The 50 best TV shows of 2023

For as much flak as the entertainment industry as a whole gets for retreads, the best TV in 2023 spans a wide spectrum. There were comedies both clever and goofy; science fiction and fantasy that found new pockets of the universes and multiverses we thought were already well tread; reality TV that showed us just how beautiful competition could be, and also how you could trap a single person in a remarkably true-to-life jury pool. Even the remakes, reboots, and IP plays didn’t look the same as the things that inspired them, with plenty of shows taking bold steps to reflect on what the property itself even was and spend their time building around an interrogation of that.

Which is all to say: 2023 in TV had plenty of bangers, as the Polygon top 50 list can attest. The sheer sprawl of types of shows that made it onto our best-of list is remarkable in any year, but extra noteworthy in a year with both writers and actors striking. Amid it all, television found big swings, whether that was learning the finer points of Cordyceps networks, designing sex scenes like fights, or finally letting Ash Ketchum retire in peace (and, of course, as the very best, like no one ever was).

This list represents the 50 best TV shows of the year, according to the Polygon staff. We saw a lot to appreciate in this year, and we hope you’ll find a new favorite on this list (or on our other lists for movies, games, and anime). They’re all worth your attention.

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How the Polygon top 50 list works

Over the past few weeks, the Polygon staff has voted, debated, and rushed to finish the most notable TV from the year in order to pull together a ranking of our top 50 best shows of 2023. Any TV shows that were primarily released in 2023 (as in, aired most of their episodes during the calendar year) were eligible, with the cutoff for ballots being Thanksgiving weekend.

This year, we’ve chosen to integrate some of the anime series our staff really loved in addition to our best anime of 2023 list. The goal here isn’t to anoint some anime with a new class; this is not a twisted anime version of the classic HBO slogan. Rather, it’s to highlight the anime that our staff loved voraciously and voted for as some of their favorite series of the year, acknowledging that they are both anime and TV, and can sit on both lists.

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Top 50

50. Physical 100

Showrunner: Jang Ho-gi
Cast: 100 of the most fit people in South Korea
Where to watch: Netflix

One hundred of the most fit people in South Korea, ranging from quiet world-champion athletes to larger-than-life fitness influencers, compete in a series of grueling physical challenges until only one remains. It’s riveting television due to the caliber of contestants and the quality of the contests, pitting wildly different disciplines against each other in a variety of compelling ways. Gathering a bunch of charismatic people who have devoted their lives to their bodies, and putting that devotion to the test in a series of cleverly designed contests? That’s television gold. —Pete Volk

49. One Piece

Showrunners: Matt Owens and Steven Maeda
Cast: Iñaki Godoy, Emily Rudd, Mackenyu
Where to watch: Netflix

Maybe we’re grading on a curve where anything that survives Netflix’s content machine with a lick of personality is a win (and feels downright miraculous if the thing is a live-action anime adaptation). But in the rearview mirror of 2023, One Piece still has a glow. Creator Eiichiro Oda said in the lead-up to the premiere that he worked closely with production to keep the spirit of the manga alive, and that it was often a frustrating experience — even when collaborating with creators who knew his work well.

That protectiveness paid off; while season 1 faithfully adapted the early chapters of Oda’s high-seas adventures, showrunners Matt Owens and Steven Maeda dimensionalized underwritten characters and drew from across the manga’s 1,000-plus chapters to ensure the story was Quality Television. Oh, and they nailed the casting. Iñaki Godoy is Monkey D. Luffy in all his elastic, ecstatic glory, with another all-star, Mackenyu, bringing the swordsman heat. When the TikTok influencers are stanning the disembodied dirtbag clown, you did something right. With origin stories out of the way, the horizon looks bright as the show sails toward the Grand Line. —Matt Patches

48. The Great British Baking Show

Executive producer: Anna Beattie
Cast: The U.K.’s best amateur bakers
Where to watch: Netflix

Every year, I eagerly await the new bundle of Baking Show episodes to hit Netflix. It’s no secret that it’s a perfect comfort show, one that nails the pleasure of competitive reality television without any cutthroat nonsense.

This year’s contestants are lovely, second only to the season two years ago in which Giuseppe Dell’Anno and Jürgen Krauss stole hearts. But what really makes this year’s entry stand out is a willingness to go back to basics. There are fewer unhinged construction elements that can make showstopper challenges look more like engineering than baking feats. There’s also no random Mexican or Japanese episode this year, which — while interesting in concept — were poorly executed in the past, with skits in poor taste and inexpertly designed baking challenges. Add in another reliable batch of lovable contestants, and you have a great time. —Nicole Clark

47. Game Changer

Showrunner: Sam Reich
Cast: Sam Reich, Brennan Lee Mulligan, and many other funny people
Where to watch: Dropout

Dropout, a quietly excellent streaming service, changed the game-show game with Game Changer. On the show, contestants (usually) arrive without knowing what game they are about to play — the gimmick relies on the players figuring it out as they go, often putting them delightfully at odds with Sam Reich (operating as the show’s host/antagonist).

This season: a game where contestants wear a heart rate monitor and compete in a variety of tasks designed to elevate it, a parody of The Bachelor, and an extended parody of Survivor. Game Changer has been so successful that multiple other Dropout game shows have spun out from it, including Make Some Noise, which also had a good season this year. —PV

46. The Fall of the House of Usher

Creator: Mike Flanagan
Cast: Bruce Greenwood, Mark Hamill, Rahul Kohli
Where to watch: Netflix

Mike Flanagan’s final horror series for Netflix is a Big Pharma revenge tale via Edgar Allan Poe, spinning the Gothic legend’s stories into a grand fable of comeuppance. In this version, Roderick Usher and his family stand in for the Sacklers and their ilk, a pharmaceutical dynasty built on pushing pills to the masses, killing them with their cure. Heavy-handed as the metaphor may be, The Fall of the House of Usher still satisfies, displaying Flanagan’s panache with ghostly imagery and the visual language of yearning. Yes, there are monologues and generational curses and an ending that runs out of steam before the credits roll, but in spite of all that House of Usher is a fine farewell from one of Netflix’s most distinct purveyors of TV drama, a man and a creative team who survived the algorithm and managed to yield something personal and idiosyncratic every time. —Joshua Rivera

45. The Company You Keep

Creator: Julia Cohen
Cast: Milo Ventimiglia, Catherine Haena Kim, Sarah Wayne Callies
Where to watch: Digital purchase

They just don’t make ’em like this anymore. The Company You Keep, based on a K-drama called My Fellow Citizens, follows a hopeless romantic entanglement: a con artist (Milo Ventimiglia) accidentally falls in love with a CIA agent (Catherine Haena Kim). With both hiding their professions, the ABC series is built off the crackling chemistry between its two leads. It’s tough to make a show that feels not only like a Network Crime Thriller of Yore but also works on these grounds, but by god, The Company You Keep did it. —Zosha Millman

44. Chucky

Creator: Don Mancini
Cast: Brad Dourif, Jennifer Tilly, Fiona Dourif
Where to watch: Peacock

No show is having more fun than Chucky, and I can promise you that.

After the first season introduced us to the teens Chucky has been terrorizing, the second season took them to a Catholic reform school and amped up the zaniness to great effect, especially when leaning on Jennifer Tilly.

Now, Chucky’s in the White House, and he’s wreaking havoc. The show is side-splittingly funny and extremely gory, and Tilly’s fully committed Looney Tunes performance is one of the best things on TV no one is talking about. —PV

43. Warrior

Showrunners: Evan Endicott and Josh Stoddard
Cast: Andrew Koji, Jason Tobin, Olivia Cheng
Where to watch: Max

New alliances were forged and old ones were tested this season in Warrior.

Martial arts legend Mark Dacascos joined as the soft-spoken Kong Pak, adding a new wrinkle to the Long Zii tong’s dynamics. New antagonists spiced things up, particularly the oil baron Strickland and Secret Service agent Edmund Moseley.

But the heart of the show remains Andrew Koji’s Ah Sahm and his ever-changing relationships with Mai Ling, Young Jun, and his newfound community. Warrior season 3 brought these into sharp focus, effectively contrasting Ah Sahm’s status as a folk hero with his duties to his tong and his loved ones.

All we can do now is pray for a season 4. —PV

42. Colin from Accounts

Creators: Patrick Brammall and Harriet Dyer
Cast: Harriet Dyer, Patrick Brammall, Helen Thomson
Where to watch: Paramount Plus

In a weak year for romantic comedies on both TV and film, this Australian charmer on Paramount Plus broke through easily. It’s comforting without sacrificing a satisfyingly sharp comic edge. Creators and stars Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall bring an electric, unstable chemistry to the screen as medical student Ashley and brewer Gordon, a pair of confused, rootless adults brought together by an incident involving a flashed boob and a disabled dog. Delightful stuff. —OW

41. Ganglands

Creators: Julien Leclercq and Hamid Hlioua
Cast: Sami Bouajila, Tracy Gotoas, Salim Kechiouche
Where to watch: Netflix

The second season of Ganglands feels even more tightly contained than the first; the stakes continue to rise but the number of people involved continues to fall, as bodies drop left and right. Mehdi (the tremendous Sami Bouajila) and Liana (Tracy Gotoas) are now not only looking for their next big score, but a way out of this life, as danger closes in at every turn.

Julien Leclercq and Hamid Hlioua have built an evocative world of organized crime, and augment it with their dialogue-light, tension-filled brand of storytelling that perfectly support Ganglands’ story about criminals that are so good at crime they keep getting hired by everyone, including the people they steal from. If you haven’t watched the first season, catch up with that (and seek out the original movie Braqueurs, if you can find it), and then dive into this great French thriller. —PV

40. Invincible

Creator: Robert Kirkman
Cast: Steven Yeun, J.K. Simmons, Sandra Oh
Where to watch: Prime Video

Only the first part of Invincible’s second season has aired, but boy, did it leave a mark.

Picking up after the cataclysmic events of the first season, Mark Grayson is trying to forge a new identity for himself outside of his villainous father. The world, however, may have other plans.

Invincible season 2 continues the first season’s strong characterization and dynamic, fluid animation. The third and fourth episodes of this four-episode part one are particularly stronger, as is the Atom Eve special that aired earlier this year. —PV

39. Unicorn: Warriors Eternal

Creator: Genndy Tartakovsky
Cast: Hazel Doupe, Demari Hunte, Tom Milligan
Where to watch: Max

Unicorn: Warriors Eternal, Genndy Tartakovsky’s (Samurai Jack) masterpiece passion project, took over 20 years to finally come to television screens. Once more, the series was absolutely worth the wait. Unicorn: Warriors Eternal follows a trio of warriors: dark sorceress Melinda, elven warrior prince Edred, and mystic monk Seng, who are reincarnated throughout time to battle against an undying evil that seeks to overtake all of reality.

The show earns its place as one of the most original animated series to come out in 2023, set in a steampunk Victorian world where technology and robotics exist alongside magic and mysticism. Unicorn: Warriors Eternal feels like both a culmination of Tartakovsky’s career up to this point and a love letter to the likes of Osamu Tezuka and Max Fleischer, a series bursting with excitement and charm whose conclusion leaves open the potential for even more adventures in the future. —Toussaint Egan

38. Perry Mason

Showrunners: Jack Amiel and Michael Begler
Cast: Matthew Rhys, Juliet Rylance, Chris Chalk
Where to watch: Max

I skipped the first season of Perry Mason. But after a change of showrunners, bringing in The Knick’s Jack Amiel and Michael Begler, I dove right in and never looked back.

Matthew Rhys continues to excel as the saddest man on TV. As Perry, he’s broken down, disillusioned, and struggling with basic motivation. When a massive case falls in his lap, Perry is thrust into an impossible case, stacked against a massive conspiracy.

Perry Mason is a thoughtful, immaculately designed period piece that’s also just a straight-up fun watch, with a great cast and the confidence to zig where other crime shows zag. —PV

37. Cunk on Earth

Creator: Charlie Brooker
Cast: Diane Morgan
Where to watch: Netflix

Cunk on Earth is a faux-documentary in which host Philomena Cunk (Diane Morgan) chronicles the rise of modern civilization by asking some of the smartest people in the world some of the dumbest questions imaginable. This would be insufferable if not for two crucial creative decisions. One, the experts have clearly been invited in on the joke, treating Cunk and the audience like a great teacher interacting with a precocious child. And two, just as importantly: Cunk’s questions occasionally travel the philosophical loop from illogical to profound. —Chris Plante

36. The Owl House

Creator: Dana Terrace
Cast: Sarah-Nicole Robles, Wendie Malick, Alex Hirsch
Where to watch: Disney Plus

Disney Channel’s The Owl House didn’t get the full third season that it so rightfully deserved, but creator Dana Terrace and the rest of the people behind the show pulled off the impossible: an incredibly satisfying ending, one where the intricate world-building, nuanced character moments, creepy yet child-friendly horror, and funky humor all come together into something wonderful.

The Owl House was always about misfits trying to find a place where they belong. The show celebrated the weird — and that may not have been Disney’s cup of tea, but it’s also its loss, because this show is brilliantly weird and weirdly brilliant. —Petrana Radulovic

35. My Adventures with Superman

Showrunner: Jake Wyatt
Cast: Jack Quaid, Alice Lee, Ishmel Sahid
Where to watch: Max

Romance has been baked into superheros since Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created Superman in a love triangle with himself. My Adventures with Superman hasn’t forgotten that.

My Adventures’ first season streamlines supervillain origins to focus on the growing friendship between a young Clark Kent (Jack Quaid) and his fellow Daily Planet interns, Jimmy Olsen (Ishmel Sahid) and Lois Lane (Alice Lee) — half punching alien threats and half blushing about your alien crush.

WB Animation showrunners and Studio Mir deftly blend modern anime influences with iconic Superman imagery, particularly in the show’s backgrounds. Softly glowing sunlit cityscapes and skies full of whipped-cream clouds give depth and scale to the show’s action sequences, and a true sense of awe and delight to its romantic ones. What happens when you remake Superman as a shoujo-style cartoon? You get something very close to his roots. —Susana Polo

34. Party Down

Showrunner: John Enbom
Cast: Adam Scott, Ken Marino, Jane Lynch, Ryan Hansen, Martin Starr
Where to watch: Starz

Fans have been dreaming of more Party Down for over a decade. So Starz wrangling 90% of the original cast back in their pink bow ties for another round of hors d’oeuvres-driven hijinks probably would have been enough. But Party Down (2023) is nothing short of a miracle, as far as revivals are concerned.

The stroke of genius is letting time pass. Set in pandemic-imploded LA, Adam Scott’s Henry trudges back to catering, being the deadpan emotional core of the series; Ken Marino is now in charge, and remains a king of physical timing (with a poop joke that immediately enters the canon); Ryan Hansen, Martin Starr, and Jane Lynch as the supporting crew struggle with modern social standards, as if they’ve been unfrozen from 2009, and the fresh blood — The Afterparty’s Zoë Chao, as a wannabe Michelin-star chef overthinking the appetizers, and Tyrel Jackson Williams, checking the box of a Gen Z TikTok influencer — fit right in alongside the wannabes. If we never get another season, oh well; this one satisfied the hunger. —MP

33. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Creators: Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman, Jenny Lumet
Cast: Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Jess Bush
Where to watch: Paramount Plus

In its first season, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds proved you can make a television show that’s a cover band. In its second season, it proved that concept has legs.

SNW is the Star Trek show that’s about being in love with Star Trek, in all of its facets. Look no further than this season’s episode summaries: a wacky crossover, a musical episode, Spock turning human just before he meets his in-laws. But also: one of the franchise’s best trial episodes, time travel to the modern day, visiting a philosophically interesting planet, and a dire cliffhanger with the terrifyingly revamped Gorn.

One of the joys of Star Trek is its immense breadth of tone, and Strange New Worlds has shown a dedication to capturing all of it. It’s become the Star Trek that I recommend to people who’ve never watched Star Trek before — what else is there to say? —SP

32. Top Chef: World All-Stars

Executive producers: Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz
Cast: Padma Lakshmi and some very talented chefs
Where to watch: Peacock

Let’s get this out of the way up top: This wasn’t Top Chef’s best season. After 20 years of perfecting and evolving a formula, Top Chef celebrated its second decade by deconstructing itself. Instead of the usual cadre of top-of-the-line chefs and Top Chef all-stars from the United States, this year’s competition took competitors who have won and succeeded in other Top Chef spinoffs from around the world and pitted them against each other in the show’s first international competition.

With that massive new wrinkle in place, season 20 was a strange and messy experiment that felt unlike anything Top Chef has done before. It smashed together far more big personalities and different temperaments than previous seasons and didn’t quite give any of them enough time to shine. But it also opened the door for the series to expand itself to completely new places and different styles that make the next 20 years look bright. —Austen Goslin

31. The Great

Creator: Tony McNamara
Cast: Elle Fanning, Nicholas Hoult, Phoebe Fox
Where to watch: Hulu

In its third season, The Great proved it was never going to settle. There was always a new risk to take, all while never letting its players shy away from conflict that made good TV. And boy, did it make for good TV.

When a show gets canceled — as The Great did in August — it can be easy to mourn it too lightly or too heavily, for people to wonder if it’s worth catching up on. But The Great was a miracle, a show that was funny and thoughtful in equal measure. It found the right ending, and it could’ve gone on forever. I want it back. —ZM

30. Based on a True Story

Creator: Craig Rosenberg
Cast: Kaley Cuoco, Chris Messina, Tom Bateman
Where to watch: Peacock

True-crime stories — both within the genre and about the genre — are a dime a dozen these days. But few manage to be as fun and engaging as Based on a True Story, the mid-year gem from Peacock. The gist is simple: Realizing their handyman turned friend is a serial killer, Ava (Kaley Cuoco) and Nathan (Chris Messina) do what anyone would and blackmail him into co-producing a true-crime podcast to get rich quick. Pretty soon the lies are mounting and their little gambit is spinning out of control, but Based on a True Story keeps a steady hand on its wild ride, making it incredibly fun to watch. —ZM

29. Taskmaster series 16

Creator: Alex Horne
Cast: Greg Davies, Alex Horne, and five very funny people
Where to watch: YouTube

Two series of Taskmaster aired this calendar year. Both are delights, but series 16 is one of the strongest in years for the British panel show.

The contestants of series 16 are hilarious, but also approached the show in a very different way by leaning more toward cooperation than competition. That upended Taskmaster’s vibe (and Greg Davies’ and Alex Horne’s expectations) in the best way possible, delivering a riotous season filled with memorable moments. Sam Campbell and Lucy Beaumont’s antics are unforgettable, as are Susan Wokoma and Sue Perkins’ friendship and Julian Clary’s general air of disdain for the proceedings. It’s the perfect alchemy for some extraordinarily funny television. —PV

28. Slow Horses

Showrunner: Will Smith
Cast: Gary Oldman, Jack Lowden, Kristin Scott Thomas
Where to watch: Apple TV Plus

“Spy show about losers led by a slovenly Gary Oldman” is enough of a pitch to get a lot of people on board. But Apple TV’s Slow Horses rises above even that compelling decision with a pitch-perfect mix of comedy and tension, combining seasoned TV comedy writers with seasoned TV drama directors to great effect.

The third season is the best yet, bringing Sope Dirisu (Gangs of London) into the mix as the Slow Horses look to thwart yet another massive conspiracy. No series is better at making you think you know what is going on before swiftly subverting those expectations. —PV

27. Mrs. Davis

Creators: Tara Hernandez and Damon Lindelof
Cast: Betty Gilpin, Jake McDorman, Andy McQueen
Where to watch: Peacock

Streaming TV was supposed to be better than what we got. It was supposed to be surprising, bold, and new, free of the restrictions from stodgy networks and the old guard. Streaming TV generally did not end up that way, but Mrs. Davis did. Tara Hernandez and Damon Lindelof’s sci-fi dramedy follows a nun waging a one-woman war against Mrs. Davis, the all-encompassing AI that runs the world in an alternate 2023.

Things escalate from there: the nun, Simone (Betty Gilpin), is quite literally married to Jesus Christ (Andy McQueen), who appears to be a real guy running a diner. The Knights Templar and the pope hide a stockpile of mythical sneakers. There’s an AI resistance that stays off the grid and has an endless supply of flip phones they snap in half after every call. There is a story in all this, about God and technology and what we dedicate our lives to, one that lingers after the roller-coaster plot finally reaches its terminus. While Mrs. Davis risks overshadowing its themes with its efforts to be odd, it never stops being propulsive — and it’ll make you wish more shows were like it. —JR

26. How To with John Wilson

Creator: John Wilson
Cast: New York City and beyond
Where to watch: Max

Every episode of How To with John Wilson feels like it’s setting up a joke, only the punchline never comes. It is unquestionably odd how the HBO docu-series, in which Wilson — a weirdo with a camera and few boundaries — finds and follows colorful strangers from the streets of New York City and beyond. But How To isn’t really interested in laughing. It’s interested in listening.

The result is a bittersweet meditation on memory via the mundanely odd lives of the people Wilson meets, where we learn that the questions he asks himself are also being asked in some form by a man who wants to live in a missile silo or the people who nurse petty grudges in a West Virginia “radio silence zone” where they live off the grid. How To is funny, because life is funny, in all the compromises we make in order to coexist and indulgences we allow ourselves in order to cope when feeling adrift. But there’s never a punchline. There’s too much wonder in all of us for that. —JR

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Top 25

25. The Curse

Creators: Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie
Cast: Emma Stone, Nathan Fielder, Benny Safdie
Where to watch: Paramount Plus, Showtime

If Nathan Fielder’s project is making everyone — viewers especially — feel uncomfortable, The Curse evolves that project in a new direction. As a scripted drama, the pure cringe stakes are lowered, which might make it a little easier for some people to stomach than The Rehearsal. But at the same time, its thematic horizons for awkwardness and creeping unease are hugely expanded. Fielder, co-creator Ben Safdie, and co-star Emma Stone seize this opportunity with both hands, delivering one of the weirdest and most pointedly agonizing viewing experiences of the year.

Fielder and Stone play a couple running a fatuous real-estate project, building designer homes in a poor New Mexico community, which they’re also trying to parlay into reality TV stardom. The Curse ruthlessly skewers the patronizing self-delusion and empty economics of a certain kind of socially and ecologically conscious breed of late-stage capitalism, and it’s filmed like a 1970s conspiracy thriller or experimental horror movie, with long takes, voyeuristic zoom lenses, and an eerie electro-acoustic score. It’s profoundly unnerving, darkly funny, and — in Stone and Fielder’s unvarnished portrait of a couple who are just too annoying to be happy — kind of tragic. —OW

24. Silo

Creator: Graham Yost
Cast: Rebecca Ferguson, Rashida Jones, David Oyelowo
Where to watch: Apple TV Plus

Like all good murder mystery stories, Silo is about logistics. But these are the logistics of a world that is unrecognizable, making any viewer’s attempt to predict its twists far more compelling. Set in a post-apocalyptic future Earth with no breathable air thanks to some past unknown cataclysm, the remaining members of humanity now live underground in a massive, multistory silo that was seemingly constructed for this eventuality. But 140 years have gone by since the catastrophe that drove humans underground, and their reasons for even living in the silo under its now-totalitarian regime have since been lost to the ages (due to the work of said regime).

All of that is just the setting, though — it’s not the story. Silo is about a murder, and soon a series of murders, that point toward a larger conspiracy. Our detective is not a seasoned pro, but rather a fed-up genius mechanical engineer named Juliette Nichols (Rebecca Ferguson), who spends the entire show wishing she were working on engines or whatever instead of this bullshit (think Sherlock Holmes crossed with Ellen Ripley). If you like sci-fi stories, you’ll like Silo — but if you like murder mysteries, you’ll adore it. —Maddy Myers

23. Only Murders in the Building

Creators: Steve Martin, John Hoffman
Cast: Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez
Where to watch: Hulu

This season of Only Murders in the Building was very light on both the murders and the building. But that was exactly what the show needed to keep it fresh and exciting. Instead of digging their heels into Arconia and the podcast, the creators behind Only Murders decided to mix up the formula a little, making the murder very loosely “in the building,” changing the main set to a theater, and stripping down the podcast elements. It was the perfect refresh.

Sure, the mystery at the center was pretty straightforward, and the big gotcha moment wasn’t as cathartic as seasons past. But there was a full musical, with multiple incredibly catchy songs (who could forget the patter song), that let Steve Martin, Martin Short, Meryl Streep, and the rest of the cast just go full throttle. It was a musical extravaganza that also contained some touching character moments between Mabel, Charles, and Oliver, as they all grappled with this transitory period in their creative partnership. —PR

22. Scavengers Reign

Creators: Joseph Bennett and Charles Huettner
Cast: Sunita Mani, Wunmi Mosaku, Alia Shawkat
Where to watch: Max

From the moment I first saw footage of Scavengers Reign, I knew the show had the potential to become something special. Several weeks after having watched the first season, I’m certain of it. Executive produced by Joseph Bennett and Charles Huettner and based on their 2016 animated short film Scavengers, the 12-episode series follows the surviving crew of an interstellar freighter who crash-land on an uncharted planet after their ship is damaged. Separated from one another, the survivors must brave the beautiful and hostile fringes of this alien world as they attempt to return to their ship and save the remaining crew members suspended in stasis.

A melancholic story of survival, Scavengers Reign is also a meditative and beautiful exploration of ecology and symbiosis told through a rich visual language that cribs liberally from the iconic ligne claire aesthetic of Jean “Moebius” Giraud all while feeling like something entirely its own. It’s a wondrous and imaginative universe teeming with exotic vistas and bizarre creatures, in addition to some of the most breathtaking sequences I’ve seen in any animated series this year. If any animated series released this year feels like an essential watch, it’s Scavengers Reign. —TE

21. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Creators: Rob McElhenney and Glenn Howerton
Cast: Charlie Day, Kaitlin Olson, Danny DeVito
Where to watch: Hulu

There’s really no reason a show should still be great 16 seasons into its run. Nonetheless, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is one of the funniest shows of the year, and almost as funny as some of the show’s best seasons — which aired more than a decade ago at this point.

It’s remarkable the gang is still finding new jokes to tell. Whether it’s Frank becoming a chess champion using anal beads, finding out that Dee used to be a great bowler but Dennis makes her choke, or discovering that those weird extra doors in Charlie and Frank’s apartment actually go somewhere, the show keeps finding great and new ways to be funny.

It’s not impossible for a show to still be good after 16 seasons, but what makes the latest season of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia so impressive is that it also manages to still bring surprises after 16 years, and all without sacrificing its laughs. There’s nothing like It’s Always Sunny. Long may it reign. —AG

20. Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake

Showrunner: Adam Muto
Cast: Madeleine Martin, Roz Ryan, Tom Kenny
Where to watch: Max

If you were a Cartoon Network devotee, you’ll know the slow frog boil of Adventure Time’s run: Its early episodes were a classic format of fun and wild hijinks, while later episodes yielded to a story about love, death, redemption, apocalypse, and what we mean to each other. Most of the cast gets a happy ending, except for the Ice King — the show’s villain, who is revealed to be the normal, sad Simon Petrikov — and his love interest Betty, who fuses herself with the entity GOLB to keep Simon safe.

The spinoff Fionna and Cake tackles Adventure Time’s thorny epilogue ideas head on, very much in the mode of The Legend of Korra and Steven Universe Future. Fionna and Cake are essentially fanfic versions of Finn and Jake that the Ice King formulated in his sleep. The show is full of the bombastic fun of the original series, complete with delightful human-world versions of Lumpy Space Princess, Bubblegum, Marceline, and others. But the show also makes Fionna and Simon work together, unraveling a story about yearning so hard for an idea that it alienates you from the very real people around you. It’s a touching show that makes even more meaning out of the original series. —NC

19. What We Do in the Shadows

Showrunner: Paul Simms
Cast: Harvey Guillén, Matt Berry, Natasia Demetriou
Where to watch: Hulu

Hanging out with vampires in Staten Island is more fun than it ought to be. What We Do in the Shadows remains one of the best comedies, with some of the best-drawn characters who drive situations to their logical, eternally perverse ends. This season, the details are paramount — we’ve got hexes! We’ve got political campaigns! We’ve got vampires as virginity metaphors! Along the way our merry band of the undead get a visit from The Baron (Doug Jones), their lively New Jersey neighbors, and some freaky little Guillermo animal clones. (Weirder than they sound.)

But ultimately, this could be anything. That’s the beauty of What We Do in the Shadows: the specificity of the characters, their situations, and their reactions, and the fact that you could plop them in any scenario and they’d be hysterical. More TV shows should be like What We Do in the Shadows season 5: consistently funny, with a solid cast that can ping off each other. Oh, and plenty of gross Guillermos. —ZM

18. I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson

Creators: Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin
Cast: Tim Robinson and a gallery of his very funny friends
Where to watch: Netflix

Bizarre, laugh-out-loud funny, and endlessly quotable, I Think You Should Leave struck again with its third season. “Tim Robinson yelling” remains a solid base for comedy — in a drive-thru, in a doggy door commercial, on a game show — but it’s the more understated bits in this season that really hit. Whether he’s just there for the zip line, promoting the Driving Crooner, or playing an egg-based computer game, Robinson and the ITYSL team once again deliver sketches that join the ranks of the show’s all-time best. —Kallie Plagge

17. Foundation

Creators: David S. Goyer and Josh Friedman
Cast: Jared Harris, Lee Pace, Lou Llobell
Where to watch: Apple TV Plus

Foundation’s second season is an incredible argument for the power of spectacle. Every episode promises a genuinely jaw-dropping sight: fantastic planets, incredible spacecraft, mathematical techno-mysticism, and stupendous edifices to a galaxy-spanning empire. That is perhaps not surprising with a Game of Thrones-level budget, which makes it all the more delightful how consistently the “wows” come from the many quiet, profound, romantic, and downright horny moments throughout the season. This season simply does not miss.

To name just one example, there’s a brand-new character this season, a roguish Han Solo throwback who could so easily fall into the many annoying pitfalls of the archetype. Instead, Hober Mallow is the most dashingly suave and romantic take on the character since The Empire Strikes Back. The meticulously crafted season also concludes with one of the most thrilling and satisfying finales in science fiction television. —Clayton Ashley

16. The Righteous Gemstones

Creator: Danny McBride
Cast: Danny McBride, Edi Patterson, Adam DeVine, John Goodman
Where to watch: Max

TV’s best show about the dysfunctional children of a mega-rich American family continued with an excellent third season, putting the Gemstones through the wringer and seeing them come out the other side just a little more self-aware.

This season truly had it all. A throne room to rival Game of Thrones! A giant (bespoke) monster truck! An actual factual locust swarm! Steve Zahn, Shea Whigham, and Stephen Dorff! Extended nude fight scenes!

But, of course, it all culminates where it had to: Baby Billy’s Bible Bonkers. It’s the four words on everyone’s minds right now. [Walton Goggins voice] Say it with me now: Baby. Billy’s. Bible. Bonkers.

Gemstones continues to somehow be one of TV’s funniest and most incisive shows. Underneath the ridiculous goofs and ostentatiously detailed set design is a sincere show with a heart of gold, and it all works because of how damn funny, entertaining, and delightfully surprising it is. When you queue up an episode of Gemstones, expect anything. Praise the Gemstones, may they reign for eternity. And one more time, with gusto: Baby Billy’s Bible Bonkers. —PV

15. Hijack

Creators: George Kay and Jim Field Smith
Cast: Idris Elba, Neil Maskell, Archie Panjabi
Where to watch: Apple TV Plus

Hijack is the rare show that has both a perfect premise and an execution that lives up to its idea. The series, set mostly on a hijacked airplane, is a spectacular thriller that manages to make its audience feel smart and respected, stringing out clues for you to find everywhere you look, while still making its lead character (Idris Elba in his groove) feel one step ahead.

Every twist feels somehow both expertly planted and telegraphed, but no less surprising for its setup. On top of the drama on the plane, Hijack manages to make the political intrigue that frames its titular hijacking just as exciting as the terrorist plot onboard. From takeoff to landing, the Apple TV Plus show is one of the best thrillers of the year, and one of its most entertaining TV shows around. —AG

14. Pluto

Based on: The manga by Naoki Urasawa
Cast: Shinshū Fuji, Yōko Hikasa, Eizou Tsuda
Where to watch: Netflix

AI was all over this year. You couldn’t open an algorithm-based social media app without finding some new headline about how artificial intelligence threatened or enhanced our way of life in 2023. And yet, the most topical and insightful commentary on the whole matter came from Pluto, the new anime adaptation of a manga that ran from 2003 to 2009.

It helps that the story is anchored by a whodunit, specifically who keeps killing off the most powerful robots in the world. With that kind of backbone, Pluto’s engagement with AI can loosen up. But Pluto’s true strength is in how far it goes beyond that, in the beauty of its adaptation and the prescient, timeless meat of the story itself. The Netflix anime looks great, building on the manga’s gravitas with vivid colors and a thoughtful glow. But Naoki Urasawa’s story always grounds the saga with thoughtful ruminations on the emptiness of war, and the ways that can radiate out and compound.

Art like Pluto can’t solve that problem for us. But its story manages to feel timeless and penetrating, even in a time when we’re drowning in headlines. For once, it felt like there was something new to say. —ZM

13. Abbott Elementary

Creator: Quinta Brunson
Cast: Quinta Brunson, Tyler James Williams, Janelle James
Where to watch: Hulu

It’s easy to fall in love with Abbott Elementary. It’s outright charming as it follows a group of teachers at a Philadelphia elementary school (the Abbott Elementary of the title).

But even as workplace comedies go — a reliable staple in any TV rotation — Abbott goes to the front of the class. It’s consistently funny and creative as it approaches life in the public school system, whether tackling broken water pipes or students fighting. But it’s also just smart as hell as it keeps its stories feeling fresh and fun.

Abbott’s second season was not afraid to challenge itself: The teachers loosened up and connected outside of school hours, giving us great attempts to make pasta sauce or tension-filled Christmas trips to the club. New pairings bring out new flavors and facets to each of the players. We get to see new elements of the characters: their goofs and their passions, their foibles and their food preferences.

Too often, sitcoms sell their characters out in favor of the punchline. But with Abbott Elementary, it feels instead like the show is finding deeper roots of its characters. And for that reason, I won’t dock points for the show playing in our faces with the will-they-won’t-they. —ZM

12. The Other Two

Creators: Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider
Cast: Heléne York, Drew Tarver, Molly Shannon, Josh Segarra
Where to watch: Max

A case study in art imitating life, The Other Two went out on a real-life note that feels like an epilogue to the ending that aired this spring on Max. A damning report alleged creators Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider ran a hostile work environment on their critically acclaimed show that frequently targeted Hollywood toxicity.

Ironically, The Other Two’s final episodes, which saw fame-hungry siblings Cary and Brooke Dubek reach personal nadirs in their search for Hollywood success, capped off a three-season run about how easy it is to go from scrappy striver to part of the problem.

The Other Two’s final season walked a tightrope, running the risk of becoming too ridiculous or too unlikable at every turn, and it pulled it off for 10 hilarious episodes. But the jokes are only part of why the show is one of the year’s best. What elevates it are the questions those jokes leave us with, both on camera and behind the scenes — questions about how integral ambition and self-loathing are to art, and if the successful few must always climb to the top on the backs of others. —JR

11. Reservation Dogs

Creator: Sterlin Harjo
Cast: D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Devery Jacobs, Paulina Alexis, Lane Factor
Where to watch: Hulu

It’s a blessing when TV shows can go out on their own terms.

The third and final season of Sterlin Harjo’s joyful and hilarious show about an Indigenous community in rural Oklahoma and their hopes, dreams, and occasional misdeeds was an intentional and confident end, sending off one of the best shows on TV in style.

This season, Rez Dogs delivered memorable one-off episodes like “Cheese goes camping with the elders” and “The gang breaks an elder out of a hospital” and “Elora meets her long-lost dad and surprise! It’s Ethan Hawke.” All the while, the show built out our understanding of the community of Okern and its history, all working toward an incredibly moving finale. But what made Rez Dogs so special is the attention and care it paid to each and every one of its characters. This third season put more of a focus on the elders in the community, through flashbacks and episodes highlighting their connections with the main group of Rez Dogs. That allowed incredible actors like Gary Farmer, Wes Studi, and Graham Greene to shine even more alongside the sensational core group that has carried the show from the beginning.

So long, Reservation Dogs. There was nothing like you on TV, but your impact will live on through the stories you told, the lessons you taught us, and the laughs we shared. Mvto. —PV

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Top 10

10. Beef

Creator: Lee Sung Jin
Cast: Steven Yeun, Ali Wong, Joseph Lee
Where to watch: Netflix

As an edgy, inherently unstable dramedy that’s willing to dance dangerously close to some third-rail topics, it’s no surprise that Beef generated controversy — though it doubtless wasn’t the kind of controversy creator Lee Sung Jin was looking for. Supporting actor David Choe made some awful comments on a podcast in 2014 that were resurfaced after the show landed on Netflix to initial acclaim. When Beef’s creator and stars stuck up for him as a changed man, sentiment around the show began to curdle and conversation about it rapidly dried up.

The whole episode was a dispiriting mess, but the show deserved better. Beef is a sharp, surprising parable that’s wicked in its specificity about second-generation Asian American culture and repressed millennial frustration and anxiety. Its seed is a tiny road rage incident — a blaring horn, a flipped finger — that happens between struggling contractor Danny (Steven Yeun) and successful houseplant entrepreneur Amy (Ali Wong) in a car park. This rapidly spirals out of control into a tit-for-tat war of abuse that tips the rest of their lives — both precariously balanced, in different ways — into chaos.

It sounds like a cautionary tale, and it kind of is, but the brilliance of Beef lies in the compassion and understanding it has for — and vicarious joy it takes in — its characters’ generational anger. The show exposes the complex system of racism, rootlessness, and overbearing expectation feeding that anger, so you almost root for them when they blow their tops — especially Wong’s Amy, whose flips from buttoned-up Instagram perfection to unbridled venom are wildly entertaining. The tragedy of Beef isn’t their rage. It’s that they aim it at each other, instead of everyone else. —OW

9. Jury Duty

Creators: Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky
Cast: Ronald Gladden, James Marsden, Alan Barinholtz
Where to watch: Freevee

In another universe, the concept for Jury Duty — in which one real guy gets wrapped up in a fake trial full of actors — could be very mean-spirited. Instead, Jury Duty is about a regular dude making good choices and being a kind human being over and over again, even when tossed in increasingly ridiculous situations. Ronald Gladden, a guy who thought he was being featured in a normal documentary about the jury process, became this year’s television MVP.

And there is a lot going on in Jury Duty. The cast of absurdly kooky characters was engineered to be as over-the-top as possible, and the situations poor Ronald finds himself entangled in keep escalating. The older woman who keeps falling asleep during the trial is only the tip of the iceberg. There’s a guy who creates inventions like “chair pants.” There’s an awkward young man who wants to get it on with a flirtatious fellow juror, but due to religious reasons must resort to “soaking” (look it up). There’s James Marsden, playing a self-absorbed douchebag version of himself.

But through all the hijinks and shenanigans (and there are many), Ronald somehow maintains the utmost patience and heart. Come for the hilariously contrived and increasingly absurd antics; stay for the feel-good show of the year. —PR

8. Gen V

Showrunners: Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters
Cast: Jaz Sinclair, Chance Perdomo, Lizze Broadway
Where to watch: Prime Video

The world of The Boys can be abrasive and off-putting with its jet-black cynicism and penchant for dick jokes and gore. It’s a sledgehammer of a satire for a world saturated with superhero franchises, but some may want a little more human drama alongside all the whimsical fury. Gen V does that, pivoting from the capes and Corps of The Boys to a college campus and introducing viewers to a cast of young aspiring superheroes they can get behind and care about.

Its greatest trick, however, is in the way it’s not really about superheroes at all. Instead it’s a metaphor for the attention economy, the way young people are forced to monetize their gifts and identities, forever on the hunt for clout. You don’t have to watch The Boys to enjoy Gen V, but the show’s darkest joke is for fans of both, aware of the irony that the students of Gen V are striving for an empty charade. The superheroes depicted in The Boys that they aspire to be are vulgar, selfish creatures and corporate puppets hastening their world’s slide into fascism. Gen V’s biggest question is also its most potent: Will its protagonists learn the truth and fight back? Or succumb to the well-funded social order they’re being trained for? —JR

7. Succession

Creator: Jesse Armstrong
Cast: Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong, Sarah Snook
Where to watch: Max

Jesse Armstrong ensured Succession’s position as a modern TV masterpiece in its fourth and final season by — in typical fashion — ripping the Band-Aid off and exposing the raw skin. In retrospect, it shouldn’t have been shocking that Logan Roy (Brian Cox) died in the third episode. His children’s anguished, hungry jockeying for his respect, love, riches, and status had been the subject of the show from the start, after all, and Logan’s early death would give Armstrong and his writers room to explore that.

But shocking it was, because most shows don’t dare upend themselves like this — and because Succession had so successfully and deeply enmeshed its viewers in the Roy kids’ psyches that Logan’s death, while inevitable, also seemed unimaginable. It was portrayed in an all-time great episode of TV, as shatteringly precise a depiction of the cold shock and terrifying absence of bereavement as there’s ever been on film.

If what followed wasn’t as uniformly excellent as the second and third seasons, it’s only because Armstrong understood the dramatic and thematic necessity of sending the appallingly seductive world he’d built into a tailspin. The wreckage still yielded plenty of delicious one-liners and scenes so wickedly destabilizing you had to hold your breath, like the hilariously inappropriate psychosexual maneuvering between Shiv (Sarah Snook) and Lukas (Alexander Skarsgård). The cast was incredible all the way down, and the ending was perfect, because it showed how even at the highest echelons, the capitalist system pitilessly eats us all — and because it recognized that Matthew Macfadyen’s Tom, a black hole of need, had always been Succession’s weirdest, greatest creation. —OW

6. Poker Face

Showrunners: Nora Zuckerman and Lilla Zuckerman
Cast: Natasha Lyonne and Benjamin Bratt
Where to watch: Peacock

Now fully in his “building a mystery” phase after writing and directing Knives Out and Glass Onion, Rian Johnson moved from Agatha Christie mode to Columbo mode with Poker Face, a series about just how depressing it would be to know when other people are lying. Natasha Lyonne stars as Charlie Cale, a down-on-her-luck blue-collar worker with a more or less supernatural ability to detect lies, which gets her in dutch with a powerful, dangerous enemy in the series pilot. She spends the rest of the first season on the lam, moving from town to town, taking whatever work she can get, and running afoul of one murderer after another.

Johnson — who created the show, executive produced, directed three episodes, and co-scripted nine of the 10 — has enough friends in Hollywood to ensure a roster of surprising, enjoyable talent rolling through these episodes, from Adrien Brody in the pilot to Nick Nolte, Lil Rel Howery, Ellen Barkin, Hong Chau, Chloë Sevigny, Luis Guzmán, Tim Meadows, and a whole lot more in the rest of the run. In each episode, someone — often a familiar star — commits a murder in the opening act. For the audience, the question isn’t ever whodunit, it’s “How will Charlie crack this case, and how can a fugitive with no legal standing bring the killer to justice once she knows who it is?”

The core of the show is Lyonne’s performance: Charlie is convincingly caught between fear and swagger, deference and confidence, in every new situation she walks into. She’s a beautifully drawn character; she doesn’t necessarily want the responsibility of a minor superpower, especially while she’s running for her life. But she’s also too moral — and too offended by dishonesty — to walk away once she knows a crime has been committed. Much like Johnson’s movie mysteries, this series is a fun character exploration and a giddy delight for mystery lovers. —Tasha Robinson

5. Full Circle

Creator: Ed Solomon and Steven Soderbergh
Cast: Claire Danes, Timothy Olyphant, CCH Pounder, Zazie Beetz, Jim Gaffigan, and more
Where to watch: Max

No one in Full Circle has the full picture. On the one hand we have Sam (Claire Danes) and Derek (Timothy Olyphant), wealthy parents thrown into a panic when they learn their son has been kidnapped. On the other, we have Savvy (CCH Pounder), a Guyanese power player organizing the whole thing and looking to remove a curse on her family. An USPIS inspector (Zazie Beetz) is there too, already hot on the trail of some insurance scams by Savvy’s crew. In between them all are the kids: Sam and Derek’s and Savvy’s lowest-level employees, all foot soldiers and pawns in a game far bigger than they know.

The show is constantly balancing out those competing interests and their respective perspectives, with the kids looking to save themselves, and the adults slowly unraveling the mess that got them all there to begin with. In many ways, Full Circle is a show that could only exist at this moment: heady and intricate, directed by Steven Soderbergh with a calculated, low-key frantic eye. From the jump it’s the sort of writing and world that is completely immersive, finding small but crucial beats that clue viewers into relationships or plot developments. Full Circle is a story that feels big and expansive even as it never tips its hand, or even tips outside of the circle it’s drawn for itself. Soderbergh and writer Ed Solomon keep everything tight and focused.

As each domino falls, it’s clear no one can see the forces pushing them to begin with. And as the six-episode series ticks away, it’s clear that the viewer is, delightfully, no better off. When the final mic drop of the series comes, it’s a thud far away from the frenzy of the main show — after all, no one in Full Circle has the full picture. —ZM

4. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters

Creator: Chris Black
Cast: Anna Sawai, Wyatt Russell, Kurt Russell
Where to watch: Apple TV Plus

A Godzilla TV show should probably be a gimmicky curiosity at best. A small-scale also-ran that pales in comparison to its older monster-movie siblings. Instead, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters outshines everything else in Legendary’s growing Monsterverse, not by outdoing them in scale, but by providing a more human foundation that makes the moments of massive destruction even better.

Monarch’s success comes in large part thanks to its design. It’s effectively a Trojan horse: a kaiju story designed to disguise two equally fascinating stories about the origins of a government organization that hunts monsters and a domestic drama about a man with two families. It’s a gutsy bait-and-switch that would be devastating if everyone involved weren’t so damn interesting. Both sides of the plot, one taking place in the 1950s and another more than 50 years later, are equally compelling, with well-drawn, complicated characters who often have competing motivations even if they’re on the same side. It is, in other words, exactly what you need for good television. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that both storylines are also anchored by the father-son pairing of Kurt and Wyatt Russell, who play the same character five decades apart.

But all the family drama, government intrigue, giant monsters, and great characters hide what makes Monarch feel so truly unique and special at this exact moment in pop culture: It’s simply a fantastic adventure story, and we don’t have enough of those anymore. Characters roam from one side of the planet to the other (and beyond), whisked away in black helicopters to secret bases all while solving careful puzzles about ancient titans that compete to defend our world. It’s quite simply the best time you can have with a TV show this year, and every time Godzilla shows up is just a nice little bonus. —AG

3. Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

Creators: Bryan Lee O’Malley and BenDavid Grabinski
Cast: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Aubrey Plaza
Where to watch: Netflix

I remember watching Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim vs. the World with a group of my fellow nerdy high school friends in 2010. We left dazzled by the snappy video game quality of the film — but the guys in that group seemed empowered by the idea of the dweeb getting the girl. I left the film similarly excited — it’s a fun movie! — but also deflated by the disposability of characters like Knives Chau, not to mention all those exes. None of us realized the point of Scott Pilgrim’s story had basically gone over all of our heads. We weren’t alone, it turns out.

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off faces the cultural perception of the film head on by being clearer about the ways Scott is an absolute dumbass — like so many of us were at that age. In an interview with Polygon, Scott Pilgrim comic creator and Takes Off co-showrunner Bryan Lee O’Malley says he doesn’t “really see Scott as the bad guy,” but adds that “on the very first page he’s dating a high schooler; no one’s supposed to think that’s a good thing.”

So, 10 years after the film adaptation, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off does something refreshingly unexpected. Scott, well, takes off. Supporting characters get lots of space to be people; Ramona and her exes explore the baggage they accumulated in dating and by being avoidant people. Or, as Polygon’s TV editor Zosha Millman wrote in her review: “In Takes Off, everyone gets to be more than an accessory to Scott’s story.”

Ironically, Takes Off says more about Scott than an entire movie centered on Scott did, by emphasizing others’ perception of him in a way that perfectly complements the comics and film. Far from an adaptation, it’s a continuation — and an absolute triumph. The show helped me realize each of Scott’s exes was the main character of their own story. It honed in on what it means to briefly entangle with another person, and the lasting mark it can leave. And it did all of this with humor, bombast, and a bangin’ soundtrack that left me energized and wanting more. —NC

2. Blue Eye Samurai

Creators: Michael Green and Amber Noizumi
Cast: Maya Erskine, Masi Oka, Darren Barnet
Where to watch: Netflix

The first episode of Blue Eye Samurai proves that it’s a good show. By the fifth episode, though, it’s a fantastic show.

The premise is simple and familiar: A lone warrior in Japan seeks revenge. Except this lone warrior is a biracial woman named Mizu, who hides her striking blue eyes under orange-tinted glasses and presents herself as a man in a society that’s near impossible for a woman to navigate. And the men she wants to kill? The four white men who were in Japan at the time of her birth, aka her possible fathers.

Mizu literally wants to destroy the white part of herself, the aspect of her identity that alienates her from society. Her self-loathing manifests in this revenge quest. She insists that she needs no connections, and yet as her quest continues, three others find themselves drawn into her web.

One is Ringo, a soba-maker with a disability who becomes Mizu’s apprentice in the pursuit of doing something great. Like Mizu, he’s judged immediately based on his outward appearance, but unlike her, he has an eternally optimistic view of the world. There’s also Taigen, an honor-bound samurai who grew up with Mizu and once terrorized her as a child, but now feels obligated to aid her (so that he can be the one to end her). He too came from nothing and built himself up in a world based on wealth and status. And then there’s Akemi, the sheltered daughter of a noble, whose life seems blissful, save for the fact that she’s a woman in a world where everything is against her. Akemi is the clearest foil to Mizu, a woman who must embrace femininity in order to get ahead.

Every character tells us more about the world — and about Mizu. It’s a fantastically tight story, with gorgeous animation and exhilarating fight scenes. But it never loses sight of the character journeys and motivations, even in the face of greater threats. —PR

1. The Bear

Creator: Christopher Storer
Cast: Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri, Ebon Moss-Bachrach
Where to watch: Hulu

The Bear has been one of the best-written and best-performed shows on TV since it opened up shop on Hulu last summer. But the perspective of the series in season 1 felt mostly limited to Carmy Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White), keeping most of the other characters locked inside the four walls of The Beef. Each character still felt lived-in and developed, even if we only got the briefest glimpses of their lives outside of the food industry. Thankfully, the show’s second season recognizes the strengths of its cast and swivels the spotlight to them, letting Carmy play the supporting role he excels at both in the kitchen and in The Bear.

A weaker show would break its characters apart for the second season, sending them to the wind and losing everything that makes it special, but distance only amplifies The Bear’s many strengths. The individual episodes for Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), Marcus (Lionel Boyce), and Syd (Ayo Edebiri) are all standouts for the show, replacing the ensemble dynamics of The Beef’s chaotic kitchen with a coterie of excellent guest stars, like Will Poulter and Olivia Colman, who each bring an entire lifetime of culinary history to characters who only appear for a few scenes.

Even more impressive is the season’s sixth episode, “Fishes,” a huge Berzatto family Christmas dinner that features a barrage of perfectly cast guest stars that feel like well-worn members of the cast rather than flashy one-time additions. The entire episode feels at once like a dizzying stress nightmare, an endearing portrait of a tight-knit family (with a few branches hanging lower than people think), and a perfect microcosm of how every Berzatto ended up the way they did.

In that way, The Bear’s second season manages to do the hardest thing any show can: find ways to grow outward and inward at the same time. Whether it’s Marcus making his way to Copenhagen and finding out why he wants to be a chef, Syd taking an impromptu food tour of real Chicago restaurants, or Carmy quietly gifting Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas) his knife, The Bear constantly finds new ways to show us who its characters are and how they’re growing, all while reinforcing its central premise that food and cooking are acts of service that bring people together. In other words, The Bear season 2 is excellent at everything that makes TV special. —AG