The magnificent Star Wars series Andor, wraps up the 2022 TV season, and even though the Last of Us is right around the corner, we believe we might be saying goodbye to a rocky, yet gorgeous, year for television.
So what does #Pirated mean? Well, we at Odanta believe two of the biggest dangers to content are year-end wraps and piracy. So why not combine the two? Presenting our very own guide to the best TV that came out this year.
How many people have the theme song in their workout playlist? All? Yeah, thought so.
This show isn’t about rich people on vacation. It isn’t even about how sex is used as a tool for manipulation and greed. It’s mostly a feeling, a vibe. Jennifer Coolidge crying braying on a Sicilian rooftop has a special place in our heart just because.
Maybe we Indians should finally realise what rich people on vacation truly are. Miserable. An anti Dil Dhadakne Do is exactly what India needs right about now.
“I’m condemned to use the tools of my enemy to defeat them. I burn my decency for someone else’s future. I burn my life to make a sunrise that I know I’ll never see. And the ego that started this fight will never have a mirror or an audience or the light of gratitude. So what do I sacrifice?
EVERYTHING!”
Episode 10 of Andor has not one, but two, memorable soliloquies that solidify the two sides of rebellion. Freedom and the fight against evil. Andy Serkis raises his men-at-arms to freedom while Stellan Skarsgard chews the bitter truth of it.
That’s what surprised us the most. The real star of this story isn’t a Jedi, or a tiny Yoda. It’s not even the titular character, Cassian Andor. It is the rebellion itself. It celebrates the idea of men and women standing up against the darkness, no matter the cost. And its cost is high.
Every year an Indian web series drops that puts your faith back in TV. It was Sacred Games in 2018, Paatal Lok in 2020 and now Rocket Boys in 2022. It is one of the finest, patriotic, and cheeky stories to ever come out of the India. The focus on the friendship of Vikram Sarabhai and Homi Bhabha was powerful enough to change the annals of space science and nuclear energy, as well as the Hindi web medium.
A lot can be said about the acting (no better chemistry between its leads than in RRR), the subject, but we believe it is the splendid production design that elevates it beyond the crap we see. How impressive it is to transported into an era when a bullock cart-driven nation was struggling to take a leap.
Episode 8. Hall of Fame. A masterpiece in chaos.
But the rest of the series is as frenetic, kinetic, immersive an experience as the lifestyle it depicts. A kitchen becomes a crucible, meant to break down the hallowed souls that find themselves trapped between its four walls. Even though the camera wheels in and out of their faces, you feel the whole thing is shot in closeup, so great is the sense of claustrophobia conjured. Pans chittering on the stoves, heat and tempers rising, equipment breaking, meat sizzling, blades slipping, chaos reigning.
Jeremy Allen-White shines in a career best performance. Making sandwiches in Chicago. What else do you need in life?
Maybe the best Indian show ever made?
For a long time, I believed Panchayat had fallen into a hole. You know the one where a good series goes to die because of an its unsolicited second season? Yes, sure, the return of Sachiv-ji, Pradhan-ji, Prahlad-ji, and the sundry gaon-walas warms all our hearts, but then in the fourth episode, the show puts the spotlight on an alcoholic who cannot give up his vice. One after the other the series stabs at what pains India, and in doing so, creates one of the most magical stories ever to be put on Indian television.
Till the day the first episode was released, most of Game of Thrones fans were sceptical. Season 8 had been a disaster and revisiting that world was a touchy subject for most people. But the moment we all saw Rhaenyra on the back of her dragon, skimming past the skies of Kings Landing, we were hooked. Even talking about these places, these little imprints on our mind, changed it all.
It had a stupendous run, with blockbuster ratings and reviews. It catapulted a certain kind of negroni to social media stardom and made a star out of its young stars. But what made us fall in love with it the most was its peek behind the curtains of power. Things aren’t all good in King’s Landing, and choosing a woman as the heir to the Iron Throne is the worst possible decision one can make. Knives will come out, and so will the fall of the dragons. We already got the why. Now we wait to see how.
A single article wouldn’t do justice to any of the glorious shows that entertained us this year, so we have also curated a list of the best TV shows for you. Those who manage to watch them all, get to write our next article. So what are you waiting for?
