This year’s picks for best drama series give just a taste of what dramatic series were on offer for viewers this year. For the high seas to an underground bunker, great stories can and did come from anywhere.
Here are our picks for the Best Drama Series of 2023.
5. One Piece
Having never watched the anime series One Piece, I knew little about what to expect from the Netflix adaptation. I knew the basis of the story and that I would never have enough free time to watch the anime without quitting my day job, but outside of that—the trailer looked kinda bad. But boy, I was wrong! One Piece was a huge surprise for me this year, a series that manages to keep an anime’s loud characters and personalities while making them likable, relatable and ultimately, loveable. Out of context, so much of this show looks so dumb, but I was sucked into the world and can’t wait for more.
– Dylan
4. The Fall of the House of Usher
What says ‘drama’ more than an ultra-rich pharma family who all think they’re better than one another dying off in mystery ways? Nothing. This is what makes Mike Flanngagan’s gothic thriller with a side of corporate espionage one of the best dramatic series of 2023. Every child of Roderick Usher gets their moment in the spotlight as we, as the audience, see them broken down over an hour, knowing full well their death is approaching. Getting to know each of them might not be a pleasure, but it’s interesting. At the end of it all sits Roderick and Madeline, siblings, pulling the strings of an empire full of so many secrets that start falling apart at the pull of a thread.
– Dylan
3. Silo
An underground silo housing the last remnants of the human race is one of the biggest mystery boxes you could ask for. Throw in some phycological warfare, political battles and class systems, and there’s more to Silo than the premise alone could promise you. With fantastic performances across the board, but especially with Rebecca Ferguson in the lead and, this is one of the best dramas of 2023.
– Dylan
2. Succession
One of the best dramas of recent years came to a close and gave viewers a fitting and rewarding final season. Equal parts inditement on the one percent and Shakespearean drama, Succession was appointment viewing for each of its last ten episodes that had me eagerly devouring behind-the-scenes interviews and podcasts about each episode so I could learn each little detail that had been put into them. Shot in a way that gave their actors the best chance to give their best performance, Succession is filled top to bottom with brilliant acting that makes the scripts truly sing. A modern classic.
1. The Bear
Yes, you are reading this right. The show which looks set to win the Emmy for Most Outstanding Comedy is here at the top of this year’s best drama series because Dylan certainly knows better than the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the show’s creators. But to be fair to Dylan, there was certainly a lot of drama in this season of The Bear with some compelling storytelling which saw our team of restaurant workers who were at each other’s throats last season start to grow and develop their skills for the better of the restaurant. While there are certainly still laughs, the tension at times was ratcheted up to the extreme, with “Fishes” one of the most tense viewing experience in recent memory. No matter which every category you see fit to place The Bear, it should be very high up the list.
– Ashley
