15 best TV moments of 2022
Look no further for the most shocking, sweet, funny, and generally killer scenes of the year
TV Lists Entertainment, Culture
Clockwise from bottom left: Adam Scott in Severance (Photo: Apple TV+), Amanda Seyfried and Naveen Andrews in The Dropout (Photo: Beth Dubber/Hulu), Patrick Fabian in Better Call Saul (Photo: Greg Lewis/AMC/Sony Pictures Television), Kit Connor and Olivia Colman in Heartstopper (Screenshot: Netflix), Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Ayo Edebiri in The Bear (Photo: FX) Graphic: Rebecca Fassola
We’ve already counted down the very best shows of the year, so why not get a bit more specific and single out the television moments that wowed us the most in 2022? From a frenetic motorcycle chase and sweet first kiss to a bloody final-season twist and damn funny cold open, these are the scenes we kept going back to over the past 12 months. As with our top series list, so long as a moment first aired in 2022, it can be considered. And unlike that list, this baby runs in chronological order, starting with a bomb of a reveal in February and stretching to one hell of a speech in November.
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On an honorable mention list, I’d also include the scene in Barry where Sally (the last person you’d expect to become really, seriously violent) is beating a guy to death with a baseball bat inside a sound-proof recording booth. It’s simultaneously horrifying and hysterical.
Incredible scene.
You could have more from Andor on this list. “I can’t Swim”, the Prison Break Speech and “tortured with the screams of dying children” for starters.
The entirety of the funeral sequence for me.
I haven’t gone back and rewatched it yet, but I think every moment of Andor was better than the best moments most TV shows produce.
I can’t think of a single bad scene in the show.
the entirety of this list could be Andor scenes honestly. “never more than 12″, “CLIMB!” Brasso hitting the stormtrooper with the brick, “that’s just love, nothing you can do about that”, Syril bickering with his mother every time. absolute embarrassment of riches in that show
Eating cereal. They deepened his character and back story by having a him eat cereal.
Maybe a quibble, but you could have had the shows’ titles and episode names as the first words in the subheads, so as to avoid even slight spoilers.
That speech from Andor was god tier, and so far beyond what I might have hoped or expected from that show. It was phenomenal.
Killing It – Craig Robinson watching the old naked guy on the floor of the gym locker room picking up his change
With Andor you’re spoiled for choice when it comes to memorable scenes (the entire heist scene, the star destroyer coming over the landscape – as someone who knows that area of Scotland pretty well, that was a “fuck me” moment – and the various monologues/speeches were all exceptional) but, yeah, Luthen’s verbal assault on Lonni was brilliant. We’re so used to seeing Skarsgaard as a bumbling, fun person that we forget this is the guy who tortured Daniel Craig to the wistful sounds of Enya, FFS…On a more fun note…I think your Heartstopper choice is slightly wrong. Yes, it was amazing watching Queen Liz (heh) accept her son, but for me the kiss between Tara and Darcy was far more important, if only because I can remember all too well how horrific school was for LGBT kids like me back in the 1990s. For one – they were kissing in public. Two, it was at a party where their school peers could see them. Three: it pretty much outed them both and there was nothing but unbridled joy on their faces in doing so. Lesbians represent! We’ve come so far, so damned far, but we’ve got so fucking far to go.Oh, and the music was choice. Love the fact that light behind them went all multicolour too. (Plus, Chvrches gave the showrunners a very enthusiastic yes to them using the song, or so I’ve been told. What do you expect from a Scottish group though, eh??(And just because I will broadcast Chvrches wherever I am, here’s the actual song! Crank it up…)
I was gonna suggest that Heartstopper scene. I’m familiar with Clearest Blue so I expected something big to happen at the beat drop and sure enough it did.
Chvrches!
Was Peacemaker this year or end of 2021? Because if it was this year and you didn’t put John Cena playing Home Sweet home on a piano…. no wonder this site is shit now.Granted it may have been the end of 2021 as I’m an old fart and can’t remember release dates anymore.
That, or just the opening credits of Peacemaker. It was Jan/Feb this year, BTW.
Thank you, I thought it was early 2022 but wasn’t sure.And yes, the opening credits easily could have made this list and should have.
That Severence finale was one of the most nerve wracking/ thrilling television moments of the year for me. I cannot imagine what season two is going to be like after that.
For s2 Severance is adding Alia Shawkat, Gwendolyn Christie, Merritt Wever, and John Noble! I have no idea what it is going to be like. I can’t wait.
Merrit Wever alone would be enough for a second season!
Rebecca’s journey through the train car in the penultimate episode of “This Is Us.” I dunno cuz I’ve only seen one or two of these shows, but it was pretty, pretty good.
I had to go look it up. Barry didn’t even get an Emmy nomination for Sound Editing this year. Absurd oversight.
the dance to Shakey Jake on Severance should have made the list. Was wild watching it the first time
Andor – when they realize what’s going on in the prison and Kino finally answers Andor’s question without hesitating. Still makes me pumped when I think about it.
It’s so rare that I’ve seen the shows being talked about in this kind of exercise, but between WWDITS, The Bear, Andor, and Barry, I feel pretty satisfied with this one.
As far as Abbott Elementary goes, I would switch out that scene with Tariq’s F.A.D.E. performance. That was easily the highlight of the entire season for me.
Recency bias, but I did enjoy the hell out of Tanya’s boat sequence in White Lotus.
For me one of my favorite moments was in Andor when Luthien get caught in an imperial ship’s tractor beam and while they’re grilling him and getting ready to board his ship he’s pretending to be a dithering old man, all the while he’s getting ready to open a can of whup ass on them.Then when he leaves them in his rear view, they’re all “Wait, what just happened…?”
IMHO, S4 WWDITS was pretty underwhelming, save the Lazlo-Colin plotline, so I would put the finale’s rendition of “Sunrise, Sunset” over the opening credits (in lieu of the usual “You’re Dead”) as the best moment of the season.
Man, if we’re going to include Barry, I thought we would HAVE to go with the scene with Hank in the cellar, and later upstairs in the mansion. That was one of the best, if not the best, scene of TV I’ve seen in years.
And yet, as another commenter pointed out, Barry didn’t get a nomination for sound editing this year. Insane. That whole sequence was a masterclass in using sound to build tension.
Some of my favorite moments not mentioned in the list:Peacemaker – “The Choad Less Traveled” – Vigilante goes to jail and picks a fight with the white supremecistsSeverance – “Defiant Jazz” – the Music Dance ExperienceReservation Dogs – “Mable” – the entire episodeHow To With John Wilson – “How To Remember Your Dreams” – The Avatar fan groupOnly Murders in the Building – “Performance Review” – When Charles has his stunt double (Jane Lynch) break up with his girlfriend for himAtlanta – “The Most Atlanta” – Darius attempts to return an air fryer while the store is being lootedThe Kids in the Hall – “Episode 3″ – the forlorn look on Dave Foley’s face during the Doomsday DJ sketchesAndor – “Rix Road” – When the two marching bands playing the funeral dirge converge, pause to face the imperial riot troopers, then quicken their pace and march straight towards themand most recently:Bob’s Burgers – “The Plight Before Christmas” – That’s not Tina in the star costume
Best Bob’s Burgers Christmas episode. Have already watched it twice.
It’s in my top 3 episodes of any show this year
I feel like Bob’s Burgers is starting to become Futurama in the sense that there’s always one episode that’ll sucker punch you in the feels. A Plight Before Christmas is that one episode for this season.
The reveal about the Deer Lady on Reservation Dogs Wednesday Addams’ instantly iconic danceThe revelation about the Ultra-Humanite on Stargirl The doctor and Yaz saying goodbyes on Doctor WhoAva and Beatrice exchanging belated I love yous on Warrior Nun
I just finished Wednesday, and had watched it with no awareness on what public opinion on it has been. Her dance scene pretty much made my year, and I’m glad to hear it went over well. I’d assume people would have hated it.
Seems like a no-brainer this site should do a “Top Dance Scenes of 2022″ what with Peacemaker, Wednesday, The Dropout, and more. House of the Dragon’s wedding dance started out looking kinda fun, then ended with a guy detting his head caved in.
Mentioning the HotD wedding reminded me of the two fantasy shows that could have made the scenes list:HotD’s showdown on the bridge between Rhaenyra and Daemon over the dragon egg.Princess Rhaenys crashing the king’s coronation.King Viserys drags his ass out of bed and defends his daughter in the throne room.The first Dragon Dance (chomp!)Then as far as LotR: Rings of Power: The creation of Mordor & Mount Doom sequenceor Sauron revealed/tempts Galadriel
Fun fact: that Abbott Elementary scene was inspired by Sheryl Lee Ralph confusing black and white celebrities’ names in real life.
Man, I’m still sad for Howard. I think you’re right that this one stung the most, and I’d say the reason for that is that he was the only one who truly didn’t deserve the bad things happening to him. I won’t go so far as to say that Nacho “deserved” it either—he was a decent guy, we all know—but he put himself in that world, and he did do some bad things, so he had to expect that this was a possibility for him. Howard had it all brought down on him out of nowhere, so that was tough.
I posted something similar above, but will go further to say that pretty much everything Howard did was for the well-being of a law firm that employed a whole lot of people. His father was gone and Chuck incapacitated, which pretty much left him to care for the entire place. And can you imagine a top firm giving a guy like Jimmy a job? Just not gonna happen, so when he finally did it was a real act of grace that Jimmy spit on.Meanwhile Nacho’s dad knew how things would ultimately turn out for his son, and said so from the very beginning.
And even if you take the very least charitable reading of Howard, the most you can get is that he was a bit of a dick on a couple of occasions, and if that’s all it takes to have your life completely destroyed, then we’re all in for it.
Howard dying was probably the most shocking part of the last season of BCS. Nacho telling off Hector was the moment I think about still though – just such good acting by Michael Mando.As with the top-30 shows of the year, surprised no Stranger Things here. Max escaping Vecna with the power of Kate Bush was such a memorable scene that it made Running Up That Hill top charts again.
What those two did to Howard was unforgivable, and even in the early going when they painted him as an elitist snob, it was hard to say he was often really in the wrong. Jimmy’s self-destructiveness and inferiority complex drove him to poison everything he touched.
I was defending Howard in the comments well before he got killed – I think he has always gotten a bad rep. He never came off as that bad of a guy to me. A bit show-offy and way too harsh with Kim in S2, sure. But he also does try to help Jimmy (he wanted to hire him before Chuck said no, helped Jimmy get a job in S2, offered him a partnership) and generally seems respectful of others.A small detail I noticed a few times is how he always knew the names of characters like younger staff members and the locker room attendent at his country club. There is the scene where he shows that young lawyer the trick for how to stop a dropped soda can from erupting. People who are truly elitist snobs wouldn’t take the time to do those things.
I agree that Howard wasn’t a bad person in any sense, just a pawn in Chuck’s game.
Howard’s death was like Todd shooting the motorbike kid in BB – proof that you (Walter or Jimmy) can’t touch that life without severe consequences. If Jimmy and Kim had just left him the fuck alone once they’d had their fun, he would never have been killed.
It’s a shame Nacho got sidelined a bit in the back half of BCS, but his final moments were fantastic.
Stranger Things’ great Season 4 seems to have faded from critic consciousness alarmingly fast. I mean, we could also talk about Eddie Munson’s Master of Puppets solo, or the heartfelt scene between Will and Jonathan that was basically an unspoken coming out moment
Maybe someone can explain the ending of The Bear. Why did Carmy’s brother hide the cash while also being hundreds of thousand’s of dollars in debt to the uncle? Maybe he didn’t know his brother would assume his debt?
You guys, who could forget the moment in Social Justice Dramedy when Plucky Woman Of Color called out Clueless White Male on his toxicity, all while internally processing the generational trauma she carries for all her unmourned slave ancestors?
Man oh man.
Julia Garner’s fucking BRILLIANT rant in the mid-season finale of Ozark is easily in my top 10 TV moments of all time. Easily. Come on now. That scared ME.
(I checked and it ran in April 2022). Starts at 4:06.
She was incredible in that show.
My partner and I will still just randomly go “You’re gonna have to fucking KILL MEEEEE!” Very chilling moment.
Poor Ruth. In that moment, I just wish somebody would give her a big hug.
I believe this scene won Garner the role of Madonna in the upcoming biopic. After all, “if you wanna stop me, you’re gonna have to KILL ME!”, is Madonna’s motto.
Has HBO deleted Los Espookys yet?
I was wondering which moment from “Andor” would wind up on the list. Man, there are a LOT of contenders. I would have put Kino Loy’s speech, the escape through the Eye and Maarva’s post-mortem call to arms ahead of Luthen’s monologue.But, man, that show was basically amazing across the board, so it was hard to choose.
“Severance” started to spin its wheels a bit in the back half of the season. But, man, that finale was phenomenal. I kinda don’t want the show to come back, as I don’t think it’ll be able to live up to that moment and the fallout is almost better left to our imaginations.
I thought the last few episodes of the season of Severance were the best ones, with the tension dramatically ratcheting up
I’m really pleased to see Allison’s breakup scene with Kevin in Kevin Can Fuck Himself included here. The second season was way better than it had any business being, and there were so many great performances. But Kevin breaking out of the sitcom world was what everyone was waiting for, and that scene delivered. I actually yelled out when it happened.I wasn’t sure the show could pull that off. But they did. And they did it really well. It was a high point in a season full of high points, including standout performances from Alex Bonifer and Mary Hollis Inboden.
I can’t quite put my finger on what it was about Season 2, but it really felt so much better than S1. Perhaps that’s just the nature of moving towards the finish line, but there were powerful moments throughout S2, and a lot of great momentum. That ending chilled me to the bone.
And I admit I enjoyed the sitcom parts, too. I hope the dude who plays Kevin becomes a breakout star in his own right, because I thought he was genuinely funny.
Tanya’s finale scene in The White Lotus not on the list?
Even though it was at the start of the year Gary Oldman anti motivational speech on Slow Horses has stayed with me. Perfectly acted and reacted too.
The Ancestors scene in Rez Dogs was amazing, don’t know how it wasn’t on the list.