Andor, Severance, The Bear… The editorial staff of Numerama likes to watch series. This is what made us vibrate in 2022.
It’s the end of the year for Numerama’s editorial staff as well. The opportunity for the team to look back on the last twelve months and choose THE favorite series of 2022. We agreed on one thing: no one agreed on the best series of the year. And that’s good: it will be an opportunity to discover the excellent choices of others.
A League Of Their Ownfor Aurora
A League Of Their Own (Where An extraordinary team in French) is faultless. The series, which follows the adventures of the first female professional baseball players in the United States, could have had the classic flaws of sports series, with classic scenarios seen and reviewed and without any surprises. But, more than baseball, the show is about its characters, and that’s a big part of what makes it so great. By putting them before sport, and telling their stories, the series makes us live closer to the heroines, all super strong and endearing. A League Of Their Own (our review) is about sports, friendship, passion, but mostly what it’s like to be a woman, to be gay, and to be black in 1940s America — and that’s is what makes the Amazon series a real gem.
A League Of Their Own is available on Prime Video.
The Bearfor Bogdan
The Bear proves that simple stories can still find a place in a world where producers only invest in superheroes, dragons, elves and aliens. Here, we dive into the daily life of a young restaurant owner who takes over a family business in Chicago, after having worked in the biggest starred establishments in New York. Without having the character of Philippe Etchebest, he nevertheless tries to transform a neighborhood kitchen into a renowned establishment. As in Top chefwe stress about cooking and we get angry when the cooks miss the seasoning.
Obviously, the whole plot does not revolve around a piece of meat grilled to perfection. The characters have their share of troubles, starting with the hero, Bear, played by Jeremy Allen White, known for his role as Lip in Shameless. Ebon Moss-Bachrach is detestable in his role of broke cousin and lesson giver, Ayo Edebiri is perfect to interpret the only voice of reason. The photography has nothing to envy to the directors of Cannes. Chicago is filmed as Spike Lee might show us New York. Eight thirty-minute episodes that we watch like a quality film.
The Bear is available on Disney+.
Andorfor Julian
The works on Star Wars are they better when they don’t do “too much” with Star Wars ? We might end up believing it. After the little gem that was the spin-off film RogueOnethe most successful live-action series to date is Andor. Far ahead of other productions of the same genre, including Obi-Wan Kenobiwho didn’t skimp on fan service.
In fact, Andor is the surprise that we did not expect at all at this level. One might even have thought that this would have been the weakest series of Star Wars, centered on a character who is certainly sympathetic, but somewhat secondary all the same. And now we find ourselves with a very successful work of science fiction, which presents a real political subject.
That’s Tony Gilroy’s talent: to take possession of a cultural myth like Star Wars to tell what it is to live in the oppression of the Empire, to suffer the consequences of a failing justice, to shave the walls while lowering the head. That we are not born rebellious. We become so, by dint of being crushed by a dictatorship that makes life unbearable.
Andor is available on Disney+.
wednesdayfor Marcus
While being masterfully gloomy, because signed Tim Burton, wednesday was paradoxically my bubble of happiness at the end of the year. The very constant caustic humor is added to endearing characters. Jenna Ortega manages to deliver a wide range of emotions while adopting a cold posture (she hardly ever blinks) and her interpretation is, in my opinion, already cult. And then, also and perhaps above all, I was touched by the indirect subtext on difference, introversion and school bullying.
Wednesday is available on Netflix.
Our review of wednesday.
Severancefor Nicholas
Released on Apple TV+ in total indifference in February 2022, Severance ultimately met with immense critical and popular acclaim. For good reason, it is probably one of the best written series of recent years. Its starting point is as follows: the company Lumon Industries has developed a cerebral device capable of splitting a person’s brain in two. “Dissociated” people have two identities, one for work (who wakes up in the morning and falls asleep in the evening), one at home (which disappears as soon as you get into the company elevator).
In Severance, we follow a small team of 4 employees in a huge and empty open-space, whose members have no idea of their external identity. Incredibly well done (the play of lights is monstrous), Severance is as great a mystery for its protagonists as for its spectators, since no one knows the exact role of the company. There is nothing normal in Severance, making it an absolutely thrilling series to watch. Impossible not to fall under his spell!
Severance is available on Apple TV+.
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