Best Returning Series 2022

Streaming services continued their dominant ascension with The Power of the Dog, Coda, and The Mitchells vs. the Machines all placing in the top 10 Best Movies overall of 2021. Streaming was also the place curious and adventurous viewers found worthy documentaries, covering topics ranging from classic rock (The Velvet Underground) and folk tales (Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched) to riots (Attica), athletics (Changing the Game), algorithms (Coded Bias), and politics (Mayor).

The order reflects Tomatometer scores (as of December 31, 2022) after adjustment from our ranking formula, which compensates for variation in the number of reviews when comparing movies or TV shows.

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Better Call Saul: Season 6

Adjusted Score: 103257%

Critics Consensus: Better Call Saul remains as masterfully in control as Jimmy McGill keeps insisting he is in this final season, where years of simmering storytelling come to a scintillating boil.

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Starring: Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks, Michael Mando, Patrick Fabian

Directed By: Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Mark Johnson, Melissa Bernstein

Atlanta: Season 4

Adjusted Score: 68046%

Critics Consensus: Foregrounding its characters and namesake again after an anthological sojourn in Europe, Atlanta closes out in its sweet spot: funny, insightful, and weird as hell.

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Starring: Donald Glover, Brian Tyree Henry, LaKeith Stanfield, Zazie Beetz

Directed By: Dianne McGunigle, Donald Glover, Paul Simms, Hiro Murai

Barry: Season 3

Adjusted Score: 103854%

Critics Consensus: Bill Hader and company can take a well-deserved bow -- Barry makes its belated return to the screen without missing a step, retaining its edge as one of television's funniest and most unsettling offerings.

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Starring: Bill Hader, Stephen Root, Henry Winkler, Sarah Goldberg

Directed By: Alec Berg, Bill Hader, Alec Berg, Bill Hader

Hacks: Season 2

Adjusted Score: 104352%

Critics Consensus: Hacks hits the road, but Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder remain very much at home with each other in a sterling sophomore season that finds novel ways to deepen the central pair's lovable friendship.

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Starring: Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder, Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Rose Abdoo

Directed By: Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello, Mike Schur, David Miner

The Boys: Season 3

Adjusted Score: 106822%

Critics Consensus: Managing to up the ante on what was already one of television's most audacious satires, The Boys' third season is both bracingly visceral and wickedly smart.

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Starring: Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty

Directed By: Eric Kripke, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver

Cobra Kai: Season 5

Adjusted Score: 101762%

Critics Consensus: Deftly managing an expanded roster of punchy personalities, Cobra Kai graduates to a black belt proficiency in heartfelt melodrama and sly humor.

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Starring: Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, Courtney Henggeler, Xolo Maridueña

Directed By: Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg, James Lassiter

Only Murders in the Building: Season 2

Adjusted Score: 104632%

Critics Consensus: Only Murders in the Building gets a new lease on life with a knottier sophomore outing that retains the series' core charm and wit.

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Starring: Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez, Amy Ryan

Directed By: Martin Short, Selena Gomez, Jamie Babbitt, Dan Fogelman

Reservation Dogs: Season 2

Adjusted Score: 102768%

Critics Consensus: Reservation Dogs has bittersweet bite in its sophomore season as it mines more difficult dilemmas than before with its spiky sense of humor, making for a piquant portrait of a community and a place.

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Starring: D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Devery Jacobs, Paulina Alexis, Lane Factor

Directed By: Sterlin Harjo, Taika Waititi, Garrett Basch, Tazbah Rose Chavez

What We Do in the Shadows: Season 4

Adjusted Score: 101877%

Critics Consensus: Aside from turning this demonic household into Three Vampires and a Baby, What We Do in the Shadows doubles down on what it does best without drastically changing the formula -- and remains fang-tastic all the same.

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Starring: Matt Berry, Kayvan Novak, Natasia Demetriou, Harvey Guillén

Directed By: Jemaine Clement, Paul Simms, Taika Waititi, Scott Rudin

Peaky Blinders: Season 6

#10

Adjusted Score: 101678%

Critics Consensus: Peaky Blinders' sixth season gracefully addresses the untimely passing of star Helen McCrory while setting the stage for a fitting climax to this epic saga of likable scalawags.

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Starring: Cillian Murphy, Natasha O'Keeffe, Paul Anderson, Sophie Rundle

Directed By: Anthony Byrne

Better Things: Season 5

#11

Adjusted Score: 101282%

Critics Consensus: Bittersweet, funny as ever, and brimming with wisdom, Better Things's final sendoff is as good as it gets.

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Starring: Pamela Adlon, Celia Imrie, Mikey Madison, Hannah Riley

Directed By: Pamela Adlon, Blair Breard, Dave Becky, Pamela Adlon

Harley Quinn: Season 3

#12

Adjusted Score: 101580%

Critics Consensus: Who woulda thought? -- Harley Quinn graduates from a ribald spoof into one of the most heartening additions to the DC canon in a diabolically clever and emotionally textured third season.

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Starring: Kaley Cuoco, Lake Bell, Alan Tudyk, Jim Rash

Directed By: Justin Halpern, Patrick Schumacker, Kaley Cuoco, Sam Register

Derry Girls: Season 3

#13

Adjusted Score: 101778%

Critics Consensus: Parting is such sweet sorrow, but Derry Girls' final season promises to milk as many laughs as it can before viewers say a fond farewell to this lovable band of miscreants.

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Starring: Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Louisa Harland, Ian McElhinney, Kathy Kiera Clarke

Directed By: Michael Lennox, Caroline Leddy, Liz Lewin, Lisa McGee

Slow Horses: Season 2

#14

Adjusted Score: 101580%

Critics Consensus: Slow Horses says neigh to the sophomore jinx with a second season that might be even better than its supremely addictive predecessor.

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Starring: Gary Oldman, Jack Lowden, Kristin Scott Thomas

Directed By: Graham Yost, Jeremy Lovering, James Hawes, Will Smith

Atlanta: Season 3

#15

Adjusted Score: 97479%

Critics Consensus: Atlanta takes Paper Boi and his entourage out of Georgia, but this inspired third season proves that the more things change, the more they stay weird.

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Starring: Donald Glover, Brian Tyree Henry, LaKeith Stanfield, Zazie Beetz

Directed By: Dianne McGunigle, Donald Glover, Paul Simms, Hiro Murai

Russian Doll: Season 2

#16

Adjusted Score: 102743%

Critics Consensus: Not all of Russian Doll's gambles pay off in this ambitious and thrillingly audacious second season, but the show's willingness to take risks is often its own reward.

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Starring: Natasha Lyonne, Charlie Barnett, Greta Lee, Annie Murphy

Directed By: Natasha Lyonne, Amy Poehler, Leslye Headland

For All Mankind: Season 3

#17

Adjusted Score: 96570%

Critics Consensus: For All Mankind's third season goes as far as Mars while maintaining a homey focus on its original ensemble, delivering another epic adventure with an intimate focus.

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Starring: Joel Kinnaman, Shantel VanSanten, Jodi Balfour, Sonya Walger

Directed By: Ronald D. Moore, Ben Nedivi, Matt Wolpert, Maril Davis

Industry: Season 2

#18

Adjusted Score: 97480%

Critics Consensus: Finessing complicated financial jargon into scathing repartee, Industry's stock is way up in this superlative sophomore season full of frustrated ambitions and tested loyalties.

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Starring: Myha'la Herrold, Marisa Abela, Harry Lawtey, David Jonsson

Directed By: Jane Tranter, Lachlan MacKinnon, Ryan Rasmussen, Lena Dunham

Undone: Season 2

#19

Adjusted Score: 97381%

Critics Consensus: Undone broadens out into a family affair in a gorgeously trippy continuation that's as heady as it is moving.

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Starring: Rosa Salazar, Angelique Cabral, Bob Odenkirk, Constance Marie

Directed By: Noel Bright, Steven A. Cohen, Tommy Pallotta, Raphael Bob-Waksberg

Girls5eva: Season 2

#20

Adjusted Score: 96182%

Critics Consensus: Like an addictive pop song, Girls5Eva is just as delightful the second time around, with its band of scrappy divas remaining one of the funniest ensembles on television.

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Starring: Sara Bareilles, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Paula Pell, Busy Philipps

Directed By: Tina Fey, Robert Carlock, Jeff Richmond, David Miner

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