Living Dangerously: The Best of 2022

My write-up of 2022, following 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

2022 marks a decade since my first entry here. I’ve gotten so tired writing this blog. Not tired of writing it, but tired of swimming against the tide.

Acts of Love: notes on Let the Right One In and The Devil’s Hour

A psychological horror story and a paranormal procedural; both with a lot to say about parents and children — and hard choices. One is great, the other is darn good; both are worth a watch.

Let the Right One In is based on a best-selling Swedish novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist. It’s been adapted into a Swedish film, an American film by Matt Reeves, and even a stage production. So this new Showtime series comes with a lot of baggage — and has a lot to live up to — but what I watched on the screen over the last ten weeks was damn near perfect.

One Day at a Time season 7

I’ve resisted doing this essay for years, because I could sing the praises of One Day at a Time Season 7, but how would you watch it? No DVDs are available, and the only place it’s streaming right now is Pluto TV. But it goes beyond that. Just defining “One Day at a Time Season 7” is tricky. A whole lot of episodes produced that season are splendid — and the season arc is glorious — but Season 7, as it aired, also included several episodes left unaired from Season 6, and they stink. (The 1980 actors’ strike held up the start of most TV shows that season; One Day at a Time produced 24 episodes for Season 6, but only 21 had aired by season’s end. The rest were inserted, rather haphazardly, into Season 7.) And the domino effect continued; a couple episodes produced for Season 7 didn’t air until Season 8, and they’re worth a look. If you assemble the episodes intended for Season 7, it’s not just a highly watchable season, but a fine example of returning writers resuscitating a show that seems to be on its last legs.