Looking Back & Looking Forward
What 2022 Brought Me & What 2023 Has Yet to Come
Despite my best intentions, I did not get to watch or read a lot of new media last year to go all out on these "Best Of..." lists.
So, instead of going for new shows, limited series, and books of 2022, I'm opting to write about the media that made my year.
Though, I will say I think I read more front-list books in 2022.
Anyway, on with the look back at what I’ve watched [and enjoyed] in 2022 and what I’m looking forward to in 2023!
Looking Back on TV in 2022
They may have been returning favorites with solid outings in 2022, new shows that I miraculously got to within the 12 calendar months that make up 2022, or "new to me" shows. The last categorization is TV shows that I may have possibly taken too long to sit down and watch.
2022 is the year I finally caught up on a fan-favorite genre show, binging all three seasons of Evil. It was always on my watch list, and I am so glad I finally got to it.
From the opening scene to that shocking final scene at the end of season 3, Evil is a hilarious, spooky, and gripping show. The series, from the minds of the TV geniuses, the Kings, has an instantly intriguing premise with solid characters brought to life by a fantastic cast.
The way they each play these wild, out-there stories straight, paired with the sharp writing and not-so-subtle commentary, elevate what would have been a run-of-the-mill genre series into an intelligent, supernatural series worth the watch.
Genre ruled my watch list [that I actually watched] throughout the last twelve months. Joining the likes of Evil is a show that had been on my list for a bit—Los Espookys.
With only two seasons, it’s devastating to know that we won’t see those wonderful weirdos again on one of their wild gigs. I got to cover it at Tell-Tale TV for its second (and would later be its final) season, and it was always such a delightful assignment.
The characters were so endearing and hilarious, surrounded by a universe that is so bizarre and captivating that I was sad that there weren’t more episodes.
Among the “gone too soon” ranks on this list was Astrid & Lilly Save The World. The blend of camp, homage to the genre’s iconic shows, and a modern perspective made it a perfect and fun show to sit and watch each week.
Paired with the plus-sized heroines at the center of it all just living their teenage lives filled with angst, messy love lives, and actual teenage problems (among the demon-slaying ones), it makes it that much worse we won’t be getting more of them.
But not just the shows languishing on my watch list or those “gone too soon” that made my year in TV, but also many of my returning favorites!
Period dramas are my go-to when needing a comfort watch, so it shouldn’t be surprising to see Miss Scarlet and The Duke and Sanditon on this list. Both PBS Masterpiece series offered me a fun place to escape to while offering another season of exciting character-building despite some challenges it faced.
Sanditon’s return was the one that I was most curious to watch after losing one of the romantic leads at the end of last season. The way the writers found a way to move past it while taking advantage of the circumstances and further expanding the seaside resort’s world and its characters’ lives was pretty impressive and cleverly executed.
Meanwhile, Miss Scarlet and The Duke ended the first season with Eliza and William on the cusp of something. The second season firmly entrenched the pair in the “slow burn” zone, much to the reluctant excitement of many in the fandom –including myself. With season 3 set to return this Sunday on PBS and an already announced season 4, I’m hoping we don’t have to wait until the end to see those two get it together.
Starstruck also came back to me and absolutely knocked it out of the park, despite my fears that it couldn’t possibly surpass the hilarious and beautifully crafted love story that was season 1. Tom and Jessie’s navigation after “happily ever after” was so wonderfully done. The show is a forever favorite, and I will never stop recommending it.
TV in 2023
There are quite a few shows that I’m looking forward to that I’ve already mentioned. They're all on my highly anticipated watches, from dying of curiosity about what happens after that Evil finale to figuring out what Charlotte’s endgame is on Sanditon.
But there’s another show that I’m simultaneously anticipating and dreading – Bridgerton Season 3. If you’ve ever spoken to me, this is one of the shows I can talk about for quite a while. Particularly my appreciation of Colin and Penelope and their story.
So, it was a shock and concern when they announced they’d start skipping around and jumping into Romancing Mister Bridgerton, Colin and Penelope’s book, for season 3. Now, I know that adaptations are just that. They adapt and transform the story to fit the new media form.
But, it feels like the kind of story they are leaning into is not the kind of love story Pen and Colin have in the book. It’s a story of long-time friends to lovers with their own baggage and insecurities that they work through together. From where the pair stand at the end of season 2 – which also changed THE scene in a major, btw – it feels like their slow burn will turn into a race to their HEA.
I hope I’m wrong, though, and they’ll do my favorite characters justice (and maybe take Colin’s personality back from Benedict?).
Other anticipated 2023 shows: The Last of Us, The Legends of Vox Machina Season 2, Shadow and Bone, and The 1619 Project.
The Last 12 Months in Books
Much like my attempts at catching up to recent pop culture discourse on TV, I attempted to read more front-list stuff, and because I love love, you’ll notice a lot of the ones I mention are very much on the romance side of the genre spectrum.
From historical romances like First Comes Scandal and A Daring Pursuit to the more contemporary stories that reflect on independently growing and towards your significant other/love interest like On Rotation, All the Feels.
First Comes Scandal, a Bridgerton prequel, was pitched to me [by the internet] as a friends-to-lovers story to rival even that of Colin and Penelope’s. Though rarely a good idea to follow the internet, they were right about this one!
Georgie and Nicholas are charming, and Cat-Head’s presence had me in stitches. Sometimes it’s hard to describe what I loved so much about a book, but in this case, its sweet, comedic, light-hearted essence made it a delightful escape.
A Daring Pursuit by Kate Bateman had some aspect of the friends-to-lovers bit but with an added detail that each romantic lead was a member of a rival family. The heroine’s sense of modernity and the hero’s acceptance of who she was while also protecting each other and teaching each other some of the more intimate parts of a partnership made for another light, engaging read that I would recommend to historical romance fans.
Olivia Dade’s become an auto-buy since I finished Spoiler Alert for the first time. So, it stands to reason that I would devour All The Feels similarly. However, I found myself taking my time with Alex and Lauren. Their tough exteriors that slowly melted before my eyes right on the page were so heart-achingly sweet as they worked through their long-held insecurities and hang-ups to get to their HEA.
Though it seemingly leaned further into “Women’s Fiction” than the romance classification, On Rotation by Shirlene Obuobi managed to hit all of the right romance notes while also hitting mightily close to home, with some high-key relatable characters for a variety of reasons. There’s a universality in Angie’s experiences that keeps you hooked.
The Books I’ll Read in 2023
I might be making 2023 the year of romance, atmospheric SFF, and gothic horror, and I am very much looking forward to it.
While 2023 releases like Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Silver Nitrate and V. Castro’s The Haunting of Alejandra are top of the list, trading in some romance for the gothic and the horror, I’m still looking forward to some trope-y romances set to drop this year, including The Second You’re Single and The Neighbor Favor by Kristina Forest.
There’s also the matter of catching up on recent releases, including the regency fantasy romance Half a Soul and the potentially intriguing Bella Donna.
Other Anticipated Reads: Lunar Love, Ana Maria and The Fox, She is a Haunting
Have you read any of these? Which books and TV shows are you looking forward to seeing this year?
See you all next week!
— B