Top 5 TV Shows from 2022

5. Wheel of Time

I know that there are going to be some people who disagree with this one. It isn’t enough like the books, and I agree with that, but I still had a ton of fun with it. I thought that they got a lot of the characters right. And I want to see what is going to happen next. This was never going to be a 14 season series with teenagers, and I don’t think I’d ever have wanted that. But it gave me a look into Robert Jordan’s world and the magic and the turning of the world just maybe from a slightly different universe than the one that he wrote.

And I keep on coming back to it when I talk about it, the casting is really good. The characters are so much fun, and the experience of watching the show, it was almost much watch TV for me. Which, besides Marvel, it’s hard for a show to do that. I still have stuff like Andor, Book of Boba Fett, and Rings of Power on the too catch-up on list.

4. The Witcher

It’s a shame that Henry Cavill is leaving and that like The Wheel of Time, this isn’t closer to the source material. But I am having fun with this series. Henry Cavill is great as Geralt. And while I didn’t like Yeniffer’s storyline at all or her character at all in the 1^st season, she’s a little bit better. I’m still the least interested in what she is doing, but she’s tolerable now. And with where season 2 ended, I want to know what is going to happen next. Even if this is the last season that I watch, I want to know where it is going to go.

3. Locke & Key

Locke & Key is a rare show that got a chance to wrap up on it’s own terms. But I’m so glad that it did, maybe it could have been longer and more keys could have been found. But they did a really good job of wrapping up the story and creating memorable moments. That family has been through so much, and it just worked so well with how the story ended. It makes me want to find another story in that crazy world or something, but also so satisfied with how everything ended.

2. The Dragon Prince

This one might be higher because it was more recent, but I really love The Dragon Prince. And it also might be higher because we watched through the whole series again. This newest season, not a ton happens, really in it, but there is enough fun that it just works. And it had been a while, both in the show and in real life, so it was nice to get to enjoy seeing characters that I love on the screen again. And then of course they are going to have their own dramas as well, but that’s part of the show. And again, they handle some difficult topics very well.

1. Stranger Things

Finally, Stranger Things. I don’t think it’s a surprise. Stranger Things Season 4 was amazing. I’d put it neck and neck with Season 1. The new characters introduced were great. And they really upped the stakes in this season. Not so much in people dying, I won’t spoil who does or doesn’t make it, but just in the level of threat. Which, I must say, is impressive, because they had some massive threats before.

And it was interesting how the three different storylines were really so different this season. Previous seasons they exist but are also closer together. Now they were really spread apart and where it ended, I can’t wait to see how they’ll wrap up the series. Plus they are working on more stuff for Netflix, including in the world of Stranger Things, the Duffer Brothers that is, so I want to know what will happen that way as well.

What was your Favorite Show of 2022?

Let me know that down in the comments. I will finish up Book of Boba Fett sometime and I do want to watch Rings of Power, Andor, 1899, Wednesday, and more. Which would you start with to catch up? And then I also know there are new shows coming out, that list coming soon, that I’m excited for.

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Lunch Time Gaming At Work

I’ve started a new job so this has gone away, for now, but maybe once a week at my old job, I’d bring in a game and we’d play it. It was just a nice chill time and it was fun to introduce people who maybe hadn’t played many board games, some new board games. Plus it was a chance for me, and I need them, to play a game that I hadn’t played before. Biblios and Arboretum stand out as some of the favorites of the group. And then there were some duds like the Copenhagen: Roll and Write, or Hexroller. They were worth trying, but not great games.

GenCon

I could break this down even further, but the whole experience was amazing. And I can’t wait until the 2023 GenCon. But having some people I knew there was fun, and I got to chat with them some. Plus then Discord communities. I got game with people from Man vs Meeple and Tablenauts and their discords and it was just a great time. Plus I got to play so many different games. GenCon is an amazing experience every time and I think that I found a rhythm that I like for being there. Though, we’ll have to see what might be fun to try next year.

10 Minute Marvel

This one is more recent, but getting a co-host for 10 Minute Marvel has been amazing. Yes, it makes more work for me editing, but it’s just to have a scheduled nerdy Marvel conversation every week. And I want to have more of them, maybe without the editing all the time. But it was great to get a co-host and a friend to go to the movies with and just dive into all of the fun nerdy stuff. And I’m excited to see all the new stuff coming out and talk about that as well.

Getting a Gaming Table

It feels like it’s been longer but that was this spring that I went through, found a lot of games to sell, sold them, and got a gaming table. I love my gaming table. It makes playing campaign games so much easier since I can leave it set-up. I sometimes wonder if I could leave one game set-up on one half and another on the other half. But then again, a lot of them take up more than half of the table. But I basically always have whatever campaign game I’m streaming set-up on there.

Stars of Akarios

Speaking of Streaming, Stars of Akarios. I figured I’d like the game, but I didn’t realize I’d like it as much as I did. The game is just great, the story is fun, and that tactical space combat really shines. So an easy pick, it was hard to take it down. I kind of wanted to continue, but also, it is good to show off more games than just one.

The Dragon Prince, Locke & Key, and Stranger Things

I put them all in one because, well, they are all Netflix shows. And all of them are some of my favorites. I feel like I’m probably missing a show, but these three were great. Locke & Key ended strong. The Dragon Prince, it had been a bit but used it as a chance to watch the whole series again. And while, Stranger Things, Season 4 was the best one since Season 1, and I think it’s really close between those. There were just a lot of really good and fun shows that Netflix put out. And then GBBO is always good, but I kind of consider that to be a little bit of a different thing.

Campaign Games

Technically Stars of Akarios would have fallen into this group, but overall I had an amazing time with campaign games. Sleeping Gods, even though I played it wrong, was so much fun. Tainted Grail, we finished up the second campaign and are into the third. Pathfinder Adventure Card Game was great. Spire’s End and Spire’s End Hildegard have been a ton off un. Even the weird campaign from Paper Dungeons was a lot of fun to play through. So lots of campaign style games that were fun.

Final Thoughts

I don’t think that 2022 was completely a normal nerdy year. I have a four year old now and that means that some nerdy things happen less often or at least getting out for them does. On the flip side, I got to do GenCon and I got to play a lot of Tainted Grail and get a lot of games in. So it’s been a very fun and fulfilling year of nerdy things. And I didn’t even touch on the anime that I’ve watched, not all of which have been great. But there are a good number of fun ones of those as well.

I am really looking forward to what 2023 has as well. Like I said, we’ll talk about some of those things coming up. But it’s going to be another fun year. And hopefully you’ve had good nerdy things happen to you in 2022 as well.

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Locke & Key Summary

No spoilers, but let’s talk about the premise and what happened in season one. Locke & Key is a young adult styled horror themed show about the Locke family. After Rendell, the father, is killed in seemingly a random attack by a student he was counseling, Nina takes her kids, Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode back to Massachusetts and the Keyhouse, where Locke, grew up.

There, Bode meets an imaginary friend, or so he thinks, in the well house, Dodge. And he starts to hear strange whispering sounds that lead him to keys. These keys all of magical powers, like a key that opens a door to anywhere. Unfortunately, Dodge is not just an imaginary friend, but an entity from another dimension who bonded to Lucas, one of Rendell’s friends from high school, years ago.

Dodge wants the keys, and in particular wants the Omega key, one that will open the door blocking off the portal. Using the student who attacked and killed Rendell, Dodge tries to get the keys that she needs in order to complete their plan. Meanwhile, Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode are dealing with a new town and that adults don’t know about the keys. Eventually, though, they manage to defeat Dodge and throw her through the portal back to her dimension, or so they think.

Locke & Key Season 2

Season two picks up shortly after the events of season two. Really when the kids next year of school starts. And of course, as viewers, we know, that the issue at hand is Dodge. She is still around, but the kids don’t know that. So what is Dodge’s plan going to be now?

The style of the show stays very much the same. It is still a young adult show with horror elements to it. For me, the feel of the show leans more into those horror elements, but not too much. But one of the things that this season does, it dig more into the lore of the Keyhouse and the Locke family. It is shown early on, but really delved into towards the end of season two.

What Doesn’t Work?

I think the one knock people might have from season one still remains. If you read the comic by Joe Hill you know how much darker and twisted that is. While Tyler, Kinsey and Bode are all around the same age, the world and how they interact with it is much less fanciful. They struggle with life more, and the actions of the student are grimmer.

For something on Netflix, I think that the changes work. But while season two is a little bit darker, it is not that dark horror. So if season one is not your jam, then season two is not going to be either. Now if season one grew on you, this might feel a bit more like the comics. And I think as someone who read the comics and likes the show, I see more nods to the comics in this one. There are in season one, but more direct references I feel here.

What Works?

I really think that building on the lore works well in this season. We get to find out not about where the portal goes to, but more of the history of it. More of what Dodge wants as well, which is intriguing. The house and lore are so intriguing that it’s hard not to want to know more about it and see more in the world. The portal to another dimension is that element that just feels different and out there from other shows.

I think they also toned down the teen drama a little bit. Watch the first few episodes, and you will disagree. But the further you get into the series, the more you see that drop away. There is still drama, since they aren’t going fully horror, drama needs to exist in some other ways. But it isn’t as much as times in season one. And a lot of that is that Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode feel like a weight has been lifted with Dodge being gone.

I appreciate, as well, that there is more adult involvement and that some of that involvement, while similar to the comics, is handled better. I think that they create a more interesting story that way. And it feels like the adult involvement makes more sense in this case.

Finally, the acting is still very strong. Bode, as a kid actor, is not always the best, nor the new kid actor in there as well. But Gabe is amazing (Dodge’s current form), and the other two kids, Kinsey and Tyler do a very good job as well. I love it when a show does well with the casting. And their mother, Nina, is very good at being confused.

Who Is It For?

I think it is for fans of Stranger Things. Another Netflix property with a similar feel, but more of a kids on bikes focus. This feels like it’s a tad more cleaned up from that and while it blends fantasy and horror, the feel is not quite the same.

As for fans of the comics, I do think that season two is likely to be appreciated more. But it is young adult in tone versus the comics. So if you dislike season one, season two is unlikely to change that. And I can understand that if expectations starts differently that this might seem very off. But if you go into season one knowing it is young adult, you’ll likely be able to appreciate it more.

Locke & Key Season 2 Final Thoughts

I like this show a lot. For me, I do not mind the young adult feel, nor am I sure that I would love to watch something that sticks perfectly to the comics. This helps balance out some of the trauma that they went through by showing off the wonder of the Keyhouse and what it is to be a Locke. The decisions that Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode face still are heavy, but there are more moments in there.

And I know there is going to be one more season. I think, many people, like myself, didn’t watch season two immediately when it dropped. There is just too much time between the seasons. But, thankfully, Netflix is already committed to a season three and they know it will be the last one. I want to see where the series ends, and while it might not be release day binge, I will watch it.

Do you enjoy Locke & Key on Netflix?

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Now, I won’t complain too much about some of those themes. I like the Cthulhu or Lovecraftian stuff that Fantasy Flight Games does. Marvel, I’m clearly a big Marvel fan as you can see from here and here. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other themes or really IP’s that I’d like to see games put it, or more games coming from.

The Dresden Files

This one does already have a game. And it has a game that I like. I think that The Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game is good. But the theme is something that the players bring to the game. The game does remind you about what the story you’re playing through is, but if you don’t know the story, the cards won’t help that much. I want something that tells more of the Dresden Files story.

What Would I Want?

I don’t know that I want this to be a dungeon crawl type of game. I feel like it would work for Dresden, but not be as interesting. Plus, there are other themes that I’d want a dungeon crawler. What I would love is to see a Detective: A Modern Board Game style Dresden Files game. Dresden is always puzzling out mysteries. And we already have books of short stories that are other cases he’s done. It would work well for creating new cases, and it could be a massive case tied together over 5 smaller cases.

And then you could have Harry, Murphy, and some of the other characters as the ones who give you things to activate. And using magic in the game would be interesting and different. There definitely needs to be some sort of combat mechanic which base Detective really doesn’t have, but it is something that could easily be added. But for a lot of it, and a lot of what Harry does is investigate and get punched.

Sword Art Online

Another one that technically has a board game. But it is a small game from Japanime Games that needs the rule book to be updated or just fixed. And the game gives you a tiny bit of the SAO theme. You play as the main characters, and you can switch, but that is it.

For those of you not familiar with Sword Art Online, it is an anime where the characters get trapped in a video game. If you die in the video game, you die in real life. And the only way to escape is to beat the game by climbing to the top of the tower/levels and beating the final boss. There are more seasons as well with different things, but that’s a good starting point for knowledge.

What Would I Want?

I’d want a boss battling game. Something along the lines of Primal, Kingdom Death Monster, or Townsfolk Tussle. Really, mostly along the lines of Kingdom Death Monster. If you put that theme on KDM, I’d be paying $700 to get everything for it.

Kingdom Death Monster is a boss battling game, but it also has you building up your tribe/colony, adding armor, weapons, and more. That would work well for an RPG style video game which is what Sword Art Online is. While everything you’d be doing is working towards the next boss battle, what you do outside of that matters as well. And the depth of story and world in SAO, side quests that might appear as boss battles, all of those are good. I think that you could really create a good game for SAO in that style.

Tomb Raider

Yes, another one with a board game already. Though, I should say, a board game I think. I forget what happened with it, I demoed it at GenCon in 2019, and I was severely disappointed. And there are a few others a well, but none that have made waves in board gaming. And Tom Raider is a very cool theme. Especially when you think about the newer video games.

What Would I Want?

I think I’d want this to be done in the style of 7th Continent or maybe more like 7th Citadel. I could have said Detective as well, because it is a mystery most of the time. But I think that treasure hunting, getting dropped on an island that you don’t know what is going on. Or going to that bigger set piece area, that is cool.

7th Citadel adds in more story. And I could see that working really well, because you get that exploration, but you could make it feel like a bigger story. In fact, you could drop all the base cards for health, some skills, and some characters. Then you could add in other packs to add in more stories, new treasures to hunt. Almost make it a combination of 7th Citadel and TIME Stories. But actually pay off on a big story.

Locke & Key

Maybe all of these will have a board game done on them, because Locke & Key does. But this is another one that the game looks lacking and too abstracted. Locke & Key is a horror series where there are magical keys. These keys can do all sorts of crazy things, and the Locke family is the protector of the keys. But there are almost Lovecraftian type creatures from beyond, that want to get their hands on the keys and take over.

What Would I Want?

I think I’d want a one versus all game. Maybe even with an element of questioning if someone one is infected or not. So it could end up being a Battlestar Galactica type of game or Unfathomable with hidden traitors. Like, who has been infected by the other world. But I also think it could maybe work better as a one versus all game.

But let’s break it down more so, I think we have one person who is playing an infected villain. Someone under the control of the other world. And then they are trying to get the keys from the Locke family, since they can’t just take them. And at times the Locke’s will need to figure out how to banish them and go to the Omega door, which seals away the other worldly creatures. They need to open the door to get more material to make a new key, but there is a chance someone else can be hit. And if they are hit, then they become other worldly.

Of course, it might not be obvious if they are hit. So every time you do that, you risk getting someone else infected. And if someone else is infected, they start working with the group still, but being less optimal. How do you hide it, when do you switch sides and just start working obviously for the bad guy. It’s more about trying to stop each other versus kill them.

Disenchantment

I know this one doesn’t have a game. And honestly, it is so weird, it might not work all that well. Disenchantment is about a princess who has some lousy friends who go on adventures in all sorts of weird places. And then eventually people want to kill them, everyone wants to kill them. It’s a lighter story, and a completely weird world.

What Would I Do?

This, to me is a great one for a dungeon crawler. They end up in a world of gnomes, elves, castles, hell, other castles, and more. They really get pulled around everywhere. Give it a nice world map and see where all you end up, how you can make it through challenges, and if the monsters will kill you. Or your own mother, or really anyone will kill you.

And because you can go to hell, and they do in the show, I think that’d be a fun way to keep a dungeon crawler moving forward. If you die, it isn’t the end, you just need to get back out of hell. Maybe make a hell book of scenarios. Then every time that you die you play through another one of those. It could be determined by where, or how you die, but it could also just be done randomly. And if you die too many times you eventually get stuck.

Keeper of the Lost Cities

I did just write about this. So if you want to know a bit about the series, you can find that here. But the basic idea is that a girl is plucked from her not so normal human life. She finds out that she is really an elf, she gets into elf school. She makes friends, and yes this sounds like Harry Potter, but the world is better and more interesting. And the magic, each elf has a different skill or could have a different skill. And the world is in unrest and their are secret organizations trying to mess with the status quo.

What Would I Want?

This is tough, mainly because I don’t want to repeat too much of what I’ve already done. And this is a really cool world to play in. Firstly, I would want character creation for this game, or at least some ability to pick. Maybe something like Midarra which is very story heavy and you can build out characters however you want.

The elves unlock their powers, but they also have skills that they all can do. It just depends on how well they train themselves. So really setting up stats in different ways and then picking what power you want from being an empath to mind reading or inflicting emotions on someone else. Plus so many more.

I think this would kind of ben another dungeon crawl type of game. Maybe a bit like something like Arydia which isn’t out yet and I might late back, possibly. The concept of Arydia is that you dig deeper. You spend time at the world map level, you make story decisions, and then you get down to a narrower focus.

What Theme Would You Want?

Do you feel that there are some that need more love? I could probably spend time and come up with more. Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson is getting another one, otherwise it’d be on my list. The Call to Adventure version is cool, but there is so much that could be done in that world. And there are plenty of IP’s that could be treated better. I’m going to call out Japanime a little bit here, I think that they often put out okay games with a big IP. I’d love to see some of their anime IP’s get a better developed game.

Let me know which of my ideas sounds the coolest. And let me know what you want to see a game made about that doesn’t get enough love.

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Ghost Hunt

It’s the only anime on the list, but it’s a good one. This one leans into Japanese horror but is also still an anime. That means that it has some lighter moments in it. However, it also does have some really good horror moments in it. Mai finds herself in a school where there is a ghost. She runs into the president of the SPR, Shibuya Psychic Research, and gets a job with him. She then goes on a lot of adventures and mysteries with ghosts and other monsters. That’s the basics of it, but it’s a nice fast anime to watch that I really enjoyed.

Locke & Key

Locke & Key is a great one to checkout because the second season is coming out tomorrow. Locke & Key follows the Locke family as they return to Rendell’s home after his death. His wife and kids go there, and Bode, the youngest starts to hear weird noises. These lead him to finding keys and to finding Dodge. The keys do amazing things, very fanciful and terrifying in nature, but Dodge doesn’t seem to want to use them for quite as simple things as Bod would want.

Locke & Key is on Netflix and based off of a comic book series by Joe Hill, Stephen King’s son. The comics are much more violent and adult in nature than the show. The show on Netflix is more YA (young adult) focused, which I think works well. It still has that sense of uneasiness and dread in the show, but makes it more accessible to people. Really fun one to watch and not that long a watch.

Dark

Another Netflix show, this one about time travel and murder. I will say immediately that this is a show that is better watched sub titled than dubbed. The difference is fairly jarring while watching dubbed. And it’s a show that at least the first season, I need to watch the others, is really good. The time travel is well done and the mystery that is happening in the town works so well. The whole premise just feels like something different. And the title definitely matches what it is.

The show itself isn’t too violent or really contain many jump scares, but the mystery that is progressing throughout the story is just unsettling. The time travel works to make it even more unsettling as you go along. Aesthetically this just works really well.

Supernatural

It’s hard to make a list like this without putting Supernatural on it. I have not watched all of the show, it is a lot to get through. But it is a good show for Halloween because it is monster of the week a lot of the time. Sam and Dean are brothers who know about all the things that go bump in the night. It also has that element of angels and demons throughout the whole series as well.

Now, this is a series that you could start watching now and probably continue until Halloween of 2022, so much longer than most. And it is repetitive in what it does. But the first couple of seasons are more horror focused and tell an interesting story. Then after that it will get into more spoopy than spooky at times, but it’s still fun. There is just a ton of it so beware.

Helix

This one might be harder to track down, but this was a SyFy channel show that was basically The Thing, but not. An experiment goes wrong on the south pole and this disease or thing is spreading to people on the base. Is it an accident or is there some more nefarious plan behind it. The fact that I’m asking that question means that there is a more nefarious plot behind it, but how it unfolds is good. And who is infected and how they try and avoid getting infected works really well.

This, I think, had two seasons on SyFy. I can’t vouch for the second season, but the first is worth a watch by itself. This horror is all about the suspense of the unknown and is probably more traditional horror and jump scares than almost anything else on the list.

What Are Your Favorite Shows to Watch at Halloween?

I know there are a lot of horror shows out there that I didn’t mention and some that are more spooky than spoopy. There are shows like Grim which I need to watch again that I really liked. But are there any out there, knowing my tastes, that you think I’d like?

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The Story

Bloom thought that she was just a normal girl until an accident happened and she almost killed her mother with some magic. At that point, she got admitted into a special school in “Switzerland”. Really, it was a magic school for fairies. Most of the students there are fairy born, and Bloom doesn’t fit in right away. Things go crazy, around the school, however, as Burned Ones, a monster that had been thought to be gone for a long time start to show up again. Bloom also needs to figure out where she is from and how she fits into this world that is very new to her.

Thoughts On The Show

The Plot

This story is pretty predictable, though that’s not a horrible thing. Now, I don’t know that the show tries to be predictable, but a lot of the twists and turns it has coming are quite predictable. This is a bit of a knock, especially in the later episodes where everything falls into place in a way that you’d expect. There were a few interesting twists on things, but overall it felt like a young-adult story that had been done a lot of times before. And while it is a young-adult show, there is a lot of swearing in the show as well, not bad, but a surprising amount.

The Characters

The characters in the show are fine as well. In the dorm, the four girls that Bloom shares are room with are more interesting than here. Bloom falls into the boring main character trope. I’ve talked about it before, but the idea is that the main character is supposed to be standard enough that the viewer, or reader in the case of books, can insert themselves into the role that they are playing. It can work fine, but it has to be done with a deft hand, and it works better in books than shows. In this, all of her dormmates are more interesting than her, the love interest is more interesting than her. Bloom should be more interesting, and she is the main focus, but everything around her feels rushed somehow but also like it doesn’t mean as much or feel as intense as it should. Also, this is supposed to be high school aged kids, I’d believe college, it’s odd.

The Bad Guy(s)

Fate: The Winx Saga ends up having surprisingly interesting villains. I think that is the strong point of the show. Multiple villains show up throughout the show so I won’t spoil them all. One of the first we meet is another student named Beatrix. The villains definitely have their own agenda and believe what they are doing is right. For me that is one thing the show gets right. You can feel how bad these people are, but also that they so firmly believe they are the heroes of the story as well. Even the burned ones, who are more of a mindless drove are interesting monsters.

But Is the Show Good?

That’s what we are all really here to find out. Is Fate: The Winx Saga a good show? I’d say, kind of. In terms of world building, it is good. They have created a very interesting setting, a good school, and some very interesting ideas with the burned ones and how everything is working. In terms of the story, it’s a bit of a mess. I think it falls into too many tropes, which is common for young-adult focused shows. Locke And Key is another fantasy young-adult focused show, and while it strips away a lot of the adult content from the comics, it still keeps much of the spirit of it and the show has a lot of whimsy and tension to it. Fate: The Winx Saga doesn’t have that nearly as much. It comes across more as a CW show.

So, no, it’s not a good show, but did I enjoy watching it, generally yes. It was entertaining, like I said, the world building and the villains are good in the show and they deserve more than this standard young-adult handling of the story. But even with that issue, it didn’t get in the way of this feeling like something big and something different. It’d have been easy for it to feel like generic fantasy, but it doesn’t and that’s a credit to the show. I’ll definitely be checking out the second season if it comes out.

Should You Watch It?

I’ve tried to lay it out well so that you will know if this is the show for you. I think there is something enjoyable to watch there. But if you can’t stand the standard CW young-adult tropes, you won’t like this. Flat out as simple as that, if you are willing to dive into the world that is being created and just let the trope filled story lead you through it, it’s a fun watch. It isn’t anything deep, a popcorn show is what I’d call it, but it’s also not as bad as my knocking it would suggest.

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WandaVision

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Loki

There are a ton of Marvel shows coming to Disney+ in 2021. The ones that I’m very confident that we’ll get are the three listed above. WandaVision is the one that I’m by far the most excited for. I think that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will have some nice buddy cop vibes. I think Loki jumping through time and working with the Time Variance Authority will be fun. But WandaVision, with Wanda and Vision, and maybe Wanda becoming Scarlet Witch, maybe things to do with mutants, all of those things are really exciting. It also is the most out there of the shows, so I think WandaVision will feel really unique.

The Watch

The Watch is one that I didn’t hear about until late, and normally wouldn’t have caught my attention that much. But basing a show off of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld is really interesting. I’m definitely curious to check it out. And BBC America does a really good job with most of their shows, so I have some hopes for it. It’s also nice that I can watch that one without having to get another subscription, as I have so many that I could get.

Mr. Mayor

I liked Ted Danson a lot in A Good Place. And while I generally am concerned about shows that use an actor right after their big success, like this one is, I’m willing to give it a shot. If it can mix the style of humor A Good Place maybe with the feel of Spin City, that could be a lot of fun. Or, this could be a complete train wreck as they try and work a boring or unfunny comedy using Ted Danson’s name, which has happened a lot on television before.

Battlestar Galactica

I didn’t even like the latest version of Battlestar Galactica that well, but it is such as Sci-Fi classic that I’m definitely curious about a reboot of it. Add in that it’s being produced by Sam Esmail who was the creator of the acclaimed series Mr. Robot, I have more hope for this one. I think there should be a lot of interesting things to explore in this series, and I hope it doesn’t feel just like a straight reboot.

The Wheel of Time

It’s not expected to debut in 2021, so I’m excited for it again. I really need to finish the series, but in some ways I have to work through the whole thing again, which is a lot. But I like the cast a lot for this. I think that it’s interesting and diverse, which is not something I was expecting. I also think that like Brandon Sanderson was able to weave together Robert Jordan’s work, this might also tell a tighter narrative. And that’s going to be the key thing, if this tells a nice tight story over several seasons, I think it will be a great show. If not, I expect to watch a few episodes and then be done.

Invincible

Robert Kirkman, best known for being the comic creator of The Walking Dead, also created Invincible. This is a well developed superhero world that has received a lot of acclaim. Anything superhero I’m interested in. And while I don’t know a ton about the Invincible comic, I am very interested in it. And it’s a superhero show that, unlike the Boys, isn’t likely to take a super gritty look at superheroes.

Shadow and Bone

Another series that I don’t know a ton about, but my wife has read the series and really likes it a lot. It’s a fantasy series which always interests me. And the world building, just from a brief synopsis, and magic stand out as interesting. So many fantasy stories reuse what’s already been done and feel derivative, so I hope this won’t become that for Netflix.

The Sandman

I’m generally a Neil Gaiman fan. And The Sandman was one of the first things that I read by him. I want to see what an adaptation of that will look like, because it is a very unique world and setting. This is one of those shows that will either work and be amazing or it’ll be a complete train wreck. I hope that it’s amazing, but I could see it flopping or just doing okay, because people will watch it since it is Neil Gaiman.

The Book of Boba Fett

This one I wouldn’t have been able to say up until a few days ago as the Mandalorian Season 2 wrapped up. I am very interested in any live action Star Wars stuff coming to Disney+. It was fun having Boba Fett back in the Star Wars cannon and actually being useful as compared to normal. Ming-Na Wen is an amazing actress as well, so I am excited to see her in a bigger role, like she had in Agents of SHIELD, but hopefully something that is more consistently better.

Resident Alien

Alan Tudyk stars as an alien in this SyFy channel comedy. I love what Alan Tudyk does. Tucker and Dale vs Evil is one of my favorite films. And I hope that this show is awesome as well. I like comedy shows, and Tudyk does comedy extremely well. But, I’m always a bit concerned about comedy shows because they have to be extremely well written in order to be actually funny. I trust that Tudyk can carry the show, though, so I’m hopeful that it’ll be a good time.

Now that’s a lot. I think there were a lot of shows form 2020 that got pushed out further and pushed out further until they became 2021 shows. And this list is only new shows for 2021, not returning shows. I am going to do a whole list of those as well.

What are you most looking forward to?

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5 – Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

This Douglas Adams work is just fun and while I love to get transported into big worlds, sometimes it’s nice to just get thrown into a small and silly world, which is kind of what Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is. Sure, it’s the whole galaxy, but we don’t need to know everything about it, so we don’t. This book is very absurd and silly with a lot of great British humor in it. Douglas Adams does a wonderful job of making all the humor work in my opinion and keep the story moving along as well, which isn’t something that can be said for a lot of comedy where it’ll stop and pause on a joke or an absurd moment.

4 – The Reckoners

Not the only Brandon Sanderson that you’ll see on the list, The Reckoners is a super power story, but everyone with super powers is bad. The main character wants to join a group known as The Reckoners in order to take down one of the villains in particular who had killed his father. Can he find the Reckoners, convince them to let him join and become part of their group? This is a young adult series, but really well written. I’m not always a big fan of bad super powered people, something like The Watchmen and The Boys don’t interest me that much as their current shows, but Brandon Sanderson weaves a really good story with that as a backdrop to it. I think that this story works well for both kids and adults as well, as I didn’t read it until I was out of college and I still really enjoyed it.

3 – IT

I like Stephen Kings work a lot. And IT is probably about the most iconic thing that he’s done. There are others, Carrie and Misery are two that come to mind that would be up there as well. But in terms of the one that I like the best, it is IT. One thing I love about Stephen King is that he does a wonderful job creating two types of characters. The first is the protagonists who have their flaws, they are good, but not perfect people by any mean, and sometimes have some very big flaws. And then he also creates amazing bad guys as well, obviously in IT there is Pennywise, but Henry as well is a great bad guy who doesn’t have redeeming qualities, while King’s good guys might be shades of grey, his bad guys are all bad. I also like that IT lands the ending pretty well. Sometimes Stephen King’s books just kind of fizzle out, but IT is strong through the whole of the book. Including the ending.

2 – Stormlight Archive

I have the newest book in this series just waiting for me to read it. Stormlight Archive is an epic fantasy series by Brandon Sanderson that just tells and weaves together such an interesting story. There are a lot of moving parts, but they come together really well. And like you’ve probably notices already, I like flawed characters, but I also like how this series has some characters that are paragons of good or honor. It doesn’t mean that they are perfect, but they hold themselves to such a standard that they strive to be. I also like that this book doesn’t shy away from being what it is, a truly massive and epic story. The audio books are 50 hours, and it feels like there’s no wasted space, unlike some epic fantasy series (cough cough Wheel of Time cough cough).

1 – Dresden Files

Such a great series, I talk about it all the time, but with the new books, it’s still the same. I do have a slight knock on the new books, it really feels like it should have been a single book, but it was getting too long for what would be considered a normal Dresden book length so it was split into two. The first of the two books is still great, but it feels almost like the first act for the second book. That said, I love Harry Dresden and the series and how Jim Butcher manages to create such an engaging world and characters with depth. I think he does a great job creating flawed characters who grow and change, and get new flaws over time, or sometimes who know they have a flaw and will still refuse to work on it it. Yes, these are pulpy summer reading books, but there is so much more going on than that as well.

Those are my Top 5, and writing about them really makes me want to dive into all of them again. Thankfully I have done Dresden Files book that I need to read still and the next book in the Stormlight Archive. And as always, I do have some honorable mentions.

Daughter of Smoke and Bones
Stardust
Harry Potter
Wheel of Time

What are some of your favorite books or series? What epic fantasy should I checkout next, I do need to get back to the Runelords series.

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5 – Umbrella Academy Season 2

This is a really good show. I have liked both seasons quite well, I think that the second season is the better season of the two as it is more consistent across the board. All of the stories work well for the characters and it goes deep on issues during the time period they were in and that still linger today. However, it isn’t higher on my list, because I feel like season 1 has higher highs, more memorable moments. In season 2, it is more consistent and good across the board, but the standout moments feel like they are are lacking to me. With that said, I’m ready for Season 3 to come out because it’s a really good show.

4 – Ragnarok

This one was kind of a surprise for me. I thought that the premise looked interesting, kind of a Norse mythology set in modern times and I’ve had solid luck with the European shows on Netflix like The Rain and Dark. This was a very good show. The plot line was interesting throughout all of it, and while not all of the twists were shocking, some of them were very well done. And the story just felt like it had a lot of heart to it that you don’t always get in shows. It’s a short series but it leaves you feeling like they’ve wrapped it up in a solid spot, but also that you could see more story ready to be told.

3 – The Order Season 2

The Order was one of my favorite shows from 2019, so I was glad that it was getting a second season. I will say, I’m not sure that the second season quite lives up to the first season. I think that the plot doesn’t have as focused a bad guy as the first one does. But you still get all sorts of good moments and funny moments in it. Jack Morton is still somehow likeable and unlikeable all that the same time, and the Knights of St Christopher are still a lot of fun in this season. I think that it gets bogged down in trying to play too much with a middle ground and too much with Jack and Alyssa when it would have been better served keeping some of it’s wonder. Overall, really fun still and really such a B movie style for the plot still.

2 – Lucifer

A show that’s been around for a while, but Netflix kept recommending that we check it out, and clearly, I’m glad that I did. Tom Ellis is amazing in this show as Lucifer, and while the theology is all over the place, no one is watching it for that. They are watching it for a snarky Lucifer and his long suffering partner as they solve crimes. There is so much going on throughout the seasons, and all of them are really good. And there’s more of it coming, which is nice. Netflix got this after Fox dropped it, so there is still fun story to tell with a lot of really good characters in it. This would be just another procedural show if it wasn’t for how good the characters are in the show.

1 – Locke & Key

Finally, we have Locke & Key, and I feel like I’m about ready for a rewatch of this. This is one of my favorite shows of all time. It is a young adult show, kind of, but it is more than that, as it delves into a really weird and unique world where there is a magical door and magical keys that can do all sorts of crazy things, however, not everyone wants to use them for good, nor is everything around them good. I feel like they did a very good job of adapting what isn’t a YA comic book into a YA show while still keeping a lot of the sense of whimsy, almost, that comes from the keys in the show and still even keeping some of the horror along with it, it is just tamed down a little bit. Again, a show that really gets it’s casting right and the character development right.

So yes, I was able to come up with five shows, and I realize there are even more. The second season of Disenchanted came out this year, and I watched The Dragon Prince, plus shows like Another Life, Nightflyers, The Witcher, Agents of SHIELD, and Into The Badlands were ones that I watched this year as well, so I had plenty to choose from, could have even done a top 10. But I really like those top 5 and would highly recommend all of them.

What are some of the best new to you shows from 2020 (doesn’t have to be released in 2020, just that you’ve watched for the first time this year)?

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10 – Ultraman

One of the two animated shows on the list, this one was just a lot of fun to watch with good voice acting as well. It’s fairly typical in how it works, someone becomes a hero who wasn’t always planning on it but they end up being Ultraman and they have to figure out how to deal with that power and how to save the world. A good fun romp with only one season thus far, but it has been renwed for another. I like the blend of 2d and 3d animation in it that works very well. The voice acting is really good in it. It’s not a heavy show, but it’s a lot of fun.

9 – Umbrella Academy

This one, had the first season started out more consistently would have been much higher. I really like the absurdity of the show, and I like how it’s a group of super heroes, but they are basically failures at what they do and completely dysfunctional. The question, always, is can they figure it out to stop the end of the world by working together in time. What makes this show so good though is the characters. Number 5 is amazing, and Hazel was a great character in season one and Klaus is just amazing all around. And in season two they really develop the rest of the characters in great ways and it really tackles a lot of big issues and interesting dynamics. If you can power few the first few episodes of the first season it is very much worth it.

8 – Lucifer

One of the interesting ones on the list because this is only half Netflix. They picked it up from Fox, I believe, and kept it running. The show is just a lot of fun, it’s a procedural show based off of a comic, but not super hero or as completely absurd. It is really absurd because the Devil has come to Los Angeles and he meets and intriguing Detective who doesn’t really fall for his charms, and he wants to know why. So he joins the police as a consultant after helping her with a case, and it’s about the adventures and misadventures of the two of them. It is procedural, which isn’t always my cup of tea but it works in this case because it is fairly absurd.

7 – Dragon Prince

Another animated show for the list and the highest one on the list, but this is a really good show. Technically it’s a kids show, but I think it does a great job of being what a family show should be. It doesn’t shy away from emotions and some big questions, but it doesn’t fill itself with needless violence, sex, etc. that permeates most shows that target adults at all. In this show it’s about what happens with two sides won’t work together and are butting heads and how people can fall from grace and rise to power and what all that means, and what emotions people have when the world around them is very tough or unexpected. Overall, this is an extremely well done show with a ton of interesting things in it, and I’m excited for more of it to come out.

6 – Ragnarok

One of the first of a few foreign language shows that will show up on the list. Not out of where you’d get most of those shows, Ragnarok takes place in Norway and is about a family that is returning to their home town and the things that are off about their home town. Something is happening to the water and there are some people who might not be who they seem to be. It is kind of a teen drama, but it does more than that tying itself interesting into Norse mythology and developing a really fun story. One season thus far, so it’s easy to binge, and it has been renwed for another. I’ll be curious to see where this show builds to into the second season.

5 – The Order

I really like this show because it’s just cheesy schlock, and it’s amazing. It’s about a college age kid, Jack Morton, who is trying to get into a secret society at the local college, because something happened to his mother, and he blames the head of this secret order for what happens. Along the way he stumbles into a world of magic and werewolves, falls in love, and generally everything completely absurd that you’d expect happens. Jack is one of those characters that has a punchable charisma to him and he just kind of makes the show, plus he’s surrounded generally be a really good cast of characters and the use and abuse of magic in this show is really enjoyable. The second season takes a little step down but still really binge worthy.

4 – The Rain

Now, I will say with this, I haven’t seen the latest seasons of the show, so I’m only going off of the first, but this show was amazing. I like survival shows that really pull at your emotions, and this one does that. Something has happened to the rain and turned it deadly. Simone and Rasmus are brought into a shelter that was created maybe for this happening and then left their by their father, and they grow up in there. But when the bunker starts to malfunction, they have to leave and join up with a group who are trying to survive. What has caused the rain and can they find their way back to their father who is somehow connected to the rain? It is a good adventure, but like a lot of these shows, it’s about the dynamics of those who are surviving and how they can work together.

3 – Dark

I love time travel, but rarely is time travel done all that well. In Dark, they nail it. This is a topsy turvy show that takes you through a few different times as you try and figure out everything that is going on and if the cycle can be broken. A German show, it is probably worth watching subtitled in German, though the English dub isn’t bad, it is just noticeable. The feel of the show is very much dark, but it works really well and it is highly atmospheric. Definitely one to checkout if you like shows with a bit of mystery and horror to them. I’m not fully caught up, so it’s one of those shows that I’m going to have to dive back into again soon.

2 – Stranger Things

This is what most people would have pegged for the top of my list, it has monsters, it has adventure, it has humor, it has kids on bikes. And I love it. But there is one show that beats it out for me. This is what really brought the original and variety of Netflix shows to the map, and I love all the characters, I love the campy nature and I like that they’ve been able to keep the show fresh and interesting. The first season had so much interest and intrigue to it, and the second season, while it had an episode that was a complete miss, was really good, but then they came back with a third season that was maybe even better than the first season. I like how you get different group dynamics of over and younger characters and how the adults never treat the kids just as dumb kids. I need to go back and watch through it all again because I just love this show.

1 – Locke & Key

So, the show that beat out Stranger Things only has a single season thus far, and that’s Locke & Key. If you want to say I should wait for season two, I can see that, but I love this show. I love how they manage to take what is a fairly rough comic and something that probably wouldn’t have been as successful if they hadn’t turned it into something more young adult, but still manage to make a great show out of it. I like the acting a lot in it, especially from Kinsey who has an amazing moment and change in her acting in the show. And I like the world that is being built with the keys. The idea of these keys that can do magical things is just really cool and feels like there is so much that can built out around that. I’m extremely excited for a second season and this is a show that I am going to go back and watch again soon.

So for you, what are some of your favorite shows on Netflix, there are so many out there that could be considered. I know with my tastes that The Witcher could have been one considered, but for me that was just okay. Plus there are shows like Ozark and many more that I haven’t even checked out yet because they just aren’t quite my type of show that I know other people love. Let me know in the comments below.

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