Gallery: Walking Dead to Westeros: The Best TV of 2012
Frank Ockenfels/AMC01walking-dead-2
Between the zombies, the dragons, the terrorists — not to mention the self-involved twenty-somethings and ass-hat political figures — all told 2012 was a pretty good year for TV. In the last year we saw bigger bootlegging on [*Boardwalk Empire*](http://www.hbo.com/boardwalk-empire/index.html), bigger laughs on *[Parks and Recreation](http://www.nbc.com/parks-and-recreation/)*, and bigger battles (on Blackwater Bay!) on *[Game of Thrones](http://www.hbo.com/game-of-thrones/index.html)*. And don't get us started on the homicidal tendencies on *The Walking Dead* (or, actually, do — just not right now). But 2012 was also the beginning of the end for a lot of our favorite shows— namely *[30 Rock](http://www.nbc.com/30-rock/)* and *[Breaking Bad](http://www.amctv.com/shows/breaking-bad)*, both of which started their final seasons this year. So to celebrate the season that was, may we present: the best television of 2012. __Above:__ *The Walking Dead* Claws Its Way to the Top -------------------------------------------- Let’s admit it right up front: Until Season 3, *The Walking Dead* was not actually a very good show. It had its thrilling moments, to be sure, but it often felt strained, uneven, and — the greatest sin for a horror show — occasionally tedious. This year, the characters and the show grew tougher, faster and more ruthless, engaged in a constant life-or-death hustle that always felt barely an inch ahead of the zombie maw. But for all the horror inflicted on humanity by shambling empty shells, the introduction of the Governor — a sociopath politician dripping with folksy charm — reminded us that the true face of evil is still a human one. The show continued to take out its characters with the heartlessness of a George R. R. Martin novel, but also pulled off a fairly astonishing sleight of hand: killing off the most irritating character on the show in an episode so gut-wrenching and harrowing that it somehow felt like something truly valuable had been lost. Unadulterated misery isn’t everybody’s drug of choice, but if that’s what you’re looking for, *The Walking Dead* is as pure as it gets. *— Laura Hudson*
02breaking-bad
*Breaking Bad* Is Heading for Full Heisenberg --------------------------------------------- The whole point of *Breaking Bad* for the last two seasons (and some would argue the show's entire run) has been to watch Walter White (Bryan Cranston) backslide from a good man trying to support his family doing bad things (like making meth) to a full-on baddie — the Heisenberg character he invented to do his dirty deeds. As Walt set a new shop in Season 5 following the gore-tastic death of drug boss Gus Fring, it's obvious his moral compass is broken, if not completely gone. Then again, this is *Breaking Bad* — it could all turn on dime when it returns from hiatus in 2013 to end its final season. (Why are so many good shows ending in the new year?!) So don't forget crying cancer-patient Walt just yet. *— Angela Watercutter* *Photo: Ursula Coyote/AMC*
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*30 Rock* Goes Out With a Bang ------------------------------ Has there been anything more bittersweet than watching *[30 Rock](http://www.nbc.com/30-rock/)* this fall? With every laugh comes the heart-sinking notion that this season will be its last. (tears!) But luckily Liz Lemon ([Tina Fey](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0275486/)) and the cast and crew of *TGS with Tracy Jordan* are going out in style. Liz got hitched in a Princess Leia costume, Jack ([Alec Baldwin](http://www.alecbaldwin.com/)) and Liz held a political debate, and Jenna ([Jane Krakowski](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005105/)) was more hilariously self-aware than she's been in the show's entire seven-season run. Saying goodbye to one of the most solidly funny shows for most of the 2000s is going to be rough. But at least *30 Rock* is bowing out on some pretty high notes, or at least singing every song it's got left to sing. It's been a glorious thing to watch. Mazel tov, dummies. *— Angela Watercutter* *Photo courtesy NBC Universal*
04boardwalk-empire
Bootleg Body Count: *Boardwalk Empire* -------------------------------------- [*Boardwalk Empire*](http://www.hbo.com/boardwalk-empire/index.html) has spent some time being pretty underrated, or at least not getting the kind of water-cooler chatter it deserves. This season those tides could be shifting, like the ones viewers expect to rise up further around the knees of Nucky Thompson ([Steve Buscemi](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000114/)) in the opening credits. The burgeoning feminism of Margaret ([Kelly Macdonald](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0531808/)) might have felt a little half-baked at times, but the encroaching dangers Nucky endured in Atlantic City boiled over throughout the season. The bootlegger face-offs between Thompson and hot-headed Al Capone (Stephen Graham), who is finally starting to resemble the [gangster of legend](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Capone), and — most significantly — the arrival of the Sicilian mobster Gyp Rosetti (a dangerously smart-assed [Bobby Cannavale](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0134072/)) led to gruesome results this year. (And, for history buffs paying close attention, there were also [Easter eggs](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/2012/09/tv-fact-checkers-boardwalk-empire/) in *Boardwalk Empire*, like Capone's relationship with his deaf son and the King Tut-themed New Year's Eve party.) *— Angela Watercutter* *Photo: Macall B. Polay/HBO*
Paul Schiraldi05game-of-thrones-3
Impin' Made Easy: *Game of Thrones* ----------------------------------- Raise your hand if you still close your eyes and see visions of the Battle of the Blackwater. It can't be just us. In Season 2 of [HBO's ambitious adaptation](http://www.hbo.com/game-of-thrones/index.html) of George R.R. Martin's fantasy series *[A Song of Ice and Fire](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire)*, there was more death, dragons, and devious behavior than you could shake a scepter at. Cersei Lannister ([Lena Headey](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0372176/)), mother of King Joffrey ([Jack Gleeson](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0322416/)) was more conniving (and drunk) than last season, while her son was more arrogant and spineless. "The Imp" Tyrion Lannister ([Peter Dinklage](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0227759/)) actually turned out to be a hero of sorts in the fight against Stannis Baratheon. Poor, misunderstood Theon Greyjoy took Winterfell and lost it almost as quickly. And Daenerys Targaryen lost her dragons and took them back in moment of sheer magnificence. Blaze on, Khaleesi, blaze on. *— Angela Watercutter* *Photo: Paul Schiraldi/HBO*
06girls
Who Run the World? *Girls* -------------------------- Love her or hate her, everyone now knows the name [Lena Dunham](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2501633/). And for good reason, the 26-year-old makes train-wreck television — you just can't look away. Her hilariously honest HBO series *[Girls](http://www.hbo.com/girls/index.html)* took texting mishaps, STDs, awkward sex, and being twenty-something to whole new levels of insanity in its first season. Of course, with the success came criticism for the show's lack of diversity and daughters-of-famous-people casting — most of it warranted — but that still didn't make writer/director/star Dunham's Emmy-nominated show any less watchable. God only knows what she'll have in store when season two (tagline: "Almost getting it kind of together") starts in January. *— Angela Watercutter* *Photo: Jojo Whilden/HBO*
Frank Ockenfels/AMC07mad-men
The Wonderful Madness of *Mad Men* ---------------------------------- [*Mad Men*](http://www.amctv.com/shows/mad-men) had another breath-holding season in 2012. From Betty's ([January Jones](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005064/)) depression and tumor diagnosis, to the bizarre dreams Don Draper ([Jon Hamm](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0358316/)) has been having to OMG, Lane ([Jared Harris](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0364813/)), nooooo! (If you don't know, we won't tell you.) But if you want to know what a nearly perfect episode of television looks like, watch Season 5's "The Other Woman" — its compare-and-contrast between what Peggy (Elisabeth Moss), Don's new wife Megan ([Jessica Paré](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0664175/)) and Joan ([Christina Hendricks](www.imdb.com/name/nm0376716/)) will do for their careers is striking. Perhaps not quite as good as the previous season's "[The Suitcase](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Suitcase)," which was writing perfection, it was still unnerving in its brutality. *— Angela Watercutter* *Photo: Frank Ockenfels/AMC*
08parks-and-recreation
*Parks and Recreation*'s Ron Swanson Having Best Mustache Year, Ever -------------------------------------------------------------------- One of the somewhat soothing things about knowing *30 Rock* will soon be gone is knowing that Tina Fey BFF (and Golden Globes co-host) [Amy Poehler](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0688132/) is still going strong on *Parks and Recreation*, which is having arguably its best season yet. Leslie Knope's turn in city council this year has been hilarious (sex ed for seniors!), but the crème de la crème (he'd probably hate that phrase) has been Ron Swanson (played by [Nick Offerman](http://offermanwoodshop.com/)). Not only is he making award-winning furniture in Pawnee, he's dating Lucy Lawless! Well, OK, she's playing an average single mom named Diane, but she's still [Lucy Lawless](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005128/). And his facial hair has never looked better. But in all seriousness (or not) *Parks and Rec* is having a sensational year so far, packed with some of the best sitcom writing on network TV and always-on-point delivery from co-stars like Aziz Ansari and Aubrey Plaza. Thank goodness you can't fight city hall. *— Angela Watercutter* *Photo courtesy NBC Universal*
09veep
Creeper Hit: *Veep* ------------------- There's something you have to understand about [*Veep*](http://www.hbo.com/veep/index.html) — it's a grower, not a shower. Watch it once and you might chuckle at [Julia Louis-Dreyfus](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000506/)' Sarah-Palin-with-bitchface shtick as Selina Meyer, but you might not LOL. Watch it a handful more times and you realize it has a subtle humor not unlike [*Arrested Development*](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0367279/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1), and not just because it has *Development* alum [Tony Hale](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0355024/) doing his out-of-touch nincompoop thing. Loving *Veep* means having a soft spot for politics (not everyone's bag) and spending a little time getting to know the characters. Their deadpans are funnier when you realize how pathetic some of their lives must be. For example, when VP chief of staff Amy (ohmygod, it's [Anna Chlumsky](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001043/)!) tells White House aide Jonah ([Timothy Simons](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3985937/)), "You're not even your mom's favorite Jonah, Jonah," it doesn't bite until you realize he's the kind of work-is-life guy who rates restaurants based on how much free bread they give. As with all things having to do with being second-in-command, it's the little things that matter. *— Angela Watercutter* *Photo courtesy HBO*
10fringe
Not Fade Away: *Fringe* Bids Eccentric Sci-Fi Farewell ------------------------------------------------------ TV's most wigged-out scientist and his photogenic FBI helpmates got off to a slow start this season after Walter (John Noble), Olivia (Anna Torv) and Peter (Joshua Jackson) cracked open sheets of yellow "amber" stuff to wake up from a state of suspended animation 27 years in the future. Peter and Olivia's chemistry with long-lost daughter Etta (Georgina Haig) didn't gel but she's dead now. *Fringe* has gotten back on track as it hurtles toward an apocalyptic series finale Jan. 18 that will involve a spooky, bald child and, we hope, the destruction of the emotionally stunted brainiac Observers who now rule Earth. However it ends, *Fringe* made a mark during its low-rated run as the rare network series that took big chances. By turns goofy, melodramatic, gory and obsessed with quantum mechanics, *Fringe* may not have been the most consistent thing on prime time, but where else can you watch an elderly dude drop LSD and hallucinate in between interdimensional gun battles? *— Hugh Hart* *Photo courtesy Fox*
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*Sherlock* Holmes: As Always, the Smartest Guy in the Room ---------------------------------------------------------- Three clues unlock the mystery as to why *Sherlock*, the umpteenth take on Arthur Conan Doyle's master sleuth, is so damned awesome: 1. Pale, tall and hyper-articulate star Benedict Cumberbatch, soon to be famous from his *Star Trek Into Darkness* performance, earns every arrogant turn of phrase by showing off impossibly brilliant analytic powers. 2. Martin Freeman plays Watson as the polar opposite, deploying his humble *Hobbit*-like arsenal of blinks and stammers to bring Holmes down to earth whenever he gets too full of himself. 3. *Dr. Who* auteurs Steven Moffat and Mark Gattis update the Sherlock cases with such cunning that the contemporary London setting never feels gimmicky. The only bummer: *Sherlock* does not return for its third PBS season until 2014. *— Hugh Hart* *Photo courtesy Masterpiece Theatre*
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The True Lies of *Homeland* --------------------------- It can be hard to describe exactly what’s going on in any given scene of the political thriller *Homeland*, because it’s a show where — as Virginia Woolf once said — nothing is only one thing, and every moment seems to unfold on at least two or three different levels, if not more. When CIA agent Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) interrogates Nick Brody (Damian Lewis), a Marine-turned-terrorist-turned-congressman, is she trying to save her former lover, or manipulate an asset into serving the U.S. government? When Brody agrees to set up his former torturer/mentor Abu Nazir, is he trying to avoid prosecution, protect his family, redeem himself to Carrie — or set up another double-cross? It’s hard to say, even after the fact, especially when the characters themselves are never quite sure. Danes and Lewis are deft actors capable of that advanced sort of emotional multitasking where your eyes, mouths and faces all say different things, as conflicting interests of love, politics, family, religion and duty constantly collide not only between characters but within them. It’s a tense, ambiguous show that tackles the tense, ambiguous issue of terrorism, perpetually cloaking the emotions, motivations and choices of its human time bombs in the fog of war — and then letting them explode. *— Laura Hudson*
