Top 22 Shows I Watched In 2022: No. 14

Season 1 of Flight Attendant on HBO Max was a refreshing surprise last year, but now that expectations are set, it could've been easy for Season 2 to let me down by either sticking too close to the formula of Season 1 or diverging too far the opposite direction.

Thankfully, that was not the case. Kaley Cuoco and her strong supporting cast returned, and they were a joy to watch. And not needing to set a foundation of these characters allowed the story to focus far more on the mystery of the show, which resulted in a smoother, less-convoluted progression of establishing suspects, motives, and twists. All that led to a compelling iteration for the show.

Zosia Mamet's portrayal of her Annie character was stellar in Season 1, but her character may have regressed the most. That's not to say Zosia's acting regressed; she's still outstanding. Annie brought the perfect balance to Cuoco's Cassie in Season 1, but this time around, Annie was just as uneven (in a good way) and unpredictable as Cassie. She had a good excuse, of course. Annie tried to downplay her engagement to Max as she struggled with the commitment, which never went over well, but especially not when she met Max's parents, who really built up the occasion more than Annie was comfortable with (seriously, who waits to meet a significant other's parents until after they get engaged?). Watching Cassie try to help Annie with her relationship issues while watching Annie (and Max) help crack Cassie's new case was so much fun. It was a smart way to stretch those characters a bit instead of taking the easy route of mimicking Season 1 too much.

Speaking of the murder case, this season's mystery was far more fun and interesting. The primary reason for that is it surrounds a suspect we actually care about: Cassie herself! The fact that she was getting framed by another tall, blonde murderer was tantalizing and led to several fun moments. A couple of reveals along the way were a bit predictable, especially when they involved newcomer Grace, but she was involved in one of the most shocking moments of the season in the finale.

Though Grace had an interesting storyline, Cassie's friend and co-worker Shane was the best scene stealer of the season. At the end of Season 1, we found out Shane was actually working undercover for the CIA. Boy, did the writers have a lot of fun with that this time around. Between Cassie basically giving Shane orders and Shane giving the most annoyed looks when he has to clean up Cassie's messes, their interactions were a constant highlight reel.

Another highlight reel were the scenes inside Cassie's head. Instead of talking to a dead person whom she hardly knew (that made for mostly shallow dialogue exchanges), Cassie was fighting with none other than herself! Multiple versions of herself, in fact, which gave Cuoco more opportunities to flaunt her acting skills. The writers used her talks with herself as an excuse to develop more of Cassie's background, including family history, a storyline for which I did not care, but appreciated was there at all.

The show's highlights are enough to outshine some of its warts and unevenness, but I'm almost confident enough to call this show must-see for everyone (almost). I certainly will watch every season they make for it.