogs” captures that aspect of young, rural life where even simple things can sprawl into unintentional odysseys (such as a driver’s ed test that becomes a search for the teacher’s wayward daughter). Not every episode is a winner, but that’s also kind-of the point: some days in rural America are meant to be great but go nowhere, and others have nothing scheduled but wind up being memorable.
8. “Schmigadoon”…Some people will be irritated by this musical series (as Keegan Michael-Key’s character also hates musicals early on), and others will wish it were 12 episodes instead of a miserly six (which is more like Cecily Strong’s character, who absolutely loves classic musicals). “Schmigadoon” is one of the year’s unexpected delights–most people I mention this show to have never heard of it–and manages to establish a unique setting, a critique (and celebration) of somewhat-dated musicals, a colorful cast of characters, compulsively singable songs, and one of the year’s most realistic, relatable love stories between Key’s going-through-the-motions cynic and Strong’s “true love” believer. We watch these two stumble out of and back into love with each other leading to a final episode (and scene) that is just about perfect; Strong’s character would definitely approve.
7. “Only Murders in the Building”…Arguably, the most enjoyable series of 2021. Sometimes, it’s more than enough to watch skilled, seasoned professionals at the top of their game doing exactly what they love to be doing: entertaining an audience. Among this show’s treasure trove of pleasures: Steve Martin’s lovable sourpuss, Nathan Lane in a rare villainous role, a genuinely interesting murder mystery at the show’s core, and–best of all–Martin Short’s hambone stealing every scene he’s in. The series could easily coast on the charm of its two leads, but “Murders” actually loves taking chances–like the dialogue-free episode that strips the series of its razor-sharp wit and rapid-fire zingers or the reveal of the actual killer–that almost always pay off.
6. “Squid Game”…The surprise monster hit of 2021, and the even bigger surprise? The series is not only popular, but excellent. There are sequences that have boiled themselves into my memory: the “Red Light, Green Light” freeze tag from hell, a literal tug-of-war battle, that horrifying glass bridge, and a poignant, murderous game of marbles. There’s a genuinely intriguing mystery at the core of the show, and a rogue’s gallery of layered characters (“The Old Man” is my personal favorite, with the North Korean defector a close second). Not since the heyday of “Lost” has a popular, international conspiracy-thriller had you hooked so thoroughly on its own peculiar rhythms.
5. “Hacks”…I said “Murders” was the most enjoyable series of 2021 because several sequences in “Hacks” are squirm-inducingly real. “Hacks” gets better the more dramatic it gets, as we gradually peel back the layers of Jean Smart’s Deborah Vance. This is a comedic-legend who’s lived a painful, fascinating life, but would rather crack wise than reminisce about it. You wouldn’t think a show about comics trying to turn their careers around would be this compelling, but Smart makes every scene crackle with tension, whether she’s facing off with her reluctant-protege/millennial-foil/comedienne-soulmate Ava or trying to conjole her employer (Christopher McDonald) into giving her more show dates. Although everyone loves Smart, “Hacks” is so good because it doesn’t take any character for granted. For example, even McDonald’s casino mogul is a relatable, empathetic character, whereas almost any other show would’ve settled for making him a cartoon sleaze.
4. “The North Water”…One of those great, forgotten series that slipped under almost everyone’s radar, “North” satisfied this mega-fan of the first season “The Terror” for its jaw-dropping Arctic landscapes (a more beautiful series you won’t find in 2021), its layered characters (from Colin Farrell’s heinous Id to Jack O’Connell’s morally-pained Superego), excellent performances, and stunning sequences of brutality. [For an example of the latter, the first episode’s “seal hunt” is exhilarating barbarianism masquerading as a job.] The series could’ve easily settled into time-honored themes of “Man vs. Worse Man” and “Man vs. nature,” but is instead about “Man vs. Man’s True Nature” as O’Connell struggles against a British system that hides its worst villains beneath upper-class status and lopsided laws. His final act brings him wealth, moral ambiguity, and looking at a caged polar bear at the zoo, the perfect symbol for the irony of the “wild nature” that faux-civilized men are determined to “tame,” mostly just because they like killing things.
3. “Maid”…This was the best scripted series of 2021. It is the most lived-in, realistic, revealing portrait of psychological abuse that television has ever given us, but also a series about exactly how hard it is to actually “start” in an America that punishes poverty at every turn. It’s there in the byzantine system of government “help” that seems designed for people to not actually receive it; it’s there in the constantly-dwindling funds that literally show where every dollar and nickel go for the main character; and it’s there with other brilliant flourishes, like the main character pretending she’s literally living in a hole as she backslides into a confining relationship with no hope of a better life.
Some may be put off by “Maid”‘s realistically repetitive subplots, but they’re a fine portrayal of life at the bottom (or close to it), and are meant to show just how hard it actually is to change people: the mentally-ill mother determined to live for nothing but her next relationship; the baby daddy who never wanted to be a father but will sue to prevent any change in their situation; Alex’s own “born again” father that seems more concerned with his daughter’s ex’s sobriety than in her struggles to become self-sufficient; and the jerk boss who doesn’t care about her employees at all but demands strict loyalty from them. These scenarios and characters are all too plausible to anyone who’s actually made an effort to achieve success from a hopeless place, and indicative of why so few people actually achieve it.
2. “Crime of the Century”…As I said earlier, 2021 was the year that the entertainment industry got serious about the opioid epidemic, whether that meant a handful of TV shows or a dozen books (“Empire of Pain” being the best). Yet I believe living-legend documentarian Alex Gibney has created the definitive take with “Century.” In the first part, he details the rise of the notorious Sackler family (not since the Koch Brothers have a real-life family inspired so many scathing pop-culture takes) from a relatively-small family-pharma business to opioid powerhouse. The second part is even better as Gibney turns his focus to the little-known company behind a similar boom in fentanyl deaths.
Gibney sets out to show that the opioid epidemic didn’t simply “happen.” It was created through various state-loopholes (states like Florida are very lax in their pharmacy laws), targeted misinformation, market manipulation, aggressive pharmaceutical sales reps, a bought-and-paid-for congress, hamstrung DEA agents, and thinly-veiled bribery through the “revolving door” between regulators and those they regulate (only one example includes the FDA official that granted Oxycontin a special non-addictive label later went on to work for Purdue Pharma, the Sackler-owned company that makes Oxycontin).
The Best TV Show of 2021: “Philly D.A.”…This eight-part documentary series follows the recently-elected Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner during his first year in office. Krasner was a former defense attorney fed up with the system who decided to do something about it by being the most progressive D.A. Philadelphia had had in decades. Too often, documentaries about the inner-workings of government turn into cures for insomnia (like the over-heralded 2020 documentary “City Hall”), but here it is riveting to watch Krasner try to reform a derelict system.
It soon becomes clear that despite all the hot air around “changing the system,” most of the parties that actually understand the inner-workings of criminal justice in Philadelphia don’t want any change: the Fraternal Order of Police hates Krasner’s guts, the judges often won’t accommodate his requests for less excessive probation periods, the cash bail system Krasner changes is no fan of him either, out-of-touch cops continue to arrest people for crimes like prostitution that Krasner says he won’t prosecute, “concerned citizens” groups spring up to try to dissuade his humane treatment of black defendants, and even members of the staff (that he’s inherited from previous administrations) don’t support his reforms, often forcing him to push them out.
Brick-by-brick, Krasner is trying to rebuild a system that is astoundingly resistant to common-sense reforms. “Philly D.A.” shows just how hard it is to change damaging traditions and “that’s just the way it is” conventional thinking. The result shows the difficulty of implementing real progressive policies, and is also one of the finest political shows ever made.
I always look forward to your end of the year list. Some I have watched and I agree with you 100%. Some of them I have not seen but will make every effort to watch because of your review. Great job and keep up the great reviews.