As 2022 comes to a close, we here at For The Win are taking a look back at some of our absolute favorite content from the course of the year. Our staff has chosen the movies, television, music and video games that they loved the most this year.
Each of the television shows discussed here had at least one episode released in 2022. Please note that these are not in any particular order, nor is it an exhaustive list of what shows came out this year. This is just a smattering of some of our most loved.
Everything from comedies to dramas to thrillers made the list, so let’s get to it.
Better Call Saul (AMC)
Streaming: Netflix
The ending to this show – which, yes, might be better than its predecessor – was so incredibly satisfying. I won’t give away too many details here because there’s a lot of folks who are waiting for the last season to hit Netflix before watching, but the final campaign of Better Call Saul was the best work Bob Odenkirk and Rhea Seehorn has ever done. It’s a real crime that Seehorn hasn’t yet won an Emmy for her portrayal of Kim Wexler. In the final season, we see Kim grapple with Odenkirk’s transformation from Jimmy to Saul, her own culpability in the pain caused by their collective actions, and how she chooses to punish herself. It all comes crashing down in Episode 9: “You asked if you were bad for me. That’s not it. We’re bad for each other… I love you, too. But so what? … I was having too much fun.” This season also of course features fantastic supporting performances from Michael Mando, Tony Dalton, Giancarlo Esposito and Jonathan Banks. This was the show on TV last season that was most like a film. Creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould do some interesting things with the camera, play with the timeline using black-and-white, and pay homage to films like Citizen Kane, His Girl Friday, Dr. Strangelove, Se7en, and other iconic noir movies. It’s a morally gray show filled with drama, laughs, thrills, finger guns and even a bit of Nebraska football. — Mitchell Northam
Station Eleven (HBO)
Streaming: HBO Max
In times of mutual strife and struggle, it can be hard to find any light in the darkness. But if you look in the right places, particularly in just loving the people around you, suddenly, facing a new world isn’t so scary anymore. Station Eleven, the TV adaptation of the best-selling novel about a respiratory virus that essentially ends modern civilization beautifully captured the essence of what it means to be human. Through its cohort of characters simply trying to find a semblance of peace and some sort of calling at the very edge of humanity’s former vise grip on Earth, it lets us know we’re still never alone. Even if it sometimes feels like we’re on a desperate, isolated island. Be it in preserving the soul of expression in art, in building a tight-knit community that supports one another, or even in respecting one’s basic fears of what comes next in the vast unknown, Station Eleven is a timeless story about what it means not to give up hope amongst the bleakest of prospects. Because when you find your people in that pitch-black darkness, the wonderful spirit of what it means to just be alive forever rings true. — Robert Zeglinski
Severance (Apple TV+)
Streaming: Apple TV+
What if you could actually separate your work self and your personal self? Severance asks this question and takes us on a quirky, wild and tense journey to find the answer. Adam Scott is absolutely fantastic in an electrifying cast that includes John Turturro, Zach Cherry, Britt Lower, Patricia Arquette and the amazing Christopher Walken. There’s way more at stake than just trying to figure out scary numbers and earn waffle parties. — Caroline Darney
Spy x Family
Streaming: Hulu
No show is nailing comedy like Spy x Family is. This anime is centered around a spy who has to pose as a husband and father, but his wife is an assassin and his daughter — the only one who knows their secrets — is a telepath! As expected given the premise, shenanigans ensue in this hilarious but also incredibly heartwarming tale of found family. — Mary Clarke
Alice in Borderland (Netflix)
Streaming: Netflix
Season 2 of Alice in Borderland — based on the Japanese manga series of the same name — got in just under the wire for 2022 and managed to neatly wrap up the story of Arisu (Kento Yamazaki), Usagi (Tao Tsuchiya), Chishiya (Nijirô Murakami), Kuina (Aya Asahina) and the other souls trapped in nearly-abandoned Tokyo. The games they have to play to survive have ramped up in intensity and are even more twisted, but we finally get the answer of what exactly this borderland is — and how to escape. For a show that features violence, cruelty and impossible scenarios, it also manages to show what is worth fighting — and living — for. — Caroline Darney
Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Streaming: Hulu
If you haven’t been watching Abbott Elementary, stop what you’re doing and stream it immediately. The ABC comedy series won the hearts of viewers with the first season — they won three Emmys — and built on that for season 2. Abbot Elementary tells the story of the dedicated teachers of a Philadelphia school and does it with heart and hilarity through the mock documentary style. Emmy winners Quinta Brunson and Sheryl Lee Ralph are absolutely phenomenal, and you won’t be able to get enough of the Philly sports references. — Caroline Darney
What We Do in the Shadows (FX)
Streaming: Hulu
The mocumentary series that follows vampires living in Staten Island was already an absurd premise. But in Season 4, they had one character reborn as a quickly-growing baby, another started a night club, another went through an absurd marriage … and I belly-laughed through it all. — Charles Curtis
A League of Their Own (Amazon Prime)
Streaming: Prime Video
I absolutely ripped through this reboot of A League of Their Own, and I had so much fun in the process. It’s hard to not fall in love with this cast and the baseball scenes were silly and the storylines about romance and friendship were strong. — Bryan Kalbrosky
The White Lotus (HBO)
Streaming: HBO Max
Paradise is once more deadly for guests of the exquisite White Lotus hotel, this time in scenic Italy. Tanya (the incomparable Jennifer Coolidge) is the lone returning guest from the Hawaii debacle in season 1, and she once again commands our attention. We have all new guests and staff and drama, but Meghann Fahy emerges as the star of the season. True to The White Lotus, there are so many people to dislike (except for Aubrey Plaza, she’s flawless) and memes to be made. If none of this is convincing, at least tune in for the absolute banger of a theme song. — Caroline Darney
Barry (HBO)
Streaming: HBO Max
If you’re not watching Barry on HBO, boy are you in for a surprise. This thing goes completely off the rails this season and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. “710N” is one of the best episodes of television in many, many years. — Bryan Kalbrosky
The Dropout (Hulu)
Streaming: Hulu
Amanda Seyfried has never been better as she was portraying medical tech power player Elizabeth Holmes, the conniving wunderkind whose rise and fall with Theranos will be told for generations. Seyfried wonderfully pinpointed all of Holmes’ unsettling quirks and dangerous ambitions. Paired with a stellar Naveen Andrews, Seyfried led one of the year’s best, thought-provoking miniseries. — Cory Woodruff
Andor (Disney+)
Streaming: Disney+
You could be forgiven for ignoring the rave reviews calling Andor “the best Star Wars has been since Return of the Jedi” as that covers a span of movies and TV shows that have been at best pretty good and at worst…eh, let’s be kind and say forgettable. I’m here to tell you that Andor is not just “good for Star Wars”. It’s just plain good. In fact, in a year with a lot of fantastic TV shows, Andor stands out to me as the best. No magic, no lightsabers, no galactic-scale space battles. Andor is a show about normal people living under the oppressive thumb of a brutal fascist empire. It’s about the prison-industrial complex and its hostility to hope. It’s about the cost of fighting for a better future that you’ll never live to see. Andor isn’t just the best TV show of 2022 – it’s the best TV show about life in 2022. — Matt Scalici
Black Bird (Apple TV+)
Streaming: Apple TV+
Someone give Taron Egerton the Emmy ASAP. This limited series tells the terrifyingly true story of criminal Jimmy Keene (Egerton) cutting a deal with the FBI to try and coax a confession out of suspected serial killer Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser) in a high security prison. It’s emotionally heavy and distressing, but Egerton and Hauser are incredible in their respective roles. If the end of episode 5 doesn’t leave you in tears, I don’t know what will. — Caroline Darney
The Rehearsal (HBO)
Streaming: HBO Max
Nathan Fielder isn’t for everyone, but if you liked Nathan For You and wish that he was given a bigger budget to pull off his elaborates schemes, The Rehearsal was made for you. This was can’t miss television for me every Sunday because I didn’t want to feel excluded when the memes hit Twitter, and the comedy was absurd and thoughtful and his universe has become so expansive. — Bryan Kalbrosky
Atlanta (FX)
Streaming: Hulu
Donald Glover’s titanic comedy series finally returned after a four-year hiatus for its last two phenomenal seasons this year. Atlanta’s detour to Europe gave the show a startling recharge with some unforgettable anthology episodes, while the final season gave viewers everything they loved about the show before its return. With its final bows, the always unpredictable Atlanta proved why it’s launched so many people to stardom and carved out its place in television history. “The Goof Who Sat By the Door” will live in eternity. — Cory Woodruff
The Righteous Gemstones (HBO)
Streaming: HBO Max
HBO’s hilarious megachurch satire returned in Gemstone style for its second season. While the show continued to dig into each Gemstone offspring, the new season was at its best when it paved way for an unforgettable character study of John Goodman’s patriarch Eli. Eli’s journey from Memphis wrestler to powerful pastor gives Goodman a chance for his best acting on the show yet. Eric Andre’s appearances as a dramatic Texas preacher and the return of Walton Goggins’ Baby Billy were just icing on the cake. — Cory Woodruff
Warning: this video contains some NSFW language.
