Best Episodes of 2022

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Best Episodes of 2021

Sure it’s “technically” 2022 when this article is coming out, but in many ways, isn’t it still 2020? So in that perspective, this is early.

This is the fun thing we do every year on the site where I crowdsource my friends to write about an episode of TV they loved that year. So what did TV look like this year? A year where some shows were held over from pre-pandemic and others had to be made in bizarre circumstances? Let’s begin with one of the strangest shows in years…

30 Coins — “Cobwebs”
(Season One, Episode 1)

By Katherine Lakin

In terms of experiences watching television shows, I truly can’t compare the 30 Coins pilot to anything else.  Looking back on the night where Austin (our illustrious organizer/editor) texted me to ask if I wanted to watch “this batshit crazy Spanish horror show” honestly feels like a fever dream.  This is a show that starts out completely insane, and every time you think “okay that has to be it, it has to calm down now” instead it does another, totally new insane thing.  I beg of you, read no further if you have not seen this episode of television, because there will be spoilers, and if there was ever a show you should go into blind, it’s this one.

The first ten minutes alone have to be the wildest ride a television show has ever taken me on.  We open on an unkillable man calmly walking into a bank, shooting everyone he encounters, and retrieving a pocket watch, of all things.  He walks outside and gets into a car where there’s a priest waiting for him.  A priest who reaches around the man’s neck and rips off a necklace, immediately killing him.  He then takes the watch, opens it up, and what’s waiting innocently inside?  A silver coin.

Bam – opening credits.  If you have seen the show, you know the… experience that entails.  Shot after graphic shot of overwhelmingly intense acting, editing, and music, that finally made it obvious what this show is about.  God, of course.  Because this bloody, dramatic, almost comic book-esque credit sequence is about the crucifixion of Jesus, and Judas dying for his betrayal, bag of 30 silver coins at his feet.

As if all of this so far hasn’t been enough, our next scene is: a cow giving birth to a human baby.  I don’t really think I need to say anything more about that.

The rest of the episode continues similarly.  Ratcheting up the intensity with nearly every scene.  There are spider babies, knitting needle murders, bullets drenched in holy water, dolls that can control monsters.  It’s an hour and a half of nonstop action that makes it impossible to look away.  

This all easily could have come across cheesy, like a low budget b-movie.  Instead, the 30 Coins pilot is a surrealist horror extravaganza.  For all that it is an episode of constantly raising stakes, it never feels like one-upmanship.  The choices feel purposeful, and our core cast believable.  Amidst all of the insanity, there’s still time to learn about Paco’s indecision, Vergara’s guilt, Elena’s grief, Merche’s ambition.  

It’s a wonderfully crafted episode on its own, that only gets better when viewed in conjunction with the rest of the (still batshit) season.  

Katherine’s Top 10 Episodes of 2021
1) The Beatles: Get Back, “Part 3: Days 17-22”
2) 30 Coins, “Cobwebs”
3) Succession, “Chiantishire”
4) The Beatles: Get Back, “Part 2: Days 8-16”
5) The Beatles: Get Back, “Part 1: Days 1-7”
6) Squid Game, “Gganbu”
7) Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “The Good Ones”
8) What We Do in the Shadows, “The Cloak of Duplication”
9) You, “W.O.M.B.”
10) Rick and Morty, “Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort”

All Elite Wrestling: Rampage “#2 — The First Dance”
(Season One, Episode 2)

By Jason James

At the end of a scripted television show or a movie, credits roll. In those credits, you can see the name of most characters who appeared in that show or movie, followed by the actor’s real name. But there’s no credit roll after an episode of a pro wrestling show. And in many cases you may never hear or see the real name of a performer on the show at all.

Phil Brooks was born in Chicago and started pro wrestling in the late ‘90s. Since the beginning of his career, pro wrestling fans know him best as the character called CM Punk. He’s kept the same name and same character from wrestling in independent promotions, to becoming a champion in the world’s largest wrestling promotion–WWE–in 2011. When in WWE, Punk’s character frequently criticized WWE’s actual management decisions and failure to promote his character properly (with the tacit approval of Vince McMahon).

And for Punk–like most other successful wrestlers–stepping out of the ring doesn’t mean he stops performing as the character. A fan that runs into Punk on the street will probably call him by his ring name, rather than calling him Phil. When Vince McMahon fired Punk on his wedding day in 2014, that fed into the enmity that he and his fans have against WWE. 

Sick of pro wrestling, Punk then tried to do a few matches in UFC. Of course, for those legitimate mixed martial arts fights, he continued to be billed under the name CM Punk, walk to the ring using his familiar entrance music (“Cult of Personality” by Living Color), and referred to by the announcers by the name CM Punk.

On August 20, 2021, CM Punk showed up on a televised pro wrestling show for the first time since 2014. Even though he wasn’t announced to appear, the company that was running the show that night–All Elite Wrestling–sold out the United Center in Chicago merely by hinting that CM Punk would appear.

A successful pro wrestler can uniquely bind performer and character into one entity in a way that cannot be duplicated in any other form of entertainment. Phil Brooks has played the character of CM Punk for nearly 25 years running, and no writer, director, or promoter has been able to dictate what it means to play “CM Punk.” This type of storytelling is what makes professional wrestling compelling. 

Punk is one example of the literally thousands of individuals constantly living their own characters 24/7 in wrestling rings around the world. Each of these people contributes to the world-wide narrative that is the story of pro wrestling, and each does it in their own particular way. No other story that exists, particularly in the world of film and television, has a structure that remotely resembles this amazing collaborative work, and moments like the return of CM Punk on August 20 are not possible in any other medium.

Jason’s Top 10 Episodes of 2021
1) Komi Can’t Communicate, “It’s Just Obon, et al”
2) Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan, “Episode 16: At a Confessional”
3) All Elite Wrestling: Dynamite, “Grand Slam”
4) Star Trek: Lower Decks, “First First Contact”
5) Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean, “Stone Free / Prisoner FE40536: Jolyne Cujoh”
6) Laid-Back Camp, “What Are You Buying with Your Temp Job Money?”
7) Demon Slayer, “Sound Hashira Tengen Uzui”
8) Beastars, “A Busted Electric Fan”
9) My Hero Academia, “My Villain Academia”
10) Cells at Work! Code Black, “Forefront, Gonococci, and Conflict”

The Beatles: Get Back — “Part 3: Days 17-22”
(Season One, Episode 3)

By Evan Culbertson

Everyone knows how this story ends. That doesn’t mean it isn’t a hell of a story.

The first episode of The Beatles: Get Back, Peter Jackson’s 8-hour saga of The Beatles’ January 1969 rehearsal sessions ends ominously – with George having formally quit the band; the second with a foreshadowing statement that the band has decided to stage their culminating concert in four days’ time. And while those two episodes features many of Get Back’s best moments (Paul pulling “Get Back” out of thin air, the band seeming to spontaneously burst into the Third Man theme, the chaos of Michael Lindsay-Hogg wanting to haul them off to Tunisia where they can perform by torchlight, Billy Preston as the puzzle piece they didn’t realize they needed), it’s the third and final episode that really pulls the whole magic trick together. 

Anyone inclined to watch 8 hours of 50-year-old studio footage over the Thanksgiving holiday knows a thing or two about the Beatles. You have to, in fact – one of Get Back’s greatest strengths is its trust in its audience – you know what you’re here to see, and by golly, Peter Jackson’s gonna give it to you. So when the series ends just as the original Let It Be film did all those years ago – with the immortal rooftop concert – it’s not as though it’s a surprise. It’s like the fastball that everyone in the park knows is coming but is so good the batter can’t make contact. As a viewer, you anticipate the rooftop concert, and then you see it, and it’s just as emotional and incredible as you always hoped it would be. You see the catharsis in real time: a final public moment of genuine joy amidst four men whose friendships have been strained beyond their limit over the previous few weeks (and years). The band’s first live performance in three years, their last ever, and you get to soak it in along with them. It’s magic. 

For me, though, the apex of Get Back is less grandiose: a series of text intertitles that punctuate the performances, each of which somehow delighted and astounded me anew. The first comes early, in the haywire first ten minutes of the episode, with 6-year-old Heather (soon to be McCartney) running around and howling into the mic, John improvising nonsense lyrics about a cat named “Babaji,” Paul fiddling around on drums; a jam session that completely devolves into chaos… and then somehow, it becomes familiar. Much like Paul’s earlier conjuring of “Get Back,” the messing-around we’ve become accustomed to over the previous six hours transforms into something suddenly recognizable. Then the text appears – 

Part of this performance is on the album “Let It Be”.

– and we realize what we’re seeing and hearing isn’t just historical ephemera, the greatest band of all time having fun in the studio. It is, in fact, the actual take that turned into the 50-second “Dig It” on the album. Almost a full hour of the episode is similar shenanigans – they try to lay down some tracks for a bit, but it all devolves into more buffoonery and somewhat productive jam sessions. At one point, Lindsay-Hogg quips that the film itself is Sartre’s No Exit, and at another, George Martin says they’ll “do it again, and again, and again” – here, amidst re-assembled footage of them trying to record “Get Back,” we see that intertitle again, showing us the take where they finally get it right.

Despite George’s misgivings, they go on the roof, and we witness, in all its glory, the culmination of the Beatles’ career as performers. This is, of course, shown alongside footage of onlookers enjoying the unexpected show, as well as the police trying to shut the whole thing down (in split screen, occasionally with footage from as many as six cameras at once). So when Peter Jackson silently interjects again, during the bridge of “I’ve Got A Feeling” – 

This performance appears on the album “Let It Be”.

– it actually sneaks up on you. The song, which we’ve heard so many times over the course of the 8 hours (and which we’ll hear once more before the lads leave the roof) is momentarily overshadowed a bit by the narrative excitement of the bobbys coming to wrap up the fun. The sensory experience is so rich that we takefor granted, once again, that we’re witnessing the performance of “I’ve Got A Feeling.” The canonized album version that will go down in history, that my mother listened to, that I grew up listening to, that my children will listen to. Here they are, wrapped in coats on a rooftop in January in the middle of London, putting to tape an indelible piece of their legacy as the greatest to ever do it. 

Jackson reveals that the “One After 909” and “Dig A Pony” we see on the roof are the album cuts, as well – his craft is less coy but no less remarkable. Again, it’s that fastball that we can’t help but swing away at, whizzing past us. Even rewatching it, I can’t help but smile every time. But of course, everyone knows how this ends – they play the songs they can for a bit before and being ushered off the roof for disturbing the peace. It’s remarkable that we have this footage in the first place, but it’s been pieced together masterfully – comprehensive for us obsessives with enough narrative to keep you invested despite knowing exactly what’s coming. 

The band agrees to reconvene the next day to finish up, and the credits begin to roll, as we hear snippets of them in their purest form: just some lovable lads from Liverpool riffing, jamming, and playing any song other than what they’re supposed to. Then, suddenly, the credits stop, John and Paul joke about saying “goodnight,” and they finally do what they came here to do: record “Two of Us.” It’s no surprise, of course, that one more time – 

This performance appears on the album “Let It Be”.

– even buried here, amidst the credits, Peter Jackson lets us take a peek into a piece of real history. They nail it, of course, and soon after (credits still rolling) begin a wonderful performance of “Let It Be.” “Ah, yes,” we think, “what a beautiful way to cap this off, sending us home with the studio performance of such a beautiful song” – but it’s a swerve! The song falls apart, they start goofing off, blowing raspberries, and bantering in fake German. Paul begins to play “Let It Be” again – with John, a prankster to his very bones, caught on camera, mockingly lip-syncing along to the first verse – and then suddenly, with seconds left before Disney+ starts autoplaying some Marvel trailer or IP reboot  – 

This performance appears on the album “Let It Be”.

——

Sure, Get Back is a bit of an amorphous experiment (not really TV, not really a film, not really documentary, not just a concert movie) and I have my misgivings about some of the final result – it’s not a proper restoration, per se, and visually, it looks awful at points, with audio haphazardly applied to unrelated footage. I would have preferred the grainy blown-up 16mm footage be shown at the maximum possible fidelity without DNR (sorry, Smooth Ringo!). I’ve accepted and embraced it because it doesn’t represent the past, it instead reconstitutes it into something new. And sure, that’s jargon to justify Jackson’s meddling, but it’s a unique object that frankly, I’m just overjoyed to be able to witness. The magic captured here is almost beyond words at times. I might just be a sentimental Beatlemaniac, and these small moments of wonder might not speak to you in the same way, but Get Back was a project made specifically for sentimental Beatlemaniacs like me. I cherish it. They passed the audition, indeed.

Evan’s Top 10 Episodes of 2021
1) Hawkeye, “Ronin”
2) The Beatles: Get Back, “Part 3: Days 17-22”
3) Succession, “All The Bells Say”
4) You, “So I Married an Axe Murderer”
5) All Elite Wrestling: Rampage, “#2 — The First Dance”
6) Only Murders in the Building, “The Boy from 6B”
7) Midnight Mass, “Book V: Gospels”
8) What We Do in the Shadows, “The Wellness Center”
9) Masterchef, “Legends: Dominique Crenn – The Wall”
10) Dark Side of the Ring, “The Plane Ride from Hell”

Chucky — “Cape Queer”
(Season One, Episode 6)

By Sam Tilmans

It was 1994. I was five. My mom’s friend’s oldest daughter was babysitting me and her little sister. Somehow, Child’s Play 2 was put on the television that night, and for years later, I was terrified of Chucky, the killer doll. Even years later, as a teenager, I once panicked in a Spencer’s Gifts when I saw a life-sized Chucky doll at the front of the store.

Yet, a television show about Chucky is one of my favorite shows this year. I’m sure my past selves, and my mom, if she’s reading this, would be incredibly surprised – probably as surprised as our show’s protagonist, Jake Wheeler, finding out that Chucky has a genderfluid kid in the second episode of the show. It’s called growth! 

Isolated from my friends and family in 2020, I watched the entirety of the Child’s Play/Chucky franchise for the first time and found out that it ruled. Fortunately, one does not need to have seen the movies to watch the show, as there are flashbacks and past incidents are explained, but seriously, the movies are fun as hell. Unlike so many horror franchises/slashers, it doesn’t feel stale, and that remains true with the television show. 

Bless Don Mancini. He has created not only a strange, fun horror franchise, but also a show that is suspenseful, hilarious, sweet, beautiful, and lovingly queer. I appreciate the use of practical effects and puppetry, and of course, there are some creative kills. I’d say the only predictability to Chucky’s victims is that anyone over the age of six is fair game; how and when they will be dispatched is anyone’s guess, and that led to several surprises over the season, particularly during the show’s sixth episode, “Cape Queer.”

The series has a lot of moving parts, both trying to pull in legacy characters from the movies and introducing new characters and whatever grand scheme Chucky is trying to pull off. In the previous episode, it reintroduced Tiffany Valentine, Chucky’s wild card girlfriend, whose soul possesses the body of actress Jennifer Tilly,  played by the always incredible Jennifer Tilly. She’s mostly comedic relief in this episode, save for when she reveals to Nica Pierce that she knows of Nica’s attempted deception, then she’s sinister.

As for Nica, the young paraplegic woman who has a part of Chucky’s soul in her, she’s sometimes herself, sometimes Chucky, but always portrayed compellingly by Fiona Dourif. I particularly enjoy Fiona Dourif in the episode “Cape Queer,” as she has a lot to do: she swaggers around as Chucky in Nica’s body, drinking beer, wisecracking, and killing; as Nica, she pretends she’s still Chucky in an attempt to fool Tiffany; and again, she swaggers around under prosthetic makeup as a young Charles Lee Ray (Chucky), becoming the image of her father, Brad Dourif, from over three decades ago for flashbacks.

In “Cape Queer,” we get a reintroduction of Andy Barclay and Kyle, who have not been together on-screen since Child’s Play 2. The episode does a lot of filling in of their past and hints at what has happened over the course of thirty-one years. What I found particularly interesting, though, is their behavior in their opening scene, which reflects their personalities even though decades have passed: Andy is anxious, awkward, urgently trying to accomplish their task, while Kyle takes the lead as his older foster sister, cool and calm as she rolls with their census taker ruse, which culminates in a Pulp Fiction-style disposal of a Chucky doll.

While this show is named for Chucky, and the show is ultimately about him, most of “Cape Queer” focuses on the lives he has destroyed in various manners. He is skillful at killing and/or emotionally devastating those who cross his path; he may have not killed Andy Barclay, but he did kill his childhood, and continues to haunt him and Kyle well into adulthood, as we see here. The young teens in this show share Andy Barclay’s pain – Chucky may not kill them, but he terrorizes them, kills important adults in their lives, and attempts to manipulate them into killing with him. Chucky does exactly what he does best in this episode, though he mostly lurks like the shark in Jaws, setting up his game in the shadows, coming out to destroy when it’s prime time to do it. It doesn’t always work, as when he attempts to talk Lexy into killing Jake, but he knows how to improvise when things take a turn.

And oh, how things turn in this episode. Bree Wheeler, aunt of the series’ protagonist, Jake, finally reveals to her husband, Logan, and her son, Junior, that she has cancer. The Wheelers have not necessarily been a kind family, but once Bree reveals her secret, they are softer to each other and there are a lot of tears and hugs. Later, Bree and Junior have a sweet moment in their car talking about therapy, and there’s hope of their relationship growing stronger. It’s a heartfelt moment. which is then destroyed shortly after when Chucky defenestrates Bree, staging it as a suicide. He may have saved her the pain of  having to reveal to her family she wasn’t going to continue cancer treatment after all and dying a slow death, but he robs Bree and her family of being able to say goodbye on their terms, and it’s BRUTAL. It’s so brutal for Junior (and us) to see his mom after she has landed on their car, her body contorted, bloodied face shoved through the broken windshield in front of him. Junior’s not a great person, but in that moment, one genuinely feels sorry for him.

There is a balm for the horror of Bree’s death in another sweet interaction between a mother and her son with Devon Evans, friend and romantic interest of Jake Wheeler, and his mom, Detective Kim Evans. She intuits that Devon has feelings for Jake, and as it turns out, she’s cool with that now that she no longer suspects Jake of being a serial killer. The fact that her son has feelings for another boy doesn’t bother her at all. This moment is a big deal, but here it feels so simple, and it has the best results. The acceptance and love in Detective Evans’s response is something most queer people want when they have this interaction with their loved ones, though is not guaranteed in reality; Jake certainly didn’t get the acceptance of his father, Lucas, and was teased by his cousin Junior for being gay. But here, there is joy.

Later, when Devon tells Jake about this moment, they are so happy, even as they are waiting anxiously for Chucky to appear in their trap. They are the face of first love, of new love, of hope. It’s so wonderful, which again, makes it all so heartbreaking when Chucky attacks Detective Evans and she tumbles down the stairs of the Wheeler home, breaking her neck in front of Devon.

Two teenage boys and their loving mothers and touching moments before worlds are ripped apart. That’s what “Cape Queer” promises, along with familiar faces to the Child’s Play/Chucky franchise and several excellent references to, well, Cape Fear.

Chucky, admittedly, is not for all tastes, but there’s nothing else like it on television right now. It’s cinema, it’s camp, it’s a puzzle where each episode is an incredible piece, with compelling characters, great gags, and beauty amongst the bloodshed. I never expected a show about a supernaturally possessed killer doll to have such emotional resonance, but it does, and “Cape Queer” proves it. The world is full of surprises, however sweet or awful they may be, and Chucky is full of them, too.

Sam’s Top 10 Episodes of 2021
1) Chucky, “Cape Queer”
2) Yellowjackets, “Bear Down”
3) Yellowjackets, “Blood Hive”
4) Chucky, “Just Let Go”
5) Chucky, “Give Me Something Good to Eat”
6) Yellowjackets, “F Sharp”
7) The Great North, “Avocado Barter Adventure”
8) What We Do in the Shadows, “The Wellness Center”
9) What We Do in the Shadows, “The Casino”
10) Creepshow, “Model Kid / Public Television of the Dead”

Sam’s Honorable Mentions

—Behind the Monsters, “Michael Myers”; “Chucky”; “Freddy Kruger”; “Jason Voorhees”
—Bob’s Burgers, “An Incon-Wheelie-ent Truth”; “Some Kind of Fender Benderful”; “Die Card, or Card Trying”; “Lost in Bedslation”
—The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula, “Killer Clowns”; “Ghostship Glamour”
—Chucky, “Death By Misadventure”
—The Great North, “Good Beef Hunting Adventure”; “Skidmark Holmes Adventure”; “Sexi Moose Adventure”
—How To with John Wilson, “How to Appreciate Wine”; “How to Find a Spot”
—It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, “2020: A Year in Review”; “The Gang Goes to Ireland”; “The Gang’s Still in Ireland”
—Kevin Can F**k Himself, “Live Free or Die”; “The Grand Victorian”; “Living the Dream”
—Tuca and Bertie, “Bird Mechanics”; “The Dance”
—What We Do in the Shadows, “The Siren”; “The Prisoner”; “Gail”
—Yellowjackets, “Pilot”

Dickinson — “Grief is a Mouse”
(Season Three, Episode 9)

By Rachael Clark

I discovered Dickinson just earlier this year. This is one of the shows I became obsessed with in the first five minutes of the first episode (very rare). The show is a take on the life of the great American poet, Emily Dickinson, and her family during her early 20s. This half hour comedy is so unique from any other show I have watched recently. Emily is an outspoken woman who refuses to get married, all she wants to do is to write poems. She also happens to be in love with her best friend growing up, Sue. As the viewer, we get to see her go into her mind and see what she sees. One of my favorites is when she gets in a black carriage in a beautiful red dress and talks to the death (played hilariously by Wiz Khalifa). It’s a stunning way to describe how she saw her poetry come to life.

With this episode being the second the last episode, it feels like they made this the fun, feel-good, thank-you-for-watching-this-show episode for the fans. This whole season has been revolved around the civil war and Emily trying to keep her dysfunctional family together. Along with that, Sue and Emily have had a lot of angst (A LOT); Sue wants all of Emily, but Emily is hesitant because she doesn’t know how to show her feelings and knows it would tear her family farther apart.

Anyways, I digress.

This episode starts with Emily summoning her siblings, Austin and Lavinia, to a “sibling summit.” She makes amends with her brother, telling him he was right all along about their dad. (The dad is a hot mess and I hate him.) The siblings promise to treat each other with respect and freedom (that is not common for women of this time period). It is funny and sentimental, they end in a group hug, the first sign during this episode that the show is coming to a sweet close. Next, Emily heads off to her mom, the other Emily Dickinson, played by the wonderful Jane Krakowski. Mother Dickinson was the epitome of the perfect housewife, but after the loss of her sister she became grief stricken and has taken to lying in bed for the past week. So, it is up to Emily to come and cheer her up and make her feel better. She does this beautifully by telling her mom to talk about her sister. Also, a mouse shows up and the mom thinks it’s the ghost of Aunt Lavinia because she loved mice. Mother Dickinson “talks” to the mouse believing it is her sister letting everything out. It was cathartic for her and helps her get back on her feet.

Next, we see Emily hurry off to Austin and Sue’s house. Emily is desperate to talk to Sue but sees there is a little party going on. Emily and Austin’s old friend, George, is going off to war. He got the draft card a couple days ago and needs to report. Emily corners Sue saying they need time alone together tonight but for now she will party with George and the others. The Dickinson party scenes are always a blast to watch. You see people dressed up in 1860’s dress attire with modern music playing. It is so playful; you can feel the joy come across the screen. Everyone is having a fantastic time. The party slows down and comes to Lavinia talking about her art piece where she stares at a dying sheep (old Bessie) thinking of her dead ex-boyfriends from the war. (I LOVE Lavinia). Then we learn that Sue sent one of Emily’s poems to be published in the newspaper anonymously. She thought her poetry was so strong that the world needed to hear it during the civil war. Everyone is begging Emily to read it, which she has always refused in the past, but this time is different. She softly responds, “I’ll do it, I’ll do it for all of you. But mostly, for Sue.” She gets up and recites the poem beautifully.

For our last scene, we go to Emily and Sue in bed (post coital). This whole season they have sort of been at odds. Most of it had to do with Emily really coming to terms with her feelings for Sue and expressing them. Earlier in the season, Emily confides in her sister that she finds it easier to be in love when writing poems (being in her head) than in the real world. She is obsessed with writing poems, it’s all she cares about. During this affectionate moment between the two comes one of the sweetest lines of the whole series. When the camera closes in on them in bed Emily says to Sue, “This…..this is better than any poem.” The rest of the scene is very sweet and tastefully done of them together in bed. I think what made it so intimate is that there was no music; just one of Emily’s poems being recited (see below). This was a lovely way to show their relationship for the end of the series.

I’m sad this brilliant show has come to an end, it’s bittersweet yet poetic you might say. Only 30 episodes long this show has captured a fun, distinctive way to showcase a brilliant poet whose poems were not even published until after her death. You got to go into her head and explore her thoughts and feelings, a woman way ahead of her time…. “The only Dickinson that people talked about 100 years later.”

All the Letters I Can Write

All the letters I can write
Are not fair as this—
Syllables of Velvet—
Sentences of Plush,
Depths of Ruby, undrained,
Hid, Lip, for Thee—
Play it were a Humming Bird—
And just sipped—me—

Rachael’s Top 10 Episodes of 2021
1) For All Mankind, “The Gray”
2) Dickinson, “Grief is a Mouse”
3) Midnight Mass, “Book VII: Revelations”
4) What We Do in the Shadows, “A Farewell”
5) Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “Last Day: Part 2”
6) Mare of Easttown, “Sacrament”
7) Dickinson, “The Future Never Spoke”
8) Loki, “For All Time. Always.”
9) WandaVision, “The Series Finale”
10) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, “Afghanistan”

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier — “The Whole World is Watching”
(Season One, Episode 4)

By Alex Manzo

I found The Falcon and the Winter Solider interesting because it focused so heavily on the “real world” fallout from an event like The Blip. The MCU hasn’t shied away from showing the consequences of superheroes actions, and this series digs into that even further.

Throughout its run, I enjoyed the backstory and motivations behind the season’s antagonist, Karli Morgenthau. I’m a big fan of nuanced characters, and Karli is exactly that.

We can’t overlook the significance of a formidable “villain” in the MCU being a young woman of color from an underprivileged background. Some folks might scoff at importance of representation, but to me that is what made this series really great. Not just Anthony Mackie becoming Black Captain America (which is important in its own right), but the nuance of Morgenthau, and the white All-American John Walker descending from “hero” to villain.

This episode to me is where all that nuance comes to a head. Sam’s 1:1 with Karli to try and talk her down puts a lens on how her and the Flag-Smashers are “villains with a point”. They aren’t about supremacy or evil…they’re trying to stand for the opposite.

This is also the episode where John Walker takes the super-soldier serum only to brutally murder a Flag-Smasher following the death of his partner. The entire episode paints a portrait of how even those with the right intentions can stray into evil.

Alex’s Top 10 Episodes of 2021
1) WandaVision, “Previously On”
2) Squid Game, “Gganbu”
3) Loki, “The Nexus Event”
4) Squid Game, “Red Light, Green Light”
5) WandaVision, “The Series Finale”
6) WandaVision, “We Interrupt this Program”
7) Ted Lasso, “Inverting the Pyramid of Success”
8) The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, “The Whole World is Watching”
9) Only Murders in the Building, “Open and Shut”
10) WandaVision, “On a Very Special Episode”

For All Mankind — “The Grey”
(Season Two, Episode 10)

By Austin Lugar

I remember when Election Day finally ended at the end of the week. There was a global sigh of relief that Joe Biden had indisputably won. This is the future liberals dreamed of. Voting reform, D.C. statehood, reasonable parental leave, DACA permeance, Supreme Court reform, legalization of marijuana, federal abortion security. After four years of what we assumed was an endless nightmare, we could finally wake up.

And yet.

For All Mankind is an alternate history show where the USSR landed on the moon a few weeks before Apollo 11 did. From this moment, ripples quickly spread. For example, Ted Kennedy does not go to Chappaquiddick Island because he is leading a NASA oversight committee wanting to know how we were beat. Instead of his political career being destroyed, he becomes the President.

Since the US did not land on the moon first, we declared the space race was not actually over. The goalposts kept moving. The USSR had the first woman in space, so Nixon quickly decreed women need to join the astronaut program. It was no longer about first to the moon, but now it’s first to find water. Or the first to build a settlement. Or the first to revolutionize the shuttle.

Season One moved at a steady pace as they went from 1969 to 1974. In Season Two, it is now 1983. Season One showed a recognizable United States, but Season Two feels very new. Electric cars are commercial decades ahead of time; video technology is advanced; the Jamestown moon settlement not only exists but is thriving; a woman is a NASA director – something that has still not happened yet in our world.

The Season Two finale, “The Grey,” is a television masterpiece for a number of reasons. It is the culmination of an incredible season where every plotline organically led to an explosive conclusion where somehow every single character is in mortal danger. The only character you feel certain isn’t going to die in the finale is, somehow, the one with terminal cancer.

(I’m not going to summarize what happens. Go watch it! After the 19 previous episodes. I’m about to spoil a big thing in it.)

The finale emotionally affected me in a number of ways. The biggest, obviously, has to be the death of Gordo and Tracy. Throughout the season, Gordo is trying to mentally recover from the mental collapse he on the moon. As I watched Ed push his friend to get back into the suit and Gordo performs exposure therapy, I kept getting really nervous that this was a bad idea. Was Ed being a good friend who knows how to help his friend or is he pushing him too hard?

Tracy also went on her psychological journey as she became the biggest celebrity in the space program. She is frequently on Carson and her marriages is written up in all of the gossip magazines. When she returns to Jamestown, she is humbled and reminds herself why this has been her lifelong passion.

During the finale, Jamestown is under attack and Gordo and Tracy are hidden in an old part of the base. In addition to needing to save their colleagues and not get shot, they discover the base’s nuclear reactor is going to explode. This is ONE of the plotlines in this episode.

The show gets its Apollo 13 moment where they have to figure out what supplies they have in their hideaway room to figure out how they can go outside and race to switch some tubes and get back inside…without a spacesuit. Besides not wanting to go boom, they are fighting for the future. If the reactor goes off, the moon will be uninhabitable for hundreds of years. It will halt all scientific advancement in space and on Earth. Gordo and Tracy do the impossible and save the world, but die in the process.

In the show, science is bipartisan. While science could lead to negative creations – Guns in space! – normally it is to lead to a greater world. Dany wants to make the handshake in the episode so it can be shown a black woman can lead a mission, but also to encourage peace. Sally Ride wants to keep the moon as a rock that can be for everyone, not just who has the bigger missiles. Ed and Tracy want to see how their flying machines can become faster and faster, forever moving technology to new heights .

They want the world to better for those who will come after them. Not just a little bit better, but incredible. At times For All Mankind feels like a utopia. (It’s not because remember when I said “guns in space”?) But in comparison, our timeline can feel like a dystopia. I want a higher bar for our leaders beyond “not an insane fascist.”

The episode ends with a look up in the sky as the camera races through the cosmos. As a tease for what’s to come, we see someone step foot on Mars. And the year is 1995. We are in 2022. Imagine what we could do.

Austin’s Top 10 Episodes of 2021
1) For All Mankind, “The Grey”
2) 30 Coins, “Cobwebs”
3) It’s a Sin, “Episode 6”
4) Succession, “Too Much Birthday”
5) Dickinson, “Split the lark”
6) Squid Game, “Gganbu”
7) Maid, “Dollar Store”
8) Evil, “E is for Elevator”
9) The White Lotus, “The Lotus-Eaters”
10) Hacks, “There is No Line”

Austin’s Runner-Ups

The Big Leap, “I Want You Back”
Blindspotting, “Bride or Die”
Call My Agent, “Sigourney”
Dave, “Ad Man”
David Makes Man, “Hurston”
Dead Pixels, “Healthy Balance”
Dickinson, “I’m Nobody! Who are you?”; “This is my letter to the World”; “This was a Poet -“
The Expanse, “Nemesis Games”
Evil, “B is for Brain”; “C is for Cannibal”
The Good Fight, “And the Détente Had an End…”
The Great British Bake-Off, “Patisserie Week”
Hacks, “New Eyes”
How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast), “Everybody gets a second chance”
Inside No. 9, “Simon Says”
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, “Dee is Replaced by a Monkey”
Mythic Quest, “Backstory!”
Never Have I Ever, “…begged for forgiveness”
The Other Two, “Chase Gets Baptized”
Philly D.A., “You’re the Man Now”
Rick and Morty, “Mort Dinner Rick Andre”; “Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort”
Search Party, “The Shadows”
Sex Education, “Episode 1”
South Side, “The Election”
Squid Game, “Red Light, Green Light”
Station Eleven, “Wheel of Fire”
Succession, “Chiantishire”; “All the Bells Say”
Superstore, “Essential”
Survivor, “One Thing Left To Do…Win”
Ted Lasso, “Goodbye Earl”; “Headspace”
Ten Year Old Tom, “The Bassoon Incident / Ice Cream Money”
We Are Lady Parts, “Sparta”
The White Lotus, “Departures”
Yellowjackets, “Pilot”

Game Changer — “Sam Says”
(Season Four, Episode 1)

By Josh West

It’s that time again. Austin has finessed his friends to do his work for him. The man who thinks he is too good to watch quality shows like Too Hot To Handle Season Two, The Big Bang Theory season 36, or Transformers: Bumblebee Gets An Oil Change. Austin probably also thinks he’s too good to watch TV shows that don’t air on television! Which is why this year, just to spite him, my pick is a show that isn’t on a major streaming platform. The show I am talking about is Game Changer. So, let’s begin and the only way to begin is by beginning.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: I have seen the first few episodes of Too Hot to Handle Season Two. I continue to debate whether to finish the season. The rules just don’t make any sense.]

Game Changer is a game show on Dropout.tv. It’s a smaller streaming service comprised of improv based skits, various game shows, and a plethora of dungeon and dragons campaigns. Dropout is run by CH Media, the people who also make College Humor content, so you might recognize some familiar faces if you have seen any CH Originals on YouTube. 

One of the best episodes of Game Changer was the first episode of Season Four: “Sam Says.” The trick to Game Changer is that the contestants, most of whom are people with an improv background, come onto the show not knowing what game they will be playing and the must figure out the rules as they play. Sam Says is just a take on Simon Says, but with host Sam Reich’s name instead. The real fun of this show is the contestants. For this episode the first contestant is Brennan Lee Mulligan. Brennan is the dungeon master for most of the D&D shows on Dropout. He is great at impressions, improv, and is VERY competitive. The second contestant is Brennan’s fiancee, Isabella Rowland. Izzy is not as involved with Dropout as the other contestants but she has made several appearances and was even a player character in a campaign called The Seven. You never know what is going to come out of her mouth. Our last contestant is Lou Wilson. Lou has been a player character for many different D&D campaigns on Dropout and has been a contestant on Game Changer many times.

In this episode, the three contestants start at 25 points and lose points every time they mess up at “Sam Says.” What really makes this episode so great is the mixture of Brennan trying to “rule lawyer” his way out of losing points, Lou trying to keep his cool with a loose air horn floating around set, and Izzy unleashing buttholes on the world! One of my favorite parts is when Sam’s instructions are, “Say something we will have to bleep” and all of the contestants go with saying a curse word, or multiple curse words in Lou’s case. Before the round is over, Brennan realizes that since Dropout is a paid subscription service and the content on the platform is uncensored, curse words don’t need to be bleeped. I won’t ruin how they win that round, but all three contestants find a way to do what Sam says and it is fantastic. Other notable segments in this episode are “Sam says upset a producer,” “Sam says propose a visual effect,” “Sam says don’t flinch,” and “Sam says make an accurate prediction about the rest of the episode.”

Josh’s Top 10 Episodes of 2021
1) The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, “One World, One People”
2) The Sex Lives of College Girls, “Parents Weekend”
3) DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, “wvrdr_error_100 oest-of-th3-gs.gid30n not found”
4) Hawkeye, “Ronin”
5) Superman & Lois, “Holding the Wrench”
6) Game Changer, “Sam Says”
7) What If…?, “What If…the World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes?”
8) Loki, “Journey Into Mystery”
9) Game Changer, “Noise Boys”
10) DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, “Meat: The Legends”

Hacks, “1.69 Million”
(Season One, Episode 8)

By Sarah Staudt

(Spoilers for the whole season)

“Yeah, funny guy. Funny guy…So let me tell you all what’s going on here. He’s pretending to flirt with me. So I have two choices. I can, y’know, shoot him down and not play along, but then I’m a bad sport, and not funny, and a cold bitch etc etc, etc. and if I do that’s awkward, it’s going to be hard to win you back. Or, I do play along, which of course is easier, and then I’m sexualizing myself on his terms. That guy, wearing a pleather hoodie!

“So then my whole set becomes entirely about a stranger, who I find disgusting. Gosh, no matter how long you’re away, you come back and there’s always a Drew who’s gonna talk about your tits. Death, taxes, and this fucking guy…What would it take to get you to just stop?“

Deborah Vance, Hacks’ Joan Rivers-inspired fictional paragon of comedy, gives this speech at a small comedy club decades after she got her first gig there, after the owner of the club heckles her with jokes about roofies. She then calls Drew up to the stage, and offers him 1.69 million to give up his entire comedy career and never set foot in a comedy club again. “I can’t get rid of all of them, ladies” she says. “But I can get rid of one!” The offer of money is funny and biting – but it’s the speech itself that that gets her audience hanging on her every word.

Then, she walks to the parking lot, sees her sister (who stole her husband years before), who is asking for five minutes of her time to reconcile, and instead, Deborah almost runs her over with her car, shouting “never forgive, never forget, baby!” So we’re dealing with a complicated lady.

Hacks, fundamentally, is about what women owe to each other. We in finally in a generation where our legends in comedy, drama, politics, and many other fields are finally not all straight white men. But to get there, those same legends have often had to tear through a thicket of abuse and humiliation. By doing so, they’ve started to pave the way for some of us to come along the road behind them with a slightly less thorny thicket.

What do we owe them? And what do they owe us? Ava, the second lead of the show, is a young out of work comedy writer who is repulsed by the idea of working for Deborah, an aging insult comic, a staple of the Vegas comedy circuit with a nightly show and lots of jokes about plastic surgery and buffet food. Her major claim to fame is that she burned down her ex-husband’s house after he cheated on her with Deborah’s sister – something that turns out to not even be true. Ava and Deborah hate each other. Ava is entitled and disdainful, and Deborah is just plain crazy, an abusive boss who forces Ava to go track down an antique pepper shaker in the Vegas desert, mocks her appearance and life choices, and is just generally unpleasant. Over time, though, they forge a friendship, and Ava helps Deborah write a new set – one about her life, the things that were hard, and the things she overcame.

If Hacks were only about Ava learning to appreciate the reasons Deborah is the way she is, and find some gratitude for the work that she did that allows Ava to have the career she is trying to have, it would be a fine show covering relatively well-trod ground – very Devil Wears Prada.

But it’s much, much, better than that, because it’s also about what Deborah owes to Ava. And the answer the show gives is not a traditional story about the need for mentorship or imparting wisdom to a younger generation. Deborah doesn’t owe Ava any of that. Ava’s doing basically fine in her career, though she’s in a lull – and Ava wouldn’t take it even if it was offered.

Instead, the show says, we owe each other our real stories. Our true selves. As we fight for success and fulfillment, women are forced to wear masks – and it’s very easy to eventually forget we’re even wearing them. We become these lesser versions of ourselves, these cliches. Over time, they can protect us from some of the pain that is inflicted on us by all of the attacks that come our way because of our identity. Deborah is surrounded by an entire staff she has hand-picked to help her avoid anything that might remind her of her real feelings. She has a literal basement full of her real story, every tape and set she ever did – and she never looks at it. She’s chosen to lean in to the bitch boss persona – because it’s much easier than talking about her real life.

But as the show goes on, we start to hear about the hard things– about Deborah raising a toddler while on the road as a stand-up comedian, of being constantly harassed and belittled and minimized. But it’s never a sob story, because Ava and Deborah are funny – their job is to be funny, and they are talented and damn good at their jobs. And even the hardest parts of life can be funny – our true selves are better material than any persona could ever give us. And sometimes, they have real power – like the power to use 40 years of built up outrage and righteous indignation to finally put an asshole harasser in his place. And as Deborah, with Ava’s help, starts to take off her mask, the world around her finally gets to see the power of who she really is. And everyone benefits from that truth. By the end of the season, we’ll see Deborah traveling to New York for Ava’s father’s funeral, see Ava opening up about her lonely childhood and why she is doing comedy…a million things that are just good for these characters, good for human beings. My favorite episode of the show is actually the follow-up to this one, “Interview”, where we start to see Ava’s reaction to what happens in this episode. But this one is the turning point for these characters, and the best example of the powerful story Hacks is telling about how we owe each other our true selves.

Sarah’s Top 10 Episodes of 2021
1) Succession, “Too Much Birthday”
2) Hacks, “Interview”
3) The White Lotus, “The Lotus-Eaters”
4) For All Mankind, “The Grey”
5) Midnight Mass, “Book VII: Revelations”
6) Awkwafina is Nora from Queens, “Home”
7) Evil, “E is for Elevator”
8) Survivor, “There’s Gonna Be Blood”
9) We Are Lady Parts, “Sparta”
10) The Wheel of Time, “Shadow’s Waiting”

How To with John Wilson, “How to Invest in Real Estate”
(Season Two, Episode 1)

By Keith Jackson

I first learned about How To through John Wilson’s appearance on Conan O’Brien’s podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend. The way they described the series when talking about it, and Wilson’s tone of voice recalled a series I loved, Nathan For You. Lo and behold, at the end of the first episode I notice the vanity card for Nathan Fielder’s Blow Out Productions, and it is just so fitting. The show (and, specifically, S2E1) has that same air of awkwardness, and Wilson’s stilted narration carries with it that similar characterization as Nathan’s in Nathan For You, but in a way that doesn’t at all feel like a retread.

The writing and editing of this show (and, in this case, S2E1) are what sets it apart. The timing of specifically curated shots from around New York City and elsewhere to Wilson’s voice over depicts these wonderful metaphoric ideas that are so cleverly done – sometimes “haha” clever, sometimes “grimace emoji” clever. And the direction each episode takes, such as in S2E1, is akin to the best Simpsons episodes, where each turn in the story makes sense moment-to-moment but at the end you think back, “how did this episode about splitting a check at a restaurant end up at a referee meeting?”, or, “why is an episode about making risotto so foreboding?”.

It’s hilarious, cringey but in a fun way, kind of existentially baffling(?), uncomfortable at times, even a little depressing, and yet can also be oddly uplifting. It’s a lot. Also S2E1 is great and I didn’t just watch it after writing those first two paragraphs to make this count for this year (but also, what are “years” anymore?).

Keith’s Top 10 Episodes of 2021
1) The Great British Bake-Off, “Patisserie Week”
2) I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, “They said that to me at a dinner.”
3) I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, “They have a cake shop there Susan where the cakes just look stunning.”
4) Hawkeye, “Echoes”
5) Mare of Easttown, “Illusions”
6) WandaVision, “We Interrupt This Program”
7) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, “COVID-19 vaccine and vaccine hesistancy”
8) How To with John Wilson, “How to Invest in Real Estate”
9) Dug Days, “Puppies”
10) Star Wars: Visions, “The Elder”

Lucifer, “Bloody Celestial Karaoke Jam”
(Season Five, Episode 10)

By Pedro Aubry

Of course, it’s under 28 hours from the New Year, weeks after the deadline for this article, and I’m finally getting around to writing this article. I don’t even know if I’ll finish it in time. I’m actually supposed to be writing about The Grand Tour today but going on a limb and assume Lucifer is still not taken and I think it would be a shame if I let its musical episode just fade into history.

For anyone unfamiliar, Lucifer is a FOX/Netflix original series which began in 2016 based on characters created by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth and Mike Dringenberg for various DC comics (e.g. The Sandman); it follows the titular Lucifer Morningstar in present-day Los Angeles as he teams up with the lovely Detective Chloe Decker and they solve crimes (all while looking very dashing in his guy-liner, with his very posh accent, and his lovely singing voice, which we’ll get back to later). It’s broadly a procedural, with the usual cast of LAPD folks, some other celestials including Lucy’s brother Amenadiel, and his ever-helpful therapist, and as the show develops you have your standard mix of layers including the mystery (usually murder) of the week, the season arc often with a Big Bad, and the series arc usually revolving around Lucifer’s identity and other celestial stuff. What’s great is the show seems to get more and more self-aware, never quite breaking that fourth wall but definitely telling the audience they know they’re in a police procedural, and I think it adds something because you really can’t take it that seriously. Enter the musical episode and the topic of the day, “Bloody Celestial Karaoke Jam.”

As any show that’s not too serious and yet takes itself seriously enough to mean anything, it has to have a musical episode. It’s known as a happy accident that Tom Ellis (who plays Lucifer) is an excellent singer, and throughout the series they give him plenty of opportunities to grace us with his musical gift. So when the musical episode started, I was generally alright with it, but also I couldn’t help to think, “Is this really necessary? Does every show really need one of these?” The answer, to the former at least, is yes, yes it is. They made it organically part of the story, everyone breaking out in song and dance, and it made as much sense as it needed to. We get to see our other non-Lucifer friends joining in the song and dance for once. The choice of music is on point, and generally it was a very enjoyable time.

I won’t say much more to avoid spoiling some larger series arcs, but I was so genuinely tickled by this I had to let the world know. I don’t even know if this is my favorite episode of the year – I’m still a few episodes out from the finale – but considering that I only threw the show on to try something in 4K and ended up sticking with it so long, I’d say give it a shot if you’re looking for a decent background show that doesn’t require a lot of investment.

Pedro’s Top 10 Episodes of 2021
1) For All Mankind, “The Gray”
2) For All Mankind, “Triage”
3) For All Mankind, “And Here’s To You”
4) Lucifer, “Bloody Celestial Karaoke Jam”
5) Squid Game, “Gganbu”
6) The Grand Tour, “Carnage a Trois”
7) Calls, “Pedro Across the Street”
8) The Stand, “The Stand”
9) The Stand, “The Circle Closes”
10) It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, “The Gang Replaces Dee With a Monkey”

Move to Heaven, “Episode 5”
(Season One, Episode 5)

By Claudia Johnson

There are a plethora of stories in different mediums about death. Some focus on the physical and mental pain regarding one’s final moments, others focus on the fear associated with the unknown of the afterlife and quite a few focus on the emotional impact for those left behind. A show that takes a unique approach to this topic is Move to Heaven. The 10 episode South Korean drama follows the Move to Heaven trauma cleaners as they clean up the remnants of a deceased’s life. Each episode focuses on a different person whose life is reduced to what can fit in a box. The overarching storyline follows Geu-Ru, a young man with Aspergers, who at one time worked with his father but upon his father’s death his uncle, Sang-Gu, appears and is now his guardian. Both work together, along with Geu-Ru’s friend and neighbor Na-Mu, to assemble the life story of the dead while working through their own losses, traumas and regrets in life.

I must say I enjoyed every episode, so it was difficult for me to choose one to focus on. Just as I thought an episode would be good to profile, I would think of a scene in a different episode and thought it should be included as well. But the episode that is top of mind is “Episode 5”. This magnificent episode centered on a topic that is not normally seen in K-Dramas. The trio are called to clean out the room of Jung Soo Hyun, a doctor who was killed by a man when saving the life of a nurse. This man is heralded as a hero, but when cleaning the man’s room everything seems sterile and his parents detached. Among the remnants the team discovers a letter the doctor was going to deliver to his loved one, which is destroyed by Soo Hyun’s father. The episode follows the trio in their pursuit to identify the man’s love through what was left behind, so they can deliver the life box. Through flashbacks the show paints a more complete picture of a life taken too soon, a relationship seen as taboo, the pressure from family that don’t approve of the relationship and the heartbreak of not following one’s desires until your time is up.

It was a reminder that there is such a thing as too late. That being successful and doing everything in a way that family or society deems acceptable can still leave a person hollow. That living for tomorrow is not a guarantee for anyone. We can die at any moment, so what is left of the hopes of the dead?

Move to Heaven is an emotionally tugging show that focuses on many topics including regret, familial bonds, LGBTQ+, deported Korean American adoptees, suicide, developmental disorder, mourning and that doesn’t cover all of it. Though there are emotionally heavy topics in every episode there is also comedy and the beauty and fun of life shown throughout. A reminder that though death and sadness are an enviable guarantee of life, we also have joyful moments.

If you are looking for a well written and thoughtful show or if you are discovering foreign media I highly recommend Move to Heaven. Please take the time to read the subtitles and not switch it to an English dub. Also, the series is inspired by the essay book “Things That are Left Behind” by Kim Sae-Byeol, a trauma cleaner.

Claudia’s Top 10 Episodes of 2021
1) Move to Heaven, “Episode 8”
2) Bad Buddy, “Episode 5”
3) Arcane, “The Boy Saviour”
4) Attack on Titan, “Declaration of War”
5) Happiness, “Episode 11”
6) Squid Game, “VIPs”
7) Clickbait, “The Answer”
8) Tokyo Revengers, “Once Upon a Time”
9) Papa & Daddy, “Family Portrait”
10) Word of Honor, “Episode 34”

Only Murders in the Building, “The Boy in 6B”
(Season One, Episode 7)

By Andrew J. Rostan

By the seventh episode of Only Murders in the Building, the viewer could think they have a grip on Teddy Dimas (the wonderful Nathan Lane), the delicatessen magnate who keeps getting enticed by Oliver Putnam (Martin Short) into investing in his often disastrous enterprises. Teddy’s just another of the fun, eccentric, but one-dimensional figures at the Arconia where his fellow tenants Oliver, Charles, and Mabel are investigating a murder and since it’s 2021, making a podcast about the adventure. Teddy’s grown son Theo (James Caverly) is even less than one-dimensional; he’s a nonentity, glimpsed at random without a single line of dialogue.

All of the above is why it’s so jarring when, after over three hours focused on our hapless but indefatigable trio of leads, “The Boy From 6B” begins with a flashback to Theo as a boy, crawling under a coffee table while Teddy blissfully listens to the original cast recording of Carousel. Moreover, the episode’s sound has gone out.

Theo is deaf.

Teddy, who knows ASL quite well, expresses a wish his son could hear this beauty, and he tries. He puts high-quality headphones on Theo and starts Rodgers and Hammerstein’s masterpiece “Soliloquy,” a song sung by a man envisioning his unborn child. Of course, Theo can’t hear it. And Teddy presses the headphones so tight that the boy scrunches and tears up in pain, unable to even hear his father sing the lyrics…

Like a tree he’ll grow with his head held high and his feet planted firm on the ground.

And you won’t see nobody dare to try to toss him or boss him around

No pot-bellied, baggy-eyed bully will toss him around!

Teddy finally sees his child’s agony. He stops. Eyes full of a welling mixture of desperation, love, and guilt, he embraces Theo, repeating “I’m sorry.”

Those watching the show hear nothing.

It’s one of the most arresting, heart-stopping moments of TV I’ve ever seen.

For the rest of the episode, nothing will be heard as the story unfolds through Theo’s eyes, both as he’s watching the “detectives” make a potential breakthrough in their case and in flashbacks to ten years earlier, when he and Teddy team up on an adventure of their own. It’s one which sees Teddy sometimes be a pot-bellied, baggy-eyed bully tossing his son around, but it’s also a scheme in which the two lonely men rely on and protect each other. But at the same time, Theo also finds an unexpected new acquaintance, feels the pangs of a major crush, and accidentally sets in motion events that affect the grand narrative of the entire show.

It’s a lot to take in, and it would be a startling achievement on a pure surface level alone. Cherien Dabis’s direction of “The Boy From 6B” is pristine and clever, balancing out the seriousness of the tale with moments of levity and plausible reasons to show the other characters not making noise (particularly a sequence with a Scrabble game), and James Caverly makes the entire episode work with a performance so empathetic that even when Theo commits a misdeed, we feel for him and strive to understand more about him.

However, it is the thematic drive of the episode and how it fits into the show’s overall narrative that push a great half-hour of television into the stratosphere. Writers Stephen Markley and Ben Philippe, working within the frame created by Steve Martin and John Hoffman, draw out how for the show so far, everyone else has been framed through the perspective of Charles, Mabel, and Oliver as suspects, sources of help, obstacles, and potential love interests, never as people who have lives outside of their construction. “The Boy From 6B,” in shifting this perspective, does more than serve as a stark reminder that other human beings are not mere characters in the stories we tell ourselves, the dramas we create…it observed the three protagonists themselves by making the story not about them, and sharply demonstrates how they are trying to sublimate unwanted, undesired feelings of longing and loneliness into their investigation, and in doing so only make those feelings grow to a point where they, as happened with Theo, might hit a fever-pitched point of no return. That the program ultimately ends with the mystery solved and our heroes in different, more self-aware states than they were when it began, states where the lives they envisioned for themselves are closer to reality, feels more satisfying given these events.

If the best of modern episodic television is based around serialized narrative, then you could hardly ask for a better individual episode of anything in its stylistic daring and smart, emotional construction. This is the model to strive for, even if it seems as hard as writing a song as great as peak Rodgers and Hammerstein.

(And on a final note, praise should be given to Short, Martin, and Selena Gomez, who never made a bad move all season and in this one handle the silent acting with aplomb.)

Andrew’s Top 10 Episodes of 2021
1) Ted Lasso, “No Weddings and a Funeral”
2) Only Murders in the Building, “The Boy in 6B”
3) Loki, “The Nexus Event”
4) WandaVision, “Previously On”
5) I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, “Everyone just needs to be more in the moment.”
6) Top Chef: Portland, “Stumptown, U.S.A.”
7) Mythic Quest, “TBD”
8) Ted Lasso, “Headspace”
9) Only Murders in the Building, “Fan Fiction”
10) Loki, “For All Time. Always.”

The Other Two, “Chase Gets Baptized”
(Season Two, Episode 5)

By Mike Gospel

Have you ever seen Mad Men? Holy smokes, that show is incredible. 2021 was a huge year for television for me. Specifically because it’s the year in which I finally “discovered” Mad Men and watched it all the way through. And I may be the first to say this, but by god, that show is very good. But my year of discovering television shows from years past didn’t end with Mad Men. 2021 also brought me the discovery of HGTV’s Rock the Block, HBO’s How To with John Wilson, and a continuation of my 2020 obsession, Survivor. But my favorite “discovery” of this year happened at the perfect time–right before its second season was released on HBO Max. And that show is The Other Two.

If you’re not in the know, The Other Two is a comedy series that follows the two older siblings of the latest “Justin Bieber-type” pop star, ChaseDreams (Case Walker). The midwestern kid is flung into stardom overnight, and we follow “the other two” siblings, Brooke and Cary Dubek (played expertly by Heléne York and Drew Tarver) and their day-to-day struggles trying to “make it” in New York City as millennials. Filling out the rest of the family is Chase’s manager Streeter and the kids’ mother Pat, played respectively by Wet Hot American Summer icons and modern comedy legends Ken Marino and Molly Shannon. Season One premiered on Comedy Central in 2019, and its second season premiered earlier this year, on HBO.

I first became aware of the show through the many comedy podcasts I listen to. Co-star Drew Tarver is a regular on Comedy Bang Bang and is part of the unparalleled improv group Big Grande and their truly, artfully, perfectly hilarious podcast Teacher’s Lounge (I do improv comedy in Chicago and am a bit of an improv nerd, if you couldn’t tell). So I was intrigued and wanted to watch the show but “just never got around to it.” Then, when HBO released its new season, I saw that the first season was also included, so what a perfect opportunity to start binge-watching!

It was probably only two or three minutes into the first episode when I experienced the same excitement I felt back in high school when I discovered Arrested Development. The “Goldilocks” feeling that this show was “just right” for me. Maybe even that it’s the perfect show for my whole Millennial generation. It’s sharp, satirical, heartfelt, zany, and they are never “punching down.” To quote another improv-ism, the show’s writers are always using the “top of their intelligence” to produce a unique TV experience. To all the show’s writers, and especially its creators Chris Kelly and Sara Schneider (both alumni of SNL): Thank you for making such a perfect TV show.

Ok, enough jibber-jabber. On to the episode I’ve selected to highlight from 2021: “Chase Gets Baptized.” 

The story of Season Two shows Chase’s life as a famous singer–which includes exactly zero actual singing. He spends his time simply “being famous.” Brooke has since become his co-manager alongside Streeter, and the two insist that Chase forward his career by being baptized into a church whose members are influencers, actors, and Hollywood elite. The “church” is called Christsong and is situated in and around the rooftop pool at the Soho House. Everyone is beautiful, drinking cocktails, hitting a beach ball that says “Pray” on it, and a live band is playing a dance-pop song whose chorus repeats “Jesus fucking slays.”

This setup alone is enough to make this my favorite episode of the year, and the episode is also something of a “bottle episode” taking place almost entirely at this single church event and after-party. Except for one quick joke, Molly Shannon is sadly absent, because Pat has now become the number 1 daytime TV host a la Ellen or Oprah and is busy as hell. But the rest of the gang is all together throughout the whole episode.

Chase is eventually baptized in the swimming pool by a tattooed douchebag “pastor” named Jax Dag, and is welcomed to the VIP after-party. Naturally, the titular “other two” and Streeter also want to attend the after-party and have been swept up into the lavish lifestyle at the trendy “church,” so they volunteer to get baptized as well. This unlocks the situations that drive the rest of the episode’s plot. Each character has their own mini-journey at the after-party, where they all begin to reckon with what being a member of the church would actually require them to do. Brooke and Cary find out the church is both anti-woman and anti-gay, but because they want to continue living the sweet life, Brooke seeks out “permission” from other women that it’s ok to be part of a misogynistic church if it makes her happy. And Cary (who is gay) does the same–by going on Grindr to find other gay men at the Soho House to ask them if they think it’s ok to be part of an anti-gay church in order to forward his acting career.

They’re all very funny threads, but boy oh boy, does Ken Marino shine. After encountering Jax Dag, he feels a rivalry with him, and any time he appears on screen, he has added new hand-drawn Sharpie tattoos to his chest and arms, in an attempt to mimic the gross pastor. He’s being the Ken-Marinoiest Ken Marino character you’ve ever seen. 2021 was also the year I discovered his excellent Bachelor parody show, Burning Love, and this episode allows him to do his “pathetic asshole but somehow lovable teddy bear” thing he did so well as Mark Orlando in Burning Love (or really as any character in his oeuvre). But I’ve already spoiled plenty, so I’ll stop that and just let you watch the damn show.

Although, to spoil just a little bit more… The family getting baptized serves as a conduit for three different jokes that I’d classify as “fun background details.” Similar to the recurring joke in BoJack Horseman where anytime a banner is made for an event, it is printed with errors or miscommunications (“Happy Birthday Diane And Use A Pretty Font”).

1.    As a fun throw-away joke in Season 1, we find out Streeter’s last name is Peters, and in his baptism scene, we hear Jax Dag say his full name: Streeter Peter Peters.

2.    Throughout the remainder of the episode, the four people who were baptized have frizzy hair and the exact same cowlick from having been submerged in pool water.

3.    Promised a relaxing trip to Mykonos with her new hot model girlfriends (one of whom is named Seinfeld), Brooke googles “Mykonos how look,” as another in a series of jokes revolving around web search syntax. My favorite of these is probably from Season One when Brooke desires a change in career and searches “Interior designer how become.”

Of course the actual plot and dialogue of the show are insanely funny and rewarding, but it’s these little payoffs that make this show feel truly special to me. They’re indicators of the care and commitment of the show’s creative team. The writers walk the tightrope between creating wacky situations like this insane church baptism while also centering other episodes around loss or family or the pressure of fame, yet every episode is a hilarious half hour of entertainment.  And the actors perform everything with such commitment; whether they’re delivering a quick offhanded joke or tearfully saying their dad froze to death on the roof of their house.

The season ends in a very fun place with lots of opportunities for new story arcs in the future, and excitingly, Season Three has been announced! My hope is that the audience will continue to grow so they can keep making the show, and HBO seems like a perfect place for that to happen. I’m very optimistic for the show’s continued success, and for the opportunity to keep recommending it to people when they ask, “Hey–you do comedy. What is the funniest TV show that I should watch?” The Other Two gets a perfect 10/10 100% A+ from me.

And finally, because I have 11 shows in my top 10 for the year, I’ll leave out The Other Two from the list since I just rambled on and on about it. Which affords me the delightful opportunity to title my list:

Mike’s Other Ten That Aren’t The Other Two
1) Squid Game, “Gganbu”
2) Survivor, “Baby with a Machine Gun”
3) WandaVision, “Filmed Before a Live Studio Audience”
4) The White Lotus, “Departures”
5) Mare of Easttown, “Sacrament”
6) Ted Lasso, “Man City”
7) Hacks, “I Think She Will”
8) pen15, “Home”
9) I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, “Everyone just needs to be more in the moment.”
10) Schmigadoon!, “Schmigadoon!”

Rutherford Falls, “Terry Thomas”
(Season One, Episode 4)

By Molly Raker

This show appeared out of nowhere for me on Peacock. I didn’t know about it until all the episodes dropped on Peacock and I got served a banner on Roku. (Thanks Roku!) I am so glad I discovered it and I hope if you haven’t seen it already you get Peacock for $5 for one month to watch all the episodes. There is a Season Two coming so catch up. 

This season had wonderful and powerful episodes but my favorite was “Terry Thomas”, where the it focuses more on my favorite character Terry Thomas, if you couldn’t guess, played by Michael Greyeyes. We discovered more on his life and how he got to his values today, all while being interviewed for a podcast where his values are questioned as being contradictory. Terry gives an inspiring speech (watch it here) on his discovering of how power is a zero sum game. This show grounds itself in the Indigenous people of a small town and contrast it with a character on whose “family” discovered this town, which I just love to see.  

My favorite is the end of the episode where you think Terry may have lost, but pulls a fast one to take on a multiple million-dollar corporation. There isn’t a character in Rutherford Falls that I am not interested in which usually happens in some 30-minute comedies, so that keeps me wanting more. 

Molly’s Top 10 Episodes of 2021

1) Rutherford Falls, “Terry Thomas”
2) Hacks, “New Eyes”
3) Loki, “Journey Into Mystery”
4) Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “PB & J”
5) Only Murders in the Building, “The Boy from 6B”
6) Succession, “All the Bells Say”
7) Ted Lasso, “Carol of Bells”
8) Insecure, “Chillin’, Okay?!”
9) Never Have I Ever, “…begged for forgiveness”
10) The Sex Lives of College Girls, “Parents Weekend”

Honorable Mention to Ben Barnes in “Show Me Who You Are” episode of Shadow and Bone, he absolutely crushed that role but just overall the episodes I couldn’t include in my top 10. Gotta love the GOAT. 

Shadow and Bone, “No Mourners”
(Season One, Episode 8)

By Sara Rust

Have you ever watched a knock off version of a popular series? A cartoon version of Sabrina the Teenage Witch? The Dollar Store version of Thumbelina? That’s what the Netflix series Shadow and Bone is for anyone who’s read the Grishaverse book series by Leigh Bardugo.

They’ve bastardized the books by combining five books’ worth of characters who never met, into a TV show. That being said, the TV show is 10x better than the books in many ways. The first three books of the series are important but not terribly action packed. The TV show makes up for that by combining all of the action into eight episodes. I chose this episode because it tied up loose ends and has amazing special effects. The diverse cast of characters travel into the ‘Fold’ a dark, mysterious land full of monsters.

Most people don’t live through a trip through the Fold, but this team has Sankta Alina, the Sun Summoner. She’s gone there to destroy the Fold but General Kirigin has other plans. Where Alina can summon light, he can summon darkness. His plan to control Alina goes awry, her friends help her defeat him (or so they think) and they all continue on to prepare for their journeys back to their respective countries. The only problem is that the General isn’t dead and he isn’t happy. It’s a great end to the season and a wonderful setup to the second season that’s due to be released in 2022. What more can you ask for in a tv show then Ben Barnes, and a world full of magic? 

Sara’s Top 10 Episodes of 2021

1) Ted Lasso, “Carol of the Bells”
2) Saturday Night Live, “Jason Sudeikis”
3) The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, “Highway to Vail”
4) And Just Like That, “Hello, It’s Me”
5) Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “The Take Back”
6) Shadow and Bone, “Show Me Who You Are”
7) Superstore, “All Sales Final”
8) You, “Into the Woods”
9) The Great British Bake-Off, “Free Form Week”
10) The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, “New Year, Old Grudges”

Squid Game, “Red Light, Green Light”
(Season One, Episode 1)

By Ari Meixner

What is there to say about Squid Game that *the discourse* hasn’t already beaten to death? Even in my “I deleted Twitter in 2016” ivory tower, I couldn’t escape the memes, hot takes, think pieces, and big-budget YouTube recreations by the likes of Mr. Beast and James Charles. Yet, Squid Game hooked me in a way that no other TV show did this year.

There is so much to discuss when it comes to Squid Game: the way the Netflix reports streaming numbers; an anticapitalist Korean drama being the most talked-about show of the year; how to consume international media as an American; the show’s relationship to race, gender, and sexuality in international context….but as a Libra, I will stick to what I know best and what truly stuck with me about this show; how damn good the whole thing looked.

In my opinion, one of the things that made Squid Game immediately so iconic was the stunning use of imagery. Think about the dizzying, candy-colored, M.C. Escher stairs, the green numbered track jackets getting more worn as the show moved forward, the mysterious guards with digital shapes, and, of course, the elaborate stadiums created for each of the deadly games contestants were set to play. However, no visual set-piece was nearly as iconic as the giant little-girl-robot-turned-machine-gun from, “Red Light Green Light.” In fact, she was so iconic, that I saw not one, not two, but three drag queens dress as her in their Halloween shows.

You might be horrified that my analysis of an overtly political human horror story created out of Hwang Dong-hyuk’s own personal tragedy in the shadow of the 2008 financial crisis can be summed up as, “holy shit this show looks iconic.” However, after two years of living through our phones, watching in horror as images of mass death, state-fueled violence, national conspiracy theories, and political coups zip through our social media feeds, the images 

I was once told by my high school history teacher that one of the reasons why so many Americans protested the Vietnam War was because it was the first American war to be shown on television. In the ten years since, I have not fact-checked that and admittedly, the Vietnam War is not something I know a whole lot about, but it feels true. Similarly, the pandemic has stripped away the blinders many Americans were wearing and we can now watch the horrifying effects of capitalism in our society happening in front of our eyes in real time. Squid Game is not just a phenomenon because of the engrossing plot or masterful acting or scores of people trying to figure out what in the hell the real-life Squid Game is, but because it provides us with curated images that reflect the chaos and despair that Americans are feeling on a day-to-day basis. 

Ari’s Top 10 Episodes of 2021
1) I Think I Should Leave with Tim Robinson, “I need a wet paper towel”
2) Ted Lasso, “Beard After Hours”
3) Superstore, “All Sales Final”
4) Squid Game, “Gganbu”
5) Bob’s Burgers, “Driving Big Dummy”
6) WandaVision, “Now in Color”
7) Ted Lasso, “Carol of the Bells”
8) The Great British Bake-Off, “Patisserie Week”
9) Loki, “The Nexus Event”
10) Love Island, “Episode 39”

11) Taste the Nation, “Happy Challah Days”

Star Trek: Lower Decks, “Wej Duj”
(Season Two, Episode 9)

By Robbie Mehling

Kirk and Spock in the Original Series. Picard and Riker in Next Generation. Janeway in Voyager. Sisko in Deep Space Nine. Throughout almost every iteration of Star Trek since its premiere in 1966, the show has focused on the bridge crew as the main drivers of its shows – the valiant captain, the brave first officer, and the commendable senior officers of the ship. Yet, despite ships consisting of hundreds, if not thousands of crew, and set in a Federation that is governed by a system of equality – dare, I say, a socialist future –  non-senior crew are hardly mentioned except in one off episodes where they are put into situations which allow our main characters to come in and save the day. 

Star Trek: The Next Generation had an episode, “Lower Decks”, in its seventh season that focused on some junior crewmen and this was done again somewhat in Voyager, Season Six, “Good Shepherd”. Star Trek: Lower Decks, the series, takes this idea and expands upon it, not just giving us an episode of junior crewmen, but a main cast of them through two seasons of the show with a third on the way. Not to say the senior officers aren’t present or even don’t play a role but the show introduces us to Bradward Boimler, Mariner Beckett, Sam Rutherford, and D’Vana Tendi as our main cast- ensigns all. 

In Season Two, Episode 9 of Star Trek Lower Decks, “Wej Duj” our intrepid crew of the USS Cerritos have some downtime while in warp but soon find themselves once again find themselves entangled with a Pakled warship, which has been a running plot line throughout the second season. What makes this episode special, however, is not only do we get to continue to follow our main cast of lower deckers on the federation starship, we get a chance to explore to the lower decks of a Klingon Bird-of-Prey, a Vulcan science vessel, the Pakled ship “Pakled,” and Borg Cube 90182. It’s neat and truly a key ethos of Star Trek to see the difference in cultures in these civilizations and how they compare to each other. The logic and lack of emotions of the Vulcans, The bloodlust of the Klingons. And while these scenes work so well on their own, the potential is set for these crews to be expanded upon further. 

Fun fact: “Wej Duj” is Klingon for “three ships.” 

As a whole, Star Trek: Lower Decks occupies an interesting place in the pantheon of Trek shows, a straight-up comedy that laughs at aspects of the franchise and yet also serves as a love letter to all that has come before it. Like any new “meta” show, references abound and yet, prior deep knowledge of over 50 years of programming is in no way required. It’s frankly just a unique and interesting show that does what no Star Trek has attempted before and I can’t recommend it enough.

A show about the junior crew, the low person on the ship, the worker. Lower Deckers of the Federation unite. We have nothing to lose but our chains.

Robbie’s Top 10 Episodes of 2021
1) For All Mankind, “The Gray”
2) Star Trek: Lower Decks, “Wej Duj”
3) Ted Lasso, “Inverting the Pyramid of Success”
4) For All Mankind, “Triage”
5) Loki, “The Nexus Event”
6) Star Trek: Prodigy, “Terror Firma”
7) Midnight Mass, “Book VI: Acts of the Apostles”
8) Doctor Who, “War of the Sontarans”
9) Foundation, “The Emperor’s Peace”
10) Superstore, “All Sales Final”

Succession, “Chiantishire”
(Season Three, Episode 8)

By Erin Oechsel

“Sometimes I think, should I maybe listen to the things you say directly in my face when we’re at our most intimate?”

The heartbreakingly helpless words of the one and only Tom Wambsgans. It was difficult to pick just one episode in this masterclass of a season. The writing and the acting raised the bar on an already superb dramedy. The highlights for me were Tom & Shiv’s toxic relationship as well as Kendall and Logan’s. Both had me hanging on every word.

“I’m better than you. You’re, you know, I hate to say this because I love you, but you’re kind of evil.”

At the beginning of the Kendall/Logan dinner scene, the love and respect Logan has for his child comes through in his eyes. Logan remains unflinchingly fixed on his broken son who unknowingly has at last proven himself worthy.  Ultimately, Logan cannot stomach giving in to sentiment. He reminds Kendall of all the ‘shit’ he has cleaned up for him over the years as well as reminding him of the darkest moment of his life. The image of Kendall floating alone in the pool is a powerful metaphor. Kendall, one of the wealthiest men in the world, surrounded by his two children at a stunning villa in Italy, cannot connect to any of it. He has been drowning in grief, guilt and loneliness ever since his tragic accident.

This season was incredible. It was difficult to pick one episode, but this one set the stage for the epic finale. 

Erin’s Top 10 Episodes of 2021

1) Bo Burnham, “Inside”
2) Sex Education, “Episode 8”
3) Hacks, “1.69 Million”
4) Ted Lasso, “No Weddings and a Funeral”
5) I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, “They said that to me at a dinner”
6) What We Do in the Shadows, “The Prisoner”
7) Succession, “Chiantishire”
8) Sex, Love & Goop, “Would you do that?”
9) Grace & Frankie, “The Circumcision”
10) WandaVision, “Filmed Before a Live Studio Audience”

WandaVision, “Previously On”
(Season One, Episode 8)

By Victoria Leachman

Let’s begin this review with a hot take: the Marvel Cinematic Universe is overpopulated. I know. I sound like a full-on Thanos, but hear me out. With the rapid introduction of so many characters over the course of 10 years (something like 40 superheroes were in the final battle of Endgame alone), over half of them have taken a backseat in terms of character development. It’s hard to care about a character that’s just there to help fight the battle and make confused faces when the fully established heroes make the jokes and come up with the solutions. 

To remedy this, Marvel and Disney have ushered in a new era – the 6+ episode television arc. With this new form of storytelling (new in terms of the MCU, that is), intriguing yet underbaked characters finally get their due. It was a huge risk to break the first glass bottle on the Good Ship WandaVision. Wanda Maximoff and The Vision were two characters that were, frankly, kind of dull. She was moody (for good reason), he was bland. But by the end of the series, I can honestly say that Wanda is a Top 5 favorite character and Vision is giving heavyweights like Thor and Peter Parker a run for their money in the charm department. 

*SPOILERS AHEAD* In the penultimate episode, “Previously On,” we get a peek behind the curtain that Wanda has shakily but vehemently maintained. Up to this point, Wanda has had all the elements of a (literal) sitcom wife: a supportive and loving husband, precocious twin boys with their own supernatural gifts, and a bestie in her neighbor Agnes. Only we learn at the top of the episode that Agnes is really Agatha Harkness, a fellow witch out to absorb the powers Wanda has yet to fully harness within herself. Agatha proceeds to take Wanda on a stroll down Traumatic Memory Lane. We now understand why her life these last few days has been playing out like a variety of classic sitcoms: growing up in Sokovia, she and her family learned English by watching DVDs from Dick Van Dyke to Malcolm in the Middle.

The night her parents were killed in a bombing. Her heartache in the immediate aftermath of the Ultron battle. Finding comfort in Vision’s friendship. S.W.O.R.D. agents dismantling the love of her life’s body after she returned from the Blip. Wanda has survived so much tragedy, it’s no wonder she does what she does next: in a state of overwhelming grief, Wanda inadvertently creates the Hex. Up until now, it seemed that someone else had done this to her, but alas, that’s not the case. In addition to this revelation comes an arguably bigger one, one that Agatha astutely points out: the Mind Stone – the link between Wanda and Vision, the energy that seemingly created the both of them – isn’t actually the source of Wanda’s powers, it only enhanced what had always been there. Wanda’s life wasn’t actually saved by a bomb malfunction when she was a girl; she willed the bomb not to detonate in the first place.

By episode’s end, her alias is finally–officially–established in the MCU. She is the Scarlet Witch, a sorceress with the immense ability to manipulate reality. For a character who was just kind of there in the movies, Marvel (and the incredible Elizabeth Olsen) couldn’t have done a better job illustrating why this character is a force to be reckoned with. In terms of pure storytelling, the show as a whole is one of the most clever and refreshing series I’ve watched all year, and certainly one of the most memorable installments in the MCU. I can’t wait to see where Wanda’s story goes from here.

Victoria’s Top 10 Episodes of 2021
1) Bo Burnham, “Inside”
2) WandaVision, “On a Very Special Episode…”
3) Only Murders in the Building, “Twist”
4) Ted Lasso, “Rainbow”
5) WandaVision, “We Interrupt This Program”
6) Mare of Easttown, “Illusions”
7) Ted Lasso, “Man City”
8) Maid, “Sky Blue”
9) Only Murders in the Building, “The Boy from 6B”
10) Hawkeye, “Echoes”

The White Lotus, “Arrivals”
(Season One, Episode 1)

By Dennis Sullivan

So let’s get the first thing out of the way. At face value, there isn’t anything about this show that should appeal to me or likely most viewers. Rich people at a resort dealing with the supposed drama of going on a vacation? Ugh. But I’m really glad I gave it a chance because wow, it became one of my absolute favorite shows in many years. It was part Agatha Christie mystery, part cringe comedy, part family drama, and part a dissection of how relationships can create a butterfly effect across a populace. A large endeavor for a show that only needed six episodes to tell its story, but man, what a ride. In my opinion, a large part of this success is derived from the opening episode. 

In the opening scene of the show, we learn two things: someone has died and they are very likely in the box we see getting carried off an airplane. We know one person that didn’t die (Shane), and then roll the opening credits. We don’t know what actually transpired, but the music of the opening credits alone suggests something amiss. But what exactly did go down?

Rewind one week. Everyone is arriving (very much alive) to the White Lotus, a vacation spot where everyone says they want to relax, but really can’t seem to do so. The episode jumps back and forth between Lani (a very pregnant staffer trying to hide it so she doesn’t get fired), the Mossbachers (a wealthy family checking in with two children and their daughter’s friend), Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge nailing the caricature she’s portraying), Belinda (a spa worker with bigger goals in life), Armond (the resort manager who isn’t getting paid enough for this shit), and finally Shane and his newlywed bride Rachel on her honeymoon. Red flags, any one?

Despite the ominous foreshadowing, the show is downright hilarious and finely straddles the line between drama and comedy. Even better is that all the characters seem familiar in a way. Some are nearly a trope, but still somehow remain very real. Creator Mike White does an exceptional job of establishing each character’s motivations quickly and building upon them with each scene and episode. 

Dennis’ Top 10 Episodes of 2021
1) Ted Lasso, “Inverting the Pyramid of Success”
2) The White Lotus, “The Lotus-Eaters”
3) Superstore, “All Sales Final”
4) How To with John Wilson, “How to Find a Spot”
5) WandaVision, “All-New Halloween Spooktacular!”
6) The Good Fight, “And the Clerk Had a Firm…”
7) What We Do in the Shadows, “The Wellness Center”
8) Squid Game, “A Fair World”
9) Loki, “For All Times. Always.”
10) Only Murders in the Building, “Double Time”

Word of Honor, “Episode 10”
(Season One, Episode 10)

By Tara Olivero

Let me set the scene: it’s my week off in March, and I am dog-sitting for family friends who have a giant projector wall in their basement, so I have to decide what to watch on the Big Screen. After some deliberation, I start this new drama that I have seen a minor bit of buzz about on Twitter, called Shan He Ling (山河令), or the English title: Word of Honor. Roughly nine or ten hours later, I’ve binged the first fourteen episodes and have to wait in immense desperation for the next episode to come out. One day later, the next episode does come out (I am still dog-sitting) and I realize I have to wait for the subtitles (@ the Viki team of volunteer subtitlers, you are the unsung heroes of my 2021). 

Desperate to know what happens next, I cave and watch a shitty-resolution version on YouTube that has no English subtitles, and simply try to guess what is going on. Does it work? Not really, but it does satisfy me on a basic plot-action level. Then I watch the subtitled episode the next day before having to repeat the agonizing cycle for the next set of episodes. 

When I tell you this drama had a chokehold on me, I am not kidding. I have seen the entire series at least four times since March. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so attached to fictional television characters. It is as though this drama was tailored to my very specific interests. A friend (who I strong-armed into watching the series with me, after my full second viewing) described this as “made for, and about, dramatic theatre kids.” And it is true. Immensely morally grey, queer protagonists? Political intrigue and backstabbing balanced with the found family trope? Epic martial arts battles in incredibly detailed historical costumes and wigs, but with absolutely terrible special effects? Word of Honor has it all! 

If you’ve never watched a wuxia drama (this is a specific type of historical Chinese drama that is based on specific martial arts tropes), it doesn’t even matter. Watch this show and you’ll quickly pick up on most of the standards of the genre.

ANYWAY— skipping forward to my actual discussion of the episode itself. 

The main plot of the show is: there’s a bunch of martial arts sects in the jianghu (the martial arts world), five of which hold the majority alliance and the most power. Behind the scenes, the main sect leaders are all concerned with this “glazed armor,” or these five pieces of glazed glass that, when combined together, will supposedly open an armory full of the world’s most prized martial arts techniques and secrets. Everyone wants the glazed armor, because the armory equals power. Outside of the jianghu (in the non-martial arts realm), Prince Jin also wants to get his hands on the glazed armor. And so does the Master of Ghost Valley, the sect full of “evil” criminals and the big-bads of the jianghu— all of whom essentially cosplay at being ghosts and demons, because as I mentioned, they are all dramatic theatre kids. 

Wen Kexing, one of our two protagonists, gets his hands on one of the pieces of glazed armor and (unbeknownst to other main protagonist Zhou Zishu) orders a bajillion copies made of the glass, which he then secretly scatters throughout the city. Why would he do such a thing??? He has no sect ties and is only an independent wanderer. Up until this point, Wen Kexing’s mostly just been mild-mannered Mr. Nice Poetry and Constant Flattery, and an immense, unceasing annoyance to Zhou Zishu. 

Wen Kexing seems amused by the chaos caused by the fake glazed armor, but it’s only in “Episode 10” when truly innocent lives are caught in the cross-fire that he sees, “Oh, my actions have consequences— and I do not like these consequences?” Zhou Zishu expresses his disappointment, the pair break up dramatically, and then— to confuse things even more— we finally get solid confirmation that (surprise!) Wen Kexing is actually the infamous Ghost Valley Master, in one of the most visually stunning scenes of the show. I’m talking: dutch angles. I’m talking: dramatic backlighting. I’m talking: striking red-and-green color scheme. I’m talking: murder that’s equal parts scary and sexy. We find out that Wen Kexing’s nickname is “Lunatic Wen,” and apparently for good reason. 

This scene in particular, especially juxtaposed against what had looked to be genuine remorse and regret earlier in the episode, only brings up more questions about what Wen Kexing’s real aim is. Because clearly he’s embedded himself within layers and layers of lies, but for what?? If you watch the whole drama, you’ll find out. OH, you’ll find out. If you have ten free minutes, I encourage you to watch the final scene of Episode 10, at least to get a taste of the dramatic aesthetic of this show— it’s here, on YouTube:

In conclusion, “Episode 10” is a bomb-ass episode even though it doesn’t have any of the flashy martial arts fights that some of the other episodes have, but it does have a lot of delicious monologues and building of tension and suspense that sets up moral conflicts key to the rest of the show. 

Every character in this show is a Shakespearean protagonist in their own mind, and none so more than Wen Kexing. I love him?? I love him. That’s all.

Tara’s Top 10 Episodes of 2021
1) Word of Honor, “Episode 10”
2) Word of Honor, “Episode 33”
3) Couple of Mirrors, “When the Gunshots Sounded”
4) Squid Game, “Red Light, Green Light”
5) Shadow and Bone, “The Making at the Heart of the World”
6) Ted Lasso, “Carol of the Bells”
7) WandaVision, “All-New Halloween Spook-tacular!”
8) Heaven’s Official Blessing, “Daily Life at the Puqi Temple”
9) Ted Lasso, “Do the Right-est Thing”
10) Squid Game, “Gganbu”

Honorable mentions: I’m sure What We Do in the Shadows would have made my list if I’d had time to watch it this year, which I did not. Big Brother probably also should have made the list because this season was goooood, but alas. 

You, “What is Love?”
(Season Three, Episode 10)

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Ryan seemed to forget the assignment of “Best Episodes of 2021” and managed to write a shit-post about a season he didn’t like. In his defense, he has only done this nine previous times.]

By Ryan Lugar

“And it did all the things we designed it to do
Now look at you, oh
Look at you, you, you
Unstoppable, watchable”

-Bo Burnham, Welcome to the Internet, probably singing about You Season Three

Caution: If you haven’t seen You Season Three then read cautiously because I will spoil the entire season. On the other hand, if you have no desire to endure 10 episodes of horrible television then read on because there will be (there will be?!?!) a Season Four.

Ugh, where to even begin. I’m a man who, hand up, really enjoyed Seasons One and Two. The acting was solid, the story was good and original, and as a viewer you were sucked in. It was two great seasons of binge television. Dare I say…better binging than any of the Stranger Things seasons, boom roasted Stranger Things. I bet you didn’t expect Stranger Things to catch a stray bullet, but it fits the theme of You Season Three…when in doubt, go for the kill.

The biggest red flag of this season should have been the writing. The show had over ten writers for ten episodes of television, with each episode being written by two writers, and zero pairs of writers doing more than one episode. So continuity is immediately out the window. That small piece of information or cliffhanger that has you coming back for more…doesn’t matter at all because it will not get readdressed.

Oh, and four different directors. Awesome. [EDITOR’S NOTE: Incredibly normal TV thing.]

You know a show has gone off the deep end when as a viewer you being to side with the psychopath stalker in regards to what is and isn’t “good”. Joe (psycho stalker) and his wife Love have moved into the suburbs to start fresh, yippee! They do this for no reason…besides killing Love’s brother and Love nearly being killed by Joe and her life only being spared because she was pregnant…so they’re solid as a rock.

You Season Three follows a simple code. If you are not Joe or Love, you’re either having sex with the main characters or being murdered by them. Every single one. That’s not suspenseful, it’s just stupid.

Joe and Love now live in a boujee neighborhood surrounded by influencers and tech moguls, but don’t you worry, every single person is a moron.

Joe, like clockwork, gets romantically involved with the attractive next door neighbor who is married to a tech mogul. Love, like clockwork, murders her. This is Episode 1.

Guess what? The tech mogul, who has access to every single video camera in the neighbor, can’t crack the case. Not only that, but his access to EVERY SINGLE VIDEO CAMERA is rarely addressed and he’s merely in the background. 

However, somehow in this mess of a television season, two stars were formed. Sherry and Cary Conrad, played by Shalita Grant and Travis Van Winkle. Sherry is an insufferable “momfluencer” and Cary is a wealthy founder of a supplement company aka a doucebag. Together…they are the power couple of the town. One thing (swinger foursome) leads to another (attempted murder and kidnapping) and Sherry and Cary find themselves trapped inside of Joe’s infamous prison box. This is when You Season Three shines. While Joe is off having an affair with his librarian coworker, and Love is off having an affair with the son of the widowed tech mogul, Sherry and Cary are trapped together. Their time in the box would have been the best season of the Real World.

Sherry and Cary are at each other’s throats the whole time while also being as politically correct as they could possibly be with each other, and the hilarity of the situation is comedic genius. The longer they are trapped together, the more intense their self-run couple’s therapy gets. They have a color system to let the other know how they’re feeling, and they each shoot the other.

If you plan to watch this season, just skip to Episode 8 and enjoy the chaos that is Sherry and Cary.  Not convinced (I don’t blame you)? Then know that by the end of the season Sherry and Cary host a TedTalk about their experience in the box.

Overall, You dropped the ball this season.

In true Netflix fashion, they’ve committed to Season 4 because Netflix knows people will watch absolutely anything. Shoutout Tiger King, boom roasted Tiger King.

Ryan’s Top 10 Episodes of 2021
1) Bo Burnham, “Inside”
2) Hard Knocks in Season, “Episode 6”
3) Hard Knocks in Season, “Episode 2”
4) Hard Knocks in Season, “Episode 1”
5) The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, “Truth”
6) Survivor, “One Last Thing to Do…Win”
7) WandaVision, “On a Very Special Episode…”
8) The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, “The Star-Spangled Man”
9) Survivor, “A New Era”
10) Hard Knocks in Season, “Episode 7”

The Group’s Top 10 List

Using a simple point system where a person’s #1 pick gets 10 points, #2 gets 9 and so on, here are the Top 10 Episodes of 2021.

1) For All Mankind, “The Gray”
2) Squid Game, “Gganbu”
3) Bo Burnham, “Inside”
4) Ted Lasso, “Carol of Bells”
5) Loki, “The Nexus Event”
6) Only Murders in the Building, “The Boy in 6B”
7) Ted Lasso, “Inverting the Pyramid of Success”
8) Superstore, “All Sales Final”
9) The Beatles: Get Back, “Part 3: Days 17-22”
10) The White Lotus, “The Lotus-Eaters”

·       170 different episodes were on a Top 10 list

·       95 different shows were on a Top 10 list

·       48 shows on a Top 10 list premiered in 2021

·       3 of the 3 episodes of The Beatles: Get Back were on a Top 10 list

·       7 of the 9 episodes of WandaVision were on a Top 10 list

·       8 of the 12 episodes of Ted Lasso were on a Top 10 list

·       4 of the 6 episodes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier were on a Top 10 list

·       4 of the 6 episodes of I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson were on a Top 10 list

·       5 of the 10 episodes of Hacks were on a Top 10 list

·       3 of the 6 episodes of Loki were on a Top 10 list

·       5 of the 10 episodes of Only Murders in the Building were on a Top 10 list

·       5 of the 10 episodes of What We Do in the Shadows were on a Top 10 list

·       19 of the shows on a Top 10 list aired on Netflix

·       12 of the shows on a Top 10 list aired on HBO Max

·       9 of the shows on a Top 10 list originally aired on network broadcast channel

·       8 of the shows on a Top 10 list aired on Apple TV+

·       7 of the shows on a Top 10 list aired on Disney+

·       5 of the shows on a Top 10 list aired on Paramount+

Best Episodes of 2020

You know what was a whole lot? 2020. I don’t need to tell you that. Feels fitting that for my 10th anniversary of this silly thing, it’s a year when we all watched a lot of TV whether we wanted to or not. As always, I am so grateful for my friends to give me their time and energy to write about what excited or inspired them in a year where we desperately needed entertainment. Without further ado…

Aunty Donna Big Ol’ House of Fun — “Treasure”
(Season One, Episode 2)

By Erin Oechsel

Aunty Donna, an Australian absurdist comedy group, has released their first Netflix Series this year and, man, it could not have come at a better time. Because, after all, 2020 has been absurd at every turn. The jarring shifts in tone, multiple realities and seemingly random choices fit right in with this weird year. I found myself lured into a false sense of reality many times only to be slapped in the face with a fantastically strange and joyful musical number. 

I would be remiss if I did not mention how delightful their accents are. The Australian accent makes everything better in life. My name is Erin and this is my TED Talk.

MVP Episode: “Treasure”

MVP Sketch: “Ellen”

The sketch begins with Zach receiving a call from “Ellen DeGeneres” (played by Brodin) who tells Zach to go outside. 

“OH MY GOD!! IT’S A TOYOTA COROLLA!”

“What’s inside the Corolla, Zachary?”

“OH MY GOD!! IT’S MY LONG LOST FATHER!” 

The sketch continues to escalate from there to the highest possible degree. It’s so excellent…I’m laughing recalling it. 

Honorable Mention Sketch: Episode 1: “Stray Man”

If you’ve seen The Boys on Amazon (another favorite of mine…totally different tone from what I’m discussing with you today) you know the character Homelander. The actor who plays Homelander appears in this sketch as a “Stray Man” that Mark picks up off of the street. 

Musical numbers of note: “Morning Brown” is a particular favorite. The three actors, Broden, Zach and Mark all gather in the kitchen and sing about coffee, or in this case, “morning brown.” They transition almost immediately into each roomie’s f*cking styles. So there’s that.

There is another song Broden sings about who his organs should go to upon his death – He has only one request…anyone but Steve. “PLEASE DON’T PUT ME IN STEVE.”

Allow your mind to be blank while consuming this show. Thinking will get you nowhere. In fact, smoke something. Actually, maybe don’t. Watching this while under the influence could either make all of the sense or result in a very confusing and alarming nightmare. Also Weird Al shows up. 

Erin’s Top 10 Episodes of 2020

1.    Sex Education, “Episode 7” (Season Two, Episode 7)

2.    After Life, “Episode 4” (Season Two, Episode 4)

3.    The Queen’s Gambit, “End Game” (Season One, Episode 7)

4.    Dead to Me, “It Had to Be You” (Season Two, Episode 8)

5.    Schitt’s Creek, “The Premiere” (Season Six, Episode 5)

6.    The Boys, “Over the Hill with the Swords of a Thousand Men” (Season Two, Episode 3)

7.    The Last Dance, “Episode I” (Season One, Episode 1)

8.    The Crown, “The Balmoral Test” (Season Four, Episode 2)

9.    Love is Blind, “Is Love Blind?” (Season One, Episode 1) Don’t hate me — it’s ironic but so real

10.                Too Hot to Handle, “Love, Sex or Money” (Season One, Episode 1) Don’t hate me. I have no excuse.

Bridgerton — “Diamond of the First Water”
(Season One, Episode 1)

By Katherine Lakin

Gossip Girl, but make it regency softcore. 

This show was basically created specifically for me.  The show will become many things over the next seven episodes (porn, it becomes porn), and this first episode manages to establish (via the numerous sex scenes and classical covers or Ariana Grande) that although this is regency, it’s regency unlike any we’ve probably seen before.

This world has a very full cast of characters who, despite distinguishing themselves later on, honestly tend to bleed into each other upon a first viewing.  Thankfully what I believe to be the real strength of the season, the relationship between the leads, is on full display this episode.  It has just about every wonderful classic romance trope.  The meet cute, initial misunderstanding, enemies to friends to lovers, and of course, the ultimate: fake dating.  Both Daphne and Simon are traditionally gorgeous (particularly Regé-Jean Page’s Simon goddamn) and have a sparkling chemistry that is visible from the first moment.  

Of the many things that I find absolutely enrapturing about this episode, two moments in particular stand out.  First, is the classic but entirely necessary Regency Girl Talks About Being A Woman scene.  Little Women 2019 gave us Amy’s iconic, “Don’t sit there and tell me that marriage isn’t an economic proposition because it is.  It may not be for you but it most certainly is for me.” Bridgerton gave us Daphne’s, “This is all I have been raised for.  This is all I am.  I have no other value.”  The interplay of how Anthony and Daphne view the world and their duties within it is easily one of the strongest throughlines of the show, and this conversation in particular is a necessary part of it.  It gives context to so many of Daphne’s choices and actions (that I will not go into in order to avoid spoilers) throughout the remainder of the series.  

The second scene is, of course, the ending.  That beautiful, classic hook.  Some tropes are popular for a reason, and in my opinion fake dating is the best of the best.  I could wax philosophically on its many virtues, but honestly fake dating is just fun.  And while I would never recommend anyone turn to Bridgerton for nuanced takes on romance, or gender, or race, or sexuality; I would wholeheartedly recommend it to someone looking to have some fun.

Katherine’s Top 10 Episodes of 2020

1.    What We Do in the Shadows, “On the Run” (Season Two, Episode 6)

2.    The Good Place, “Whenever You’re Ready” (Season Four, Episodes 13/14)

3.    Bridgerton, “After the Rain” (Season One, Episode 8)

4.    What We Do in the Shadows, “Colin’s Promotion” (Season Two, Episode 5)

5.    Supernatural, “Despair” (Season Fifteen, Episode 18)

6.    Rick and Morty, “The Vat of Acid Episode” (Season Four, Episode 8)

7.    Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “Debbie” (Season Seven, Episode 5)

8.    Bridgerton, “The Duke and I” (Season One, Episode 5)

9.    The Circle, “Hello Circle” (Season One, Episode 1)

10.                Bob’s Burgers, “A Fish Called Tina” (Season Ten, Episode 12)

The Circle — “The Last Rating”
(Season One, Episode 10)

Season/conclusion spoilers for Season One

By Tara Olivero

Thinking back to January when I first watched the full season of Netflix’s premiere U.S. version of The Circle, it feels like a different time. Wow, all of these people living in isolation in their own solo apartments, only able to communicate through social media profiles and online messaging! What a fresh, new idea! Oof. Little did I know that we’d be starring in our own versions of The Circle within three months (albeit with less focus on being popular, though with arguably equal focus on survival).

Still, despite all of the TV that I managed to binge-watch in the months (and months, and months) I’ve mostly been at home this year, The Circle tops my television list for 2020. I did also binge-watch the French and Brazilian versions of the show, and while they have arguably better twists and far more cutthroat gameplay, there’s something about the first-aired American version that makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. In a certain light, it is truly wholesome, in a way that’s hard to find in reality television. 

The episode I picked as my top fave, Episode 11, is the one where they do their last round of ratings. Of course, the premise of the show (if you’ve lived under a rock???) is that they rank all of the other players, with the top-ranked players then becoming “influencers” and having a say in the game, sometimes to the point of kicking one player out. The final rankings determined who would win the show, and the grand prize of a whole lot of money. 

These stupid Americans genuinely took into account who they made the strongest connections with over the course of the show; no strategy, nobody rating more popular players lower to try to skew the results in their favor. Just… legitimate friendship and personal attachment. 

The final six players (seven people, counting Ed and his mom as a single team) are seen in this episode individually agonizing over who to grant their cherished #1 ranking and who was less deserving, and therefore got ranked #4 or #5. Joey Sasso, the guy who instantly came across as a loud, stereotypical Jersey “bro” in episode 1 (Bro-ey Joey) but who actually has a heart of gold and who was easily one of the most lovable of the bunch, has a moment where he’s trying to rank fellow player Shubham, aka “Shooby,” a player he’d been close friends with since the beginning. He knows that everyone else loves Shooby too, and that’s the issue. Joey verbalizes his concern that Shooby will rank higher than him, and therefore, despite their friendship, decides to put him #4, coming in just above the #5 spot he’d already granted to the guy (Ed) who only showed up in the game four episodes prior. 

And yet. When it comes down to it, before submitting his rankings, Joey reverses his decision. To pay homage to their BFF status and brotherly bond, he decides to rank Shooby as his #2, and rightfully so. 

Like… !!!! It’s enough to expand a grinch’s heart however-many sizes. The full final five, in fact, were all players who came in on day 1, versus the players who’ve replaced others blocked from the Circle throughout the game. The bond that the final five had, strengthened by the obstacles they overcame, carried them through. And when they find out at the end of the episode that their final “Circle Chat” will take place face-to-face instead of in their online chat room, and they all freak out about meeting these people they’ve grown to know and love throughout the game, it’s absolutely precious. 

Anyway, if you want to watch actual strategic gameplay, dive into The Circle: Brazil or The Circle: France (the latter of which had the best and most entertaining catfishes in all three versions, in my opinion). But if you want to watch something that warms your anxious/hopeless/frigid soul, please watch the original Circle and its cast of majority bizarrely sweet people who, for the most part, just wanted to be themselves and believe that others would do the same. 

Tara’s Top 10 Episodes of 2020

1.    The Circle, “The Last Rating” (Season 1, Episode 11)

2.    BoJack Horseman, “The View from Halfway Down” (Season 6, Episode 15)

3.    The Haunting of Bly Manor, “The Altar of the Dead” (Season 1, Episode 5)

4.    The Wolf, “Episode 9” (Season 1, Episode 9)

5.    Schitt’s Creek, “Happy Ending” (Season 6, Episode 14)

6.    What We Do in the Shadows, “On the Run” (Season 2, Episode 6)

7.    The Circle France, “The Finale” (Season 1, Episode 12)

8.    What We Do in the Shadows, “Nouveau Théâtre des Vampires” (Season 2, Episode 10)

9.    Love is Blind, “Will You Marry Me?” (Season 1, Episode 2)

10.                The Circle: Brazil, “House Party” (Season 1, Episode 2)

Honorable mentions: this year’s quarantine version of The Great British Bake-Off, and specifically the episode where they have to try to make cakes that look like celebrities, because Cake Freddie Mercury and Cake Lupita Nyong’o feature regularly in my nightmares. Also, this last season of Survivor! An all-winners season! Incredible! Big Brother 22 never happened & we’re ignoring it. Please note that The Mandalorian is missing from my list because I haven’t watched the new season yet, but I’m sure the new episodes are list-worthy.

The Circle Brazil — “Painting Truths”
(Season One, Episode 8)

By Austin Lugar

I believe that when we look back at television in 2020, two things would be true. A) I May Destroy You will be considered a masterpiece. And 2) we will always remember what we watched in quarantine. We will never remember what month it happened, but all of these rewatches/binges/Tiger Kings we’ll remember was watched during that year when we couldn’t go outside.

And the show that perfectly reflects that sense of being outside of time, is The Circle Brazil. The US version of The Circle was popular and that, ironically, came out before March. Later in the year, Netflix released two international seasons filmed in the same building in London as they compete in similar challenges. The French version was okay until a fun paranoid back half. But Brazil….they knew what the show really is.

As Tara articulates very well in her article, the US version defied the reality show cliché and was there to make friends. In Brazil, fuck that. This is a game.

The Circle Brazil, like all great pieces of art, is about madness. As we had to learn this year, how do you channel that madness when you’re living in isolation? While he can’t order a Pelaton, JP does spend an extraordinary amount of time in the Circle gym. The Luma boys have a puzzle they work on. Dumaresq directs energy towards his makeup and fashion. Akel thinks he can find love. Marina twerks a lot. A lot and nothing happening all at once.

It’s not clear what happened in Brazil was the show’s intention. The voting structure in The Circle is confusing. It takes the clean system in Survivor and awkwardly flips it. For the run of the show, you’re supposed to rank the players on how good of a person they are. It’s only in the finals when you can really strategize to help you win. It’s a show that wants to promote honesty—lots of judgement towards catfish—and finding the truth and connection through social media.

At the beginning of “Painting Truths”, the show demonstrates how those tools can also be weapons. They begin updating their status as they usually do. From the previous episode’s drama, JP is not thrilled with Akel. When he sees that Akel didn’t give a “like” to his status, he publicly unlikes Akel’s dumb status. In the real world, who cares. But when this is your only form of connection to anything, it’s a dagger. And so unnecessary!

To have them interact as a group, the show provides each room with materials to make a painting for another player. They are each assigned a person and away they go. Later in the day, each painting is shown on the screen for all to see.

Most of them are sweet. The one for Dumaresq is actually quite beautiful. But a lot aren’t. The Luma boys draw a vicious painting of Marina depicting her as a monster with writing on it about her duplicity. The new “girl” Ana is drawn as an irrelevant player for the whole group to see. JP continues to hate Akel so he draws him walking a dog who is about to shit in front of him. Akel tries to save face in the group chat, saying that he’s not entirely sure what it means. In his room, JP mutters “It’s a possessed ram with the face of the devil. What’s not to get?”

While it is the result of cabin fever, it’s also the contestants’ only option to raise themselves into a position to win. You have to bring everybody down. Marina was beloved early on, but painting her as a demon makes people think she’s not who she claims to be. Akel starts to freak out and claims his crush, Lorayne, is lying to him. She ends up crying in her bed wondering how can that be true because why would she try to deceive someone who is already doing horribly in the game. The new “girl” Ana actively uses each posting as a lie to trick the others and to mess with alliances.

Since the show is nothing but drama on top of drama, the influencers are eventually picked. They are Dumaresq and the Luma boys—oh did I mention that two gay identical twin males are pretending to be a straight woman and they inadvertently were part of the strangest discourse of transgender dialog. Watch this show. Don’t worry, queer godfather Dumaresq immediately punished the wrongdoer.

Instead of just letting the influencers go to their special room and decide to vote out, the show throws a curveball for funsies and opens up the chat to the whole show and makes the influencers each publicly save one player before going back to private and removing someone. Chaos reigns.

As we’re stuck in our bubbles, we have Facetime and boy do we have Zoom. But when we aren’t digitally looking face to face with someone, so much nuance is lost and misinterpreted. That’s what the Brazilians understand. Each comma matters, but also everything has a crazy ripple effect. It’s sabotage and insanity. Some are still playing nice—Ray often has no idea what’s going on. Others gleefully aren’t.

I won’t say who is in the final five but when they all do meet each other irl at the end before the winner is revealed and…it’s delightful. There aren’t any grudges! They all laugh around a table and applaud each other for a game well played, as if they just completed a game of Secret Hitler. Months later, they even made a charming video on Instagram of the whole cast virtually throwing a ball to each other in quarantine. (I stopped following all but Dumaresq because I don’t speak Portuguese. Dumaresq is beyond language.)

It’s an awareness that social media is a perpetual paradox of reality and unreality. It’s a game and a lifeline. And unlike us, as we doomscroll or enviously look at someone’s Instagram, The Circle Brazil gets to end in a triumph. A winner is chosen and a prize is given. There is a conclusion to their madness. For us, nothing ever ends.

Austin’s Top 10 Episodes of 2020

1.    BoJack Horseman, “The View from Halfway Down” (Season Six, Episode 15)

2.    I May Destroy You, “Someone is Lying” (Season One, Episode 2)

3.    The Crown, “Fairytale” (Season Four, Episode 3)

4.    The Good Place, “Whenever You’re Ready” (Season Four, Episodes 13/14)

5.    She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, “Heart (Parts 1 & 2) (Season Five, Episodes 12/13)

6.    The Magicians, “Apocalypse? Now?!” (Season Five, Episode 5)

7.    How To with John Wilson, “How to Cook the Perfect Risotto” (Season One, Episode 6)

8.    Better Call Saul, “Bagman” (Season Five, Episode 8)

9.    Ted Lasso, “The Hope That Kills You” (Season One, Episode 10)

10.                What We Do in the Shadows, “On the Run” (Season Two, Episode 6)

11. City So Real, “You Gotta Make It or You Gotta Take It” (Season One, Episode 5)
12. Rick and Morty, “The Vat of Acid Episode” (Season Four, Episode 8)
13. Mrs. America, “Houston” (Season One, Episode 8)
14. The Good Fight, “The Gang Deals with Alternate Reality” (Season Four, Episode 1)
15. Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet, “Mythic Quest: Quarantine” (Season One, Episode 10)

Honorable Mentions

Avenue 5, “This is Physically Hurting Me” (Season One, Episode 8)
Babylon Berlin, “Episode 28” (Season Three, Episode 12)
Better Call Saul, “Bad Choice Road” (Season Five, Episode 9)
Better Things, “Listen to the Roosters” (Season Four, Episode 10)
Big Mouth, “Horrority House” (Season Four, Episode 9)
The Circle Brazil, “Painting Truths” (Season One, Episode 8)
Corporate, “Black Dog” (Season Three, Episode 2)
The Crown, “Favourites” (Season Four, Episode 4)
The Crown, “48:1” (Season Four, Episode 8)
Dark, “Paradise” (Season Three, Episode 8)
Devs, “Episode 5” (Season One, Episode 5)
Evil, “Room 320” (Season One,, Episode 11)
Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal, “Plague of Madness” (Season One, Episode 7)
The Good Lord Bird, “Meet the Lord” (Season One, Episode 1)
The Great, “Parachute” (Season One, Episode 6)
Harley Quinn, “Bachelorette” (Season Two, Episode 9)
I May Destroy You, “The Alliance” (Season One, Episode 6)
I May Destroy You, “Ego Death” (Season One, Episode 12)
Into the Unknown: Making Frozen II, “A Year to Premiere” (Season One, Episode 1)
Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time, “Match 4” (Season One, Episode 4)
Little America, “The Manager” (Season One, Episode 1)
The Magicians, “Oops!…I Did It Again” (Season Five, Episode 6)
The Mandalorian, “Chapter 13: The Jedi” (Season Two, Episode 5)
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., “As I Have Always Been” (Season Seven, Episode 9)
Middleditch and Schwartz, “Law School Magic” (Season One, Episode 2)
Pen15, “Play” (Season Two, Episode 6)
The Plot Against America, “Part 3” (Season One, Episode 3)
Ramy, “Can You Hear Me Now?” (Season Two, Episode 2)
Ramy, “Miakhalifa.mov” (Season Two, Episode 4)
Ramy, “They” (Season Two, Episode 6)
Rick and Morty, “Never Ricking Morty” (Season Four, Episode 6)
Schitt’s Creek, “The Pitch” (Season Five, Episode 12)
Schitt’s Creek, “Happy Ending” (Season Five, Episode 14)
Sex Education, “Episode 7” (Season Two, Episode 7)
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, “Launch,” (Season Five, Episode 2)
Staged, “Who the F#!k is Michael Sheen?” (Season One, Episode 3)
Ted Lasso, “Two Aces” (Season One, Episode 6)
Vida, “Episode 20” (Season Three, Episode 4)
What We Do in the Shadows, “Colin’s Promotion” (Season Two, Episode 5)
Wynonna Earp, “Holy War Part 2” (Season Four, Episode 6)

Dark — “Paradise”
(Season Three, Episode 8)

Massive series spoilers for Dark
By Pedro Aubry

“…the distinction between past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.” — Albert Einstein
Dark, Season One, Episode 1, Minute 1

This illusion that our friend is talking about is so stubborn, so persistent, that try as I might to break free of its spell (and oh do I try), I must sit here, now, and learn in real time (whatever that means) what in the world my article is that purports to “celebrate 2020”. I have no idea what lies ahead or where this is going, so let’s find out together! Turns out there are spoilers after the sixth paragraph, and if my tenses seem like they’re all over the place, fret not; it’s just an illusion.

Austin is no-doubt prettying this up with a title and all that, so by now we both know that the show I’m covering is the hit German sci-fi thriller Netflix original series Dark, whose third season hits the digital shelves this 27th of June, 2020.

I love this show. I LOVE this show. I don’t research much for this article, but after seeing three statements likening it to Stranger Things, I must say I mostly contrast the two. Indeed, thinking of the two side-by-side, one clearly sticks out as an intentionally palatable amalgamation of all the low-hanging fruit that can be extracted from the nostalgia for a decade (or perceived nostalgia for all those who weren’t alive or weren’t effectively people yet). Not saying Stranger Things is a bad show – I’m actually fond of it – but you get the sense that Netflix took that Everest-sized mountain of data on all their subscribers and their millions and billions of views, gave it a good shake, and pieced together the Legos that fell out into an instantly lovable hit.

Dark is no such toy kit, but an excessively ornate hand-crafted work of art of which there is but one and nothing else quite like it. Every minute is unapologetically imbued with plot, as naturally as if it were a law of the universe, much like the Higgs field imbues mass unto every particle that flows through it. Dripping with detail at every turn, there isn’t a lazy line or an ill-framed shot to be found. There’s not an ounce of fat to be trimmed. The score, often combining the traditional and non-traditional, is rich and heavy when appropriate, and delicate when it needs to be, and always thick with emotion. A show that thrives on its use of technically dull, faded (dark?!) colors, this show has some of the greenest landscapes, bluest skies, and warmest fall forests I’ve seen in a work of fiction. Shot in 4K, it’s a gorgeous watch and they do not hold back when they need to dip into the color wheel for some added oomph, a touch of texture, or a soupçon of shock-value.

Especially impressive and apparent is the show’s effort behind casting. Lots of shows have great casts, but most of them only really do it the once. Not so, Dark. Of its roughly thirty-one unique characters (shall I add that the entire show runs only some 24 hours and 10 minutes?), only four are portrayed by a single person. Thus, the remaining TWENTY-SEVEN characters are portrayed by two-to-three actors (and in at least two cases, four actors). Don’t worry, I’ve left out a couple of non-trivial actors we only see in the finale.

I suppose I start spoilers here: the reason we need upwards of (in excess of?) sixty faces to portray 30 characters in a plot so thickly woven is because a central facet of this story is time travel. Not to spend much time on it, there’re a handful of ways to bounce in time (only really in increments of 33 years), and people exploit it, people are confused by it, blah blah blah, story. Let’s circle back to the five-dozen individuals who were cast; did I mention this show has 26 episodes? The average episode length is just under 56 minutes, so if you want to give each character more than an hour of screen time for the entire series, you’re going to need a lot of overlap. And there is overlap. Anywho, back to why it’s impressive… anyone can cast 60 people. But here, the character comes first, and they somehow managed to find sets of individuals who look like each other and act like each other, mannerisms and all (is it fantastic directing? great makeup? excellent talent? all of the above?) and never do I doubt the fact that yes, these are the same person separated by 33-66 years. No-one is particularly weak, nor does anyone steal the show. Everything is balance throughout.

I could keep going, but honestly just watch the show. If subtitles turn you off, give it a shot in English (or whatever available language you prefer). If you like DENSE plot, sci-fi, time travel, or just shows that organically stick to the plan for under 30 episodes and end gracefully, give this a whirl. If you’ve seen the show, I point you to this dedicated website where you can have some fun clicking around.

Alright, now I need to pick an episode.

If you’re at this paragraph and you read things top-to-bottom, you know more than I do where this is going. You’re reading something capped with the episode name and number, while I’m struggling to find out which episode it is that I write about. I have very strong feelings for episode 25. It’s quite good, and a quite well-told wrap of the first 24 episodes. As I reflect, however, the fact that it touches each of the preceding 1,377 minutes (22h57m), I don’t want to try to do it justice here. As I’m getting to above, this show at any given point has a ton of plot points in motion, so writing instead about the finale, “Paradise”, makes more sense and is more satisfying.

Why do I love the finale? Many reasons. Yes, this show is about time travel, but it’s never a gimmick, and that’s true throughout, but the final episode wields it in a completely novel way from any time prior in the show, with the penultimate episode setting up the alley-oop marvelously. Does that mean they came up with some surprise cop-out in the last 70 minutes of the series? Hell no. Do all the timelines get resolved in the end and do all those loose-ends get tied up? Kinda! Not going into too much detail here, the last episode of the show is a marvelous ode to all that came before, but touching on all that insane plot barely at all. It’s not a new story, there aren’t new characters (save a couple of faces that were alluded to before but whom we’ve not met in person yet), there aren’t any new mechanics or laws or anything; but the episode still feels new and fresh. The score is expanded on a little, and they make a couple of good soundtrack choices, but that’s it. For a show as complex as this, does it end simply? One could argue that it does! But do I feel a hollow victory, or breathe a sigh of relief when the final credits roll? Not at all. Among all the complicated thoughts and emotions all stirring at the same time, I feel satisfied (a feeling greatly helped along by the palate-cleanser choice they made for final song). You get the sense of the weight of the thing that just finished, and the care that went into every one of those carefully premeditated 24 hours. If that sounds short, remember it’s just an illusion. Dark is fourteen-hundred-and-fifty individually, hand-crafted minutes of art, and I’d say a pinnacle of what one can do with this medium.

Conveniently, the apocalypse is also happening throughout! All mid-2020! They wrapped filming the third season in December of 2019, so the editing room (home office?) must’ve had an interesting time getting ready for their release date, which coincided with the date of the apocalypse in the show (27 June 2020). It was a bit of a trip to watch these people in 2019 freaking out about how “the apocalypse is happening in 2020!”. Only reality could give it that extra dash of authenticity. Congrats, 2020. You made Dark even better.

Pedro’s Top 10 Episdoes of 2020

1.    Dark, “Paradise” (Season Three, Episode 8)

2.    Avenue 5, “This is Physically Hurting Me” (Season One, Episode 8)

3.    The Outsider, “Must/Can’t” (Season One, Episode 10)

4.    Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal, “Slave of the Scorpion” (Season One, Episode 10)

5.    Dark, “In Between Time” (Season Three, Episode 7)

6.    Rick and Morty, “The Vat of Acid Episode” (Season Four, Episode 8)

7.    Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal, “Coven of the Damned” (Season One, Episode 8)

8.    Avenue 5, “Is It Your Ears” (Season One, Episode 6)

9.    The Queen’s Gambit, “End Game” (Season One, Episode 7)

10.                The Mandalorian, “Chapter 16: The Rescue” (Season Two, Episode 8)

Devs — “Episode 8”
(Season One, Episode 8)

By Ryan Lugar

Warnings: Upcoming spoilers, if you haven’t watched Devs yet, proceed with caution.

Warning Follow Up: If you haven’t watched Devs yet, stop what you’re doing and watch Devs.

Cautious Proceeding Follow Up: Seriously, stop what you’re doing. It’s on Hulu. Don’t have Hulu? Bum if off a friend. Don’t have any friends? Go to Hulu’s website, sign-up for a free trial, and watch Season One.

I swear if you haven’t watched Season One yet…

Alright, let’s talk Devs.

Now that you’ve seen Season One of Devs we can both agree that this is the best show of 2020, and probably the best thing to hit TV since Breaking Bad. This will be the show people catch up on in 3-4 years and say, “Damn, how did Garland know?”. Alex Garland has been top dog in the sci-fi thriller genre since his arrival. 28 Days Later…, Sunshine. Ex Machina. Annihilation. Now Devs. 

ONLY BANGERS.

Oh you like technologic, sci-fi thrillers clearly based on the tech giant Google? 

Let’s take it a step further.

Insert the debate between determinism and free will.

This is not Stranger Things, to enjoy Garland’s writing and directing, you have to pay attention and maybe even take notes to keep up with the depth of Devs. I am not up to date on the current rules and restrictions to The Emmys, but just give Garland all the awards. Save yourself the time and money for the show’s production, just mail all the trophies to Garland because nothing else stacks up. All secondary awards, send to Carmen Cuba for her job casting this show.

From Nick Offerman to Sonoya Mizuno, all the way to Zach Grenier, Cub was hitting home runs in the casting department. 

Grenier plays a man named Kenton, Kenton is a man who will haunt your dreams and gaslight you into thinking the nightmare is your fault. He is the absolute worst, but played perfectly by Grenier.

Mizuno (who also teamed up with Garland in Ex Machina), is amazing from start to finish. My first time watching the show I was at first disappointed that Sergei, played by Karl Glusman, was killed off and not going to be the show’s protagonist. Then after episode one, it was the Mizuno and Lily Show. After Sergei failed at his James Bond mission, Mizuno was front and center and was the audience’s eyes into Devs. She was learning as we were learning. Her strong performance created a gravitational pull towards Lily.

The hardest character to crack into is Forest, played by Offerman. He is NOT Ron Swanson, not even close, which will take the entire first episode to shake off when looking at Offerman.

However, once he appears in the dark forest in this image, and ruthlessly has Sergei killed, this is no longer the man from Parks and Rec who said, “I’ve cried twice in my life. Once when I was 7 and hit by a school bus. And then again when I heard that Li’l Sebastian had passed.” He’s crazed, focused, determined (literally), and terrifying. His actions and dialogue are detached from human emotion, and will do anything to be with his daughter again. Seems a bit contradictory to me, but get over it, he’s essentially a Zuckerberg-Musk cyborg who believes himself to be a God.

This is revealed in Episode 8 when Forest tells Lily that Devs is actually Deus, God. Although he acts like it was originally a joke, let’s be real, only people with God-complexes make those jokes. Episode 8 is a perfect episode in TV history because you can watch it over and over again AND TOTALLY MISS the climax every single time. Lily “breaks the wheel” of determinism, ditches the gun as to make her own decision in life, and yet, still drops to her ultimate death with Forest. 

Guess f***ing what?! IT WAS STEWART BOTH TIMES. 

This is from the projection Lily and Forest watch together. Their and our focus, as it should be, is on Lily pointing the gun at Forest. What everyone misses, including myself both times I watched the show, is Stewart walking to the control panel as they drift across the vacuum. The show concludes, Lily and Forest both ascend into the system’s simulation, and we believe this breakthrough occurs because of Lily’s broken wheel. Nope. Garland takes a note from Diddy and mind fucks us all. It was determined no matter what Lily did, they were going down and Stewart was going to make sure of it. 

Episode 8 is the perfect conclusion to a perfect show. It provides the audience with enough closure to be satisfied, but enough left open to continue the discussion after the last line is delivered. I just pray that it is determined there will not be a Devs Season 2. 

Devs tells an amazing story and it would be a shame to see it stretched out, as much as I’d like to watch more.

Ryan’s Top 10 Episodes of 2020

1.    Devs, “Episode 8” (Season One, Episode 8)

2.    The Queen’s Gambit, “End Game” (Season One, Episode 7)

3.    Devs, “Episode 1” (Season One, Episode 1)

4.    The Last Dance “Episode X” (Season One, Episode 10)

5.    Letterkenny, “Mitsvah” (Season Nine, Episode 4)

6.    Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time, “Match 1” (Season One, Episode 1)

7.    The Queen’s Gambit, “Openings” (Season One, Episode 1)

8.    The Mandalorian, “Chapter 14: The Tragedy” (Season Two, Episode 6)

9.    The Bachelorette, “Week 4” (Season Sixteen, Episode 4)

10.                Love is Blind, “Countdown to I Do’s” (Season One, Episode 8)

The Good Lord Bird — “Mister Fred”
(Season One, Episode 3)

By Sarah Staudt

“The most immoral of all means is the non-use of ANY means.” – Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals

I happen to have learned a lot about John Brown as a child. Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, was driving distance from my childhood home in the DC Suburbs. It’s a national historic site, so they have ranger tours, and the truth is, other than the pretty location, there’s only one thing to talk about – this crazy guy who led an unsuccessful raid short lived raid trying to set off the civil war and end slavery.

I now work in racial justice full time, and I understand a little more what motivates someone to do what John Brown did. I understand much more clearly how witnessing suffering and injustice can radicalize you; how simply seeing with your own eyes the brutality of American race relations can take you in, chew you up, and spit you out with a new mission in life. And I’ve also seen lots of white people stand right next to me, see the same things, and shrug it off as “above their pay grade”, “too complicated”, or, worse, “justified”.

I’ve also had lots of people want me to write a book. To which my response is basically, “no…literally every person directly affected by this situation is more qualified to tell the story of racial oppression than I am.” My story is not the story that needs to be told – as is true for probably 99% of white allies in racial liberation work.

John Brown is definitely one of that 1% – but telling his story is complicated. He was a failure – but two years after his death, his name would be in a Union army marching song. The Good Lord Bird based on a book of the same name, does the smart thing, and places John Brown in context by viewing him through the eyes of “Onion” a (fictional) young compatriot who he freed from slavery in Kansas. Onion is a 15 year old young man, but, in a joke that pays dividends all season, dresses up as a girl early on to escape, and John Brown never notices he’s definitely, obviously, a boy.

The question of being able to recognize that Onion is a guy – and, notably, also the ability to actually differentiate Onion from other Black people, is a pretty great metaphor for the uncrossable divide between Brown and Onion throughout the series. Brown may be deeply committed to Onion’s safety and happiness, and willing to die for it – but that doesn’t mean he knows him. The Black characters, on the other hand, nearly all immediately ask why the heck Onion is wearing a dress. In the third episode, Mister Fred, we meet the first major character who doesn’t see through Onion’s disguise – and it’s none other than Frederick Douglass (played by the inimitable and hilarious Daveed Diggs). The episode centers around a true event – Brown came to Douglass, and asked him for support in, essentially, starting the civil war, by leading a force of Black Americans, enslaved and free, in a military revolt. Brown doesn’t have a good plan. From the beginning, it’s a suicide mission, and Douglass isn’t up for it. He refuses to help.

Onion, meanwhile, spends his time around the people in Frederick’s household in upstate New York – including the Black servants, who are fans of Douglass’s, but certainly don’t think he’s perfect. Douglass has two partners – his longtime wife, who is Black, and his newer, younger white wife. And, he’s very quick to chat up young “miss” Onion.

Onion also gets his first real opportunity at real freedom – the underground railroad tunnel under Douglass’s house. The other Black people around him urge him to take it, and to choose the life of freedom – and the relative comfort and distance from the suffering in the south that Douglass’s life represents, and leave the crazy white guy behind.

 In the end, Onion chooses to go back with the crazy white guy. Because in the whole episode, Brown is the only person saying that there is no excuse for suffering, that it must stop now, and that it is worth the lives and livelihoods, and indeed, the souls of everyone to fight that fight.

It’s a weird year to tell the story of a white ally. But if you’re going to tell one of those stories, this is the one to tell, The show never makes Brown the uncomplicated hero – Ethan Hawke always plays him as, well, crazy, not particularly well organized, and frankly pretty annoying. Did he succeed in getting anything actually done? Who the hell knows. Certainly, he made an impact. We call it John Brown’s “raid” now – but at the time, it was called a rebellion and treason. No one in 1859 was unclear about how big a deal it was to call for an end to slavery at all costs. And most, even most abolitionists, Black AND White, were not eager to start that war. That’s an understandable position, and though Douglass is painted as silly and a little out of touch, it never goes so far as to call him wrong exactly.

But when we’ve got a genocide on your hands, we should always be asking ourselves whether it’s better to wait until some undetermined “right time” – and how much that waiting costs. Say what you will about John Brown, but no one can say he stood on the sidelines while his fellow humans suffered. And that is the most example that he can set for anyone seeking to be an ally in the future. There are good means, bad means, means that work, means that are lost causes…but inaction is not an option.

Sarah’s Top 10 Episodes of 2020

1.    The Good Place, “Whenever You’re Ready” (Season Four, Episodes 13/14)

2.    Devs, “Episode 8” (Season One, Episode 8)

3.    She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, “Corridors” (Season Five, Episode 3)

4.    I May Destroy You, “Social Media is a Great Way to Connect” (Season One, Episode 9)

5.    The Good Lord Bird, “Mister Fred” (Season One, Episode 3)

6.    The Good Fight, “The Gang Tries to Serve a Subpoena” (Season Four, Episode 2)

7.    How To with John Wilson, “How to Cook the Perfect Risotto” (Season One, Episode 6)

8.    The Great, “A Pox on Hope” (Season One, Episode 7)

9.    Mrs. America, “Phyllis & Fred & Brenda & Marc” (Season One, Episode 5)

10.                Everything’s Gonna Be Okay, “West African Giant Black Millipedes” (Season One, Episode 5″

Honorable Mentions

Better Call Saul, “Bagman” (Season Five, Episode 8)
Better Call Saul, “Bad Choice Road” (Season Five, Episode 9)
Better Things, “Listen to the Roosters” (Season Four, Episode 10)
Big Mouth, “The New Me” (Season Four, Episode 1)
Big Mouth, “Horrority House” (Season Four, Episode 9)BoJack Horseman, “The View from Halfway Down” (Season Six, Episode 15)
The Boys, “What I Know” (Season Two, Episode 8)
The Good Lord Bird, “Smells Like Bear” (Season One, Episode 4)
The Good Lord Bird, “Last Words” (Season One, Episode 7)
Harley Quinn, “Bensonhurst” (Season One, Episode 10)
Harley Quinn, “New Gotham” (Season Two, Episode 1)
Harley Quinn, “Bachelorette” (Season Two, Episode 9)
Little America, “The Manager” (Season One, Episode 1)
Little America, “The Rock” (Season One, Episode 7)
The Mandalorian, “Chapter 10: The Passenger” (Season Two, Episode 2)
The Mandalorian, “Chapter 13: The Jedi” (Season Two, Episode 5)
The Magicians, “Apocalypse? Now?!” (Season Five, Episode 5)
Mrs. America, “Bella” (Season One, Episode 7)
Mrs. America, “Houston” (Season One, Episode 8)
Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet, “Dinner Party” (Season One, Episode 2)
Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet, “Mythic Quest: Quarantine” (Season One, Episode 10)
Ramy, “Little Omar” (Season Two, Episode 3)
Ramy, “They” (Season Two, Episode 6)
Rick and Morty, “The Vat of Acid Episode” (Season Four, Episode 8)
Saved By the Bell, “Rent-A-Mom” (Season One, Episode 5)
Schitt’s Creek, “The Pitch” (Season Five, Episode 12)
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, “Heart (Parts 1 & 2) (Season Five, Episodes 12/13)
Staged (All of Season One)
Ted Lasso, “The Hope That Kills You” (Season One, Episode 10)

Note — Small Axe’s “Mangrove” would be my #1 of the year…but it’s a movie.

The Good Place — “Whenever You’re Ready”
(Season Four, Episodes 13/14)

Series spoilers for The Good Place

By Dennis Sullivan

It seems fitting to write about The Good Place during 2020. The show centers around morality, life, death, and how to be a good person in spite of, well, everything; not exactly normal topics for primetime television, but describes this year succinctly. It’s the little show unlike anything I’ve ever seen, full of twists and turns interspaced between surrealist moments while making you care for these mismatched characters. It challenges the viewer to be a better person and is a nice dose of positivity during the reign of the anti-hero television star.

Even better, The Good Place didn’t choke in this finale. Instead, ‘Whenever You’re Ready’ far exceeded my high expectations. Our merry band of misfits finds themselves dealing with the repercussions of the final twist of the show. After finally earning the right to go to the real good place (a show-long goal), they realize that something isn’t right. What they found was a forever-afterlife that meets your every wish and grants you every experience possible, and then has you wait around for nothing in particular…for eternity. Your mind goes numb, and you become a shell of what you once were, quasi-existing out of habit. And that’s it. Forever.

Not thrilled with this reality after working so hard to get there, the gang scrambles to find another solution and eventually land on this: let people leave the Good Place when they want. They leave the afterlife, ceasing to even quasi-exist, but it would bring the excitement back to the afterlife and allow everyone to find an internal peace. Let people experience everything they want, let their souls become complete, and then let choose to be done whenever they’re ready.

I have to admit that I didn’t expect the solution to the afterlife to be letting people end it, but the show made a strong case that life is great because it ends. That’s what makes it special, dramatic, intense, and worth cherishing. If it lasts forever, it ceases to be those things eventually. Additionally, there’s no pressure for anyone to leave the Good Place. It’s just helpful knowing that choice is there, and that seems to do the trick for everyone involved.

The rest of the extended finale deals with how the characters end up spending their afterlives, living thousands and thousands of lifetimes. It leads to a series of goodbyes for the characters we’ve come to know and love. It’s emotionally and intellectually compelling, goofy and light-hearted, serious yet playful. Most importantly, it does the characters justice in their final scenes and brings closure to their stories that makes the whole journey worth the experience. Eat your heart out, Game of Thrones.

Dennis’ Top 10 Episodes of 2020

1.    The Good Place, “Whenever You’re Ready” (Season Four, Episodes 13/14)

2.    Schitt’s Creek, “Happy Ending” (Season Six, Episode 14)

3.    I May Destroy You, “Someone is Lying” (Season One, Episode 2)

4.    BoJack Horseman, “The View from Halfway Down” (Season Six, Episode 15)

5.    The Good Fight, “The Gang Deals with Alternate Reality” (Season Four, Episode 1)

6.    We’re Here, “Gettysburg, Pennsylvania” (Season One, Episode 1)

7.    High Maintenance, “Blackfish” (Season Four, Episode 4)

8.    What We Do in the Shadows, “On the Run” (Season Two, Episode 6)

9.    Aunty Donna’s Big Ol’ House of Fun, “Housemates” (Season One, Episode 1)

10.                Rick and Morty, “Never Ricking Morty” (Season Four, Episode 6)

The Haunting of Bly Manor — “The Beast in the Jungle”
(Season Two, Episode 9)

Season finale spoilers for The Haunting of Bly Manor

By Jaclyn Jones

While I loved Victoria Pedretti in The Haunting of Hill House, she just didn’t feel right to play the role of Dani Clayton. It seemed like her character was written to be stronger than how she portrayed it. The other characters would talk about what a brave nanny she was, though she was blubbering and her eyes fluttered whenever she found herself in a slightly tense situation.

Not saying that she didn’t have plenty of cause to be terrified in that house, or that she couldn’t possibly be traumatized from the tragic life she left back in the States. But the near-constant weepy expression she had really began to wear on my damn nerves.

With that off my chest, I will say that there was some excellent acting. Particularly T’Nia Miller, Carla Gugino, Henry Thomas, and Rahul Kohli.

In the finale of The Haunting at Bly Manor, we open to Viola with a tight grip around Dani’s throat. She’s making the same journey that she’s made every night for centuries: emerging from the lake, wandering through the manor, looking for her daughter.

By crossing Viola’s path, Dani has found herself choking to death in the hands of the Lady of the Lake. At the end of her walk, when Viola has made it to her old bedroom and just as the nanny starts to slip away, Flora leaps in front of them and begs for Dani to be let go. Believing the little girl in front of her is her daughter, she releases Dani, picks Flora up, and begins her walk back to the water.

To save Flora, who is locked in the arms of Viola, from drowning, Dani invites Viola’s soul into her body. Viola accepts, but Dani finds she still has control of her body and mind. For now.

Henry and the kids head to America to start a new life; Dani and Jamie do the same.

But this isn’t the end. For years, Dani and Jamie are able to live a happy, loving life together. But as they knew she would, Viola begins creeping into Dani’s mind, slowly starting to take over. To ensure Jamie’s safety, Dani flies back to England, returns to Bly Manor, and takes her place as the Lady in the Lake.

Present-day, we see that it was Jamie telling the story to the wedding guests from the beginning of the first episode, and the wedding she’s at is Flora’s, who is now a young woman that has no memory of her time at Bly Manor.

I so heavily wept both times I watched this episode. An ugly cry. A sob. The love and relationships we see are so full and so real, that the way things play out in this final episode shattered my heart.

If you’re looking for a good scare, you’ll find a few in Bly Manor. But not nearly enough to make up for the amount of PURE SADNESS.

Tl;dr: Sorta scary, but yikes, it’s a sad one.

Jaclyn’s Top 10 Episodes of 2020

1.    The Mandalorian, “Chapter 10: The Passenger” (Season Two, Episode 2)

2.    Aunty Donna’s Big Ol’ House of Fun, “Treasure” (Season One, Episode 2)

3.    The Last Dance, “Episode IV” (Season One, Episode 4)

4.    The Last Dance, “Episode I” (Season One, Episode 1)

5.    Dark, “Adam and Eva” (Season Three, Episode 3)

6.    Dark, “Paradise” (Season Three, Episode 8)

7.    The Crown, “The Balmoral Test” (Season Four, Episode 2)

8.    The Crown, “Terra Nullius” (Season Four, Episode 6)

9.    The Haunting of Bly Manor, “The Beast in the Jungle” (Season One, Episode 9)

10.                The Haunting of Bly Manor, “The Great Good Place” (Season One, Episode 1)

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark — “The Motherlode”
(Season One, Episode 4)

By J.C. Pankratz

Much like its eponymous predecessor, the HBO docuseries I’ll Be Gone in the Dark begins with a preface from renowned thriller author Gillian Flynn: a recounting of how she came to Michelle McNamara’s work as a true crime author. She gives us the lay of the land, and any true crime podcast listener or reader knows how clumsily and offensively these topics are often handled. The victims and survivors are faceless, cast away in favor of ogling at the face of evil and cracking jokes in the face of suffering. It’s a whole new bloodsport, and Flynn reminds us above all else to be choosy about whose narratives we choose when it comes to the true crime genre. 

But Michelle McNamara was very different. Her sense of humanity, paramount above all else, touched everything she did. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark is not only about Michelle’s long journey to uncover the identity of the East Area Rapist/Golden State Killer, but about her dreams, her flaws, her strengths, her hopes as a person and a writer, her experiences as a woman and a mother. (One of her most famous pieces, an excerpt called “Letter to the Golden State Killer” is a truly incredible piece of writing, and perfectly characterizes her determination and tenacity.) The docuseries understands that this was Michelle’s life’s work, and coping with this life’s work led to her death. There is no judgment–this is what happens when you stare at the abyss, and the abyss stares back at you. 

I could honestly choose any episode from this series, but what’s stuck with me long after is episode four, “The Motherlode.” It recounts the period of time leading up to Michelle’s untimely death. We experience the highest of highs and lowest of lows right alongside her through the windows of her correspondence with others. This series works tremendously because it affords Michelle the same dignity and humanity she so strived to give everyone else. It has the authenticity of a love letter and the sober understanding of a eulogy. As the episode creeps towards the end, we know, even as Michelle doesn’t, her life will soon be over. It’s in those last few texts with her husband, Patton Oswalt, that we are most keenly reminded of what a loss this will be. Her warmth, her passion, her perseverance. And then, just like that, as the episode cuts to black–she’s gone. 

J.C.’s Top 5 Episodes of 2020

1.    I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, “The Motherlode” (Season One, Episode 4)

2.    The Crown, “Fairytale” (Season Four, Episode 2)

3.    Stump Sohla, “Astronaut Thanksgiving” (Season One, Episode 7)

4.    The Queen’s Gambit, “Doubled Pawns” (Season One, Episode 3)

5.    The Crown, “The Balmoral Test” (Season Four, Episode 2)

Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time — “Match 4”
(Season One, Episode 4)

By Keith Jackson

What can I say about Jeopardy! that hasn’t already been said?*

The quintessential game show has been running so long in the 7:30pm slot of my local NBC affiliate I can’t fathom a time before Jeopardy!. It’s a staple of American television, which is an awfully trite phrase to use but is all too true. Hearing Johnny Gilbert’s “THIS! IS! JEOPARDY!” blare out from the TV when you’re in another room, accompanied by the ubiquitous Merv Griffin theme, you know: “oh, it’s 7:30pm it’s time to sit down and watch Jeopardy!.”

That is to say, Jeopardy! is not often appointment viewing (except for a brief period in the early ‘10s when I was trying to watch every episode, and track how well I did with a goal of eventually assuring myself that maybe I could be on the show… but I digress!). Some days I’ll make a point to sit down when Jeopardy! starts and watch and try to answer every clue. Some days (especially earlier this year) I’ll just be doomscrolling Twitter, occasionally hear a category that sounds interesting and pipe up with a question to the answer. Some days I just catch Final Jeopardy. The show is just there and it is assuring to know it will always be there.

There are some events, however, that get you really invested. Some of these are scheduled: the different tournaments (Teen, College, Teachers, Champions). Some, however, cannot be planned for and just… happen. I remember when this “Ken Jennings” guy started getting on a streak and having to tune in thinking, “surely this is the last one, he’s on game 20/30/40/50/etc.!” But no, he kept going. There was then a similar, though slightly different situation last year in James Holzhauer. This time he wasn’t just winning games but he was also taking risks and making bank. It was thrilling to watch night after night.

(Apologies to Brad Rutter, I don’t have any memories of his run.

So now we come to a unique situation: an appointment viewing event for the top three Jeopardy players — the “GOATs”, if you will — on an unfamiliar channel, ABC, at an unfamiliar time, 8pm. Those last two things are seemingly insignificant, but for such a consistent show it was just out of the ordinary enough to think, “huh, this must be special”. It certainly earned all the luster it gave itself. I particularly enjoyed how the three contestants, Ken, James, and Brad, despite competing for the “top prize” in Jeopardy! lore were able to banter and have fun.

And I would be remiss if I did not mention the absolute legend, Alex Trebek. Just as I can’t imagine a weekday evening without Jeopardy!, I can’t imagine it being hosted by anyone but him: the unparalleled quiz show host. Throughout his entire 36-year hosting run, he never got jaded, he never phoned it in. I think he undeservedly got a reputation that he was aloof or snobby, since he had “all the answers” and would sometimes sound short if a contestant got an answer wrong, or just chuckle and say, “okay” to a contestant’s interview story. But what I always saw was genuine curiosity, and an eagerness for a good battle of wits. You could see him get excited when a game was close, or someone was able to give the correct response to a true Daily Double, after initially hesitating.

I obviously don’t want to try and speak for him, but Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time must have been the perfect capstone to Alex Trebek’s career. It was always incredibly touching whenever he would provide an update to his pancreatic cancer battle. It was remarkable that he kept going and was always honest about how he was reacting to treatment, physically and mentally.  To be going through that and have the opportunity to present to the world a competition on this level, hopefully was a very bright period in an otherwise extremely difficult time.

* mid-way through writing this I thought, “should I do the corny thing of writing a phrase in the form of a question?” only to realize I did so in the very first sentence! Welp.

Keith’s Top 10 Episodes of 2020

1.    Schitt’s Creek, “Happy Ending” (Season Five, Episode 14)

2.    I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, “Monsters Recede But Never Vanish” (Season One, Episode 5)

3.    Middleditch and Schwartz, “Parking Lot Wedding” (Season One, Episode 1)

4.    The Great British Bake-Off, “The Great Festive Back-Off” (Season Ten, Episode 12)

5.    Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, “Trump & the Coronavirus and William Barr” (Season Seven, Episode 28)

6.    The Mandalorian, “Chapter 16: The Rescue” (Season Two, Episode 8)

7.    Bob’s Burgers, “Worms of In-Rear-Ment” (Season Eleven, Episode 2)

8.    Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “Debbie” (Season Seven, Episode 5)

9.    Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time, “Match 4” (Season One, Episode 4)

10.                America’s Funniest Home Videos, “Happy Hollidaze, Pranks, and Kids Getting Upset for Dumb Reasons” (Season Thirty-One, Episode 7)

The Last Dance — “Episode VII”
(Season One, Episode 7)

By Robbie Mehling

As a young boy in the 90s, it was impossible not to be aware of the cultural dominance of Michael Jordan, from the championships of the Chicago Bulls to the animated romp of Space Jam. Over the course of ten episodes, The Last Dance looks at the Bulls in their 97-98 season which would turn into their sixth championship while also jumping back to explore past seasons and the life of Michael Jordan.

In a series about basketball, however, the episode that stood out most to me, was the seventh episode where Jordan wins his third title with the Bulls and then quits to take up baseball. To me, this episode really showed the mythos of Michael Jordan in its heightened form.  A man who refuses to fail at all costs. A man who loves his family. And most importantly, despite his mythic status, still just a man. 

Robbie’s Top 10 Episodes of 2020

1.    Ted Lasso, “The Hope That Kills You” (Season One, Episode 10)

2.    Doctor Who, “The Haunting of Villa Diodati” (Season Twelve, Episode 8)

3.    Star Wars: The Clone Wars, “Victory and Death” (Season Seven, Episode 12)

4.    The Mandalorian, “Chapter 11: The Heiress” (Season Two, Episode 3)

5.    Superstore, “Floor Supervisor” (Season Six, Episode 3)

6.    Better Call Saul, “Something Unforgivable” (Season Four, Episode 10)

7.    Animaniacs, “Jurassic Lark / Suspended Animation, Part 1 / Of Mice and Memes / Suspended Animation, Part 2” (Season One, Episode 1)

8.    The Last Dance, “Episode VII” (Season One, Episode 7)

9.    Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time, “Match 4” (Season One, Episode 4)

10.                The Queen’s Gambit, “End Game” (Season One, Episode 7)

Lovecraft Country — “Jig-A-Bobo”
(Season One, Episode 8)

By Alan Gordon

Carnivorous shape-shifters that appear at sundown; malevolent ghosts; dark rituals seeking immortality that require human sacrifices; giant, nameless beasts that appear out of nowhere to devour. But do you know what’s really terrifying?

Being Black in America.

I’m not about to claim direct knowledge of being a victim in an oppressive society, but I’ve had a career as a public defender that has put me, shall we say, adjacent to it. Lovecraft Country, based on a novel by white author Matt Ruff, plays with conventions inspired by the white horror writer and notorious racist H.P. Lovecraft, and flips them into a world where the Lewis and Freeman [!] families are in as much danger from moving into the wrong Chicago neighborhood or eating in the wrong small-town coffee shop while traveling as they are from the predations of generations of Braithwaites, the white family with a penchant towards dark magic.

“Jig-A-Bobo” starts with one of the most significant cultural landmarks in American history: the lynching of 14 year old Emmett Till and the display of his brutalized body at Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago. Till was actually a character in earlier episodes, referred to by his nickname Bobo, whose fate is signaled by a possessed Ouija board in the “Holy Ghost” haunted house episode. When his friend, teenager Diana Freeman, can’t face the prospect of viewing his body, she flees the crowd, only to be waylaid by a pair of white cops seeking information about her family. When she refuses to co-operate, one of them performs an invocation. And then it gets weird.

I think we all have an image from childhood of some illustration or book cover that terrified us, that we thought might come to life when we weren’t looking. Diana’s image leaps straight off the cover of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and is imbued with a century of racist caricature — a Topsy. In fact, two of them, with blood-red lips, nappy wigs and long, lethal nails. The two of them contort, dance and pursue her, and they are the scariest creatures in the entire series. (Credit to performers Kaelynn Harris and Bianca Brewton as well as Jamaica Craft’s choreography.)

There are other plot lines continuing, with a surprise appearance by a shoggoth in the last act of one of them, but it the constant pursuit of Diana by these demons that drives this episode. As with the entire series, the attention to detail — sets, costume, props, cinematography — is stunning. A later episode brings in the Tulsa massacre [also mentioned in Watchmen], which is also horrifying, but this the episode that haunts me. I couldn’t look away — and I wanted to.

Alan’s Top 10 Episodes of 2020

1.    Lovecraft Country, “Jig-A-Bobo” (Season One, Episode 8)

2.    The Plot Against America, “Part 3” (Season One, Episode 3) The family trip to Washington D.C. Yes, it could happen here. Chilling.

3.    The Crown, “The Hereditary Principal” (Season Four, Episode 7)

4.    The Crown, “The Balmoral Test” (Season Four, Episode 2)

5.    The Magicians, “Apocalypse? Now?!” (Season Five, Episode 5)

6.    The Magicians, “Oops!…I Did It again” (Season Five, Episode 6) Nice, snarky meta-references to a time-loop story, and Hale Appleman was superb.

7.    Dispatches from Elsewhere, “Simone” (Season One, Episode 2) The series had me for 8 1/2 episodes, then blew it with a self-indulgent meta-ending that explained nothing. But this one was beautiful.

8.    Briarpatch, “First Time Saint Disgrace” (Season One, Episode 1) As Chekhov didn’t quite say, “A tiger in the first act …”

9.    Dare Me, “Parallel Trenches” (Season One, Episode 5)

10.                The Queen’s Gambit, “Doubled Pawns” (Season One, Episode 3)

The Mandalorian — “Chapter 9: The Marshall”
(Season Two, Episode 1)

By Ken Jones

Controversial opinion: Disney is the best thing to happen to Star Wars. After the total garbage that was Episodes I, II, and III, as well as the terrible updates to the original trilogy, someone else clearly needed to take the reins to save the franchise. Disney’s Star Wars has brought us the best heist film of the decade in Rogue One and one of the best Westerns ever with The Mandalorian. The original trilogy holds a special place in my heart, having watched them just about every time I stayed home sick as a child. I’m thankful that I have memory of the movies without the dumbest CGI song to ever be created. But even with the warm fuzzies these movies bring, Rouge One and The Mandalorian are my favorite Star Wars things ever created.

Admittedly I’m not a super geek, I haven’t read any Star Wars books or watched the cheap animated shows so I’m sure there are a lot of references that I’m missing, but this show stands on its own. The Mandalorian benefits from this rich and diverse story material by exploring a vast galaxy that feels fully flushed out. And much how the original trilogy borrows from the Western genre, namely The Searchers, The Mandalorian takes this and runs with it, also taking inspiration from Sergio Leone. Yes, this is clearly sci-fi, but the sets, costumes, props, and music all scream Western, so I’d consider it a Western with sci-fi elements, and not the other way around. It just works in a galaxy where Han shot first.

In such a dark year with a limited number of new shows and movies coming out, The Mandalorian Season Two has been a bright spot. The season opener, titled “The Marshal”, gives perhaps the strongest Western vibe as the “cowboys” team up with the “Native Americans” to defeat a common enemy. Back on the very familiar Tatooine, our hero agrees to help a town marshal kill a menacing Krayt dragon in exchange for the return of the beskar armor he wears. As we have learned so far in this show, Mando is much better at killing people than creatures, so this is no easy task. Thankfully he doesn’t care about local beefs and is adept in getting people to do what he wants. Sand People and the human residents of Tatooine are no different to him, which is a major survival advantage. Tusken Raiders were only ever painted as savage beasts in the movies, but here we learn they are capable of complex communication, strategy, and generational knowledge. They even had a deaf actor help create the Sand People sign language used. Yay dimension!

Naturally, the pairing of groups is less than smooth, but Mando doesn’t care about their interpersonal problems and uses his cold ethical stance to provide the firm foundation to get very different peoples to work together. This sets the stage for a very fun, very unique battle with a giant monster. There’s a mix of lasers, explosions, and crude weapons. Plus, there are banthas used as fodder, which is inspired.

And that’s what I love about this show. It is clearly helmed by people who love Star Wars and want to build on an ever-growing galaxy. I may not have all the background knowledge about Star Wars that they do, but I’m glad they are super geeks, because it makes everything feel deeper. I abhor Episode I, but a character driving a makeshift speeder that may or may not be built around an engine from Anakin’s pod racer is still cool. There are other such reuse of old Star Wars items, but let’s not spoil too much.

I have spoken.

Ken’s Top 10 Episodes of 2020

1.    The Mandalorian, “Chapter 16: The Rescue” (Season Two, Episode 8)

2.    The Mandalorian, “Chapter 15: The Believer” (Season Two, Episode 7)

3.    The Mandalorian, “Chapter 9: The Marshall” (Season Two, Episode 1)

4.    I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, “Walk Into the Light” (Season One, Episode 6)

5.    The Crown, “Fagan” (Season Four, Episode 5)

6.    The Plot Against America, “Part 6” (Season One, Episode 6)

7.    Dead to Me, “Where Do We Go From Here?” (Season Two, Episode 10)

8.    Little Fires Everywhere, “Picture Perfect” (Season One, Episode 7)

9.    Dracula, “The Rules of the Beast” (Season One, Episode 1)

10.                Unorthodox, “Part 4” (Season One, Episode 4)

Honorable mention: McMillions, “Episode 1” (Season One, Episode 1)

The Midnight Gospel — “Mouse of Silver”
(Season One, Episode 8)

By Leigh Montano

Hey hey! It’s your girl, Leigh, back again to talk about DEATH!

I’m getting ahead of myself. 

Hi! Welcome, we’re going to talk about The Midnight Gospel. Have you ever thought to yourself, “I wonder what Finn and Jake from Adventure Time would be like if they grew up and got really into weed and Buddhism…” Well, you’re in luck! Pendleton Ward, creator of Adventure Time, had a similar idea so he teamed up with his buddy, Duncan Trussell, took some audio that Trussell recorded as part of his Duncan Trussell Family Hour podcast, got some animators together and created The Midnight Gospel. 

This show is not for everyone. I’ve recommended it to many people and have had about a 50% success rate, which is by far my lowest success rate for a TV show recommendation. And I’m not gonna lie! It’s a weird show! The animation is abstract and absurd (cat pirates), the topics are weirdly deep (death, magic, reincarnation), there isn’t really a “plot” per se? There’s an overarching theme paired with some real life events. It’s hard to explain without spoilers so I’m throwing up my Spoiler Warning now!

You wouldn’t expect a show this absurd to be about death, but it is, so of course I had to talk about it.

There are a LOT of topics discussed in this show, but the one topic that is sprinkled into every episode is death. It’s here and there at first, just mentions of overdoses and then metaphorical, spiritual deaths until BAM, last episode has you knee deep in deep discussions about death with a woman who has terminal cancer, with her son, and coming to terms with that. 

WHA-BAM! 

I know, you wouldn’t expect a show about an interdimensional podcast host to get that deep but woah does it. 

For me this was such a natural “frog in a boiling pot of water” progression from absurd to poignet that I didn’t fully recognize what was happening until I was crying. You, as an audience member, are taken on such an absurd journey that you completely don’t understand that the whole show was so naturally leading up to this moment until it’s happening. The entire show is a meditation on the absurdity of life and death and the universe. It has moments of hilarity and disgust and beauty and darkness, all leading to a conversation about one’s own mortality with their progeny. 

Again, this show isn’t for everyone. But if it’s for you, it will EXTREMELY be your shit. 

The episode, “Mouse of Silver,” is set up much like every other episode of The Midnight Gospel; Clancy enters his inter-dimensional virtual reality thingy and has a conversation with his mom. The topics are largely Clancy/Duncan’s life and his mother’s life. The audience learns about her career as a psychologist, her opinions on how it shaped her children and herself, and eventually, her terminal cancer diagnosis. All the while, the audience watches Clancy/Duncan and his mother and an adorable troupe of doctor-bears as Clancy and his mother grow old and she eventually dies. 

And then is reborn from Clancy. It’s absurd, remember that. 

The discussion goes towards the spiritual as most of the discussions in The Midnight Gospel do, but it is indescribable to hear someone talk about coming to terms with death in such an optimistic way. I have struggled with finding words honestly for a while but it’s something that I recommend you experience. 

Ya know, if this sounds like your type of thing. 

Then some other shit happens and a pony made of ice cream is murdered and a dog with a black hole for a stomach saves the day and then Ram Dass is there. It’s a lot.

Maybe this show impacted me especially because of a relatively recent death of a parent of mine. Maybe it’s because I’m a weirdo who is introspective about my own mortality more than is probably healthy. Maybe it’s because we’ve been living through a pandemic and death is all around us. Who is to say. But finding new interpretations and optimisms about death while we are faced with an ongoing murder of thousands due to our own government’s lack of consideration for its people, has been marginally helpful. 

Leigh’s Top 10 Episodes of 2020

1.    Dark, “Paradise” (Season Three, Episode 8)

2.    Dark, “In Between Time” (Season Three, Episode 7)

3.    Dark, “Life and Death” (Season Three, Episode 5)

4.    The Midnight Gospel, “Mouse of Silver” (Season One, Episode 8)

5.    Devs, “Episode 7” (Season One, Episode 7)

6.    What We Do in the Shadows, “On the Run” (Season Two, Episode 6)

7.    The Great, “The Beaver’s Nose” (Season One, Episode 10)

8.    UNHhhh, “Straights” (Season One, Episode 131)

9.    Infinity Train, “The New Apex” (Season Three, Episode 10)

10.                She-Ra and the Princess She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, “Heart (Parts 1 & 2) (Season Five, Episodes 12/13)

Worst Episode of 2020: The Haunting of Bly Manor Episode 8. Fuck that episode so hard.

Modern Family — “Finale”
(Season Eleven, Episodes 17/18)

Series spoilers for Modern Family

By Sara Rust

Saying that this year has been a heaping pile of garbage with a burning fire custard filling is redundant, but saying that the week where both Modern Family and Schitt’s Creek aired their series finales was the lowest point of the year is incredibly accurate. Just when I needed my comfort shows the most, they both up and leave. Which ironically enough is also exactly what happens in the final episode of Modern Family.

A family that spent more time together than any other family, were splitting up. With one job offer presented to Cam, the whole dynamic shifted and everyone started spinning in different directions. All of the kids we’d watched grow up were transitioning into the positions that the adults had held at the beginning of the series. Dingbat Haley became a mom and took over the house that Cam and Mitchell started their family in. Then the two younger Dunphy’s left for a job in Switzerland and the University of Oregon. Even Manny was leaving to travel the world. Claire and Phil decided to go for an RV trip, something Phil’s father had done until his recent passing. Finally, Gloria was going to Columbia for the summer, creating the biggest change of all. Stubborn, old school Jay had finally given up his attitude of not caring about anyone and anything by learning Spanish for his wife and agreeing to spend the summer in Columbia as well. 

The amount of growth that each character had across this series is astounding. The best part is that it was never obvious, we thought we were just watching a light hearted family sitcom without much weight. When the show is looked back on though, it’s so neat to see how every single person morphed into a much better version of themselves. The only other show that has mastered the art of creating and laughter and crying in the same scene is Scrubs and that’s saying a lot in my opinion. I’m grateful that the show was able to have the ending that it deserved even if it did happen at such a raw moment in time. Thankfully, they left the porch light on.  

Sara’s Top 10 Episodes of 2020

1.    Schitt’s Creek, “The Presidential Suite” (Season Six, Episode 8)

2.    The Last Dance, “Episode IX” (Season One, Episode 9)

3.    Sex Education, “Episode 7” (Season Two, Episode 7)

4.    Modern Family, “I’m Going to Miss This” (Season Eleven, Episode 16)

5.    A Million Little Things, “One Year Later” (Season Two, Episode 17)

6.    Superstore, “Zephra Cares” (Season Five, Episode 17)

7.    Single Parents, “Welcome to Hilltop” (Season Two, Episode 12)

8.    The Great British Bake-Off, “Chocolate Week” (Season Eleven, Episode 4)

9.    The Crown, “Fairytale” (Season Four, Episode 3)

10.                Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “Ransom” (Season Seven, Episode 12)

Schitt’s Creek — “Happy Ending”
(Season Six, Episode 14)

Series spoilers for Schitt’s Creek

By Rachael Clark

SLOW BURN! What makes Schitt’s Creek such a beloved show is due it’s slow burn. The show is about a wealthy, obnoxious, self-absorbed family that loses all their money due to embezzlement by the father’s business partner. They end up living in a hotel located in the small town of Schitt’s Creek. Over six seasons you see all four family members slowly evolve and become better, more loving people. It isn’t really until the season two finale when the audience starts to see how each family member is growing as a better person. The episode I am talking about today is the series finale, “Happy Ending.” It is one of the better finales I have seen because we have watched these people slowly evolve over years, and now get to see their final time together in Schitt’s Creek. The parents, Johnny and Moira, are moving to California for Moira’s show, Alexis is moving to New York for her job, and David is staying in Schitt’s Creek.

We open with the family waking David up on his wedding day to inform him of some bad news. His first thought is about his fiancé, Patrick. “Did Patrick Die?” For many shows, comedic or dramatic, often times the gay characters get really depressing and tragic backstories and they never seem to have a happy ending. Thankfully this is not one of those scenarios. The bad news is they have to find a new officiant and change venues for the wedding both due to the huge rainstorm. It is decided that the mother, Moira, will officiate because she can keep her composure and she has done it before for Pat Sajack, the host of Wheel of Fortune.

As Moira sits down struggling to try to find the right words to say at the wedding, “Are we ready to spin the wheel of life today? Ugh, even Vanna White didn’t laugh at that one,” Alexis, comes in to talk. Alexis is sad because she realizes this is the last time the family are going to be together like they have been for the past few years. “I remember there was a whole year we didn’t even see each other. A part of me is saying I’m almost glad we lost the money,” she explains. Alexis’ growth on the show has been so much fun to watch and probably the biggest out of her family. She started out as the brattiest and most self-centered character on the show, but now she has graduated high school and community college, launched her own business, and has become selfless…for the most part!

Earlier in the episode Patrick knew that David would be stressed out for they day, so he paid for David to get a massage. Turns out the massage had a happy ending, if you know what I mean! When Patrick finds out, he is upset and angry, but David thought that is what he wanted. Patrick replies, “All I did was leave an envelope full of cash and a note that said to take very good care of you and now that I’ve said those words out loud, I can see how a certain kind of person would interpret that the wrong way.”

Next, we go to my favorite (and funniest) scene in the episode, where David comes back to the motel to get dressed and ready for the wedding with Alexis. The chemistry between these two actors is amazing, I love watching scenes they have together because they complement each other so well. Turns out Alexis is in a wedding dress, but she assures him it is not:

Alexis: “It is NOT a wedding dress. It’s a white, floor length gown.”

David: “Did it come with a veil?”

Alexis: “No…it came with a headdress.”

David: “A whhaattt?”

Alexis: “It came with like a white, tulle, headdress, but I thought it overwhelmed the dress so I decided not to wear it.”

David: “You’re walking me down the aisle, everyone is gonna think we’re getting married to each other.”

Later in the scene, David’s best friend and maid of honor, Stevie, says the town has seen weirder things, and she is probably right.

The wedding is now taking place at Town Hall and many of the towns people have come together to make it look beautiful for the event. As the wedding procession starts, the local choir, the Jazzagals, get up and start singing “Precious Love” acapella style. Moira walks in as the officiant, dressed like the pope. Now, Moira is known for her loud outfits and interesting wigs she wears every day, but this one definitely tops them all, and yet it seems fitting. Next, Johnny walks Stevie down the aisle. These two have become business partners over the last three seasons and they developed a really strong father/daughter type relationship that will melt anyone’s heart. Finally, Alexis walks David down the aisle. But before she does, they have a sweet moment where they talk about how much they love and are impressed by each other (and Alexis comes to the realization she might be wearing a wedding dress). This is very different from their first scene together when they arrive at the motel for the first time and they start fighting over who sleeps on the bed closest to the door because that person will get murdered first.

The actual scene of the wedding is short, but we see everything we need to and nothing more. David and Patrick exchange their vows and you can tell they really do care and love each other. Patrick sings a part of Mariah Carey’s “You’ll Always Be My Baby” as part of his vows, and David reflects on the hard road he has had in life but knowing Patrick is there it is not as terrifying.

Our last scene is the family saying goodbye to each other the next morning outside the motel as Johnny and Moira are heading to the airport for California. It is filled with tears and you can tell there is a blur between the actors and their characters because this was the last scene they all filmed together. It also made for a simple and sweet ending to a show where the characters have ended perhaps one of the biggest chapters of their lives as a family. I often find myself watching reruns of this show because it brings me so much peace. It’s a humble little comedy about family, friends, and love in a place where everyone does in fact, fit in.

Best Wishes. Warmest Regards.

Rachael’s Top 10 Episodes of 2020

1.    The Queen’s Gambit, “End Game” (Season One, Episode 7)

2.    Schitt’s Creek, “Happy Ending” (Season Five, Episode 14)

3.    The Haunting of Bly Manor, “The Beast in the Jungle” (Season Two, Episode 9)

4.    Lovecraft Country, “Strange Case” (Season One, Episode 5)

5.    The Queen’s Gambit, “Openings” (Season One, Episode 1)

6.    Perry Mason, “Chapter 8” (Season One, Episode 8)

7.    The Good Place, “Whenever You’re Ready” (Season Four, Episodes 13/14)

8.    Bob’s Burgers, “Poops!…I Didn’t Do It Again” (Season Ten, Episode 20)

9.    What We Do in the Shadows, “On the Run” (Season Two, Episode 6)

10.                Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “Captain Kim” (Season Seven, Episode 2)

Sex Education — “Episode 7”
(Season Two, Episode 7)

By Alex Manzo

The latest season of Sex Education came out way back in January, and after watching this episode, I set a reminder in my phone for December so I wouldn’t forget I wanted to write about this for Austin’s end of year TV blog. I really planned ahead (except for the fact I’m writing this at the last minute).

“You should be careful what you wear”

“And you should be careful perpetuating old-fashioned patriarchal ideology.”

The episode opens with this dialog exchange and really help sets the stage for a great storyline this episode. There are plenty of “other things” that happen in this episode, but all I care about is the storyline with all the ladies.

The girls all end up in detention together for a crime they didn’t commit. They’re tasked with preparing a presentation of what “binds you together as women”, which the teacher later calls “an impossible project about female solidarity”. It doesn’t take long for bickering to begin as these girls with such varied interests and backgrounds struggle to come together.

Then, it becomes clear they need to be there for Aimee, who is still struggling with the fallout of being victim of sexual assault  on a bus. In the ensuring conversation, they find what binds them all together: unwanted attention from men.

This episode was part of the momentum brought on by #MeToo, but frankly this commonality among women and those who present femininely is timeless, evergreen content. I’m a non-binary human who tends to present on the masculine-end of the spectrum, but I don’t want to be perceived as male. Being a man is not an experience I have ever identified with and when forced to fit myself into some kind of binary gender definition, I align with women.

Why? Because we have this shared experience in the world, this unspoken understanding and bond. Female friendships are powerful and amazing.

This episode managed to capture that camaraderie perfectly with this group of young women. For me, the scene where they’re smashing the car while “Make Your Own Kind of Music” plays in the background is just perfect. It’s a scene that grabs me, gives me a moment I relate to and want to celebrate in. Then to top it off with all the girls riding the bus with Aimee, well that’s a moment for a couple happy tears.

Alex’s Top 10 Episodes of 2020

1.    The Good Place, “Whenever You’re Ready” (Season Four, Episodes 13/14)

2.    The Good Place, “You’ve Changed, Man” (Season Four, Episode 10)

3.    Schitt’s Creek, “Happy Ending” (Season Five, Episode 14)

4.    Schitt’s Creek, “The Pitch” (Season Five, Episode 12)

5.    Schitt’s Creek, “The Bachelor Party” (Season Five, Episode 11)

6.    The Good Place, “Mondays, Am I Right?” (Season Four, Episode 11)

7.    The Good Place, “Patty” (Season Five, Episode 12)

8.    The Mandalorian, “Chapter 11: The Heiress” (Season Two, Episode 3) Disclaimer: At the time I’m making this list, this is as far as I am in Season Two.

9.    Schitt’s Creek, “The Incident” (Season Five, Episode 2)

10.                Schitt’s Creek, “Moira Rose” (Season Five, Episode 7)

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power — “Heart Part 2”
(Season Five, Episode 13)

Vague series spoilers for She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

By Andrew Rostan

Making a satisfying television show is hard. Perfectly sticking the landing on a television show is harder.

Over the course of five seasons and 52 episodes, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power never failed to satisfy with its tireless melding of great animation, humor, emotion, and so many plot threads and memorable characters in an ever-expanding world; indeed, one of my best friends criticized the show for never seeming to take a breath. The potential downside of this was an increased chance things could be left dangling in the series finale.

It didn’t happen. In “Heart, Part Two” (taken in conjunction with head writer Josie Campbell’s Part One), series developer Noelle Stevenson ensured that everything set up was paid off, that every character’s arc reached a fine conclusion, and did so with ethereal animation reminiscent of a more pastel Ghibli production.

The episode had its share of great moments. SPOILER ALERT BUT NOT REALLY: we know that good will triumph over evil. What hit harder was one antagonist’s final, complicated, self-congratulatory death scene, and another character’s defiant stand against Horde Prime, whose all-ivory, all-male army easily brings cults and fundamentalist Christians to mind. (And in that latter scene, Stevenson inserted more twists than you’d expect.)

But what it really came down to was the final seven minutes.

Stevenson (and I’m paraphrasing here) was once asked what this show is about and described it as a tragedy between two people who love each other but stop seeing life the same way. Adora and Catra, in Stevenson’s words, are an inseparable team who always rely on each other, who are ready to rise and rule the Horde together, until Adora discovers the Sword of Protection and becomes She-Ra. This makes Adora realize there are so many people worth caring about and defending from evil, and Catra, who sees others’ lives as not worth a second thought, can’t and won’t understand how Adora can think this way and counts Adora caring for anyone apart from her as the ultimate betrayal.

What plays out is Adora taking the mantle of the universe’s savior on herself to the point of exhaustion and near-death, while Catra becomes ever more domineering and cruel to even those who want to support her until her isolated hubris makes her fall.

Then, in the fifth season, things happen where Adora learns the value of a bit of selfishness and having her own needs, and Catra learns to be ever more selfless and empathetic. They reconnect. And despite a lot of fantasy-action travails, their story concludes with a moment that I had to rewind and watch three times when I first saw it. I couldn’t believe how perfectly done it was. And I sobbed for about five minutes straight. (I can’t tell you how many scenes in the finale made me cry, period.)

As a writer, I am jealous of how Stevenson executed this climax and resolution (and how well Aimee Carrero and AJ Michalka live these lines). As a television watcher, I can only shake my head at having seen some of the best we can get.

Andrew did not wish to submit a top 10 list

Staged — “Ulysses”
(Season One, Episode 5)

By Jim Huang

A few weeks back when network shows returned for fall, a comment flew by on Facebook: they’re wearing masks!  I can never watch the episode again!  It’s easy to understand why one wouldn’t want to experience 2020 again: the year’s been hard on all of us.  Actors David Tennant and Michael Sheen are taking it especially hard.  They were on the verge of starting rehearsals for a production of Six Characters in Search of an Author when quarantine hit, and now they’re going a little crazy.  “I should be happy at home,” Michael says.  “You’re not?” David asks.  “I’m trying,” Michael responds.

The trying isn’t working.  David confesses to his wife, Georgia Tennant, that homeschooling their kids makes him realize that he is “alarmingly uninformed on every subject under the sun.”  Michael and his partner Anna Lundberg are drinking a little too much, so much so that they’re embarrassed about the number of bottles in their recycling bin, a situation that leads to a fraught entanglement with their neighbor.  Their Six Characters director, Simon Evans, doesn’t want to let go of the opportunity to direct these great actors, so he convinces them to start rehearsals over zoom so that they’ll be ready when the quarantine is lifted.  But Simon is in over his head and he’s staying uninvited at his sister Lucy’s house.  Lucy’s fiancé is trying to get her to break quarantine and return to where he’s staying in the south of France.  “Do you like him?” Lucy asks Simon.  “No,” he replies.

David and Georgia Tennant, Michael Sheen and Anna Lundberg, Simon Evans and Lucy Eaton.  Six characters, mostly floundering, in search of an author indeed!  They are, like us, also real people, six actors playing versions of themselves: David and his real-life wife Georgia, Michael and his real-life partner Anna, and Simon and his real-life sister Lucy.  Staged works on every level — the heartfelt and funny dialogue flows beautifully, what these characters are going through is totally believable (because we are all going through it all too), and the show fully captures the insanity of quarantine and of zoom.  But what really makes Staged work is the way it’s built on these real people and their real connections.  No, of course David isn’t really this hopeless and petty and of course Simon isn’t really this incompetent.  But the ways in which household members live and deal with each other, and the ways in which they connect with others in other households is totally real.  The zooms between Michael and David aren’t just great acting, they are friends who are counting on each other to get through this awful time.

“You stop feeling useful,” David says to Adrian Lester, an actor Simon has enlisted to talk him up (which of course goes amusingly wrong).  David goes on: “The theaters close.  The audiences go away.”  But in fact the audiences haven’t gone away.  Much of Staged is told through zoom (by necessity, of course, but also by canny choice), and in this medium the audience is in on the proceedings, just another window in the gallery.  We may be on mute, but we are just as much in on the conversation as are David and Michael.  We are the same distance from them as they are from each other.  So they’re not just commiserating with each other, they are commiserating with us too.  They’re not just each other’s friends, they’re our friends too.  Staged, written and directed in its six-episode entirety by Simon Evans, takes full advantage of the intimacy of zoom and of the insanity of quarantine to create something lovely, a small and timeless little tour-de-force that we can turn to today and again in a post-covid future that can’t come soon enough.

Jim’s Top 5 Episodes of 2020

1.    Staged, “Ulysses” (Season One, Episode 5)

2.    The Good Place, “Whenever You’re Ready” (Season Four, Episodes 13/14) Nailed it!

3.    Ted Lasso, “The Diamond Dogs” (Season One, Episode 8) “Be curious, not judgmental”

4.    The Queen’s Gambit, “Fork” (Season One, Episode 5) Picking up the pieces

5.    Some Good News, “Graduation 2020” (Season One, Episode 6) That’s how you do graduation.

Transfomers War for Cyberton Trilogy: Siege — “Episode 6”
(Season One, Episode 6)

By Josh West

It’s that time of year again where Austin asks his friends to write things about TV shows he’ll probably never watch. But not in my case! See, you might not know this, but Austin is a huge Transformers fan. I don’t mean any of the tv shows or the toys. Austin LOVES the Michael Bay Transformers movies. He’s even been reported as saying “Transformers: The Last Knight is my favorite film of all time and it is truly peak cinema.” His words, not mine. While I enjoy the Transformers movies for what they are, The Last Knight is probably my least favorite. I guess my palate is not as sophisticated as Austin’s. 

For this years favorite episode of television article, I’m going to cover Netflix’s Transformers War For Cybertron Trilogy: Siege: Episode 6, or as i like to call it “NTWFCTSE6.” Let me get you caught up before we talk about the episode. There is a war. For Cybertron. The tyrannical ruler Megatron has a majority control over the planet. His adversary, Optimus Prime is the leader of the Autobots, a faction of Cybertronians who believe that freedom is the right of all living things.  Yes, even living robots who turn into cars. The Autobots have almost no resources and are in hiding. The Decepticons are trying to seek out and eliminate the Autobots so that Megatron can rule over the planet and his followers without ridicule. There is an artifact called the All-Spark that legends say if it leaves Cybertron, the planet will die. So that’s Optimus’ plan! Lets kill the planet!

Episode 6 is one of my favorite episodes of television this year because it was an action packed cliffhanger! Optimus is racing back to the Space Bridge (think of it like a Stargate), Elita-1 is getting the Autobot ship The Ark up and running so they could escape the planet, Jetfire, who had been a decepticon until Megatron murdered a prisoner of war in cold blood, comes swooping in and laser swords his old seeker comrades. One of the hardest hitting moments is when Ratchet, who is worn down from the many years of combat, is running to activate the Space Bridge but one of the Decepticon seekers starts shooting at him from the sky. Impactor, a Decepticon who has temporarily left the Ds to “help the people of Cybertron regardless of who is leading them,” leaps in front of Ratchet and takes a fatal hit. Ratchet, obviously shook up, pauses before carrying out his mission. The episode culminates with a giant Autobot called Omega Supreme fending off the Decepticons so that the Autobots can get through the Space Bridge. 

As the title of the show suggests, this is part of a trilogy. Part Two is going to be called Netflix’s Transformers War For Cybertron Trilogy: Earthrise. As you can probably guess, Earth is where the Autobot Ark is going to land. But, now here is where everything gets exciting, the third part of the trilogy is called Netflix’s Transformers War For Cybertron Trilogy: Kingdom. Hasbro has already revealed some of the toys based on Kingdom and they are based on animals! More specifically, a good number of characters that share the same name and likeness of character from 1996’s Transformers: Beast Wars are coming back! We are talking about purple T-rex Megatron, gorilla Optimus Primal, Rattrap, Cheetor, and Blackarachnia! So really, what i’m saying is to not watch Netflix’s Transformers War For Cybertron Trilogy: Siege and instead go watch Beast Wars on Tubi for free right now! It’s my favorite Transformers series and has some really great characters! The animation is rough, but actually pretty good considering this was a tv show and not Pixar. Best TV episode of 2020, or best TV series of the late 90’s? You decide.

Josh’s Top 10 Episodes of 2020

1.    DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, “Swan Thong” (Season Five, Episode 14)

2.    Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., “As I Have Always Been” (Season Seven, Episode 9)

3.    The Mandalorian, “Chapter 13: The Jedi” (Season Two, Episode 5)

4.    Schitt’s Creek, “Happy Ending” (Season Five, Episode 14)

5.    Steven Universe Future, “Homeworld Bound / Everything’s Fine / I Am My Monster / The Future” (Season One, Episodes 17/18/19/20)

6.    Star Wars: The Clone Wars, “Shattered” (Season Seven, Episode 11)

7.    Supergirl, “Reality Bytes” (Season Five, Episode 15)

8.    Supergirl, “Alex in Wonderland” (Season Five, Episode 16)

9.    Stargirl, “Stars & S.T.R.I.P.E. Part 2” (Season One, Episode 13)

10.                The Walking Dead, “Walk With Us” (Season Ten, Episode 12)

What We Do in the Shadows — “On the Run”
(Season Two, Episode 6)

By Sam Tilmans

I’m a sucker for vampires. 

While they may swell and ebb in popularity over time, vampires never truly go out of style. I love how every vampire story builds on common folklore or subverts it, and I’m intrigued by vampires from cultures all over the world. While I do appreciate the novel Dracula, I tend to lean towards the vampire media that is more fun, a bit weirder, and often queerer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Near Dark, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, The Hunger, Fright Night, The Lost Boys, and, of course, Taika Waititi’s What We Do in the Shadows from 2014, which spawned this delightful, wonderful show I wanted to write about this year.

I adore What We Do in the Shadows. Often, movies don’t translate well to television shows, but as it turns out, this universe works better in the episodic format. What We Do in the Shadows was one of my favorite shows from last year, and continued to be this year. With this show, we get a chance to delve deeper into the characters and their ongoing journeys, and I appreciate that.

There’s so much I love about this show – the acting, the writing, my vampire queen Nadja, and the sweet and frustrated familiar Guillermo in particular. Each episode adds a new piece to the mythology of this universe and expands on the misadventures of existing as a centuries-old being in a modern world, and every episode is an utter joy to watch. I mean, how many shows have an Emmy-nominated episode that includes ghost masturbation? THIS ONE. JUST THIS ONE. IT’S GREAT.

Which brings me to another one of What We Do in the Shadows’s episodes that was nominated for an Emmy this year.

I would be remiss if I did not write of…Jackie Daytona.

One of our four main vampires, Laszlo Cravensworth, exudes charisma. He’s cheeky, charming, sexual, and…a total dick. He once turned a baby into a vampire because he was bored and framed someone else for it. He shoves his lovely wife Nadja before him at the hint of danger, stubbornly refuses to admit he has a cursed hat, believes the quickest solution to most problems is murder, and skips out on paying rent. That last issue sets the events of the episode “On the Run” into motion, as imposing, gravelly-voiced Jim the Vampire comes to collect his money after being stiffed decades ago, and Laszlo ditches his friends and Nadja instead of paying up. 

Part of this show’s brilliance is how everyone plays it straight in a ridiculous world full of vampires, werewolves, ghosts, witches, zombies, and literal internet trolls. Anything’s possible, and we just roll with it. In “On the Run,” we have to believe in the power of a singular toothpick. With that toothpick stuck in Laszlo’s mouth, he is unrecognizable, even to Nadja. He is Jackie Daytona. Jackie is a normal human bartender in Pennsylvania who wears blue jeans, has a giant pickup truck, and falls in love with the local high school’s girls volleyball team. “On the Run” is the classic story of a person doing more work to avoid a very basic task, but it’s also the classic story of a charismatic stranger coming into a town and touching it with their magic for a brief amount of time, and Laszlo is having the time of his life on his own, removed from his wife and roommates, as Jackie Daytona. 

There is a considerable amount of growth and change for Guillermo and our vampires in the second season of What We Do in the Shadows. Initially, one might expect “On the Run” to be an episode where Laszlo confronts a part of himself and learns a lesson, but that’s not who Laszlo Cravensworth is. Of course, Jim the Vampire catches up to Laszlo, the charade is over, people die, and several buildings burn down. Does Laszlo learn anything? Absolutely not, he is the same as he ever was, but the episode is a fun diversion away from Staten Island. It’s a magical, brillant episode. If nothing else, I recommend it for the sheer dramatic emotion Mark Hamill displays over a Big Mouth Billy Bass – it’s simply irresistible.

1.    The Magicians, “The Mountain of Ghosts” (Season 5, Episode 3)

2.    What We Do in the Shadows, “On the Run” (Season 2, Episode 6)

3.    What We Do in the Shadows, “The Curse” (Season 2, Episode 4)

4.    The Magicians, “Oops!…I Did It Again” (Season 5, Episode 6)

5.    What We Do in the Shadows, “Colin’s Promotion” (Season 2, Episode 5)

6.    The Magicians, “Apocalypse? Now?!” (Season 5, Episode 5)

7.    The Magicians, “The Wrath of the Time Bees” (Season 5, Episode 2)

8.    The Magicians, “Fillory and Further” (Season 5, Episode 13)

9.    The Good Place, “Whenever You’re Ready” (Season 4, Episode 13/14)

10.                BoJack Horseman, “Good Damage” (Season 6, Episode 10)

Honorable Mentions

·       Animaniacs, “Phantomaniacs / Fear and Laughter in Burbank / Bride of Pinky / Things That Go Bump in the Night” (Season One, Episode 11)

·       Bob’s Burgers, “Bob Belcher and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Kids” (Season 11, Episode 6)

·       Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “Trying” (Season 7, Episode 6); “The Takeback” (Season 7, Episode 8); “Valloweaster” (Season 7, Episode 11); “Lights Out” (Season 7, Episode 13)

·       Kim’s Convenience, “Birds of a Feather” (Season 4, Episode 11); “Bon Voyage” (Season 4, Episode 13)

·       The Magicians, “Garden Variety Homicide” (Season 5, Episode 8); “Purgatory” (Season 5, Episode 10); “The Balls” (Season 5, Episode 12)

·       One Day at a Time, “Boundaries” (Season 4, Episode 3)

·       Schitt’s Creek, “The Bachelor Party / Escape Room” (Season 6, Episode 11)

·       Sex Education, “Episode 3” (Season 2, Episode 3)

·       She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, “Perils of Peekablue” (Season 5, Episode 7); “Heart” (Parts 1 & 2) (Season 5, Episodes 12/13)

·       What We Do in the Shadows, “Resurrection” (Season 2, Episode 1); “Witches” (Season 2, Episode 9)

The Group’s Top 10 List

Using a simple point system where a person’s #1 pick gets 10 points, #2 gets 9 and so on, here are the Top 10 Episodes of 2020.

1.    The Good Place, “Whenever You’re Ready” (Season Four, Episodes 13/14) [61 points]

2.    Schitt’s Creek, “Happy Ending” (Season Five, Episode 14) [49 points]

3.    What We Do in the Shadows, “On the Run” (Season Two, Episode 6) [35 points]

4.    The Queen’s Gambit, “End Game” (Season One, Episode 7) [30 points]

5.    BoJack Horseman, “The View from Halfway Down” (Season Six, Episode 15) [26 points]

6.    Dark, “Paradise” (Season Three, Episode 8) [25 points]

7.    The Crown, “The Balmoral Test” (Season Four, Episode 2) [20 points]

8.    The Crown, “Fairytale” (Season Four, Episode 3) [19 points, tie]

9.    Devs, “Episode 8” (Season One, Episode 8) [19 points, tie]

10.                Sex Education, “Episode 7” (Season Two, Episode 7) [18 points]

·       148 different episodes were on a Top 10 list

·       79 different shows were on a Top 10 list

·       4 of the possible 4 episodes of The Good Place were on a Top 10 list

·       7 of the 8 episodes of The Mandalorian were on a Top 10 list

·       4 of the 7 episodes of The Queen’s Gambit were on a Top 10 list

·       5 of the 10 episodes of The Crown were on a Top 10 list

·       4 of the 8 episodes of Dark were on a Top 10 list

·       3 of the 6 episodes of I’ll Be Gone in the Dark were on a Top 10 list

·       5 of the 10 episodes of The Last Dance were on a Top 10 list

·       7 of the 14 episodes of Schitt’s Creek were on a Top 10 list

·       7 series finales were on a Top 10 list (Not counting miniseries)

·       42 of the 148 episodes were Netflix Originals

·       35 of the 148 episodes were on basic cable

·       25 of the 148 episodes were on network broadcast

·       17 of the 148 episodes were on HBO

·       10 of the 148 episodes were on Hulu

·       9 of the 148 episodes were on Disney+

·       3 of the 148 episodes were on YouTube

·       2 of the 148 episodes were on Amazon Prime

·       2 of the 148 episodes were on CBS All Access

·       1 of the 148 episodes was on Showtime

Best Episodes of 2019

Nine years! Nine years, I’ve asked friends of mine from all different times in my life to write me a short article about an episode of TV they loved this year. On a personal level, it’s fun because I get to see people I care about write excellent pieces. On another level, it’s a wonderful glimpse in the year in television. None of us are professional TV critics; we’re just people who are excited about the episodic medium. These are the episodes that made us cry, made us laugh, helped us figure out our own anxieties and truly wowed us.

Blown Away – “Snapshot”

(Season One, Episode 1)

By Grace Chapin James

Blown Away is a glassblowing reality show slash the kind of show you scroll by on Netflix and say, hey man, niche and probably not for me. Friends, I watched that show, and let me tell you: it’s the reality show you never knew you’d been dreaming of.

Let’s get the following parts out of the way first: yes, the winner of each week is known as the Best in Blow. Yes, the host of the show is a cut-rate Colin Hanks impersonator who clearly knows nothing (N.O.T.H.I.N.G) about glassblowing and was just glad to get a job. And, yes, each artist gets their own personal Glory Hole, aka hot hot furnace of molten glass, not the other kind, god that would be bad if they mixed those two verrrry separate things up, wouldn’t it?

Since this is a reality competition, there aren’t narrative “episodes” to speak of. As you can imagine, the series sticks pretty close to the following script: get assignment to blow glass, blow glass, show off blown glass or shards thereof, someone wins and someone cries.

Let me give you some of the highlights of the whole season to keep things spicy and in the spirit of this assignment though:

1.       There’s this guy who is what teens today call a zaddy. His name is Janusz but you don’t need me to point that out, you would know who I’m talking about if you saw this show for a dang second. I do not know how the casting director found an impossibly attractive silver fox who is also an expert glassblower, but I tip my little glass hat to you, ma’am.

2.       One of the most cutting critiques I’ve heard in any portion of my life (and guys, I tell kids they don’t get to go to college FOR A LIVING) is when a judge tells a glass artist that the whale they made looks like it came from an airport gift shop.

3.       Lesbian fan favorite Deborah at one point makes an external womb out of glass that men can wear to gestate babies.

Glassblowing is high-stakes art. Sure, on a cooking show, your flan and pate ice cream might not freeze just right in the time allotted, but you can still prove you tried.  With glass, your sad pile of jagged shards means nothing, and you have failed.

Glassblowing is a hyper-specific skill, and it’s always interesting to watch people who are clearly so good at something that is so frequently useless or, even when done technically well, ugly and bad.

Glassblowing is not cool. When your lead sponsor is the Corning Museum of Glass, you know you have not really Socially Peaked.

This show is basically the Top Chef of a high-stakes and very specific form of art, and as you can tell, I am here for it. I hope this encourages you to give it a lil peep with your big, weird glassy eyeball (foreshadowing!!) 

Grace chose not to submit a Top 10 Episodes list.

Broad City – “Stories”

(Season Five, Episode 1)

By Sam Tilmans

“Stories” could be any episode of Broad City. It’s crass, gross, a beautiful example of female friendship, and funny as hell. Many of the series’ episodes involve our protagonists Abbi and Illana going on a quest, whether it be for money (“What a Wonderful World,” “Kirk Steele”), weed (“Pu$$y Weed”), air conditioners (“In Heat”), lost phones (“Stolen Phone)”, or to literally find one another (two of my favorites: “Wisdom Teeth” and “Two Chainz”). Abbi and Illana are usually, in one way or another, on an adventure, and in this case, it’s a journey through Manhattan for Abbi’s birthday.

Yet, “Stories” isn’t a typical Broad City episode. For one, it’s mostly shot as though we’re watching Ilana’s Instagram stories, and it’s funny to see just what Ilana would over-share with her 213 Instagram followers – falling down a manhole, nasty foot injuries, the number of Abbi’s new credit card, being chased by mall security, and everything else in between. It’s an example of who Ilana is as a character — she’s honest, wild, and prone to cultural appropriation and making dumbass decisions. This episode is also a testament of Ilana and Abbi’s relationship. My favorite bit is in the cold open — where Ilana gives Abbi her birthday present, a video comprising of images of “The Ass of an Ageless Angel” set to Five For Fighting’s “100 Years.” It’s a perfect present for their particular friendship, and it’s hilarious and heartwarming.

The rest of the episode is filled with examples of Abbi and Ilana’s strong and sometimes worryingly codependent friendship: Abbi, with arms like goddamn Wonder Woman, climbs up the ladder of a manhole with Ilana on her back so that Ilana can keep livestreaming on Instagram; Ilana waits patiently for 45 minutes as Abbi fawns over school supplies; Abbi helps Ilana find new, better walking shoes, and buys them for her; and Ilana records birthday messages for Abbi while she’s in the bathroom (and knows the timing of Abbi’s bathroom habits). They’re so dedicated to each other, as they have throughout the entirety of the series.

Besides its unconventional format, this episode is special because it marks the beginning of the end. This year saw the final seasons of so many good shows, including Broad City, and this series particularly went out strong, posing challenges to Abbi and Ilana’s friendship, letting them grow and yet, at their core, remain who they’ve always been.

“Stories” hit close to home for me, as it’s Abbi’s 30th birthday. I turned 30 in 2019, and, like Abbi, I tend to get the birthday blues – since I turned 12, it’s almost a guarantee that at some point on my birthday, I’m gonna cry. Is it because I’m assessing my life choices? Is it because another year has gone by so swiftly and I am hurtling towards the inevitability of death? Is it because my birthday is literally the week after Christmas and the holiday season is already super fucking stressful? Is it because I have anxiety and depression and cry a lot generally? It’s any or all of this combination, really. When we peek in on Abbi crying in the bathroom, I felt that. Birthdays are hard, and 30 is a big birthday, so it seems fitting as a catalyst in the series heading into the final season.

Abbi says she thought she’d be married and have kids by 30, and though not everyone has that goal, it seems that society pushes us to have all our shit sorted out by that age. I didn’t have the same goals as Abbi, but at 30, I thought my partner and I would own a house, that I’d have my student loans paid off, and that I would have traveled more by now instead of letting my passport expire two years ago. I, and a lot of folks in my generation, had dreams that have been squashed by things out of our control, namely an economic recession and the student loan debt crisis. I still don’t know what I want my future to look like, because for many years in my twenties, like Abbi, I was struggling to get stability into my life, or at least, I felt that so many people my age had their shit together, and I didn’t. It’s the “compare and despair” trap. Abbi’s friend from college, “Cheese,” seems to have a perfect life on social media, posting pictures of her vacations and four children, and Abbi is judging her life choices based against that curated social media account. The matter doesn’t get better when Cheese first confronts Abbi and tells her to grow up. On their second confrontation, however, it’s revealed that Cheese has fallen into the same trap — she thinks Abbi has this exciting, fun life while she has a van full of children and she’s stressed out all the time. Cheese misses the freedom that Abbi has, which in turn makes Abbi realize that maybe she is glad she hasn’t made the same choices Cheese has.

We all age and death is inevitable, but there isn’t a manual for how you’re supposed to live your life, adulthood isn’t a set of rigid expectations, and being mature doesn’t mean giving up joy. I’m in a new decade of adulthood, but that doesn’t mean I have to resign myself to fitting in a box, whether created by society or myself. It’s not about the end, rather the journey to getting there. My 30th year involved changes — I ended some friendships, I got into an accident and damaged my car, and one of my cats was diagnosed with diabetes. There was a lot of good, too, though — I made progress with managing my anxiety and depression, saw one of my favorite bands in concert, got tattooed, and started creating and reading more than I had in the past few years.

It’s like “Stories” in that a lot of disastrous things happen, but Abbi and Ilana have a wild experience that makes a great story to tell, have brunch with their friends, and at the end of the day, they still have each other as they stand on a dock gazing at an incredible triple rainbow that they can’t share with anyone else. It’s the beginning of another year, full of potential, and Abbi and Ilana’s next journey.

Sam’s Top 10 Episodes of 2019

1) The Good Place, “The Answer” (Season Four, Episode 9)
2) GLOW, “Freaky Tuesday” (Season Three, Episode 5)
3) GLOW, “Outward Bound” (Season Three, Episode 6)
4) The Good Place, “The Funeral to End All Funerals” (Season Four, Episode 8)
5) Broad City, “Stories” (Season Five, Episode 1)
6) What We Do in the Shadows, “Pilot” (Season One, Episode 1)
7) Bob’s Burgers, “The Ring (But Not Scary)” (Season Ten, Episode 1)
8) Schitt’s Creek, “The Hike” (Season Five, Episode 13)
9) Russian Doll, “The Way Out” (Season One, Episode 7)
10) BoJack Horseman, “A Horse Walks into Rehab” (Season Six, Episode 1)

Honorable Mentions (because there are too many damn good shows out there):

·       Bob’s Burgers, “Roamin’ Bob-iday” (Season Nine, Episode 16) “Land of the Loft” (Season Ten, Episode 7); “Now We’re Not Cooking with Gas” (Season Ten, Episode 8)

·       BoJack Horseman, “The New Client” (Season Six, Episode 2)

·       Broad City, “Make the Space” (Season Five, Episode 4); “Lost and Found” (Season Five, Episode 6)

·       Brooklyn Nine- Nine, “A Tale of Two Bandits” (Season Six, Episode 5)

·       Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, “I Need Some Balance” (Season Four, Episode 9)

·       GLOW, “Up, Up, Up” (Season Three, Episode 1) 

·       The Good Place, “Pandemonium” (Season Three, Episode 13)

·       Letterkenny, “Valentimes Day” (Season Six, Episode 7) 

·       One Day at a Time, “The Funeral” (Season Three, Episode 1); “The First Time” (Season Three, Episode 7); “Anxiety” (Season Three, Episode 9)

·       Orange is the New Black, “Minority Deport” (Season Seven, Episode 5); “Trapped in an Elevator” (Season Seven, Episode 6), “God Bless America” (Season Seven, Episode 11)

·       Russian Doll, “Nothing in This World is Easy” (Season One, Episode 1), “The Great Escape” (Season One, Episode 2); “A Warm Body” (Season One, Episode 3); “Ariadne” (Season One, Episode 8)

·       Schitt’s Creek, “Love Letters” (Season Five, Episode 2); “Housewarming” (Season Five, Episode 5); “The Hospies” (Season Five, Episode 8); “Life is a Cabaret” (Season Five, Episode 14)

·       She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, “The Valley of the Lost” (Season Four, Episode 2); “Princess Scorpia” (Season Four, Episode 6); “Mer-Mysteries” (Season Four, Episode 7); “Beast Island” (Season Four, Episode 11)

·       Stranger Things, “Chapter One: Suzie, Do You Copy?” (Season Three, Episode 1); “Chapter Two: The Mall Rats” (Season Three, Episode 2); “Chapter Seven: The Bite” (Season Three, Episode 7); “Chapter Eight: The Battle of Starcourt” (Season Three, Episode 8)

·       Tuca & Bertie, “Plumage” (Season One, Episode 5); “The Jelly Lakes” (Season One, Episode 9) 

·       What We Do in the Shadows, “Baron’s Night Out” (Season One, Episode 6); “The Trial” (Season One, Episode 7)

Catastrophe – “Episode 6”

(Season Four, Episode 6)

By Molly Raker

This review contains spoilers for the series finale.

I’ll admit the final season premiered on Amazon in March and I didn’t fully watch it until September. I just didn’t want to admit it was over. Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney created a hilarious series about difficult subject manners and just having the best laugh-out-loud dialog and situations. I gotta say I feel this turned the tables on what a comedy series can be, from Barry to Russian Doll, it’s possible to be funny in serious situations, no need for out of character hijinks or pranks, just for laughs (cough Superstore cough Friends). 

The series finale was a poignant closure to the series about two people who just met, and learned to love and grow with an accidental pregnancy. While heading back to the states, the discovering of Rob’s mother passing turns the tables as both of them re-evaluate their lives, ambitions and how they will work together. The writing and quick-witted humor is still there as we learned about Rob’s absent dad, and how his sister learned to forgive but not him.

My favorite part of the episode was the beach funeral and when Rob and Sharon arrive to the states after being on a plane with two kids. They take a minute to console each other for surviving it while their kid’s stroller rolls away, and Sharon says ‘I’ll get it in a minute”. Just the best portrayal of parents I’ve seen, which makes me not want kids. 

All in all, I am going to miss these two together and seeing how their lives unfold. Will they stay in London, move to the states and how many more kids will they have?! (Side note, I’m just glad Chris came to his senses.) I love those two characters as well and love that my favorite Ugly Betty actress, Ashley Jensen landed another hilarious role. 

Molly’s Best Episodes of 2019

1) Fleabag, “Episode 1” (Season Two, Episode 1)
2) Catastrophe, “Episode 6” (Season Four, Episode 6)
3) Succession, “Argestes” (Season Two, Episode 6)
4) Fleabag, “Episode 5” (Season Two, Episode 5)
5) Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “Suicide Squad” (Season Six, Episode 18)
6) Watchmen, “Little Fear of Lightning” (Season One, Episode 5)
7) The Good Place, “The Funeral to End All Funerals” (Season Four, Episode 8)
8) GLOW, “Freaky Tuesday” (Season Three, Episode 5)
9) Broad City, “Stories” (Season Five, Episode 1)
10) Schitt’s Creek, “The Hospies” (Season Five, Episode 8)

Chernobyl  — “Please Remain Calm”

(Season One, Episode 2)

By Sarah Staudt

I still distinctly remember when I first heard the story depicted at the end of episode two of Craig Mazin’s phenomenal miniseries, Chernobyl. On some crappy askreddit thread about five years ago, someone posted a story about these three Russian guys at Chernobyl who had waded, or swam, into radioactive water, fully expecting not to survive the experience, in order to open up some valves and prevent further catastrophe after the Chernobyl nuclear reactor overheated and exploded in April 1986.

Heroism at its finest, to be sure,  but what got me, and what then led me down a many-day internet and library rabbit hole was the scale of the disaster these men were averting. Most stories of heroism involve saving the lives of a couple dozen people.

If these men, that day in 1986, had not done what they did, the other three reactors as Chernobyl would have exploded, and an area 2/3s of the size of the continental United States would have been covered in nuclear fallout and uninhabitable for as long as 20,000 years. Not to mention the worldwide effects of the fallout as it went around the earth. About 20,000 years ago, for reference, humans were probably first using pottery. We hadn’t domesticated pigs yet. We were, quite literally, cavemen. 20,000 years is an impossibly long time. So I guess it’s pretty good that three stoic Russian guys decided to wade into radioactive water, huh?

I couldn’t stop talking about this when I first learned about it. I was insufferable. I included stuff about Chernobyl in my very first OKCupid messages to my now-fiancé. I put pictures of bizarre things with weird names like “The Elephant Foot” and “The Sarcophagus” up on Facebook. It kept me up at night. I donated to Chernobyl liquidator charities. Basically, Chernobyl totally killed my chill for a solid two or three months until I was pretty sure I knew literally everything about how it happened, how it got fixed, and how we’re making sure it never happens again.

It’s kind of nice that everyone else is now as totally gob-smacked as I am, thanks to Mazin’s miniseries. Chernobyl is probably the biggest bummer on television this year. They shoot puppies. It’s rough. But it is so, so much more than that. Mazin sees in this story what I saw – the best and the worst of humanity, existing together in a single event. The failures and successes of government, great cruelty and great generosity, incompetence and genius. Chernobyl is the closest (hopefully) that mankind will get to truly almost ending our own existence. And all in all, the story of how we managed to almost kill ourselves by accident, and the story of how we fixed it, is a story worth watching.

After a first episode that is basically a horror movie, with the great exploded reactor lurking in the shadows like a monster, poisoning and exploding everything and everyone it touches,
“Please Remain Calm,” tells the story of just how bad this whole thing was. It also tarts Mazen’s simple, strong thesis about how the heck we climbed out of this mess. Because people told the truth even though it was terrifying. And because regular people were ready, at a moment’s notice, to sacrifice themselves so others might live. 

I have many favorite moments of this episode. But some of the best ones are when Mazin lets the camera linger, sometimes uncomfortably long, on the faces of ordinary people who are making a particular kind of choice: the choice to go along to get along, or the choice to tell the truth. Legasov goes first, wigging out at a meeting with top party officials about what it means that there’s graphite on the roof of the reactor core. Then, Ulya Khomyuk, calling fellow scientists and talking in code, and, when she can’t get anyone to listen to her, doing the only thing she can do, and thrusting iodine caplets into an innocent secretary’s hand. And most importantly for the long-term, Boris Shcherbina deciding to take Legasov seriously, and to be his advocate through the bureaucracy of the soviet union. All of the actors do a phenomenal job communicating just how hard what they’re doing is. But they do it.

These brave choices, of course, are topped off with our three nameless heroes tromping through the dark in chest deep water. Every frame of that scene is as it really happened. Their flashlights really did fail halfway through because of the radiation. They really did complete their task in total darkness. And they really were volunteers. They would be some of the first of some 600,000 people (that’s about the population of Washington DC) who would volunteer to help walk us back from the brink of our own demise.

The show is beautifully shot, and Mazin’s confident, steady hand makes clear from beginning to end that this story is not meant to be disaster porn. It is a testament to the enormous, terrifying power humans now have over whether or not we continue to exist. And ultimately, it is a story about men and women refusing to be quiet, even when they sat in rooms where everyone around them wanted them to shut the hell up, even when they were threatened with death by a government that really liked killing people who spoke up.

Chernobyl can happen again. To think otherwise is naïve. People are lazy, and craven, and cheap, and bad at conceptualizing just how monumental the stakes are now that we’ve split the atom and given ourselves the ability to obliterate life on earth. But people are also brave, and smart, and impossibly, altruistically courageous. Chernobyl tells both of those stories beautifully.

Sarah’s Top 10 Episodes of 2019

1) Chernobyl, “Please Remain Calm” (Season One, Episode 2)
2) Watchmen, “See How They Fly” (Season One, Episode 9)
3) The Good Place, “A Chip Driver Mystery” (Season Four, Episode 6)
4) Game of Thrones, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” (Season Eight, Episode 2)
5) Succession, “This is Not for Tears” (Season Two, Episode 10)
6) Shrill, “Troll” (Season One, Episode 6)
7) Schitt’s Creek, “Meet the Parents” (Season Five, Episode 11)
8) The Good Fight, “The One Where a Nazi Gets Punched” (Season Three, Episode Five)
9) You’re the Worst, “Pancakes” (Season Five, Episode 13)
10) Black Earth Rising, “The Forgiving Earth” (Season One, Episode 8)

Dead to Me – “Pilot”

(Season One, Episode 1)

By Victoria Leachman

I am of the firm belief that Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini make everything better. So imagine my excitement when I opened Netflix one summer day and found a brand new show that stars BOTH of them. I didn’t hesitate to watch the first five episodes in one sitting. 

Dead to Me is impossible to lump into one category. On one hand, it’s a well-written drama about all-consuming grief and how to continue through life when it feels like part of you died too. On the other hand, it’s a buddy comedy about two polar opposite women navigating a new, mid-life friendship. And on another hand (imagine, if you will, that you have three hands in this scenario), it’s a highly addictive roller coaster of deceit, adultery, emotional manipulation, and—you guessed it—murder. And even those buckets don’t do it justice. Some of the moments of grief are hilarious. Some of the jokes are tinged with sadness. And it’s all done so well that before I knew it, I had binged the whole season AGAIN just for this article.

The pilot begins with Jen attending a grief counseling meeting two months after her husband died in a brutal hit-and-run accident. There she meets Judy, who is dealing with her own loss. While they don’t immediately hit it off, they eventually form a connection, bonding over their mutual love of Entenmann’s cookies and The Facts of Life and sharing the burden of their daily struggles with one another. Of course, this show wouldn’t be very interesting if a wrench wasn’t thrown into this budding relationship, and we receive it about 20 minutes into the pilot episode. This wrench forces us to reexamine Judy: is she really this selfless, emotional herpa, there to guide Jen through her grief? Or is something much darker at play?

Dead to Me lives and dies on the chemistry of its two leads, and they don’t disappoint. In fact, their chemistry is reason enough to give this show a watch. Judy’s altruistic hippie pairs perfectly with ballbusting, cynical Jen. Nothing about their friendship is atypical Hollywood: no cat fights, no competition, just a perfectly balanced give and take. Not only that, both women are simultaneously leading lady AND sidekick, divvying up moments to shine and moments to support the other, which is really refreshing. And the cliffhangers! Most episodes end with a major, and usually very dark, cliffhanger that’s juxtaposed with a super upbeat, throwback song (I’ll never again hear Judy Garland’s “Get Happy” and NOT think of this show), and it’s just so satisfyingly brilliant.

I’ve been intentionally vague with my writing because I want everyone to have as much fun with the twists and turns as I did. Basically, I need you to cancel everything and spend five hours getting sucked into this crazy addictive, hella entertaining world, and then I need you to spend another five rewatching it so we can talk about it in detail. Go ahead. I’ll wait.

Victoria’s Top 10 Episode of 2019

1) Dead to Me, “I Have to Be Honest” (Season One, Episode 9)
2) Dead to Me, “You Have to Go” (Season One, Episode 10)
3) The Morning Show, “The Interview” (Season One, Episode 10)
4) Stranger Things, “Chapter Two: The Mall Rats” (Season Three, Episode 2)
5) The Morning Show, “That Woman” (Season One, Episode 4)
6) Dead to Me, “It’s All My Fault” (Season One, Episode 3)
7) Veronica Mars, “Heads You Lose” (Season Four, Episode 4)
8) Stranger Things, “Chapter Eight: The Battle of Starcourt” (Season Three, Episode 8)
9) Game of Thrones, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” (Season Eight, Episode 2)
10) Game of Thrones, “The Long Night” (Season Eight, Episode 3)

Derry Girls – “The President”

(Season Two, Episode 6)

By Rachael Clark

For about six months, my good friend Amy would always tell me, “Rachael I know you love comedy tv, I just watched this show Derry Girls that you would love!” She kept telling me this over and over, until finally one Saturday morning, coffee in hand, I decided to start the show. I felt so stupid waiting six months to watch this. I haven’t laughed that long or hard from watching tv in a long time. It was so good after the 2.5 hours it took me to watch the entire first season (it’s six 25-minute episodes), I literally re-watched the season again.

The show focuses on five high school friends in Northern Ireland during the 90s. All five of them attend a catholic school, where the head nun, Sister Michael, doesn’t put up with anything. Sister Michael is one of my favorite characters and I believe a lot of people’s because she is significantly in it more in the second season. At one point you see laughing while reading The Exorcist.

I do have to note that their Irish accents are really strong, so you probably need to watch with the subtitles on, I do. One of the longest running jokes on the show is James and his accent. James is one of the main five characters and he is actually a cousin of Michelle, another main character. James is from London and is English, so anytime he speaks to a new character they always respond with, “What’s wrong with his voice? What is he saying?” or something along the lines. He actually attends the all-girl Catholic school with because the school officials believed he would have been beaten up at the all-boys school due to being English.

The time period is important to note, because in Northern Ireland at this time was the Troubles. This was a conflict in the country that lasted from 1960s to 1998. Basically the conflict was between Protestants who wanted to remain part of the UK and the Catholics who wanted to became a part of the Republic of Ireland.

This episode, “The President”, is the Season Two finale and is about the time President Clinton actually came to Derry to give a speech about the Northern Ireland conflict. The girls are getting ready and excited to see the President. When they attend school, Sister Michael says that even though all the other schools have dismissed their students for the day so they can see the President, everyone at this school is to attend school as usually tomorrow. She goes on to say, “This visit will give the Pope ideas, and that’s the last thing I need.” They do what anyone would do and decide to skip school.

The main focus of this episode is about the English fella, James. His mom comes back to town to pick James up and take him back to London to help with her sticker business. Every episode all the girls are always making fun of his looks, his accents, saying they are going to make him leave the group. And no one gives him more of a hard time than his cousin Michelle. So on the day that President Clinton arrives, Claire, one of the main characters got to the stage super early in the morning to stake out a spot for the group. She even got into a fight with a seven-year-old to hold her spot down, “She tried to muscle in. Things got ugly. She’ll think twice next time.”

While they are all front and center to see the President speak, James tells the group he is leaving now to go back home with his mom. They are all stunned and beg him to stay. He says staying in Derry was only temporary and he has to get back to his real life and then he walks away. Of course, it is Michelle who runs after him and tries to talk sense into him. She starts off angry, trying to convince him that his mom is just using him for her business and will leave him again when she no longer needs him. Michelle, who is always sarcastic and never sentimental or ever talks about her feelings, looks James square in their eyes and says, “You’re a Derry girl now, James. It’s doesn’t matter that you have that stupid accent or that your bits are different, being a Derry girl is a state of mind. And you’re one of us.”

She is about to cry which almost made me cry. It isn’t enough to convince James and he leaves. The all turn to face the stage sad and not even chanting with the rest of crowd getting ready to see the President. Then over the chanting they hear someone shouting from behind. They all turn around to see James shouting from high above, “I’m a Derry girl! I’m a Derry girl!” All four girls leave their front row seats to run and see him and hug him. They all walk away from the crowd arm in arm with Clinton’s speech as a voice over, “I see a peaceful city, a safe city, a hopeful city full of young people that should have a peaceful and prosperous future, here where their roots and families are.” It was a sweet ending to the season.

I strongly encourage anyone who wants to laugh and get better at understanding Irish accents to give this show a try!

Rachael’s Top 10 Episodes of 2019

1) Veep, “Veep” (Season Seven, Episode 7)
2) The Good Place, “The Answer” (Season Four, Episode 9)
3) Game of Thrones, “The Long Night” (Season Eight, Episode 3)
4) Derry Girls, “The President” (Season Two, Episode 6)
5) Orange is the New Black, “Here’s Where We Get Off’ (Season Seven, Episode 13)
6) Stranger Things, “Chapter Eight: The Battle of Starcourt” (Season Three, Episode 8)
7) Mindhunter, “Episode 2” (Season Two, Episode 2)
8) Russian Doll, “Ariadne” (Season One, Episode 8)
9) One Day at a Time, “Ghosts” (Season Three, Episode 13)
10) The Good Place, “Pandemonium” (Season Three, Episode 12)

Documentary Now – “Original Cast Album: Co-Op”

(Season Three, Episode 3)

By Austin Lugar

When I was a kid, I loved the musical The Producers. For Christmas, my aunt thought she was getting me a DVD recording of the Broadway show but instead bought me a DVD called Recording the Producers. It was a behind the scenes documentary of the making of the Broadway soundtrack. All the songs were performed in order with a little bit of discussion about the story and the genesis of the show.

Years later I saw the D.A. Pennebaker documentary Original Cast Album: Company. Pennebaker intended this to be a series of short documentaries capturing the fly-on-the-wall look at the making of various types of albums. However, as noted on the title card at the beginning, the funding never came through and this would be the only one in the series. This completed film was a look at the anticipated new musical from Stephen Sondheim and Harold Prince titled Company. This was nothing like Recording the Producers. That was intended to be a delightful piece of publicity for the show; this was a Pennebaker film.

In just an hour, there were definitely musical performances of the now classic showtunes, but there was also a display of unease, uncertainty and exhaustion. The documentary was more like watching a day of rehearsal instead of recording the finished product. Poor Elaine Stritch had to perform the number “The Ladies Who Lunch” so many times until the directors felt she was able to nail the big notes. It’s was uncomfortable and raw and rife for parody.

IFC’s Documentary Now remains one of the most niche shows on television. Bill Hader, Fred Armisen, Seth Myers, Rhys Thomas and John Mulaney used their Hollywood clout to make a series of pitch-perfect parodies of famous documentaries ranging from Gray Gardens to The Artist is Present. Like any good spoof, they come from a place of love, most evident by their take on Jiro Dreams of Sushi (“Juan Dreams of Rice and Chicken”) which ends up being as emotional as the original source.

“Original Cast Album: Co-Op” starts with the same challenge every episode of Documentary Now has, which is compressing a feature length movie into a 23-minute episode without feeling rushed. The episode begins with a similar title card noting the failure of the intended extended series of documentaries. To evoke the same sort of tension in the fictional recording studio, it is quickly revealed to the characters that the reviews for “Co-Op” were horrendous, the show has been canceled, but they still have to record the album. Turns out a musical about different stories centered around a co-op is a terrible idea.

While this news fills the actors with self-doubt, this does not stop the writers and directors from thinking their work is genius and the actors all doing it wrong. Mulaney is the Sondheim stand-in and I am not kidding that every second on screen with him made me laugh. To love Sondheim is to also love his snobby grumpiness. In this “Simon Sawyer,” interrupts Dee Dee (played by Tony award-winning Renee Elise Goldsberry, Hamilton’s original Eliza Skylar) in the middle of a song to say, “You’ve been doing something wrong for about three weeks and it’s been annoying me. I want to talk to you about it right now.”

The episode is scattered with original songs of this failed musical including “Going Up” which is about various people stuck in an elevator where a kid pressed the buttons for all the floors. Larry (Richard Kind) almost dies trying to find the time to breathe in the impossibly paced song “Holiday Party (I Did a Little Cocaine Tonight).” Paula Pell plays Patty who has to recreate the Stritch fiasco with endless recordings of “I Gotta Go” which is especially true because the character is late for eye surgery.

Like every episode of Documentary Now, it’s a triumph this was even made. The audience for this show has to be 1000 people, but those 1000 people eat it up. There is no episode of television this year I have rewatched as much as this one and I keep laughing at the Sondheim-ness of it all. (“When you lean into a rhyme, you shatter the conversational tone of the lyric. It’s like nails on a blackboard to me and I love you all.)

Peak TV had the promise of millions of shows that can cover anything. That seems to be fading a little bit as Netflix isn’t interested in making long-running series and every network is allocating its budget to try and make the next Game of Thrones. Specificity is what leads to the greatest pieces of art and this is nothing if not specific.

But what did Sondheim say about all of this? In a New York Times article about this episode, they reached out to him and gave him a copy. He said the lyrics were crowded.

Austin’s Top 10 Episodes of 2019

1) Succession, “This Is Not for Tears” (Season Two, Episode 10)
2) Fleabag, “Episode 6” (Season Two, Episode 6)
3) Watchmen, “This Extraordinary Being” (Season One, Episode 6)
4) You’re the Worst, “Pancakes” (Season Five, Episode 13)
5) Documentary Now, “Original Cast Album: Co-Op” (Season Three, Episode 3)
6) Barry, “ronny/lily” (Season Two, Episode 5)
7) Watchmen, “A God Walks Into Abar” (Season One, Episode 8)
8) Succession, “DC” (Season Two, Episode 9)
9) Russian Doll, “Ariadne” (Season One, Episode 8)
10) The Good Fight, “The One Where a Nazi Gets Punched” (Season Three, Episode 5) [Tie]
10) The Magicians, “All That Hard, Glossy Armor” (Season Four, Episode 10) [Tie]

Austin’s Comical Amount of Honorable Mentions

Better Things, “Shake the Cocktail” (Season Three, Episode 12)
Billions, “Overton Window” (Season Four, Episode 4)
Black-ish, “Black Like Us” (Season Five, Episode 10)
BoJack Horseman, “The New Client’ (Season Six, Episode 2)
BoJack Horseman, “Surprise!” (Season Six, Episode 4)
BoJack Horseman, “A Little Uneven, Is All” (Season Six, Episode 5)
Broad City, “Stories” (Season Five, Episode 1)
Broad City, “Along Came Molly” (Season Five, Episode 9)
Catastrophe, “Episode 6” (Season Four, Episode 6)
Chernobyl, “Please Remain Calm” (Season One, Episode 2)
Chernobyl, “Vichnaya Pamyat” (Season One, Episode 5)
Corporate, “The Expense Report” (Season Two, Episode 5)
The Crown, “Margaretology” (Season Three, Episode 2)
The Crown, “Tywysog Cymru” (Season Three, Episode 6)
David Makes Man, “David’s Sky” (Season One, Episode 1)
David Makes Man, “Gloria” (Season One, Episode 4)
Derry Girls, “The Prom” (Season Two, Episode 5)
The Detour, “The Game Show” (Season Four, Episode 6)
The Deuce, “That’s a Wrap” (Season Three, Episode 7)
Documentary Now, “Waiting for the Artist” (Season Three, Episode 4)
Evil, “Exorcism Part 2” (Season One, Episode 9)
Fleabag, “Episode 1” (Season Two, Episode 1)
Fleabag, “Episode 3” (Season Two, Episode 3)
Fosse/Verdon, “Where Am I Going?” (Season One, Episode 5)
Game of Thrones, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” (Season Eight, Episode 2)
GLOW, “Outward Bound” (Season Three, Episode 6)
GLOW, “A Very GLOW Christmas” (Season Three, Episode 10)
The Good Fight, “The One With the Celebrity Divorce” (Season Three, Episode 6)
The Good Place, “The Answer” (Season Four, Episode 9)
How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast), “Nerd Today, Boss Tomorrow” (Season One, Episode 1)
Jane the Virgin, “Chapter Eighty-Two” (Season Five, Episode 1)
Jane the Virgin, “Chapter Ninety-Eight” (Season Five, Episode 17)
Legion, “Chapter 20” (Season Three, Episode 1)
Los Espookys, ‘El espanto de la herencia” (Season One, Episode 2)
Los Espookys, “El sueno falso” (Season One, Episode 6)
The Mandalorian, “Chapter 8: Redemption” (Season One, Episode 8)
One Day at a Time, “Anxiety” (Season Three, Episode 9)
Orange is the New Black, “Here’s Where We Get Off” (Season Seven, Episode 13)
The Other Two, “Chase Gets the Gays” (Season One, Episode 4)
Pen15, “Ojichan” (Season One, Episode 3)
Pen15, “AIM” (Season One, Episode 7)
Ramy, “Do the Ramadan” (Season One, Episode 5)
Ramy, “Refugees” (Season One, Episode 6)
Ramy, “Ne Me Quitte Pas” (Season One, Episode 7)
Rick and Morty, “Edge of Tomorty: Rick Die Rickpeat” (Season Four, Episode 1)
Riverdale, “Chapter Fifty-One: Big Fun” (Season Three, Episode 16)
Russian Doll, “The Way Out” (Season One, Episode 7)
Schitt’s Creek, “Life is a Cabaret” (Season Five, Episode 14)
Sex Education, “Episode 3” (Season One, Episode 3)
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, “Mer-Mysteries” (Season Four, Episode 7)
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, “Boys’ Night Out” (Season Four, Episode 8)
Sherman’s Showcase, “Meet Sherman” (Season One, Episode 1)
Shrill, “Pool” (Season One, Episode 4)
South Side, “Cold Cases” (Season One, Episode 5)
Special, “Chapter Three: Free Scone” (Season One, Episode 3)
Succession, “Hunting” (Season Two, Episode 3)
Succession, “Argestes” (Season Two, Episode 6)
Superstore, “Employee Appreciation Day” (Season Four, Episode 22)
Tuca & Bertie, “The Promotion” (Season One, Episode 2)
Veep, “Oslo” (Season Seven, Episode 6)
Vida, “Episode 14” (Season Two, Episode 8)
What We Do in the Shadows, “The Trial” (Season One, Episode 7)
Years and Years, “Episode 4” (Season One, Episode 4)
You’re the Worst, “We Were Having Such a Nice Day” (Season Five, Episode 12)

Fleabag – “Episode 1”

(Season Two, Episode 1)

By Tara Olivero

Fleabag was the talk of the Twitter community a few months ago— which is why I finally heard about it, after Season Two had already been released. My timeline was flooded with fawning over The Jumpsuit and Hot Priest. What the hell was this show? Eventually, curiosity got the better of me, and I curled up under the covers to settle down to watch episode one on Amazon Prime. I emerged from my cocoon roughly six hours later, having watched the entirety of seasons one and two all in one go, overloaded with feeling far too many emotions for one human body to possibly contain. 

I am 100% positive that, had this show hit me a few years earlier, it wouldn’t have meant as much. But because I’m a 28-year-old woman who happens to be a familiar face on the struggle bus, I feel like I can better relate to the issues that Fleabag seems to have to deal with on a daily basis. Even if my personality is wildly different than hers (and aren’t I lucky that’s the case), just by the nature of the way she narrates her story, we’re drawn into her world and into her private confidence. She cultivates a profoundly intimate connection between the audience and her story each time she meets our eyes and addresses us directly through her repeated fourth-wall breaks. Such a spellbinding enchantment compels you not to look away from her life, even if what’s happening on screen is a trainwreck-in-progress. I absolutely adore it. 

Anyway, when it came time to choose my favorite episode of television from this year, I immediately knew that the first episode of season two would be my top Fleabag choice. 

Let me set the scene for a moment, for readers who may not have seen the episode: you first hear casual, light elevator music as Fleabag stands alone at a sink in an elegant public bathroom, water running. The camera cuts to a behind-the-shoulder shot of her reflection in the mirror as she glances up from the sink— at which point we can see that her face is covered in blood. She calmly uses a towel to wipe the blood from under her nose and off her chin, then the camera pans over as Fleabag turns to hand a clean towel to a smiling woman kneeling on the floor, whose nose is also bleeding. Fleabag looks over her shoulder towards the camera with a sly smile to tell us casually, “This is a love story.” Black screen; title card. 

This minute-and-a-half is worth every goddamn award this show wins this season. 

And what I love most about Season Two, and this episode in particular, is that it does set up the season as a love story, but on two very different fronts. 

First, we have Fleabag’s illicit and sometimes one-sided affair with the Priest (or Hot Priest, as he will hereafter be known, having been dubbed so by the internet at large), a connection that ebbs and flows across each episode. Fleabag’s chemistry with Hot Priest is undeniable, and they’re both hot messes in their own ways, but the progression of their relationship is incredibly compelling— especially with their spark in episode one. 

Part-way through their family restaurant dinner to celebrate her father’s engagement to the soon-to-be wicked stepmother (the same dinner that we know will end with Fleabag bleeding in the bathroom), Fleabag makes eye contact and lets us know that no one has asked her a question in forty-five minutes. Instantly, the Hot Priest (in attendance because he’ll be doing the wedding) turns to her and ask what she does for a living. And she’s immediately shocked. Her family has ignored her, but he sees her. It’s a really impactful moment, not in the least because her family has never really seen her. They tend to dismiss her out of hand, they paint her as a drama queen, and the last half of season one ended with her sister Claire believing her scumbag husband over Fleabag. So the initial spark between the Hot Priest and Fleabag, which comes about really just as evidence of genuine kindness and curiosity on the Priest’s part, sets up their relationship as something that could potentially be healthy for the both of them (despite the initial weirdness of the whole “priest” thing). Thus, the romantic love story begins. 

That being said, the love story that really hit me this season wasn’t one of romantic love; it was the familial, sisterly love story between Fleabag and her sister Claire. Their relationship at the start of the season is tense, to say the very least. The weather in Antarctica is less chilly than the looks Claire shoots at Fleabag before dinner. I don’t want to spoil too much, just in case you haven’t seen this episode yet, but— Fleabag really comes through for her sister in this episode. She wants to help Claire in a situation where her sister refuses to get help for herself, and she ends up voluntarily taking on embarrassment and judgment in order to spare Claire from the same. And for a while you think— wow, what a shitty situation, since Fleabag suffered for her sister and got nothing in return but resentment. But finally, as Fleabag leaves the restaurant and walks down the London streets at night, nose bleeding again, she sees Claire in the distance, holding a taxi and gesturing for her sister to catch up and hop in. And the very end of the episode ends with the women staring out the windows on opposite sides of the taxi’s backseat but very much still side-by-side. 

I don’t know. Maybe it’s just because I also have just one sister, but the way that this show (and this specific episode) portrays sisters— experiencing simultaneous and staggering frustration with each other that’s still woven with an unbreakable thread of protective devotion— is more real, and more compelling, than any romantic relationship in any television show, maybe in the history of ever. (Not to exaggerate, or anything.)

This episode is filled with other stand-out moments of authenticity amidst its brilliant comedic timing. The first scene at dinner, when apocalyptic doomsday music underscores the entire family fake-laughing around the restaurant table? No cinematic scene has captured dysfunctional-family-but-faking-a-front better. Their dinner isn’t shown in chronological order, with the camera making sharp cuts in the middles of conversations or even the middles of lines to flash back months, then forward minutes, then back hours… the flagrant disregard for any semblance of a timeline is as fun as it is jarring, which helps to construct the crazed atmosphere of the situation. Another favorite scene was Fleabag’s brief lowering of her defenses as she leaned against a brick wall outside for a smoke break, and her dad asks her why she’s not being “naughty” lately. “Because… I guess… it doesn’t matter,” she tells him, quietly and honestly, before throwing up her walls again and falling back into her typical sarcasm. 

But I think by the end of this season, especially with the separate-but-loving relationship dynamics set up in this episode between she and the Hot Priest, and she and Claire, Fleabag finally realizes that there are things in life that do matter, which is nothing to be afraid of. Fleabag breaks my heart on all fronts, in all the best ways; if you haven’t yet seen Season Two, you should allow it to break yours, too. 

Tara’s Top 10 Episodes of 2019

1) Fleabag, “Episode 1” (Season 2, Episode 1)
2) Fleabag, “Episode 5” (Season 2, Episode 5)
3) Russian Doll, “Ariadne” (Season 1, Episode 8)
4) The Mandalorian, “Chapter 8: Redemption” (Season 1, Episode 8)
5) The Umbrella Academy, “Run Boy Run” (Season 1, Episode 2)
6) The Mandalorian, “Chapter 3: The Sin” (Season 1, Episode 3)
7) The Magicians, “All That Hard, Glossy Armor” (Season 4, Episode 10)
8) Good Omens, “In The Beginning” (Season 1, Episode 1)
9) Derry Girls, “The Curse” (Season 2, Episode 4)
10) Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, “I’m In Love” (Season 4, Episode 17)

Honorable mentions: Game of Thrones, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” (Season 8, Episode 2—got booted from my top 10 after chapter 8 of the Mandalorian came out, whoops), anything from Schitt’s Creek Season Five. Also, the rest of Fleabag Season Two. And the rest of Derry Girls and Good Omens, while we’re at it. It was a solid year for television, in my book.

Tara Olivero is from Fort Wayne, Indiana. She likes Shakespeare and sensation novels, and if Fleabag was a “tag-yourself” meme, she’d tag herself as either Fleabag’s guinea pig or Claire’s pencil haircut. Feel free to follow her on twitter @taraolivero. 

Game of Thrones – “The Bells”

(Season Eight, Episode 5)

By Evan Dossey

I have only watched Game of Thrones one time through. Each episode a single time. I watched Season One in 2011, and then the first few episodes of Season Two when they premiered. Real talk: I didn’t like it, so I quit. It felt directionless: an aimless tale told for audience seeking ‘hard’ drama, in the sense that it was a soap opera with blood & breasts and not complex moral choices or quandaries. I only started watching Game of Thrones again in early 2017 because the final season was approaching and I’d heard good things about “Hardhome” and the forthcoming “Battle of the Bastards” episode. Had Beinoff & Weiss finally escaped Martin’s meanding clutches and starting telling a story with real narrative direction? All this is to say that, although their final two seasons are controversial, their penultimate episode “The Bells”delivered precisely what I was hoping for from the show and a solid character turn that payed off years of development.

Daenerys Targaryen had the pleasure of living in her own narrative realm for almost the entirety of the first seven seasons, and was always going to snap when she returned to Westeros to find nobody wanted her. Seasons Seven and Eight summarily broke down all her support, one by one, with the final straw being Cersei’s murder of Missandei in the previous episode. It was clear that King’s Landing would not fall without a massive battle, and at this point Daenerys simply cut loose. What do those citizens mean to her, anyway? They’re under Cersei’s yoke, sure, but they’re not going to bend the knee willingly.

The subsequent Dragon massacre of King’s Landing is perfectly framed from the perspective of the people below. It sells the long-hyped use of Dragon at war – an great escalation of Season Seven’s famous battle of the “Loot Train.” The writers use Arya, having recently arrived in the city to hopefully murder Cersei, as an on-the-ground perspective we care about and fear losing. For as terrible as “The Long Night” was two episodes previous, “The Bells”delivers on series-long story arcs.

Perhaps the best thing about “The Bells” is that it strips away the comforts developed over the course of the show, revealing our protagonists to be just as vile and terrible as they were from the beginning. Daenarys became a cultural icon online, with audiences ignoring her questionable behavior and coming to believe in her as a possible leader. Cersei, of course, never showed any signs of repentance and does not do so, even in the end. Her brother Jamie Lannister, fresh off what seemed to be a redemptive story in the North, returns to King’s Landing simply to die with the sister with whom he shared an incestuous and abusive relationship for his entire life. Characters like Ramsay Bolton & Euryon Greyjoy stunk up the air in the final seasons because their vileness was a crutch for the writers to fall back on when they couldn’t let their popular leads act as awful, as frequently. So it’s nice that, in the end, they remembered the kind of show they were writing, and how genuinely terrible Westeros is.

The most common complaint I hear is that Daenarys’ descent into massacre should have had more time to develop; that it was rushed. Maybe. But I think “The Bells” is all the more effective for how raw, sudden, and depressing it all is. Her choice is borne out of her entire story up to that point. We just didn’t want to see it. A masterpiece.

Evan’s Top 2 Episodes of 2019

1) The Mandalorian, “Chapter 2: The Child” (Season One, Episode 2)
2) Game of Thrones, “The Bells” (Season Eight, Episode 5)

*note – My wife and I welcomed our first child, so I didn’t watch much this year. The rest of those seasons were both good. I genuinely watched nothing else. I’ll do better next year!

The Good Place – “The Answer”

(Season Four, Episode 9)

By Katherine Lakin

The Good Place is a show about a lot of things.  Life, death, the impossibility of ethical consumption under capitalism.  Its scope has always, literally, been as broad as the universe. At times this has seemed to hinder more than help.  That is until, I would argue, the most recent few episodes, where it brought the focus back to the core message it’s trying to convey.

The show’s tagline for quite a while now has been: “What We Owe to Each Other”.  And I do think that’s an important question they’re asking. It’s the title of Chidi’s talk that brought him and Eleanor back together on Earth, after all.  However it’s become more and more clear that an equally important question they’re interested in is: “Why We Need Each Other”.

Being alive is fucking hard.  Not only getting through the day-to-day mundanity, but doing so knowing there are all of those Big Questions philosophers have been trying to answer as long as we’ve existed.  And knowing that we’ll likely never know the answer to any of them. The questions that so often made Chidi insufferable to be around. This is what made seeing his story so impactful.  Sure, most of us aren’t quite as indecisive as him (hopefully at least). But we’ve all felt some measure of how he feels. Not knowing how to continue when you might mess up, or when there are more important things to do or think or worry about.  It’s easy to freeze, to stagnate.

There are no answers to the questions we can’t stop ourselves from asking.  We can let that torture us, or we can take comfort in the one answer we do have: other people.  Eleanor and Chidi didn’t find each other over and over again because they were soulmates. They kept being drawn together because they needed each other.  Because they were two people whose broken pieces lined up.

Growing and changing is key to self-actualization, or as The Good Place would put it, being a good person.  This is something we are all capable of doing alone, but it’s so much easier with other people. Though they always had the potential to be spectacular apart, together Team Cockroach are truly greater than the sum of their parts.

Katherine’s Top 10 Episodes of 2019

1) Russian Doll, “Ariadne” (Season One, Episode 8)
2) Fleabag, “Episode 4” (Season Two, Episode 4)
3) Watchmen, “This Extraordinary Being” (Season One, Episode 6)
4) The Good Place, “The Answer” (Season Four, Episode 9)
5) Succession, “Tern Haven” (Season Two, Episode 5)
6) Good Omens, “Hard Times” (Season One, Episode 3)
7) Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “Ticking Clocks” (Season Six, Episode 14)
8) Superstore, “Employee Appreciation Day” (Season Four, Episode 22)
9) The Umbrella Academy, “The Day That Wasn’t” (Season One, Episode 6)
10) Looking for Alaska, “The Nourishment is Palatable” (Season One, Episode 4)

The Kominsky Method – “Chapter 9. An Actor Forgets”

(Season Two, Episode 1)

By Larry D. Sweazy

You know that word that’s on the tip of your tongue? The one that’s caught in a tumble inside your brain just out of reach? The one you can’t say aloud, but you lurch forward to speak anyway? Yes, that one… If you’re of a certain age, you understand. If you’re not, you will, if you’re lucky enough, or cursed enough, to get old(er). They say memory is the first thing to go, especially now that there are pills for the other stuff. And that’s exactly what The Kominsky Method is all about, what this episode is about. Getting old(er) and still living a full life.

I have to tell you that on the surface of things, the only thing that attracted me to this series was Alan Arkin. It’s written and created by Chuck Lorre, creator of shows like Two and a Half Men and Mom, which I have never been a huge fan of. Men only got a look by me because of Conchata Ferrell. In a way, Arkin plays the same deadpan, straight man in Kominsky that Ferrell played in Men. In a way. They both achieve and deserve their own acclaim in each show. The point is, why would I want to watch a show about two old guys getting older when I’m an old guy and getting older myself? I’ll tell you. Because Chuck Lorre gets it right. This show is about loss, love, grieving, growing, sharing, and enjoying life. These are emotions not fully explored in any other Lorre-created TV show I’ve watched. It seems like Chuck Lorre had to get old(er) to do his best work. I like that idea.

I also like the idea that this show is about artistry and craft. The Kominsky Method is obviously a nod to the Stanislavski Method of acting, with Michael Douglas in a humbling role of an over the hill actor who teaches wide-eyed young actors about the highway to fame, success, and failure in Hollywood. Alan Arkin (Norman) plays Douglas’s (Sandy) longtime and long-suffering agent who is the best friend that Sandy has. These two are delight to watch in scenes together, feeding of each other, jabbing each other—you can tell they’re having a good time. I love it when Norman cringes when Sandy orders a Diet Dr. Pepper and Jack Daniels to drink. And the shuffling waiter bit? You have to see that for yourself.   

So, to the episode (they’re short, 25 minutes or so). Norman and Sandy are on their way to a funeral. Sandy says it’s his fourth funeral in a month that he has attended. Sometimes when you’re old(er) funerals and doctor appointments fill up your social calendar. If you don’t get that, you will. One of my favorite lines comes from Norman, “I’m looking for a way to manifest my existential despair.” At the funeral, Norman looks at his dead friend and says, “He actually looks pretty good. Is that a spray tan?” Not funny? I laughed. And that’s the prize in this show. Norman says what everybody else is thinking. Sandy says what everybody else is thinking. This show is a master class on delivery. Of course, recently-widowed Norman meets and old flame (Jane Seymour) at the funeral and they go on a date. When they can’t hear each other, they call each other on their phones (a nod to geezers embracing new technology). Elsewhere, Sandy runs into an old girlfriend (Nancy Travis) at the grocery store with her new boyfriend, and feels like a fool. And Sandy’s daughter (Sarah Baker) is moving in with a man Sandy’s age. This one’s about transitions in relationships, preconceived notions, and the frailty of love. Oh, and there’s the ghost of Norman’s dead wife (Susan Sullivan) to contend with for some comedic relief.

Look, Chuck Lorre is never going to be a writer for Masterpiece Theater, and that’s okay with me. In The Kominsky Method he gets the humanity of old age and the truth right with comedic timing all of the best places. And for me, being a person who is old(er), that’s okay. I get it. It’s fun to laugh at yourself every once in a while. 

Larry’s Top 10 Episodes of 2019

1) The Crown, “Bubbikins” (Season Three, Episode 4)
2) Manhunt, “Episode 1.1” (Season One, Episode 1)
3) The Durrells of Corfu, “Episode 1” (Season Four, Episode 1)
4) Straight Forward, “Revenge” (Season One, Episode 1)
5) Line of Duty, “Episode 2” (Season Five, Episode 2)
6) London Kills, “The Dark” (Season Two, Episode 1)
7) Basketball or Nothing, “Win or Go Home” (Season One, Episode 5)
8) Diagnosis, “Paralyzed” (Season One, Episode 7)
9) Stranger Things, “Chapter Eight: The Battle of Starcourt” (Season Three, Episode 8)
10) The Kominsky Method, “Chapter 9. An Actor Forgets” (Season Two, Episode 1)

Letterkenny – “Valentimes Day”

(Season Six, Episode 7)

By Leigh Montano

The world is a trash fire. That is undeniable. Something that seems to contribute to this discord is the idea that there is a common misunderstanding of one another, a refusal to learn about each other, and the idea that there is America and a “Real America.” America is the whole of the US of A, while “Real America” is the fly over states. It’s the stereotypical hick farmer who hates outsiders and is portrayed as less than intelligent and is somehow more of an American than everyone else. 

As someone who is from a small-town smack dab in the middle of the Midwest, this has always irked me. I know farmers. And they’re smart as hell. And socialist. And not at all like their portrayals in most media.

I say “most” because then Letterkenny happened. Now, I know that this is a Canadian show, but anyone who has grown up in a small town in the Midwest will recognize the characters, just swap out the hockey players with the sports de jour at your school. I, myself, like to joke that I was a Skid without the meth addiction. (There is a weird sort of comfort and embarrassment that is felt when one sees a perfect media representation of their high school selves on television.)

Letterkenny is by far the most accurate representation of the realities of living in a small town. Everything from having a parking lot that everyone seems to hang out in, to knowing everyone in town, (to the rampant drug issues), to the aphorism, “When a friend asks for help, you help them.” I may not like my neighbor because that one time their dog came over to my yard and dug up all of the tulip bulbs that I had just planted, but I’ll be damned if I let them go hungry if they asked for food. Needless to say, this is a show that I recommend to everyone who knows me. I’ve yet to meet someone who said they didn’t like it. 

The best episode this year of an already near perfect show? Valentimes Day. 

Even down to the running joke that Dary has a speech impediment and commonly mispronounces words like “breakfast” and “basket” and now, “Valentine’s Day,” has truth in reality. I personally know someone who has this mannerism and wouldn’t you know, she’s from a small town in Indiana with fewer than 1,500 residents and I love her to pieces. 

The Hicks, the Hockey Bros and a couple of other locals in the town of Letterkenny all go to the local church for a special Valentine’s Day Speed Dating event. An event that Katy quickly points out, is fairly pointless as everyone knows everyone there. Meanwhile, Glen (the over enthusiastic preacher/bartender) watches Wayne and Stewart, casual enemies, as they find a common love for hockey fights. 

It’s hard to pick out my favorite parts of this episode. There are great chirps like the Coach telling Reilly that he looks like if Sheryl Crow and Lyle Lovett had a fuck child. There are multiple conversations about baseball that will make you think twice about watching the next Blue Jays game with yer pals without a pillow on yer lap. There’s the genuine curiosity and earnestness from the Hockey Bros as they try to figure out what gay sex actually is. 

And I think that’s what I like about Letterkenny as a whole, the most. At the end of the day, it’s a show about real characters being earnest. Each of the characters on Letterkenny feels like a real person that I’ve met in my life. But Letterkenny’s difference from most shows? It doesn’t turn these characters into vicious stereotypes. Letterkenny doesn’t put a grotesque mask on these people to try to fit into a preconceived mold of what “hicks” are supposed to look like. Sure, they like a good meal, a good beer, and a good smoke, but they aren’t hateful caricatures that they’re often turned into. It’s the first time that I’ve watched a show and it felt like it was celebrating small town life instead of demonizing it in favor for the big city life. It’s the first time that I actually saw an accurate representation of why I love my hometown so much. Even if I’m not Canadian.  

Leigh’s Top 10 Episodes of 2019

1) Russian Doll, “Nothing in This World is Easy” (Season One, Episode 1)
2) One Day at a Time, “Drinking and Driving” (Season Three, Episode 12)
3) One Day at a Time, “Ghosts” (Season Three, Episode 13)
4) Russian Doll, “A Warm Body” (Season One, Episode 3)
5) She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, “Hero” (Season Four, Episode 9)
6) Letterkenny, “Valentimes Day” (Season Six, Episode 7)
7) The Mandalorian, “Chapter 5: The Gunslinger” (Season One, Episode 5)
8) Letterkenny, “In It to Win It” (Season Seven, Episode 6)
9) Stranger Things, “Chapter Five: The Flayed” (Season Three, Episode 5)
10) Tuca & Bertie, “The Promotion” (Season One, Episode 2)

Lupin the Third Part 5 – “Just Then, An Old Buddy Said Something”

(Season One, Episode 23)

By Andrew Rostan

In an age where television increasingly devotes itself to telling long, serialized narratives and in worlds away from television, the present is so chaotic we long for another time, the closing moments of the penultimate episode of the sixth Lupin the Third television show were the most moving I could imagine in 2019.

While previous seasons of the renowned anime stuck to a non-serialized narrative, the newest incarnation told a complete story over four arcs in which Arsene Lupin III, gentleman thief extraordinaire, finds himself continually flummoxed by a world in which technology and social media render privacy and secrecy as things of the past and all of the other criminal masterminds have gone into world governments because that’s where one can pull off the most successful crimes. In the words of Enzo Bron, an antagonist who could be compared to Mark Zuckerberg on maximum overdrive, we are in a world where the idea of heroes, of anyone who can operate beyond the prescribed boundaries of society, is meaningless.

And yet Lupin, remains unperturbed that he lives in a world where he has no privacy, algorithms call the shots, undetected crime is impossible, and the entire social order can be toppled. In this series he uses old school methods to outwit the invisible string-pullers of the Internet and take down fundamentalist governments, with the help of an unexpected ally in Enzo’s teenage superhacker daughter Ami.

In this penultimate episode, Lupin is at his lowest point. He’s been almost mortally wounded and apprehended. And although his best friends Jigen the gunslinger and Goemon the samurai help him escape, he has no resources, no allies, and his rival/lover Fujiko is being held prisoner by Enzo. Recognizing the 21st century has turned against them, Jigen urges Lupin to retire, telling him life is not a TV show.

Lupin responds like this:

“We oughta make it one, then.”

“Say what?”

“There’s only one person in the audience of your life: yourself. So what’s the point if you don’t care what happens next in the story?…I want to look forward to what I do next.”

“And what if the ending doesn’t turn out how you want?”

“Goddamnit! Got my hopes up for nothing! Guess I’ll have to leave the comeback for some other time.”

“And what if the damn comeback never happens?!”

“Then the audience loses interest and switches off…And that’s why, Jigen, until the day the story finally ends, I wanna keep being Lupin III.”

This carries a lot of power for me.

So many franchises have attempted to bring cool, pop art characters into the twenty-first century and had those attempts collapse under the pressure of too much grimdarkness. Lupin the Third Part V deals with thought-provoking themes while never losing a sense of fun, and the thrill of such fun. That Lupin chooses to endure as himself even when things get bad is one thing. That he does so in a way that reflects how some stories carry on even when we think the stories no longer hold power, that we long for something classic and fixed in an age of the malleable, is fantastic in my mind. And it makes this an episode of TV I will never forget.

Andrew choose not to submit a Top 10 list.

The Mandalorian – “Chapter 3: The Sin”

(Season One, Episode 3)

By Keith Jackson

What people expect when they hear the words “Star Wars” is, more now than ever, hotly contested. Is it space battles and lightsaber fights? Is it political drama? Is it theological? Is it a ‘mystery box’ with answers waiting to be revealed? Is it goofy, or deadly serious? Is it just a big dumb action series, or is there a message there? Is it only what has come before or is there a wider universe to discover?

Writers for Star Wars content, whether it’s the films, shows, games, comics, etc. have heavy burdens to appease a wide swath of opinions. That burden is multiplied further when it comes to high-profile releases like The Skywalker Saga or Disney’s flagship series for their new streaming service, The Mandalorian.

Right off the bat, The Mandalorian is smack dab in the middle of a Venn diagram for a lot of parts of the fandom. Boba Fett! ‘Member him? He’s back, in pog form–I mean, he’s back by way of a main character wearing armor that looks like his. You got your carbonite, you got your bounties. This is all looking good, it’s the familiar and the new coming together. And then, at the end of “Chapter 1”, they drop the bomb.

BABY. YODA.

I don’t need to go into what a phenomenon Baby Yoda is. Local news anchors are doing stories on newborns in hospitals wearing Baby Yoda garb — it’s pretty well-ingrained in pop culture after roughly a month of existence. And why not? It’s not only acceptable-to-all-sides fan service (know Yoda, who does not?), in that of course more creatures like him have to exist, but also a crucial element of characters’ motives and episodes’ plot progression throughout the series… so far, anyhow. I hope they do something interesting that leverages the universal love fans have for Baby Yoda — the stakes could really be raised — but, who knows?

The Mandalorian has its ups and downs — sometimes the fan service is way too on-the-nose (“Chapter 5” being the worst offender so far) — but it’s mostly solid storytelling in the Star Wars universe. I’m enjoying it as I did the Batman Animated Series back in the day, with a fun adventure-of-the-week vibe.

“Chapter 3: The Sin” almost feels like the third half-hour of a TV movie, and by some accounts that may be what was intended for the first three episodes in the series. The moment I knew that this would be my favorite episode was when Mando returned to his ship, having dutifully fulfilled his bounty, and notices the missing knob to his control panel. It’s such a quiet, reflective moment, which was set up at the beginning by a seemingly throwaway gag (cute Baby Yoda being cute), but it’s the crux of Mando’s motivations going forward. At that moment, the show proved it could have heart and blaster shootouts.

Before I go, just want to heap some praise on Ludwig Göransson’s work on the series, supplying a Western/samurai-ish sound and imbuing it with some brassy Williams-esque spacefaring adventure we all know and love, plus a touch of Rocky for good measure. I have spoken.

Keith’s Top 10 Episodes of 2019

1) The Mandalorian, “Chapter 3: The Sin” (Season One, Episode 3)
2) Bob’s Burgers, “Now We’re Not Cooking with Gas” (Season Ten, Episode 8)
3) The Mandalorian, “Chapter 7: The Reckoning” (Season One, Episode 7)
4) The Great British Bake-Off, “The Roaring Twenties” (Season Ten, Episode 5)
5) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, “Weather forecasting, Barry Lee Myers and The National Weather Service” (Season Six, Episode 26)
6) Nailed It! Holiday! “We’re Scrooged” (Season Two, Episode 1)
7) The Good Place, “The Answer” (Season Four, Episode 9)
8) Veep, “Pledge” (Season Seven, Episode 3)
9) Jeopardy, “2019 All-Star Games Final Match, Game 2” (Season 35, Episode 127)
10) Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “Honeymoon” (Season Six, Episode 1)

Rhythm + Flow – “Los Angeles Auditions”

(Season One, Episode 1)

By Brandon Lugar

I have never really been someone that thoroughly enjoys competitive singing/dancing shows. Mostly because of pure jealousy since I can do neither very well, which doesn’t stop me from trying! There also seems to be a ton of these shows and they all have their own little “twist” to make them different, like having the judges not look at the participant, having the contestant dress up in a costume during their performance, or have Katy Perry flirt with any decent looking contestant with a guitar. Yet, here I am writing about one of my favorite television shows of the year and it happens to be a musical competition show. The difference between mine and all these other shows is that Rhythm + Flow is a competitive show based around Rap and Hip Hop.

This Netflix original has three of today’s biggest hip hop stars has their judges: Chance the Rapper, T.I., and Cardi B. They gather their contestants by having an audition in each of the artist’s hometowns (Chicago, Atlanta, and New York) and also in L.A. Each round of the competition incorporates something different in the rap culture that the contestants have to do. They compete in rap battles (head to head matchup), a rap cypher (individual rap in a group setting), a music video, a collaboration with an already established R&B artist, and then the finale is an original song by the contestant that they perform in a huge venue.

One of the reasons I really enjoyed this show is because I am a big fan of rap and it’s fun to see a competitive show revolved around that genre for once. This show also does a really good job of giving a good back story of some of the competitors, which does give some sort of hint on who will make it a bit farther, but that isn’t always the case. You also get to see how much knowledge these artists truly have with the industry and all that goes on with the music. I have never thought Cardi B was a genius in any sense of the word, but there are moments in this show where she shows why she has become so successful in the industry. There are also other moments where you question her ability to read or breathe on her own. Something great this show does as well is keep the background stories of the contestants hidden from the judges. Several of the contestants have a rough story that makes this $250,000 prize a huge incentive for them to lay it all on the line. I thoroughly enjoyed watching each round and watching each of the contestants grow as artists. Another huge bonus for me as a viewer, was my favorite competitor from the very beginning won it all!

I highly recommend watching Rhythm + Flow on Netflix for a very fun and new musical competition show!

Brandon chose not to submit a Top 10 Episodes list.

Schitt’s Creek – “The Hike”

(Season Five, Episode 13)

By Josh West

Thanks to Tumblr, I found Schitt’s Creek. Someone posted a scene from an early episode and I thought, “This looks funny, maybe I’ll check it out.” Then I learned Chris Elliott was in it and put off watching more for a while. Now, I don’t hate Chris Elliott but it does seem like he plays a lot of the same kinds of characters. Kind of how Austin asks a lot of the same “friends and colleagues” to write HIS article for him. Like I said, I don’t hate Chris Elliott and I don’t hate Austin. It just kind of seems like both of them are…phoning it in. But you know who doesn’t phone it in? The cast and writers of Schitt’s Creek. “The Hike” is a great example of how they knock it out of the park every time.

If you have ever planned a surprise for a loved one, you know how hard it can be to not only keep them from finding out, but also how hard it is to keep those doubtful thoughts away. Something like a proposal is especially hard to plan. You want it to be extra special, possibly with some sort of meaning or inside joke, like a first date spot or the place where you first confessed your love for them. The stress of planning something without your significant other finding out is multiplied when you start to feel doubt. Maybe this isn’t the right time. Maybe they will say no. Maybe more people should be involved. Maybe you are moving too fast. In this episode Patrick starts out so excited and happy to take David on this hike. He says to him early in the episode, “You’re gonna love this. Trust me.” But as they get further into their hike, as David complains more and more, and when Patrick gets a stick stuck in his foot, his tone and words change. It’s easy to see that he is starting to doubt if the proposal should even happen today. 

Parking his car on the side of the road, Patrick gets two backpacks out of his trunk. David wonders why he doesn’t have a picnic basket if they are going on a picnic. Patrick tells him that they are going on a picnic but they need their hands free because they have to hike to get there. Along the way, David complains non-stop. Patrick gets so fed up with David’s complaining that he even offers to turn around since clearly David is not into it. After decided to continue on, Patrick steps on a thorny twig and gets a thorn stuck in his foot. David pulls it out and the two decide to continue on the hike. David carries Patrick the rest of the way up the mountain to a nice overlook spot. David is ready to get this picnic going but Patrick wants to just head back down the mountain and do the picnic another time. David says he didn’t climb all this way to not eat cheese.

Patrick, still unable to do much because of his injury, instructs David to lay out a blanket and get out the cheese. David finds a bottle of champagne and comments on how fancy they are getting. Patrick then tells David that if he looks in the front pocket of the backpack he will find something. As David pulls out was looks to be a bracelet or necklace box, he turns around to see Patrick down on one knee. Patrick tells David about how he used to come up to this spot when he first met this guy he was developing feelings for. He wasn’t sure if this guy felt the same way or if he would ever be able to muster up the courage to tell this guy how he felt. This guy is standing in front of him now, the love of his life, and he thought it would be a good place to ask David to marry him. David, fighting back tears, opens the case to find four gold rings, identical to the silver rings he has been wearing for most of the season. Then Patrick’s voice gets a little shaky telling David this was the easiest decision of his life when David asks if he was sure. Before saying yes, David just had to ask if the rings were 24 karat. 

Watching these two fall in love has been so great. They have different tastes, different strengths, weaknesses, fashions! They are everything you expect a television couple to be, they just also happen to be two men. It seems that the norm for sitcom same sex couples is that they are either explicitly non-sexual, or their relationship is the butt of many jokes. My favorite thing about Schitt’s Creek, and David and Patrick’s relationship, is how nuanced the characters are. David is a sarcastic, particular, awkward, blunt, insecure and pansexual. Patrick is practical, detail oriented, patient and only recently realized he was gay. Their sexual orientations are not a thing of concern for anyone. They just are. Schitt’s Creek is a world of tolerance and acceptance. This world is one I hope to see one day, but until then, I’ll celebrate the love between these two men.

Josh’s Top 10 Episodes of 2019

1) Batwoman, “Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Two” (Season One, Episode 9)
2) The Flash, “Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Three” (Season Six, Episode 9)
3) Supergirl, “Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part One” (Season Five, Episode 9)
4) Schitt’s Creek, “The Hike” (Season Five, Episode 14)
5) Stranger Things, “Chapter Eight: The Battle of Starcourt Mall” (Season Three, Episode 8)
6) Supergirl, “Blood Memory” (Season Four, Episode 11)
7) Arrow, “Reset” (Season Eight, Episode 6)
8) DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, “Terms of Service” (Season Four, Episode 15)
9) Schitt’s Creek, “The M.V.P.” (Season Five, Episode 9)
10) The Flash, “King Shark vs. Gorilla Grodd” (Season Five, Episode 15)

Shrill – “Pool”

(Season One, Episode 4)

By Sara Rust

Shrill is based off of Lindy West’s biography and stars Aidy Bryant so of course it’s amazing but it’s not clear how amazing it is until the episode, “Pool.” Written by the incomparable Sam Irby, this episode rebelled against social norms by putting a lot of fat women in swimsuits on screen in a way that’s never happened before. 

Annie, a journalist who’s not always comfortable in her plus size body, goes to a fat babe swimming party with the intention of covering it for an unapproved story through a magazine where she works. Shortly after she arrives, she realizes that this is one of the first places where she can be openly fat and not feel like she has to cover up. She allows herself to enjoy the experience but forgets to attend the mandatory workout her boss created. When she arrives at the workout her fatphobic boss makes her sound lazy and knocks her for being fat for maybe the 50th time in the season. Despite how awful her boss makes her feel, Annie writes an article about her experience at the party and posts it to the magazine website without permission. The episode ends with a young Annie sneaking out of a hotel room on vacation to float in the pool when no one will see her. 

While the world has certainly become more accepting, of fat bodies, it has not made an effort to make it easier to live in a fat body. Seats on the bus are too small, airplanes charge extra for longer seat belts, seeing Hamilton means bruising your thighs in tiny theater seats, most stores don’t carry clothes that fit and look decent, and being fat is still seen as being out of shape. In this world, representation means everything, and that’s exactly what Shrill has provided for me. Never before has a show focused on the fat girl and how her life is affected by her body. Sure we’ve had fat sheroes like Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids or Chrissy Metz in This is Us, but never before has a show about a fat woman who has fat friends who don’t hide their bodies been created in mainstream culture. It’s incredible and I can’t wait for Season Two to be released in January on Hulu. 

Bonus: Aidy Bryant in the best sketch of all time at Second City 

Sara’s Top 10 Episodes of 2019

1) Fleabag, “Episode 6” (Season Two, Episode 6)
2) The Good Place, “The Answer” (Season Four, Episode 9)
3) Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “Ticking Clocks” (Season Six, Episode 14)
4) Modern Family, “The Last Halloween” (Season Eleven, Episode 9)
5) Shrill, “Pool” (Season One, Episode 4)
6) The Crown, “Aberfan” (Season Three, Episode 3)
7) The Bold Type, “Breaking Through the Noise” (Season Three, Episode 10)
8) Making It, “You Made It!” (Season Two, Episode 8)
9) Superstore, “Employee Appreciation Day” (Season Four, Episode 22)
10) Riverdale, “Chapter Fifty-Eight: In Memoriam” (Season Four, Episode 1)

Stranger Things – “Chapter Eight: The Battle for Starcourt”

(Season Three, Episode 8)

By Ken Jones

The following article contains spoilers for the season finale.

Thanks to Netflix I, like many others, rarely watch current TV as it airs. While there were a number of good Netflix original series before Stranger Things, the search for Will Byers proved to me that streaming is the future of both creation and consumption. After years of late deciding what show to write about, this year I was determined to lock in a show that others have actually watched. Which means I’m not going to worry about spoilers, because if you haven’t seen all of Stranger Things yet we aren’t going to be friends anyway. So if you haven’t seen it and don’t want to read spoilers, move along mouth breather.

While “The Battle of Starcourt” begins with a scene that makes me want to pass out, I am a sucker for season finales. But seriously, can’t aliens just stick to popping out of people’s stomachs? What makes this episode the best of the season other than being the finale? Dustin’s duet with his real living I-told-you-she-existed girlfriend of course! While we all know fan favorite Dustin’s song is all that needs to be said about this episode, it also deserves top distinction for being one of the best heist films in years. There’s no twist ending, no showing the audience one thing but the plan the main characters have been doing all along is totally different, no wow mommy look at me I can do the same unexpected thing everyone else is doing so it’s actually expected and rather dull!” Just good old fashion Commie busting, monster bashing, nose bleeding, firework shooting, yeah ‘Merica sneak in and solve codes.

Perhaps most importantly we need to discuss the downfall of who can only be described as the Russian child of Schwarzenegger and Van Damme. I think I prefer the portal to Demogorgonland more than the portal to whatever twisted action star baby making place this dude came from. Does it make sense that the recently drunkard Hopper could take on robotic He-man? No, but shut up we all love Hopper! Who is almost certainly still alive in that Russian prison, but more on that later.

To be honest, at no point have I liked Billy, but at least he is redeemed in this episode. Summoning the same power of love that allows Hop to kill Russian Universal Solider, Billy overcomes his Mind Slayer possession and buys our young heroes the time they need to escape. On rewatches will it make me like him more? Probably not, but it’s always nice when a character isn’t terrible all the time.

The ending of the episode and season leave me conflicted about another season. How could I not love an episode powerful enough for me to be okay with that being the end of one of my most beloved shows of the decade? While Season Two left most of us wanting a little more, Season Three brought back the magic of the first season and brings us a fresh story that makes sense in the context of the overall world. Making a fourth season of interdimensional monster hunting make sense will be a challenge for the show runners. At the end of the episode we have monster destroyed, portal shut, Commies dead, and corrupt mayor behind bars. The three months later news clip is fun and El reading Hopper’s note is truly devastating. We end with the end of their childhood, the party disbanding and some moving away. The torch of wonderous adventure passed to the next generation, not that she is a nerd, nerd! I don’t know what more anyone could want.

Dear Netflix, please don’t mess up a perfectly well wrapped-up story with a convoluted last season just because it is super popular. I know I’m probably in the minority, but Hop should be dead, we’ve already had a character thought to be dead just to resurface. He is a great character, on par with Bob even, but unless he spends Season Four unknowingly helping the kids, er young adults, stave off Russian controlled Demogorgons, only to be reunited with El in the final moments, his return won’t have more power than his “death”.

1) Stranger Things, “Chapter Eight: The Battle of Starcourt” (Season Three, Episode 8)
2) Mindhunter, “Episode 5” (Season Two, Episode 5)
3) Stranger Things, “Chapter Four: The Sauna Test” (Season Three, Episode 4)
4) Game of Thrones, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” (Season Eight, Episode 2)
5) Dead to Me, “I Have to Be Honest” (Season One, Episode 9)
6) The Mandalorian, “Chapter 3: The Sin” (Season One, Episode 3)
7) Mindhunter, “Episode 9” (Season Two, Episode 9)
8) Good Omens, “Hard Times” (Season One, Episode 3)
9) Blown Away, “Pop Art Blowup” (Season One, Episode 6)
10) Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Father, “Episode 3.2” (Season Three, Episode 2)

Superstore – “Employee Appreciation Day”

(Season Four, Episode 22)

By Robbie Mehling

This article contains spoilers for the season finale.

Waiting for The Good Place to start, I’d often catch the end of the show before and think that seems funny, I should watch that. Well, I finally did and that’s why I’m writing about Superstore. With the fifth season currently airing, the episode that touched me the most was the fourth season finale, “Employee Appreciation Day.” 

Superstore is set in Cloud Nine, a big box store a la Walmart and in this episode, the store employees celebrate the birthday of Store Manager, Amy (America Ferrera.) No… that’s not quite right. They all watch the Paddington movie. Er… wrong again. Oh yeah. Belied underneath a humorous approach used by the show, this episode of Superstore has the workers of Cloud Nine deal with issues that impact the everyday real-life worker: unionization, immigration.

“Employee Appreciation Day” is the landing point for a plotline that has been going on for a chunk of the season and will continue on into the next. Leading up to the episode, the workers of Cloud Nine Branch 1217 led by Jonah (Ben Feldman) has been attempting to unionize and the folks at corporate don’t care for that much at all and, in this episode, they pull out all the stops: background checks and a call to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Sound absurd? Do a Google search. So much for employee appreciation. This is an issue for employee Mateo (Nico Santos), who is undocumented. This has been an ongoing plot point since Season Two, I applaud the writers for being willing to change up the status quo where another show might have remained stagnant. 

Much like a worker might build relationships with coworkers to lessen the misery of employment, Superstore is a sitcom build on relationships and this episode is a prime example. Between Jonah and his fellow workers trying to unionize and management. Even more difficult is that the store manager, Amy is his girlfriend. Personal relationships. Mateo has shared his secret with nearly half the store and they kept that secret. Assistant Store Manager Dina (Lauren Ash) expresses her dislike of undocumented people but out of her friendship with him, does her best to help him escape. 

The show touches these issues with the humor inherent in a sitcom. “ICE is coming. I thought it was Winter is Coming. Did you guys see the finale?” A break room discussion on unions is also one on Paddington and Amy and Jonah’s relationship. ICE agents in line for ice cream. All of these aspects, along with a dynamic cast makes for a compelling and often quite humorous show that provides both laughs and tackles real-life issues. This episode is complex and funny, so, anyway, just go watch Superstore. To quote an angry Amy who has decided to side with the workers, “Want to start a Union?” 

Robbie’s Top 10 Episodes of 2019

1) Chernobyl, “Please Remain Calm” (Season One, Episode 2)
2) When They See Us, “Part One’ (Season One, Episode 1)
3) The Good Place, “The Answer” (Season Four, Episode 9)
4) Russian Doll, “Nothing in This World is Easy” (Season One, Episode 1)
5) Sunnyside, “Multicultural Tube of Meat” (Season One, Episode 11)
6) Superstore, “Employee Appreciation Day” (Season Four, Episode 22)
7) Game of Thrones, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” (Season Eight, Epiosde 2)
8) The Mandalorian, “Chapter 4: Sanctuary” (Season One, Episode 4)
9) Stranger Things, “Chapter Eight: The Battle of Starcourt” (Season Three, Episode 8)
10) The Handmaid’s Tale, “The Liars” (Season Three, Episode 11)

Tuca & Bertie – “The Jelly Lakes”

(Season One, Episode 9)

By J.C. Pankratz

Tuca & Bertie was love at first sight. An animated series created by BoJack Horseman art designer Lisa Hanawalt, it not only centered on the two instantly relatable best bird friends, but boasted an art style unlike anything I’d seen before. An incredibly grounded sense of surreal spectacle. A color palette so vibrant even the most citric acid trip couldn’t compare. That is to say: the buildings are aquamarine and have titties. There’s nothing not to love about the completely unfettered imagination of this show, and it’s a sin it was canceled. So there. 

“The Jelly Lakes” brings much to a head in the lives of toucan Tuca and thrush Bertie. They’re making up after a fight and Bertie’s dealing with the sexual harassment accompanying her achieving her dreams as a professional baker. An impromptu trip to Bertie’s old family cabin at the Jelly Lakes shows off everything this show is great at: incredible artistic gags (an old woman slips and falls at the mall and becomes a jewelry cleaning kiosk), instantly memorable characters (Bertie’s butch swim coach Meredith Maple, and her wife, a gentle barn owl who makes art inside old eggs), fantastic set design (again, THE LAKES ARE MADE OF ACTUAL JELLY), and intimate conversations about trauma, friendship, and survival. 

Bertie, irritable and lashing out at everyone around her, finally reveals the secret that hurts her most about this place: as a twelve-year-old training to swim all the way to Peanut Butter Island, she was assaulted by a lifeguard. When she finally confesses this to Tuca, and finally looks at her past square in the eye, and decides to swim all the way to the goddamn peanut butter island (yes, it’s a peanut), the grief and joy and triumph and resolve all stream together in Hanawalt’s exquisite emotional color palette. In the midst of Coach Maple fighting a giant seacrab with her own claw, her wife chucking grape jelly sandwiches into Bertie’s mouth as she loses the strength to swim, and Tuca screaming into a bullhorn, Bertie learns that she might not be fine all the time, but in the end? She’s gonna make it. 

J.C.’s Top 10 Episodes of 2019

1) Tuca & Bertie, “The Jelly Lakes” (Season One, Episode 9)
2) Shrill, “Pool” (Season One, Episode 4)
3) Game of Thrones, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” (Season Eight, Episode 2)
4) Fleabag, “Episode 6” (Season Two, Episode 6”
5) Chernobyl, “The Happiness of All Mankind” (Season One, Episode 4)
6) Schitt’s Creek, “Life is a Cabaret” (Season Five, Episode 14)
7) The Crown, “Margaretology” (Season Three, Episode 2)
8) Derry Girls, “The President” (Season Two, Episode 6)
9) Gentleman Jack, “Most Women Are Dull and Stupid” (Season One, Episode 4)
10) Sex Education, “Episode 6” (Season One, Episode 6)

Veronica Mars – “Years, Continents, Bloodshed”

(Season Four, Episode 8)

By Alex Manzo

The article contains spoilers about the season finale.

I had already decided to write about a different show when I realized no one was writing about the long-awaited Season Four of Veronica Mars. Clearly, that needed to be remedied, and there’s little doubt what episode I was going to choose. Overall, I really enjoyed Season Four and was super satisfied with the finale (except for that moment, which I’ll get to).

First, we get to see Big Dick get what’s coming to him. It didn’t seem likely for him to have been responsible for all the bombings, but his hands were never clean. With the general tone of this show, it’s unsurprising for Matty to not only witness his murder/beheading, but literally smile at seeing him meet his demise. She’s going to grow up to be as fucked up as Veronica, no doubts there!

Coming into the episode, I was pretty proud of myself for solving at least part of the mystery. I mean, they weren’t going to bring Patton Oswalt in just to be an annoying helping hand, right? It had already felt so clear to me that Penn was involved in the bombings, the show laid out all the evidence showing why he was the guilty party, and yet I was still on the edge of my seat wondering if he was going to fess up before the bomb at the high school went off.

There’s something really special about a show that gives you all the answers and still manages to keep you guessing until the bitter end. Plus, the whole sequence at the high school gives us a wonderful Keith Mars hero moment, and those never get old.

Then, poor Veronica, the woman who went to her first therapy session FAR too late in life, finally gets a happy ending. Logan is a well-adjusted human who makes a wonderful partner. She got her Pony. She gets to work with her dad in one of the greatest father-daughter duos of all time.

Then, the rest of Penn’s limerick becomes horrifyingly clear as Logan gets blown to bits. Now, I’m usually pretty forgiving in the directions showrunners choose to take their show. I didn’t take real issue with the LOST or How I Met Your Mother finales, because, I get it. I see what they were going for. The more I sat with Logan’s death and the justification behind it…I still don’t really get it.

The thought behind Logan’s demise though is that Veronica has to stay an underdog. Basically, in order for Veronica to remain interesting, she’s not allowed to be happy. Honestly, that’s just some bullshit.

Naturally, we also get a soliloquy of the state of Neptune one year later. Penn got his fame, and most of American on his side. Neptune continued being a haven for the rich and shitting on the poor, and of course Veronica goes to therapy about 10 years too late.

Logan’s untimely death aside, “Years, Continents, Bloodshed” is a satisfying end to a strong Season Four campaign. As grumpy as I am, I still know I’ll be watching Season Five the day it drops.

Alex’s Top 10 Episodes of 2019

1) Game of Thrones, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” (Season Eight, Episode 2)
2) The Good Place, “The Answer” (Season Four, Episode 9)
3) The Good Place, “Pandemonium” (Season Three, Episode 13)
4) Stranger Things, “Chapter Eight: The Battle of Starcourt” (Season Three, Episode 8)
5) Veronica Mars, “Years, Continents, Bloodshed” (Season Four, Episode 8)
6) Game of Thrones, “The Long Night” (Season Eight, Episode 3)
7) Stranger Things, “Chapter Six: E Pluribus Unum” (Season Three, Episode 6)
8) Veronica Mars, “Keep Calm and Party On” (Season Four, Episode 3)
9) The Mandalorian, “Chapter 4: Sanctuary” (Season One, Episode 4)
10) The Mandalorian, “Chapter 3: The Sin” (Season One, Episode 3)

Alex’s Honorable Mentions

Nailed It!  — Shalo-many Fails!
9-1-1 — The last 8 minutes of “Malfunction”
Game of Thrones — “The Bells”
Every other episode of The Good Place

The Group’s Top 10 List

Using a simple point system where a person’s #1 pick gets 10 points, #2 gets 9 and so on, here are the Top 10 Episodes of 2019.

1) The Good Place, “The Answer” (Season Four, Episode 9) [56 points]
2) Game of Thrones, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” (Season Eight, Episode 2) [38 points]
3) Stranger Things, “Chapter Eight: The Battle of Starcourt” (Season Three, Episode 8) [35 points]
4) Fleabag, “Episode 6” (Season Two, Episode 6) [26 points]
5) Russian Doll, “Ariadne” (Season One, Episode 8) [23 points]
6) The Mandalorian, “Chapter 3: The Sin” (Season One, Episode 3) [21 points]
7) Chernobyl, “Please Remain Calm” (Season One, Episode 2) [20 points, tie]
7) Fleabag, “Episode 1” (Season Two, Episode 1) [20 points, tie]
9) Dead to Me, “I Have to Be Honest” (Season One, Episode 9) [16 points, tie]
9) Fleabag, “Episode 5” (Season Two, Episode 5) [16 points, tie]
9) Succession, “This is Not For Tears” (Season Two, Episode 10) [16 points, tie]
9) Watchmen, “This Extraordinary Being” (Season One, Episode 6) [16 points, tie]

·       123 different episodes were on a Top 10 list

·       70 different shows were on a Top 10 list

·       6 of the 8 episodes of The Mandalorian were on a Top 10 list

·       4 of the 6 episodes of Fleabag were on a Top 10 list

·       5 of the 8 episodes of Stranger Things were on a Top 10 list

·       4 of the 8 episodes of Russian Doll were on a Top 10 list

·       3 of the 6 episodes of Game of Thrones were on a Top 10 list

·       4 of the 9 episodes of Watchmen were on a Top 10 list

·       5 of the 14 episodes of Schitt’s Creek were on a Top 10 list

·       2 of the 5 episodes of Chernobyl were on a Top 10 list

·       8 series finales were on a Top 10 list

·       5 pilots were on a Top 10 list

Best Episodes of 2018

Every year I love the opportunity to formally ask my friends what they’re watching. Streaming sites have completely changed the landscape with Netflix sometimes adding 3-7 new seasons a week and bingeing shows places everyone on a different timetable of when they’re watching an episode. The water-cooler shows have faded away (especially with no Game of Thrones this year) but that doesn’t mean there weren’t a great number of shows that shocked and inspired us. Read on as my friends from different backgrounds and perspectives look back at what we watched this year.

American Vandal – “The Dump”

(Season Two, Episode 8)

By Robbie Mehling

With popular podcasts like Serial, and My Favorite Murder and shows like Making a Murderer, it definitely seems like the true crime genre has become a mainstay in today’s media landscape. Netflix’s American Vandal gives us a parody of the genre with some hard-hitting exposes of some pretty juvenile topics. The first season had us asking the question, “Who drew the dicks?” The eight-episode Season Two steps it up, as we’re asking, “Who is the Turd Burglar?” The season culminates in the final episode, “The Dump” which is much more serious than the name might suggest.

Through a clever meta narrative referencing the popularity of the first season, Season Two of the show reintroduces us to Peter Maldonado (Tyler Alvarez) and Sam Ecklund (Griffin Gluck), the filmmakers from the first season and has them investigating a series of poop related pranks in a private high school. Laxatives in the lemonade. Dried Cat Poop in a t-shirt launcher. It’s pretty bad. One student has confessed but Peter and Sam believe that might not be the whole story. The eighth episode reveals that things are not always as they seem, and that Peter and Sam’s actions may have gotten a lot of people hurt.

Despite the rather juvenile humor of American Vandal (which despite its grossness, truly gives it life as a true crime genre parody), Season Two handles some pretty heavy topics: bullying, ostracism, social media appearances. internet safety, loneliness, blackmail, crazy horsehead wearing DJs, and the questionable filmmaking techniques of the in-show producers.

The season and the final episode, in particular, sets up some potential narratives to explore in a future season relating to the producers’ filmmaking style. What right do they have to reveal personal information if it’s only maybe related to the story? When should they go the police? Unfortunately, Netflix has not renewed the show and as of now, there will be no Season Three.

 Robbie’s Top 10 Episodes of 2018

1) The Haunting of Hill House, “Two Storms” (Season One, Episode 6)
2) The Good Place, “Janet(s)” (Season Three, Episode 10)
3) Survivor, “You Get What You Give” (Season Thirty-Seven, Episode 8)
4) The Good Place, “Burrito” (Season Two, Episode 12)
5) Star Wars: Resistance, “The Platform Classic” (Season One, Episode 9)
6) A Series of Unfortunate Events, “The Vile Village: Part 1” (Season Two, Episode 5)
7) The Handmaid’s Tale, “Smart Power” (Season Two, Episode 9)
8) American Vandal, “The Dump” (Season Two, Episode 8)
9) Westworld, “Journey Into Night” (Season Two, Episode 1)
10) Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, “Chapter Ten: The Witching Hour” (Season One, Episode 10)

Robbie Mehling is a photographer and coffee drinker based in Muncie, Indiana. He occasionally watches good television while spending too much time watching soccer and Survivor. He would probably be the first voted off the island. 

Arrow – “Elseworlds, Part 2”
(Season Seven, Episode 9)
The Flash – “Elseworlds, Part 1”
(Season Five, Episode 9)
Supergirl – “Elseworlds, Part 3”
(Season Four, Episode 9)

By Josh West

Spoilers for the conclusion of the CW crossover event.

Austin: Hey guys! Write me a thing about one episode of TV from the past year!

Me: Screw you, Austin! I’m writing about three episodes from three different shows!

In the past we have seen Barry Allen and Oliver Queen team up to fight each other, Captain Boomerang, Vandal Savage, aliens, and evil counterparts of themselves and their super…friends? This year’s annual CW Arrowverse crossover saw our red blurr and green arrow swap bodies. No, that’s not it. They were still in their correct bodies, just their place in the Arrowverse switched. Oliver (Stephen Amell) wakes up to Iris making him breakfast and giving him a kiss. Only when she calls him Barry for like the third time does he realize that he is Barry.

As the episode continues, we see how green the Green Arrow is using The Flash’s powers. He first overshoots where a crime is taking place. Then, when trying to stop the bad guys and at the order of Cisco Ramon, Oliver tries to hurl a lightning bolt at the bad guys. The lightning bolt fumbles out of Oliver’s hands and bounces like a spring across the crime scene. Sure it hits the bad guys but it was a pretty pathetic. We see the same thing with Barry as the Green Arrow firing the wrong arrows.

During a fight against a robot that can copy powers, we even hear Grant Gustin try his take on the Green Arrow’s iconic “You have failed this city!” line. Spoiler: It was goofy as hell. But the episode ends with our three big heroes, Green Arrow, Flash and Supergirl/Kara Zor-El, heading to Gotham. The episode ends on a pan up of the skyline and the dark silhouette of a bat-like human with long bright red hair! The first episode of the three part crossover was a lot of fun, especially for those who have been watching Arrow, The Flash and Supergirl from the beginning. There were a lot of callbacks and nods to previous scenes between your justice…league?

With permission and a little help from Bruce Wayne’s cousin Kate Kane (Ruby Rose), our heroes find out that the guy who changed Barry and Oliver is working out of Arkham Asylum. Kara and Kate bond over the shadow cast by their cousins. We have a pretty great scene where we see the names and memorabilia of a few notable Batman villains, with Amell’s wife playing Nora Fries. This episode is full of lines and nods to the Batman universe, which for the first few seasons of Arrow wasn’t a thing. Our antagonist releases the inmates and flees. While some inmates are trying to escape, Batwoman stops them using her grapple and a batarang. In Arkham, Barry and Oliver get hit with a dose of the Scarecrow’s hallucinogenic toxin and see their greatest enemies, but really they are just fighting themselves. Batwoman swoops into the scene and restores order to the asylum. There is a moment between Supergirl and Batwoman where Supergirl reveals that because of her x-ray vision she knows Kate is Batwoman and that they would have made a great team. To which Batwoman responds, “Worlds finest.” The second episode was a bit slower-paced and was just a long buildup to when we would finally see Batwoman in action. She didn’t disappoint. I felt you could have easily swapped her out for Batman and it would have been the same episode.

As the epic crossover continues, they find out a psychiatrist in Arkham Asylum named Deegan has been using the Book of Destiny to change reality throughout the multiverse. He does it again to make himself into Superman wearing a black costume. In true Supergirl fashion, we get some progressive rhetoric, especially when Kara asks why Deegan took on the look of Superman, a being who doesn’t exist on Earth-1. “Why not me? Too scared of being a woman?”

With our heroes working their way through a new reality where they are all villains, they manage to contact the real Superman so he can match strength with his doppleganger, perfectly nicknamed “Superdick.” In true CW fashion, the CGI is terrible, especially during the Superman v. Superdick fight. But I love it! Supergirl grabs the book and gets it to Superman, who fixes things and gives everyone their rightful identity and powers back. Using a superclap, Superdick stuns our heroes and takes the book before the rest of the world can be changed back.

With everyone back to their peak condition, the crossover event concludes with awesome scenes of the Green Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Superman, Martian Manhunter and Braianic-5 all combining their strengths to save the multiverse.

The best part about this crossover was the very last thing. Batwoman calls Oliver to ask if Deegan, who is now a patient in Arkham Asylum, is going to be a problem because “…rumor has it, he’s made a friend.” We then see Deegan looking almost void of any brain activity sitting in a cell while we hear the guy in the next cell over talking about how everything is now set up for the next part of the plan. We see him place a gold mask over his face and then a title card comes up saying

COMING IN FALL 2019… CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS

Somebody’s gonna die! Spoilers! My bet is its gonna be Superman. (Unless Stephen Amell wants to hang up his bow for good, I don’t see him biting the dust.) Superman and Lois ended this episode telling Kara that they are pregnant and they are going to live on a Kryptonian colon where the baby won’t be able to kick its way out of Lois. So what’s a better way to get you invested in the plot. Plus Superman has died plenty of times; he’ll be back.

Josh’s Top 10 Episodes

1) DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, “Here I Go Again” (Season Three, Episode 11)
2) The Flash, “What’s Past is Prologue” (Season Five, Episode 8)
3) Supergirl, “Man of Steel” (Season Four, Episode 3)
4) DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, “I, Ava” (Season Three, Episode 16)
5) DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, “Wet Hot American Bummer” (Season Four, Episode 4)
6) The Flash, “Enter Flashtime” (Season Four, Episode 15)
7) Big Mouth, “Guy Town” (Season Two, Episode 7)
8) The Walking Dead, “Honor” (Season Eight, Episode 9)
9) Marvel’s Daredevil, “Revelations” (Season Three, Episode 9)
10) Big Mouth, “The Department of Puberty” (Season Two, Episode 10)

My name is Josh West. By day I work for a company called Zergnet, creating clickbait videos for YouTube. By night, I’m a puppy dad who puts superhero shows above all other TV. In a political climate that is just too much, I am overwhelmed.

Atypical – “Pants on Fire”

(Season Two, Episode 4)

By Jim Huang

When we’re talking about Atypical, we have to stipulate three things up front.  

On Salon.com, Matthew Rozsa likens Atypical protagonist Sam Gardner to Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock and Jim Parsons’s Sheldon, writing:

“Sam is only a degree or two removed from the familiar caricature of the idiot savant — inept, bumbling and awkward when the plot demands it, yet capable of being refreshingly intelligent, honest and funny…  I could forgive the new Netflix series Atypical if it were merely offensive to autistic people. Its chief sin, however, is that it’s trite….  The most enjoyment I got out of Atypical was the opportunity to write this scathing review.”

On Teen Vogue, Mickey Rowe writes:

““If the creative team does not have leadership from within the community itself, it will inevitably misrepresent it….  it feels like the audience is supposed to laugh at how weird and different Sam is.”

So here are the stipulations:

1) If you’re the sort of person who laughs at difference, then you should stay away from Atypical.  This series puts differences — Sam’s and others’ — front and center.

2) If you believe that only people within the community are able to tell stories about people on the spectrum, then the fact that this series is created by and acted (mostly) by neurotypicals is a dealbreaker.

3) If you are not a fan of the traditional half-hour comedy form, then this show isn’t going to work for you.  Atypical is utterly typical: creator Robia Rashid’s How I Met Your Mother roots are evident, especially in “Pants on Fire,” written by Mike Oppenhuizen.

Sam Gardner is at the center of Atypical.  His effort to learn how to lie, triggered by his high school counselor’s comments about his college admissions essay, forms the plot of this episode. Sam wants to write about his greatest accomplishment, seeing an exotic dancer’s boobs.  The counselor suggests that Sam write about his autism, but he objects. “Autism isn’t an accomplishment.  It’s something I was born with.  You wouldn’t write an essay about having ten fingers and ten toes.”

Sam finds it impossible to lie due to his autism, but the neurotypicals around him don’t share that inability.  The Gardner family has been rocked by his mom Elsa’s lies; she concealed an affair and is staying elsewhere while her husband Doug is reeling. Sam’s sister Casey demonstrates how easy it is to lie, but Sam needs more help.  Elsa refuses — she’s trying to turn over a new leaf and insists it’s never ok to lie.  So the task of instructing Sam falls to friend and co-worked Zahid, who breaks it down into steps that Sam can understand, the “Pants on Fire” technique.

Sounds like a typical sitcom plot, right?  But even though Atypical looks like a typical sitcom, the story proves deeper, more insightful and more affecting that you realize at first.  Sam’s step-by-step effort to learn and apply Pants on Fire is well-depicted.  Sam says that he’s bad at lying, “which is funny because people lie to me all the time.  They think that because of my autism, I can’t handle things.”

A nice observation by itself, but Sam goes on to say, “Most people I know are really good at lying.  They’re so good at it, they even lie to themselves.”  The depiction of how the people around Sam lie — in all their varieties — is what elevates Atypical from a basic sitcom about a kid with autism to a well-observed family drama.

Sam figures out how to write that college essay, and it’s lovely.  But “Pants on Fire” is much more.  The episode asks questions about how we use lies to get through a day, how we use lies to define how we see ourselves, and how neurotypicals use lies to shape how they see the world. Far from a trite misrepresentation, this episode is a gift for anyone who’s able to see beyond the surface. 

Jim’s Top 2 Episodes of 2018

I don’t watch much current television, and apart from Atypical, I didn’t see a lot of new stuff that felt exceptional.  Here are a couple worth noting:

1) The Good Place, “Jeremy Bearimy” (Season Three, Episode 4)

The Good Place is a consistently good show, a fun, surprising and fascinating journey into philosophy and what it means to be good, with a fabulous and likable cast of characters. The twisty “logic” of this episode was especially delicious.

2) NCIS, “Fragments” (Season Sixteen, Episode 5)

NCIS isn’t very good and I shouldn’t be watching it.  I probably shouldn’t be eating the bag of potato chips that’s next to me either.  But I seem to be doing both.  Still, this episode shows that an old horse is capable of new tricks.  This was a nicely done  past/present story with a little more weight than you expect from a show like this.

JIM HUANG runs the bookshop at Bryn Mawr College.  He also publishes books for mystery lovers under the banner of Crum Creek Press/The Mystery Company.  His website is located at http://www.statelyhuangmanor.com

Bob’s Burgers – “Bobby Driver”

(Season Nine, Episode 6)

By Sam Tilmans

I recognize that I lack variety in my favorite episodes of this year. In recent years, in these stressful, anxious times, I just need something to make me feel good, or something silly to put on while I craft. I don’t mind dramas, but I can only take so much and I find myself turning to series I’ve watched multiple times over. I need the comfort, and that’s also reflected in many of the series I’ve listed as having my favorite episodes this year. Unfortunately, one of the episodes on my list is about mental illness, and I spent a good portion of this year wrestling with my own anxiety and depression. Another episode in my list deals with an active shooting situation, which, albeit offscreen, it’s still a situation our country has on a near-daily basis, including an incident at my friends’ workplace this year. So yeah, I wasn’t sure writing about either one of those in great detail would have been a good idea for me.

Which led me to Bob’s Burgers. I’m understating it when I say it’s one of my absolute favorite shows and always brings me happiness through hard times. Just ask me about my hamburger costume, or the songs from the Bob’s Burgers soundtrack that played at my wedding. And even at nine seasons in, Bob’s Burgers has consistently great, hilarious episodes, often with a catchy original song to go along with it.

Most of my favorite shows tend to revolve around found or chosen families. Bob’s Burgers has an actual, biological family at its core, but over the course of the show they have pulled all sorts of characters from their little town into their extended family. Some examples: over Christmas one year they take in a man who claims he was once a store mannequin; a member of the local biker gang gives birth in their restaurant, later, Linda takes care of said baby while Bob attempts to sell the motorcycle of the gang’s leader to get him out of jail; Gene takes care of a talking toilet as though he was an actual person; they let an ex-convict who once held Bob hostage stay in their basement when he needs a place to go; and Bob’s most frequent customer and best friend Teddy might as well be the sixth Belcher.

The Belchers are there for each other “from the womb to the tomb,” and even though sometimes they are reluctant to be kind, or run afoul of many of their neighbors, in the end, they care about others and will at least try to do the right thing. “Bobby Driver” is a prime example of that.

The tertiary plot is kind of a throwaway, but it supports the overarching theme of the episode.  Linda drops everything she’s doing in the restaurant and attempts to get Teddy to like sushi for his date that evening. This isn’t the first time she’s helped Teddy, whether it’s cleaning out his apartment filled with hoarded things or teaching him how to dance for a wedding. She’s ultimately unsuccessful in getting him to like sushi, but she cared enough about Teddy to try, and that’s what matters.

In the secondary plot, the kids attend a birthday party for Holden, a kid from their school they don’t know at all and Louise assumes he’s a “gift grabber,” though, Tina takes Bob’s words from the beginning of the episode to heart: “You gotta give people a chance. Sometimes they surprise you.” The kids find that this party his parents planned was mostly for them, not him, and that he’s miserable. The kids pick their brains (and their noses) to help Holden confront his parents and to let him finish his birthday his way.

Finally, in the main plot, Bob doesn’t initially take his own advice. He and craft store owner Edith have a history – she’s cantankerous, and in the past she and her husband Harold have argued with Bob about what constitutes as art, jacked up the price of sequins just to get more money out of him, and taught Bob how to draw by having him draw a naked Edith. Their relationship before and during this episode is filled with ire and is oddly sexual at times. But Bob sees her struggling to walk home with her craft supplies, and he offers her a ride home. She reluctantly accepts, but seizes the opportunity and has Bob drive her to the homes of her former quilt circle members to steal their squares for a quilt celebrating the town’s history as revenge on them for kicking her out of the group for her “inappropriate” square.

There’s deception on Edith’s part – she’s not an awful person like Bob initially thought, but she is still kind of terrible. At least in this episode, he learns a more about her besides her love of the arts and what her naked body looks like. Edith has been in the town a long time and is a part of its history – her square depicting the “freaks” at Wonder Wharf may not be the most appropriate, but it’s meaningful to her, as those “freaks” took care of her while her parents worked at the wharf and they became a part of her family.

Sure, the theme of “Bobby Driver” might be a little on the nose and this episode likely won’t change Bob and Edith’s relationship in the long run, but it’s nice to see these characters in a new situation, learning a little more about each other, and possibly accepting that they have some things in common. This episode was wonderful, but really, Bob’s Burgers as a whole brought me joy this year – the Belchers are weird, but they have a lot of heart. I think we could all use more of that.

(Side Note: It didn’t work with the theme of this piece, but Bob and Edith’s cover of “Radar Love” was great and I appreciated all the craft puns, especially “Needlepoint Break” with “Ke-yarn-u Reeves” and the store in the opening credits named “You Make My Seams Come True.” This show has the best writers.)

Sam’s Top 10 Episodes of 2018

1) The Good Place, “Jeremy Bearimy” (Season Three, Episode 5)
2) The X-Files, “Rm9sbG93ZXJz” (Season Eleven, Episode 7)
3) One Day at a Time, “Hello, Penelope” (Season Two, Episode 9)
4) The Good Place, “Janet(s)” (Season Three, Episode 10)
5) Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “Show Me Going” (Season Five, Episode 20)
6) Bob’s Burgers, “The Taking of Funtime One Two Three” (Season Nine, Episode 2)
7) The Good Place, “Everything is Bonzers!” (Season Three, Episodes 1/2)
8) Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “The Box” (Season Five, Episode 14)
9) Bob’s Burgers, “Bobby Driver” (Season Nine, Episode 6)
10) Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “Safe House” (Season Five, Episode 12)

Honorable Mentions:

American Vandal, “The Dump” (Season Two, Episode 8)

The Americans, “Jennings, Elizabeth” (Season Six, Episode 9)

Bob’s Burgers, “V for Valentine-detta” (Season Eight, Episode 8)

Fresh Off the Boat, “King of the North” (Season Four, Episode 19)

One Day at a Time, “Locked Down” (Season Two, Episode 5)

One Day at a Time, “Not Yet” (Season Two, Episode 13)

One Day at a Time, “What Happened” (Season Two, Episode 8)

Riverdale, “Chapter Forty: The Great Escape” (Season Three, Episode 5)

Riverdale, “Chapter Thirty-Four: Judgment Night” (Season Two, Episode 21)

Riverdale, “Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Midnight Club” (Season Three, Episode 4)

She-Ra and the Princess of Power, “Princess Prom” (Season One, Episode 8)

The X-Files, “Familiar” (Season Eleven, Episode 8)

The X-Files, “The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat” (Season Eleven, Episode 4)

Sam Tilmans is a library tech, but prefers the title, “punk ass book jockey.” She’s basic, so you can find her on Twitter, where she shares her occasional pop culture thoughts, knitting and other craft projects, and pictures of her adorable cats.

Bodyguard – “Episode 1”

(Season One, Episode 1)

By Larry D. Sweazy

This thriller, which first appeared on BBC, took the United Kingdom by storm. I kept seeing reviews and mentions about it in the UK newspapers, and was glad when the show finally arrived on Netflix. Bodyguard stars Richard Madden, who you might remember as a member of the Stark family (Game of Thrones) who had a less than joyful time at a certain Red Wedding.

Madden excels in the role of David Budd, showing off his moody skills as a military veteran dealing with PTSD, and handling a high stress job as a security officer for the British government. Talk of Madden being the next James Bond is believable after watching this series.

As the episode begins, we find Budd on a train with his children, and his observation skills quickly tell him something is wrong. He quickly stumbles into a suicide bomber scenario, and is left to talk down the bomber (Anjli Mohindra) from blowing herself, Budd, and the passengers on the train, to kingdom come. It’s a riveting scene that cannot be looked away from. Budd’s success with disarming the bomber brings him a promotion protecting Great Britain’s Home Secretary, Julia Montague (Keeley Hawes).

I’ve long been a fan of Keeley Hawes. Her turn as the matriarch in The Durrells of Corfu is worlds away from this character, and shows a range that Corfu would never allow. Montague is a hawk, the kind of politician who sends men like Budd to war without consideration of the consequences, at least of the surface, which sets up even more tension in the episode. Montague is an ambitious ice queen while Budd is a cool character on the outside but ready to explode just under the skin. Both characters excel at manipulation, and the chemistry between the two of them demands, on its own, to binge this six episode series. I will say, that as a whole the series does have its faults, but overall, I enjoyed almost every minute of it. A season two would be a challenge, but entirely doable. I’ll be watching for it.

Larry’s Top 10 Episodes of 2018

1) Mystery Road, “Gone” (Season One, Episode 1)

2) Hidden, “Episode 1” (Season One, Episode 1)

3) Bodyguard, “Episode 3” (Season One, Episode 3)

4) The Durrells of Corfu, “Episode 1” (Season Three, Episode 1)

5) The Durrells of Corfu, “Episode 8” (Season Three, Episode 8)

6) Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “The Box” (Season Five, Episode 14)

7) Homecoming, “Stop” (Season One, Episode 10)

8) The Romanoffs, “The Royal We” (Season One, Episode 2)

9) The Kominsky Method, “Chapter One: An Actor Avoids” (Season One, Episode 1)

10) Hap and Leonard, “The Two-Bear Mambo” (Season Three, Episode 1)

Larry D. Sweazy is a multiple-award author of fourteen western and mystery novels and over eighty nonfiction articles and short stories.  He is also a freelance indexer and has written back-of-the-book indexes for over nine hundred books in twenty years.  More information can be found atwww.larrydsweazy.com.

Castle Rock – “The Queen”

(Season One, Episode 7)

By Pedro Aubry

I’m a self-stylized huge Stephen King fan. I know, I haven’t read all his books, or even most of them, nor have I seen all his adaptations and works for the big and small screen (though Austin and I are trying to remedy that). I’ve honestly barely scratched the surface. But combining the few that I have read (including all The Dark Tower series) with what I have seen on screen, I have an okay grasp of this wacky universe, and damn do I enjoy it all. So this show is right up my alley.

Castle Rock is a Hulu original series that stitches together characters and elements from the Stephen King Universe (with a capital “U” motherfuckers), including Sheriff Alan Pangborn, the Shawshank State Penitentiary with all its history, and a young, aspiring writer Jackie Torrance, whose uncle went out to Colorado to take care a of a hotel and ended up almost murdering his family. It also spices up the mix with a couple of casting Easter eggs, with Sissy Spacek as Ruth Deaver (she was Carrie in the 1976 film of the same name) and Bill Skarsgård as The Kid (he’s currently enjoying huge success as Pennywise the (kinda) Dancing Clown in the insanely popular It).

The show basically follows Henry Deaver, a defense attorney specializing in capital cases, and The Kid, a weird ageless thing that may or may not be human, and may or may not be the embodiment of evil. Henry comes back home to the town of Castle Rock to help out The Kid. The Kid, meanwhile, just kinda hangs around town while an unreasonable amount of tragedy and misery unfolds around him.

All in all the series is pretty good and there’s really only one episode that hit me as lacking. This episode, however, is absolutely exceptional. It follows Spacek’s Ruth Deaver as she struggles with her dementia, shadowing her mind as it jumps through time between past and present. Sissy’s performance alone is enough to land this episode on my Top 10 list and make it the subject of my article. But through its flashbacks this mostly character focused episode brings the entire series together. Previous scenes in the series are given a whole new life by letting us into Ruth’s head as it happened, whether she’s remembering an adorable, yet ordinary moment when two old love birds practiced sleight of hand in bed, or something as utterly horrifying as her husband holding a gun to his own head during a picnic, asking if his wife and son can hear God.

We see Ruth and Alan’s relationship from start to finish, although not always in the right order. And by the way, they are among the cutest couple I’ve seen on TV, and Scott Glenn completely nails every single line as Pangborn. We see Henry Deaver as a boy, and his struggle to understand what’s going on around him as his father becomes more erratic and as his parents’ relationship frays. And the fact that the entire episode takes place over at most a few hours in the present only adds to the disorienting whirlwind that is Ruth’s mind, as we’re always reminded that The Kid is out there and (seemingly) means to destroy her life in some way.

I feel like there’s so much more that I’m forgetting, and there probably is, but this episode is remarkably easy to follow. It’s not too dense and yet covers so much ground in the series’ storyline, profiting from being grounded by the sole point of view. Revisiting this episode again after having finished the season, it holds up and offers a more enriched experience. I’ll stop here, but this is a fantastic piece of television and I highly recommend it.

Pedro’s Top 10 Episodes of 2018

1) Castle Rock, “The Queen” (Season One, Episode 7)

2) The Good Place, “Jeremy Bearimy” (Season Three, Episode 5)

3) Killing Eve, “I Have a Thing About Bathrooms” (Season One, Episode 5)

4) Castle Rock, “Henry Deaver” (Season One, Episode 9)

5) Killing Eve, “God, I’m Tired” (Season One, Episode 8)

6) The End of the Fucking World, “Episode 1” (Season One, Episode 1)

7) The Haunting of Hill House, “The Bent-Neck Lady” (Season One, Episode 5)

8) The Haunting of Hill House, “Touch” (Season One, Episode 3)

9) The Handmaid’s Tale, “Postpartum” (Season Two, Episode 12)

10) The Handmaid’s Tale, “The World” (Season Two, Episode 13)

Pedro grew up in Carmel, Indiana and now lives in Chicago and is a co-host alongside Austin on The Immortals podcast. He’s been getting way into Smash Bros and has consequently put aside nearly everything else (including this article) in recent weeks. His favorite color is blue and he really wish he could watch Bat out of Hell: The Musical again, but sadly it’s not showing in the area any time soon.

Castlevania – “War Council”

(Season Two, Episode 1)

By Beau V. Thompson

The first Castlevania season defied my wildest expectations by adapting a 30-ish year old, 8-bit platformer into a fun and bloody story with an extremely entertaining protagonist and an antagonist you can certainly empathize with, if not agree with.

But it was only four half hour episodes. A teaser for things to come.

By the end of the first season, we had followed our protagonist, Trevor Belmont, through most of the story, which culminated with him picking up two valuable allies on his journey to kill Dracula.

But what about the most infamous blood sucker? Though he was featured heavily in the first episode, he was never seen since. I almost wondered if the series would treat him as the early video games that they are based on did. Never seen until the very end…sitting in his throne room…waiting.

I always wondered, just what the hell was he doing during the entire game?

Luckily the first episode of the second season laid such suspicions to rest. And in glorious fashion.

The majority of the episode is focused on Dracula and his closest generals and what has led them to this point in their lives to decide that, yes, humanity should be eradicated.

For an adaptation that is based off of a video game where you literally whip Universal monsters to death, I found it to be a delightful surprise that there were no action scenes at all. Instead you have scenes of Dracula and his generals ruminating on what led them to this point in their lives to decide that, yes, humanity should be eradicated.

And the dialog is just… Mmmm (Homer Simpson noises.)

Example:  Dracula has a meeting of his generals and commands that the only two who are human in his service be the ones to lead the attacks against humanity. The generals, including the two human ones, Hector and Issac, are stunned at this decision. When asking them in private, Dracula tells them this:

“They (vampires) can no longer conceive of humans as thinking beings. Just livestock. It’s the privilege of our condition, I suppose. You can’t hate livestock. They are simply what they are. Grazing animals to be slaughtered… You understand that humans think, and scheme, and betray. You understand why they all must die.”

Issac assures Dracula that humans will suffer.

“The suffering doesn’t really matter to me anymore, Isaac. Only the death. Only the death matters now.”

I’m sure the lion’s share for my love of this is from writer Warren Ellis, famous for the Transmetropolitan comic books, among many others. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t bring up the wonderful work of voice director Meredith Layne and the cast. The subtlety and monotone nature of the characters is such a welcome departure to some voice recordings I hear where it sounds like everyone is speaking like they are in a theater production.

Here, everyone speaks like these dead in the inside characters should in labyrinth halls that echo noises seemingly indefinitely. Graham McTavish plays Dracula not as a snarling beast, but a being that has had every emotion taken away from him.

And Hector and Isaac are there act more alien than the vampires, with dead eyes that stare into fireplaces and recall the horrible events that led them here.

And this is just the first episode!

This is just the setting up of the plot, and in a way there are definitely other episodes this season that I could say may, indeed, be better. But this episode set the tone. And it was a tone I wasn’t expecting, yet always hoping.  Video game movie adaptations are usually given (rightfully so) a bad rap. I think a major part in that is that whoever is in charge, doesn’t allow them to be made by competent writers that are fans of the game. And by fan, I don’t mean just someone who has played the game(s) they are planning on adapting, but the ones who let the hints of the story get under their skin. Someone who saw the blanks. Someone who was wondering what Dracula was doing while he waited for his inevitable battle with the latest Belmont.

And I think we (finally) have that here. This episode cemented that for me. 

In regards to my Top 10, I literally didn’t watch ANYTHING else in 2018. Well, the first Doctor Who episode and the first episode of The Haunting of Hill House. Other than that zip. And this season of Castlevania is eight episodes, so let’s put those eight episodes first, then Hill House and Doctor Who! WOOOOOOOO!

Beau’s Top 10 Episodes of 2018

1) Castlevania, “War Council” (Season Two, Episode 1)

2) Castlevania, “Old Homes” (Season Two, Episode 2)

3) Castlevania, “Shadow Battles” (Season Two, Episode 3)

4) Castlevania, “Broken Mast” (Season Two, Episode 4)

5) Castlevania, “Last Spell” (Season Two, Episode 5)

6) Castlevania, “The River” (Season Two, Episode 6)

7) Castlevania, “For Love” (Season Two, Episode 7)

8) Castlevania, “End Times” (Season Two, Episode 8)

9) The Haunting of Hill House, “Steven Sees a Ghost” (Season One, Episode 1)

10) Doctor Who, “The Woman Who Fell to Earth” (Season Eleven, Episode 1)

Beau Valentine Thompson graduated Ball State University in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing. He now works in health insurance because… America. He writes, draws, acts and drinks on the side.

Channel Zero: Dream Door – “Bizarre Love Triangle”

(Season Four, Episode 4)

By Aaron Wittwer

By Aaron Wittwer

The past four seasons of the criminally underseen Channel Zero have been marked by incredible creativity and style. Each season brings a new creative team and new vision as both fledgling and experienced filmmakers are allowed to approach adapting the meagre creepypasta source material however they see fit. From the haunting melancholy of “No End House” to the bonkers, cannibalistic Wonderland of “Butcher’s Block”, each season has been a distinct treat for horror fans like myself. Now, the most recent season, “Dream Door” gifts us with a creation unlike any other ever seen on television.

Pretzel Jack is many things. He’s an imaginary friend made into a physical manifestation. He’s an extremely flexible clown. He’s an unstoppable, murder machine. And on top of that he gives a really good hug. The point is, this season of Channel Zero is all about Pretzel Jack. Sure, it’s also a poignant and complex exploration of trust and how a history of trauma can impact a relationship. But while that is going on, Pretzel Jack is busy becoming one of the most iconic horror characters of the past 10 years. Or at least he would be if anybody watched this show. 

“Bizarre Love Triangle” is the climax of Pretzel Jack’s arc. The opening flashback shows how a young girl named Jill unwittingly creates him for the first time as a means to cope with being abandoned by her father. This is a much more innocent Jack; simply there to provide comfort Jill in her time of need by doing goofy tricks and giving hugs. Cutting back to the present, it’s not long before the more violent Pretzel Jack that we are familiar with makes a return. Still acting as Jill’s protector, Jack now seeks to erase from the world anything or anyone who causes Jill pain or anger. This is not good news for her husband, Tom, whom Jill believes may have been unfaithful.

Pretzel Jack hunts Tom with a Terminator-like determination, chasing him to the half-finished, basement of a local gymnasium. Quick kudos are due to Channel Zero’s location scouts who add a ton of production value just by finding some of the most strange and unique places to shoot scenes like this. It’s all crumbling dirt, and plumbing, and barbells and eerie claustrophobia amplifying Jack’s menace. Tom is eventually able to escape the underground gymscape, only to become cornered in a natatorium and dragged into a pool. Meanwhile Jill arrives just in time, and the stage is set for a showdown which ultimately ends with the Pretzel Jack’s destruction via some telekinesis on the part of Jill… and we’re only about twenty minutes into the episode. The rest is full of twists and turns and things that I won’t bother spoiling. Suffice it to say, the episode is a turning point for the series.

What’s really fascinating is the sense of loss we feel as soon as Pretzel Jack is gone. This mirrors the loss that Jill herself feels at having essentially destroyed this complex part of herself. What is she to do with all of that anger and pain now? Pretzel Jack may have been a monster, but without him we’re left feeling directionless and empty. Luckily we’re not left hanging too long as a new, more insidious threat reveals itself by the end of the episode.

Pretzel Jack as played by real life contortionist, Troy James, is a wonder of practical effects and human talent. An undeniable screen presence; simultaneously terrifying and endearing all by design. He combines the unrelenting persistence of the monster from It Follows with the wide-eyed innocence and protective instincts of a puppy dog. Basically, I picked this episode because it’s a wonderful showcase of all the facets of this beautifully realized and memorable character who never speaks a single word.

Aaron’s Top 10 Episodes of 2018

1) The Haunting of Hill House, “Two Storms” (Season One, Episode 6)

2) Patriot, “The Guns of Paris” (Season Two, Episode 3)

3) Schitt’s Creek, “The Olive Branch” (Season Four, Episode 9)

4) Channel Zero: Butcher’s Block, “Alice in Slaughterland” (Season Three, Episode 4)

5) The End of the Fucking World, “Episode 4” (Season One, Episode 4)

6) The Good Place, “Janet(s)” (Season Three, Episode 10)

7) Maniac, “Exactly Like You” (Season One, Episode 5)

8) Get Shorty, “Selenite” (Season Two, Episode 3)

9) GLOW, “Nothing Shattered” (Season Two, Episode 7)

10) American Vandal, “The Dump” (Season Two, Episode 8)

Aaron is a native of Ft. Wayne, Indiana and the owner of two very good cats. He spends most of his free time consuming various forms of art and media, and occasionally he writes stuff about them. Sometimes he writes other things as well.

Dear White People – “Chapter VIII”

(Season Two, Episode 8)

By Austin Lugar

It’s like if you have a dog that bites someone, even though you didn’t bite them personally, it’s still your fault. Racism is white people’s dog. And it’s been biting.

Finally, it’s time to hear a straight white Midwestern guy’s take on race. Buckle in because I’m bound to fuck this up at least a dozen times.

Dear White People is a show that began as a movie by the same name. The title refers to the name of a radio show the main character, Sam, broadcasts at a fictional predominantly black Ivy League university. The title serves as a conversation starter and a siren.

Like a lot of sirens, you can tell it’s important to respond to, but it’s not initially clear where you’re actually supposed to go. Because I live in a realm of privilege I don’t feel the presence of race or prejudice throughout my day. I like to think I’m an ally and that I’m here to listen, but there’s always the idea that taking an easy path and ultimately being self-serving.

In Volume 2, “Chapter VIII”, this contradiction is given center stage. Throughout the incredible season, various stories keep progressing, but each chapter is able to profile just one character or two. It’s similar to the best seasons of The Leftovers. While all of those episodes move throughout the campus and throughout the week, “Chapter VIII” compresses all of that to a few rooms, and in real time as Sam and Gabe finally confront each other.

Sam is the biracial radio personality who has a platform but keeps burning bridges with every group on campus. Some of this is standing up against racists, some of this is because she has a tendency towards self-destruction. Gabe is the white grad student who dated Sam, mostly in secret, during the first season until he made a horrible mistake.

Thoughout the season, Gabe has been in the background recording interviews of various characters for his documentary. He decides to interview Sam in her recording booth where she insists on also recording the conversation with her own equipment.

“Here I am with Samantha White of the popular campus radio show Dear White People. Thank you for being here.”

“And I’m here with Gabe Mitchell, the filmmaker behind I Can’t Believe He Actually Named His Documentary “Am I Racist?” Oh, I meant filmmaker behind Am I Racist? My bad. Typo.”

“Fucking AutoCorrect.”

What happens next is a brilliant and emotional one-act play spinning around the things they’re desperate to articulate. On one hand, they each want to criticize the other’s platform. Within the first few seconds, Sam dismisses his film as white savior complex. Gabe accuses her show as being an inciting force that has led to alt-right groups on campus.

The dialog is fast, the ideas are complex. Concessions are made, other points are adamantly denied. All at once, these characters are talking about their identities, personalities, upbringings and their relationship to each other. It’s like Adam’s Rib if Spencer Tracy took a few gender study classes.

Just because Gabe is more self-aware and better educated than Spencer Tracy doesn’t mean he has an argument. (Not too dissimilar from me!) Gabe has the benefit of not being on the frontlines. There is no danger or repercussions in his message aside from maybe slight embarrassment. When Sam expresses her opinions and her feelings, she has organized attacks at her filled with affecting cruelty.

In the end, racism is not solved, but voices were heard. From their philosophies to their difficult history. Then as if the episode wasn’t jaw-dropping enough, the episode confirms why these tales are not just discussions of abstract politics. The episode leaves you with a tear-evoking revelation that encapsulates why every piece of this show feels so personal and important.   

Austin’s Top 10 Episodes of 2018

1) Atlanta, “Teddy Perkins” (Season Two, Episode 6)

2) The Haunting of Hill House, “Two Storms” (Season One, Episode 6)

3) The Americans, “START” (Season Six, Episode 10)

4) The Good Place, “Janet(s)” (Season Three, Episode 10)

5) Dear White People, “Chapter VIII” (Season Two, Episode 8)

6) Last Week Tonight, “Sexual Harassment in the Workplace in the United States” (Season Five, Episode 18)

7) Better Call Saul, “Winner” (Season Four, Episode 10)

8) Castle Rock, “The Queen” (Season One, Episode 7)

9) Atlanta, “Barbershop (Season Two, Episode 5)

10) Succession, “Prague” (Season One, Episode 8)

Austin’s Too Many Honorable Mentions

American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, “House By the Lake” (Season Two, Episode 4)

Big Mouth, “The Shame Wizard” (Season Two, Episode 3)

Black-ish, “Bow Knows” (Season Four, Episode 12)

Bodyguard, “Episode 2” (Season One, Episode 2)

BoJack Horseman, “Free Churro” (Season Five, Episode 6)

BoJack Horseman, “Mr. Peanutbutter’s Boos” (Season Five, Episode 8)

Corporate, “The Void” (Season One, Episode 1)

Doctor Who, “Rosa” (Season Eleven, Episode 3)

The End of the Fucking World, “Episode 1” (Season One, Episode 1)

The Expanse, “Immolation” (Season Three, Episode 6)

The Expanse, “Abaddon’s Gate” (Season Three, Episode 13)

GLOW, “Mother of All Matches” (Season Two, Episode 4)

GLOW, “Every Potato Has a Receipt” (Season Two, Episode 10)

The Good Fight, “Day 422” (Season Two, Episode 3)

The Good Fight, “Day 450” (Season Two, Episode 7)

The Good Fight, “Day 464” (Season Two, Episode 9)

The Good Place, “Jeremy Bearimy” (Season Three, Episode 4)

The Great British-Bake Off, “Spice Week” (Season Nine, Episode 5)

Jane the Virgin, “Chapter Eighty-One” (Season Four, Episode 17)

Killing Eve, “Nice Face” (Season One, Episode 1)

The Magicians, “A Life in the Day” (Season Three, Episode 5)

One Day at a Time, “Not Yet” (Season Two, Episode 13)

The President Show Documentary: The Fall of Donald Trump

Queer Eye, “You Can’t Fix Ugly” (Season One, Episode 1)

Succession, “Nobody is Ever Missing” (Season One, Episode 10)

Trust, “Lone Star” (Season One, Episode 2)

A Very English Scandal, “Episode 1” (Season One, Episode 1)

Austin Lugar runs TheArtImmortal.com and produces its podcasts. Also he’s the co-editor of Mystery Muses and Organizing Crime. He’s seen way too much Doctor Who.

Evil Genius – “Part One: The Heist”

(Season One, Episode 1)

By Ken Jones

What I love most about Netflix Original content is that you can actually watch the trailer on Netflix. Sometimes I’ll just watch trailers for half an hour, adding interesting shows and movies to my list where they sit for two years before I actually watch them. One day binge-watching trailers, I came across Evil Genius, a story I instantly recognized. Admittedly, I was not the most worldly 13 year old when the events of Evil Genius took place, but I almost exclusively watched antenna TV so I caught plenty of sporadic news. And while I thought I remembered some details about the pizza delivery driver forced to rob a bank with a bomb strapped to him, the trailer proved me wrong.

“Wait, what actually happened?!”

As soon as I realized I really had no concept of the whole story I was hooked. We are a nation obsessed with murder. Is there already an A&E show called My Murderous Obsession? If not, there will be within two years and you know I’m right. So what makes this story stand out for me is that partial memory of seeing a pizza delivery driver with a device around his neck sitting on the street. Ashamedly I had the same visceral reaction of having a connection to the incident that everyone seems to have after some tragedy. “I visited there once! So close to home!” Yeah, you and a bajillion other people have been to Paris, congrats.

What I love about “Part One: The Heist”is that unlike many other true crime shows, it doesn’t try to make any point other than this was a crazy thing that really happened. The first episode is a fun ride into a much more complex world of odd characters and several bodies. The story feels like a movie heist gone bad and it isn’t clear who exactly was involved or how involved they were. What seems like it may be a rather familiar story with some fun elements like a neck bomb, cane gun, and an impossible scavenger hunt, take a sharp turn with revelations about a mysterious woman with enough dead exes to make a terrible emo boy band and enough dead bodies in her freezer to look very guilty. It’s one, it only takes one, how dumb are you?

Ken’s Top 10 Episodes of 2018

1) American Vandal, “#2” (Season Two, Episode 2)

2) Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, “Sources and Methods” (Season One, Episode 6)

3) Evil Genius, “Part One: The Heist” (Season One, Episode 1)

4) Lost in Space, “Trajectory” (Season One, Episode 8)

5) Big Mouth, “Drug Buddies” (Season Two, Episode 6”

6) The Staircase, “Imperfect Justice” (Season One, Episode 13)

7) Wild Wild Country, “Part 1” (Season One, Episode 1)

8) Everything Sucks, “Sometimes I Hear My Voice” (Season One, Episode 6)

9) Jack Whitehall: Travels With My Father, “Episode 3” (Season Two, Episode 3)

10) The Innocents, “The Trailer” (Just the trailer, man)

Once a connoisseur of foreign and classic films Ken Jones has gone on to help make some of the worst reality shows to ever hit airwaves. Now an operations guru in the audio visual world he spends his free time watching movies and apparently almost exclusively Netflix Original shows. Ken is using the excuse that he is getting married in March and is a volunteer youth pastor and communicator as the reasoning behind not watching all of the great shows in your Top 10 list.

GLOW – “Every Potato Has a Receipt”

(Season Two, Episode 10)

By Molly Raker

Glow baby glow! The second season didn’t disappoint in the ring. I have to admit I liked the first season but I wasn’t running back for a rewatch. After the second season I did. It was hard to choose but ultimately went with the season finale as my favorite episode; it has a wedding, a brawl and relocation. How could I not? I know, I know, why didn’t I pick “The Good Twin,” the most meta of episodes? The finale just showed off the characters and how they’ve grown from the start. It was exceptional ensemble performance.

But first and foremost, it had the best fight yet. Liberty Bell taking on Mexico, the choreography was amazing and makes me want to learn how to fight. It had a slow start when all-girls were fighting in the ring but found its place. A great show about a show.

The fights make it exciting but the writing and directing was pitch perfect. I love all of Ruth and Sam talks but let’s be honest Marc Maron is able to deliver on all cylinders. One of my favorite lines, I don’t know why but it was.

Sam: That horse better not shit in here.

Ruth: It definitely going to.

On to Bash, this character finally got some depth this season but I can’t really tell what was going through his mind when he professed his “love” to Brittanica and kind of got married. People do know there’s more to do than getting an officiated to pronounce you legally married. Looking at you Jane the Virgin! I’m intrigue to see where this goes and also the choice to show Macchu Picha’s reaction gave her character some depth. 

Look I’m just a girl that watches too much TV and with all the options GLOW is a surefire pick. Keep on glowing ladies. Even though I’ve never been to Vegas and I know I’ll hate it (thanks Sam) – I’ll stick around.

Molly’s Top 10 Episodes of 2018

1) GLOW, “Every Potato Has a Receipt” (Season Two, Episode 10)

2) The Good Place, “Janet(s)” (Season Three, Episode 10)

3) Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, “I’m Not the Person I Used to Be” (Season Four, Episode 7)

4) Better Call Saul, “Winner” (Season Four, Episode 10)

5) Homecoming, “Protocol” (Season One, Episode 8)

6) Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “The Box” (Season Five, Episode 14)

7) The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, “Simone” (Season Two, Episode 1)

8) The Good Place, “Rhonda, Diana, Jake, and Trent” (Season Two, Episode 11)

9) Succession, “Which Side Are You On?” (Season One, Episode 6)

10) Atlanta, “Helen” (Season Two, Episode 4)*

*Sidenote, I went to this town. It is truly bizarre.

Molly lives in Brooklyn, NY working in marketing at Roku. She watches way too much TV but still not enough to keep up with all the new shows. I balance it out with hiking so I get outside. 

The Good Place – “Janet(s)”

(Season Three, Episode 10)

By Alex Manzo

The Good Place was my favorite discovery on 2018. I watched it once and immediately became obsessed, because how can you not after that Season One twist? Then I re-watched all of it with two more people in addition to keeping up with new episodes.

I knew I wanted to write about the show, but I procrastinated deciding on an episode, because I figured the midseason finale would be good – and it did not disappoint. Obviously I’ve been enjoying Season Three, but there seemed to be a short lull where I found myself asking where exactly this season was going. “Janet(s)” made all of that crystal clear.

Part of what makes The Good Place so impressive is that it manages to turn the entire premise of the show on its head at least once a season. Whenever you are left to ask, “How long can they keep this going?” they add another layer to the story to be explored. The idea of The Good Place being unattainable in and of itself is already a great addition to the story. For me what really sends this new turn over the top is that it’s not The Judge, the accountants, or anyone else that will right this injustice. It’s Michael. It’s up to him. The savior of Team Cockroach (and apparently all humans headed to the afterlife) is a literal demon who has no idea what he’s doing. What other show on TV is doing something like that?

Aside from The Good Place’s generally excellent storytelling, this episode gave us the sheer joy of watching D’Arcy Carden act as every character on the show. She (naturally) manages to nail every character’s mannerisms. Janet has always been one of my favorite characters on the show, in large part because Carden just plays her brilliantly.

Most importantly, we had this sequence of Janet kissing Janet and then Janet kissing Eleanor (and also Eleanor and Chidi kissing, I guess). This fulfilled all the wildest dreams my spouse and I had for the episode.

In summary, The Good Place is really forking good, and this episode is a great example of all the reasons why.

Alex’s Top 10 Episodes of 2018

1) The Good Place, “Somewhere Else” (Season Two, Episode 13)

2) The Good Place, “Janet(s)” (Season Three, Episode 10)

3) Doctor Who, “Rosa” (Season Eleven, Episode 3)

4) Queer Eye, “Sky’s the Limit” (Season Two, Episode 5)

5) Doctor Who, “It Takes You Away” (Season Eleven, Episode 9)

6) Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, “Chapter Ten: The Witching Hour” (Season One, Episode 10)

7) Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, “Chapter Eight: The Returned Man” (Season One, Episode 8)

8) Love, “Anniversary Party” (Season Three, Episode 11)

9) The Good Place, “The Burrito” (Season Two, Episode 12)

10) The Great British Bake-Off, “Spice Week” (Season Nine, Episode 5)

Alex Manzo works as a web developer in North Carolina where he lives with my spouse Cam and our two dogs Jasper & Patch. He graduated Ball State in 2011 where he met Austin and many of the other contributors to this article.

The Great British Bake-Off – “Final”

(Season Nine, Episode 10)

By Keith Jackson

This review contains spoilers for the conclusion of Season Nine.

The BBC Bake-Off is dead. Long live the Channel 4 Bake-Off!

This season of The Great British Bake-Off (or as the Yanks call it, “Baking Show”) was the second under new management of Channel 4. Whereas the BBC iteration aired in the States much later after the UK airing and once-a-week on PBS, Netflix picked up the show’s rights after its move, and streamed it with only a few weeks’ delay. This was great for me, as it was easy to binge. I’m not into competitive cooking shows — or competitive reality shows in general — so the drama and anticipation of “who’s getting voted off this week” isn’t appealing. This change definitely helped in the transition between broadcasters, since there were other hurdles to get past (which I’ll get to in a bit).

So if I’m not into competitive reality shows*, why did I pick GBBO… a competitive baking show? Simple: because it’s so pleasant. What I know of Top Chef, Chopped, Hell’s Kitchen, etc. is there is drama. It’s cutthroat, Gordon Ramsay is yelling, the music is intense. Bake-Off is the antithesis to those shows. Sure, the contestants are rushing to complete their bakes in a certain amount of time. But the bakers help each other at times. The criticism of their final products is fair, not unnecessarily harsh. The aesthetic of the show is just quaint, plain and simple. There are no manufactured conflicts and no villains to hate-watch. You feel good when a baker does well, and feel bad when they don’t.

I loved the BBC Bake-Off for its main personalities: Sue, Mel, Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry. Unfortunately, in the move all but one decided to leave the show, which of course spelled doom and gloom. Two seasons with the new presenters and judge, though, and the magic of the show inexplicably remains. Noel and Sandi gracefully carry the torch once held by Sue & Mel, continuing with a cheeky sense of humor. And while Mary Berry is irreplaceable, Prue Leith follows her adequately. Normally shows never feel the same after such a shake-up, but Bake-Off is resilient.

So anyway, last paragraph, I better get to the episode in question. To be honest, since we binged the season in a weekend it all kind of blurs together, and the nature of the format I can’t get excited for, say, Episode 3 over Episode 8. But I’ve chosen the Final because it capped off a season with one particularly great personality: Rahul. The poor guy spent the whole season doubting himself, apologizing when being told he did a good job (much to the bewilderment of the hosts), overcoming exploding glass jars, and doing things like answering the question, “how would you describe yourself” with “depressing,” and yet deservedly was crowned Star Baker in the end. Spoilers!

* I will carve out an exception for Netflix’s Nailed It!

Keith’s Top 10 Episodes of 2018

1) The Good Place, “Janet(s)” (Season Three, Episode 10)

2) Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “Jake & Amy” (Season Five, Episode 22)

3) Bob’s Burgers, “Just One of the Boyz 4 Now for Now” (Season Nine, Episode 1)

4) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, “Trump Administration Family Separation Policy” (Season Five, Episode 28)

5) Sharp Objects, “Milk” (Season One, Episode 8)

6) Jesus Christ Superstar: Live in Concert

7) Nailed It! “3…2…1, Ya Done!” (Season Three, Episode 6)

8) Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “Bachelor/ette Party” (Season Five, Episode 19)

9) A Series of Unfortunate Events, “Carnivorous Carnival: Part 1” (Season Two, Episode 9)

10) Trial & Error, “The Timeline” (Season Two, Episode 2)

Keith is a video editor for Looper, Mashed, and SVG, among others. (Please like and subscribe.) He and his wife enjoy taking care of their four goofy cats and one derpy dog.

The Handmaid’s Tale – “The Word”

(Season Two, Episode 13)

By Jackie Jones

This review contains spoilers for The Handmaid’s Tale

Since someone already called dibs on the one awesome new series I had the chance to watch this year (WOW, THANKS, LEIGH MONTANO), I decided to try something a smidge different: the episode I’m covering is the first and only episode I’ve seen of The Handmaid’s Tale. 

The Handmaid’s Tale is set in the near future in Gilead, a dystopian society settled within the borders of the United States of America. In this world, low birth-rates and a new government that enforces the subjugation of all women leads to a horrifying new conscription: any fertile women that remain in Gilead are forced to live in the homes of the elite, in which they are raped and forced to bear children for the household.

In “The Word,” our main character and handmaid, Offred, moves back into the Waterford’s home to continue breastfeeding the baby she bore for them, Holly. The events of the previous episode seem to have Offred more fearful than ever for the future of Holly and every other girl born here. It has become shockingly clear to her, now, that her generation will be far from the last to suffer under the laws and practices of Gilead. 

Emily, another handmaid, finds herself in a situation unfamiliar to her in her new life in Gilead: her new master is kind, good humored, and has no intention of trying to impregnate her. Still reeling from a series of tragedies, however, she attacks and kills the woman that I assume is the devil incarnate, judging by the actress they chose to play her: Ann Dowd. I later read what this woman, Aunt Lydia, had done to Emily, and can confirm that yes, Ann Dowd is still really good at playing monsters. 

Elisabeth Moss is wonderful. I’m always wary of main protagonists that appear to be perpetually or inherently miserable, so the opening shot of this episode had me preparing for a series of healthy eye-rolls. However she did one hell of a job conveying how very deeply this dystopian world created by Margaret Atwood has wounded June Osborne/Offred. Her anger and despair are warranted; I feel that same anger and despair just by imagining a world in which this all could happen. 

This episode has so effectively peaked my interest in the story told in The Handmaid’s Tale. I am genuinely looking forward to watching the rest of the series, or at the very least reading Margaret Atwood’s novel.

Jackie’s Top 10 Episodes of 2018

1) The Haunting of Hill House, “The Bent-Neck Lady” (Season One, Episode 5)

2) The Haunting of Hill House, “Two Storms” (Season One, Episode 6)

3) The Haunting of Hill House, “Witness Marks” (Season One, Episode 8)

4) The Haunting of Hill House, “Eulogy” (Season One, Episode 7)

5) The Haunting of Hill House, “Touch” (Season One, Episode 3)

6) The Haunting of Hill House, “The Twin Thing” (Season One, Episode 4)

7) The Haunting of Hill House, “Screaming Meemies” (Season One, Episode 9)

8) The Haunting of Hill House, “Silence Lay Steadily” (Season One, Episode 10)

9) The Haunting of Hill House, “Open Casket” (Season One, Episode 2)

10) The Haunting of Hill House, “Steven Sees a Ghost” (Season One, Episode 1)

Jackie was lucky enough to meet and work with the king of turds, Austin Lugar, at the Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis, IN. Indy was her home until about two years ago when she moved to Vancouver, BC. Here she’s found another incredible job that allows her to continuing working in film as a VFX coordinator at Method Studios. 

The Haunting of Hill House – “Two Storms”

(Season One, Episode 6)

By Leigh Montano

Eric Victor Clark 11/19/68 – 11/2/18

My stepdad died earlier this year. He and I weren’t really close. My mom and him got married when I was in high school and I wasn’t home much during college. Our interactions weren’t always the greatest and we didn’t have a great relationship.

I’ve watched The Haunting of Hill House three times, all the way through. I’ve never been a fan of horror movies. Or at least I thought. I didn’t grow up watching Halloween or Nightmare on Elm Street, seminal movies for every young horror film fan. I only saw Scream for the first time a few years ago, well into my 20s. Even in my film classes in college, the only horror movie we watched (for seemingly every class that had a horror movie example) was Pan’s Labyrinth, which while a great movie, isn’t a “horror” movie in the traditional 1980s Wes Craven sense.

“One thing I never found, was a reason.”

Death is final. It’s sometimes long and drawn out. Sometimes it’s abrupt and swift, catching the survivors by surprise. Sometimes family members get the chance to make their peace and say their goodbyes to the dying. Other times survivors aren’t given that option.

“I’ll be honest with you. Any questions you have are completely normal.” A stoic Shirley tells her kids. Her determined answers and explanations of how bodies are prepared for funerals to a concerned young boy were a focal point as I listened to my mother have the same phone conversation dozens of times. (It’s fucking brutal having to listen to your mother tell her mother-in-law that her son is dead.)

I’ve cried so much recently. I cried at the end of The Haunting of Hill House, every time I finished it and for different, deeply personal reasons. I didn’t cry at the hospital as I held my sobbing mother in my arms, “He’s gone,” coming from her in gasps and sobs. I cried at the funeral while a close friend of the family recounted my stepfather’s life. I cried while washing dishes when I remembered my stepdad’s ugly Michigan coat that he insisted on wearing and the matching scarf I had knit for him a few Christmases ago.

“She looks dead.” A quote from Theo in episode 6, “Two Storms,” that would regularly come to mind as we were making plans and preparations for the funeral. A quote that I thought of as I saw my stepdad laying in his powder blue casket (“It was his favorite color,” my mom explained to his mother over the phone), his fingers blackened from the lack of oxygen before he died or just from the dying process in general.

“You fixed her.” A young Shirley says to the funeral director at her mother’s funeral.

But he wasn’t fixed. His beard was trimmed but his hair was different and his face didn’t light up when he saw me. “Hey, Kiddo!” didn’t come out of his mouth. He just laid there, in his casket, with his ugly Michigan coat draped over the powder blue.

There are so many reasons why I could go on and on about Hill House and how fascinating it is. The show has only been out for a few months and many smarter and wittier people than myself have dissected and critiqued it in ways I would never imagine. Death has always been a trigger for me, preventing me from watching or experiencing many other bits of media because of how it would set off my anxiety. But Hill House wasn’t like that. It didn’t present death as a scary thing. Hill House curiously explores what death means to us as individuals and as a family. It explores how death impacts the living for sometimes years later. And the most curious message from Hill House, is hope. I’ve felt hopeful after finishing Hill House. And it’s hard to explain why without spoilers or without more insight into my personal life than anyone really wants right now.

“I’m not ready to bury my husband.” My mom said to me over coffee roughly eight hours before my stepdad died. I’ve always joked that my life is a sitcom but that bit of foreshadowing was too perfectly written.

All things must come to an end. It’s just how our world is. We are born, we grow, we die. It’s nature. Hill House reminds the audience of this, and not always in the decaying and decrepit way that we often see death explored in other media (although there are plenty of decaying creepy corpses). Hill House ultimately teaches the audience acceptance in a very masterful and organic way. Death is inevitable but not to fear it. Not to be afraid. That mourning is a legitimate human response to death but that we should also celebrate the life that we got to experience and share, even if it’s a short time.

One of the last things my stepdad said to me has regularly played in my head since his death. I was sitting on my living room floor. It was my birthday. My brother and I were lamenting about how terrible our real father is. My mom and my brother’s boyfriend had gone to pick up pizza for dinner. My stepdad was on the couch, being quiet and reserved, just listening to me and my brother complain. (For anyone who knew him, you know this was a feat in and of itself.)

“You know. I don’t understand why your dad treats you guys the way he does.” My stepdad spoke up for the first time in a few minutes at a natural lull in conversation. I looked up at him and he looked back at me. “I would kill to have kids as amazing as you two.” And for the first time in our relationship, I believed him.

It’s hard to process death. I’m still in shock and denial, weeks later. I’m sure it will take a while for things to make sense again. A flurry of emotions and memories have been flying around me as I’ve been trying to understand what’s happened. Each memory fleeting and brief as it flutters by me.

“Like confetti.”

Leigh’s Top 10 Episodes of 2018

1) The Haunting of Hill House, “Two Storms” (Season One, Episode 6)

2) The Haunting of Hill House, “The Bent-Neck Lady” (Season One, Episode 5)

3) The Haunting of Hill House, “Silence Lay Steadily” (Season One, Episode 10)

4) One Day at a Time, “Hello, Penelope” (Season Two, Episode 9)

5) She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, “Promise” (Season One, Episode 11)

6) One Day at a Time, “Not Yet” (Season Two, Episode 13)

7) The Good Place, “Leap to Faith” (Season Two, Episode 9)

8) Riverdale, “Chapter Thirty-Five: Brave New World” (Season Two, Episode 22)

9) Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “Show Me Going” (Season Five, Episode 20)

10) GLOW, “The Good Twin” (Season Two, Episode 8)

Leigh Montano likes to shout about TV to anyone who may be listening and especially to those who aren’t. She sometimes will actually write down her thoughts or record her ramblings. She ALSO spends too much time watching TV, reading Twitter and taking pictures of her cat.

High Maintenance – “Globo”

(Season Two, Episode 1)

By Dennis Sullivan

My list was difficult to create this year. After discovering The Great British Bake-Off, most of my free time went into catching up through all of those seasons. For that reason, I am not caught up on Westworld, Better Call Saul, The Good Place, or The Americans. However, I think it would still be hard to top my favorite episode of the year.

High Maintenance is a little known show in the mainstream lexicon, which is a shame as it tells unique stories unlike anything else I’ve seen on television. The show occasionally follows the life of The Guy, a marijuana dealer from NYC that travels around to his clients. This delivery briefly inserts him into their lives, and the show tends to veer a sharp turn and follow the life of another person The Guy interacts with. Sometimes it is a client, sometimes someone he passes on the street, and even sometimes an unexpected main character that you couldn’t have predicted. This flexibility allows HBO to craft unique narratives and situations for characters not normally represented. It’s essentially a glimpse into the cooky, crazy, and unpredictability of life.

Originally an online only production, HBO picked up the show in 2016 and is about to air it’s third season in 2019. However, today, I want discuss the Season Two premiere, “Globo”. The episode is unique, as it follows the lives of many people in New York City after a tragedy happens. You may ask yourself what kind of tragedy is it? And the show gives a clear message: it doesn’t actually matter. Dark discussions about how the world will never be the same are juxtaposed with fancy dining establishments and surrounded with raucous laughter. As a society, we say we are impacted by the events surrounding us, but as the actions of the characters exemplify that, at least from the outside, nothing really changes.

The genius of this “tragedy” is that you are given no clues. Is it a shooting? A natural disaster? Airplane gone missing? Another nuclear reactor hit by a tsunami? The show never says. It’s a commentary on how people want to feel more connected to tragedy, but by the end of the episode, you realize it’s human connection that people crave more. This realization at the end of the episode was shot beautifully, and needs to be seen to fully comprehend the simplicity.

There’s one other storyline in the episode that intrigues me. The Guy delivers to a hotel room whose occupants have been unaware of what is happening outside. It has the most genuine reactions and alludes to how a community can come together to cope. However, the show is fundamentally a comedy at heart. The resolution to their plot is laugh-out-loud hilarious, and one of the best moments in the series so far.

So while I recommend this particular episode, I also recommend “Grandpa” from Season One, and “Fagin” from Season Two. Although a small consistent plot line appears in Season Two, you can jump around from episode to episode without ever feeling like you’re missing much. So if you want great characters and stories told in a way that’s unlike anything else on television now, High Maintenance is the show for you.

Dennis’s Top 10 Episodes of 2018

1) High Maintenance, “Globo” (Season Two, Episode 1)

2) BoJack Horseman, “Free Churro” (Season Five, Episode 6)

3) The Good Place, “Somewhere Else” (Season Two, Episode 13)

4) Queer Eye, “You Can’t Fix Ugly” (Season One, Episode 1)

5) Love, “Catalina” (Season Three, Episode 12)

6) Orange is the New Black, “Be Free” (Season Six, Episode 13)

7) Santa Clarita Diet, “Halibut!” (Season Two, Episode 10)

8) Barry, “Chapter Seven: Loud, Fast, and Keep Going” (Season One, Episode 7)

9) Big Mouth, “Dark Side of the Boob” (Season Two, Episode 8)

10) Arrested Development, “Emotional Baggage” (Season Five, Episode 6)

Dennis hails from Indiana, but has lived abroad in Germany, the Netherlands, Indonesia, and Japan. He currently works in the international education field by helping students study abroad at a variety of locations around the world. His hobbies include sleeping, traveling, coffee, and not being on fire.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia – “Mac Finds His Pride”

(Season Thirteen, Episode 10)

By Sara Rust

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia easily had one of the best glow ups of 2018. A show that started their season with the presumed loss of a main character, evolved into a touching and meaningful finale that left audiences wanting more.

The usual antics of the idiot characters started the episode with Frank asking the newly outed Mac to represent Paddy’s Pub in the Gay Pride Parade. As expected, Frank didn’t understand why Mac would have an issue with this and proceeded to pressure him to come out to his dad, who’s in prison.

Fast-forward through some silly side stories and Mac is coming out to his abrasive father through a dance that illustrates how it feels to grapple with being gay and religious. While Mac’s father didn’t accept his son’s admission, Frank finally understood what Mac had been struggling with, leaving the door wide open for the next season to explore where Mac fits in.

Rob McElhenney trained for 7 months to be able to complete this dance and it shows. Not all of the storylines hit in It’s Always Sunny but one thing that can always be said about the cast is that they give it their all. No other show seems to take themselves so seriously while also being able to make fun of their whole existence so well. This episode showed how far they’ve all grown and is a must see for anyone who even remotely enjoys this type of show.

Sara’s Top 10 Episodes of 2018

1) Schitt’s Creek, “Open Mic” (Season Four, Episode 6)

2) The Good Place, “Don’t Let the Good Life Pass You By” (Season Three, Episode 9)

3) Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, “Nathaniel is Irrevelant” (Season Three, Episode 13)

4) Modern Family, “Good Grief” (Season Ten, Episode 5)

5) A Million Little Things, “Unexpected” (Season One, Episode 6)

6) Superstore, “Town Hall” (Season Three, Episode 22)

7) Riverdale, “Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Midnight Club” (Season Three, Episode 4)

8) Portlania, “No Thank You” (Season Eight, Episode 3)

9) New Girl, “Mario” (Season Seven, Episode 6)

10) Everything Sucks, “We Were Merely Freshman” (Season One, Episode 10)

Sara is a news reporter for CNN, a flight instructor with American Airlines, girlfriend to one of the Ryans and a perpetual liar. In real life she’s a comedian in Chicago and can be found performing every other Friday at The Crowd Theater with her sketch team, FiasCo. She doesn’t like broccoli. 

Killing Eve – “Nice Face”

(Season One, Episode 1)

By Katherine Lakin

“Nothing ever happens.  Now this woman is happening.”

Eve Polastri says that about three-fourths of the way into the pilot episode of Killing Eve.  It’s incredibly telling about her life.  She’s a woman who is bored.  Bored with her job, her husband, her life.  She wants more (like maybe a serial killer girlfriend?), and more importantly than that, she knows she can do more.  

Killing Eve is the story of a cop and a killer whose lives become increasingly entwined.  It’s far from the first show to operate under this premise (Luther and Hannibal come to mind).  However, despite how many similarities Killing Eve has to shows that have come before, it still manages to feel like something new.  

A large part of this is how very female it feels.  Not only are the leads both women, but the ways in which the men and women act feels so separate.  The men in Eve and Villanelle’s lives are determined to maintain the status quo.  Nico, for all that he clearly adores Eve, also seems to want her to change.  He wants normal, and safe, and he wants Eve to want those things as well.  Both Eve and Villanelle’s bosses also spend the majority of the pilot trying to get them to do things buy the book.  Everything about the ways our leads operate in the world feels feminine.  Villanelle stores her bright pink razors next to her guns and murders using poison hairpins.  Eve is underestimated and looked down on in her job. It isn’t until another woman gives her an opportunity outside of her male dominated career that she’s able to thrive.

The pilot does a lot to establish the ways in which Eve and Villanelle are similar.  They’re both passionate people who are slightly out of touch with what’s expected of them.  They both have men in their lives who serve as father figures.  Neither woman is willing to compromise what she wants to do in order to fit into the bounds her employer has made for her.

We see both Eve and Villanelle go against what their respective bosses request of them.  Eve conducts an illegal investigation (including illegally recording a witness), puts a minor in a dangerous situation, and fails to protect her charge.  She does all of this on a hunch, because she’s positive she knows more than those around her.  

Meanwhile Villanelle can’t seem to help but add flair onto her kills.  She wants her kills to represent her, regardless of what may be the smarter choice. 

We should want Eve to return to her normal life.  To go back to Nico, where it’s comfortable and safe.  But we can’t want that for her, because it’s not what she wants.  She wants out of her boring life, she wants something new, she wants to be celebrated for thinking outside the box (she wants a serial killer girlfriend).  In classic fashion, she’s soon to get everything she wants, though it may not be what she imagined.  

Katherine’s Top 10 Episodes of 2018

1) The Good Place, “Janet(s)” (Season Three, Episode 10)

2) Killing Eve, “Nice Face” (Season One, Episode 1)

3) The Haunting of Hill House, “Two Storms” (Season One, Episode 6)

4) Sharp Objects, “Fix” (Season One, Episode 3)

5) Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger, “First Light” (Season One, Episode 1)

6) Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., “The Real Deal” (Season Five, Episode 12)

7) Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “Jake & Amy” (Season Five, Episode 22)

8) Lovesick, “Evie” (Season Three, Episode 4)

9) A Series of Unfortunate Events, “Carnivorous Carnival: Part 2” (Season Two, Episode 10)

10) Anne with an E, “Memory Has as Many Moods as The Temper” (Season Two, Episode 7)

Katherine is a 27-year old nerd who plays an unhealthy amount of Destiny 2 and watches too many horror movies. She loves long walks on the beach, chocolate labs, and whiskey. She hates olives and the patriarchy. 

Legion – “Chapter 13”

(Season Two, Episode 5)

By Alan Gordon

I’ve never been one for horror. Blame an early traumatizing experience with a dark, funhouse, monster ride in Asbury Park when I was five or six [long story]. I also think the genre’s been corrupted by slasher movies, which are uninteresting and rely too much on gore and splatter, as opposed to genuine plotted terror. Horror to me is not about the fear of violent death, but something more fundamental: The creeping dread of evil happening to the ones you love.

Season One of Legion blew my mind. Season Two continued to do so, albeit hampered by some things that were merely odd [like the guy in the odd hamper]. But the return of Lenny, played by the inimitable and unpredictable Aubrey Plaza, provided mystery, suspense — and ultimately horror. 

Lenny was David’s sidekick when he was out on the streets, a drug-addicted hustler and enabler. She apparently ends up in the asylum with him in “Chapter 1”, and ends up plastered in a wall by — well, whodunnit is ambiguous. She becomes one of the more sardonic embodiments of the Shadow King, a symbiotic, psychic, evil IS THIS MAKING ANY SENSE WHATSOEVER? SCREW SUMMARIZATION, WATCH THE DAMN SHOW!

The point is, Lemmy is dead, or her body is dead, and when she is not terrorizing David and company, especially when they end up in the astral plane, or whatever NOT MAKING SENSE AGAIN! And yet, after complaining to the Shadow King, she is brought back to life in a new body.

Only it isn’t so new. Where it’s from, who it was, how it was obtained — all of these are revealed to David as he interrogates his friend [former lover?], and I felt the agony of the answers right along with him, serious, wrenching, gut-level pain. All hail to the writers, to Dan Stevens as David, and the miracle that is Plaza. You never know where the story is going, and then Plaza shoots off into some other dimension from where you were. I’m waiting for Season Three with [SAY IT!] anticipation. And dread.

Alan’s Top 10 Episodes of 2018

1) Legion, “Chapter 13” (Season Two, Episode 5)

2) Legion, “Chapter 14” (Season Two, Episode 6)

3) Doctor Who, “Kerblam!” (Season Eleven, Episode 7)

4) Sense8, “Amor Vincit Omnia” (Season Two, Episode 12)

Just as well they wrapped it in a two hour episode instead of an entire season. High point: The Trojan Horse tour bus.

5) The Expanse, “Abaddon’s Gate” (Season Three, Episode 13)

“I need a ride” is one of the greatest punchlines in history.

6) The Expanse, “Immolation” (Season Three, Episode 6)

7) The Magicians, “All About Josh” (Season Three, Episode 9)

The singing episode has become a cliché, but this one had wit and purpose.

8) Killing Eve, “Sorry, Baby” (Season One, Episode 4)

9) Marvel’s Daredevil, “The Devil You Know” (Season Three, Episode 6)

Vincent D’Onofrio as Fisk/Kingpin gave a great performance by watching and listening.

10) Rise, “Bring Me Stanton” (Season One, Episode 6)

This series could have been great if the writing had guts. This episode did.  Auli’i Cravalho and Amy Forsythe were revelations. A driven high school teacher mounts a production of Spring Awakening in a depressed former steeltown. In this episode, the students are asked to collect items from the town to make up the set. Each one told a story.

Alan Gordon is a novelist/librettist/lyricist/story-teller/lawyer and Man About Town, but not your town. He apparently needs to watch more television. www.alan-gordon.com.

Narcos: Mexico – “881 Lope de Vega”

(Season One, Episode 9)

By Nick Hussong

“881 Lope de Vega” is penultimate episode of the first season of Narcos: Mexico. It is not the best episode of the season, but it is the most important episode for reasons that have nothing to do with the traditional metrics of television shows (directing, acting, writing, editing, etc.). Narcos: Mexico may be the most depressingly hopeless show that has ever aired. The good guys are not going to win. You know from the beginning, nay before the beginning that the good guys are not going to win. This is a show about the War on Drugs. There are no good guys. Nobody wins; one side just loses more slowly. In capturing that theme, “881 Lope de Vega” is perfect.

The DEA protagonist of this season is Enrique “Kiki” Camarena (Michael Pena). Viewers of the previous seasons of Narcos, and anyone even tangentially familiar with the history of the US War on Drugs, came into this season knowing Kiki’s fate. He was kidnapped off the streets of Guadalajara by the Sinaloa Cartel, brutally tortured for two straight days, and killed. His body was found in rural Mexico more than one month later. Even if you didn’t watch the previous seasons of Narcos, know nothing about the War on Drugs, and somehow completely avoid Wikipedia as you watch the show, the opening of the season is a call-forward to Kiki being abducted and taken to a torture chamber. Narcos: Mexico is not trying to surprise you. Which is not to say that it will not shock you.

The previous episode ended with Kiki’s abduction. From the DEA’s side, the story of “881 Lope de Vega” is about the DEA frantically trying to find Kiki and being foiled by the corrupt Mexican bureaucracy they had clashed with the entire season. But we already know that they will fail to save Kiki. The War on Drugs: a lot of effort undertaken by dedicated people against seemingly insurmountable odds that do, in fact, turn out to be insurmountable. From the side of the Sinaloa Cartel, the story of “881 Lope de Vega” is the empire they had built beginning to unravel. It is also the death of the drug trafficking protagonist, Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo (Diego Luna), as a sympathetic character. I suspect that the only reason Felix ever seemed sympathetic in the first place is that Diego Luna is adorable and it is hard to stay mad at him. Because Felix was a horrific person who sowed violence and misery internationally for over a decade. “881 Lope de Vega” sees Felix make his final betrayal. Having cast aside his wife in the previous episode, Felix now turns on Rafael Caro Quintero (Tenoch Huerta), the man he had once loved like a brother and whose genius at marijuana-growing had allowed Felix to build his empire in the first place.

Those twin elements of the futility of fighting the War on Drugs and the all-corrupting power becoming a drug kingpin certainly help build the depressing thematic framework of “881 Lope de Vega,” but they do not make it perfect. What makes it perfect is a meta-element that I do not believe the creators intended when filming the episode. What makes this episode a perfect encapsulation of Narcos: Mexico’s message is this: while torturing Kiki, his interrogators are asking him what he knows about specific members of the Mexican government and the names are bleeped. I believe that means that when filming the episode, the actor said the real names, but at some point along the way it was decided that they could not actually use the names. Because those men are still important enough in Mexican politics that Netflix would not risk including their names.

There are no good guys. Nobody wins. Nothing changes. And along the way a lot of people are killed or traumatized. This is the story of Narcos: Mexico. This is the story of the War on Drugs.

Nick’s Top 5ish Episodes of 2018

1) The Good Place, “Jeremy Bearimy” (Season Three, Episode 5)

2) The Good Place, “Jeremy Bearimy” (Season Three, Episode 5

3) The Good Place, “The Worst Possible Use of Free Will” (Season Three, Episode 8)

4) The Good Place, “Janet(s)” (Season Three, Episode 10)

5) Just watch The Good Place already.

Nick Hussong is a modern urbanite. You can find him out and about in Chicago. If you happen upon him, he’d love to tell you why capitalism is bad.

Queer Eye – “You Can’t Fix Ugly”

(Season One, Episode 1)

By Tara Olivero

Here’s the thing. When the original Queer Eye debuted on Bravo in 2003, even if my home had gotten Bravo, I was still twelve years old and spent my daily allotment of cardboard “tv tokens” on shitty Nickelodeon cartoons. So I have no skin in the game when it comes to comparing Netflix’s new reboot with the original. What I CAN attest to, however, is the pure goodness (and by that I mean the lightness, honesty, integrity, wholesomeness, choose-your-synonym here) of the new Queer Eye.

It is a level of wholesomeness, in fact, that may have saved 2018, or at least did its best to resuscitate it.

I struggled to choose between writing about the first episode of Season One, which introduces the Fab Five, and the first episode of Season Two, in which they make over their first woman, Mama Tammye, in a Georgia town literally called “Gay.” In the end, I had to go with 1.01, because of how well it introduces what I see as the main takeaways of the show: offering ways for not just the makeover-ee to improve their life, but easy ways for the audience to improve theirs too – as well as emphasizing the person-to-person connections the Fab Five will be making with each other and with their charges throughout the season.

The new Fab Five are first introduced, giving Netflix’s viewing audience a taste of the glorious season to come. “The original show was fighting for tolerance. Our fight is for acceptance,” says Tan as they navigate the streets of Atlanta in slow-motion, crossing an appropriately-themed rainbow crosswalk with techno music slowly building in the background. Their first assignment is a 57-year-old divorcee named Tom, an admirer of old cars who clearly hopes to spruce up in order to impress his ex-wife Abby, with whom he remains on friendly terms. Tom, red-faced with a scraggly beard, instantly comes across as someone with a complete lack of confidence, putting himself down at every turn – but from the moment the Fab Five burst into his apartment, a whirlwind of promise floods through his doors.

This episode’s endearing heart comes to the surface as the five men unceremoniously insert themselves into Tom’s life in every possible way. They start pawing through his bathroom cabinets, Karamo and Tan immediately putting on clothes from the piles in his closet, Antoni sniffing his grimy recliner with a sense of awestruck disgust. While bonding over his atrocious “redneck margaritas,” they encourage him to stop saying that “you can’t fix ugly.” And the way the shots of the Fab Five bonding with Tom are masterfully cut with their interviews back at their Atlanta loft make the episode both real and reflective.

They teach him, and us, that it’s okay to care about yourself and feel confident. They don’t try to make him a new person, but they give him possibilities of living a healthier, more confident, slightly more sophisticated lifestyle – and help take him a step up from where he started. He had a nasty old recliner? Bobby remakes his apartment and gives him two, one for him and one for a “lady-friend.” He likes covering his face with hats? Tan gives him a hat that’s more stylish and opens up his features. They consider Tom’s budget when it comes to shopping and keep him within the comforts of his own prior experience. Tom really has no discernable culinary abilities? Antoni teaches him an appetizer recipe with literally two ingredients. Poke fun at Antoni’s supposed avocado obsession all you want, but avocados are easy to handle, and that’s really all Tom is ready for at this point in time, okay?? And later, Tom’s pride shines through when he shares his homemade guacamole with Abby, shyly declaring, “Antoni taught me to make this.” How can your heart NOT grow ten sizes after watching this episode? Tell me how.

Finally, what truly makes this episode sparkle is the introduction of Jonathan Van Ness, an honest-to-God national treasure. Watching his first, fearless makeover process is the gift that keeps on giving as he holds nothing back and constantly showers Tom with authentic compliments. Tom, bashful and affectionate, calls Jonathan “crazy” at least twice in the episode – and that just goes to show how rarely Tom receives positive attention from others, and how unfamiliar to him Jonathan’s brash honesty seems. But after Jonathan’s time with Tom, you can see his eyes shine with the wattage of a thousand light bulbs. Something as simple as cutting his hair and his beard brought so much joy to this man! I’m heart-eyes every time.

When Tom and the Fab Five part ways and Tom struggles to express what the experience has meant to him, Karamo says unabashedly, “We have fallen in love with you.” And the reality of their fast friendship and mentorship over the past few days together brings Tom to tears. He apologizes, but the Fab Five encourage him to let himself cry. Breaking down toxic masculinity?? Encouraging being genuinely in touch with your emotions?? Can you BELIEVE??

Tara’s Top 10 Episodes of 2018

1) Queer Eye, “You Can’t Fix Ugly” (Season One, Episode 1)

2) Queer Eye, “God Bless Gay” (Season Two, Episode 1)

3) Bojack Horseman, “Free Churro” (Season Five, Episode 6)

4) Westworld, “Akane no Mai” (Season Two, Episode 5)

5) The Good Place, “The Brainy Bunch” (Season Three, Episode 2)

6) Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, “Nathaniel is Irrelevant” (Season Three, Episode 13)

7) Survivor, “You Get What You Give” (Season Thirty-Seven, Episode 8)

8) The Good Place, “Janet(s)” (Season Three, Episode 9)

9) Doctor Who, “Rosa” (Season Eleven, Episode 3)

10) Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, “I’m Not the Person I Used to Be” (Season Four, Episode 8)

Tara Olivero is an English teacher and Shakespeare addict from Fort Wayne, Indiana. It’s impossible for her to choose a favorite member of the Fab Five, but she identifies on an emotional level with Antoni’s love of corgis. Feel free to follow her on twitter @taraolivero.

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat – “Salt”

(Season One, Episode 2)

By J.C. Pankratz

At the heart of the lovely, meditative Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat is an inquiry into one of life’s most basic questions: why does food taste good? In the second episode of the four-part Netflix series, Samin Nosrat guides us through one of the world’s most common culinary traditions by bouncing back and forth between Japan and her sunny, warm California kitchen. The show is a lithe balance between fascination (awe, for instance, at how Japan makes over 4,000 different kinds of salt and have learned to cook “with every part of the sea”) and the nuance of empowering anyone who watches. Nosrat’s philosophy isn’t about making sure you only buy food from farmer’s markets or learn fancy knife skills. It’s about the common things that unite good cooking, because you should enjoy what you put in your mouth. It’s salt that makes that happen, and it’s that simple. 

So how do you make salt? Through constant, hard work, and everyday artistry. Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, in this episode more than any other, guides us to look over our shoulder and consider not only the taste of salt, but the why of its taste and the where of its home. (Also, no one is immune to Nosrat’s spunky, unfettered enthusiasm and charm. It seems that everyone who meets her falls instantly in love–and who can blame them? Her tutelage is instantly compelling, and her kitchen seems to be the nicest place in the world.) 

J.C.’s Top 10 Episodes of 2018

1) Killing Eve, “Nice Face” (Season One, Episode 1)

2) American Vandal, “The Brown Out” (Season Two, Episode 1)

3) Queer Eye, “To Gay or Not Too Gay” (Season One, Episode 4)

4) Queer Eye, “A Decent Proposal” (Season Two, Episode 2)

5) The Great British Bake-Off, “Pastry Week” (Season Nine, Episode 6)

6) GLOW, “Nothing Shattered” (Season Two, Episode 7)

7) Sharp Objects, “Cherry” (Season One, Episode 6)

8) BoJack Horseman, “Free Churro” (Season Five, Episode 6)

9) American Vandal, “Shit Talk” (Season Two, Episode 4)

10) Chef’s Table, “Christina Tosi” (Season Four, Episode 1)

J.C. “Jiminy Cricket” Pankratz lives in Boston with two cats named Goose and Fridge. You can read their plays at New Play Exchange or listen to more of their opinions on The Immortals podcast.

Steven Universe – “The Question”

(Season Five, Episode 21)

By Rachael Clark

To put it simply, Steven Universe is cartoon show about a young boy by the same name who lives with three magical crystal gems. Steven himself is half human/half gem and they all use their powers to help save the world from being taken over by evil gems. It is strange premise and concept, one I would have never given a second thought to without the encouragement from friends, but over the past three years this has been one of my favorite shows to watch. It is a children’s show, but they do not hold back on tough topics like loss and domestic abuse, especially when each episode is about 11 minutes long.

The episode I’m diving into this year is one of my favorites called, “The Question.” One of the crystal gems is Garnet. Garnet is actually a fusion, which is what happens when two gems literally fuse together to become one gem, usually becoming bigger and more powerful than their usual self. Gems typically only fuse together for a fight. Once the fight is over, they unfuse and become their own self again. This is where Garnet is different. Garnet has stayed fused for hundreds of years. When Garnet unfuses she is Sapphire and Ruby.  Throughout the shows five seasons they have unfused only a handful of times, it is a rare occasion. Sapphire and Ruby prefer to be fused together as Garnet than to be apart.

During a previous episode, something shocking happens and Garnet unfuses into Sapphire and Ruby. Sapphire usually the calm, cool, and collected of the two is completely enraged to put it mildly. Without giving too much away she yells at Ruby, “She lied about everything! She lied to us and told us to never question who we are as Garnet. We never questioned ourselves.” Ruby who is usually hot tempered is the one trying to calm down Sapphire, “If we could just stay calm and talk about this.” Sapphire’s response, “Talk about what, how our relationship is based on a lie?”

Now we get to the actual episode, “The Question”. Ruby has run away and Steven goes in search of her, thinking she is heartbroken. But when he finds her, Ruby seems fine, in fact, she seems happy. She is hanging out with Steven’s dad, Greg, eating pizza and reading comics. She has come to the conclusion that Sapphire was right about everything, this is the first time she is thinking about only her. Before Sapphire and her were together she was with a herd of other Rubys and always checking in on someone. Now she is on her own for the first time and loves it. Ruby wants to be one with the wilderness and refers to one of the comics called Lonesome Lasso. That’s where she wants to go, the open range.

With Greg’s van they drive her out to the open range fully decked out in a cowboy outfit with hat, buckle, and boots. She addresses the comic to make sure she is doing this adventure correctly, using a southern twang, which is hilarious. Ruby soon realizes she doesn’t have a trustee steed to be with her out on the range. But fear not, our other gem Amethyst is there to help. Amethyst is a gem that can transform into practically anything she sets her mind to, so she turns into a horse for Ruby. Now Ruby can start her adventure. “I already am lost. That’s why I came out here, to find myself.” She is really getting into character. Now we get into the montage scene with an original country song of course. (If you are not familiar with Steven Universe, they have many episodes where their main characters will sing an original in the show, it’s one of the reasons this show is amazing.) Ruby sings the “Ruby Rider” song, while we see her attempt to lasso a bull, wrangle a snake, and start a campfire. The song ends with her singing the song with a guitar at the campfire while the rest of the gang listens.

While everyone is sleeping, Steven is awake and sees that Ruby is awake as well. He is happy that Ruby is happy. Without a pause she blurts out, “It’s not true!” She did love the day, but she kept thinking about how much more fun she would have if Sapphire were there with her. She came out here to be her own gem, but she still can’t stop thinking about Sapphire. She ends her confession on a powerful note, “I don’t want to go back to how things used to be back when someone else told us to be together, I want it to feel different.” Steven has an idea and shows her a page from Lonesome Lasso, but we don’t get to see what it is.

Next scene we see Sapphire sulking with Pearl (the other gem who stayed behind) trying to comfort her at the beach house. Steven comes inside and tells Sapphire that Ruby has something to say to her. Sapphire goes outside quickly to find Ruby. With dramatic banjo music playing in the background, there is Ruby on horseback during sunset, hat covering her eyes and straw sticking out of her mouth. Sapphire runs to her and starts apologizing for everything she said while Ruby just listens on her steed. After Sapphire finishes apologizing, Ruby flips off the horse in classic Ruby fashion. Once she lands, she pats the horse away, and slowly starts walking to Sapphire while saying, “Someone else told us we were the answer, but I don’t believe that anymore…Not until I hear it from you.” Ruby has now approached Sapphire and then gets down on one knee, “Will you marry me? This way we can be together even when we are apart and being Garnet will be our decision.” One of Sapphire’s talents is that she can see the future, but from the look on her face, she did not see this coming. She responds with a resounding, “Of course!”

This is one of the sweetest episodes from Steven Universe and I am a sucker for more Sapphire and Ruby storylines. Even though I love their fusion as Garnet, I really enjoy seeing Ruby and Sapphire flirt and banter with one another when they are apart. You can truly see how much they care for each other. As the audience, you knew going into this episode that they would find a way back to each other because you knew they had already fallen in love and fused together before it was anybody’s idea that they stay that way. They just needed a reminder on how much they care for each other on their own. I’ll just quickly end this by saying it was really nice to see two ladies get engaged on a cartoon show for kids and I wouldn’t mind seeing more of it.

Rachael’s Top 10 Episodes of 2018

1) The Good Place, “Janet(s)” (Season Three, Episode 10)

2) Killing Eve, “Sorry, Baby” (Season One, Episode 4)

3) Steven Universe, “A Single Pale Rose” (Season Five, Episode 18)

4) The Good Place, “Jeremy Bearimy” (Season Three, Episode 5)

5) The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, “Midnight at the Concord” (Season Two, Episode 5)

6) One Day at a Time, “Hello, Penelope” (Season Two, Episode 9)

7) Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “The Box” (Season Five, Episode 14)

8) Steven Universe, “The Question” (Season Five, Episode 21)

9) Drunk History, “Heroines” (Season Five, Episode 1)

10) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, “Sexual Workplace Harassment” (Season Five, Episode 18)

Rachael is a retail store manager whose love for coffee knows no bounds. She enjoys running, trivia, and binge watching television. Every year she does this crazy TV article she realizes that she only watches comedies and never dramas (aside from Game of Thrones of course) and should probably broaden her TV viewing scope.

Succession – “Nobody is Ever Missing”

(Season One, Episode 10)

By Sarah Staudt

This review contains spoilers for the finale of Succession.

The Roys are the bad guys. Succession is a show about the bad guys. And the bad guys are really, really dumb. And really really pathetic. And really, really dangerous.  I’ve been watching a lot of early Game of Thrones recently, and Succession is answer to what Game of Thrones would look like in the real world – a bunch of rich people battling over unimaginable amounts of money and corporate power, working out their childhood traumas by playing around with billions of dollars of shareholder money and the lives of everyone their company comes in contact with. As Varys says: It’s “always the innocents who suffer most, when you high lords play your game of thrones”.

In the debut season of Succession, we follow the Roys, a sometimes humorous, sometimes dramatic mess of a family that is part The Trumps, part The Murdochs, and part The Rockefellers. Their patriarch, Logan, faces increasingly bad health after a stroke while his four adult children circle around him like hyenas, forced to suddenly fully confront what it means to be the ruling generation of their father’s billion-dollar media empire. For his part, Logan believes all four of them to be basically unfit to rule and seems to instead intend to simply live forever. And in terms of his assessments of his children’s competence, he’s probably basically correct.

His oldest son Connor is playing house with a prostitute he has paid to pretend to be his girlfriend and, hilariously, spends the finale pitching a possible presidential bid build solely on the idea that because he is rich, he is qualified. Logan’s second son, Kendall, who considers himself the heir apparent, is a recently recovered drug-addict unable to successfully overthrow his father even when Logan is at his weakest. The third son, Roman is a Gatsby-esque playboy who barely takes himself seriously, let alone could get anyone else to take him seriously. And Siobhan “Shiv” Roy is running from the family name as fast as she can, campaigning for Democratic presidential candidates. Incidentally, one of the best jokes in the series a joke that is never made – no character ever asks why on earth Siobhan’s childhood nickname is the name of a prison weapon It just seems like an obvious choice for this family.

The pacing of Succession’s first season is maddeningly realistic. Business and life don’t move in an inexorable march of dramatic rises towards a dramatic finale – it proceeds in lulls punctuated by surprises and crises. The show tends to go 20 minutes with dry, Veep-style satire of the hyper rich – until suddenly, one of them stages a business takeover, has a mental health breakdown, discovers a horrifying company-wide skeleton in the closet, or, well, (spoilers) kills someone. But through it all, the Roys are these dispassionate, calculating players in the corporate Game of Thrones. Not a one of them seems to really care who ends up with the company or what happens to it – so long as they continue to hold the power.

The problem is that that power is real and is constantly destroying lives on the edges of the Roys vision. In the finale, the whole family is in the middle of this “Game”, and ends up hurting real people, close and far. And yet even in the most extreme cases, the rich stay blind. Succession is not a preachy show. It doesn’t spend time lingering its camera over the crying eyes of homeless orphans that the Roys have stolen teddy bears from. But it is exactly because we view the harm these people cause through their own eyes, and their own callousness, is why it is so effective and disconcerting.            

In the last episode, framed by a lavish wedding at a castle, all three main Roy kids destroy some lives while having some fun, toasting their sister, and plotting corporate takeover. First, in one of the funniest darkly comedic plots I’ve seen in a while, Roman watches a livestream on his phone of a project of his literally exploding in flames and likely killing dozens of people. Luckily, everyone lives! People just lost a leg and some thumbs! Roman goes back to his happy celebration, knowing he will be a couple million poorer in pain and suffering damages, but his business will be unaffected. Kendall is in the most dramatic storyline of the episode, and, in an allusion to a truly disturbing number of scions of rich families who have killed passengers in their cars while high on drugs, accidentally causes the death of a young waiter. The matter is resolved for Kendall almost as quickly as it happens. Logan wraps it right back in to the Game of Thrones, saves his kid’s reputation, and secures his company in the meantime. Both of these storylines really allow Succession to make its point about the particular kind of evil done by the American corporate aristocracy.

But it is Shiv and Tom’s own story that is the most tragic to me. Tom is mostly comic relief throughout the season, while Shiv is the most interesting of the Roy children, trying to break away from her family’s cynical values and actually use her considerable education and skills to get a progressive president elected. But when Tom really leans in, really shows that he’s a normal guy, who truly loves his wife, and wants a normal, happy marriage with a normal person…Shiv gets cold feet. And when she does, heartbreakingly, she closes down any semblance of a heart that she’s tried to develop and breaks her husband’s heart. The episode’s most lauded line – Shiv declaring “I’m Shiv Fucking Roy” – is filmed as a moment of badass female empowerment but is really a great defeat. If there’s one thing we really don’t want Shiv to be, it’s a Roy. And yet the world of no consequences, no feelings, and always getting what you want pulls her in just as it does her siblings. The Roys may be rich, but they are really, really, unhappy, and watching Shiv choose that path is not empowerment – it’s giving up.

The finale of Succession definitely leaves me waiting expectantly for a second season, when the fallout from these decisions can be examined. But for the Roys, that fallout will never be what it should be. They are shielded from the consequences of their actions and will likely continue to barrel through life bickering and out-maneuvering each other, while the smallfolk die on the sidelines of their petty little wars.

Sarah’s Top 10 Episodes of 2018

1) The Good Place, “Janet(s)” (Season Three, Episode 10)

2) Westworld, “Kiksuya” (Season Two, Episode 8)

3) New Girl, “Engram Pattersky” (Season Seven, Episode 8)

4) Corporate, “Powerpoint of Death” (Season One, Episode 2)

5) Sharp Objects, “Cherry” (Season One, Episode 6)

6) Succession, “Nobody is Ever Missing” (Season One, Episode 10)

7) Succession, “Prague” (Season One, Episode 8)

8) The Good Place, “Don’t Let the Good Life Pass You By” (Season Three, Episode 9)

9) Westworld, “Vanishing Point” (Season Two, Episode 9)

10) It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, “Mac Finds His Pride” (Season Thirteen, Episode 10)

Sarah is a lawyer in Chicago. She enjoys short walks, long naps, and binge rewatching Game of Thrones while doing Game of Thrones quizzes on Sporcle. She also does other stuff like playing Tabletop RPGs, reading books sometimes, and trying to stop her cat from killing her dog. You can also hear her on the podcasts Ad Absurdum and The Immortals.

WWE Monday Night Raw – “WWE Raw 25 Years”

(Season Twenty-Six, Episode 20)

By Jason James

I:

“RAW 25” begins with a blaring siren and a camera shot from a top-row seat in the intimate but raucous Manhattan Center on West 34th Street in Midtown, New York City. The camera is overlooking a wrestling ring with a baby-blue canvas and red-white-and-blue ropes. It’s a close imitation of Monday Night Raw’s first episode in January 1993 which was also made in the Manhattan Center and shown live on USA Network.

Of course it’s not identical. Vince McMahon, Macho Man Randy Savage, and a local comedian hosted the first episode of Monday Night Raw. Savage (the “Macho Man”) died in 2011 from a heart attack and the comedian, who never lasted that long on Raw anyway, is unsurprisingly also absent. But why isn’t Vince there?  In 1993, Vince had the on-screen role of play-by-play commentator and–off-screen–he’s the owner and primary creative driver for WWE programming.

Things have also changed for Vince and his company in the intervening 25 years. We cut across the East River to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. It often hosts pro basketball and pro hockey. Tonight, WWE is running a show out of the arena. Over the course of “RAW 25”’s three hours, the main segments occur in Brooklyn, while occasional smaller segments take place in Manhattan.  Vince is rooted in the present and therefore tonight is in Brooklyn. On-screen, Vince isn’t a play-by-play commentator anymore; he now has the role of the WWE Chairman and a usually malevolent billionaire. Off-screen, Vince is WWE’s majority shareholder, the chairman of WWE’s board of directors, and an ethically ambiguous (at best) billionaire.

He’s there to celebrate Monday Night Raw’s 25th anniversary. Raw’s commentators reiterate to the television audience that the show is the “longest running weekly episodic television show in history.” For 25 years, Raw has aired 52 weeks a year. The show now lasts for three hours. And almost without exception, Vince sits just behind the curtain managing the evening’s entertainment.

He’s usually present to manage the rest of WWE’s content, too. That includes WWE’s Tuesday night show WWE Smackdown that also airs live on USA Network and pay-per-view events like Wrestlemania, which happen about once a month. There are two weekly syndicated wrestling shows, two weekly wrestling shows for WWE’s streaming service, and several additional untaped shows just for the benefit of the live audience.

And by most objective measures things are better than ever for Monday Night Raw. WWE’s stock has more than quadrupled from two years ago. WWE signed new contracts for Raw and Smackdown that are collectively 3.5 times as lucrative as before. Under the new contract, Smackdown will move from Tuesdays on USA to Fridays on FOX: a massive upgrade both for mainstream appeal and for money in Vince’s pocket. And WWE notoriously signed a deal with Saudi Arabia to perform there a couple of times a year for a fee that’s estimated to approach half a billion dollars.

If two wealthy media organizations and a totalitarian monarchy see tremendous value in WWE, then why was most of “RAW 25”–and almost all of Raw in 2018–such a tremendous bore? Raw this year had been tedious to watch, even in the abbreviated commercial-free form that’s available the subsequent day on streaming. Storylines are picked up, dropped, and reshuffled without regard for consistent viewership. The show is simply a mess. How can a successful company be screwing it up so badly?

II:

There are three major reasons, all prominently displayed on “RAW 25.”

In WWE, there are no stars. At least, there are no stars in WWE that regularly appear on Raw. The core of all narrative conflict in the entire world of professional wrestling is clear and simple: be the best, be the champion. When Vince writes a character into winning a championship, it signals that this character (and also the performer playing the character) has done something star-worthy.  That wrestler is on top and the center of the storyline.

The most important championship, however, didn’t appear on “RAW 25.” For most of 2018, a wrestler named Brock Lesnar has held that belt, the “Universal Championship.” Lesnar’s appeal is in his legitimacy. He’s fought and won legitimate competitions in mixed martial arts, and that ability lends verisimilitude to his WWE character. His reputation also allows him to set his own schedule. He appears on Raw about once a month, and wrestles less often than that.

Lesnar’s real-world toughness and fighting ability appeals to networks like Fox that hope to market WWE like a sport. But though this approach makes WWE richer, the show becomes poorer. When the central purpose for most of the characters is off-screen for three-quarters of the time, the show cannot help but to become aimless as well. If no regular performer can realistically win a major championship, then no performer is a star.

Raw’s penchant for part-time performers is not limited only to Lesnar. Similarly, Raw is overly reliant on nostalgia for older WWE performers. The Undertaker’s appearance on “RAW 25” is an example. He’s wrestled in WWE for almost three decades and rightly hailed as one of the greatest ever. He appeared before the Manhattan Center audience–as he did on the first Raw in 1993. On the first Raw in 1993, he defeated a no-name local talent in two minutes, 26 seconds. On “RAW 25,” he gave a nonsensical speech that left the crowd confused.

If nostalgia were limited to rare anniversary-marking occasions, it would be enjoyable. (Many of “RAW 25’s” nostalgia scenes were great.) But nostalgia has taken over large chunks of the show. Part of this can be directly attributed to WWE’s contract with Saudi Arabia. The Saudi sports organization reportedly asked for wrestlers who peaked about 25 years ago and several who are dead.

But this ultimately must be attributed to Vince as well. Instead of centering the show’s storylines around regular performers, Raw cashes in on easy nostalgia appeal time after time. On WWE’s biggest show, Wrestlemania, a solid half of the time is typically devoted to older performers that are rarely on Raw in order to generate appeal. Core performers are not permitted to shine on the largest stage.

The show’s energy and emphasis are squandered on performers that appear irregularly, but there are still endless hours of wrestling that Vince has to fill. Lacking a focus, a typical three-hour Raw is difficult to sit through. But there are still moments that make it worth being a pro wrestling fan.

III:

With all of Raw’s failings, what makes WWE worthwhile?

With nearly 24 hours of airtime to fill on some weeks (without exaggeration), WWE needs to employ a vast constellation of performers to be on-screen at the times Brock Lesnar and the Undertaker would prefer to sit around at home. And a tremendous proportion of WWE’s performers are spectacularly talented. When WWE programming, including Raw, focuses on that, it’s very compelling.

Ironically, it’s WWE’s developmental system that highlights the best of what pro wrestling can be. In NXT–the Wednesday night show made for WWE’s streaming service, newly trained wrestlers and wrestlers newly hired from other companies perform. The show only lasts one hour a week, guaranteeing that it does not wear out its welcome. The episodes are filmed four at-a-time, ensuring some level of narrative cohesion; NXT appears to have a narrative goal in mind at the beginning of each filming cycle. And the show is made in Orlando, far away from Vince’s capability to micromanage it. Because NXT is scaled down, focused, and unencumbered by the burden of selling billions of dollars of television airing rights, it’s far superior to Raw.

And finally, the women wrestlers on WWE are often more enjoyable to watch than the men. In what may come as a shock to anyone who hasn’t watched WWE in the past year or two, the presentation of women in the WWE has made serious progress since their exerable status in the very recent past. In many aspects (though certainly not all aspects), WWE presents their women performers as equals to the men. This has been a tremendous boon to WWE programming.  Not only are the women extremely talented, but their segments lack the unevenness of men’s segments. There are no true part-time women’s wrestlers and nostalgia spots are kept to a minimum. Though WWE’s treatment of its women characters is emphatically imperfect, it’s still a very bright spot.

IV:

So, last words on “RAW 25”? Making a cheap buck off of unsustainable reminisces for the past while its emotional core is nowhere to be found. The same could be said for Raw as a whole in 2018. But if WWE and Vince find reason to focus and follow lessons being shown within its own company, the litany of talent could yet shine. One can hope.

Jason’s Top 10 Episodes of 2018

1) My Hero Academia, “Deku vs. Kacchan, Part 2” (Season Three, Episode 23)

2) The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, “Simone” (Season Two, Episode 1)

3) Independent Lens, “The Cleaners” (Season Twenty, Episode 3)

4) Ugly Delicious, “Homecooking” (Season One, Episode 3)

5) Star Trek: Discovery, “The War Without, The War Within” (Season One, Episode 14)

6) Nature, “The World’s Most Wanted Animal” (Season Thirty-Six, Episode 16)

7) GLOW, “The Good Twin” (Season Two, Episode 8)

8) Aggretsuko, “Exposed” (Season One, Episode 5)

9) Mystery Science Theatre 3000, “Mac and Me” (Season Twelve, Episode 1)

10) Devilman Crybaby, “One Hand is Enough” (Season One, Episode 2)

Jason James’ earliest memory of professional wrestling is asking his dad to jury-rig the cable box in order to watch Summerslam 1993 free of charge. He loves his cat, travelling Japan, and board games. He is a lawyer living in Logan Square, Chicago.

The X-Files – “Rm9sbG93ZXJz”

(Season Eleven, Episode 7)

By Daron McGrady

I’m going to preface this with I am actually a pretty big X-Files fan. I don’t know every episode by name and all but I have seen the older episodes many, many times. That said, I sort of stopped watching after an anti-climactic Season Ten. After looking forward to it for so long it was disappointing that the only episode I really loved was the were-monster one. So the reality of the situation is that this is the only episode of Season Eleven that I have seen.

The seemingly gibberish title, “Rm9sbG93ZXJz”, actually means “Followers” in Base64 code and the tagline, “VGhlIFRydXRoIGlzIE91dCBUaGVyZQ=”, translates of course to “The Truth is Out There” which was an awesome thing to do. The theme of this episode is technology gone wrong. There are plenty of real life examples of how technology falls short of what it should be, including things like bias in code and facial recognition software that consistently fails to recognize people of color. The real life example that the show uses to open this episode is how Microsoft created a chat bot named Tay to learn more about AI and machine learning that ended up becoming horrifically offensive after learning from fellow Twitter users. Tay was only online for about 16 hours before it had to be shut down.

After the beloved intro, we see Mulder and Scully sitting together at a restaurant that is otherwise empty. It’s a completely automated sushi restaurant called FOROWA which translates to follower in Japanese. The tablet in front of them dings and then, wordlessly, they both order from the menu on the screen. Then they both start looking at their phones while they wait. We see Scully prove that she is a human by selecting the pictures with men wearing glasses. Then the reservation app wants her to review the restaurant, maybe take a picture. Then the restaurant sends her a follow request on Facebook. We see how annoying technology can really be. Maybe it was easier to make the reservation on an app but is it worth it if the app is going to pester you about it? Not to mention some third party now has data about you and the more you use it, the more they know about you. Scully looks around a little apprehensively but then the tablet dings and their food is ready.

Scully’s plate is automatically dispensed and it looks delicious even if it might not be exactly what she ordered. Then Mulder’s plate comes out and it’s definitely not what he ordered. Instead it’s a whole raw blobfish that seems to be covered in slime. Mulder takes it to the kitchen to complain but finds that there are only robots. Since no one’s around to make it right, he goes ahead and pays the bill. When it comes to the tip, however, he decides not to leave one. This is the moment he brought the wrath of technology down upon them. The rest of the night is an escalation of threats from the technology all around them. Mulder is accosted by a swarm of drones, while Scully’s smart home system seems to have a mind of its own and things just get worse from there.

One thing that I love about this episode is that there is pretty much no dialogue. When you do hear the characters talk they are usually yelling at their devices, not talking to each other. Therefore most of the acting was subtle gestures and expressions which was pretty cool. The characters Scully and Mulder have known each other for so long that it makes sense for them to be able to sit in comfortable silence and to be able to understand what the other is thinking from a look.

Even without the dialogue, we still see some fun moments between the two, like Mulder posing with his blobfish for Scully. This is the first episode that Kristen Cloke and Shannon Hamblin have written for The X-Files but they are clearly fans that really get how Scully and Mulder’s relationship works. They also included a great reference to the old show by making Scully’s security password “Queequeg” after her dog.

Overall it was a fun and entertaining episode and for people like me that didn’t watch the rest of the season, it works really well as a stand-alone story. I like that it’s not a mythology heavy episode and it’s barely a monster of the week episode. It felt very slice-of-life to me. We see Mulder and Scully in their free time just going out to eat, looking at their phones, trying to cancel credit cards, dyeing their hair. Aside from the increasingly hostile technology, it all felt really natural.

Daron’s Top 10 Episodes of 2018

1) The Haunting of Hill House, “Touch” (Season One, Episode 3)

2) Killing Eve, “Nice Face” (Season One, Episode 1)

3) The Haunting of Hill House, “Two Storms” (Season One, Episode 6)

4) Killing Eve, “God, I’m Tired” (Season One, Episode 8)

5) The Haunting of Hill House, “The Bent-Neck Lady” (Season One, Episode 5)

6) The Handmaid’s Tale, “The World” (Season Two, Episode 13)

7) Maniac, “Exactly Like You” (Season One, Episode 5)

8) Castle Rock, “The Queen” (Season One, Episode 7)

9) The Good Place, “The Burrito” (Season Two, Episode 12)

10) The End of the Fucking World, “Episode 1” (Season One, Episode 1)

Daron is a Springfield, IL native now living in Chicago and working in the Media industry. Owner of two cats, Malcolm (gray) and Aengus (orange). Lover of movies, cozy socks, bats, lounging, humidity, and potatoes.  

The Group’s Top 10 List

Using a simple point system where a person’s #1 pick gets 10 points, #2 gets 9 and so on, here are the Top 10 Episodes of 2018.

1) The Good Place, “Janet(s)” (Season Three, Episode 10) 96 points

2) The Haunting of Hill House, “Two Storms” (Season One, Episode 6) 64 points

3) The Good Place, “Jeremy Bearimy” (Season Three, Episode 5) 46 points

4) The Haunting of Hill House, “The Bent-Neck Lady” (Season One, Episode 5) 29 points

5) Killing Eve, “Nice Face” (Season One, Episode 1) 28 points

6) BoJack Horseman, “Free Churro” (Season Five, Episode 6) 20 points

6) One Day at a Time, “Hello, Penelope” (Season Two, Episode 9) 20 points

7) Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “The Box” (Season Five, Epsiode 14) 17 points

8) Castle Rock, “The Queen” (Season One, Episode 7) 16 points

9) Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, “Nathaniel is Irrevelant” (Season There, Episode 13) 13 points

10) Better Call Saul, “Winner” (Season Four, Episode 10) 11 points

10) The Good Place, “The Burrito” (Season Two, Episode 12)

10) The Haunting of Hill House, “Silence Lay Steadily” (Season One, Episode 10)

96 different shows were featured on a Top 10 list

179 different episodes featured on a Top 10 list

Every episode of The Haunting of Hill House was on a Top 10 list. (Thanks Jackie)

Every episode of Castlevania was on a Top 10 list. (Thanks Beau)

10/15 episodes of The Good Place were on a Top 10 list.

4/8 episodes of American Vandal were on a Top 10 list.

4/8 episodes of Killing Eve were on a Top 10 list

4/10 episodes of Big Mouth were on a Top 10 list.

4/10 episodes of Doctor Who were on a Top 10 list.

4/10 episodes of Westworld were on a Top 10 list.

Best Episodes of 2017

It’s here! It may be a week late but it’s here! My favorite article of the year which seems egotistical but it’s not because the reason I like it so much is because of all the words everyone but me put. (Perfect sentence.) Enjoy this year’s breakdown of the best TV episodes of 2017 from a variety of my friends, all with a unique perspective.

American Gods — “The Secret of Spoons”

(Season One, Episode 2)

By Robbie Mehling

“We’re not taking the highway. Not now. Not ever,” says Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane) as they drive from Indiana to Chicago and beyond. This summer I did my own personal road trip from Minneapolis to Southern Indiana using back country roads. First you turn left, then right, then left again as you meander past cornfields and farmhouses. It certainly takes longer but the possibility exists for some truly stunning views, more so anyway than the interstate rest stop. It’s this mentality that runs through Neil Gaiman’s original novel and is certainly present in Bryan Fuller’s adaptation. This show moves at a slow pace as the whole first season only covers the first few chapters of the book. But I think it works incredibly well as it meanders through folklore, mythology, and back road America.

I think nothing encapsulates that sense more than the episode, “The Secret of Spoons.” Like a meandering road trip, the episode goes everywhere and nowhere with some tremendous acting as its beautiful scenery. Not to give too many spoilers, the episode features Orlando Jones as Anansi, A God bound for the new world aboard a slave ship, as he gives a chilling monologue about the life that awaits people of color in America. Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle) continues to deal with the loss of his wife and the weird journey he is beginning on. It’s a little bizarre how the character is both becoming lost in the events that are enfolding, stuff he doesn’t understand (such as Lucy Ricardo offering to show him her breasts,) but at the same time getting more of his own agency in that he makes a bet that has dire consequences. Whittle plays in fantastically. Peter Stormare plays as Czernobog on the other end of the bet and his accent, his mannerisms… perfection. And finally Ian McShane who just consistently steals the fucking show with his range and performance. I honestly cannot think of anyone more suited for the role.

I cannot begin to say how much I adore this novel and I think this show is a near perfect adaptation. It’s not the most faithful adaptation but it is for the better as the changes made do a great job of reflecting that same meandering ethos. It places plot second to characters and exploring that feeling of Americana. I know that isn’t for everyone but it certainly works for me. I am eagerly awaiting the second season but with the departure of Bryan Fuller and Michael Green as showrunners, I desperately hope it can maintain the same feel and mood.

Robbie’s Top 10 Episodes of 2017

1) American Gods, “The Secret of Spoons” (Season One, Episode 2)

2) Star Wars Rebels, “Twin Suns” (Season Three, Episode 20)

3) Star Wars Rebels, “Through Imperial Eyes” (Season Three, Episode 17)

4) Stranger Things, “Chapter Eight: The Mind Flayer” (Season Two, Episode 8)

5) American Vandal, “Growing Suspicion” (Season One, Episode 4)

6) The Handmaid’s Tale, “Night” (Season One, Episode 10)

7) Game of Thrones, “Beyond the Wall” (Season Seven, Episode 6)

8) Ozark, “The Toll” (Season One, Episode 10)

9) Stranger Things, “Chapter Nine: The Gate” (Season Two, Episode 9)

10) Trollhunters Season Two (As of this article submission, Robbie has not seen Trollhunters Season Two, but he has a good feeling about it.)

Better Call Saul — “Chicanery”

(Season Three, Episode 5)

By Austin Lugar

Vague spoilers for this episode and the rest of Better Call Saul Season Three.

Everyone wants to write a courtroom scene because a courtroom is an arena for drama. Just like a boxing ring or a football field, it is a realm where it’s A vs. B where each side is changing their tactics based on their opponent and only one can win. For a show about a lawyer, Better Call Saul doesn’t spend a ton of time in court.

We only see Jimmy McGill go to court when he’s up against absurdism. The pilot depicts Jimmy attempting to defend a group of teens who had sex with a disembodied corpse. He did not win that case. In that scene, the villain was simply the system or basic decency, not an evil prosecutor.

In “Chicanery”, it finally happened. It’s brother vs. brother and the only way to win is not to play. Up to this point, we know that Jimmy will go beyond the typical protocol in order to win and that’s why his career is in danger. It is only Chuck who is willing to burn everything to make sure that Jimmy pays. The tragedy is that Jimmy will forever love his brother.

As the episode crawls its way to the courtroom, everyone is trying to stop this from happening. HHM warns Chuck that this could discredit them of their prestige. Mesa Verde is embarrassed by all of this scrutiny of what seems like an honest mistake. Essentially everyone begs to keep this brotherly feud in private.

Better Call Saul is one of the rare and great prequels because it never thinks that you haven’t watched Breaking Bad. Episodes don’t tend to end with Jimmy’s life in immediate danger because we know he will won day become Saul Goodman and defend Walter White. So we know that will happen and we know that Kim and Chuck are not in Breaking Bad. By the end of Season Three, we know why Chuck isn’t in the series but Kim’s absence is still a mystery.

Yet the crux of this case means it could go either way. If Jimmy wins, he can still build his brand towards becoming a more sleezy Saul. If Jimmy loses, being discredited can still lead him to Saul.

But once they’re in the room, then it’s no longer about the rules of law. It’s about two things. One is the dramatic and morally gray moves of Slippin’ Jimmy. Everyone in the world—including Chuck—knows that he’s going to plan some sort of Perry Mason style reveal. The show gives you all the hints it needs to see how it’s pulled off, but pure to Chuck’s surprise—the biggest hint is only if you know Breaking Bad. The second you saw Huell in the stairwell, you know what he’s capable of but you don’t know what he’s capable of in this year.

The second thing is that Chuck does not fight for the law, but he fights using the law. After he is fooled by Jimmy, the judge reminds everyone that does not constitute a legal victory. But what does forever hurt the brothers is the angry rant from Chuck that forever proves this was always about being mean.

The ultimate tragedy is not Jimmy having his license suspended or Chuck being pushed out as partner. It’s what Jimmy has known since the pilot. The weirdest thing about Better Call Saul is the fact that a main character is allergic to electricity. It’s off and none of the characters (and viewers) really knew how to handle it. In the “ta-da” moment, it’s not a victorious moment. It shows the truth. Chuck’s condition was psychosmetic and Jimmy has always known that was probably true. But Jimmy would still go beyond the call of duty to provide Chuck the nicest environment he can give, despite the protest of so many professionals around him. All he knew was that his brother was in pain and this episode was more about begging him not to play that card.

Five more great episodes aired this season and it really seems like that scene is the biggest turning point of the whole series. The timeline seems to be moving faster to bring Jimmy to Saul and nobody is able to go back again. In a show that is the reverse of Walter White, where it is about peeling back the layers to show that Saul is actually a good person, this is the moment. Jimmy does his meanest and shadiest thing out of love and the feeling of being so betrayed all of his life. This show won’t escalate to train robberies and Godfather-esque prison killings, but the more that Jimmy slips in these small ways, the more it’s going to hurt.

Austin’s Top 10 Episodes of 2017

1) Legion, “Chapter One” (Season One, Episode 1)

2) Twin Peaks, “Part 8” (Season Three, Episode 8)

3) The Leftovers, “The Book of Nora” (Season Three, Episode 8)

4) Better Call Saul, “Chicanery” (Season Three, Episode 5)

5) BoJack Horseman, “Time’s Arrow” (Season Four, Episode 11)

6) The Good Place, “Janet and Michael” (Season Two, Episode 7)

7) Doctor Who, “The Doctor Falls” (Season Ten, Episode 12)

8) Please Like Me, “Burrito Bowl” (Season Four, Episode 5)

9) It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, “Hero or Hate Crime?” (Season Twelve, Episode 6)

10) I Love Dick, “A Short History of Weird Girls” (Season One, Episode 5)

Austin’s Honorable Mentions

Better Things, “Eulogy” (Season Two, Episode 6)

Big Mouth, “Pillow Talk” (Season One, Episode 6)

Black-ish, “Juneteenth” (Season Four, Episode 1)

Black Mirror, “USS Callister” (Season Four, Episode 1)

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, “Josh is Irrelevant” (Season Three, Episode 6)

The Detour, “The Court” (Season Two, Episode 4)

The Expanse, “Godspeed” (Season Two, Episode 4)

The Good Fight, “Stoppable: Requiem for an Airdate” (Season One, Episode 5)

The Good Place, “Chidi’s Choice” (Season One, Episode 10)

The Good Place, “Michael’s Gambit” (Season One, Episode 13)

The Good Place, “Dance Dance Resolution” (Season Two, Episode 3)

The Good Place, “The Trolley Problem” (Season Two, Episode 6)

Halt and Catch Fire, “Goodwill” (Season Four, Episode 8)

The Handmaid’s Tale, “Offred” (Season One, Episode 1)

Legion, “Chapter 6” (Season One, Episode 6)

Nathan for You, “Finding Francis” (Season Four, Episode 7)

Sherlock, “The Lying Detective” (Season Four, Episode 2)

Twin Peaks, “Part 15” (Season Three, Episode 15)

You’re the Worst, “It’s Been, Part 1” (Season Four, Episode 1)

Better Things – “Graduation”

(Season Two, Episode 10)

By Sarah Staudt

Better Things has always been an extremely quiet show. Essentially no soundtrack, small, everyday stories, and writing so good it feels un-written. You could swear that Sam and her daughters, Max, Frankie and Duke, and Sam’s rogues gallery of friends and relatives, just…exist, and happen to be expertly filmed by ever-present cameras. It’s a beautiful show, and one I recommend to everyone.

Unfortunately, it’s impossible to recommend Better Things in 2017 without talking about it’s co-executive producer and co-writer, Louie C.K. Pamela Adlon (the show’s star and creative driving force) and C.K. have been creative partners for years, all the way through Lucky Louie, Louie, and on to Better Things. They were clearly close friends, and I found Adlon’s response to the revelation that C.K. had abused multiple women to be particularly heartbreaking. Her statement was:

Hi. I’m here. I have to say something. It’s so important.

My family and I are devastated and in shock after the admission of abhorrent behavior by my friend and partner, Louis C.K. I feel deep sorrow and empathy for the women who have come forward. I am asking for privacy at this time for myself and my family. I am processing and grieving and hope to say more as soon as I am able.

While other female comedians either quietly or publicly distanced themselves as the rumors swirled and became an open secret in the stand-up world, Adlon remained by Louie’s side until he admitted it himself. The only rationale I can imagine for this, given Adlon’s statement, is that Louie had denied to her that any of these allegations were true. I can’t imagine that was an easy conversation, but we are all prone to believing that our friends are not horrible, even in the face of evidence we might otherwise believe about a stranger. To have presumably had that conversation with your best friend, and then to have your friend publicly admit that that was a lie, must be so damn awful.

You’ve got to think that when FX decided to air Better Things, it was hoping it would be “Louie, but with a girl!”. Maybe the execs regret that now that Louie C.K. has become persona non grata. As a woman, the show Louie always rubbed me the wrong way, even though I laughed at a lot of it. For every awesome, funny, raw moment depicting Louie’s semi-fictionalized relationship with his daughters, there was a toxic pessimism to the show’s main storylines. In the end, one is left believing that Louie is a crappy person beset by random and unavoidable temptations to be shitty to other people, and always gives in to them, and ain’t that just too bad, good thing he can laugh at himself in his stand-up routine.

That worldview worried me, and as soon as I heard about the rumors flying about Louie, before his admissions, my response was, “yup. That makes sense”. The reason is because C.K., for all his “pro-feminist” sound-bites, revealed himself in his show to be someone who made excuses for himself in a particular and toxic way that enables men, I think, to perpetrate sexual assault. It’s a pessimistic, self-deprecating belief that you can’t really change, you’re just kind of a shitty person who hurts people by nature.

Louie’s “apology” reeked of this. It was, put simply, all about him. It was about how he didn’t realize that his shitty thing was really that shitty, so he kept doing it. It wasn’t about owning that he did something he knew was wrong in the first place. It was “eh, I just didn’t think about it”. Louie’s version of abuse is flippant and nihilistic, and so fits in dangerously well with the age of millennial self-deprecation and sarcasm. If you’re just a shitty person who does shitty things, beset by shitty temptations that you’re always going to give into, why try to stop? Why focus on the harm you’re causing, when you can wallow in self-hatred instead? Louie’s comedic voice shows that to keep excusing your own behavior, you need your nihilism, your biting jokes that trivialize other people’s humanity, in order to keep up your façade to yourself. If you’re just shitty, then fuck it. It’s not really your fault you’re a scumbag. And all of the characters in Louie, even his daughters at times, have this sort of unfixable crappiness about them.

This long divergence isn’t irrelevant to Better Things, I swear. Instead, it serves to highlight how much FX (and anyone else) is wrong about thinking Better Things is just “Louie, with a Girl!”

Better Things does share with Louie the characteristic of being about people who kind of suck. Sam, Adlon’s character, is a single mom of three and working actor who is often mean and petty to her daughters pretty regularly. She’s painfully callous to the men in her romantic life. And it’s not just Sam; her older two daughters are typical, narcissistic teens capable of really damaging their mother and others with how little they appreciate her. While Max and Frankie aren’t painted as villains, the show also doesn’t shy away as some shows do from showing that idiot teenagers really, really emotionally wound the people around them. And Sam’s mom is in deep denial about her growing dementia and leans ever more heavily on Sam and the girls without acknowledging or appreciating them because of her own wounded pride.

But, the key difference is this: after one of these characters hurts somebody, instead of flipping to a standup segment about how she’s just so shitty, or her kids are so shitty, and let’s all laugh at her, like Louie, Adlon’s camera always stays with the person in the scene who has been hurt. And then it shows how the world around them can come around that hurt and make it better. And even though we stay hurt, we can move on, and grow, and get better.

On a rewatch, the Louie C.K. alone written storylines are notably more in line with what Louie looks like, and can be hard to watch because of that toxic pessimism mentioned above. But “Graduation”, the last episode of the season, co-written by Adlon, is the best of what Better Things has to offer. It’s starts with Max laying out her requests for her graduation party, a list that is wonderfully grown up and juvenile at the same time: 1) A DJ, a real one, with tables, not one of Mom’s friends iPods., 2) A taco bar and a Sundae bar; 3) A keg of beer and 4) For her Mom not to be there. Sam relents on all but the 3rd request, and later in the episode camps across the street watching people come and go from her house, available for emergencies but distant, like Max wants her, from the party. I remember being 18. I’m glad I’m past the age where being with my parents is the worst thing in the entire world, but the self-sacrifice that Sam shows in giving Max what she wants is really poignant.

And that self-sacrifice continues when Max asks Sam to essentially completely sit out her graduation prep in favor of Max’s absentee father, who then, predictably, bails at the last second, devastating Max. Then, Sam’s mother swoops in with dementia induced rigidity and insists In a really lovely moment, Sam’s extended network of friends steps up, and Max has her pick of surrogate parent figures to step in. Max is the most openly disdainful of Sam’s friends, life, parenting and general existence throughout the series. But in the end, her response is that Sam is the best mom ever.

The last scene of the episode is a beautiful and inexplicable scene of Sam’s “graduation gift” to Max. Escorting her out to a homemade stage in the backyard woods, Sam, Max’s sisters, and her grandmother do a carefully choreographed dance to Christine and the Queens’s “I am actually good”. The song is an homage to the point of this season. Throughout Better Things, Sam has been trying to figure out how to be whole – does she need a man? A relationship with extended family? And Max shares this arc, constantly hoping that people in her life, her friends, and especially her father will fill the hole she feels in her life. But Better Things is all about how, honestly, that hole is always going to be there. None of us leads perfect, happy lives. None of us succeed in not disappointing our parents and our kids and our partners and ourselves. But that’s not a reason to give up on ourselves, nihilistically withdraw into self-deprecation and sarcasm and the odd comfort that comes with just giving up on ever being good, or happy. Instead, what we’re supposed to do is build a stage in our backyard, and spend presumably countless hours with your Demetia-addled mom, your 8 year old, and your 13 year old to choreograph a dance to delight your oldest kid for graduation, A song who’s chorus is: “I am actually good, Can’t help if we’re tilted”. Better Things meets our brokenness with beauty, not despair.

Sarah’s Top 10 Episodes of 2017

1) The Leftovers, “The Book of Nora” (Season Three, Episode 8)

2) Game of Thrones, “The Spoils of War” (Season Seven, Episode 4)

3) Legion, “Chapter 6” (Season One, Episode 6)

4) Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, “Josh is Irrelevant” (Season Three, Episode 6)

5) Better Things, “White Rock” (Season Two, Episode 9)

6) Difficult People, “Criminal Minds” (Season Three, Episode 8)

7) Speechless, “S-H—SHIPPING” (Season Two, Episode 6)

8) Game of Thrones, “The Dragon and the Wolf” (Season Seven, Episode 7)

9) The Handmaid’s Tale, “The Other Side” (Season One, Episode 7)

10) Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “The Big House Pt. 2” (Season Five, Episode 2)

Additional Episodes Sarah Loved This Year

American Vandal, “Premature Theories” (Season One, Episode

Better Things, “Graduation” (Season Two, Episode 10)

Broad City, “Florida” (Season Four, Episode

Broad City ,“Bedbugs” (Season Four, Episode 9)

Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “Hallo-Veen” (Season Five, Episode 4)

Brooklyn Nine-Nine ,“Two Turkeys” (Season Five, Episode 7)

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, “I Never Want to See Josh Again” (Season Three, Episode 5)

The Detour, “The Tub” (Season Two, Episode 3)

The Detour, “The Court” (Season Two, Episode 4)

Difficult People, “Strike Rat” (Season Three, Episode 2)

Doctor Who, “Extremis” (Season Ten, Episode 6)

Doctor Who, “The Doctor Falls” (Season Ten, Episode 12)

The Good Place, “Team Cockroach” (Season Two, Episode 4)

The Good Place, “Janet and Michael” (Season Two, Episode 7)

The Handmaid’s Tale, “Offred” (Season One, Episode 1)

The Leftovers, “Certified” (Season Three, Episode 6)

A Series of Unfortunate Events, “The Wide Window: Part Two” (Season One, Episode 6)

Sherlock, “The Six Thatchers” (Season Four, Episode 1)

Speechless, “S-I–SILENT NIGHT” (Season Two, Episode 10)

Superstore, “Mateo’s Last Day” (Season Two, Episode 18)

Superstore, “Sal’s Dead” (Season Three, Episode 5)

Stranger Things, “Chapter Seven: The Lost Sister” (Season Two, Episode 7)

Twin Peaks, “Part 4” (Season Three, Episode 4)

You’re the Worst, “Like People” (Season Four, Episode 12)

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend – “Josh’s Ex-Girlfriend is Crazy”

(Season Three, Episode 4)

By Molly Raker

There were plenty of shows I stopped watching this year while it was airing, Riverdale, You’re the Worst, The Deuce, The Handmaid’s Tale. There is only one show I’m excited to watch every week it’s new, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. It was no different when the episode that matches its title aired. Rebecca finally had it with Josh and went all Swimfan on him, since he’s the bad guy for not loving her.

This episode really took on the thriller approach with the lighting, music and tone of the whole episode. It’s great to see a good homage as good as how they write their songs. This episode saw what I take is a Bond-like theme song to give the feel that it’s a ‘movie’. The best joke of the episode was at the end when the credits role and you see who was really in the crew of this ‘movie.’ (Hint it was Rebecca Bunch doing the heavy lifting.)

Not only did this episode have great jokes it knows how to balance the drama as well, especially Rebecca’s mental illness where she finally hits rock bottom. As Heather says, you can’t help someone if they don’t ask for it and Rebecca does the opposite by saying awful things to her friends. She thinks she burned a bridge but really they just want to help her more, which she doesn’t realize in time. This show just keeps getting better and better each season and there is actually character development besides doing the same conflict or dynamic each season,

Ironically enough, this wasn’t the strongest song episode even with Josh Groban (who was great singing his name), there were just better songs like ‘Where’s Rebecca Bunch’, ‘Strip Away My Conscience’ and ‘My Diagnosis’. It was a solid episode that leads a dark path. As they said in The Dark Knight, the night is darkest before the dawn.

I wonder if they’ll ever do a superhero spoof episode

All in all, don’t let it being on The CW deter you from watching. This is a great show with great acting (which usually isn’t the case on The CW) and you should be watching and listening to the songs

See below some of my other favorite episodes this year and you can notice there is a slight theme to some of them.

Molly’s Top 10 Episodes of 2017

1) Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, “Josh’s Ex-Girlfriend is Crazy” (Season Three, Episode 4)

2) Better Call Saul, “Chicanery” (Season Three, Episode 5)

3) BoJack Horseman, “Times Arrow” (Season Four, Episode 11)

4) Legion, “Chapter 7” (Season One, Episode 7)

5) Brooklyn Nine-Nine,”HalloVeen” (Season Five, Episode 4)

6) Master of None, “Religion” (Season Two, Episode 3)

7) Insecure, “Hella Perspective” (Season Two, Episode 8)

8) The Good Place, “The Trolley Problem” (Season Two, Episode 5)

9) Broad City, “Housesitting” (Season Four, Episode 9)

10) The Flash, “Therefore I Am” (Season Four, Episode 7)

The Crown — “Dear Mrs. Kennedy”

(Season Two, Episode 8)

By Sara Rust

“There is no possibility of my forgiving you. The question is, how on earth can you forgive yourself?”

A quote from Queen Claire Foy herself that also works for how I feel about anyone who hasn’t been watching The Crown. This is the show that every fan of British culture has been anticipating. The dramatization of the Royal Family is better than any soap opera possible because all of it is based in reality.

This particular episode is especially intriguing as it deals with the American Royal Family, The Kennedys. We’re shown that Queen Elizabeth II is human as she shows jealousy towards Jackie Kennedy’s popularity and struggles to find the right outfit to make her feel equal. The Queen and Jackie Kennedy were the same age and as such were judged against each other. Instead of allowing intimidation to get her down, The Queen, makes headlines by mending a political rift in Ghana. The episode ends with the assassination of President Kennedy and once again shows how Queen Elizabeth chooses to evolve with her announcement that the bells in Westminster Abbey will ring every hour for the late president, an honor that had previously been reserved for late members of the Royal Family.

This series, as well as the series, Victoria, are a lot of fun because the knowledge of the characters isn’t limited just to what the actors show us on screen. Since these women are real, we can look up more information after the show to gain more understanding. I spend the time watching The Crown with my iPad nearby so I can learn more about the various events and to check the validity of what is played out. Critics say that the show is loosely based on real events but it seems as if this season took that statement on as a challenge and proved that what is being shown was actually real. One episode even ended with real photos.

Check out The Crown! If you don’t, “what is it you’re trying to prove?”

Sara’s Top 10 Episodes of 2017

1) The Good Place, “Team Cockroach” (Season Two, Episode 4)

2) Designated Survivor, “Two Ships” (Season Two, Episode 6)

3) New Girl, “Five Stars for Beezus” (Season Six, Episode 22)

4) Saturday Night Live, “Tiffany Haddish” (Season Forty-Three, Episode 5)

5) Modern Family, “Do You Believe in Magic” (Season Eight, Episode 12)

6) Will and Grace, “11 Years Later” (Season Nine, Episode 1)

7) Superstore, “Tornado” (Season Two, Episode 22)

8) American Housewife, “The Club” (Season One, Episode 21)

9) The Crown, “Mystery Man” (Season Two, Episode 10)

10) The Mindy Project, “Is That All There Is?” (Season Six, Episode 1)

The Detour – “The Tub”

(Season Two, Episode 3)

By Nick Rogers

The disheartening and demeaning sexual politics of the ’60s I wrote about in this space are back. The ’80s Russian subterfuge to pervert democracy I wrote about in this space is back. The fear that official or rogue actors will subvert public policy to disastrous ends by manipulating the technology that’s an irreversible part of our daily lives? Just one of eight daily courses of hell served to us daily … and which I wrote about in this space.

Thus: “Hi, Austin. Can I write about a comedy next time?”

Please don’t confuse this for retreat into laughter without care or consequence. The Detour only seems like that show with the one guy from The Daily Show about a vacationing family you vaguely remember hearing about, of which you might be wondering how it could possibly sustain itself and that you maybe think has something to do with Samantha Bee. (It does.)

It is so much more, starting with nigh-Cronenbergian body horror. This is TV’s most disgusting comedy that hasn’t (yet) stuck its hero’s head in a corpse’s ass. And for that, you need to pony up for pay cable. This is on TBS. Very funny, and not as a snarky pejorative.

In “The Tub,” Nate Parker (former Daily Show correspondent Jason Jones) inadvertently trips into an inflatable pool of his upstairs neighbor’s amniotic fluid — swallowing, as he puts it, her “birth gravy” and being pushed further into it as he tries to escape.

An episode earlier, we watched anally catapulted bodily fluids enter Nate’s eye into a slow-motion arc … and give him ocular gonorrhea. Believe me, there are fewer more, uh, infectious delights than Jason Jones squealing at medical indignities.

“The Tub” also functions as a perfect bottle episode — and ersatz introduction to The Detour’s sundry strengths — untethered to its time-hopping, True Detective-esque narrative.

Each of its acts begins with a stock sitcom situation: In the first, Nate and his partner, Robin, try to sneak in sex on the sly and are interrupted by kids. Their daughter, Delilah, knocks on the door (“Just give us a … minute-and-a-half, OK?”) and hears them call her a cock block, a phrase she misinterprets as something to do with chicken and which she then squawks in a fowl yowl.

Hard to get hard wondering whether your daughter is legitimately losing her mind. She and her brother, Jareb (not a typo), seem to simultaneously understand sex’s ultimate byproduct and not get it at all. Oh, but they will.

The second act: A party at a pregnant neighbor’s place to which no one wants to go. Of course, Jones excels at tripping over himself into unintentionally uncomfortable conversation. But it ramps up tension between Robin, who’s given consideration to becoming a mom again when surrounded by the pre-birth glow of positivity, and Nate, who’s giving thought to the ultimate snip. The Detour dovetails into this everyday concern with screwball precision.

Resuming the mood for a little “midnight snack” — but now without the last condom they had left — Nate and Robin embark on sophisticated, sardonic and severely funny sexual warfare. Negotiating a third child while in the very midst of lovemaking requires comic chemistry that only comes from a deep trust between performers separated by only a cock sock. “The Tub” is one of many episodes for which Natalie Zea (best known for playing Raylan Givens’ estranged wife on Justified) should have submitted for Emmy consideration. Hers is the best lead-actress performance on a comedy you’re not watching. Rectify that.

The third act: The neighbors need help with the birth because their doula is missing. See the aforementioned amniotic fluid. Raise it a passel of clitoris rings that Nate must remove so as to not scratch the baby’s face … and a pizza-ruining surprise. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Not since Arrested Development has a sitcom so skillfully straddled the line of sublime and surreal. But unlike that impeccable joke machine, The Detour is ultimately about something. How much you truly know about the people with whom you’ve chosen to spend your life? Are they your detour? Are you theirs? What happens when you fear the life you’ve made might be one entire side hustle to achieve something in which only one of you — or may neither of you — truly believes? The Detour is about looking at the world and wondering whether you even recognize it any longer.

So yes, Austin, I’m writing about a comedy this time. But in some ways, it’s no less an existential nightmare for our times. If you’re going to howl into the abyss, might as well be laughing.

Nick’s Top 10 Episodes of 2017 (Excluding “The Tub”)

1) Twin Peaks, “Part 8” (Season Three, Episode 8)

2) The Leftovers, “The Book of Nora” (Season Three, Episode 8)

3) The Handmaid’s Tale, “Late” (Season One, Episode 3)

4) Master of None, “New York, I Love You” (Season Two, Episode 6)

5) American Crime, “Episode Four” (Season Three, Episode 4)

6) Legion, “Chapter One” (Season One, Episode 1)

7) The Good Place, “Michael’s Gambit” (Season One, Episode 13)

8) Review, “Cryogenics; Lightning; Last Review” (Season Three, Episode 3)

9) Sherlock, “The Final Problem” (Season Four, Episode 3)

10) The Carmichael Show, “Shoot-Up-Able” (Season Three, Episode 5)

The Durrells in Corfu – “Episode 2.6”

(Season Two, Episode 6)

By Larry D. Sweazy

Based on Gerald Durrells’ autobiographies about his family’s four years in Corfu, Greece, this engaging series is unlike anything else on television. Part comedy, part drama, set in the mid-1930s, it is a Homeric epic and a fish out of water tale combined. After losing her husband, Louisa Durrell decides to move the family, herself and her four children, Larry, Leslie, Margo, and Gerald, to the Greek island of Corfu. Short on money and skills, what ensues is an adventure in adaption and exploration that becomes the foundation of the children’s lives. Larry—Lawrence Durrell—was a renowned English author, and Gerald was an author and a well-respected naturalist. Margo and Leslie had less renown in their lives, but appeared to have been heavily influenced by their time in Corfu.

Gerry, of course, is my favorite. He is the youngest, on a quest to understand nature and life around him, while disregarding a more traditional education. At a young age, Gerry knows who he is, what he wants to become in life, and there is no stopping him. Milo Parker is perfect in the role. This show is really about a family rising out of grief and finding their way in life—all surrounded by a delightful exotic paradise. The family rents an Oceanside villa that is in the same state of disrepair as their lives, and they slowly make it their home. The island is peppered with interesting and unique characters, including Spiros the taxi driver, who looks out for the Durrells, and helps them navigate their new life on Corfu.

This series is really is best viewed from the start. By the time we get to Episode 6 in Season 2, Louisa has faced a failed romance with a stoic Swede, Sven Lundblad, portrayed perfectly by Ulric von der Esch, and has found herself in another budding romance with fellow Brit and olive grove owner, Hugh Jarvis. The romance pits her against her landlord, Vasilia, who was with Hughprior to his affection toward Louisa. Vasilia retaliates by seducing Larry (it doesn’t take much effort on Vasilia’s part). Hugh, of course, wants to return to England, and he wants to take Louisa and the family with him. Which leaves Louisa in a dilemma. She likes Hugh and the comforts he can offer her, but she has grown accustomed to her life on Corfu. There is a scene with a bird man that is particularly magical and lovely, a simple turning point that helps Louisa make her decision that will remain memorable for a long time to come.

All of the characters experience growth and maturity at some level, and that is the gratifying part of this show. It moves along quietly, allowing the viewer to experience the paradise and lives that the Durrells experienced at the same pace they did. Refreshing and entertaining, nothing more than a delectable slice of life.

The Durrells in Corfu offers a much-needed escape from the craziness of every day modern life.

Larry’s Top 10 Episodes of 2017

1) The Durrells in Corfu, “Episode 2.6” (Season Two, Episode 6)

2) Stranger Things, “Chapter One: MADMAX” (Season Two, Episode 1)

3) Stranger Things, “Chapter Nine: The Gate” (Season Two, Episode 9)

4) Grantchester, “Episode 1” (Season Three, Episode 1)

5) Grantchester, “Episode 5” (Season Three, Episode 5)

6) Jack Whitehall, Travels With My Father, “Episode 1” (Season One, Episode 1)

7) Godless, “Incident at Creede” (Season One, Episode 1)

8) Godless, “The Ladies of La Belle” (Season One, Episode 2)

9) Stranger Things, “Chapter Eight: The Mind Flayer” (Season Two, Episode 8)

10) The Durrells in Corfu, “Episode 2.1” (Season Two, Episode 1)

The Expanse – ‘Home”

(Season Two, Episode 5)

By Alan Gordon

Spoilers for Season One and up to this episode of Season Two of The Expanse.

Somehow, I was the only person out of all the contributors last year to even mention The Expanse. What was wrong with you people? [Editor’s note: Since the last article Austin and Ray Martindale are now big fans of this show. Judgment can continue to the rest of the contributors.] It was simply the best science fiction series to hit the small screen since — okay, it may be the best science fiction series I’ve ever seen.

The show was adapted from a series of books that I haven’t read yet. The show-runners, Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, were the screenwriters for Iron Man and Children of Men, which means they’re good. Very good. What they did in this series was something only the smartest science fiction writers do: They considered the economics.

Oh, god, what a boring thought. But have you ever considered what would drive us to actually colonize our solar system? Pure science won’t cut it. To boldly go, blah, blah, won’t cut it. There’s got to be a buck in it for the venture capitalists, or we’ll just sit here on Earth until we use up all of the resources and die [it’s been a depressing year, forgive me].

The Expanse presents us with three autonomous regimes: Earth, which is desperate for resources; Mars, which is making all the cool military tech; and the asteroid belt, a loose confederation of mining installations who depend on water and air being shipped in. Each has its own well thought out cultures [and accents, which are subtle and vaguely South African sounding in the Belt]. The colonies don’t look like FX — they look lived in, dirty and rusty and patched up.

The politics operate on an inter-global scale. Each regime has reasons for needing the others, each has reasons for distrusting them. There have been wars, there are intrigues and assassinations. And the Mormons are still doing stuff.

In the first season, a handful of ice miners leave their ship on a small craft to trace a distress call. The five of them, are stranded when the mother ship is blown apart by a mysterious vessel. They wind up on a small Martian-built battleship, renamed the Rocinante, and go on a series of perilous adventures, seeking the answer of who was behind the attack. Meanwhile, Joe Miller, a rogue Belter detective played beautifully by Thomas Jane, is asked to look into the disappearance of Julie Mao, a tech billionaire’s daughter on a mission of her own. The two stories come together at the end of Season One.

It is Miller’s search for Julie that gives this series much of its flavor. As he obsesses over her disappearance, he falls in love, even though he’s never seen her face to face. It’s noir in space, taking its inspiration from Preminger’s 1944 Laura, only grittier and sadder. Jane’s performance, that of a hard-boiled, unsentimental rogue gradually succumbing to feeling, is layered and nuanced. Julie Mao becomes Miller’s quest, and a tragically romantic one at that.

The MacGuffin for the series is the extra-solar “protomolecule,” which is being used by unnamed powers to create weaponized supercreatures. In the episode “Home,” the protomolecule has infected an entire colony on the asteroid Eros. It will take a desperation mission to destroy it before it infects the rest of the system. Things go wrong, and Miller ends up alone on a suicide mission, working his way to the interior, dragging a faulty nuclear bomb while clutching a dead man’s switch the entire way. Who and what he finds at the end of his journey is heart-breaking.

There is so much more. Jane’s Miller will be missed [and for all we know, may come back].

Season Three starts up in 2018. You have time to watch the first two.

Do it.

Alan’s Top 10 Episodes of 2017 with additional commentary

1) The Expanse, “Home” (Season Two, Episode 5)

2) Legion, “Chapter 6” (Season One, Episode 6) This show is batshit crazy. The secret weapon was Aubrey Plaza, who was crazy-sexy-funny-scary. Change those y’s to iests for this episode.

3) Dancing with the Stars, “Semi-Finals” (Season Twenty-Five, Episode 10) The secret weapon on this show for the last few years has been dancer Lindsay Arnold, who has been quietly brilliant as a choreographer in bringing out the best and disguising the faults of her partners. When she met “Hamilton” vet and clear ringer Jordan Fisher, she chortled, “I finally got someone my own age!” They blew it away. Their jive in this one is not to be believed.

4) Stranger Things, “Chapter Eight: The Mind Flayer” (Season Two, Episode 8)

5) The Incredible Jessica James   [Editor’s Note: This is a movie, not a TV show. But I’m all for more people seeing this Jessica Williams performance so I’m keeping it in.]

6) Taboo, “Episode 8” (Season One, Episode 8) A shoot-out with single-loading weapons never looked so real nor so tense.

7) Sense8, “You Want a War?” (Season Two, Episode 11)

8) iZombie, “Return of the Dead Guy” (Season Three, Episode 10)

9) Grey’s Anatomy, “Out of Nowhere” (Season Fourteen, Episode 8) This show keeps plugging along, and every now and then will come up with a really good idea. The terror of what happens when hackers take over a hospital’s computer system is handled effectively, while an other shoe which has been waiting to drop for so long that we had pretty much forgotten about it was deployed at the perfect moment. MId-season finale, of course.

10) Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, “Queens” (Season Nine, Episode 5) I’m from there. I’m hungry.

Future Man – “Beyond the TruffleDome”

(Season One, Episode 11)

By Zach Bundy

Future Man is a time travel enthusiast’s dream show. Brief synopsis: Josh Futterman is a janitor at a medical research facility try to find the cure for herpes. He is an avid gamer and currently is playing Biotic Wars, which is regarded as an unbeatable game in the gaming world. When Josh becomes the only person to beat the game, he is visited by characters in the game, Wolf and Tiger, from the future. He quickly discovers the game is real and is a training program sent back in time from the future to find the savior (much like The Last Starfighter, as Josh points out). With raunchy humor and time travel devices galore, it is a solid, fun show to binge.

The best episode is “Beyond the TruffleDome,” where we find Wolf has been stranded in the 80’s, and with his new found love of the culinary arts, he opens up an underground restaurant that serves a terrifying and delicious experience. He kidnaps his clientele and brings them to the brink of death to open their palettes. With a strong developing cocaine problem, Wolf soon sees his cooling empire fall. With great 80’s references and throwing a post apocalyptic warrior into a master chef role, this episode is hilarious.

Zach’s Top 10 Episodes of 2017

1) Game of Thrones, “Beyond the Wall” (Season Seven, Episode 6)

2) Game of Thrones, “The Dragon and the Wolf” (Season Seven, Episode 7)

3) G.L.O.W., “Money’s in the Chase” (Season One, Episode 10)

4) Future Man, “Beyond the TruffleDome” (Season One, Episode 11)

5) Future Man, “Pandora’s Mailbox” (Season One, Episode 7)

6) Stranger Things, “Chapter Seven: The Lost Sister” (Season Two, Episode 7)

7) Stranger Things, “Chapter Four: Will the Wise” (Season Two, Episode 4)

8) Stranger Things, “Chapter One: MADMAX” (Season Two, Episode 1)

9) Atypical, “Anarctica” (Season One, Episode 1)

10) Atypical, “The D-Train to Bone Town” (Season One, Episode 6)

Game of Thrones – “The Dragon and the Wolf”

(Season Seven, Episode 7)

By Dennis Sullivan

It only took seven seasons, but it was well worth the wait.

The story of nine noble families fighting for power while an unrelenting, long-forgotten force marches to destroy them all finally brought all the story lines together. This episode was the culmination of seven seasons and fans finally got to see that the endgame is set up. For seven seasons, only the Night’s Watch seemed to understand the gravity of the situation that was going to transpire. The previous episode sent a Who’s Who of Westerosi legends (and a few pieces of plot armor) across the Wall to capture an undead being. The hope was to finally get a truce amongst the living. Some quick back channels (too be fair, everything was a bit rushed this season) lead to one of the show’s finest scenes. The Hound releases the undead out of a box and straight towards Cersi Lannister. The antagonist finally believes! And she actually shows a bit of humanity in the process proving once again that Lena Heady is one of the finest actors on the show and her character is one of the most ruthless characters in a world full of it.

Furthermore, Jon and Dany finally get their time together. Their desire, with tension building all season, quickly escalated to give fans what they have been wanting for so long. The mixing of ice and fire become one. Of course, this is Game of Thrones. When something good happens to anyone, something immediately bad tends to happen as well.

So once again, Game of Thrones shows an incestuous coupling and it felt even weirder than normal. Sure, they were rushed for time. Sure, they could have handled it differently. But they didn’t. Just add it to the growing list of times the show hasn’t handled a sex scene appropriately. However, with Jon’s lineage finally confirmed and definitely the rightful heir to the throne, it is sure to put a damper on their relationship even more than just being related (what a sentence to write). I, for one, am excited to see how it plays out. The largest flaw of this season was the pacing. It felt as if much of the season was rushing to get to the scenes we saw tonight. They paid off by progressing the plot, but this was truly one of the only great episodes of the season. The pacing was back on point for the most part, and the setup for the final battle was great. Now the only question is whether or not the humans will actually survive. Will the show really go there to tell the tale of humanity losing?

Dennis’ Top Episodes of 2017

1) The Americans, “Dyatkovo” (Season Five, Episode 11)

2) The Good Place, “Michael’s Gambit” (Season One, Episode 13)

3) The Leftovers, “Crazy Whitefella Thinking” (Season Three, Episode 4)

4) Love, “Shrooms” (Season Two, Episode 4)

5) Game of Thrones, “The Dragon and the Wolf” (Season Seven, Episode 7)

6) Stranger Things, “Chapter Six: The Spy” (Season Two, Episode 6)

7) Big Little Lies, “You Get What You Need” (Season One, Episode 7)

8) It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, “The Gang Turns Black” (Season Twelve, Episode 1)

9) Please Like Me, “Burrito Bowl” (Season Four, Episode 5)

10) Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, “When Do I Get to Spend Time with Josh?” (Season Two, Episode 9)

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia – “Dennis’ Double Life”

(Season Twelve, Episode 10)

By Evan Dossey

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia had a classic twelfth season (how many sitcoms can say the same?). In what seems to be an effort to stave off boredom the creators / stars Glenn Howerton, Charlie Day, Rob McHellenny, and Kaitlin Olson created a ten-episode set that varied in structure episode-to-episode and confronted the characters with lasting, real decisions. No episode of the season more exemplified the trend than “Dennis’ Double Life,” which brought to a head twelve seasons of thematic development, crude comedy, and moral degeneracy by finally giving the characters what they wanted.

“Double Life” is about a woman showing up on the gang’s doorstep with a baby she claims belongs to Dennis, the result of his layover in Nebraska from Season Ten’s “The Gang Beats Boggs.” Dennis denies it and the Gang naturally devises another of their depraved plots to get him out of his situation. But the woman isn’t a loon; her son isn’t a plot. She’s a regular person looking to see if the father of her child has any interest in him. Dennis’ decision at the end of the episode writes him out of the show, but also feels like a natural evolution for the character.

It’s no secret that Howerton was tiring of the show around this time (and may still have no intention of returning to the delayed 13th season in 2019). An easy send-off for his character would have been to double-down on the show’s classic Dennis is a Serial Killer joke, as long-running as the show. His deviousness, vanity, and narcissism have always made for great euphemism, but the show deserves kudos for laying his character as bare as possible in this episode: despite all the jokes, he’s just a loser, and his child presents an opportunity to actually achieve something real.

Dennis’ escape from his gang of friends in the search for actual responsibility and human connection might not be eternal but it feels like a real advancement for his character that shines new light on everything that came before.

He isn’t the only one who got a surprisingly substantial development in what feels like it could be a series finale. Charlie, the dumb-as-a-rock janitor of Patty’s Pub, finally achieves his series long goal – and finds it wanting. It’s a surprising moment for a show that relies on callbacks and running gags but it feels like the only emotionally real culmination to the story (without the aid of PCP on the Jersey Shore, at least).

For a show that has always played off of heightened reality, bringing it all down into a place that feels true in “Dennis’ Double Life” was a hell of a feat. Bravo.

Evan’s Top 10 Episodes of 2017

1) Twin Peaks, “Chapter 8” (Season Three, Episode 8)
2) Twin Peaks, “Chapter 16” (Season Three, Episode 16)
3) Doctor Who, “The Doctor Falls” (Season Ten, Episode 12)
4) It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, “The Gang Turns Black” (Season Twelve, Episode 1)
5) Better Call Saul, “Chicanery” (Season Three, Episode 5)
6) American Gods, “Git Gone” (Season One, Episode 4)
7) Twin Peaks, “Chapter 2” (Season Three, Episode 2)
8) The Vietnam War
9) It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, “Dennis’ Double Life” (Season Twelve, Episode 10)
10) Review, “Cryogenics; Lightning; Last Review” (Season Three, Episode 3)

The Leftovers – “It’s a Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt World”

(Season Three, Episode 5)

By Ray Martindale

It’s hard to write about The Leftovers without discussing religion. The show itself is built on existential themes, the passing of life/death and cosmic causality. The show attempts to make the audience question their existence & their purpose. It asks, are we the product of some grand design, the proud pinnacle achievement of higher power, waiting for its return? Or, are we merely self-inflated, just looking for patterns in the chaos?

This episode begins four days before the seven-year anniversary of ‘The Departure’ an event where 2% of the world’s population disappeared in an instant. While, many believe this event to be some unexplained scientific phenomenon there are other sects of humanity that believe it has more divine significance.

A series regular Matt Jamison, (Christopher Eccleston) is a minister from a small town in upstate New York where the series originates. Matt’s character has grown immensely to this point in the series. He began the show vehemently denying ‘The Departure’ was a spiritual event, going so far as passing out flyers containing sordid details of his hometown’s ‘departed’ in an effort to illustrate those taken were not devout or particularly good people (much to the town’s chagrin). He is a principled man, a good man, but a man who lacks social consciousness, patience or tolerance of other’s opinions on ‘The Departure’

It would take paragraphs to fully illustrate Matt’s psyche. In summary, over the course of show (the audience) and Matt have been given extraordinary evidence to support his character’s faith in a higher power (or perhaps just patterns in the chaos)? Needless to say, he is on a mission to return Kevin (Justin Theroux) to the town of Miracle, Texas. He is accompanied by Laurie Garvey (Amy Brenneman) who is Keven’s ex-wife & his friends and fellow disciples, John Murphy (Kevin Carroll) & his son Michael Murphy (Jovan Adepo), the former two both believing as Matt does, that Kevin is blessed by the divine & his presence in Miracle on the 7th anniversary is crucial to the fate of the world.

For reasons I won’t explain here, Kevin contacted his ex-wife & psychiatrist Laurie and revealed that he believes he is having delusions & in need of help. He is currently stranded in Melbourne, Australia, after flights are grounded due to a terrorist event involving a nuclear detonation, (a wild opening sequence to this episode where a naked submarine commander commandeers & successfully launches a nuclear missile from a French submarine). Laurie is the anti-thesis to Matt’s character, a psychiatrist and scientific mind who believes therapy, not religion, will help heal the wounds of this unexplained ’departure’. She is angry with Matt, over his insistence on pushing Kevin to accept his role in Matt’s ‘divine narrative’ and regularly questions Matt’s motives for perpetuating & feeding Kevin’s delusions.

Once in the air, they are informed they cannot land in Melbourne due to tightened flight restrictions and must divert to Tasmania & charter a boat to Melbourne. However, the only boat bound for Melbourne allowing them to retrieve Kevin & return to Miracle in time has been privately booked for an annual adult’s-only event.

More specifically, a boat of consenting adults dressed in bizarrely fashioned costumes have gathered to attend the celebration of Fraiser, a lion who reportedly impregnated an entire pride of lioness over the course of a single night. Matt attempts to gain passage on the boat for the four of them by haggling with the ships administrator, a middle-aged woman wearing a lion headdress. After Matt explains Kevin is in danger, the woman reluctantly explains that he may enter but only after telling her the filthiest joke he knows. I am not going write here what Matt’s joke was, but briefly discuss its implication.

Matt is a pious man, a faulty man, but an honest, fair & compassionate man. He is a devout husband, dutifully caring for his disabled wife. He’s a dear friend & secret-keeper of many characters on the show. However, in the eight seconds it takes to tell this joke Matt has to abandon any modicum of this identity. Moreover, he has to humiliate & debase himself in the face of his friends & disciples John & Michael. This moment is significant, as it helps bring a measure of depth Matt’s resolve & additionally illustrates the pity his entourage has for him as they secretly question the importance of the mission.

Once aboard, his disciples address these concerns with Matt who reassures them they will succeed, even blaspheming in his insistence that they have to succeed in bringing Kevin home. Matt abruptly departs for the nearest restroom due to an intense nosebleed (a product of terminal cancer Matt is secretly hiding). Once in the restroom, Matt is greeted by a crewmember who seems to insinuate Matt must have gotten into a tussle with a regular passenger on board, who is known for having a hot temper. The crewmember eludes to the man as a regional celebrity and the “one true god himself.” Matt, being a pious man & a servant of God, decides he must confront this gentleman.

The crewmember gave Matt a description of a short scruffy man, with a dark jacket & red baseball cap. Matt, having found the man on the top deck, asks him if he is ‘telling people that your god?’ The man, (God?) stands, then retrieves a card from his pocket & silently passes the card to Matt before exiting frame. The words “Yes, I Am God” are printed boldly on the front of the card.

In the next scene Matt is reading the reverse side of the card to Michael with great sarcasm & disdain. The card reads like a Facebook bio, detailing in certainties the answers to some of life’s most puzzling questions, “I go by many names, but Mr. Burton is fine. ..there was no big bang, just nothing then light. Yes, I created you. No, I did not create unicorns. Eve, was not created from Adam’s rib, it was his Tibia. I asked Abraham to kill Isaac just to see if he’d do it. Yes, evolution is real but it doesn’t work the way you think it does…” Matt is deeply troubled by this gentleman & his portrayal of himself as God. Michael suggests his anger & frustration may have more to do with his concealed illness & suggests he seek Laurie’s help. Appealing to Matt’s sense of mission, suggesting “perhaps Laurie is an apostle, too.”

Matt speaks with Laurie, where she announces she has decided to allow Matt to continue to feed into Kevin’s delusions that he’s special, and fears shattering that perspective may do more harm than good for Kevin’s eventual recovery. Matt rejects her insistence that Kevin is delusional & reasserts his faith in their mission, despite Laurie revealing Kevin told her he was seeing John’s very-much-deceased daughter in Melbourne.

As Matt, pontificates on the implications of Laurie’s reveal. He witnesses the man calling himself God, violently throw a man overboard. This leads Matt to make every effort to prove the man is not who he says he is & is indeed a murderer.

Rather than continue to give a play-by-play of the remaining 25 minutes of this brilliant episode, I will leave it for the reader to see. Suffice it to say, the rest of the episode’s events continue to challenge Matt’s faith and test his moral character as he desperately attempts to salvage the religious significance of his quest to find Kevin.

Season Three, Episode 5 “It’s a Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt World” is the series defining episode for Eccleston’s Matt Jameson character. It beautifully illustrates human insecurities, our natural predilection for self-importance & our desperate desire for meaning & significance. It further tests the objectivity of these cosmic ideas by giving the audience reasonable evidence to conclude valid divinity exists, before stopping just short of providing full certainty. Much like, the biblical Job, Matt’s entire reason for existence, his faith & the resulting mission are put into question as he begins grappling with the implications of his own mortality and a lifetime of emotional baggage & personal grievances are ultimately revealed to ‘God’.

The show has an excellent story with brilliantly realized, deeply flawed characters bound to extraordinary circumstances. It discusses broad themes of existentialism, religion, self-identity & love with surgical precision, while quietly insisting on something generally magical & beyond scientific explanation. It makes you think critically. It breathlessly entertains. And more importantly, it forces you to sympathize with perspectives that may not necessarily be your own. The characters are nuanced. The story is rich & the acting is superb. I highly recommend the series.

Ray’s Top 10 Episodes of 2017

1) The Leftovers, “It’s a Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt World” (Season Three, Episode 5)

2) The Leftovers, “The Most Powerful Man in the World (and His Identical Twin Brother)” (Season Three, Episode 7)

3) BoJack Horseman, “Stupid Piece of Sh*t” (Season Four, Episode 6)

4) BoJack Horseman, “Time’s Arrow” (Season Four, Episode 11)

5) Marvel’s The Punisher, “Virtue of the Vicious” (Season One, Episode 10)

6) Ozark, “Coffee, Black” (Season One, Episode 9)

7) The Expanse, “Home” (Season Two, Episode 5)

8) The Expanse, “Doors & Corners” (Season Two, Episode 2)

9) Game of Thrones, “Beyond the Wall” (Season Seven, Episode 6)

10) Better Call Saul, “Fall” (Season Three, Episode 9) I haven’t seen it but that show is awesome & it deserves votes! 😀 [Editor’s note: Democracy is stupid.]

Legion – “Chapter 1”

(Season One, Episode 1)

By Aaron Wittwer

Legion may be based on a pre-existing Marvel property, but it feels wrong to think of this show as an adaptation. It’s so wholly removed from the MCU and the X-Men Movie universe that even acknowledging the common ancestry between such disparate offshoots seems somehow inappropriate. I have not read any of the source material, but this show feels so vibrantly personal and original that I have to believe it is entirely divergent from beat one. So let me talk a bit about beat one (aka Chapter 1) of Noah Hawley’s Legion. Because, back in February of this year, it was the most exciting, fresh, and cinematic thing I’d ever seen on television.

We are introduced to David Haller via a time-hopping, match cut montage of his life leading up to his current status as a long-term resident at the Clockworks Psychiatric Hospital. As the name implies, it’s a Kubrickian institution that feels like it exists outside of time. Everyone is wearing track-suits. The furniture is decidedly retro. There’s a tree in the lounge. There’s a man inside the tree. It’s very strange. It feels like the 1960s, but there are enough flecks of modern technology to keep the brain from getting a firm grasp on time and place.

From a swirling kaleidoscope of scenes we begin to get and idea of David’s life at the hospital. He pals around with his semi-deranged friend Lenny (Aubrey Plaza at her career best). He attends therapy meetings. He meets and falls in love with Sydney, a new resident who doesn’t like to be touched. And just as we start to settle into this narrative, it is revealed that everything so far has been a scatterbrained recounting of events as told by David to a mysterious interrogator. Suddenly we’re cutting between three or four timelines, each more unreliable than the last. And the genre begins to shift. Is this a thriller? Romance? Horror? Bollywood musical? Time and narrative and genre fold in on themselves over and over until we all are hopelessly disoriented in the best way possible.

This is the world as seen through the eyes of a terrifyingly unreliable, possibly schizophrenic, narrator. The scenes are cobbled together from David’s neural firings and misfirings. Flashes of memories. Non-linear, contradictory events that may or may not have occured. The dizzying camerawork throwing us even further off balance as we skate between scenes, barely able to grasp what is happening.

But let’s not forget we’re in the hands of Noah Hawley, who’s now delivered on three incredible seasons of masterful storytelling with Fargo. Here he takes that mastery to a new level. For all of it’s dizzying weirdness, the narrative current is always there moving the story forward. By the end of this episode, there is still a considerable amount of confusion, but it’s a purposeful confusion that perfectly primes the audience for the wild and beautiful season that is to follow.

Aaron’s Top 10 Episodes of 2017 (Excluding Legion)

1) Twin Peaks, “Part 8” (Season Three, Episode 8)

2) Nathan for You, “Finding Francis” (Season Four, Episode 7)

3) The Good Place, “Dance Dance Resolution” (Season Two, Episode 2)

4) Detectorists, “Episode 3.6” (Season Three, Episode 6)

5) Patriot, “Un Monsieur Triste En Costume” (Season One, Episode 5 )

6) Channel Zero: No End House, “The Hollow Girl” (Season Two, Episode 6)

7) Big Little Lies, “You Get What You Need” (Season One, Episode 7)

8) Better Call Saul : “Chicanery” (Season Three, Episode 5)

9) Glow, “Money’s in the Chase” (Season One, Episode 10)

10)American Vandal, “The Clean Up” (Season One, Episode 8)

Marvel’s The Defenders – “Worst Behavior”

(Season One, Episode 3)

By Josh West

At the end of every year I look forward more and more to Thanksgiving and less to Christmas. Not because I dislike Christmas. I love Christmas. But nothing beats Thanksgiving food. It’s magical. But every year, as I am coming down from my Thanksgiving high, I get blindsided by an email from Austin.  “Austin’s Crazy TV Arti-” Son of a B*****! He wants ANOTHER one?!? So now I’m stuck with the realization of how much time I have spent watching TV…maybe this is how Trump got into the white house….

One of the best episodes of The Defenders was arguably Episode 3, “Worst Behavior.” The Defenders isn’t anything groundbreaking, in my book. It takes four main characters from other shows, they eventually meet each other and find out they are fighting for the same cause or against the same bad guy, witty banter happens, and the bad guy is defeated. I had a lot of fun watching Matt weight-of-the-world-is-on-my-shoulders “Daredevil” Murdock meet up with Jessica you-couldn’t-pay-me-enough-to-give-a-shit Jones, Luke heart-of-gold-abs-of-steel-sex-machine Cage, and Danny Oliver-Queen-ripoff-but-trade-the-bow-for-the-old-flashlight-under-the-hand-trick “Iron Fist” Rand.

One of my favorite things about the series as a whole, is how in the beginning of the season, the feel of each scene corresponded to their respective shows. Scenes based around Matt had a dark, shadowy look to them. For Jessica, things were very grey and flat. Anything having to do with Luke had a golden filter and was vibrant and scenes based around Danny were boring and white. But as the season went on, the colors and looks merged together. By the end of the series, and once everyone had learned to work together, all of the scenes had a unified, similar look to them.

Coming off the end of the second episode where Jessica, who had been taken in for questioning, abruptly meets Matt when he barges in and tells her to stop talking because he is her lawyer; and where Danny, trying to learn about The Hand’s operation meets, or should I say, gets his ass handed to him by Luke- Episode 3 shows us how our rag tag team of heroes gets to know each other. It doesn’t go over well. Luke and Danny talk and realize they are kind of fighting for the same thing, but Luke, realizing that he and Danny are looking at two separate bigger pictures, plays the “White Male Privilege” card and says its not gonna work out. It’s you, not me. Meanwhile, after Matt springs Jessica from police custody, she starts walking home only to realize that she is being followed by Mr. Murdock. C’mon Matt! You should know better than to follow a private eye. The best part about this scene is that in no time flat, Jessica realizes she is being followed and doubles back around and starts following Matt!

Eventually we wind up at Rand Enterprises where our four heroes all happen to end up at the same time. On the top floor, Danny riles up a boardroom full of ninjas, Matt hears the silenced gunshot and steals Jessica’s infinity scarf because no one can know who he really is. He takes off running up the stairs, in true Daredevil fashion and is met on the top floor by Jessica Jones as she takes a step off the elevator, true to Jessica Jones form. While Matt is parkour-ing his way up 30 flights of stairs, Danny is aided in his fight against the ninjas by none other than Luke Muthafuckin’ Cage. Soon after Jessica and Matt arrive and we see the whole team together in their first fight. It’s an awesome moment. “Worst Behavior” is one of the more fun episodes of The Defenders. It shows a little bit of the strengths and weaknesses of our heroes and provides the single event that is needed to bring them together. Also, Jessica delivers one of the best threats of the whole series when she tells Matt that if he grabs her again she’ll “punch him so hard he’ll see.”

Josh’s Top 10 Episodes of 2017

1) SuperGirl; The Flash; Arrow; DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, “Crisis on Earth X: Parts 1-4” (Various) [Editor’s Note: People aren’t supposed to have ties in their Top 10 list but I noted a sense of hostility from Josh so I let it go. Also it didn’t change the year’s average.]

2) Digimon: Adventure Tri, “Coexistence” (Season One, Episode 5)

3) Stranger Things, “Chapter Six: The Spy” (Season Two, Episode 6)

4) Big Mouth, “Am I Gay?” (Season One, Episode 3)

5) DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, “Welcome to the Jungle” (Season Two, Episode 7)

6) SuperGirl, “Damage” (Season Two, Episode 5)

7) The Flash, “Duet” (Season Three, Episode 17)

8) The Walking Dead, “Say Yes” (Season Seven, Episode 12)

9) Big Mouth, “Girls Are Horny Too” (Season One, Episode 5)

10) DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, “Beebo the God of War” (Season Two, Episode 9)

Master of None – “Thanksgiving”

(Season Two, Episode 8)

By Michelle Manzo

I was psyched to see the return of Master of None to Netflix this year, and celebrated by watching it all in one day. While I loved the season overall and a number of episodes in it, one easily rose to the top for me, and that was “Thanksgiving.”

As a queer human, this episode gives me a lot of feelings. Coming out is not a simple process whether it be to yourself, your friends, or your family. Most episodic shows would limit the coming out episode to just the one moment where Denise tells her mom “I’m gay”, but Master of None choose to focus on the whole story, and tells it masterfully. It starts with Denise as a young girl focusing on girls dancing in a music video, to her refusing to wear a dress at dinner, to coming out, to bringing girls over for dinner. It’s a process that takes a lifetime, and framing it around Thanksgiving simply works beautifully.

Beyond that, this episode takes the whole story a step further to talk not just about the coming out experience, but what that experience might look like as a person of color. I’ve always loved Master of None for lifting me out of my white world and showing me what it feels like to be a man like Dev, or a woman like Denise. This episode is just another chapter of this show continuing to do that so well. Denise’s mother mourns that her daughter is gay simply because it’s hard enough being black and being a woman…to add something else? This is a sentiment I know many parents feel, and one the episode addresses well.

I also appreciate the fact it addresses not just “coming out”, but Denise bringing girls home for Thanksgiving. Michelle’s initial welcome maybe isn’t as warm as it could have been, but after meeting @NipplesAndToes23, the family welcomes Michelle with open arms down the line.

There’s a reason this episode won an Emmy for writing – it’s beautiful. This episode represents just about everything I want TV to be these days. It’s one of many reasons why I’ll continue returning to Master of None.

Michelle’s Top 10 Episodes of 2017

1) Game of Thrones, “The Spoils of War” (Season Seven, Episode 4)

2) The Handmaid’s Tale, “Offred” (Season One, Episode 1)

3) House of Cards, “Chapter 64” (Season Five, Episode 12)

4) Master of None, “Thanksgiving” (Season Two, Episode 8)

5) Game of Thrones, “The Dragon and the Wolf” (Season Seven, Episode 7)

6) House of Cards, “Chapter 65” (Season Five, Episode 13)

7) The Handmaid’s Tale, “A Woman’s Place” (Season One, Episode 6)

8) The Handmaid’s Tale, “Late” (Season One, Episode 3)

9) Game of Thrones, “The Queen’s Justice” (Season Seven, Episode 3)

10) Doctor Who, “The Doctor Falls” (Season Ten, Episode 12)

One Mississippi – “Can’t Fight This Feeling”

(Season Two, Episode 5)

By Rachael Clark

One Mississippi has become one of my favorite shows this year. It is short, sweet, endearing, and most importantly, hilarious. The entire second season can be watched in about 2 hours of binging, leaving you wanting more. The show revolves around Tig, a stand-up comedian who goes back to Mississippi after hearing about her mother dying and being diagnosed with breast cancer. By the time the second season starts, her mother has passed and as of right now she is cancer-free, but Tig always finds antics in the state of Mississippi she must deal with.

Each episode is fantastic in it’s own right, but the episode that truly sticks out is the second to the last episode of the season entitled, “Can’t Fight This Feeling”. The episode begins with Tig and her producer, Kate, sitting across from each late at night listening to a soft rock song to add to their playlist. You can tell these two have great chemistry with each other without words. (Spoiler alert, they are married in real life.) After the song is over Tig puts her glasses on her nose so they are dangling down and not placed neatly over her ears. She asks Kate, “Be honest, do these glasses work for me?” With a straight face and without a beat Kate responds, “Yeah, they really frame your face nicely.” The whole reason they are listening to songs is to put together a playlist for producers about a new show where they move to New Zealand to ride out the apocalypse. You can tell Tig is uncomfortable and taken aback by this. For a while now, the characters and the audience, know that Tig has strong feelings for Kate, and Kate has not entirely reciprocated her feelings. Tig says this will not work because, “Everytime I look at you I picture us growing old together in our little wheelchairs holding hands.” Awwwww, she is crushing hard.

The next day Kate goes into Jack’s office (an executive producer) to pitch the New Zealand project. While Kate is talking, Jack starts masturbating under the table. (As uncomfortable as it is to write this I can only imagine how uncomfortable anyone would be in this situation. This episode is also hinted as a nod to what Louis C.K. has done.) You can tell Kate it taken aback and doesn’t know what to do trying to assess the situation. She quickly finishes her pitch and leaves the room as soon as possible. Kate tells Tig about the incident. Tig storms into Jack’s office but he vehemently denies it saying he has jockage. What the hell? He isn’t convincing anybody. This leaves Kate furious. We have never actually seen her really upset before and it is disheartening because it is about a man in power who took advantage and she has no control over it. Tig attempts to calm her down by telling her to come to her house so she can have company; they can order out food and have a relaxing evening.

Now we go to the house where we see the whole family together for dinner. We have Remy (Tig’s brother) and his girlfriend Desiree, Bill (Tig’s stepfather) and his new lady friend Felicia, and Tig and her one-day hopeful girlfriend Kate. Remy is a sweet and charming guy with some issues I can not delve into right now. His girlfriend, Desiree, is a nice lady but simple. Let’s just say during the dinner conversation, you discover she doesn’t believe in dinosaurs. Bill is more than just a type-A personality, he is A+++. Everything has a designated place and order, and of course a label. He gets really worked up if something is askew. However, you can tell he deeply cares about his stepchildren, the only children he has ever had. The three family members at the table, Tig, Remy, and Bill, are such contrasting characters you wonder what they would ever have in common to talk about. But, when the mother/wife comes up in the conversation, you can easily tell these people are more alike than what they seem and that is really beautiful.

The episode ends on a very sweet note. Tig and Kate go to bed in Tig’s old room which conveniently has two separate twin beds. As they say goodnight to each other the camera closes in on Kate’s face and the audience see what she is thinking; her and Tig old together in their little wheelchairs. Tig rolls up to Kate who is reading the newspaper asking, “Say what do you think of my new glasses, too busy?” Of course they are framed the same way as they were in the beginning of the episode. Kate responds, “No I don’t think so,” she says smiling as they hold hands.

If I were to condense this show into one word it would be bittersweet. During the first season I balled my eyes out most of the time. It dealt with the death of Tig’s mother in a very real and raw emotion, making me reflect on a time I hope to not experience anytime soon. The second season is lighter, but it deals with family relationships after a significant loss and moving on while also dealing with the past. While the show can get dark sometimes, it never stops being funny or showing the good during depressing times. I can’t wait for the next season to see what happens next.

Rachael’s Top 10 Episodes of 2017*

1) Game of Thrones, “The Dragon and the Wolf” (Season Seven, Episode 7)

2) The Good Place, “Dance Dance Resolution” (Season Two, Episode 2)

3) Mindhunter, “1.3” (Season One, Episode 3)

4) One Mississippi, “Can’t Fight This Feeling” (Season Two, Episode 5)

5) Veep, “Judge” (Season Six, Episode 8)

6) Orange is the New Black, “Pissters!” (Season Five, Episode 3)

7) The Handmaid’s Tale, “A Woman’s Place” (Season One, Episode 6)

8) Insecure, “Hella Questions” (Season Two, Episode 2)

9) Stranger Things, “Chapter Five: Dig Dug” (Season Two, Episode 5)

10) Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “HalloVeen” (Season Five, Episode 4)

*Embarrassed to admit but I still need to watch second season of Master of None and the first season of Big Little Lies.

Riverdale – “Chapter One: The River’s Edge”

(Season One, Episode 1)

By Leigh Montano

Oh, Riverdale.

Riverdale.

Riverdale.

Riverdale.

Where do I even begin?

When asked my opinion about this show, my response is usually, “That show is so fucking dumb but I love it so much.” Or some variation therein.

Because it is. It’s a nonsensical show that often loses its own train of thought. One minute it is a teen drama, the next it’s a spooky mystery. It bounces tonally between Pretty in Pink and In Cold Blood with the ease of an elephant doing karate. On paper, this show shouldn’t be something I like

1.    On the CW

2.    About high schoolers

3.    Everyone is unbelievably beautiful

4.    Did I mention that it’s on the CW?

But yet, here I am. Watching every minute of the show, twice, theorizing with friends about who the might be Black Hood (COULD THEY NOT COME UP WITH A BETTER NAME?!) and wanting Cheryl to be my best frenemy.

I was introduced to this show by my former roommate and close friend, Scott. He has a penchant for bad teen dramas and shows starring ridiculously good looking bad actors so when he asked if we could start Riverdale, I was hesitant, to say the least.

And then we watched five episodes.

There is absolutely no reason for this show to be good. The writing is melodramatic, at best (Polly is pregnant! With twins! And her cousin is the father!). The characters are tropes borrowed from 1980s teen dramas. The plot changes its mind every commercial break.

But there’s just something about the previously sleepy town of Riverdale that has been rocked by murder, scandal and controversy that keeps me enthralled and has me drooling for the next episode.

The writing isn’t great. But it’s entertaining. The twists are predictable but fun. The characters are so ridiculous that they could only exist in a CW teen drama for them to make sense. (C’mon. A suburban housewife mom was a former gang member? There’s only like two shows where that could happen.)

This year has been tough for everyone as we sit and watch the world burn down around us. The joys we’ve found in the past year have to be protected, even if they don’t make sense. (Seriously? A faux lesbian kiss gets you on the cheerleading squad?! In what universe does that make sense?!)

I could pick any episode of Riverdale to talk about and dissect. Each one is more ridiculous than the last and just as much fun to pick apart and talk about. The one I’m going to talk about is the pilot. It’s the episode I use to pitch the show to people who are skeptical.

The audience is introduced to this very pretty town, full of beautiful people who all know each other personally, even the mayor. It’s a stereotypical small town that geographically could be anywhere in the northeastern US, complete with it’s no nonsense, “good guy” dad (played WONDERFULLY by Luke Perry). We are introduced to the All American Boy, Archie (played by New Zealander, KJ Apa) and the Girl Next Door, Betty and their “will they/won’t they” vibe. We’re introduced to Veronica and Cheryl and Kevin, each fulfilling their roles wonderfully as the Reformed Mean Girl, the Active Mean Girl, and The Gay Kid, respectively. Each featured teen references media and pop culture that most adults haven’t even experienced in a way that only works in a teen drama. We’re told about the history of this small town, told some scandalous backstory (Veronica’s father, Hiram, is a criminal and is currently in jail for white collar crime!)  and shown how a drowning of a local teen can impact everyone in the town. It’s setup to be a typical teen drama with relationships being of the utmost importance. And then a dead body is found.

By the end of the pilot of Riverdale, “cleverly” titled, “Chapter One: The River’s Edge,” there is a murder, an implied incestuous relationship and a student-teacher relationship. The show tries to show it’s edgy Twin Peaks vibe any way they can, from showing the town as perpetually cloudy and overcast, to creepy lore and use of the color red, to just blatantly casting Madchen Amick as Betty Cooper’s mom. The fact that the teen characters are constantly hanging out at the local diner just drives the “homage” home.

Jughead “Yes, that’s his god-given name in the show” Jones, ends the pilot with the beginning of his book he’s writing about the mystery that is unfolding in Riverdale, and rounds out the Breakfast Club cast with the angsty-creative trope. He later goes on to tell the audience just how weird he is in a later episode that is possibly the best monologue all year (FIGHT ME).

As awful and wrong as this show so often is, it has also been doing things that are fun and interesting and needed. There’s a whole episode about slut-shaming and another about date rape (both of which could’ve been handled better, but at least they’re constructively talking about these issues). There are two female characters who are named and regularly discuss things that don’t involve relationships (although a good portion of them do because it IS a teen drama, after all). There’s even a gay character who stands up for himself and has a good relationship with his father (more shows need positive relationships like this, please). The show is trying, VERY hard, to be a positive example and to discuss big, controversial topics in a positive way. It has some missteps (ugh, the whole Polly subplot) but it’s attempting when other shows aren’t even trying at all (see: Everything on CBS).

Riverdale is by no means a perfect show. It’s faulty. It’s melodramatic. It doesn’t know what it wants to be at the end of the day. But it’s fun and it’s entertaining, both things we so desperately need right now.

Leigh’s Top 10 Episodes of 2017

1) The Good Place, “Michaels’ Gambit” (Season One, Episode 13)

2) Lady Dynamite, “Wet Raccoon” (Season Two, Episode 1)

3) One Day at a Time, “Quinces” (Season One, Episode 13)

4) Marvel’s The Punisher, “Cold Steel” (Season One, Episode 8)

5) Riverdale, “Chapter Fourteen: A Kiss Before Dying” (Season Two, Episode 1)

6) Taskmaster, “A Fat Bald White Man” (Season Four, Episode 1)

7) Stranger Things, “Chapter Six: The Spy” (Season Two, Episode 6)

8) Voltron: Legendary Defender, “Reunion” (Season Four, Episode 2)

9) Lady Dynamite, “Little Manila” (Season Two, Episode 8)

10) Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, “Kimmy’s Roommate Lemonades!” (Season Three, Episode 2)

A Shot in the Dark—“Crash and Burn”

(Season One, Episode 2)

By Ken Jones

Shot in the Dark is a new Netflix docu-reality series about Stringers. Now if you are like me and don’t live in L.A., you are probably wondering “What is a Stringer?” A Stringer is Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler. Haven’t seen that movie? Then Google it, I chose a show far down alphabetically so if you’ve made it this far you aren’t lazy. Shot in the Dark follows three video journalism companies, focusing on each company’s top person. Howard is the veteran underdog. Scott is the veteran undercutter. Zak is the young pup trying to cut everyone else out of business.

I was drawn to this show because it promised an insight into a world I know nothing about. I got that and so much more. These guys have a job doing what they do because people are fascinated by car crashes and trainwrecks. That same fascination kept me watching in part just to hear the absurd things that come out of their mouths. Let’s just say they respect their jobs way too much. That alone isn’t enough to keep me interested in a show I was trying out on a limb. I wasn’t sold on the show until the last five minutes of the first episode, where my heart was racing uncontrollably and I was left needing to watch the next episode. I’m normally the type to reflect after each episode of something that I am watching because half the fun of watching a show is in analyzing the small details. This severely annoys some of my friends as I hit pause before watching the next episode of Stranger Things, so I’m hoping they don’t read this and learn of my hypocrisy.

I worked in reality television long enough to learn that most cliffhangers in reality TV are fabricated with editing to get you to stay watching. It’s like clickbait for television. I am happy to report that Shot in the Dark’s second episode “Crash and Burn” is no clickbait. This episode captured moments of raw human emotion I’ve never witnessed in a (docu) reality series before. Most scripted shows fail to make me feel a deep emotional connection when they try their hardest, but this show did it in the beginning of their second episode. “Crash and Burn” also offers plenty of chances to hate on Scott, the undeniable villain of the show.

Shot in the Dark is a far from perfect show, and you will wonder why they would include certain segments that go nowhere, but it’s also an addictive show that I will anticipate a second season of. There are only eight episodes, so it’s an easy one to try without committing to hours and hours of content. If you get to the 10 minute mark of “Crash and Burn” and aren’t feeling this show, go ahead and quit, but I urge you to try it at least up until that point.

Ken’s Top 10 Episodes of 2017*

1) Game of Thrones, “The Spoils of War” (Season Seven, Episode 4)

2) Stranger Things, “Chapter Nine: The Gate” (Season Two, Episode 9)

3) Rick and Morty, “The Rickshank Rickdemption” (Season Three, Episode 1)

4) Sherlock, “The Lying Detective” (Season Four, Episode 2)

5) Master of None, “The Thief” (Season Two, Episode 1)

6) The Mick, “The Balloon” (Season One, Episode 4)

7) Black-ish, “Juneteenth” (Season Four, Episode 1)

8) Game of Thrones, “The Dragon and the Wolf” (Season Seven, Episode 7)

9) A Shot in the Dark, “Crash and Burn” (Season One, Episode 2)

10) Big Mouth, “Everybody Bleeds” (Season One, Episode 2)

*This list needs a giant asterisk with it because I have not seen the new season of Black Mirror yet.

Stranger Things – “Chapter Nine: The Gate”

(Season Two, Episode 9)

By Claudia Johnson

To say that I was OBSESSED with Stranger Things is an understatement. I watched all 17 episodes in less than 24 hours, and harassed family, friends and coworkers to drop their lives and watch it. Stranger Things Season Two was one of the best series of 2017, possibly the best. Every single episode was gold. Including the controversial episode that was a departure from the others. I will fight you on that. Just kidding, but seriously.

Anywho, of all the episodes my favorite is the season finale. I think that everything was able to wrapped up nicely with a bow and even gave a little tease to what is to come in the next season.

Not only is the show chock-full of great 80’s references. The writing and acting are phenomenal. Season Two had a lot to live up to and the Duffer Brothers didn’t disappoint.

Season One left viewers with a tease that Eleven was alive, despite her seeming to die after fighting the demogorgon. In season we find out Hopper been hiding Eleven to keep her safe. We were also shown that despite Will no longer being in the upside down physically, mentally he was still there. Throughout season two Will struggles with the upside down that is still very much apart of him and is also bleeding over into the real world. Which comes to a head with the unfortunate death of a surprisingly lovable character. Will struggles with the loss of Eleven. Dustin and Lucas end up in competition for the same girl that is paralleled with the love triangle between Nancy, Jonathon and Steve. There is also dealing exposing how Barbara truly died and the newcomers Billy and Max, among other things.

One of my favorite things about the last episode is the reunion of Eleven and the rest of the cast, especially Will. I cried, I’m not ashamed to admit it. The innocence of young love in that reunion scene felt so real. The tenderness of the reunion is only dampened when the backdrop of a very serious situation that the world is ending comes back into view. When the day is saved we are brought back to the reality that these are kids. Though more doom is lurking, the night of the dance is for first kisses and dancing.

As much as I like the sci-fi aspects of Stranger Things and the 80’s references, what really draws me in are the feelings that the creator is able to evoke out viewers through the children. We’re able to empathize with being a weird and out of place middle schooler, because everyone has experienced that moment. The first love of Will and Eleven. The innocent love triangle between Sam, Lucas and Dustin. Your first kiss. Steve’s emotional growth. Parent and child relationship; with Will and Joyce, Hopper and Eleven and Eleven and her birth mom. facing fears, the list goes on and on.

I don’t know if what I wrote made sense, but please go and watch Stranger Things Season Two. It’s a fantastically written and shot show, that’ll leave you wanting more.

Claudia’s Top 10 Episodes of 201

1) Insecure, “Hella Perspective” (Season Two, Episode 8)

2) Master of None, “Thanksgiving” (Season Two, Episode 8)

3) It’s Always Sunny in Philidelphia, “Making Dennis Reynolds a Murderer” (Season Twelve, Episode 5)

4) Being Mary Jane, “Feeling Friendless” (Season Four, Episode 14)

5) The Carmichael Show, “Grandma Francis” (Season Three, Episode 3)

6) Game of Thrones, “The Dragon and the Wolf” (Season Seven, Episode 7)

7) G.L.O.W., “Money’s in the Chase” (Season One, Episode 10)

8) The Handmaiden’s Tale, “Jezabels” (Season One, Episode 8)

9) Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, “Kimmy’s Roommate Lemonades!” (Season Three, Episode 2)

10) American Vandal, “Growing Suspicion” (Season One, Episode 4)

Twin Peaks – “Part Eight”

(Season Three, Episode 8)

By Samantha Tilmans

Twin Peaks was an anomaly when it first aired, and it’s remained a striking and polarizing piece of popular culture ever since. It started as a simple murder mystery in a small town full of quirky characters, but quickly became so much more. When the show ended in the depths of the Black Lodge in 1991, it left many questions unanswered. The sequel/prequel film, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, raised even more questions – and was famously panned in contrast to the acclaim that the original series received. Twin Peaks as a whole is not everyone’s cup of coffee, and whatever answers or closure fans were hoping to get from this year’s Twin Peaks: The Return, there wasn’t much to be found, and this episode just compounded the mystery.

Where does one begin with Twin Peaks: The Return? Certainly not with this episode. It’s the eighth installment – we should be somewhat familiar with what’s going on and there is no time to play catch up. The episode on the whole revolves around BOB, a central force in Twin Peaks mythology.

Yet, none of this really matters. None of it. Because this episode is also nothing like any of the rest of Twin Peaks: The Return. There are repeating themes, a few recurring characters, and the mythology that connects it to the limited series, but truly, it’s on it’s own. The only time we even see the town of Twin Peaks in this episode is during a performance at the Roadhouse from “The” Nine Inch Nails, and the opening scene is the only time we see the series’ star, Kyle MacLachlan, as Dale Cooper’s menacing doppleganger.

This episode is purely just David Lynch having fun and creating a surreal work of art, where his only limit is that it has to fit into an hour-long time slot. An episode like this would never had been acceptable in Twin Peaks’ original run on ABC, the technology back then couldn’t have accomplished such a feat, nor do I think we, as an audience, would have been prepared for it. Even in 2017, I wasn’t ready for it and spent most of the episode wondering what the hell was going on.

In just one visually stunning episode, we witness the first detonation of a nuclear weapon, there’s a full 26 minutes without dialogue, strange yet wonderful visual sequences, a ton of strobe lights, tense instrumental music, and a lot of mythology about the creation of the malevolent BOB and the series’ central victim, Laura Palmer. We travel to 1956, when a mysterious figure known as “The Woodsman” hypnotizes a small New Mexico town – not unlike Twin Peaks – via a radio broadcast and crushes the skulls of the radio station’s night shift workers. There’s a cicada-frog creature that crawls into a girl’s mouth, a visual which still horrified me months after watching this episode for the first time. Oh yeah, and there’s a Nine Inch Nails performance of “She’s Gone Away,” a song specifically written for Twin Peaks! The stage lighting and Trent Reznor’s menacing laughs are reminiscent of the late Frank Silva’s BOB – it’s a perfect match for this episode and all of its darkness and madness.

I will not pretend that I know and understand everything that happens in this episode or the whole of Twin Peaks: The Return. There are bits and pieces that one would only understand if they read the accompanying books The Secret History of Twin Peaks and The Final Dossier – trying to uncover the mysteries is part of the fun, though. I won’t even pretend that I love all of Twin Peaks. Dale Cooper is one of my favorite fictional characters, and he was mostly absent during the limited series. For this episode in particular, the 26-minute stretch without dialogue was a challenge for my attention, and sometimes I just want answers, dammit, not get more questions. However, in the end, “Part 8” of Twin Peaks: The Return was also a hell of a ride and I enjoyed letting it take me off the rails with it.

Samantha’s Top 10 Episodes of 2017

1) Twin Peaks, “Part 8” (Season Three, Episode 8)

2) Stranger Things, “Chapter Two: Treak or Treat, Freak” (Season Two, Episode 2)

3) Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “99” (Season Five, Episode 9)

4) Bob’s Burgers, “The Wolf of Wharf Street” (Season Eight, Episode 3)

5) Master of None, “Thanksgiving” (Season Two, Episode 8)

6) Stranger Things, “Chapter One: MADMAX” (Season Two, Episode 1)

7) Riverdale, “Chapter One: The River’s Edge” (Season One, Episode 1)

8) BoJack Horseman, “The Old Sugarman Place” (Season Four, Episode 2)

9) Master of None, “New York, I Love You” (Season Two, Episode 6)

10) The Good Place, “Everything is Great!” (Season Two, Episode 1)

Samantha’s Honorable Mentions

Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “HalloVeen” (Season Five, Episode 4)

Bob’s Burgers, “Zero Larp Thirty” (Season Seven, Episode 17)

Bob’s Burgers, “Paraders of the Lost Float” (Season Seven, Episode 21)

Bob’s Burgers, “Thankshoarding” (Season Eight, Episode 5)

BoJack Horseman, “Thoughts and Prayers” (Season Four, Episode 5)

BoJack Horseman, “Stupid Piece of Sh*t” (Season Four, Episode 6)

The Good Place, “Chidi’s Choice” (Season One, Episode 10)

The Good Place, “Michael’s Gambit” (Season One, Episode 13)

My Brother, My Brother, and Me, “Resumes and Jamiroquai’s Dad” (Season One, Episode 2) It’s not “prestige” television but dammit this episode made me laugh so hard I cried, and that’s wonderful.

Orange is the New Black, “Sing It, White Effie” (Season Five, Episode 5)

Riverdale, “Chapter Three: Body Double” (Season One, Episode 3)

Riverdale, “Chapter Five: Heart of Darkness” (Season One, Episode 5)

Stranger Things, “Chapter Nine: The Gate: (Season Two, Episode 9)

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, “Kimmy Steps on a Crack!” (Season Three, Episode 5)

Will – “The Play’s the Thing”

(Season One, Episode 1)

By Ryan Lugar

2017 has been a fun and interesting year, for better or worse. The very foundations of what is real and what is fake is shaking beneath us. The deciding factor of what/who is right and wrong is decided by who goes viral first. The English language is getting more covered in shit by the second from mass hyperbole being considered clever. Politicians are now celebrities; celebrities are now politicians. Our interests are ignited and sparked for a 48-hour span and then immediately dwindle down move on to the next topic. The NFL has FINALLY decided to care about player safety over profit (ok maybe that one’s not true). It’s been a whirlwind and thank the Lord above for giving us crap on the TV to watch to take our mind off the horrors of the world for 20-200 minutes, even if the people providing us with crap are monsters.

“But Ryan?!” – Eager reader who is now all worked up and excited after an amazing introductory paragraph circumventing the entire 2017 year.

YES???

“Who was our biggest savior in the television world to distract us from the madness??” – Eager reader’s perfectly leading question for me to introduce my favorite television show of the year.

I know what you’re thinking, it has to be Game of Thrones. DRAGONS, SEX, BLOOD, THE IRONY OF JON SNOW CONSTANTLY GOING ON SUICIDE MISSIONS WHILE FIGHTING OFF THE DEAD.

Nope.

But close, vey close. The most amazing show has the sex and violence, but with more swagger than Jon pretending like he didn’t know what he was doing in that cave.

I am of course referring to Will, TNT’s 100% accurate look back into the life of William Shakespeare (this is a lie). If there are two things that TNT knows better than anyone else, it’s drama and the mind of the greatest writer of all time.

If this show were to be on a television channel that doesn’t worry about viewership and cares more about providing the viewers with some interesting facts about interesting people, it would probably be better. TNT doesn’t play by those rules. Especially the TNT geniuses who put this ridiculous show in a time slot that was destined to fail (show cancelled in September of 2017, first aired in July). Hindsight being 20/20, if TNT tried to provide any type of historical accuracy maybe more would have tuned in.

However, this is 2017. And 2017 doesn’t give a rat’s ass about accuracy, history, OR historical accuracy. Which made me love this show more than I thought.

I am a fan of Shakespeare. He’s a genius and every play he wrote was a small peak into his brilliant mind. A mind that can shape words to spark emotions that we didn’t know existed. A mind that connected the brain to the heart, and released it on paper for us to enjoy centuries later. The only other man or female that can come close to providing us with everlasting phrases would be Yogi Berra, but even the man who coined the term “It’s déjà vu all over again.” isn’t close to what Shakespeare was able to capture. He saw the world differently than the rest of us, and proved it through his writing.

But there is NO WAY he knew his work would withstand time and still be used hundreds of years after his passing. He couldn’t have known his plays would be the foundations for movies put on the big screen. Or could he…? Maybe he fully knew the genius that he was, the wordsmith that could bring joy to a crying child or make the hardest of hearts weep. That self-awareness must have given him impenetrable confidence. A confidence that would get him off his ass in Stratford-upon-Avon and take him to London to show the world his genius.

Well, at least that’s what TNT was going for, AND IT FREAKIN’ WORKED.

Bare with me here, the show is ridiculous. It’s over the top in every way, shape, and form, and the only thing accurate about William Shakespeare is his name and the names of the people around him. But screw it, the show was fun to watch!

Do fans of the NFL go to the games to watch the players overcome the obstacles of their lives to achieve something bigger than themselves and shatter the barriers race and class through a team game? Hell no! BIG HITS AND CHICKS IN BIKINIS AND BOOTS.

Do fans of Star Wars go to the movies to see how intergalactic politics play out when democracy has failed and rebellion is, dare I say it, The ‘Last’ Hope? You beat your ass it isn’t! LIGHT SABERS AND BIG BEAR DOGS THAT FIRE SHOTGUNS!

Will is ridiculous because the world in the show is ridiculous, only because our known perception of 1589 London is…well probably people talking fancy and sipping tea. Not, playwrights being treated like Mick Jagger. Will is seeking fame and glory in a city that allows its playwrights to achieve that status.

The acting in the show is very good and there is incredible chemistry between the actor who plays Will and the actress who plays Alice Burbage (daughter of the theater owner whom Will writes with). The chemistry between Will and his rival Christopher Marlowe is also great and oddly just as sexual, actually not that odd the more you think about it.

Unfortunately for the show, the writers decided to toss in a holy war in there. Catholics vs. Protestants, the final showdown featuring William Shakespeare. It didn’t fit with the show at all and was probably the reason it got cancelled. Well that or the fact no one besides myself watched this show. The plot of Will chasing fame and finding love in a city that is too big for him in a world too small is beautiful. 1958 religious war, not so much.

At the end of the day, the show’s flaws were too much. The ageless lines of Shakespeare being woven into the dialogue were drowned by shit plot. The acting couldn’t save the show from its own writers. And they didn’t have any dragons. These flaws however are somehow what made the show so ridiculous, and so amazing.

Ryan’s Top 10 Episodes of 2017

1) Will, “The Play’s the Thing” (Season One, Episode 1)

2) You’re the Worst, “Odysseus” (Season Four, Episode 3)

3) American Vandal, “Hard Facts: Vandalism and Vulgarity” (Season One, Episode 1)

4) Game of Thrones, “The Spoils of War” (Season Seven, Episode 4)

5) You’re the Worst, “Not a Great Bet” (Season Four, Episode 7)

6) Vice Principals, “The Union of the Wizard and the Warrior” (Season Two, Episode 9)

7) South Park, “Sons a Witches” (Season Twenty-One, Episode 6)

8) Big Mouth, “Pillow Talk” (Season One, Episode 6)

9) Stranger Things, “Chapter Nine: The Gate” (Season Two, Episode 9)

10) Big Mouth, “Girls are Horny Too” (Season One, Episode 5)

The Group’s Top 10 List

Using a simple point system where a person’s #1 pick gets 10 points, #2 gets 9 and so on, here are the Top 10 Episodes of 2017.

1) Twin Peaks, “Part 8” (Season Three, Episode 8) 49 points

2) Game of Thrones, “The Dragon and the Wolf” (Season Seven, Episode 7) 42 points

3) Game of Thrones, “The Spoils of War” (Season Seven, Episode 4) 36 points

4) Better Call Saul, “Chicanery” (Season Three, Episode 5) 26 points

5) The Good Place, “Michael’s Gambit” (Season One, Episode 13) 23 points

6) Master of None, “Thanksgiving” (Season Two, Episode ) 22 points

7) BoJack Horseman, “Time’s Arrow” (Season Four, Episode 11) 21 points

7) Stranger Things, “Chapter Nine: The Gate” (Season Two, Episode 9) 21 points

8) The Leftovers, “The Book of Nora” (Season Three, Episode 9) 20 points

9) The Good Place, “Dance Dance Resolution” (Season Two, Episode 3) 17 points

9) Legion, “Chapter 6” (Season One, Episode 6) 17 points

9) Stranger Things, “Chapter One: MADMAX” (Season Two, Episode 1) 17 points

10) Game of Thrones, “Beyond the Wall” (Season Seven, Episode 6) 16 points

10) Stranger Things, “Chapter Eight: The Mind Flayer” (Season Two, Episode 8) 16 points

·       90 different shows were featured on a Top 10 list

·       22 of those shows first aired in 2017.

·       154 different episodes were featured on a Top 10 list

·       8/9 episodes of Stranger Things Season Two were on a Top 10 list.

·       2/3 episodes of Sherlock Season Four were on a Top 10 list

·       6/10 episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale Season One were on a Top 10 list.

·       4/7 episodes of Game of Thrones Season Seven were on a Top 10 list.

·       4/8 episodes of The Leftovers Season Three were on a Top 10 list.

·       4/10 episodes of Big Mouth Season One were on a Top 10 list.

·       4/10 episodes of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season Twelve were on a Top 10 list.

·       4/10 episodes of Master of None Season Two were on a Top 10 list.

Best Episodes of 2016

Six years! I’ve been doing this silly article for six years! (I take 11 month breaks in-between articles so it’s not that impressive.) It remains one of my favorite things to do because every time I get a new article in my inbox I am surprised and entertained by all the different things that my friends have picked up on. Also—as seen by the other article this week—I see a ton of TV, but every year people bring up shows that I don’t watch that now I suddenly want to. So enjoy and find something great to watch!

American Crime – “Episode 8”

(Season Two, Episode 8)

By Dennis Sullivan

American Crime is an anthology that dissects how the a single crime impacts, corrupts, and alters the lives of so many people- including some that aren’t even involved in the situation. The second season focuses on a sexual assault that comes to light after a series of photographs get passed around a high school. As the school strives to maintain their code of conduct, the lives of the affected individuals begin to spiral out of control. Then the lives of people not even involved begin to spiral. However, the show really shines when addressing the societal and personal factors that make it difficult to reach an easy resolution. Racism, homophobia, power struggles, self-acceptance, media manipulation, hacking, self-preservation, and revenge all intertwine on a daily basis to constantly change the flow of the case.

The most complicated theme of all is truth- what actually happened that night. There are two possibilities: (1) there was an assault; or (2) he wanted to have sex. As the show progresses, the viewer is challenged to figure out who they believe is telling the truth. For me, I think that both individuals wholeheartedly believe they are telling the truth, which is impossible given the circumstances of the event. The truth is an odd subject and tends to come in shades of gray, while the American justice system is a strictly black and white institution. This is a discussion I am seeing happen constantly in America today, as so many people live in ways which directly contradict one another and yet they both may be equally correct and incorrect. It is difficult to understand the “other side” and, as the show suggests, miscommunications and assumptions serve only to polarize each side.

At a certain point, the truth of the original event becomes irrelevant. This is especially true in Episode 8, which brings in a documentary feel into the episode. The episode looks at the aftermath of a school shooting by interviewing real people that have survived a school shooting, those that have been bullied, and the loved ones of those lost to those two events. It is and emotionally powerful episode that does a masterful job of dealing with such sensitive issues.

Dennis’ Top 10 TV Episodes of 2016

1) Game of Thrones, “The Winds of Winter” (Season Six, Episode 10)
2) Stranger Things, “Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers” (Season One, Episode 1)
3) BoJack Horseman, “Fish Out of Water” (Season Three, Episode 4)
4) Black Mirror, “Nosedive” (Season Three, Episode 1)
5) Transparent, “To Sardines and Back” (Season Three, Episode 3)
6) American Crime, “Episode 8” (Season Two, Episode 8)
7) Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, “Josh Has No Idea Where I Am!” (Season One, Episode 15)
8) Orange is the New Black, “Toast Can’t Never Be Bread Again” (Season Four, Episode 13)
9) Barracuda, “Episode 3” (Season One, Episode 3)
10) Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, “Kimmy Meets a Drunk Lady!” (Season Two, Episode 9)

Archer – “Deadly Velvet”

(Season Seven, Episodes 9 & 10)

By Ken Jones

The last few seasons of Archer have been met with mixed reviews. People criticize the show for going too far from its roots, taking a plunging dive into bizarre situation after bizarre situation. I, however, cannot but help love this show. Archer is stylistically reminiscent of Mad Men, with a James Bond-esque structure, and the quotability of Arrested Development.

The latest season sees our hateable band of misfits banned from espionage, creating a high-profile private detective agency in Los Angeles. And by high-profile, I mean they may find themselves working for the same people a few times.

In the two-part finale, “Deadly Velvet”, the gang is employed to protect aging, yet foxy, actress Veronica Deane on the set of her ex-husband’s latest movie, which has experienced a series of mysterious “accidents”. Yadda yadda Archer wants to do unmentionable things to Veronica yadda yadda Lana is jealous yadda yadda murder, you get it. I would talk about the first episode, but the accidents on the set gave me flashbacks to the times I was nearly horribly injured on sets or in the field. I still have nightmares of clinging onto the front of a boat as it sped away through the swamp from a swarm of severely annoyed wasps. Spoiler alert: I didn’t die!

All you should need to know is that there is a scene with lawyer Patton Oswalt, angry detective J.K. Simmons, and dumb but nice detective Keegan-Michael Key. Article over! What? More? Fine. There’s also robots. Or cyborgs. Or what’s the difference? Not that you deserve more, there is also a discussion of California law devoid of jokes for about 30 seconds. Wait, never mind, forget that. It’s the thought that counts, right?

“Deadly Velvet: Part II” is certainly not the funniest episode of the series, but in true Archer fashion it leaves on a cliffhanger that doesn’t give you any idea where the next season is going. I, literally as figuratively can get, have no idea what season 8 will look like. There are some easy options for them to “get back to normal”, but the show’s willingness to shake everything up leaves me unconvinced they will take the easy road. While some people are taking to the internet to have “The Reichenbach Fall”-esque discussions, I will patiently await the return of one of my favorite shows. I mean, no one is watching this show for its plot, right? Oh no, there are people who are super concerned about the plot of Archer aren’t there. Eat an entire bucket of di—

Ken’s Top 10 TV Episodes of 2016

1) Black Mirror, “San Junipero” (Season Three, Episode 4)
2) Black Mirror, “Nosedive” (Season Three, Episode 1)
3) Game of Thrones, “The Winds of Winter” (Season Six, Episode 10)
4) Sherlock, “The Abominable Bride” (Winter Special)
5) Stranger Things, “Chapter Five: The Flea and the Acrobat” (Season One, Episode 5)
6) Game of Thrones, “Battle of the Bastards” (Season Six, Episode 9)
7) The Night Of, “The Beach” (Season One, Episode 1)
8) Archer, “Deadly Velvet: Part 2” (Season Seven, Episode 10)
9) Black Mirror, “Men Against Fire” (Season Three, Episode 5)
10) Black Mirror, “Playtest” (Season Three, Episode 2)

Ash vs. the Evil Dead – “The Morgue”

(Season Two, Episode 2)

By Aaron Wittwer

As Ash Williams is being pulled into a corpse’s anus by a deadite, lamprey-like, large intestine; you have to wonder how it is possible that things have gone so, so right. How likely is it that an iconic, 35 year-old film trilogy could be revived as a 30-minute, episodic TV series with the same actor in lead, and not be terrible? This is a show that should not exist. It should not have been made. It’s the sort of show that should exist only in tantalizing rumor. The same sort of rumor we’ve heard for the past 20 years about a possible 4th Evil Dead film. The sort of rumor that any jaded consumer of popular media would dismiss out of hand. So how did we get here? A second season, no less? And a morgue scene that is at once beautiful, grotesque, and the one of greatest things to be put on television…maybe ever?

Bruce Campbell, of course, is a huge factor. He may be nearly 60, but he’s still as willing as ever to commit physically even if this means pratt-falling on deadite diarrhea or putting his head inside of a vivisected stomach, inches above a pierced corpse penis, while screaming in panic, “Oh God, I’m in the butt! I’m in the butt!” This is what Sam Raimi does best, and the fact that it’s not Sam Raimi behind the camera anymore makes it all the more impressive that the current crew is able to so acutely tap into the tone and style that made the original films so uniquely memorable.

However, the show doesn’t just rely on the fans’ nostalgia for the old series. The morgue scene may fit perfectly with the world, but it’s also not like anything the series has ever done. Like the films, the show excels at being unpredictable and surprising while still maintaining a plot and characters that we care about. Kelly, Pablo and Ruby don’t seem like they get too much to do this episode, but their scenes prove to be crucial place-setting for the rest of the season. Kelly spends her time beating up an overly aggressive local Sherriff who will play an integral part in the story to come. Meanwhile Ruby and Pablo get a moment alone for some uneasy and distrustful bonding, which leads to the introduction of the season’s big bad Baal.

In this way, since the show’s beginning, my initial fear that half hour episodes would feel rushed have long been put to rest. The efficiency and surprising subtlety with which this show moves the plot along is an extraordinary feat worthy of praise. There’s barely room to breathe from episode to episode; hardly any time is ever wasted and the manic energy level remains consistently faithful to the films. You’re never more than ten minutes away from a gloriously festive shower of blood and viscera. Even in this episode we get a second, entirely complimentary, deadite dismemberment sequence complete with chainsaw slinging, one liner spewing mayhem, culminating, of course, in a typically joyous decapitation

It’s a must-watch for all fans of horror, comedy, horror-comedy, and butthole monsters.

Aaron’s Top 10 TV Episodes of 2015 (Not including “The Morgue”)

1) Westworld, “The Adversary” (Season One, Episode 6)

2) Stranger Things, “Chapter Eight: The Upside Down” (Season One, Episode 8)

3) Quarry, “Seldom Realized” (Season One, Episode 4)

4) The Tick, “Pilot” (Season One, Episode One)

5) Narcos, “Al Fin Cayo!” (Season Two, Episode 10)

6) Lovesick, “Abigail: Part 2” (Season Two, Episode 8)

7) Game of Thrones, “Battle of the Bastards” (Season Six, Episode 9)

8) Catastrophe, “Episode 4” (Season Two, Episode 4)

9) Preacher, “Sundowner” (Season One, Episode 6)

10) The Last Man on Earth, “The Open-Ended Nature of Unwitnessed Deaths” (Season Three, Episode 6)

Atlanta – “The Club”

(Season One, Episode 8)

By Brandon Lugar

Gambino is a mastermind.

When Childish Gambino rapped that line in one of his songs, most would skip past it thinking it’s just another clever line in a song. Yet, that line could be the most accurate in all of music. Yes, I said all of music. Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino, does it all. He is a comedic writer, actor, stand-up comic, rapper, and all around just creative genius. So, when I heard he was creating his own show, Atlanta, I knew I had to watch every episode live.

Atlanta might be the best show I’ve seen on television in a long time. It’s a dramatic show that follows the struggles of Ern (Donald Glover) who becomes his cousin’s rap manager. The show is not a comedy, but you can’t help but laughing at a lot of the scenes because life can be so awkwardly funny. It seems like everything goes wrong to Ern who is just a single father who’s trying to make enough money for his daughter and for him to live. We also get to follow the progressions of Paper Boi, Ern’s cousin, and a bunch of the other people in Ern’s life.

My favorite episode of this season is hard to choose because I enjoyed all of them, but my favorite would be “The Club.” In this episode Paper Boi makes a club appearance in order to make some money. He gets frustrated as no one wants to party with him in his section. Meanwhile, Ern tries to collect the payment from the club manager who is very slippery and keeps avoiding making the payment. This episode shows how dumb people are at clubs. It also lets you know that Ern hates shots, which having him say multiple times does make you chuckle and as a college student, I have repeated his line of “I hate shots” every time someone pours one in front of me. This episode has you experiencing the life of a club from someone who doesn’t want to be there.

If you aren’t watching this show, get online and start watching it now. It is also available on iTunes.

Brandon’s Top 10 Episodes of 2016

1) Atlanta, “The Club” (Season One, Episode 8)
2) Game of Thrones, “Battle of the Bastards” (Season Six, Episode 9)
3) Game of Thrones, “The Door” (Season Six, Episode 5)
4) Silicon Valley, “Bachmanity Insanity” (Season Three, Episode 6)
5) Atlanta, “Juneteenth” (Season One, Episode 9)
6) Atlanta, “Nobody Beets the Biebs” (Season One, Episode 5)
7) Last Chance U, “It is What It Is” (Season One, Episode 6)
8) Atlanta, “The Big Bang” (Season One, Episode 1)
9) Silicon Valley, “The Uptick” (Season Three, Episode 10)
10) Game of Thrones, “The Winds of Winter” (Season Six, Episode 10)

BoJack Horseman – “Fish Out of Water”

(Season Three, Episode 4)

By Austin Lugar

When you’re in a funk, one of the first things people say is to change your environment. BoJack Horseman has always been about a horse who is severely depressed. At first he centered it around his failure as an actor as a sitcom has-been. In the incredible Season Three, he is confronted with success and he still feels terrible. He is on the soulless Oscar campaign of a performance that doesn’t even resemble the work he put into it. Yet, pretty much the only thing pushing him forward is the hope that maybe this award will make him feel anything.

In the series’ highest achievement so far, the show showed as aspect of its universe never before seen. The show has always lived in a strange world with anthropomorphized animals who exist alongside humans. The main characters of the show include a horse, a dog and a cat for the series takes place primarily in Hollywoo. In “Fish Out of Water”, BoJack’s Secretariat film is playing at the Pacific Ocean Film Festival and he has to go to an underwater world.

In order to survive in a land with no oxygen, a large helmet is added to BoJack’s iconic sweater and jacket get-up. The helmet not only keeps the air in, it also keeps the sound in. For almost the entire episode, BoJack is completely silent (and completely sober). This causes him not only to confront his own sadness, it also makes him even more aware about the lack of connections in his life.

The two people that are important to him in this episode are this baby seahorse who he finds and tries to get back to his family, in a wonderful Chaplin-esque quest. The other is the director of Secretariat who he treated poorly and has ruined their relationship. As BoJack keeps trying to give her a letter of apology, his surroundings constantly stop his attempts. The fate of the bus, the nature of water and the past of what he’s done.

While the past is up in question, the new relationship with the child takes precedent. BoJack has always been an irresponsible narcissist and, it’s true, that having to care for a child is familiar territory. Unlike half-baked romantic comedies, watching BoJack struggle to keep this child safe feels tremendous because we have seen him fail so hard in the past. When BoJack was a TV star, he played a sitcom father to three children, all of which grew up to have horrible lives. Season Three emotionally explores his greatest failure of how Sarah Lynn grew up and “Fish Out of Water” serves as a step towards forgiveness.

Silent episodes have been done before in television to great success, but none captured the beauty of silence. BoJack Horseman is a comedy—did I mention this is a comedy?—that deserves to be viewed multiple times based on the density of jokes they hide in a frame. The puns, the repetition, the absurdity all add up to a textured universe that is filled with things that BoJack rarely recognizes. (Props on him though for being the only one to see the truth of Vincent Adultman.) Not being able to see what is right in front of him, created the awe-inspiring moment when he discovers he can swim. Before this triumphant moment, everybody was walking on the ocean floor like the gravity that is in Spongebob Squarepants. For a horse who almost never experiences joy, BoJack has this moment where he gets to fly.

At the end, as it always does, BoJack Horseman ends the story on a note of melancholy and responsibility. Even when you are in the ocean, communication is never impossible. You cannot blame your surroundings for your shortcomings, you must also look inward. Every episode as BoJack becomes more aware of these faults, there is the uncertainty of if it will lead to any sort of inner peace for the character. For this moment though, it felt like BoJack believed he was closest to being the best version of himself.

Austin’s Top 10 Episodes of 2016

1) BoJack Horseman, “Fish Out of Water” (Season Three, Episode 4)
2) Black Mirror, “San Junipero” (Season Three, Episode 4)
3) The Grinder, “Grinder vs. Grinder” (Season One, Episode 13)
4) The Night Of, “The Beach” (Season One, Episode 1)
5) Veep, “Kissing Your Sister” (Season Five, Episode 9)
6) Black-ish, “Hope” (Season Two, Episode 16)
7) High Maintenance, “Grandpa” (Season Seven, Episode 3)
8) Game of Thrones, “Battle of the Bastards” (Season Six, Episode 9)
9) Outlander, “Through a Glass, Darkly” (Season Two, Episode 1)
10) Documentary Now!, “Mr. Runner Up: My Life as an Oscar Bridesmaid” (Season Two, Episodes 6 & 7)

Runner Ups: “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia” American Crime Story, “B.A.N.” Atlanta, “The Wedding” The Detour, “The Bunker” Documentary Now!, “Battle of the Three Armies” Galavant, “The Winds of Winter” Game of Thrones, “Episode 10”, Horace and Pete, “Chapter Forty-Six” Jane the Virgin, “Toast Can’t Never Be Bread Again” Orange is the New Black, and “Punchline” Take My Wife.

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow – “Abominations”

(Season Two, Episode 4)

By Josh West

It’s that time again! Austin has asked for his friends and colleagues to write about television! When I put it that way it almost sounds like something normal people do. I’ve heard a lot of people talk about how there are so many great new shows like Westworld and The Good Place. Every time I hear about these cool new shows, I think it would fun to start something new. Then my good friends at The CW distract me with something shiny, or someone’s butt, or a new superhero/villain and I am right back CWTV.com because I’m a millennial who doesn’t watch TV on TV; I watch it on my computer.

One recent episode of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow caught my eye and I immediately thought about this article. “Abominations” caught my eye at first because it started with a time pirate who had accidentally travelled back to 1863 Louisiana and introduced a virus that caused people to become zombies! I was hooked. But the zombie plot was a very small part of the episode and it soon got into some deeper stuff. This episode focused primarily on Jax and Amaya, our two African-American team members. Throughout the episode they come face-to-face with what it was like to be a slave during this time in American history. At the beginning of the episode Jax tried very hard to play the mission by the book. When they see a slave woman being whipped by her master, he tells Amaya (she’s pretty new to the team at this point) that they can’t interfere because they might alter time. Jax, needing to find some Confederate battle plans for General Grant, passes himself off as another slave at a cotillion. In a room full of racist white southerners, Jax makes a mistake by “taking a woman by the hand and speaking to her directly.” This gets Jax locked up in the barn with the other slaves. He tries to understand why they don’t run away, or fight back. The slaves talk about how if they tried to escape and were caught, they would be maimed, castrated, or mauled by dogs. They also talked about how their owners want them to submit and there is no way they will.

Amaya infiltrates the party, putting on a southern belle accent and sure enough, some racist white guy wants to teach her “how to speak to (her) betters.” He takes her to the barn where she knocks him out and unchains Jax and the slaves. Jax tells her they need to release the slaves and make sure they get to safety. Amaya asks about the timeline and Jax says the way slaves are treated is way worse than any time aberration they could create.

There’s a bunch of other scenes that deal with Confederate zombies, and the two science nerds on the team having to fight the zombie version of the strongest member of the team. It was all very silly. But at the end of the episode, Jax and Professor Stein talk. (Sidenote: Jax and Professor Stein fuse together to make Firestorm, this also means that they have a mental connection. Not that they can hear each other’s thoughts, but they can tell how the other one is feeling. Think of it as like that whole twins thing but a little bit stronger.) Stein asks how Jax is doing, saying that he just saw the worst of humanity and that he cannot fathom what Jax is going through. This final scene was really powerful. The weight of the situation could be felt between the two actors. My words can’t do it justice.

I don’t usually care about historical TV shows or episodes, but this episode was great. I haven’t seen another show cover slavery and the Civil War like this episode did. It was not pretty, nor did they try to make everything ok. Legends of Tomorrow is usually the goofy, light-hearted, team up show for The CW, but having an episode like this that, where they didn’t try to make such a serious topic goofy, really stood out to me. Also, how they fixed the zombie problem was pretty ridiculous.

Josh’s Top 10 Episodes of 2016

1) The Flash, “Invasion!” (Season Three, Episode 8); Arrow, “Invasion!” (Season Five, Episode 8); DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, “Invasion!” (Season Two, Episode 7)
2) Supergirl, “Changing” (Season Two, Episode 6)
3) The Flash, “Killer Frost” (Season Three, Episode 7)
4) The Flash, “The Race of His Life” (Season Two, Episode 23)
5) Steven Universe, “Beach City Drift” (Season Three, Episode 11)
6) The Walking Dead, “The Day Will Come When You Won’t Be” (Season Seven, Episode 1)
7) Supergirl, “The Adventures of Supergirl” (Season Two, Episode 1)
8) The Walking Dead, “The Cell” (Season Seven, Episode 3)
9) Scream Queens, “Loving the D” (Season Two, Episode 9)
10) Steven Universe, “Kindergarten Kid” (Season Four, Episode 1)

The Fall – “Their Solitary Way”

(Season Three, Episode 6)

By Sidney DeLeonardo

The following review contains major spoilers about the end of the series.

The final episode of Allan Cubitt’s The Fall brought together all the missing pieces and lose ends of the series. All that needed to be explained was finally explained. The methodical, sometimes almost painfully slow pacing, especially of the first two episodes of series three paid off. The conclusion could have been no other than what we have been given. Cubitt has endeavored to give voice to all the women victimized by Paul Spector. This has been his stated intent from the beginning, to tell a story about violence against women without glamorizing the violence and without leaving the victims voiceless. Walking the line between exploitation and grit is challenging, but Cubitt has done a splendid job. The final episode of the show has been the culmination of that intent. The graphic depiction of Paul’s final acts of violence, against Stella Gibson and himself, were powerful and grueling to watch. Gillian Anderson tweeted a photo during filming of her face covered in bruises so I knew Stella be would be attacked. It was just a matter of when and by whom. The when could not have been more surprising. The who was sort of a forgone conclusion. Paul’s desire to attack Stella was boiling beneath the surface since he first saw her talking about him on the news. Knowing did not prepare me for the surprise and brutality of Paul’s attack on Stella. Throughout the series Stella has been unafraid in the face of thugs blocking her car in a dark lonely street and unintimidated by pushy journalists. She has appeared virtually invulnerable to the stresses of the case, and unmatched in her ability to think in a crisis. In their final showdown she is no different. Even after the attack she shows no weakness beyond the inevitable.

Stella sits in the interrogation room across from Spector and his lawyer with an impermeable expression. She is a warrior waiting for battle, but unaware that the battle will turn physical. Stella quoted Margaret Atwood early in the series. “Men are afraid that women will laugh at them, women are afraid that men will kill them”. Stella does not laugh at Paul, but she purposefully pushes his buttons, drawing him out of his comfort zone, and challenging his sense of self. Her intention is to break his cool exterior and expose his penchant for violence. She is sure in her knowledge of his character that he will not keep up his charade when pressed. His response to her subtle challenges of his narrative is a physical assault so brutal, expert, and quick that he does some serious damage before anyone in the interrogation room can restrain him. Had they been alone he would have killed her.

This scene plays out similarly to Stella’s previous interrogation of Paul and their only other direct communication, a phone call at the end of the first season. Paul begins each conversation by explaining his behavior. He is the center of attention, powerful and in control as he talks about his “projects” (what he calls the women he stalks and murders) and what motivates them. His words deny the humanity of his victims. It is not about them, but about the enigma of the why of his actions. That is what fascinates so many of us. It is perhaps why we watch programs about killers. The Fall does not dwell on Paul’s motivations and Stella is anything but fascinated. It is not why he does what he does, but the all too human cost of his actions that motivates Stella and that ultimately propels the narrative of The Fall. Stella takes away the allure of the enigma. She strips him of his power and control over the conversation, leaving him angry, vulnerable, and exposed. This shift in power is also a shift of perspective, allowing us to remember Paul’s victims. He has killed more women than previously expected. He has stalked and dehumanized countless more. Yes, Paul had a tragic childhood. His pain is real. His pain is deep. Paul speaks eloquently about his personal brand of nihilism, but the darkness of his worldview does not make it correct. He sees his violations and his murders as art. He keeps beautiful and artistic records of his crimes. Through Stella’s continued challenging of Paul and his violent response to her challenges, we are reminded that cruelty does not justify art. That human beings are more important than creative expression. Spector is the extreme manifestation of many artists; Polanski, Picasso, Hemmingway, Allen, Gauguin, etc., who have breached limits of ethical behavior in the name of their art. Spector is Bertolucci and Brando traumatizing Maria Schneider for the sake of verisimilitude. This is a thinly veiled attempt to disguise, in Stella’s words “misogyny, age old violence against women” and pure sadism, as art. Paul sees his actions as excusable because his worldview is better, his art is better, and his needs are more important. The Fall never portrays Paul as the embodiment of evil. He is worthy of empathy, but he is not to be admired. His actions are not justifiable.

Too often violence, especially sexual violence, is glamorized and eroticized. When Paul attacks Stella we do not see a strong man, we see a man out of control. We see him punch her hard in the face more than once. We see her fall to the ground. We see him kick her with all his force repeatedly in the ribs. It is gut wrenching. We see that that moment of dominance was worth more to him than ever getting to see his children again. Was worth more than any sort of leniency a judge might have given him. We see that giving into his darkest desires was not the freeing experience Paul claims, but a reckless abandon into mental illness. Paul’s later suicide confirms that he chose death the first time he set out to kill another person.

Series three, especially this episode, has given us more insight into Stella than the first two. Previously we have only known her through her decisive and calculated actions. This series she has been more emotional. We have seen the effect the case has had on her, but she is powerful in her emotions. Her emotional responses to Paul’s most difficult to understand victims help the audience see them more clearly. When Paul’s wife, Sally Ann attempts to kill herself and her children, Stella does not blame her, but blames the justice system’s insistence on prosecuting Sally Ann for her ignorance. Her outrage over the justice system’s lack of empathy for Sally Ann reminds us all that Sally Ann is more than just the witless spouse of a crazed man. Stella’s ability to connect with the much misunderstood and underexplored Katie Benedetto finally made sense of that character and gave us long-awaited information regarding Stella’s own mysterious background. The advice she gives Katie made sense of Katie’s self-destructive refusal to give up her love and obsession for Paul. Where Paul’s emotions debilitate and strangle him, Stella’s give her strength. Strength to act and strength of purpose.

The series fittingly ends where it began. We first saw Stella cleaning her bathroom. This is the only time we see her doing something so mundane until the end. We leave Stella back at home in London. This time she is sorting through a stack of mail, accumulated over her extended tenure in Belfast, and having a much deserved glass of wine. Stella’s victory is bittersweet or maybe just bitter. She caught the killer, but in death he slipped from her grasp. She did not get the justice she so deeply wanted for the families of his victims. He chose to end things on his terms. She got to him, but he got to her too. A stalemate at best. What lasting effects the trauma of the case will have on Stella are unclear. I believe she will make sense of things, continue to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves, and enjoy further one night stands with attractive young men she picks up wherever she sees fit.

Sidney’s Top 10 Episodes of 2016

1) Better Things, “Future Fever” (Season One, Episode 5)
2) Sensitive Skin, “Episode 201” (Season Two, Episode 1)
3) Black Mirror, “San Junipero” (Season Three, Episode 4)
4) Orange is the New Black, “The Animals” (Season Four, Episode 12)
5) The Affair, “302” (Season Three, Episode 2)
6) UnReal, “Ambush” (Season Two, Episode 7)
7) Fleabag, “Episode 6” (Season One, Episode 6)
8) The X-Files, “Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster” (Season Ten, Episode 3)
9) Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, “Fall” (Season One, Episode 4)
10) The Exorcist, “Father of Lies” (Season One, Episode 7)

Fleabag – “Episode 4”

(Season One, Episode 4)

By J.C. Pankratz

It’s nearly impossible to single out an episode from Fleabag–the six-episode series makes use of every piquant, hilarious, and heartbreaking second it has at its disposal. In short, Fleabag, who talks to the audience just as much as anyone she’s onscreen with, is a thirty-year-old woman coping with her best friend’s death in any way she can, whether it be sex, drinking, or just denial. It’s grief, plain and simple, at its most accurate and all-encompassing.

The series’ fourth episode, where Fleabag and her sister are whisked away to a silent retreat for the weekend, is the opposite of calm. The relationship between the two is the best and most complicated on the show, and this episode lets us see it from all angles. From gag-worthy antics (see: Fleabag, going through her sister’s bags like a bloodhound in search of a vibrator) to a sisterly who’s-on-first style rendition of finishing each other’s sentences that ends in a roadside nervous breakdown, the episode succinctly displays how wretchedly well they know each other. There’s a wonderful moment where Fleabag badgers her into revealing what’s been bothering her for the entire weekend by threatening to scream–and gets a breath of it out before her sister reveals all. The timing is so perfect as to be genetic.

It wouldn’t be Fleabag if every moment of human connection wasn’t immediately made bittersweet by tragedy–when Fleabag crawls into bed, her sister grabs her hand and Fleabag shares a small, genuine smile with us. When she wakes up and her sister is gone, it sends her into a spiral. We watch Fleabag secret herself in an empty classroom, pull a forbidden cellphone out of her yoga pants, and call her best friend’s voicemail. She deadpans at us after, “Somebody should really disconnect that.” At the end of the day, Fleabag is always alone.

J.C.’s Top Five Episodes of the Year

1) I Love Dick, “Pilot” (Season One, Episode 1)
2) The Crown, “Windsor” (Season One, Episode 3)
3) Transparent, Judith Light’s performance
4) The 2016 Summer Olympics
5) Game of Thrones, “The Door” (Season Six, Episode 5)

Game of Thrones – “Battle of the Bastards”

(Season Six, Episode 9)

By Alex Manzo

I had quite a debate between two Game of Thrones episodes to top my list. “Battle of the Bastards” was the episode we had all been waiting for. It was the epic battle we hoped for with the death we’ve been fantasizing for years. I questioned if Thrones would ever manage to top it. Then, the next week came “The Winds of Winter.” I am fairly certain I re-watched the opening sequence of “The Winds of Winter” about 65 times because I think it is a goddamn masterpiece. Anyway, as good as “The Winds of Winter” was, I maintain that “Battle of the Bastards” was a better episode overall, which is why it tops my list and why I chose to write about it.

I was utterly terrified going into “Bastards”. Any Thrones viewer knows that there are no happy endings on this show. Getting your hopes up is a huge mistake, because it will inevitably end with you sobbing on your couch. Damn though, I just couldn’t help but get my hopes up that Ramsay Bolton was going to end up super dead. I mean, surely they weren’t going to kill Jon Snow AGAIN. And they didn’t. Goddammit, they did everything we hoped for and more.

Let’s talk about this battle. First of all, zig-zag Rickon, zig-zag. RIP. After Jon Snow did the stupid thing we knew he was all going to do, all we could do was sit on the edge of our seats while an epic, gruesome battle took place before us. Can we discuss how epic this shot is?

That’s just a beautiful piece of filmmaking. The entire battle was an immersive, gut-wrenching experience. You could never quite figure out what was going on, and that’s the point. I can think of few movies (LET ALONE TV SHOWS) that have shown what these battles must have truly been like. Also, that ending. Way to be a great brother Jon Snow and leave the murdering to your sister. Clearly, Sansa deserve this moment, and damn was it fucked up.

Not to mention, all of this followed a pretty epic scene in Meereen too. How often do dragons destroy a fleet of ships and Ramsay Bolton gets his face eaten off in the same episode? What a time to be alive.

Alex’s Top 10 Episodes of 2016

1) Game of Thrones, “Battle of the Bastards” (Season Six, Episode 9)
2) Game of Thrones, “The Winds of Winter” (Season Six, Episode 10)
3) Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, “Fall” (Season Eight, Episode 4) (DO NOT JUDGE ME I HAVE BEEN WAITING LIKE A DECADE FOR THIS)
4) The Crown, “Hyde Park Corner” (Season One, Episode 2)
5) Stranger Things, “Chapter Eight: The Upside Down” (Season One, Episode 8)
6) Stranger Things, “Chapter Seven: The Bathtub” (Season One, Episode 7)
7) Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, “Winter” (Season Eight, Episode 1)
8) Game of Thrones, “The Door” (Season Six, Episode 5)
9) Jane the Virgin, “Chapter Forty-Four” (Season Two, Episode 22)

Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life – “Winter”

(Season Eight, Episode 1)

By Daron McGrady

ALL THE FEELINGS!!! Any long time viewer of Gilmore Girls will know what I mean. It made me laugh. It made me cry. It filled me up with a warm fuzzy feeling inside. This show hit me particularly hard because like many people my age, I grew up watching these characters. It’s difficult to describe what exactly makes this show so loveable to someone who has never seen it. On the surface level, its unique, rapid-fire dialogue, chock full of pop culture references, is a big part of its charm. However, what makes the show really wonderful is the relationships between all of the characters. It explores so many different types of relationships that all feel genuine and relatable. The biggest one it examines is the mother-daughter dynamic, which couldn’t be more different between Lorelai & Rory and Emily & Lorelai. It also looks at romantic relationships, work relationships, friendships and community relationships. It was so nice to see a lot of familiar faces come back for A Year in the Life in brief cameos. Everyone from Miss Patty to the town troubadour have their moments in the new series.

The show is broken up into four hour and a half long episodes named after the four seasons. I contemplated writing about the last episode “Fall” due to those four last words but the first episode is really where they set up all the important arcs for the season. “Winter” immediately draws you back into the world of Star’s Hollow you remember with a chorus of quotations from the original show as the opening credits roll, including one from the late Richard Gilmore. Edward Herrmann, who portrayed Richard in the original show, died from brain cancer when the show was off the air, making the depiction of his character’s funeral in this episode absolutely heart wrenching.

The scene that stuck with me the most from the entire season comes right after the funeral when Emily and Lorelai get into the worst fight of all of Gilmore Girls history. Emily is really the star of this scene. Heartbroken after the loss of her husband and upset by Lorelai’s behavior, she unleashes all of her pain on her daughter, critiquing her entire character. Even though Emily is vicious and a little unfair, I can’t help but feel for her. Especially when she asks “What did we do to you that filled you with such contempt? Love you? Support you? Love Rory? Support Rory?”. While their relationship has always been strained, Emily has also always loved her daughter and tried to do the best she could for her.

There are a lot of other fantastic subplots in this episode including Petal the Pig, Tayor’s sewer system campaign, Luke’s wifi lie, surrogacy, Rory’s book on Naomi (aka River Song to the Whovians out there), the ööö-ber business, Rory’s fling with Logan, Emily de-cluttering her life, the pop-up chefs, Michel’s baby issues, stress tap dancing and the bigger than life portrait. All of these come together balancing pure comedy with heartfelt content. I don’t often cry when watching TV shows or movies but watching this episode I was a mess. Yet somehow, it was still hilarious.

I was hesitant to watch this new season thinking it might not live up to the previous seasons, but it did. It included everything about the original show that made it great. For long time fans, it referenced so many running jokes from the original show and followed up on so many rotating characters. While the short season format didn’t leave as much room for all the little endearing moments, it didn’t hinder them either.

Daron’s Top 10 Episodes of 2016

1) The Fall, “Their Solitary Way” (Season Three, Episode 6)
2) Black Mirror, “San Junipero” (Season Three, Episode 4)
3) Game of Thrones, “Battle of the Bastards” (Season Six, Episode 9)
4) Stranger Things, “Chapter Six: The Monster” (Season One, Episode 6)
5) Girls, “Hello Kitty” (Season Five, Episode 7)
6) Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, “Fall” (Season Eight, Episode 4)
7) Outlander, “Dragonfly in Amber” (Season Two, Episode 13)
8) The Night Manager, “Episode 1” (Season One, Episode 1)
9) The X-Files, “Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster” (Season Ten, Episode 3)
10) Masterchef Junior, “The Finale” (Season Four, Episode 12)

Gravity Falls – “Weirdmageddon Part 3”

(Season Two, Episode 20)

By Keith Jackson

My wife and I got into Gravity Falls at seemingly the most inopportune time.

We first saw it on TV in our hotel room at–where else–Disney World. Neither of us knew too much about it. Why would we? It’s a Disney XD show. We’re not exactly their demographic. But the episode we saw had great artwork, animation, engaging plot, a unique sense of humor, and a guest voice by Patton Oswalt as an evil mini-golf ball creature. When we got back home, we binged the entire series up to that point. It was fantastic. Paraphrasing Grunkle Stan, the great uncle of the twin protagonists, states in one episode: “I’ll have you know that [Gravity Falls] has a big mystery element, and a lot of humor that goes over kids’ heads!”

I liken it to The Simpsons in a way: a large cast of assorted characters that makes you feel familiarity within this remote, fictional Oregon town, with plenty of witty humor. Where it differs is there isn’t a “reset” after the craziness in an episode: the show is pretty serialized, which means there are some real stakes involved. There’s an amazing lore and air of mystique. Time travel gets involved, extra-dimensional beings, all sorts of bizarre happenings. The show’s main villain, which you really get a sense of foreboding from as the seasons go on, is pretty dark: there’s some pretty legit malicious talk of killing children. In a Disney show!

Anyway, so, we binge-watch every episode available, a few more new episodes go by (taking several months for just a handful of episodes to air)… and the creator, Alex Hirsch, announces it’s ending. What? We finally get into this show, which is by all accounts at its peak, and it’s ending? Well, turns out there’s a reason for its brevity. And it’s a great, poignant one. It’s amazing it’s able to end on its terms, and Hirsch clearly intends the show has a defined beginning and end. I wasn’t prepared for the ride those last episodes would take us on, culminating in 2016’s sole episode and the series finale: “Weirdmageddon Part 3”.

A major theme of the first two parts of Weirdmageddon is the bond between the siblings in the show (Dipper/Mabel, Stan/Ford, voiced by Jason Ritter, Kristen Schaal, Hirsch, and J.K. Simmons respectively) and how that bond is broken. An argument leads to Mabel retreating and being caught by the big bad, Bill Cipher (Hirsch again), who recently finally achieved his goal of gaining physical form. Dipper goes to save her, but the “prison” Bill puts Mabel in is actually everything Mabel wants, refusing to grow up and not acknowledging her brother might choose not to go back home to California instead staying with Ford. Later in Part 3, Stan and Ford–who have been at odds ever since the latter was introduced to the series–still can’t get along, Stan bitter after Ford doesn’t thank him for rescuing him in an earlier episode. They can’t get over their minor quibbles as well as their major resentments. In both of these cases, the emotional stakes of the characters are strong, and you really understand the hurt feelings and troubled introspection involved. But all of this must be hashed out in order to prevent Bill from escaping Gravity Falls and releasing his dimension to the rest of the world.

However, the theme of the whole series is evident in the conclusion, and the aforementioned brevity of the show. The series takes place over the course of one summer leading up to Mabel and Dipper’s 13th birthday. It’s fleeting, as summer vacations were back in grade school. The adventures have to come to an end and you have to go back to regular life. The protagonists are growing up, will eventually lead their own lives, and the events in Gravity Falls will just be a thing of the past. Just as the series exists, in our world, as something especially unique and memorable.

(And not mentioned enough in this is how funny the show is. It’s not a bunch of G-rated fart jokes or whatever you’d expect from an animated Disney TV show; it’s nuanced, well-written, still silly, something all its own. When Stan says that about jokes that go over kids’ heads, it’s not because it’s secretly raunchy, but more… for example, Dipper is going to get into a fight, Grunkle Stan tells Dipper to “bonk him over the head” as it’s “nature’s snooze button.” Then Mabel responds, “Boys. Why don’t you learn how to hate each other in secret? Like girls do!

How do you really describe humor, except to say: watch the entire series to see what I mean! Feel free to start with “The Golf War”, like we did, to get a sampling before starting from the beginning.)

Keith’s Top 10 Episodes of 2016

1) Billy on the Street, “Immigrant, or Real American? With Jon Hamm!” (Season Five, Episode 1)
2) Game of Thrones, “The Door” (Season Six, Episode 5)
3) Gravity Falls, “Weirdmageddon Part 3” (Season Two, Episode 20)
4) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, “Proposal for a Border Wall Between US and Mexico” (Season Three, Episode 6)
5) Great Performances, “Hamilton’s America”
6) Stranger Things, “Chapter Eight: The Upside Down” (Season One, Episode 8)
7) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, “Multi-Level Marketing” (Season Three, Episode 29)
8) Game of Thrones, “Battle of the Bastards” (Season Six, Episode 9)
9) Veep, “Inauguration” (Season Five, Episode 10)
10) Grease Live!

Happy Valley – “Episode 6”

(Season Two, Episode 6)

By Jackie Jones

“What a shit week!”

In the television series Happy Valley, Sarah Lancashire plays the tough but tender Sergeant Catherine Cawood of the West Yorkshire Police. Catherine lives with her sister Clare (a recovering addict) and her grandson Ryan (whose mother, Catherine’s daughter, committed suicide and whose father, Tommy, is in prison for murder). This season sees Catherine trying to move on from the harrowing events that occurred 18 months earlier, just as a new serial killer begins to make his rounds. Poor broad can’t catch a break.

In another part of town, police detective John Wadsworth is facing blackmail from a woman with whom he had previously had an affair. Not able to see any way out, he sort of stumbles his way into killing her. As a detective assigned to the string of serial killings, he hopes that by staging his murder like the others he will be able to hide his guilt and get off scotch free. Unfortunately for him, and for the women of West Yorkshire, his cover-up provokes the serial killer to strike again.

As Catherine is investigating a human trafficking ring along with the recent murders, it comes to her attention that a female teacher in Ryan’s school is attempting to instill a positive image in Ryan’s head of his father on behalf of Tommy. This is an especially upsetting bit of information, because after Tommy poured gasoline on Ryan 18 months earlier and tried to set himself and Ryan on fire, he has been prohibited from having any contact with him. Oh, around that time he had also murdered a police officer, kidnapped and raped a young woman, and then almost beat Catherine to death. Come on, really? She can’t get just one little break?

In the season finale, as you would expect, everything comes to a head. For some lives are shattered, for others they are ended.

It does my heart good to see so many incredible women involved in this series. Creator/writer Sally Wainwright delivers tense and horrific situations, along with a little shot of clever humor to break tension very briefly before the next tense and horrific situation. Every episode I feel either my heart or my jaw drop, followed quickly by a hard chuckle.

Please watch this show. Do it. The acting is impressively strong, but ultimately it’s the writing that will knock you flat on your ass.

I’m afraid I spent most of my year catching up on older television series and having my socks knocked off by David Attenborough, so I don’t have much of a top ten.

Jackie’s Top 10 Episodes of 2016

1) Happy Valley, “Episode 6” (Season Two, Episode 6)
2) Sherlock, “The Abominable Bride”
3) Stranger Things, “Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers” (Season 1, Episode 1)
4) Happy Valley, “Episode 1” (Season Two, Episode 1)
5) Happy Valley, “Episode 3” (Season Two, Episode 3)
6) Stranger Things, “Chapter Two: The Weirdo on Maple Street” (Season 1, Episode 2)
7) Stranger Things, “Chapter Three: Holly Jolly” (Season 1, Episode 3)
8) Stranger Things, “Chapter Five: The Flea and the Acrobat” (Season 1, Episode 5)
9) Penny Dreadful, “The Blessed Dark” (Season 3, Episode 8)
10) Penny Dreadful, “A Blade of Grass” (Season 3, Episode 4)

The Hollow Crown – “Richard III”

(Season Two, Episode 3)

By Tara Olivero

I had high hopes going into this season of The Hollow Crown after the first trilogy which took on the Henriad and pulled it off brilliantly. A lifetime fan of both Shakespearean plays and, in general, BBC productions, I’d be a sucker for whatever they chose to do next, I’m sure. For this second season, they dove right into the War of the Roses and finished out by bravely tackling the deeply, delightfully dark Richard III; in the end, the series comes out victorious, thankfully unlike the doomed king himself.

Richard’s first and probably most famous monologue – “Now is the winter of our discontent” – opens the episode, with Benedict Cumberbatch’s Richard giving the monologue directly to the viewers, in a room darkened with shadows, his CGI’d hunchback prominently displayed as the camera circles where he crouches almost protectively over his chessboard. His Richard is like House of Cards’ Frank Underwood; he makes direct eye contact with the camera at key moments, not shying away from the sinister details of his plans. He clarifies: “I am determined to prove a villain,” his mouth cocked just slightly in a sly smile that seems to draw us in as his compatriots, though we never asked to be.

In all honesty, the series builds towards this culmination for the first two episodes of the series, with Richard being given the opportunity to provide these darkly foreboding audience asides throughout. He was always lurking in the background of the action, distanced and subdued. But in this third episode, the directors give Cumberbatch free reign to fully embrace the straight-up evilness of the character; his Richard makes it clear that the drawn-out drama surrounding the English crown has a new star player, and it’s him. In the last look he gives the camera before the title sequence begins to roll, he embodies pure power – and if I’m being honest, I was more than a little frightened. Everything was as it should be.

But the two standout stars of the episode, other than Cumberbatch himself, are the lighting and the brilliant foreshadowing and motifs throughout.

The lighting is, simply put, stunningly executed. From overhead lighting that casts just the right shadows on Cumberbatch’s face to highlight his uncannily sharp facial structure and light him up like a living skull, to the musty yellow tint and eerie edge lighting that lingers in the scenes where the nobility first begin to crumble under the weight of Richard’s persuasive pressure – the lighting should honestly be considered a character in itself. I revelled in the lighting direction for the full length of this episode.

Certain repeated motifs also earned my utmost appreciation, especially since images are another aspect of the play that shift with each production and reinvention of the story. A familiar image of Richard in front of his chessboard, ever-debating which move to play next, highlights his gleeful villainy and the idea that he treats murder as lightly as taking a pawn in a game. I haven’t seen many other productions of Richard III on stage or screen, but I can’t imagine that’s an unfamiliar concept to play with. However, a moment that stood out more strongly – and one that appears in a number of these political-discussions-over-chess scenes – is the tapping of Richard’s fingers on the table. Duh-DUM, duh-DUM, duh-DUM. It’s the rhythm of iambic pentameter, Richard’s own heartbeat, and later, more obviously, the sound of a horse’s gallop, a smart piece of foreshadowing that anyone who’s familiar with Richard’s famous end would be impressed with (“A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse”). His tapping gets faster and more insistent, and with even more dramatic close-ups, the closer Richard moves towards his ultimate fate.

In terms of cinematic ingenuity, the motif of reflections, especially in mirrors, echoes through the episode even more impressively. One thematic element that recurs in the text is the idea of characters telling, or being told, hints about the future. The play even starts with the current king, Edward, hearing a prophecy about who will murder his heirs, which he interprets completely incorrectly. Prophecies and curses for the future continue to surround Richard throughout his rise to the throne. When the previously banished Queen Margaret, widow of the murdered Henry VI from the previous episode, slinks into the court to give her own warnings, she brings with her a small mirror that fits in the palm of her hand. As the audience, we get brief flashes of both the past and the future as she uses the mirror to show the powerful-for-now members of the court what fate has in store for them. Hint: nothing good.

Sophie Okonedo, whose Margaret in the previous two episodes of the series was a character of stunning strength and force in both politics and physical battle, is reminiscent of one of the Scottish play’s Weird Sisters in this scene, her previously regal attire now drab and torn to shreds, her now-greyed hair in disarray. In fact, visually, her character seems to have reversed roles with Richard himself, whose long hair and dingy clothes have been trimmed and cleaned up sharply as he catapults himself closer to the throne. It’s now Richard in control, with Margaret isolated and ostracized.

But with her mirror, she once again rests power back, even if just for a moment. The repetition of cracked mirrors and reflections throughout the episode draw attention to how Richard’s carefully crafted facade begins to crumble more and more. His monologues to the camera grow unhinged, his eye contact frantic and the camera angles increasingly slanted. Like the broken mirror, Richard falls to pieces beautifully.

Queen Margaret’s mirror shows up again later in the episode as Richard is again given hints about what is to come for him as consequence to his villainy. In the end, after Richard is stabbed to death in a gruesome yet well-deserved murder on the battlefield, Okonedo’s Margaret is there, her mirror in hand.

It’s a stunningly crafted episode and easily my favorite two hours of television in 2016. Even if you haven’t read or seen the play before, it’s worth at least one viewing. Skip the War of the Roses if you need to. This final episode is what really shines.

Tara’s Top 10 Episodes of 2016

1) The Hollow Crown, “Richard III” (Season Two, Episode 3)
2) Stranger Things, “Episode One: The Vanishing of Will Byers” (Season One, Episode 1)
3) Game of Thrones, “Battle of the Bastards” (Season Six, Episode 9)
4) Westworld, “The Original” (Season One, Episode 1)
5) Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, “That Text Was Not Meant for Josh!” (Season One, Episode 11)
6) The Crown, “Smoke and Mirrors” (Season One, Episode 5)
7) Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, “Kimmy Finds Her Mom!” (Season Two, Episode 13)
8) Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, “Winter” (Season One, Episode 1)
9) Marvel’s Luke Cage, “Moment of Truth” (Season One, Episode 1)
10) Supergirl, “Medusa” (Season Two, Episode 8)

Insecure – “Broken as Fuck”

(Season One, Episode 8)

By Claudia Johnson

If you haven’t seen Insecure or have heard of Issa Rae then you are missing out on one this year’s best shows. The creator of the web series “Awkward Black Girl” was finally given the opportunity to bring black women to the forefront in a thought provoking dramatic comedy. Throughout the series issues like being the token black person at a non-profit, being “too black” at work and the double standards of men sexual experimentation, are just a few of the topics tackled in the eight episode season. The main story throughout the series is Issa’s (character shares same name as show creator) relationship with her boyfriend Lawrence, which hangs in the balance during the season finale.

Relationships can be hard when expectations, unrealistic or not, aren’t met and there is an unwillingness to walk away from a situation that is no longer desirable. In the beginning of the series, Issa hates her job and feels stuck in her long term relationship where she supports her unemployed boyfriend. Lawrence feels hopeless in his pursuit of his dream career but clearly loves his girlfriend. As the series progresses Issa and Lawrence are tempted to go outside of the relationship. Lawrence stays faithful, Issa does not. And just when you think things are looking up, Issa’s hard work at her job pays off and she finally is satisfied with her role at the non-profit and Lawrence has a great job at a tech company, everything goes to hell in a hand basket when Lawrence finds out about the other guy.

Up until the ending of the season finale the audience are left wondering, will Issa and Lawrence patch things up? Issa struggles with the ramifications of her decision. While at her friends birthday weekend getaway she hides that Lawrence left her. On the flip side of the coin Lawrence is with his friends and they are encouraging him to enjoy his new single status. (It was actually a pretty funny scene. A bunch of guys talking about relationships surrounded by strippers.) Other characters have their storylines and plot, like Molly and her “inability to keep a man”.

I won’t give away the ending. It is too amazing to be spoiled in my half-way decent explanation on why this show is a must watch. I will say that it has spawned internet memes of Lawrence that are pretty funny. Watch Insecure. It’s great.

Claudia’s Top 10 Episodes of 2016

1) Atlanta, “B.A.N.” (Season One, Episode 7)
2) Insecure, “Real as Fuck” (Season One, Episode 7)
3) Chewing Gum, “Tolley Road” (Season One, Episode 6)
4) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, “Decline of the Newspapers in the United States” (Season Three, Episode
5) Black-ish, “40 Acres and a Vote” (Season Three, Episode 20)
6) New Girl, “Landing Gear” (Season Five, Episode 22)
7) Jane the Virgin, “Chapter Forty-Four” (Season Two, Episode 22)
8) Marvel’s Luke Cage, “Manifest” (Season One, Episode 7)
9) Stranger Things, “Chapter Six: The Monster” (Season One, Episode 6)
10) Queen Sugar, “Where With All” (Season One, Episode 8)

Lady Dynamite – “Mein Ramp”

(Season One, Episode 11)

By Leigh Montano

I’ve struggled with mental illness the majority of my life. My first panic attack happened when I was 6 years old and is the reason why, still to this day, I can’t watch Rocko’s Modern Life.

I’ve often found comfort in television shows, comedies mostly. I go through various phases in my life, that time where I would only watch M*A*S*H, that time where I watched SNL reruns that were older than I was and then that summer where I watched all the comedy specials. So many comedy specials.

One that I loved and watched every time it came on was Maria Bamford’s half hour special that she did for Comedy Central sometime in the early 2000s. Something about this tiny blond woman with the funny voices appealed to me. She was a little manic and a little kooky but I just felt connected to her somehow. When I heard she was putting out a Netflix show, I was pleasantly surprised and excited.

You guys, I fucking love this show.

Every year when Austin asks me which show I want to write about, I pick a show I really love and enjoy but recognize that it might not be the best show of the year. I tend to pick shows that are fun or funny or just delightfully charming.

Lady Dynamite might be the most important show that came out this year.

I knew that Maria Bamford had had issues with mental health and that’s why she took a step back from comedy for a while. I had no idea that her show would be about her rise and fall in comedy because of mental health. This show so plainly speaks about mental health, how it affects people in different ways, what things that might seem normal actually aren’t and just how much society as a whole ignores or makes fun of it.

This show never asks you to pity Maria. This is more or less a dramatic reenactment of events that happened in her life. It puts out situations that might not be unique to Maria and allows the audience to see these situations that they might not ever think were an issue. More often than not, I found myself feeling relieved while watching Lady Dynamite which is an odd emotion to feel while watching a show, I must admit. But I was relieved because for once I saw someone who was like me and no one was making fun of her and we weren’t being asked to pity her.

The episode that I felt perfectly encapsulates the craziness that is mental illness is the penultimate “Mein Ramp.” Maria is suddenly a mascot of sorts for a child terrorist group in Africa, like ya do. Her bumbling manager fakes a pregnancy for Maria, Maria is being overwhelmed by memories of her former manager overworking her and then Maria eventually ruining a friendship she’s had since childhood because she accidentally hooks up her male counselor and her friend’s husband. All of this culminates when Maria’s boyfriend tries to cheer her up in a very well-meaning way and she explodes at him.

This episode has happened to me. Not the child terrorist groups or fake pregnancies or ruining friendships by setting up husbands and male counselors. But the emotional explosion aimed at people who are just trying to help out. It’s nothing that they’ve done but just the tiny straw on an already overburdened camel. Numerous times I’ve had to apologize to friends and family members and boyfriends because I had a minor emotional breakdown over something that most people would think is benign.

At one point in this episode, Karen Grisham – Agent, tells Maria that everyone in Hollywood is crazy. She convinces Maria to get off of her meds because it’s affecting her job. This scene resonated so much with me. I’ve been that person that has been told, “Oh Leigh, everyone has anxiety. You’re fine.” I’ve overheard coworkers discuss how “bad their anxiety” is and then I laugh because it’s not true. Until you’ve had a panic attack because oatmeal exists, don’t come at me telling me you know what I’m feeling.

And that’s one of the many reasons why I love Lady Dynamite. It never says, “We know what you’re going through. It’ll be okay.” It’s just putting forth these situations and showing that life gets crazy and overwhelming and it’s a challenge if you struggle with mental illness. Instead of saying, “it gets better!” Lady Dynamite says, “Isn’t this shit crazy?! Here’s someone else who has struggled! It wasn’t easy! It still isn’t easy!”

I’ve watched and rewatched this shows many times since its release on Netflix this year and each time I finish it, I feel like I’ve just had a really good therapy session.

Leigh’s Top 10 Episodes of 2016

1) Lady Dynamite, “Pilot” (Season One, Episode 1)
2) Marvel’s Luke Cage, “Who’s Gonna Take the Weight?” (Season One, Episode 3)
3) Stranger Things, “Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers” (Season One, Episode 1)
4) BoJack Horseman, “Fish Out of Water” (Season Three, Episode 4)
5) Stranger Things, “Chapter Four: The Body” (Season One, Episode 4)
6) Lady Dynamite, “Mein Ramp” (Season One, Episode 11)
7) Lady Dynamite, “Jack and Diane” (Season One, Episode 4)
8) Stranger Things, “Chapter Eight: The Upside Down” (Season One, Episode 8)
9) Marvel’s Daredevil, “Bang” (Season Two, Episode 1)
10) Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, “Kimmy Goes to Her Happy Place!” (Season Two, Episode 10)

Honorable mentions: “That Went Well”, BoJack Horseman; “RuCo’s Empire”, RuPaul’s Drag Race; “Pilot”, The Grand Tour

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver – “Scientific Research and Science Journalism”

(Season Three, Episode 11)

By Rachael Clark

John Oliver and his show have become my new favorite obsession over this past year. Ever since I got HBO, I have seen every episode at least twice. The way the show goes into so much detail about certain topics while also using humor to help with touchy subjects in a very effective way. It also doesn’t hurt that I feel like I agree with him on many subjects. And for some reason, it also very endearing to see him make fun of himself every episode, but not in a demeaning way. Every episode this season has been great, however, the one episode that sticks out from the rest is “Scientific Research and Science Journalism.” This episode John Oliver addresses our culture’s massive misuse and abuse of what we consider to be a statistically significant groundbreaking new study.

If you watch the news at all, even for 5 minutes, there will probably be a segment talking about some new study that has surfaced, important ones of course. You know, studies that say hugging your dog is bad for your dog, or drinking a glass of red wine is just as good as spending an hour at the gym (seriously?). The question is, why are scientists even researching these issues and why are they getting published? Oliver suggests the real problem here is scientists are constantly under so much pressure to continuously publish new findings. In addition, they are competing with other scientists who are under the same scrutiny. All the researchers must be the first to discover something that is not only new, but also different from other studies. The best thing about John Oliver’s segment is, he constantly keeps asking questions, trying to do more than scratch the surface of the problem. He goes on to ask, how do these scientists keep finding so many new revelations? The answer is P-hacking.

P-hacking is basically data fishing; it is when there is a big data set and researchers play with many variables in the data set until they find something statistically significant so it can be published. Thanks to p-hacking there is a study that says there is a correlation between eating raw tomatoes and Judaism. (This seems important.) But John Oliver goes on to say p-hacking isn’t necessarily bad, but the best studies have a replication study. Any scientists can have a good sample size, have a control group, conduct a thorough test, and get statistically significant findings. But the best way to prove these findings is to have another researcher conduct the same study again to see if they attain the same results. Unfortunately, replication studies are hardly ever done because they are rarely funded, they do not get published, and no one wants to do them.

One of the final subjects John Oliver touches on about scientific studies is that when these studies are done, they need to also address clarifiers for how their study was conducted. For example, a new study found that if you drink champagne three times a week, it will help prevent dementia. What they didn’t tell you is that this study was performed on rats. Now, it is common for many scientific studies to be done on rats, it can be useful. However, these are also many studies that have shown a treatment that worked for lab rats did not work on humans. Another clarification that needs to be addressed is if the study was company funded. If a study is done to show the importance of water when driving, the researchers need to address that the study was funded by a water company. Because a study has a small sample size, it was company funded, or it was done on rats, doesn’t make it bad, but it provides more context for the reader.

I realize this has become more of a rant about what we consider a valid scientific study, than about Last Week with John Oliver. (As someone who loves research and playing with data, this subject is near and dear to my heart.) But I hope this has shown you how much detail this show goes into on a subject every week, and they let the audience know there is still so much more to these topics than they can address in a half hour segment. The John Oliver team will spend months on a topic before they do a piece about it to make sure they have the facts and know how they want to address the subject. This show does not take lightly the impact they have, and more importantly, they want to explain it in a way people understand.

“Science is imperfect but very important. Provide sourcing and context with it.” – John Oliver

Rachael’s Top 10 Episodes of 2016

1) Game of Thrones, “The Door” (Season Six, Episode 5)
2) Game of Thrones, “Battle of the Bastards” (Season Six, Episode 9)
3) Marvel’s Luke Cage, “Manifest” (Season One, Episode 7)
4) Insecure, “Insecure as Fuck” (Season One, Episode 1)
5) Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “Halloween IV” (Season Four, Episode 9)
6) Veep, “C**tgate” (Season Five, Episode 6)
7) Black Mirror, “San Junipero” (Season Three, Episode 4)
8) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, “Scientific Research and Science Journalism” (Season Three, Episode 11)
9) Stranger Things, “Chapter Five: The Flea and the Acrobat” (Season One, Episode 5)
10) Bob’s Burgers, “Flu-ouise” (Season Seven, Episode 1)

The Magicians – “The Writing Room”

(Season One, Episode 9)

By Alan Gordon

Adaptation is tricky. I learned that early in life, when I first read The Wizard of Oz at age 7 or 8 after many annual television showings of the movie. Wait? There’s a Good Witch of the North? The slippers are silver? IT WASN’T A DREAM?

It was a profound lesson. Books can be changed when they’re made into movies. I saw how a number of problems were solved. The Good Witch of the North wasn’t that interesting, and Glinda was a cool enough character that bringing her in early was an improvement. But I liked the book’s reality version better, especially when I got into the sequels. [We’ll leave the discovery of Baum’s extreme racism for another time.]

My second lesson was the 1968 movie of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, another of my favorite books. The darkness of Ian Fleming’s writing and plotting in his only children’s book appealed to me. Then I saw the movie, and felt, at age 9, horrified and betrayed. They had tried to make it into Mary Poppins, complete with Dick Van Dyke and a treacly Sherman Brothers score with their patented cutesy nonsense word [“a fantasmagorical machine.” Please.] Disneyfication became a thing — would they get it right or not? Sometimes yes [loved both of The Rescuers movies]; sometimes no [The Black Cauldron was an abomination and I’m still waiting for someone to do that magnificent series justice.]

Which brings me to The Magicians. Not the best new series this year — I give that honor to The Expanse — but one that presented a fascinating exercise in adaptation: A series that vastly improves on, let’s face it, a mediocre set of books.

There was, for me, a good precedent. The Dexter books are terrible, but with a great premise and, for the first chapter anyway, an interesting narrative voice. The Showtime series, at least for the first three seasons, was some of the best written, acted and directed television I have ever seen. [My son and I continue to debate as recently as yesterday whether Season 4, with a new show-runner and Lithgow, was great or jumped the shark.]

I came to Lev Grossman’s trilogy after the third book came out to high praise from the New York Times Book Review. I was grossly disappointed. The premises were derivative — a magic school [à la Hogwarts], a mystical land accessed randomly [à la Narnia], and the major innovations were A: it was a college, so they could have sex [and frequently did]; and B: Fillory, the Narnia clone, was first encountered in a series of fantasy books that turned out to be [gasp!] real, so it was all very meta.

The writing was clunky. Most of the characters were under-developed; some would disappear for vast stretches of narrative and come back suddenly, requiring several chapters of back-story; each plot had a group of magicians gathering for a plan, which then goes horribly wrong, so that the rhythm became extremely repetitive by the third book. [Rowling started breaking her patterns with her third book, which is why Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban remains the best in that series.]

There were good moments and ideas scattered about. Mayakovsky, the banned Antarctic madman, was a great character, but the series failed for me.

Yet when they announced the ScyFy version, I checked it out. And it was much, much better.

Of necessity, they jettisoned the back-story technique. As a result, Julia, who had failed to get into Brakebills Academy, became a viable character with an interesting parallel plotline as she pursued knowledge through the magic underground. Penny, who should have been a fleshed-out character given his ultimate importance but was a barely there, nerd with a complete lack of social skills, became the fascinating, dangerously vulnerable bad boy of the group. [Both were brought fully to life by Stella Maeve and the riveting Arjun Gupta.]

The overall plotline made the Beast, the bad guy, more of an immediate threat, while introducing a [spoiler]time-loop element that justified and explained many puzzles when it was ultimately revealed. The writers also inserted a great deal of character-specific humor. The throwaway lines were funnier than most sit-coms, and the series-within-a-series allowed the characters to poke fun at themselves and each other. And at Lev Grossman himself: In the final episode, lead Quentin Coldwater [who has the best hair, said my enraptured wife], is writing his own addition to the Fillory series. In voiceover, he says at one point, “You’re probably a little confused, so I’m going to do that thing I hate where the book rewinds and fills in all the blanks.” The only failure in the plotting was the unnecessary betrayal and cliff-hanger at the season ending. It felt dictated more by the necessity of continuing for season 2 than any consistent intent of the characters.

Okay, let’s get to episode 9, “The Writing Room,” a perfect example of why the books sucked and the series is so much better. In the first book, they don’t bother figuring out how to get to Fillory because they don’t need to. The Beast appeared once, killed someone, then vanished for the rest of the three or four years they spent there. No tension whatsoever. When they do decide to go, it’s because Penny shows up out of nowhere after a long narrative absence, and has a magic button that he bought on the black market with no real effort. A magic button. It takes them all to Fillory, because it’s that easy. No journey, no quest, no sacrifice necessary.

In episode 9, the quest for the button is tied into the exploration of the Beast’s past, which is intimately connected to the author of the Fillory series. To learn more, the group, which is not at all a cohesive, co-operative unit, must travel to the author’s house in England, now a landmark with a tour guide. And, as it turns out, haunted.

The haunting is essential, and the sudden shifts into spookiness are handled in unpredictable ways, as they should be. What could have been clichéd is grounded in psychosexual tragedy, and none of the participants escapes unscathed. Children are left behind.

And there are still sharp moments of humor. Hale Appleman, who infuses Elliot’s gay, faux preppie character with deep melancholia, at one point refers to the terrifying ghostly housekeeper as Mrs. Danvers, and the beauty is that we’re expected to know who that is without further explanation. [If you don’t, read/see Rebecca. Another adaptation to discuss.]

So, irritating season denouement notwithstanding, I’m good for another one. You should be able to see the first one still.

And skip the books.

Alan’s Top 10 Episodes of 2016

1) The Magicians, “The Writing Room” (Season One, Episode 9)
2) The Expanse, “Pilot” (Season One, Episode 1) The best simultaneous development of the world, the characters, and plot I’ve seen in a long time.
3) Penny Dreadful, “A Blade of Grass” (Season Three, Episode 4) Terrible, pointless, disappointing final season, except for one superb episode with three great actors in two rooms, one of them padded. The room, I mean, not the actors.
4) Roadies, “The City Whose Name Must Not Be Spoken” (Season One, Episode 4) Two simultaneous quests. One to remove a curse, one to trace a bassist on a binge.
5) iZombie, “Pour a Little Sugar, Zombie” (Season Two, Episode 16) The entire season was a writing clinic on how to keep multiple season-long plotlines simmering simultaneously. A couple came to a boil in this one.
6) Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, “I’m Going to the Beach with Josh and His Friends!” (Season One, Episode 9) The best comedy comes from pain. Boy, was this one painful.
7) Marvel’s Jessica Jones, “AKA WWJD” (Season One, Episode 8) I’m counting this series because I didn’t see it until 2016. The most compelling of three Netflix Marvel series, and a lot is owed to David Tenannt’s creepy, obsessive Kilgrave. In this episode, they play house. [Editor’s note: this episode will not be counted towards the Best of 2016 totals at the bottom.]
8) Dancing with the Stars, “Semi-Finals” (Season Twenty-Three, Episode 10) Yeah, I picked Laurie Hernandez to win, too, but the unexpected brilliance of race-car driver James Hinchcliffe made the season, along with the choreography of his partner Sharna Burgess. Hinchcliffe has enough charisma, talent, humor and charm to star in a movie. This episode has the tango that starts with a blind-fold and ends with a handstand. Shout-outs to Lindsay Arnold and Gleb Savchenko for their creativity as well.
9) Designated Survivor, “Pilot” (Season One, Episode 1) Don’t know if they can maintain it, but damn good opening.
10) Nashville, “Maybe You’ll Appreciate Me Someday” (Season Four, Episode 21) Maybe the last episode. [Editor’s note: it’s not.]

Marvel’s Daredevil – “New York’s Finest”

(Season Two, Episode 3)

By Alex Leachman

I initially approached Netflix’s Mavel’s Daredevil with a lot of caution and low expectations. This sounds ridiculous, but it was tough to forget the scars left behind by Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner. After some convincing from close friends, I started the series about a week after the second season premiered. I blew through both seasons and my expectations were beaten down with a billy club. Marvel’s Daredevil gave me everything I wanted from a superhero show: action and story-telling.

“New York’s Finest” highlights both of those aspects. Most of the episode takes place on the roof of a building where Frank Castle (aka The Punisher) has Daredevil chained to a chimney. The episode explores their vastly different philosophies on how to treat the same problem. Daredevil hands criminals over to the police and lets the judicial system take care of them. Everyone deserves a shot at a second chance and redemption. The Punisher, in his words, puts them down for good. The criminals have had their chance and the Punisher is their ultimate executioner. The acting from Charlie Cox and Jon Bernthal is tremendous. Their dynamic is flawless. The Punisher is confident and Daredevil is unwavering. Their clash of morals doesn’t come off as one-sided; neither one is the clear victor.

The episode’s final ten minutes showcases what Daredevil does best: action. In one of the best scenes in the series, Daredevil fights his way through a building of pissed off biker gang members. The scene encapsulates Daredevil’s brutal determination and resilience. The scene is unbelievably choreographed and edited. Every movement and action is purposeful. The genuine fight scenes between Daredevil and his enemies was one of the aspects of the show that kept me hooked early on. It was such a shock compared to other MCU productions.

Marvel’s Daredevil isn’t flashy or over produced. The characters and scenes have life that is often forgotten in other superhero films and shows. Marvel’s made their mark in the film industry and now they’re taking over television as well.

Alex’s Top 10 TV Episodes of 2016

1) Marvel’s Daredevil, “New York’s Finest” (Season 2, Episode 3)

2) Westworld, “The Well-Tempered Clavier” (Season 1, Episode 9)

3) Star Wars Rebels, “Twilight of the Apprentice” (Season 2, Episode 20)

4) Marvel’s Daredevil, “Penny and Dime” (Season 2, Episode 4)

5) Stranger Things, “Chapter Eight: The Upside Down” (Season 1, Episode 8)

6) Silicon Valley, “Meinertzhagen’s Haversack” (Season 3, Episode 3)

7) The Night Of, “The Beach” (Season 1, Episode 1)

8) This is Us, “Pilot” (Season 1, Episode 1)

9) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, “Donald Trump” (Season 3, Episode 3)

10) ESPN’s 30 for 30, “Fantastic Lies” (Season 3, Episode 7)

The Night Manager – “Episode 1”

(Season One, Episode 1)

By Pedro Aubry

Spoilers for the first episode of The Night Managaer.

Today I’m talking about The Night Manager, or James Bond: The Miniseries.

Like any good Bond film, there’s an intro that gives you some action, just a taste, and this episode starts wonderfully. Bam, you’re hit with a picture of Hugh Laurie as Mr. Richard “Dickey” Roper, CEO of Iron Last. It’s a good picture, he’s got a great smile and he’s holding up a child refugee. You see him giving a televised speech and he seems like a nice guy, well spoken, lively eyes, great smile.

Then cut to Cairo, Egypt, January 2011, during the revolution. Now we have a Jonathan Pine navigating through protesters in the streets, pretty chill about the whole thing, even the machine-gun fire and occasional bomb. Mr. Pine (Tom Hiddleston) is a night manager at the Nefertiti hotel, so he gets to stay up all night and be all charming and pretty and polite and charming and cute and Tom Hiddleston and charming to all the guests, including the mistress, Sophie, of some playboy ass who’s bad news.

Long story short, the mistress steals records of her man purchasing things like warplanes, napalm and nerve gas via illegal arms trade facilitated by none other than Mr. Roper, who has her killed, and Mr. Pine doesn’t like it (he kinda grew attached to the young lady).

Back in London, a woman named Angela Burr (Olivia Colmen), who works for the International Enforcement Agency, gets ahold of those records and goes back on the hunt to bring Richard Roper down. She really hates him. Like a lot. So she’s gung ho about this. She even tried to warn Sophie to get her out but was a bit too late.

Anywho, Mr. Pine moves to Switzerland to be a night manager at some hotel in the middle of nowhere, and guess what – Mr. Roper drops in with his lackeys and Mr. Pine remembers him (it’s now been four years since Cairo). He gets some info and cell phone chips and numbers from the lackeys and sends it all to Angela Burr. She likes what she sees, and recruits Mr. Pine to go undercover and insert himself into Roper’s crew. Lucky for Mr. Pine, Mr. Roper saw something special in him at the hotel.

Oh wait, I was comparing this to James Bond.

So yeah, all that intro stuff is just like a good Bond intro, a somewhat self-contained story that introduces still helps set the stage for the adventure to come. Lucky for us, we get a little bit of a reboot here. And I’m not talking a Blonde Bond who has feelings and things and almost quits and shacks up permanently with the girl (forget that goddam mistake that was On Her Majesty’s Secret Service). It’s close, but still even more refreshing. Mr. Pine is absolutely charming because he just is. No superspy training, always gets the girl, with a silly sense of humor. This man genuinely is and likes being charming, he loves his job, he loves wearing a suit, and he’s just got your basic Army background (I guess some training is a necessity). He just naturally starts spying it up all over because he feels a necessity to.

He has feelings. And looks. And decides to take a graveyard shift gig in Egypt. Who the hell is this guy?

He’s the fucking Night Manager.

Now the villain of the show (we don’t get too much of him yet), he’s also awesome as can be. Hugh Laurie definitely had fun with this, and this is by far the most realistic and believable portrayal of a Bond villain I’ve ever seen. No gimmicks, no elaborate map room, no cheesy whatevers that those bad guys seem to be fond of, well minus his fortress castle he lives in and his being surrounded by henchmen 24/7, but that’s fine. You can tell this man is sharp as a tack and has an insight and ability to read people that is yet another refreshing aspect of this miniseries. Everything feels new and shiny, but it’s not. It’s as if they distilled down all the essentials of what makes a good espionage action thriller and threw out the bullshit, leaving room to embellish and fully develop some truly human characters.

I chose the first episode because I don’t wanna give anything away on this amazing six-part series. Every minute of the whole show exactly spot on, never lacking or forced. You can tell there was excruciating attention to detail in every shot. The scenery is always beautiful. The performances are just right. This show will be stuck in my head for quite a while.

Pedro’s Top 10 TV Episodes of 2016

1) The Night Manager, “Episode 6” (Season One, Episode 6)
2) Game of Thrones, “The Winds of Winter” (Season Six, Episode 10)
3) The Night Manager, “Episode 5” (Season One, Episode 5)
4) The Night Manager, “Episode 2” (Season One, Episode 2)
5) The Fall, “Their Solitary Way” (Season Three, Episode 6)
6) Game of Thrones, “The Door” (Season Six, Episode 5)
7) Game of Thrones, “Battle of the Bastards” (Season Six, Episode 9)
8) The Fall, “Silence and Suffering” (Season Three, Episode 1)
9) The Detour, “The Wedding” (Season One, Episode 6)
10) The Detour, “The Road” (Season One, Episode 7)

Person of Interest – “The Day the World Went Away”

(Season Five, Episode 10)

By Nick Rogers

“I’d listen to the words he’d say, but in his voice I heard decay.

The plastic face forced to portray all the insides left cold and gray.

There is a place that still remains. It eats the fear, it eats the pain.

The sweetest price he’ll have to pay the day the whole world went away.”

It was bound to happen. 2016 is when Peak TV defeated me.

I’ve seen none of The Night Manager. I’ve missed nearly all of Better Call Saul. (I know it aired in February. Don’t judge.) I’m an oh-fer on Orange is the New Black, a lollygagger on Marvel’s Luke Cage, a blank on Black Mirror and way outside Westworld.

Cultural conversations started, and ended, without me. However, I am conversant in a series overlooked — even by me once upon a time — because it languished on the lowest common denominator known as CBS.

Of all my retreats into Remedial TV, Person of Interest was my most rigorous. I bailed on it early in its initial run despite the pedigree of J.J. Abrams and Jonathan Nolan and its promising premise: Human agents work to save people from harm, aided by an artificial intelligence known as the Machine that foresees everyday murders but doesn’t reveal whether the name it spits out is victim or perpetrator.

Too procedural, too pat, too pedestrian. For years, I had heard it developed into a superior, smart sci-fi series. Stick out that still-rough first season and you’ll see: Not only were the raves right, but Person of Interest, in its swan-song season, evolved into broadcast TV’s best drama.

Named for, and gloriously featuring, the Nine Inch Nails song “The Day the World Went Away” encompasses everything excellent about Person of Interest down to some of its free-TV expectations.

“World” offers the ne plus ultra of its many exploding-SUVs-tipping-end-over-end. It arrives after a badass Heat-homage street shootout (complete with Moby soundtrack), a mounted Gatling gun attack and a high-speed chase in which co-star Amy Acker sets cruise, steers with one foot and takes out said SUV via sunroof.

“If we’re just noise in the system, we might as well be a symphony,” Acker quips, referencing both Person’s reality-versus-simulation undertones and the quality of its action scenes.

(Side note: This scene also strengthens a sense of belonging that Acker and co-star Sarah Shahi’s characters unexpectedly uncover among this team of do-gooders. They’re antiheroes turned allies and as women who have otherwise made a cottage industry out of lone-wolf pride, they warm without sacrificing strength.)

But the episode’s greatest moments belong to Michael Emerson as Harold Finch. It opens on Harold addressing the Machine — now besieged by a rival system called Samaritan, which seeks to implement its own grim ideological order on the world by manipulating mankind like marionettes.

The Machine is not just Harold’s system, but his son. In the previous season, it previously addresses Harold as father … in a scene as moving as it is unnerving. (Believe me: Person advances well beyond case-of-the-week complacency.) The Machine has run millions of simulations on its efforts to fight Samaritan, few of them good.

“In any of these versions, the people I’ve roped into helping me, my friends … Will they get out alive? Is that a path we’re on?” Harold asks of an ersatz child he has killed in 40 previous incarnations, when it grew too intelligent and had extinction on its own mind. Again, the cold open of a CBS show concerns the morality of a man imploring mercy from a sentient entity he has murdered many times over.

By “World’s” end, Harold will watch two frenemies (who have been with the series since the first season) selflessly lay down their lives for him while he’s dragged away powerless, unable to help.

It leads so beautifully into an unleashing of the scoundrel we’ve always suspected simmered beneath the surface of this otherwise meek mastermind. Emerson could have gone full Benjamin Linus earlier, but the showrunners preserved it for the perfect moment. Once his intuition to retaliate — by unleashing the full power of the Machine, which he has long restrained — kicks in … well, behold the best monologue on network TV in years.

Trent Reznor’s dissonant guitar crunch takes over. The Machine reveals its new form with unexpected firmware upgrades. The burbles of a new world brew. Chaos foments and two gods, the Machine and Samaritan, are ready to battle to the death.

I’m behind on TV, but I’m up on Person of Interest. The tradeoff was worth it.

Nick’s Top 10 TV Episodes of 2016 (Besides “The Day the World Went Away”)

1) BoJack Horseman, “Fish Out of Water” (Season Three, Episode 4)
2) American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson, “The Race Card” (Season One, Episode 5)
3) Mr. Robot, “eps2.4m4ster-s1ave.aes” (Season Two, Episode 6)
4) Veep, “Inauguration” (Season Five, Episode 10)
5) The Americans, “The Magic of David Copperfield V: The Statue of Liberty Disappears” (Season Four, Episode 8)
6) Atlanta, “The Streisand Effect” (Season One, Episode 4)
7) Halt and Catch Fire, “Yerba Buena” (Season Three, Episode 5)
8) Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, “When Will Josh and His Friend Leave Me Alone?” (Season Two, Episode 4)
9) The Detour, “The B&B” (Season One, Episode 5)
10) Baskets, “Sugar Pie” (Season One, Episode 8)

Poldark – “Episode 7”

(Season Two, Episode 7)

By Larry D. Sweazy

Poldark is unapologetically melodramatic. Set in the Eighteenth century in Cornwall, England, the westernmost section of Great Britain, the land is rugged and the seaside spans with deep cliffs offering wide views and loads of opportunity to show off beautiful, barren scenery. The landscape is a major character in this TV series.   The people live off the land and toil in the local copper and tin mines to scrap out a meager living, so they are fierce, hardworking and just as rugged as the landscape. The aristocracy also exists in Cornwall with landed gentry, old money, and new, upstart money, all culminating into a fascinating view of the British class system.

Based on the novels by Winston Graham, this is the second Poldark TV series. The first one was a major hit in 1970s Great Britain, and the lead actor, Robin Ellis, in that series, also has a small part in this series. I appreciate the loyalty. Both series have merit, but I wasn’t aware of the first until I watched the first season of this one on PBS.   If you are unfamiliar with the Poldark story, there are a few things you need to know.   Ross Poldark was a captain in the British army and was wounded in battle in Virginia during the Revolutionary War. He bears a scar on his face from the fight. On his return home, Poldark has found that his father has died in absence, left a huge debt, and his former sweetheart, Elizabeth, who thought he had died in the battle, is now engaged to be married to his cousin, Frances.   Poldark then rebounds for his scullery maid, Demelaza, a red-haired, fiery tempered lass who has no social skills, and must learn quickly to fit in, setting up a love triangle that promises to continue well into the series.

There are great scenes of Ross Poldark riding his black horse along the cliffs, adding to his brooding, swashbuckling image. He is a gentleman with a soft heart for the working people, and Demelaza, though uneducated, is his match temperament and heart, and also is anointed with a healthy dose of feminism to offset the prejudices and misery of the time.

This is a series that is episodic and should be watched from the start so that you’re up to speed. Honestly, it reminds me a little of Dark Shadows, the gothic melodrama that I used to rush home to watch after school when I was kid. Poldark has the same penchant for mood, music, and melodrama, that I am hardwired to love.

So, to the episode. It is the culmination of that love triangle I mentioned earlier, and the rest of the series will always be about the consequences of this episode. There’s betrayal, redemption, and passion that could be as mushy and cruel as an afternoon soap opera, but the production values, the writing, and the acting rise above potboiler status. Honestly, I don’t want to ruin the episode for you if you haven’t watched the series from the start. No spoiler alerts here.

If you want some escapist melodrama done a grand scale, then all of the Poldark episodes are for you, not just Episode 7 of Season Two, though it is the one I enjoyed the most.

Larry’s Top 10 TV Episodes of 2016

1) Poldark, “Episode 7” (Season Two, Episode 7)
2) Grantchester, “Episode 2.1” (Season Two, Episode 1)
3) Grantchester, “Episode 2.6” (Season Two, Episode 6)
4) The Durrells of Corfu, “Episode 1.1” (Season One, Episode 1)
5) Hinterland, “Episode 2.1” (Season Two, Episode 1)
6) Outlander, “Through a Glass Darkly” (Season Two, Episode 1)
7) The Durrells of Corfu, “Episode 1.5” (Season One, Episode 5)
8) The Crown, “Wolferton Splash” (Season One, Episode 1)
9) Poldark, “Episode 1” (Season Two, Episode 1)
10) Hinterland, “Epsiode 2.2” (Season Two, Episode 2)

Rectify – “All I’m Sayin’”

(Season Four, Episode 8)

By Sarah Staudt

Rectify is the best show on television that no one is watching. Relegated to the Sundance channel, only the deepest of television nerds – y’know, people like Austin! – have even heard of it. And it’s a damn shame, because this is the show that made me cry and made me think the most of anything I saw this year.

For those not in the know, the premise of Rectify revolves around Daniel Holden, a man who spent 19 years on Georgia’s death row for the brutal rape and murder of his teenage girlfriend, Hanna. Thanks to the efforts of exoneration lawyers, DNA results show that Daniel never raped Hanna, and he is released. That’s episode one. The rest of the four seasons of the show covers the next six months of Daniel’s life – his very rocky reintegration into his small hometown, the emotional turmoil of his sister, mother, stepfather, and stepbrothers, and the town at large. Solving the murder itself is almost a B-plot; the emotional journey of the characters take center stage. Seriously, watch this show. The first three seasons are on Netflix. You have no excuse. And if you haven’t, STOP READING, cause I’m literally talking about the finale, and this is not something you want spoiled.

Spoilers begin for the series finale of Rectify.           

Season Four of Rectify asked the question, how do we move on? If Daniel’s risk-averse guilty plea at the end of Season Three is about the horrible nature of the compromises we make in life, Season Four is about waking up in the morning and still having to go through life. I was apprehensive about this season, and about the finale, because of the general trend of prestige television these days. I was pretty sure Rectify was going to end up being just as nihilist as everything else on TV. The murder wouldn’t be solved, Tawney and Teddy would remain deeply unhappy, Amantha would never get justice or peace, and Daniel, ultimately, would flounder and fail without his support network. The choice to do the opposite is brave and beautiful.

In the end, nihilism is “new” on TV, and it’s easy to see why so much prestige television embraces it. Prestige television fears the Saturday morning special vibe of everyone hugging at the end of the episode. It wants to show the full complication of life as it is. It wants to do something new, and challenging, and different. That presents a problem for finales, when the conclusion “yes, everything really does suck this bad” is likely to be unsatisfying. And the so trend for finales tends to be that either everyone is miserable or everything is left unsolved and uncertain. Jesse screaming in his car as he speeds away from Walt at the end of Breaking Bad is the ultimate example of this.

I thought that was the way Rectify was going. The choice to do the opposite, to provide a genuinely hopeful portrait of what it actually takes to move forward, get closure and justice, and be happy in the face of incredible odds, is more honest that anything I’ve seen on television. Everyone in this season works so damn hard at their own happiness. John, the lawyer, sacrifices his whole career seeking justice for Daniel, and in the end, he actually friggin’ wins, and the crime is solved, and there is an obvious path forward where Daniel is truly exonerated and free. Amantha figures out how to live and find her own purpose in her life, and lets go of her own preconceived notions about what happiness looks like to find love. Teddy and Tawney work so, so, hard at their marriage, and then Teddy is willing to make the painful but necessary choice to let Tawney go (though the finale leaves unclear whether they got back together or simply remained friends – regardless, they are clearly in a good place). Both Janet and Ted Sr. do real hard work about what they want in their lives, and Janet, in particular, finally makes peace with Hanna’s mom, in one of the most gut wrenching scenes of the series. And Daniel does some of the hardest work of all, brutally confronting his own trauma in therapy, reliving the worst parts of his life in an effort to suck the poison from those wounds, while also getting out of bed every day, going to work, dealing with roommates and being triggered and retraumatized, finding and losing love, and daring to actually dream about a new life for himself. It’s such hard work, and the show makes us feel that, and feel these characters bravery for doing that work.

The finale is a hint that waking up every single day and doing that incredibly hard, painful emotional work is worth it. That there is something more to be done in the face of the injustice of the world than resign yourself or settle. That we are all entitled to justice and happiness, and it can be achieved. Watching the Holden family hold hands as they pack up the tire store, watching the first hints that Daniel truly will be exonerated in the eyes of the public, is no Sunday afternoon special. It’s a scene that’s rarely seen on television – the moment in life where you realize that all that hard emotional work, the stuff that nearly made you crawl into a ball and give up, the therapy, the sleepless nights, the fights, the risks you took and hard decisions you made, sometimes work out. Sometimes you get a brief, beautiful moment of hope. The final shot, realizing that Daniel is dreaming of a life, a real life, where he can be happy, and free, and in love, in the sun, is so beautiful in that it seems truly achievable.

And now I’m crying again. Damn this show is good. Thank you, Rectify, for picking a narrative about what we really have to do in the face of the shitty injustice of the world – wake up, work, be honest with our loved ones and ourselves, and choose to live.

Sarah’s Top 10 TV Episodes of 2016

1) Rectify, “All I’m Sayin’” (Season Four, Episode 8)
2) Rectify, “Pineapples in Paradise” (Season Four, Episode 5)
3) O.J. Made in America, “Part 4” (Season One, Episode 4)
4) Black Mirror, “San Junipero” (Season Three, Episode 4)
5) You’re the Worst, “Twenty-Two” (Season Three, Episode 5)
6) Game of Thrones, “The Winds of Winter” (Season Six, Episode 10)
7) Stranger Things, “Chapter Eight: The Upside Down” (Season One, Episode 8)
8) Better Things, “Only Women Bleed” (Season One, Episode 10)
9) The Night Of, “The Season of the Witch” (Season One, Episode 5)
10) You’re the Worst, “The Last Sunday Funday” (Season Three, Episode 6)

Saturday Night Live — “Dave Chappelle / A Tribe Called Quest”

(Season Forty-Two, Episode 6)

By Sara Rust

The episode began with a dark stage and Kate McKinnon at a piano.

As the lyrics from ‘Hallelujah’ filled the speakers, an era was ended. Leonard Cohen had died and Hillary had lost the election. The Saturday Night Live openings had been upbeat and enthusiastic in the previous weeks but it was obvious the games were ending. Then Dave Chappelle, the man himself, walks out on stage. Suddenly everything is put in perspective. We’re reminded that no matter what, we still have comedy. We still have the ability to make sense of the world through laughter. Then Chris Rock and A Tribe Called Quest appeared and the world blew up.

Okay, so maybe it didn’t blow up, but Tyrone Biggum did lose his head. The crack saved him, no worries. The Weekend Update was Trump heavy but they hit home with the female minorities montage that lasted all of 3 seconds. Ruth Bader Ginsburg kind of made an appearance. Then a couple of failed sketches brought the mood down to a point that only a Kate McKinnon/ Dave Chappelle makeout session could save.

The best way to get past a sad time is to watch something completely different from what is making you sad and that’s exactly what SNL provided. Sure there was a lot of talk about Trump but it was made in a way that made you feel like everyone was in a club and everything was going to be ok. Just like in the SNL episode following 9/11, we as a nation are asking, “Is it ok to be funny?”

Sara’s Top 10 TV Episodes of 2016

1) Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, “Fall” (Season Eight, Episode 4)
2) Designated Survivor, “The Oath” (Season One, Episode 10)
3) Broad City, “Burning Bridges” (Season Three, Episode 8)
4) Superstore, “Labor” (Season One, Episode 11)
5) Modern Family, “Promposal” (Season Seven, Episode 20)
6) American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson, “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia” (Season One, Episode 6)
7) The Crown, “Smoke and Mirrors” (Season One, Episode 5)
8) The Good Place, “Most Improved Player” (Season One, Episode 8)
9) This is Us, “Pilot” (Season One, Episode 1)
10) South Park, “Member Berries” (Season Twenty, Episode 1)

Star Wars Rebels – “The Honorable Ones”

(Season Two, Episode 17)

By Robbie Mehling

Whether it’s the two attacks on the Death Star, the battle above Coruscant, or the invasion of Hoth, many of favorite Star Wars moments involve large spectacles – massive battles, CGI, and explosions. It’s what the franchise is largely known for. Yet, Star Wars is so exceptionally good at the personal moments such as Luke’s confrontation with his father in Return of the Jedi or any of the tender moments between Han and Leia. It is in that vein that Star Wars Rebels’ “The Honorable Ones” has become one of my favorite television episodes for the year. It may not feature the most original plot but it is one that, I believe, lends itself exceedingly well to a Star Wars narrative. Two people (one rebel, one imperial) must rely on each other to help themselves survive in an inhospitable environment.

“The Honorable Ones” brings development to two characters who didn’t really get a much in the first season, and in fact, turning two characters that I had not particularly cared for into two of my favorite characters not only in show but in all of the Star Wars media. Kallus (David Oyelowo), an imperial security bureau agent, and Zeb (Steve Blum), a rebel, have a history together and they loathe each other. So it was wonderful seeing them have to cooperate. Furthermore, this episode wonderfully hints at storylines and mysteries found in the Star Wars comics and novels. It also sets up some major storylines that are happening now in the third season.

Much of Star Wars Rebels is hit or miss and full of mediocre episodes, but when it’s on like in “The Honorable Ones,” it is some of the best storytelling on television.

Robbie’s Top 10 TV Episodes of 2016

1) Star Wars Rebels, “The Honorable Ones” (Season Two, Episode 17)
2) Star Wars Rebels, “Twilight of the Apprentice” (Season Two, Episodes 22 & 23)
3) Game of Thrones, “The Winds of Winter” (Season Six, Episode 10)
4) Stranger Things, “Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers” (Season One, Episode 1)
5) Star Wars Rebels, “An Inside Man” (Season Three, Episode 10)
6) Westworld, “Contrapasso” (Season One, Episode 5)
7) Westworld, “The Original” (Season One, Episode 1)
8) Game of Thrones, “The Broken Man” (Season Six, Episode 7)
9) Survivor, “Million Dollar Gamble” (Season Thirty-Three, Episodes 10 & 11)
10) Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, “Fall” (Season Eight, Episode 4)

Steven Universe – “Mr. Greg”

(Season Three, Episode 8)

By Jonathan Williams

Many of my favorite children’s authors each understood an essential truth about writing to a young audience.  Begging the reader’s patience, I will ask Maurice Sendak to put it in his own words:

“Certainly we want to protect our children from new and painful experiences that are beyond their emotional comprehension and that intensify anxiety; and to a point we can prevent premature exposure to such experiences. That is obvious. But what is just as obvious — and what is too often overlooked — is the fact that from their earliest years children live on familiar terms with disrupting emotions, fear and anxiety are an intrinsic part of their everyday lives, they continually cope with frustrations as best they can. And it is through fantasy that children achieve catharsis. It is the best means they have for taming Wild Things.”

Rebecca Sugar, showrunner of Steven Universe, understands this truth as well.  “Mr. Greg” may not be the best episode of TV this year, but it ably and achingly illustrates why Steven Universe is one of the best kids’ shows of the past decade.

That’s a heavy introduction for what’s billed as the show’s first “musical” episode.  Every few episodes, Steven Universe sneaks a song into its fleet 11 minute run-times, but “Mr. Greg” contains no fewer than seven.  Five are delightful: a ridiculous TV commercial, a carefree ditty about the joys of the simple life, a hard-rock paean to a fictitious megalopolis, a Busby Berkeley-style silver screen classic all top hats and tails, and the episode’s contented reprise (note that the episode resolves its conflict and its chord progression — these musicians are so sneaky with their cues!).

But two songs in the middle just wrench the heart right out of your chest.  Here, some plot synopsis might help:

Steven, our show’s plucky young protagonist, lives with three foster moms (who happen to be rebel alien provocateurs formerly led by his late mother, Rose) and is visited often by his loving but supremely un-together dad, Greg.  Greg has just come into some money from an old song that ended up being licensed for a burger advertisement.  To celebrate, Steven and Greg leave the show’s sleepy setting of Beach City for the bright lights of Empire City.  Steven insists that one of his guardians, Pearl, join them.  Pearl, you see, has carried around a sadness since S1E01 that we gradually learn is her love for Rose: a love that matured over centuries, a romantic love that might not have been reciprocated in kind, and a love that was squeezed out first by Rose’s own love for Greg, and then quite finally by Rose’s death.  Pearl now has the task of safeguarding Steven, the living embodiment of all that her life isn’t.  Steven is a young lad of 13, but he (like many children) can sense what he cannot define, and it is central to his character that when he sees someone hurting, be they friend or enemy, he tries to draw the thorn from the lion’s paw.  However laudable, his instinctive actions are not always met with success.

And indeed, the inherent awkwardness of this road trip can only be pushed aside so long.  Caught up in the middle of a musical number (a giddily diagetic song and dance, with hotel busboys requiring cold hard cash to pirouette for our protags), Greg extends his hand for Pearl to dance with him — which becomes all too much for her.  She leaves them, and comes back to the vacation penthouse only when father and son are fast asleep.  And so, this:

And its denouement,

Leaving aside all of the wonderful visual details — Pearl’s gender bending (paying homage here to Julie Andrews in Victor/Victoria), the show’s continuing exploration of same-sex love, the rose symbolism in both videos, etc. — it is the unflinching recognition of sadness that makes Steven Universe more trustworthy in its treatment of happiness.  Nobody is necessarily at fault here — there was no struggle of good versus evil, no villains or heroes, in a show full of both.  Rose loved Greg, and Rose died, and both events hurt Pearl terribly.  This episode offers Pearl a better relationship with Greg, but doesn’t seek to “fix” her (as confirmed by subsequent episodes, Pearl’s grief and anguish are hardly lessened by these events).  I submit to you, the reader, that this humane treatment of grief, jealousy, and despair is of more use to a child than a show that either pretends these emotions do not exist, demonizes anyone who displays them, or suggests that they should be banished completely through 11 minutes of effort.

I feel like I could write a separate write-up about this episode that explored completely different themes, but if there’s one thing that Steven Universe has to teach adults, it is the virtue of concise plotting and scripting.  That’s why it sticks to simple themes, like…

Life and death and love and birth // and peace and war on the planet Earth.

Jonathan’s Top 10 TV Episodes of 2016

1) Steven Universe, “Last One Out of Beach City” (Season Four, Episode 6)
2) The Grinder, “Grinder vs. Grinder” (Season One, Episode 13)
3) Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “The Bureau” (Season Three, Episode 22)
4) Star Wars Rebels, “The Honorable Ones” (Season Two, Episode 17)
5) Marvel’s Daredevil, “New York’s Finest” (Season Two, Episode 3)
6) Marvel’s Luke Cage, “Manifest” (Season One, Episode 7)
7) Supergirl, “The Adventures of Supergirl” (Season Two, Episode 1)
8) DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, “Destiny” (Season One, Episode 15)
9) The Flash, “Welcome to Earth-2” (Season Two, Episode 13)
10) Arrow, “Invasion!” (Season Five, Episode 8)

Stranger Things – “Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers”

(Season One, Episode 1)

By Ray Martindale

Ok, so when Austin asked me what I wanted to write about for his annual article, he knew he really didn’t need to ask. “STRANGER THINGS!” I shouted. Apparently, many who were posed the same question shared that enthusiasm, and there IS a reason for that… it’s AMAZING!

Stranger Things was the out-of-nowhere hit show produced & introduced to little fanfare by Netflix this year. Its seemingly quiet introduction to the world sits in direct contrast to the way in which it was received. That is to say our pop-culture went bananas for it! Netflix, recognizing this, quickly started publicizing the hell out of it. The cast was on late-night talk shows, online publications & featured prominently in interviews & web apps on social media everywhere. It was truly a meteoric rise in popularity.

So, with that said and by the rules, I must pick a single episode to review. It was a hard decision, but I’ve decided I want to talk about the pilot episode, “Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers”.

One of many reasons Stranger Things really connected with me is it plays on my pre-disposition to homage in filmmaking. That is to say, I enjoy when artists pay respect to the stories/creators who have in some cases pioneered a specific genre or way of storytelling. Storytellers do this by incorporating various styles, images, lighting, shots and music that symbolize our culture’s general sub-conscience representation of what constitutes a specific genre.

A quick example of what I am talking about is basically every Quentin Tarantino movie ever made. He possess a great talent for plucking out that obscure Sergio Leone inspired music track to go along with that extreme close-up shot of the gunfighters eyes, right before we cut to the wide of all three people firing at the same time as the clock strikes high-noon. Those ingredients are what we all subconsciously expect of the Western genre. When we don’t have those ingredients it’s just not as effective, not quite as good or attractive. We may not even be able to put a finger on why, but for some reason it just doesn’t ring true.

The Duffer Brothers, creators of Stranger Things, seem to be keenly aware of this because every corner of the frame is soaked in reinforcement of the 80’s & that era’s style of horror. The fantastic opening title sequence oozes with its imperfection & simplicity. Film grain, smudges & scratches can be seen littered across the very Terminator-style opening credits. The font used and music playing are straight out of a nightmare written by Stephen King & directed by John Carpenter. There are movie posters of Evil Dead and The Thing on bedroom walls & Classic Coke commercials play on TV as the cast plays Dungeons & Dragons in mom’s basement. At every turn the movie attempts to immerse you in a time where you weren’t quite so self-assured, not quite so practical, a time when you believed there were still secrets in this world & danger under the bed.

The primary cast, Mike, Lucas, Dustin & Will, is made up of four child actors whose chemistry is undeniably charming. They represent the misfits, the nerdy kids who would never make the football team but who are very interested in science & A.V. Club. They are the classic archetype so many beloved films attempt to imbue their all-child casts with. (Stand By Me, E.T., The Goonies, Super 8, etc.)

After the opening concludes and the kids race to there respective homes on a moonlit bike ride over the sweeping hills of fictional Hawkins, Indiana. (a la E.T., The Goonies) they become separated. One of the young characters, Will Byers (played by Noah Shnapp), quickly becomes aware of the fact that he’s being followed. This feeling intensifies as he arrives home to find shadows lurking outside his front door & something terrifying attempting to get inside. I won’t go further into the plot here, but suffice it to say Will vanishes & it is up to his young friends to discover the secrets that led to his disappearance.

It’s here that the game of D&D in the show’s opening begins to show its importance. It not only introduces us to each character’s role within the group, but becomes a fundamental metaphor for the way the story unfolds & the actions the characters take over the course of the series.

Following Will’s disappearance, the show begins to shift its focus to the adult characters in the series. Primarily Sherriff Jim Hopper (played by David Harbour) and Will’s mother Joyce Byers (played by Winona Ryder.) These two actors bring incredible realism & empathy to their characters & are truly superb in their respective roles.

Sherriff Jim Hopper is written like every great Stephen King-eque small town Sherriff. (‘Salems Lot, Super 8, Needful Things) He’s an intelligent and honorable, yet flawed man w/a tragic past. He’s grouchy and rough around the edges, yet unmistakably kind and compassionate for those around him. He secretly copes with his past tragedies with the abuse of drugs and alcohol. All the while maintaining the illusion of a well-put-together Sherriff by day. David Harbour portrays this archetype beautifully as he begins to put the first pieces of the mystery together in the morning after Will’s disappearance. The subtle nuance of his wit and the clever yet understated way in which we see the character working out the details of what actually happened to Will is quite convincing.

Joyce Byers is an excellently crafted, powerful and driven character. She symbolizes so many mothers I knew growing up who were working two jobs and raising a family with no help from a father who had long since left the picture. She relies, perhaps a bit too much, on her oldest son Jonathan (played by Charlie Heaton) to make sure the household runs smoothly and her youngest Will is being looked after. When she awakes in the morning to discover Will did not return home the night before she becomes naturally upset & concerned over his whereabouts before calling Mike’s mother and eventually visiting the Sherriff’s office.

Winona Ryder’s performance is equally mesmerizing. She portrays the character honestly and passionately, truly bringing home to roost the fears of adults everywhere at the prospect of their child being abducted. As the story progresses and it becomes clear to Joyce that something unnatural has happened to her child, Ms. Ryder’s performance reaches new heights as she desperately tries to maintain her wits and deal with the raw emotions that come from being so certain about this strange truth while surrounded by disbelievers.

The closing moments of the show feature Mike, Dustin & Lucas searching frantically for there friend during a driving rainstorm in the towns local woods. The snapping of twigs and rustle of bushes can be heard as the boys fearfully and frantically shine their flashlights around in a desperate attempt to discover the source of the sounds. It is here we are introduced to Eleven: the shows primary protagonist and other-worldly little girl. I won’t spoil the details of the characters unusual behavior. However, just know she becomes an integral part of the story and a key tool in unraveling the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Will Byers.

All and all, this is one of the best shows I’ve seen in some time. It’s smart, (mostly) perfectly written, and is headlined by a cast of extremely talented actors who bring gritty realism and honesty to a story that blurs the lines between fantasy and horror.

If you enjoy storytellers and genre visionaries like Stephen King, John Carpenter, David Cronenberg, Tom Savini & Steven Spielberg, you will no-doubt become quickly engrossed in the story. It’s a narrative filled with action, adventure, horror, mystery, suspense and fantasy all wrapped up in a cozy blanket of nostalgia that dares you not to binge watch the entire series.

Simply put, I love it.

Ray’s Top 10 TV Episodes of 2016

1) Stranger Things, “Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers” (Season One, Episode 1)
2) Stranger Things, “Chapter Five: The Flea and the Acrobat” (Season One, Episode 5)
3) Marvel’s Luke Cage, “Step in the Arena” (Season One, Episode 4)
4) Stranger Things, “Chapter Three: Holly, Jolly” (Season One, Episode 3)
5) Better Call Saul, “Nailed” (Season Two, Episode 9)
6) Better Call Saul, “Switch” (Season Two, Episode 1)
7) The Night Of, “The Beach” (Season One, Episode 1)
8) Silicon Valley, “The Empty Chair” (Season Three, Episode 5)
9) Game of Thrones, “Battle of the Bastards” (Season Six, Episode 9)
10) Game of Thrones, “The Door” (Season Six, Episode 5)

This is Us – “Pilgrim Rick”

(Season One, Episode 8)

By Victoria Disque

In a sea of suspicious robots and telepathic children, true crime and fictional murders, This is Us has been a welcome and refreshing addition to my TV line-up this year. What was originally promoted as a look into the lives of random 30-somethings connected by a shared birthday, then threw audiences for a loop when it was revealed that the characters were actually related and being viewed decades apart. What This is Us does, and does well, is balance realistic and often heartbreaking drama with an almost unrealistically perfect family fantasy. Milo Ventimiglia is a standout as Jack, the Pearson family patriarch. Every word out of Jack’s mouth might as well be an acceptance speech for the World’s Best Father award. While I’ve never seen a better performance from Mandy Moore, and while Randall’s storyline with his biological father is probably the show’s best, Jack is the glue that binds everything.

Case in point: in “Pilgrim Rick,” we learn that year after year, the grown Pearson children recreate the Thanksgiving they shared with their parents when they were nine-years-old. In 1987, after a flat tire leaves them stranded, the family hikes 3.4 miles to the nearest gas station, only to find that their tire won’t be fixed that night. The family buys cold hotdogs and checks into a nearby motel, where the furnace is broken and the front desk worker, Rick, bizarrely insists that he is an actual pilgrim. Sensing his wife and children are in for a miserably hot and disappointing night, Jack salvages the situation by stealing Pilgrim Rick’s hat and a copy of Police Academy 3, and creates a picnic of cheese dogs roasted in the open flame of the broken furnace. By the time the parents and children are drifting off to sleep in a small full sized bed, 9-year-old Randall flips his earlier opinion of never wanting to celebrate the holiday when he’s grown to wanting this exact Thanksgiving every year. Moral of the story? There is no bad situation Jack can’t fix.

Victoria’s Top 10 Episodes of 2016

1) Westworld, “The Well-Tempered Clavier” (Season One, Episode 9)
2) This is Us, “Pilgrim Rick” (Season One, Episode 8)
3) Stranger Things, “Chapter Five: The Flea and the Acrobat” (Season One, Episode 5)
4) American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson, “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia” (Season One, Episode 6)
5) Silicon Valley, “Meinertzhagen’s Haversack” (Season Three, Episode 3)
6) Black Mirror, “San Junipero” (Season Three, Episode 4)
7) How to Get Away with Murder, “Who’s Dead?” (Season Three, Episode 9)
8) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, “Donald Trump” (Season Three, Episode 3)
9) Jane the Virgin, “Chapter Forty-Four” (Season Two, Episode 22)
10) The Night Of, “The Beach” (Season One, Episode 1)

Westworld – “Tompe L’Oeil”

(Season One, Episode 7)

By Ryan Lugar

The review reveals a plot twist that occurs in Episode 7.

Westworld is weird. It started off with such a bang of mystery, and flat lined on the audience hard. The mystique of this new world and stories vanished once we realized the hosts get killed and raped each day, wake up the next day with no memory of it, and then do it all over again. The classic rinse and repeat. A love story between hosts doesn’t matter because the story has already been told before. So, after the initial episode and flare vanished, the stories that were deemed important to the show moving forward were found outside the park’s narratives with Ford, Bernard, Teresa, and the rest of the staff. In short, Ford seemed evil, Bernard always trying to see both sides of the spectrum, and Teresa being straight business.

“Tompe L’Oeil” is the episode that resurected the fans from the dead and gave us life back into the season. FINALLY, the plot twist we’ve been waiting for and feel like we deserve.

Teresa is trying to push Ford out because she and the board of directors of the park feel that his time to retire is now and they need to commercialize the park more. Ford, aka Hanibal Lector, sees things differently. He doesn’t want to leave and wants to push his new, crazy narrative forward without letting the board (and audience) know what the narrative even is! As a fan of the show, and probably a board member in the show, this can be quite frustrating. Only getting glimpes of what is to come. However, it’s this montra that makes Westworld so addicting so we don’t care and keep asking for more.

Teresa and Charlotte (over-confident board member) set up a showing of a host that is malfunctioning and put the blame on both Bernard and Ford. Bernard, as the Head Engineer, is fired on the spot and the board tells Ford that it’s his time to retire. So Ford (LET’S NOT FORGET THIS IS HANNIBAL LECTOR), calmly takes this huge news, slitters at them, and him and Bernard exit. At this point, the board is estatic. They did it! Not only did they get full engineering control by having Bernard fired, they successfully forced Ford to step down. It’s a two-fer!! But it was easy, too easy…

At the end of the episode Bernard takes Teresa to Sector 17, a hidden lab in the park’s grounds. He thinks this is something new he discovered and wants to show his lover/co-worker/ex-co-worker Teresa. This is when shit hits the fan.

BOOM! Teresa finds blueprints revealing that Bernard is actually a freakin’ host!

BOOM! Ford (HANNIBAL LECTOR) comes out of nowhere, slittering as he enters, and informs Teresa that he has no plans of stepping down and that she can shove it up her ass.

BOOM! Bernard, under the control of Ford, murders Teresa!

What?!?!?

After five boring episodes they drop this bombshell on us in the last ten minutes of the episode. I repeat, WHAT?!?! Not only is this a huge turning point in the show’s (not park’s) narrative, it makes us question everything we’ve ever seen while watching the show. Who is a host? Who is real? It’s revelations like this that make fans go back and rewatch episodes to see what they missed in plain sight. And it was this twist that gave the rest of the season life because you no longer know who is a human and who is a host. And if someone is a host and not a human, who is to say they’re not real? This huge plot twist made those five boring episodes fully worth it and showed us that we aren’t as smart as the show, even if Reddit thinks it is.

P.S. PSA: THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEORIZING AND BEING A TELEVISION SHOW DETECTIVE. Exposing every small detail of the show doesn’t make you smart; it makes you a jackass for the simple weekly observer who enjoys the element of surprise and doesn’t spend every waking moment trying to find hidden meanings behind mundane dialogue in the show. This show created a whole new orb of television show detectives, and I can’t wait for Season Two when shit gets real (SAMURAI ROBOTS) and those detectives go back to spoiling a different show.

Ryan’s Top 10 TV Episodes of 2016

1) Atlanta, “Nobody Beets the Biebs” (Season One, Episode 5)
2) You’re the Worst, “Twenty-Two” (Season Three, Episode 5)
3) Game of Thrones, “Battle of the Bastards” (Season Six, Episode 9) (Bullshit ending)
4) Vice Principals, “A Trusty Steed” (Season One, Episode 2)
5) Atlanta, “Juneteenth” (Season One, Episode 9)
6) South Park, “Wieners Out” (Season Twenty, Episode 4)
7) Westworld, “Trompe L’Oeil” (Season One, Episode 7)
8) Stranger Things, “Chapter Eight: The Upside Down” (Season One, Episode 8)
9) Game of Thrones, “The Broken Man” (Season Six, Episode 7)
10) Saturday Night Live, “Dave Chappelle / A Tribe Called Quest” (Season Forty-Two, Episode 6)

The X-Files – “Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster”

(Season Ten, Episode 3)

By Sam Tilmans

So often, the fans of a show have a love so strong they can bring it back to life. Firefly still hasn’t gotten the series that its fans want, but it did get Serenity. Gilmore Girls came back for a few episodes on Netflix this year. Next year, Twin Peaks will have its first new episodes after 26 years – 25 if you count the movie, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.

Perhaps one of the most anticipated revivals was that of The X-Files this year. The last time we saw FBI Special Agents Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and Fox Mulder (David Duchovny), they were in the 2008 film, The X-Files: I Want to Believe and, before that, The X-Files series finale in 2002, which ended after nine seasons.

We get so wrapped up in the idea that we can revive a show, we don’t consider whether we should.

Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE The X-Files. When the first of the six new episodes aired on January 24, I was there on my couch wearing an X-Files shirt, drinking out of my “I Want to Believe” mug, with a piece of art depicting Dana Scully hanging over my television. Yet, four of those six new episodes really let me down for a myriad of reasons, including Islamophobia, regurgitating a monster-of-the-week from a good older episode, and the mythology making no sense. But in the muck that was, mostly, the X-Files 2016 limited series, there was one shining jewel: “Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster.”

The episode revolves around Mulder realizing that, in the years that have passed, there are less mysteries to investigate than there used to be, and that maybe his life’s work has been a waste. Scully drags him out on a case where a strange creature is reported to have killed several people in the woods of Oregon. Reflection – and weirdness – follows.

David Duchovny, as Mulder, gets in some good comedic bits, one of my favorites being an instance where he apparently doesn’t know how to use a smartphone’s camera. He’s goofy but he also looks tired – he’s a man coping with change. Gillian Anderson is a delight and even though she isn’t onscreen as much as Duchovny, she gets some great lines of dialogue this episode and gets to be funny, which is seems rare for her character, and I love it. It looks like she enjoyed herself while filming it. The supporting cast includes the wonderful and goofy Rhys Darby as Guy Mann – a.k.a. the titular “Were-Monster,” celebrity “X-Phile” Kumail Nanjiani as an animal control officer who needs to reevaluate his life, and in the cold open we get Tyler Labine and Nicole Parker reprising their roles as stoners previously seen in two other X-Files episodes, “Quagmire” and “War of the Coprophages.”

“Were-Monster” has greatness in its DNA – it’s written and directed by Darin Morgan, who is also the writer responsible for some of The X-Files’ best episodes, including the previously mentioned “War of the Coprophages,” “Humbug” – one of my favorites, and the Emmy-winning “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose.” His episodes tend to play with storytelling, include unreliable narrators, provide a reflection of society/humanity, and usually make Mulder look like a doofus. There’s no exception to that here.

A huge theme of The X-Files as a series is venturing into the unknown – mostly in the form of isolated small towns and in the creeping of civilization into the wilderness, and what lurks there, ready to bite back. In the case of “Were-Monster”, it’s heavily represented in Mulder and Scully’s seedy motel with its creepy manager, the isolated truck stop by a large cornfield, and the forest where stoners go to get high. Morgan has fun with this trope as well, having Guy Mann/The Were-Monster become a part of civilization against his will, and have the ability to voice his experience, where in most cases of X-Files episodes, the antagonist-of-the-week does not speak and leaves a trail of bodies in its wake. It’s an interesting change to the formula, and makes it a lot of fun. The episode is also a commentary on what it means to be a modern human – our daily routines and habits, our society’s push to conform, our relationships with our pets. Guy Mann doesn’t know or understand it, and to an extent, do we? Are we more or less monsters than what is lurking in the darkness?

I would say “Were-Monster” is an episode any non-fan of The X-Files could watch and enjoy. There’s plenty of Scooby-Doo-esque visual gags, physical comedy, and witty dialogue. There’s no mythology to worry about, just a simple, silly, monster-of-the-week episode. However, I personally wouldn’t make this an introductory episode to new viewers, because this episode feels like it’s for the fans. There are little tributes to the late director Kim Manners and assistant director Jack Hardy, there’s a gag involving Mulder’s character traits, references to Moby Dick, and there’s a joke about the theory that Scully is immortal. It’s a love letter to the series and its fans. For me, it was like being welcomed again by the outstretched arms of Dana Scully and Fox Mulder, as if maybe that original series finale and that second movie never happened. It’s the X-Files at its best.

All in all, “Were-Monster” is a reflection on the series itself. Time has passed, technology has updated, and Mulder is despairing at the mysteries that have been solved in his absence. He feels obsolete. He wants to believe there’s still more out there to be found, and though he gets what he is looking for in Guy Mann/the Were-Monster, it doesn’t change that the rest of the world has moved on. We, the audience, have grown up. Mulder and Scully have aged, too. There’s several references in the episode that we, like Mulder, should let go – almost as if saying this whole revival probably shouldn’t have happened… but I’m still glad it did, if only for “Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster.”

Sam’s Top 10 TV Episodes of 2016

1) The X-Files, “Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster” (Season Ten, Episode 3)
2) Stranger Things, “Chapter Three: Holly Jolly” (Season One, Episode 3)
3) BoJack Horseman, “Fish Out of Water” (Season Three, Episode 4)
4) Bob’s Burgers, “The Last Gingerbread House on the Left” (Season Seven, Episode 7)
5) Gravity Falls, “Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back the Falls” (Season Two, Episode 20) Can I tell you how sad I am that Gravity Falls is over? And that it’s probably a good thing this was the only episode to air in 2016, otherwise I don’t know which episode I would choose for this list?
6) Broad City, “Two Chainz” (Season Three, Episode 1)
7) Stranger Things, “Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers” (Season One, Episode 1)
8) BoJack Horseman, “Brrap Brrap Pew Pew” (Season Three, Episode 6)
9) Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, “Kimmy Kidnaps Gretchen!” (Season Two, Episode 4)
10) Orange is the New Black, “Toast Can’t Never Be Bread Again” (Season Four, Episode 13)

Honorable Mentions:

·       Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “House Mouses,” Halloween IV,” and “Monster in the Closet,”

·       Stranger Things, “Chapter Eight: The Upside Down”

·       Bob’s Burgers, “House of 1000 Bounces” and “Stand By Gene”

·       Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, “Kimmy Goes Roller Skating!” and “Kimmy Meets a Drunk Lady!”

·       Lady Dynamite, “Jack and Diane”

·       Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, “Where is Josh’s Friend?”

·       Orphan Black, “The Collapse of Nature”

You’re the Worst – “The Inherent, Unsullied Qualitative Value of Anything”

(Season Three, Episode 11)

By Molly Raker

Warning: My review won’t be as smart and funny as this show and it will spoil things about the show. [Editor’s note: Molly did a good job!]

How have I not watch this show until this year? What was I thinking? If you have the same questions I highly recommend going to Hulu and FX Now and watching all three seasons RIGHT NOW. I binged the first two seasons before the third season started and it was the best decision of my life (not really but close).

SPOILER ALERT!

In Season Three, we hit some lows in all the character relationships and it all comes to a turning point in Episode 11, which is my favorite of this year (Westworld and Game of Thrones can take their special effects and shove it). I’ll take smart and funny storytelling over mystery and violence any day but anyway, on to the episode and why I loved it.

This episode is the aftermath of Jimmy’s tree house epiphany, an abo-bo and a career opportunity – all three of these affect the characters romantic relationships, which come to light in this episode. What I love most about this episode is the camera work, after the opening credits roll (and a commercial break) we are on a journey through a “continuous shot” through a wedding. We follow the servers and stop by our characters once they pass. I loved this daring technique – for a comedy- as camera cuts help with comedic relief, as we saw in the opening in the episode, but by doing this we feel the raw emotion everyone is going through which is important for this episode.

In this episode, we see Jimmy evaluate everything in his life to ensure he wasn’t just enjoying it because his father would disagree or had an influence. From his clothes, décor and even Gretchen. So Jimmy creates a secret pro/con list about her and of course, she needs to get her hands on it. What she thought might help her, the revelation from both their con list is a gut-wrenching scene. The expression on both those faces is perfect and makes really feel what they are feeling. Jimmy has the best facial expression (he’s my favorite). We also see some parallel shots from the pilot. We see Gretchen and Jimmy in similar attire and positions as in the pilot when they are leaving another wedding. That event led to relationship but could this lead to their downfall. I love it when a show pays close attention to the details to tell a story.

As for the supporting characters, Lindsay is finally going to make the step she should’ve done when she met Paul. Edgar is seeing some success but unfortunately doesn’t have the support system he needs with a girlfriend. These are two characters who always have the best lines (mainly Lindsay) and they are both finally trying to grow up.

The name of the show is You’re the Worst so there is going to be some bad decisions and scenarios. The show handles them very well; they have reasoning behind every decision and don’t gloss it over. We saw this last season and we saw it this season with the abortion and more on PTSD. The handling of the abortion was heartbreaking (for Paul) but you understood why she was doing it. This has been a popular subject area in shows that I watched (Crazy Ex Girlfriend and Jane the Virgin). Let’s just hope this spilt from Paul sticks but he deserves better.

All in all the show is called You’re the Worst but there’s nothing awful about this show.

The episode was just missing some prepared wedding heckles.

Molly’s Top 10 TV Episodes of 2016

1) You’re the Worst, “The Inherent, Unsullied Qualitative Value of Anything” (Season Three, Episode 11)
2) Veep, “Kissing Your Sister” (Season Five, Episode 9)
3) Catastrophe, “Episode Three” (Season Two, Episode 3)
4) Westworld, “The Well Tempered Clavier” (Season One, Episode 9)
5) Atlanta, “The Streisand Effect” (Season One, Episode 4)
6) Game of Thrones, “The Broken Man” (Season Six, Episode 7)
7) Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, “Paula Needs to Get Over Josh!” (Season One, Episode 18)
8) Outlander, “Faith” (Season Two, Episode 7)
9) Difficult People, “Hashtag Cats” (Season Two, Episode 8)
10) The Crown, “Wolferton Splash” (Season One, Episode 1)

The Group’s Top 10 List

Using a simple point system where a person’s #1 pick gets 10 points, #2 gets 9 and so on, here are the Top 10 Episodes of 2016 that received the most points from the 30 Top 10 lists

1) Game of Thrones, “Battle of the Bastards” (Season Six, Episode 9) 73 points
2) Stranger Things, “Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers” (Season One, Episode 1) 55 points
3) Black Mirror, “San Junipero” (Season Three, Episode 4) 52 points
4) Game of Thrones, “The Winds of Winter” (Season Six, Episode 10) 50 points
5) BoJack Horseman, “Fish Out of Water” (Season Three, Episode 4) 43 points
6) Game of Thrones, “The Door” (Season Six, Episode 5) 42 points
7) Stranger Things, “Chapter Eight: The Upside Down” (Season One, Episode 8) 37 points
8) Stranger Things, “Chapter Five: The Flea and the Acrobat” (Season One, Episode 5) 28 points
9) Westworld, “The Original” (Season One, Episode 1) 26 points
10) The Night Of, “The Beach” (Season One, Episode 1) 20 points, tie
10) Stranger Things, “Chapter Three: Holly, Jolly” (Season One, Episode 3) 20 points, tie

·       102 different shows were on a Top 10 list. (20 more than last year)

·       32 of those shows first premired in 2016. (5 more than last year)

·       195 different episodes were on a Top 10 list. (4 more than last year)

·       “Battle of the Bastards” was on 12 different Top 10 lists.

·       All 8 episodes of Stranger Things were on a Top 10 list.

·       4/6 episodes of Black Mirror were on a Top 10 list.

·       4/6 episodes of The Night Manager were on a Top 10 list.

·       6/10 episodes of Atlanta were on a Top 10 list.

·       5/10 episodes of Westworld were on a Top 10 list.

·       3/6 episodes of Happy Valley were on a Top 10 list.

·       2/4 episodes of Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life were on a Top 10 list.

·       4/10 episodes of The Crown were on a Top 10 list.

·       4/10 episodes of Game of Thrones were on a Top 10 list.

·       2/6 episodes of Catastrophe were on a Top 10 list.

Best Episodes of 2015

By Ray Martindale

My favorite episode of the year is a tie between the pilot for Ash vs. Evil Dead and The Leftovers’ “International Assassin” and since you can only do one I’m going to do Ash vs. Evil Dead. However, as a side note… what the hell? No one is doing The Leftovers!? I’m calling shotgun on that for next year! Watch freakin’ The Leftovers!

Okay, so the pilot for Ash vs. Evil Dead was my co-favorite episode of TV this year! It does everything right & perfectly captures the spirit of the genre bending the Evil Dead franchise. It makes you laugh and cheer; it scares the crap out of you in certain parts and it will definitely gross you out!

The pilot opens on an obviously over-the-hill Ash, who is getting all jazzed up for a night out at the local dive bar. He arrives just in time for last call, as he tries to con an attractive barfly into some hanky-panky in the bathroom. It isn’t long before weird things begin to happen, and the legendary Ashley J. Williams must once again battle the evil spirits of hell!

It’s so fascinating watching Bruce Campbell step into the character again. I wasn’t sure what to expect. After all, this franchise essentially launched his career, and we have not seen a return to the character since 1992. I was pleased to see there was no rust, and Campbell delivers an amazing performance. Despite Starz inability to secure the rights to the third film in the franchise, this is very much the “Ash” from Army of Darkness. Each line is cleverly delivered with the same sarcastic charm & smugness that fans of the franchise have come to adore.

Ash’s name being included in the title is a first for the franchise, however it feels incredibly appropriate. This is Campbell’s show and the evil spirits—although incredibly frightening at times—function more as a sounding board for us to really get to know more about Ash, as a character. Don’t get me wrong, the blood still runs down the frame, but it has been 23 years since we’ve last seen Ash and his poor choices have definitely made for a harder life.

However, Ash seems oblivious as ever to his situation and a ragtag team is assembled to help Ash in his fight. Now, I could go into each of the actor’s performances & give you a few details, but I’ll let you form your own opinions. Suffice it to say, not all of the performances are great, but some are very good.

There are a couple scenes I do want to touch on, but I won’t spoil’em. First off, for those who are new to the franchise there is a clever exposition scene set in the warehouse of Ash‘s place of employment. (Sorry S-Mart fans). In this scene, clips from the first two films are projected on cardboard boxes as Ash relays the history of the Necrocomicon & the Evil Dead. It is very well done and effectively catches you up to speed with out slowing the pace.

The other scene is the big scare scene of the pilot. Two police officers are moving room to room in an attempt to clear the residence of any hostile assailants. The officers have been separated for few minutes as they cautiously search, & you just know something horrible is going to happen. Only it doesn’t… at first! As one police officer enters a room she finds an old wooden rocking chair. It’s very distinctly rocking on its own; creaking & groaning as the old wood bends. Then purposefully and abruptly it stops rocking. The camera pans to her terrified partner, his gun drawn on the rocking chair as he delivers his line in a shaky voice, “There’s something wrong here.” HA! No shit!

The pilot is a beautifully crafted horror story filled with suspense, action, romance and comedy. The series is an excellent continuation of the Evil Dead franchise, and it’s b-movie moxie and special effects are enough to make it easily accessible to any fan of the genre. So… what else is there left to say about the pilot for Ash vs. Evil Dead? If you asked me to sum it all up in one word, I’d say… “Groovy.”

Thanks for reading!

Ray’s Top 10 TV Episodes of 2015

1) Ash vs. the Evil Dead, “El Jefe” (Season One, Episode 1)

2) The Leftovers, “International Assassin” (Season Two, Episode 8)

3) Arrow, “The Fallen” (Season Three, Episode 20)

4) The Flash, “Fallout” (Season One, Episode 14)

5) Better Call Saul, “Alpine Shepherd Boy” (Season One, Episode 5)

6) Nostalgia Critic, “Hocus Pocus” (Episode 294)

7) The Leftovers, “A Most Powerful Adversary” (Season Two, Episode 7)

8) The 100, “Spacewalker” (Season Two, Episode 8) (Ray: “yea, I know it aired Dec 17th, 2014… I don’t care, the rest of the season aired in 2015”) (Austin: Not counting it for the end of article talleys!)

9) ESPN’s 30 for 30, “Chasing Tyson” (Season Three, Episode 4)

10) The Walking Dead, “Thank You” (Season Six, Episode 3)

Banshee – “Tribal”

(Season Three, Episode 5)

By Aaron Wittwer

Banshee could have gotten by on its action set pieces alone. From the beginning, it has been clear that this show aims to provide the most tense and perfectly executed fight scenes in television history and, over the course of three seasons, that goal has not changed. The fights are as brutal, unpredictable and creative as ever, but as the show continues, something unexpected has emerged. Where initially it seemed as though the premise and setting were simply the perfunctory stage on which these fights would take place, it has become clear that something much closer to the opposite is true. This is a show that truly wants to tell a story, and occasionally does so by bursting into fight. (This is something like bursting into song but with more broken noses). Every punch has emotional weight and serves to advance the characters in a meaningful way. No scene is wasted, be it a fight to the death or a short conversation over coffee. Nothing is inconsequential and it’s because of this that a perfect little bottle episode like “Tribal” can be the best thing to happen on TV this year.

“Bottle” is the common terminology anyway, but “powder keg-coated-in-napalm” might be more apropos. The old Cadillac dealership which serves as the Banshee Sherriff’s Office is under siege. Bullets shatter the glass and shred the air as goodish guys, baddish guys, and civilians all scramble for cover. Ex-con turned fake Sheriff, Lucas Hood, barely manages to trigger the steel security gates he had installed after a similar situation several months prior. And while the Redbones, a revenge hungry gang from the local Indian Reservation, try to find a way to breech this ramshackle fortress, inside is no less tense for the shaky alliances and tenuous truces that must be forged in order for everyone to get out of this situation alive.

There’s a futility in trying to capture the emotion and anxiety this episode inspires. I could tell you about the ex-Amish crime lord, Kai Proctor; held captive in one of the jail cells as his mother dies at home. I could tell you about the reformed neo-Nazi covered in tattoos who had just come to the Sherriff’s office to submit a job application; he’s a bit of a wild card at this point. I could tell you about Chayton Littlestone; the seemingly unstoppable force of death and vengeance who has led the Redbones into this battle. I could tell you how, in the previous episode, Hood’s deputy/love interest found out his secret. How Hood was just about to flee town before she had a chance to out him. And now they sit, trapped together in a tinderbox of uncertainty and lingering romance. But all of these things are firmly founded in a history and a world that has been built up over two and a half seasons. Every step along the way is relevant and vital. Unpacking exactly why this episode works so well would take much more than this short review.

Suffice it to say, this episode is a series high point. Banshee borrows the cinematic conventions of many a classic western (with a heavy debt owed to John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13) and repurposes them as a pressure cooker for all of the tensions and relationships with which we’ve become so intimately familiar. It’s a claustrophobic, sweat-drenched hour—grim, but never hopeless which makes the heart-rending final moments all the more devastating.

But it’s best you start at the beginning. Come for the insane gunfights and fisticuffs. Stay because the story’s roots have dug in deeper than you ever expected. There’s only one abbreviated, 8 episodes season left. The creators are ending the show of their own volition, having told the story they wanted to tell. If they stick the landing –and I have every confidence that they will–then Banshee will undoubtedly secure it’s place alongside the likes of Breaking Bad as one of the most well-drawn and flawlessly constructed shows of all time.

(Really freaking difficult to whittle down the Top 10 this year!)

Aaron’s Top 10 Episodes of 2015 (Not including “Tribal”)

1) Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, “I’m Going on a Date with Josh’s Friend!” (Season One, Episode 4)

2) Ash vs. the Evil Dead, “El Jefe” (Season One, Episode 1)

3) Fargo, “Loplop” (Season Two, Episode 8)

4) Review, “Murder; Magic 8 Ball; Procrastination” (Season Two, Episode 8)

5) Hannibal, “The Wrath of the Lamb” (Season Three, Episode 13)

6) Rick and Morty, “Total Rickall” (Season Two, Episode 4)

7) Justified, “The Promise” (Season Six, Episode 13)

8) Adventure Time, “Stakes Part 2: Everything Stays” (Season Seven, Episode 7)

9) Nathan for You, “Smokers Allowed” (Season Three, Episode 5)

10) The Last Man on Earth, “Silent Night” (Season Two, Episode 10)

Billy on the Street – “For a Dollar, It’s Chris Pratt!”

(Season Four, Episode 2)

By Keith Jackson

And away… we… go!

Billy on the Street has moved to a new home, stepping up from “that’s a channel?” Fuse to “yeah, I’ve seen that once on my guide” truTV (also, repeats on the more recognizable TBS). Now in his fourth season star Billy Eichner’s also stepped up his format. He’s managed to stage even more elaborate features like “Shondaland”, where Amy Sedaris runs through an obstacle course of the works of Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes. In “Billy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with Katie Couric”, he produced giant balloons of Rooney Mara, Sean Penn, Mila Kunis, & Maggie Gyllenhaal, floats dedicated to the 2009-2011 Showtime dramedy “The United States of Tara”, as well as one to Mark Ruffalo (the “Mark Ruffaloat”).

But as great as the big intricate segments are, and the fun that ensues when celebrities join to play games like, “What Does Katy Perry’s Cat Care About?” or “LaTina Fey” (where Tina Fey has to name 20 Latino performers). My favorite parts week after week are his interactions with regular people minding their own business. Because he’s usually all over the place with nonsequitous pop culture references, asking questions like, “When Matt Damon daydreams of running for Senate, what state does he imagine he’s in?” or just walking up to someone telling them to, “Put yourself in Demi Levato’s shoes,” then witnessing their reaction, or when he asked a passer-by to “name a website,” and they replied quite enthusiastically: “STAPLES.COM!” It’s hard to pinpoint one specific interaction.

But if I had to pick one, it would be “For A Dollar, It’s Chris Pratt!” for a single reason in particular: Rodney. Billy plays one of his mainstays, “Quizzed in the Face” where he walks up to someone asking if they’d like to win a BIG PRIZE! He can come across some great people like the favorite recurring guest, Elena. Many people, especially in his other game “For A Dollar”, are bewildered by Eichner’s energy and fast pace, but Rodney is calm and collected–he repeatedly gets shut down as he tries to go on about some impressive facts about himself, such as purchasing a van and a car, owning a toy train store(?) or how his parents bought an Upper West Side apartment for $22,000 and then sold it for… well, we don’t know, because as Billy exclaims, “this isn’t Antiques Roadshow!” Rodney even has a Yankees hat with his name embroidered on the back; how awesome is this guy?

It’s not typical for a Quizzed in the Face contestant to push back at some of Eichner’s off-the-wall multiple choice questions–usually they recognize which of the four is real and just laugh at the non-sensical ones and move on. I think Billy was a bit surprised and proud when Rodney turns the option about “teaching transgender people how to use Spotify” around on him. It creates a hilarious dynamic because Billy now realizes Rodney won’t let the craziness ruffle his feathers. He’ll speak his mind. When asked, based on Billy’s subjective opinion, “which Muppet is definitely not homosexual,” Rodney declaratively answers Kermit, because, “frogs are asexual.” Unfortunately this doesn’t line up with Billy’s thoughts, but he stands by his answer. (The two Stuyvesant grads do agree about Barney, however.)

Rodney pretty much makes the episode, for me. There has been some better celebrity guests than this episode’s: Chris Pratt. It is pretty fun to see New Yorkers not give any care to who he is, however. The “For A Dollar” segment is fun, as always, asking someone their opinion on if Tobey Maguire’s happy and another to twerk if they love Pixar, among others. But Rodney’s clearly the star of this installment even upstaging Star-Lord and the lead of one of 2015’s highest grossing films.

Keith’s Top 10 Episodes of 2015

1) Parks and Recreation, “Leslie and Ron” (Season Seven, Episode 4)

2) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, “Episode #2677” (Finale)

3) Gravity Falls, “Not What He Seems” (Season Two, Episode 11)

4) Game of Thrones, “The Dance of Dragons” (Season Five, Episode 9)

5) Billy on the Street, “For a Dollar, It’s Chris Pratt!” (Season Four, Episode 2)

6) The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, “Kimmy Goes to Court!” (Season One, Episode 12)

7) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, “April 5, 2015” (Season Two, Episode 8)

8) Veep, “Testimony” (Season Four, Episode 9)

9) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, “August 16, 2015” (Season Two, Episode 25)

10) The Unbreakble Kimmy Schmidt, “Kimmy Goes to School!” (Season One, Episode 6)

Bob’s Burgers – “The Hauntening”

(Season Six, Episode 3)

By Rachael Clark

Holiday themed episodes of Bob’s Burgers are usually some of their best. This season’s Halloween episode is no exception. The episode focuses on the fact that Louise Belcher has never been scared before in her life. She wishes she could get scared, however, she “sees everything that is going to happen from a mile away.” Bob and Linda decide this year they are going to try and scare Louise. They close their burger joint for the day and drive the Belcher children out of town to an unknown house where they display possibly the most pathetic haunted house ever witnessed. Flickering lights (which is scary because it can cause seizures, according to Tina), spaghetti as guts, and conjoined people by way of a large t-shirt. As the Belchers realize it is a lost cause and will not be able to frighten Louise, they pack up and get ready to head home. However, due to unfortunate circumstances, the Belcher family get stuck in the house that turns out may be haunted after all and a crazy man with gardening shears may actually be out to get them! This episode is full of wit, one-liners, and possibly a scared Louise Belcher.

Bob’s Burgers is a rare show that embraces a family’s actual love and support for one another along with their quirkiness. Each family member has a distinct and loveable personality, where they can bring out the best and worst in each other. “The Hauntening” episode is one of the few where the whole family is together the entire episode. Although it may be considered a Louise-centric episode, everybody shares equal screen time and lines. You see the whole family dynamic interact with each other and it is hilarious and heart-warming.

P.S. The ending is one of my favorite parts of the episode. Boyz 4 Now make a reappearance with a music video entitled, “I Love You So Much (it’s scary)”. It is a sweet song to remind us what Halloween is really about… Love of course!

Rachael’s Top 10 Episodes of 2015

1) Parks and Recreation, “One Last Ride” (Season Seven, Episode 12)

2) Marvel’s Jessica Jones, “AKA The Sandwich Saved Me” (Season One, Episode 5)

3) Game of Thrones, “Hardhome” (Season Five, Episode 8)

4) Veep, “East Wing” (Season Four, Episode 2)

5) Doctor Who, “Hell Bent” (Season Nine, Episode 12)

6) Orange is the New Black, “Empathy is a Boner Killer” (Season Three, Episode 3)

7) The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, “Kimmy Gets a Job!” (Season One, Episode 2)

8) Inside Amy Schumer, “12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer” (Season Three, Episode 3)

9) Bob’s Burgers, “The Hauntening” (Season Six, Episode 3)

10) Drunk History, “Spies” (Season Three, Episode 4)

Community – “Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television”

(Season Six, Episode 13)

By Priyanko “Pranks” Paul

Community is a very difficult thing to write about, as I’m sure The AV Club, Slate, Alan Sepinwall, and various other sources will agree with.  It’s a bizarre, passionate, goofy little show that is seriously unserious.  Its season finale is my pick for one of the best episodes of the year, but the damnedest thing about it is, I’m not 100% sure about that pick.

I think, gun to my head, that if I had to describe this finale in a single phrase, it’d be “matter-of-fact.”  That’s the best part of it, in fact.  Abed spends the entire show going Full-Abed.  He comes right out and says, “I don’t know how likely Season Seven is.”  When Chang points out that The Simpsons, South Park, and Friends all made it past Season Six, Abed notes that those shows weren’t hemorrhaging characters every year.  This then leads into a series of mini-scenes wherein characters describe their own version of Season Seven.  It’s sort of a call-back of “Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps.”

As usual, the show uses Abed to respond to all of its critics throughout the years — “Things have a certain shape to it.  If we stray from it, we’re weird.  If we stick to it, we’re boring.”  (This reminds me of “The Itchy and Scratchy and Poochie Show” episode from The Simpsons, which was basically a response to fans who said the show had gotten stale…oh fuck, I’ve gone full Abed.)

Abed eventually continues that good TV is “a friend you’ve known so well, and for so long you just let it be with you. And it needs to be okay for it to have a bad day, or phone in a day.  And it needs to be okay for it to get on a boat with Levar Burton and never come back. Because eventually, it all will.”

So was this one of the “best” episodes of the show?  “Best” is such a strange way to describe Community, even for a diehard fan like myself.  “Favorite,” maybe.  “Rabid,” certainly.  When I first watched the finale earlier this year, it made me deeply emotional in a way that media rarely does.  Most of that was saying goodbye to characters and a setting that (I believe) we will never return to again.  Upon re-watching it, I was less affected.  It was at, various points, too loud and too soft, and defiantly imperfect.  But so was the show.

Pranks’ Top 10 Episodes of 2015

1) Community, “Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television” (Season Six, Episode 13)

2) Star Wars Rebels, “The Siege of Lothal” (Season Two, Episodes 1/2)

3) The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, “Kimmy Has a Birthday!” (Season One, Episode 9)

4) Rick and Morty, “Mortynight Run” (Season Two, Episode 2)

5) The Flash, “Fast Enough” (Season One, Episode 22)

6) Marvel’s Daredevil, “Stick” (Season One, Episode 7)

7) Marvel’s Jessica Jones, “AKA Sin Bin” (Season One, Episode 9)

8) BoJack Horseman, “Escape from L.A.” (Season Two, Episode 11)

9) Master of None, “Parents” (Season One, Episode 2)

10) You’re the Worst, “LCD Soundystem” (Season Two, Episode 9)

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend – “I’m Going on a Date With Josh’s Friend!”

(Season One, Episode 4)

By Jim Huang

Greg wants to ask Rebecca on out a date. And Greg doesn’t want to ask Rebecca out. Rebecca is in love with Josh. But Rebecca isn’t in love with Josh, or so she says. Greg knows that Rebecca is in love with Josh, despite all she says. Greg makes a decision. “You’re not that nice to me and you’re weird,” he says to Rebecca, “but every time you show up. It’s like boom. Feelings.” And then he breaks into song.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is a smart, endearing comedy series with full-blown musical numbers – big, splashy, witty, old-fashioned production numbers in the best, classic tradition. The numbers have thoroughly up-to-date sensibilities, and they enhance and advance the story. Greg’s song is “Settle for Me,” and as the song begins he and Rebecca are transported onto an elegant black-and-white dance floor, Greg in tails with a big boutonniere and an even bigger smile. “So, even though, I’m not the one your adore, why not settle for me? Darling, just settle for me… I know I’m only second place in this game, but like two-percent milk or seitan beef, I almost taste the same.” As lovely as this dream sequence is – and it’s as lovely a musical number as you’ll ever see – it also has a goofy realism to it. Greg pleads, “say yes or no before I choke on all this swallowed pride” and “I’m so bereft, demeaning terms are all I have left.” He ends up in a weird broken condom metaphor that is immediately topped by an even weirder one about a training bra.

I could go on and quote and describe every bit of “Settle for Me,” but you really ought to see it for or better yet, watch the whole episode, the most polished and complete yet of this first-year series co-created by and starring Rachel Bloom, who’s also written most all of the songs with Adam Schlesinger (and others). “I’m Going on a Date With Josh’s Friend,” written by Erin Ehrlich, is a episode about dreams and making choices, things that Bloom’s character Rebecca Bunch really struggles with. A butter commercial has triggered Rebecca’s cross-country move from an apparently successful career as a New York lawyer to West Covina, California, a backwater that just happens to be the hometown of Josh Chan. Josh and Rebecca had a summer camp romance a decade ago, the last time Rebecca was happy. But that’s not why she’s here, Rebecca insists.

Ehrlich’s script skillfully plays with dreams, reality and choices, in the context of a series puts the protagonist’s sanity in question. Rebecca makes terrible choices for bad reasons, fully inhabiting the part of the crazy ex-girlfriend, but (maybe?) with enough self-awareness to note that crazy ex-girlfriend is a sexist term and, in the title sequence, to reply to the observation that “she’s so broken inside” with the angry comeback “the situation is a lot more nuanced than that.”

In the episode’s first act, it’s hard to see the nuance: Rebecca and Paula, the best friend and enabler a crazy ex-girlfriend could ask for, are hanging out in a skate park where Josh sometimes hangs out. Decked out in helmets and pads and skateboards, it’s Rebecca at her most pathetic. A call from her mother rubs it in, and she’s so discouraged that she takes the advice of Heather, a young neighbor studying Rebecca for her psychology class. Heather sets Rebecca up on Tinder for an anonymous encounter to “pound out” the depression. Rebecca can’t go through with it – her anxieties hilariously expressed in song, of course –and she resolves to make healthy choices. The next day, she’s drinking green leaf juice, she’s investigating Buddhism and she’s turned vegan. “Now I’m into all the good stuff,” she says. She then helps Josh with an application for his dream job at an electronics store. He offers to help with her love life, asking if she should go on a date with Greg or “hold out for something more magical?” Josh urges her to say yes to Greg.

The date is an outing to a taco festival, and it starts out well – awkwardly, but well. Their shared interest in the Triangle Factory Fire is an especially nice touch. As Greg asks, “Why is it weird to be obsessed with the flashpoint that single-handedly ignited labor reform in the US?” The two end up dancing, and the contrast between the real-life awkwardness versus the elegance of their ballroom dream is perfect. But a disagreement over the best guacamole turns nasty. Greg: “You can be a bit of a hypocrite. You’re not in general steeped in honesty.” Rebecca: “Your whole settle-for-me vibe. It’s weird and sad.” They seem to work through the argument. In a reprise of “Settle for Me” in a port-a-potty, Rebecca sings “as soon as I’m done peeing, it’s time to start being, a little more realistic than I’ve been. Maybe it’s time to grow up and just settle for….” She’s interrupted before she can get out the last word, and as soon as she steps out of the port-a-potty, she abandons Greg and sabotages the date.

Afterwards, Rebecca says to Heather “do you ever have one of those days where you’ve done something so horrible it feels like you did it in a dream and you just want to wake up and you want it to be ok. But there’s no waking up because you did it for realisies.” When Greg confronts Rebecca, he says “all I can see is what this night could have been.” In “Settle for Me,” we’ve seen it too.

At the end of the episode, Rebecca learns that the job application she helped Josh with was not successful. Josh has settled for working in his father’s radiology practice, where’s it’s “all cancer all the time.” Rebecca can’t stand it. She drags Josh back into the store, and she argues his way into the job: “I know nothing about life. But I know one thing, that Josh Chan loves you and that makes you the luckiest person … store in the world.” At the end of the day, Josh is the only one who gets to live his dream, and Rebecca is the one who made it happen.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is far from perfect. It’s uneven, still struggling to find its groove and its audience. (Ratings have, apparently, been low.) But the cast is talented and appealing, the quirky characters are more and more interesting, and the musical numbers are mostly just great. There’s more here than is apparent at first – “I’m Going on a Date With Josh’s Friend” got better each time I re-watched it – and it’s not like anything else on TV right now. Don’t miss it!

Jim did not submit a Top 10 Episodes list.

Digimon Adventure Tri. – “Reunion Part Four”

(Season One, Episode 4)

By Josh West

Seven young kids go to camp for the summer, wind up living in a digital land. Well, there you have it. That’s Digimon all summed up for you. That’s it for my article Austin. …What? You want more?!?! But you hated The Digimon Movie! Why do you want me to torture you and tell you more about a show that is a sequel to a movie you hated and that isn’t even out in America yet?! Yeah, I don’t get it…but it’s your article…written by…a lot of people who aren’t you…ok.

So let’s start with some backstory. Digimon was a show in the late 90’s. Many people have had the argument of which came first, which one is better, and who copied off who when it comes to Pokemon and Digimon. None of that matters. What matters is that you understand the premise of Digimon back then. Just like I said before, Digimon is a show about seven elementary school aged children who go off to summer camp. While there, some crazy shit happens and those seven kids get transported to the digital world. Think of it like an alternate universe. So anyway, once landing in the digital world, each child discovers that they have been assigned(?) a partner Digimon. Think of them as Pokemon but they return to their weaker selves when they use up too much of their energy.

So hand-in-hand/claw/paw/wing, the kids and the Digimon team up to stop the various evils of the digital world and save the day! Also, they find an eighth child and her Digimon partner. Then there was a second season that introduced some new kids that got Digimon partners and some new evils in the digital world. They fight. They win. Then we get an epilogue telling us that everyone had kids who look just like they used to and that the digital world is like a vacation destination now. Sounds like we are done following our little heroes right? WRONG!

The show that I am reviewing is Digimon Adventure Tri, “Reunion Par Four”. Digimon Adventure Tri so far has been a whirlwind of nostalgia. The show looks amazing! The art style is different but in a good way. It makes everything a little more fluid compared to the original. The digivolution sequences are especially good looking.

If you don’t remember from the first two seasons of Digimon, Tai and Matt were always butting heads. Tai had the attitude of rushing into the fight and the outlook that they will always come out on top. He was the optimistic one. Matt always had the outlook of fighting as a last resort. He tried to look at things with a level and clear head. In “Reunion” Tai and Matt seem to have loosened up on their outlooks. Matt, while still being the rational one, is more comfortable with fighting. He doesn’t hesitate or back down from a necessary fight. Tai, on the other hand, has become very hesitant. He no longer rushes into these fights. Many times in “Reunion Part Four” are we shown Tai looking around at some of the damage that is being caused by Digimon in the real world. He seems to be freaking out. We see him hesitating to even enter the battle, even though the rest of the group has already digivolved and started helping.

I think the writers want the audience to see Tai’s struggle as a way of showing him growing up. In the earlier parts of “Reunion” it is clear that there is some sort of tension between Tai and Matt. Sora, the love interest of both characters, even says something about the tension when Mimi, the aloof but sincere world traveler, tricks Tai and Matt into the same ferris wheel car alone. In this car they have a conversation that, in tone, mimics conversations from the earlier seasons. But the roles are reversed. Matt is telling Tai that he needs to stop running away from the fights, that the group needs him. Then Alphamon then appears and starts attacking a small cat-like digimon, damaging the city in the process. While the rest of the group starts fighting Alphamon, Tai is frozen. He is unsure what to do. This is such a difference from the Tai we are used to. Seeing Tai think about the outcome of his actions is an interesting way to make this series seem more grown up. Gone are the days where you can destroy a city and not worry about it.  After some harsh words from Matt, and remembering fighting together in the original series, Tai agrees to fight. We see Agumon and Gabumon digivolve while attacking, showing each stage of digivolution along the way until they finally digivolve together to form Omnimon. Omnimon and Alphamon have a pretty even fight and just when it looks like Omnimon is going to win, Tai remembers all of the destruction and looks worried, losing focus. Alphamon then opens up a portal and disappears. The group checks to make sure everyone is ok and we learn about a new Digidestined girl.

This season of Digimon has been a pretty even mix of looking back and looking forward. The digidestined can no longer fight with reckless abandon. They must make each blow count, each blow hit, and try not to damage the surroundings. Watching Digimon as a child, I had the rush to the fight attitude that Tai did. They were in the digital world, stuff can get destroyed there. But now, even watching the old episodes and these new ones, I find that I can very easily relate to why Tai is being so hesitant. If you like the first or second season of Digimon in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, then Digimon Adventure Tri is going to be a wonderful nostalgia trip and feel like an updated story of our favorite digidestined crew.

Josh’s Top 10 Episodes of 2015

1) Doctor Who, “Hell Bent” (Season Nine, Episode 11)

2) The Walking Dead, “Here’s Not Here” (Season Six, Episode 4)

3) Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., “S.O.S.” (Season Two, Episodes 21/22)

4) Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., “4,722 Hours” (Season Three, Episode 5)

5) The Walking Dead, “Conquer” (Season Five, Episode 16)

6) The Flash, “Fast Enough” (Season One, Episode 23)

7) Marvel’s Jessica Jones, “AKA Sin Bin” (Season One, Episode 9)

8) Marvel’s Daredevil, “Speak of the Devil” (Season One, Episode 9)

9) Arrow, “Green Arrow” (Season Four, Episode 1)

10) The Walking Dead, “Thank You” (Season Six, Episode 3)

Doctor Who – “Heaven Sent”

(Season Nine, Episode 11)

By Alex Manzo

The following review contains spoilers for the last episodes of Season Nine, including the conclusion of this episode. Spoilers begin on the third paragraph. 

This season of Doctor Who was refreshing. Peter Capaldi and the 12th iteration of The Doctor finally seem to be free from the shadow of Matt Smith, and Capaldi’s performance overall this season was fantastic. Bringing on Maisie Williams as a guest star added a character of great depth to the mix, and Jenna Coleman’s finale was among one of the most emotional exits of any modern companion.

There was really only one episode of Doctor Who I didn’t care for this season, and at first thought, narrowing my choice down to one standout episode to discuss seemed difficult. However, there can be no doubt that “Heaven Sent” stood out not only as one of the best episodes this season, but in Doctor Who’s entire run.

Fresh off he heels of the death of Clara in the previous episode, The Doctor is enraged. We have no idea what is next for The Doctor, or who was responsible for ultimately bringing Clara’s death about. It starts in a way that is similar to just about every Doctor Who episode. But then, after about five minutes, my fiancée Kate and I looked at each other and said, “This is fucking weird.”

As usual though, the pieces began to fall in place as The Doctor spends thousands, then millions, then billions of years slowly escaping from his version of hell to discover what was on the other side – a return to a planet this series has seemingly been building up to since it returned in 2005.

Peter Capaldi is nothing short of spectacular in this episode. He is literally the only person in the episode, and beautifully carries the entire hour on his shoulders. It’s a calculated, emotional, and exhilarating performance.

The scenes in the TARDIS where the Doctor is developing a plan in mere seconds were an incredible storytelling device that truly brought us into the mind and psyche of The Doctor.

The reveal at the end, whether you saw it coming or not, was as exciting and emotional as I could have hoped for.

It was one of the very best episodes of the modern series without the awe of Daleks, Cybermen, Weeping Angels, or a famous figure from the past. “Heaven Sent” was simply The Doctor at his very best.

Alex’s Top 10 Episodes of 2015

1) Doctor Who, “Heaven Sent” (Season Nine, Episode 11)

2) Game of Thrones, “Hardhome” (Season Five, Episode 8)

3) Game of Thrones, “The Dance of Dragons” (Season Five, Episode 9)

4) Doctor Who, “Face the Raven” (Season Nine, Episode 10)

5) Doctor Who, “Hell Bent” (Season Nine, Episode 12)

6) Parks and Recreation, “One Last Ride” (Season Seven, Episodes 12/13)

7) Master of None, “Mornings” (Season One, Episode 9)

8) Marvel’s Daredevil, “Daredevil” (Season One, Episode 13)

9) Parks and Recreation, “Leslie and Ron” (Season Seven, Episode 4)

10) Marvel’s Daredevil, “In the Blood” (Season One, Episode 4)

Game of Thrones – “Hardhome”

(Season Five, Episode 8)

By Zach Bundy

The following review has spoilers for the episode “Hardhome”.

With only three episodes left in Season Five, “Hardhome” ups the game. The common occurrence of Game of Thrones is to have an ‘Oh Shit’ moment at the end of the second to last episode of the season, but Christmas came early this year. The OS moment is the battle at Hardhome.

In the episode we see Jon Snow and Tormund Giantsbane journey to the last stronghold of the Wildlings to meet with the remaining leaders to convince them to move south of the wall. Jon pleads with them to save their people because winter is coming. Some are convinced while others refuse, but their minds are changed quickly when the fight comes to them, in the form of an army of whites lead by White Walkers and the leader of them himself, whom from here on out I will refer to as King Walker.

As the whites attack the camp, Jon Snow tries to find the White Walkers kryptonite, dragon glass, that he brought with him. As he scrambles to find it in a dilapidated hut, he faces off with a walker, whose staff turns any weapon he uses into ice. When the fight is almost lost Jon reaches for Longclaw, his Valerian steel sword. As a last ditch effort to save his own life he puts it up to block an incoming blow from the walker, and hears the clank of metal on metal. The walker is just as surprised as he is, and in a blink Jon swings again and right through the walker, turning him into ice, which shatters upon the blow.

King Walker has been observing this fight the whole time. After seeing Jon’s victory he knows he has met his match and decides to unleash hundreds and hundreds of whites. The whites dive of the cliff that King Walker has been watching from. This prompts Jon and the rest of the Wildlings to flee to the ships at the harbor. After most make it onboard, Jon and King Walker have a stare down from ship to shore. As King Walker raises his hands all of the dead Wildlings that fell in battle arise as whites, and it is at this moment that Jon realizes the enemies’ vast strength… Oh Shit!

In a season full of moments that will excite any Thrones fan, this episode has the best. It finally shows you how dangerous those beings we were introduced to in the opening of the first episode are. Five seasons later we see firsthand that the White Walkers are truly the show’s villain.

Zach’s Top 10 Episodes of 2015

1) The Leftovers, “International Assassin” (Season Two, Episode 8)

2) Game of Thrones, “Hardhome” (Season Five, Episode 8)

3) The Leftovers, “I Live Here Now” (Season Two, Episode 10)

4) The Leftovers, “A Most Powerful Adversary” (Season Two, Episode 7)

5) Game of Thrones, “Mother’s Mercy” (Season Five, Episode 10)

6) The Leftovers, “Axis Mundi” (Season Two, Episode 1)

7) Game of Thrones, “A Dance of Dragons” (Season Five, Episode 9)

8) The Comedians, “The Red Carpet” (Season One, Episode 3)

9) The Comedians, “Billy’s Birthday” (Season One, Episode 7)

10) The Comedians, “Go for Gad” (Season One, Episode 5)

Granchester – “Episode 5”

(Season One, Episode 5)

By Larry D. Sweazy

Set in the village of Grantchester (near Cambridge) England in the 1950s, this series caught me by surprise. Based on a series of cozy mystery novels by James Runcie, the series features an Anglican vicar-turned-sleuth, Sidney Chambers (James Norton). Chambers is a former member of the Scots Guard and WW II vet and battles with PTSD and depression, all the while maintaining a congregation and a single life. He is aided in his side-job as sleuth by the spectacular Robson Green as the grumpy Detective Inspector Geordie Keating. Chambers and Keating share the bond of war and a passion for backgammon. Keating is reluctant to be involved in Sidney’s investigations until he discovers the vicar’s talent for understanding human nature.

In episode 5, Sidney and Detective Keating head to London, invited to a Jazz club by a Sidney’s sister, Jennifer. When the sister of Jennifer’s boyfriend (he’s black, she’s white) is murdered, Sidney and Keating dig up and old case, a police cover up, and Sidney has a deep crisis of faith after he ends up in bed with a jazz singer. Not your typical cozy mystery with an examination of race and class in the 1950s.   There is a believability and underlying grittiness to the show that keeps it from being preachy or too sweet.

Larry’s Top 10 Episodes of 2015

1) Outlander, “Wentworth Prison” (Season One, Episode 15)

2) Grantchester, “Episode 5” (Season One, Episode 5)

3) River, “Episode 1” (Season One, Episode 1)

4) Orange is the New Black, “Ching, Chong, Chang” (Season Three, Episode 6)

5) River, “Episode 2” (Season One, Episode 2)

6) River, “Episode 3” (Season One, Episode 3)

7) Game of Thrones, “The Wars to Come” (Season Five, Episode 1)

8) Fargo, “Waiting for Dutch” (Season Two, Episode 1)

9) Grantchester, “Episode 1” (Season One, Episode 1)

10) Home Fires, “Episode 1” (Season One, Episode 1)

The Great British Bake-Off – “Deserts”

(Season Five, Episode 4)

By Andrew Rostan

A few months ago, the nerd community on Twitter began tweeting about The Great British Bake-Off, which had recently come to Netflix. I soon found out why; it’s one of the best and most addictive reality shows. It has many trademarks of the genre—grandiose setting (a vast manor in the countryside), wisecracking hosts (longtime comedy team Melanie Giedroyc and Sue Perkins), expert judges who don’t mince words, and a wide variety of contestants—but it also possesses a beautiful spirit of mutual support and camaraderie amongst the competition and a suggestion to the viewers that such amazing creations are possible. The beautiful shooting, editing, and music are bonuses.

The episode that epitomizes the show is the fourth, “Desserts.” The original twelve contestants have been cut to nine so there is now room for confessional interviews in between the challenges, allowing all the personalities to come out even more, and the dessert challenges offer startling creations and more entertaining moments than many scripted shows. There’s the joy of Mel and Sue drawing out the word “saucy,” a grandmother flexing her biceps, a cantankerous Scotchman getting a wee nip of brandy and complaining that sticky toffee puddings don’t need to look good, standout work from a seventeen year-old taking her finals when she isn’t baking and a professional builder who always keeps a pencil tucked behind his ear, and the most drama I’ve ever seen involving making baked Alaska on a steaming day. It’s fifty minutes of rich, entertaining television.

Andrew did not wish to submit a Top 10 list of episodes.

Hannibal – “The Wrath of the Lamb”

(Season Three, Episode 13)

By Jackie Jones

The following review has spoilers for the end of Season Three of Hannibal.

It’s been difficult for me to explain why I love Hannibal. Most all points I try to make about why it’s an excellent show, come out as happy laugh-gurgles. To those that have suffered through a Hannibal conversation with me, sorry/not sorry.

The show’s creator, Bryan Fuller, has managed to take Thomas Harris’ characters and storylines and create a world that feels entirely new with a few hints of familiarity. The casting choices and writing are fantastic, it’s aesthetically haunting and beautiful, and gurgrlllleargergljjrhegwerhwug. If you haven’t seen Hannibal but like crime, drama, horror, attractive people, and sexually charged interactions between murder-husbands, then you should check it out!

‘The Wrath of the Lamb’ was an excellent Season Three/series finale and an incredible piece of television. We see Jack Crawford comfortably plotting murder back in his office at the FBI. Alana Bloom has married Margot Verger and they have a son; a Verger heir. Dr. Chilton is still talking mad shit, even after having his lips ripped off and entire body engulfed in flame. And Hannibal Lecter and Will Graham team up one final time to take down a serial killer, before they share one final heart-wrenching embrace and tumble off a cliff together.

It sounds like an insane episode BECAUSE IT IS ONE. So much happened in this episode that I hardly had the chance to mourn the end of my favorite TV show. Though the part of me that couldn’t help but compare the show to Harris’ novels was going slightly mad, as a fan of the show I felt incredibly pleased with the way things ended. This episode is currently (and will likely remain to be) my favorite episode of all three seasons, and of 2015. It’s clever, shot expertly, and entirely satisfying.

Jackie’s Top 10 Episodes of 2015

1) Hannibal, “The Wrath of the Lamb” (Season Three, Episode 13)

2) Hannibal, “The Number of the Beast is 666” (Season Three, Episode 12)

3) The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst, “A Body in the Bay” (Season One, Episode 1)

4) Wet, Hot, American Summer: First Day of Camp, “Dinner” (Season One, Episode 5)

5) Hannibal, “Digestivo” (Season Three, Episode 7)

6) Broad City, “Citizen Ship” (Season Two, Episode 7)

7) Hannibal, “Contorno” (Season Three, Episode 5)

8) Better Call Saul, “Uno” (Season One, Episode 1)

9) Hannibal, “Dolce” (Season Three, Episode 6)

10) Wet, Hot, American Summer: First Day of Camp, “Campers Arrive” (Season One, Episode 1)

iZombie – “Astroburger”

(Season One, Episode 11)

By Alan Gordon

Ultimately, it’s the writing that matters. I don’t watch as much television as the rest of the contributors, given my one and a half jobs. Actors are amiable, pretty people, and the better ones will rise above mediocre writing. But only for a while. Nathan Fillion’s charm can only conceal the repetitive nature of the Castle formula for so long. I finally saw an episode of the long-running Bones when they crossed over with Sleepy Hollow, and the constant “Let-me-give-you-some-exposition-and-scientific-explanation” tone drove me up the wall in seconds.

Yet a writer who will eschew formula, or screw with it, can give me appreciation and delight beyond measure, as such amiable entertainments as Chuck and Leverage did. With the exception of 8 and 10, the shows below surprised and impressed me with the writing alone. I am not saying that they are necessarily the best, or in the order I would rank them. Indeed, I would probably put the Amy Schumer episode first if I did. But I want to express one writer’s appreciation.

1) iZombie: “Astroburger”

iZombie could have taken the basic premise and kept it cute, formulaic and over the top. Instead, they layered several premises and then did a smart thing: They made it subtle. Promising surgeon Olivia Moore – yeah, Liv Moore, okay, so that wasn’t subtle, but … – becomes a zombie. In order to survive without killing, she jettisons her career and fiancé to become a medical examiner, giving her access to the brains of the dead. When she consumes them, she temporarily gets flashes of their memories and aspects of their personalities. This allows her to assist in investigating their murders, while concealing her true nature from the homicide detective.

As I said, could have been way too much. But the depictions were often quiet and unexpected. A dose of maternal instinct caused her to smooth down an errant cowlick on a colleague. The brain of a dead soldier led her to stand at respectful attention when his widow entered the room. Rose McIver, another gorgeous, multi-talented New Zealander coming to take a job away from lesser Americans with her flawless accent, gets to show major range.

It took the show about five episodes for the cast to settle into themselves [it took Buffy all of Season One], but the writing allows them to stretch and trade leads. Not every plot depended on Liv for the solution. Detective Babineaux, her counterpart, was just as likely to make the final connection. And the subplots involving personal lives, zombie subcultures, and the evil pharmaceutical company that caused everything were woven in skillfully.

In “Astroburger,” Liv takes on the brain of a psychotic murdered in an institution, and becomes her own unreliable narrator. The effects end up creating three levels of illusion, and they used the first, an animated demon plaguing her world, to set up the second. And I never saw the third level coming, and it was heartbreaking.

Give this show a watch. Thank me later.

2) Inside Amy Schumer: “Twelve Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer”

Brilliantly written, performed, acted, and shot. Ranks with the best of the Sid Caesar sketches.

3) Doctor Who: “Heaven Sent”

Just when I had given up on Steven Moffat to do anything other than phone it in, along comes a well-written compelling episode. If only he hadn’t gotten so lazy with the rest of the season. In fact, the finale undercut “Heaven Sent” badly. Oh, well.

4) Penny Dreadful: “Memento Mori”

Speaking of Doctor Who: Eva Green has owned this series, but don’t discount Billie Piper. She was great when she was the young Rose Tyler in the Doctor Who reboot, but somewhere along the last ten years, she’s acquired some serious acting chops. [She absolutely stole her scenes in the Who 50th anniversary show. From John Hurt, no less.]

In this episode, her Lily dominates, finishing with a fierce scene with Rory Kinnear’s monster that is virtuosic and damn near Shakespearean in its quality. “We flatter our men with our pain.”

5) Grey’s Anatomy: “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”

The Thanksgiving dinner from hell is a standard. This one wasn’t. Particularly fascinating was the sound design — the clinking of silverware with no other ambient sound, and at odd moments, a dog barking somewhere in the distance.

6) Nashville: “Stop the World (And Let Me Off)”

By my count, eleven different storylines juggled in one hour, and not a single ball was dropped.

7) Face Off: “Surprise of the Century”

The special effects make-up reality show is smart enough to up its game with the challenges. For their 100th show, they recruited couples who wanted to get married in make-up that reflected their fantasy selves. Then they actually got married. On the show. Because host McKenzie Westmore is also an ordained minister. Because of course she is.

8) MLB: “The New York Mets”

Hey, I watch them on the TV. This was a strange and dramatic year, and our local broadcasters, Gary, Keith and Ron, are knowledgeable, opinionated, and not afraid to critique sloppy play.

This was a year of miracles and wonders before they fell to the fundamentally better Kansas City Royals in the World Series. My two high points: 42 year old pitcher Bartolo Colon charging a slow roller down the first baseline, going behind his back to throw out the runner as he crossed the foul line and never breaking stride as he continued into the dugout. And the hard grounder up the middle that relief pitcher Carlos Torres deflected with his foot that was then smothered by the diving Daniel Murphy, playing first, who then threw out the runner at first which was being covered by a very alert Carlos Torres. No one has ever seen that before.

9) Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: “Josh’s Girlfriend is Really Cool!”

Brave show. An hour comedy format with an unlikeable leading character. And original musical numbers! Let’s see if they can sustain the tension. This is the one with Gabrielle Ruiz as the new girlfriend/yoga instructor. The video, “I’m So Good at Yoga,” is insane.

And personal note: I know Ms. Ruiz. She did a concert of a musical of mine last year, and is as talented and more importantly nice a person as they come. Happy to see her get so much exposure. In every sense of the word.

10) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: “Finale”

Not his greatest show, nor even the greatest finale – See Colbert’s last – but respect.

Alan’s Top 10 Episodes of 2015

1) iZombie, “Astroburger” (Season One, Episode 11)

2) Inside Amy Schumer, “12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer” (Season Three, Episode 3)

3) Doctor Who, “Heaven Sent” (Season Nine, Episode 11)

4) Penny Dreadful, “Memento Mori” (Season Two, Episode 8)

5) Grey’s Anatomy, “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” (Season 12, Episode 5)

6) Nashville, “Stop the World (And Let Me Off)” (Season 4, Episode 5)

7) Face Off, “Surprise of the Centry” (Season 9, Episode 3)

8) Major League Baseball, “The New York Mets” (Season 111)

9) Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, “Josh’s Girlfriend is Really Cool!” (Season One, Episode 2)

10) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, “Episode 2, 677” (Finale)

Jane the Virgin – “Chapter Thirty”

(Season Two, Episode 8)

By Molly Raker

What telenovelas are good at are finales, so for my favorite episode I have to go with the most recent mid-season finale, “Chapter Thirty.” It has such a great pay-off and includes all the great things I love about Jane the Virgin: flashbacks, Jane’s thoughts and, of course, Rogelio.

Rogelio, is my main guy. He always makes me laugh every episode from his ringtone, his friendship with Michael and his celebrity feuds (Brittney Spears!). In this episode he goes from his typical celebrity acts to discussing unknown trust issues he has with Xo about Jane. And a new passion project that isn’t a Mad Men rip off!

The theme of this episode was trust and how to handle it. Rafael finally got his POV taken seriously over the lie he told to Jane. He does need a break, his life is now a popular story rightfully named Curse of the Solanos. How much can this guy endure? His sister’s mom is potentially a mob boss and his sister is talking to another mob boss who kidnapped his son! Rough life!

The love-ish triangle got some development this episode via Jane’s romance writing. We get a glimpse into her mind of who she thinks is her Knight in Shining Armor. To no surprise, it’s Michael which we all knew no matter how hot Rafael’s abs are. Will she act on her feelings??

One of the great parts about this episode is Petra’s storyline, she has really grown as a character who I can actually like (kind of). Her pregnancy has done wonders for her since her lies and scheming are effecting the babies (TWINS!), she goes through her own therapy and spills everything to Rafael and to her surprise he isn’t mad. Forgiveness is key to a healthy life, which her mom needs to learn.

So now I must wait five awful long winter weeks for the show to return so I can see how the cliffhanger gets resolve which I’m sure in soap opera fashion it will be resolve within an episode.

Like every year, I hate ranking things but here’s my list. Note, I’m not caught up on Hannibal, Fargo, The Leftovers and The Americans. Too much good television!!

Molly’s Top 10 Episodes of 2015

1) Parks and Recreation, “Leslie and Ron” (Season Seven, Episode 4)

2) Community, “Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television” (Season Six, Episode 13)

3) Broad City, “Knock Offs” (Season Two, Episode 4)

4) Marvel’s Daredevil, “Daredevil” (Season One, Episode 13)

5) Mr. Robot, “eps1.9_zer0-day.avi” (Season One, Episode 10
6) Jane the Virgin, “Chapter Thirty” (Season Two, Episode 8)

7) Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “Ava” (Season Three, Episode 8)

8) Master of None, “Indians on TV” (Season One, Episode 4)

9) Doctor Who, “Heaven Sent” (Season Nine, Episode 11)

10) Mad Men, “Lost Horizon” (Season Seven, Episode 12)

The Jinx – “What the Hell Did I Do?”

(Season One, Episode 6)

By Sarah Staudt

The following review spoils the final moments of The Jinx, starting in the third paragraph.

I don’t have live TV in my apartment, but my boyfriend does. Normally, my cable-cutting existence doesn’t bother me at all. There are times in the media landscape when nothing, nothing can replace the feeling of watching something completely batshit crazy happen on TV and knowing that everyone else in the world is seeing it for the first time at the exact same moment. I am so damn glad I was one of the lucky people who watched Episode 6 of The Jinx live on March 15 of this year. Those of you who have seen the show know the moment I’m talking about. The rest of you, stop reading now, if you haven’t been spoiled already by the media, and go watch this show.

First, while those people leave, I want to talk a little about how friggin’ crazy the subject of the miniseries is. The series is so fascinating because, quite literally, all director Anthony Jarecki has to do is leave the damn camera and microphone on and let us meet the jumpy, quirky, and utterly demonic character that is Robert Durst. Durst has this horrible quality about him that completely sucks you in. His eyes are oddly black, in a way that I’ve never seen before. Although I’m not exactly a believer in demonic possession, the thought un-ironically crossed my mind once or twice that if the devil walks among us, he would have Robert Durst’s eyes. Things like that about Durst aren’t a trick of the camera, or anything Jarecki does; they’re just who this jittery little monster of a man is. Watching his interviews, I had the unsettling feeling that Durst evades categorization. He’s not your average serial killer, or your average privileged New York prince. He’s not even insane. It would somehow be more comforting if he were.

Ok, everyone who hasn’t seen it gone now? Ok, so of course, the moment I’m talking about that makes the finale of The Jinx the most jaw dropping moment of TV I’ve ever experienced is that bone chilling statement on a mic, accidentally left on in a bathroom, of a small, quirky 60 year old man, walking freely around New York, saying, “I killed them all”. And having no idea that anyone was listening. I can’t even imagine how crazy it must have been to discover that moment on tape in the editing room, as Jarecki and his team did. I would watch the documentary about the making of this documentary in a heartbeat.

A lesser show would have made all six episodes a self-congratulatory game. “This is how I, Andrew Jarecki, caught Robert Durst”. But that’s not the show that Jarecki makes at all. Instead, the moment is all the more shocking because before that episode, I’d been lulled into an odd, false sense of security. As the evidence against Durst mounts, I was left with the feeling that no one, not even a crazy person, would be talking to a camera if he had actually killed his wife, best friend, and a random roommate and hacked them into bits. Jarecki lets you live in that space, thinking that maybe what this documentary is about, is something like the elusiveness of truth, the power of self-delusion, or some other high falutin’ concept. But it’s friggin not. It’s about a crazy cold-blooded killer just lying on camera for six hours and then getting caught like a Scooby Doo villain! It’s nuts! And except for the one carefully chosen moment of foreshadowing Jarecki allows himself, the first time Robert Durst leaves his mike on and his lawyer swoops in to tell him to turn it off, Jarecki plays this thing straight. He doesn’t give in to a self-congratulatory tone. He lets that shocking moment be as shocking as it’s meant to be.

We live in a world of spoilers and of tropes. A media world that so often denies us a truly jaw-dropping moment. But for those of us who stayed spoiler free, and watched that crazy time HBO had a murderer admit his crimes in a bathroom stall, the allure of surprise got us again. There’s nothing like being honestly shocked by what you just saw on your TV. And for that, it’s my best episode of the year.

Sarah’s Top 10 Episodes of 2015

1) The Jinx, “What the Hell Did I Do?” (Season One, EPisdoe 6)

2) You’re the Worst, “There’s Not Currently a Problem” (Season Two, Episode 7)

3) Marvel’s Jessica Jones, “AKA WWJD?” (Season One, Episode 8)

4) You’re the Worst, “LCD Soundsystem” (Season Two, Episode 9)

5) Hannibal, “The Wrath of the Lamb” (Season Three, Episode 13)

6) The Unbreakble Kimmy Schmidt, “Kimmy Makes Waffles!” (Season One, Episode 13)

7) Marvel’s Jessica Jones, “AKA Smile” (Season One, Episode 13)

8) Parks and Recreation, “One Last Ride” (Season Seven, Episode 12)

9) Another Period, “Divorce” (Season One, Episode 2)

10) The Jinx, “Family Values” (Season One, Episode 5)

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver – “April 5, 2015”

(Season Two, Episode 8)

By Adam Lord

The Government Surveillance episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver is not a good example of what the show is like, but it is the best example of what the show is trying to do, which is to ‘dumb down’ complex or boring issues and actually make us more knowledgeable and passionate, sometimes about things we didn’t even know we should care about.

This episode breaks the solo commentator convention of the show by having Oliver interview Edward Snowden, a man who most Americans don’t know, as the on-the-street interviews he conducts suggest. He begins the episode by explaining what government surveillance is and why we should “give a shit” about it. He travels to Russia to interview Snowden, a man who cared so much about our privacy that he broke the law to reveal how the NSA could gather personal information from anyone who uses the internet. Which is everyone.

Part of the argument Oliver makes in the interview is that Snowden’s reason for revealing what the NSA could do was to benefit the American people, to give them a chance to decide what kind of government they want. The problem that Oliver points out is that government surveillance is too complicated for anyone without advanced knowledge of it to understand, let alone have an opinion on. However, Oliver beautifully finds something that people can relate to: the government seeing their dick pics. Everyone he interviewed who didn’t know Snowden was very passionate about having their dick pics private, so Oliver asks Snowden discuss the many ways the NSA can obtain our dick-tures.

And it works. And that’s what the show as a whole is about: ‘dumbing down’ topics for us so we can actually encourage change in tangible ways. Other episodes masterfully do this as well (such as the Televangelists and Net-Neutrality episodes), but if you’re looking for a flawless execution of Oliver’s main mission, Government Surveillance is it. Also, interviewing a man accused of treason is just good TV.

Adam’s Top 10 Episodes of 2015

1) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, “April 8, 2015” (Government Surveillance) (Season Two, Episode 8)

2) Hannibal, “The Wrath of the Lamb” (Season Three, Episode 3)

3) Inside Amy Schumer, “12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer” (Season Three, Episode 3)

4) Better Call Saul, “Mijo” (Season One, Episode 2)

5) Nathan for You, “Electronics Store” (Season Three, Episode 1)

6) The Jinx, “The State of Texas vs. Robert Durst” (Season One, Episode 3)

7) Marvel’s Jessica Jones, “AKA WWJD?” (Season One, Episode 8)

8) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, “Episode 2, 677” (Finale)

9) Game of Thrones, “Mother’s Mercy” (Season Five, Episode 10)

10) Marvel’s Daredevil, “In the Blood” (Season One, Episode 4)

The Late Late Show – “January 30, 2015”

(Season One, Episode 20)

By Austin Lugar

Late night talk shows are a fading curiosity. Back in the days of Johnny Carson, this was the only way to see the celebrities you love in such a casual setting. Now you can see almost every celebrity tweet about their daily activities and you can tweet at them, if you are so inclined. The late show’s nightly monologue satirizing the news is never feels as biting as what The Daily Show or The Nightly Show can do with more time per topic.

So what’s the point of them anymore? There are more late night shows than ever and some of them are still fun like The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The ones that work capture these curious moments of human interaction and display it in a delightful and innovative format. And nothing captures that more than a hilarious self-sabotaging trainwreck.

After Craig Ferguson announced he was leaving The Late Late Show and James Corden was going to replace him, CBS filled those months with a series of guest hosts. This included people like Judd Apatow and Regis Philbin who were well equipped to take on this duty. Why CBS decided that the January 30th show should be hosted by comedian Adam Pally will perhaps always remain a mystery.

What happened in this hour of television is already a cult legend. A few months later, Pally was in Chicago to attend a Q&A for his movie Night Owls and I stood in line to ask him about this. The director of Night Owls laughed after my question and said that everywhere they go, people ask about this insane moment of television.

The show didn’t even take place on a real set. They were so in-transition that Pally had to host the show on the CBS This Morning news set. Most of the first half of the show is Pally and his co-host Ben Schwartz wondering what in the world is happening. The two of them goof off, make fun of what’s going on, mock CBS for their complete ambivalence and Pally’s lack of hosting abilities.

All of this would play well with an audience, but there is no audience. There is only just confusing silence. It’s two guys up against absurdity; they have no allies because according to Pally on-air, even the crew hates him. The interviews are amazing because they’re unlike any talk show interviews. NFL star Martellus Bennett ends up talking more about Oscar films than football, Pally doesn’t know how to delve deep into Beth Stern’s picture book about their pets and wacko comedian Eric Andre simply spins in his chair for an endless number of minutes.

Pally and Schwartz are stuck in a satirical nightmare of their own creation and they power through it with wit, self-awareness and the ability to laugh about what’s going on. They’re convinced that CBS will never let this episode air and state this several times. It’s just so bizarre entirely because it’s so real. There is no fake persona being put on by anyone and the whole format is exposed. The result is one of the funniest episodes of television of the year. I would absolutely watch these two have to suffer through the insanity night after night.

The question I asked Pally in Chicago was, “What were the consequences of the episode? Was CBS mad about what you said about them?” He said that he was brought in for a usual Hollywood meeting the next day and they thanked him for stepping in and helping them out. He says, there’s no way they watched the episode. Because of course they didn’t.

Austin’s Top 10 Episodes of 2015

1) The Leftovers, “International Assassin” (Season Two, Episode 8)

2) Doctor Who, “Heaven Sent” (Season Nine, Episode 11)

3) Mad Men, “Person to Person” (Season Seven, Episode 14)

4) Game of Thrones, “Hardhome” (Season Five, Episode 8)

5) Last Man on Earth, “Alive in Tuscon” (Season One, Episode 1)

6) Transparent, “Mee-Maw” (Season Two, Episode 5)

7) The Americans, “Stingers” (Season Three, Episode 10)

8) Rectify, “The Source” (Season Three, Episode 6)

9) BoJack Horseman, “After the Party” (Season Two, Episode 4)

10) Nathan for You, “Smoking Allowed” (Season Three, Episode 5)

Mad Men – “The Milk and Honey Route”

(Season Seven, Episode 13)

By Beau Thompson

The following review has spoilers for the entire series of Mad Men, except for the series finale.

Off the asphalt and in a humble motel room of a small town is where we find Don Draper in the penultimate episode of Mad Men. And it’s in this room that he gets the comeuppance he has been afraid to receive for as long as the show has started. Or is it the comeuppance he has secretly been wanting to have? One of the longest and most compelling elements of Mad Men is the story of how Dick Whitman and his CO where caught in an explosion in the Korean War and how Dick Whitman, desperate to start a new life, switches his name tags and leaves the service under his CO’s name, Don Draper. Dick leaves the little family and humble life he had behind to form a new life that we have seen established and fallen apart throughout Mad Men. But as much as he tries to leave that old past behind, the past would catch up with Don again and again. First it was Don’s wife, then Dick’s younger half brother. Then Pete finding out, then Betty. Don hates that he has to face this past and worries if there will ever be a time when it will be inescapable and everything he worked so hard to make for his new life is shattered. It was seeing this all finally come to a head in “The Milk and Honey Route” that made this my favorite episode of Mad Men’s final (and great) season.

It wasn’t Don’s episode alone. Besides two brief scenes closing him out in the finale, this was Pete Campbell’s final episode. While Don seems to always be running away from his mistakes, Pete is not afraid to confront them and make himself a better person. There is no running away from your problems, a theme we see in this episode. Is there anyone that has changed as much as Pete in this show? He started off as a cheating, uppity ladder-climbing snot nosed brat that I desperately wanted to see punched in his cocky smile. And I did, indeed, see him get punched on a couple of occasions. But now, sitting there with his brother, who is going to meet up with a woman that he is cheating on his wife with, Pete looks at him not unlike in Season Five when Don silently judges him on a similar situation and I see how has become one of my favorite characters.

“It’s fun until it isn’t” he tells his brother. Peter always tried to find something to be happy of, a higher position that he got himself, that when he gets it, he realizes all along that it was with the woman he was going to marry in the very first episode that he was most happy with all along. Seeing Pete and Trudy reunite and decide to move away from New York with their daughter and start a new life together was one of the happiest moments Mad Men has ever awarded us. You thought this family was a lost cause, but here you see Pete and Trudy kiss and Pete say, “Good morning” before he leaves to gets the preparations made. In facing his problems, Pete became a better person for it and now got probably the most storybook ending of the entire cast.

The revelation of Betty’s lung cancer was a good way to keep the spirits from not getting too high though. As cliché as cancer can be in a drama show, when this is revealed, nearly at the end of the series, I couldn’t help but go “Well, that makes sense.” Smoking is everywhere in Mad Men and honestly, Betty was probably the one who smoked the most – it was her only vice.

I’ve read how this was Betty’s “redemption” and I call bullshit on that. She never needed to be redeemed. She simply was trying to find her place, her own happiness, yet didn’t have the easy means, as she had to raise the kids, unlike Don, who, for all intents and purposes, has practically been living the life of a man with no family responsibilities since their divorce. It’s great that she does find what she wants to do in life, even if it is going to be cut short, but she is strong in accepting it head on and deciding to keep going to school for psychology. It doesn’t matter if she only has a few months to live, she found what makes her happy and she will continue doing it for as long as she can. And who couldn’t shed a tear in her message to her daughter, Sally? Seeing their relationship come to this point where Betty trusts her with the arrangements after she dies has been a long time coming. Both are accepting of each other.

But let’s get back to Don. You see how everyone else in this episode has been brave about facing their demons, yet Don has to practically be dragged and pulled to a veteran’s fundraiser by the motel owner, and fellow veteran. I have friends and a relative that have served in the military. I know that, even as close as I might be to them, I will never have that connection to that point of their lives. I can have empathy towards them, but I can not have the understanding of what it is like to risk my life in a foreign land for months on end, which is why I know that there is something extra special between veterans, who, even if they don’t know each other, are the only ones that will ever truly understand each other when it comes to that time in their lives.   I say this because Don does not feel this. In a time where he should feel some piece of belonging comfort among people that understand him, he only feels like a criminal, afraid of being caught, and he is, isn’t he? Obviously what he did was illegal, but he left his family behind, something that affected his younger brother for the rest of his life, and eventually led to his suicide in season one when Don still did not want anything to do with him. Don’s decision to just leave everything, to keep leaving everything when he doesn’t like it, has been a detriment to all his loved ones.

Though he tries to confide in the veterans, saying that he killed his CO (in the explosion that he accidentally caused) he only serves to make himself feel more alienated, as even that is only a half truth and he can’t bring himself to admit that he took his CO’s identity. Then, in the middle of the night, the men who were so loving towards him bash down his door, hold him down and beat him, demanding to know where the fundraiser money went. And with that, in that little motel room, Don’s worst fear has come. Don didn’t take the money. But he did take the real Don Draper’s identity. Those veterans serve as the ghosts of the past, craving retribution for his deeds. I think Don ultimately feels relieved at this. By the end of the series, I think he realizes how foolish it is to run from everything, but that’s all he knows how to do. Whether it is literally driving hundreds and thousands of miles away from home or drinking or getting lost in excessive sex, his problems will still be there. Don’s most notable choice had caught up with him, one way or another.

In the end of the episode, when he returns the stolen money, taking the fall for the teenager working at the motel that reminds him of himself, Don seems to feel more at peace, giving the kid his car and sitting at a bench, waiting for a bus to take him closer to California. Don has shed another piece of burden that he has kept with him for so long.

I give this breakdown because I selfishly wanted to get another chance to for one last time. Mad Men’s episodes have always been like puzzles, or those portraits that you stare at long enough to see a hidden picture. You can enjoy what happens on a surface level, but it’s finding the parallels, symbolism and the running themes that has always made Mad Men so engaging, so brilliant. The show rarely hit the audience over the head with what it wanted to be about, which is probably why it had such a low viewership in its first few seasons. But those who stayed recognized the greatness that was there and after getting award after award, Mad Men last seven seasons (spanning eight years, nine if you count the year gap between seasons four and five). I’m happy to have been one of the those people to have watched the pilot when it premiered on AMC. I didn’t really realize that such storytelling could be TV’s domain, yet I was pleasantly surprised. The series is near perfect, only having a couple of stumbling blocks in some of the middle seasons, but rarely has a show trusted its audience to work for what it is about and rarely has there been such complex and compelling characters and themes. That Don Draper could find a climax to his long gestating burden of stolen identity in a little motel room with characters that he nor us had ever seen in the series before or ever again, shows how Mad Men had only gotten better at what it was already so good at near the end. It’s one of the main reasons why I’ll miss it.

So, here’s to Mad Men; it deserved everything that it had coming.

Beau’s Top 10 Episodes of 2015

1) Mad Men, “The Milk and Honey Route” (Season Seven, Episode 13)

2) Better Call Saul, “Pimento” (Season One, Episode 9)

3) Marvel’s Daredevil, “Nelson v. Mudock” (Season One, Episode 10)

4) Better Call Saul, “Five-O” (Season One, Episode 7)

5) Marvel’s Daredevil, “Speak of the Devil” (Season One, Episode 9)

6) Mad Men, “Lost Horizon” (Season Seven, Episode 12)

7) Mad Men, “The Forecast” (Season Seven, Episode 10)

8) Marvel’s Daredevil, “Cut Man” (Season One, Episode 2)

9) Mad Men, “Person to Person” (Season Seven, Episode 14)

10) Better Call Saul, “Bingo” (Season One, Episode 7)

Marvel’s Daredevil – “Rabbit in a Snowstorm”

(Season One, Episode 3)

By Evan Dossey

In 2015, the Marvel machine kept churning like never before, producing some of the finest Marvel entertainment of its entire run. Netflix’s Daredevil brought something new to the Marvel Universe, something audiences had yet to see: a street-level do-gooder whose primary conflicts resonate from the core of his conflicted moral character rather than ‘save the world’ ticking clocks. Daredevil dove deep into the workings of Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), a blind lawyer-by-day, vigilante-by-night. What makes a Marvel hero? How does a fundamentally broken man overcome himself to be the hero his city needs? And what about his dark opposite, Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’onofrio) a criminal who thinks he can fix everything by breaking everyone?

Episode 3, “Rabbit in a Snowstorm,” is notable for being the only episode to really feature Murdock in the courtroom setting, and it is one of several high points in the series. Murdock’s conflict between acting as a lawyer while actively flaunting the law after-hours is rich, and “Snowstorm” gleefully mines it. Murdock has to defend a guilty man, and play the system in order to reach the moral verdict while not abdicating his responsibilities as a defense lawyer. Meanwhile, he does what he can by night to gather information from his client on the elusive Kingpin.

While full of action and intrigue, “Daredevil’s” greatest strength, what makes it quintessentially “Marvel,” is the focus on Murdock, his friends Foggy (Elden Henson) and Karen (Deborah Ann Woll), and arch-nemesis Fisk. Fisk makes his debut in “Snowstorm.” His appearance lacks the intensity of later episodes, instead leaving us with a strange, clam, introduction to a man whose entire body screams violence. It’s a hell of an introduction, the kind of scene made to sit in the audience’s mind for a week, despite having been crafted to an audience to binge-watch.

Marvel’s Daredevil is a dazzler, and “Rabbit in a Snowstorm” is one of its hallmark chapters.

Evan’s Top 10 Episodes of 2015

1) It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, “Charlie Work” (Season 10, Episode 4)

2) Hannibal, “The Wrath of the Lamb” (Season Three, Episode 13)

3) Marvel’s Jessica Jones, “AKA WWJD?” (Season One, Episode 8)

4) Mad Men, “Person to Person” (Season Seven, Episode 14)

5) Doctor Who, “Hell Bent” (Season Nine, Episode 12)

6) Doctor Who, “Heaven Sent” (Season Nine, Episode 11)

7) Better Call Saul, “Alpine Shepard Boy” (Season One, Episode 5)

8) Ash vs. the Evil Dead, “El Jefe” (Season One, Episode 1)

9) Parks and Recreation, “One Last Ride” (Season Seven, Episode 12)

10) Arrow, “Haunted” (Season Four, Episode 5)

Marvel’s Jessica Jones – “AKA WWJD?”

(Season One, Episode 8)

By Claudia Johnson

Netflix has been on a role with their original series. The writing, acting and cinematography are giving the factory-pumped shows on network television a run for their money.

The latest show to captivate audiences is Marvel’s Jessica Jones. As some may know Jessica Jones is a comic turned online series about a tough skinned woman, with super strength just trying to stay alive from Kilgrave, a man in fashionable purple suits, that has mind control.

One of the themes I’ve noticed in the show is the complexity of situations and people. People, as well as the decisions they make, are not cut and dry. There are layers to why we think and act the way we do. That is why one of my favorite episodes is “AKA WWJD?” The episode explores the definition of good vs evil and nature vs nurture with the pasts of the protagonist and antagonist. Kilgrave is evil, by definition. But after the viewer gets to see parts of his past, it’s clear he wasn’t just born evil. Questions are also raised as to whether he can change. Is Jessica Jones the person who can change him?

Jessica on the other hand has a better start than Kilgrave. Even though they both experience on their tragedies, Jessica is good. Though she is scarred by her own past she tries to help those around her. That is in stark contrast to Kilgrave, who doesn’t seem to care about anyone other than Jessica. Though he has a sadistic way of showing it.

The episode, as well as the show, opens up questions like how much are we accountable for our actions? At what point, or is there a point at all, where the things that we do, good or evil, is excusable?

Jessica Jones is the type of superhero show that people who aren’t into superhero shows can enjoy. It gives a more realistic touch with complex characters, plausible situations, gritty backdrop and amazing camera work and editing.

Claudia’s Top 10 Episodes of 2015

1) Marvel’s Jessica Jones, “AKA WWJD?” (Season One, Episode 8)

2) Master of None, “Parents” (Season One, Episode 2)

3) The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, “Kimmy Has a Birthday!” (Season One, Episode 10)

4) Modern Family, “White Christmas” (Season Seven, Episode 9)

5) Empire, “The Lyon’s Roar” (Season 1, Episode 8)

6) Adam Ruins Everything, “Adam Ruins Sex” (Season One, Episode 10)

7) Scream Queens, “Hell Week” (Season One, Episode 2)

8) The Flash, “Fast Enough” (Season One, Episode 23)

9) Game of Thrones, “The Gift” (Season Five, Episode 7)

10) Sense8, “I Can’t Leave Her” (Season 1, Episode 12)

Master of None – “Indians on TV”

(Season One, Episode 4)

By Ryan Lugar

First off, if you haven’t taken the time to binge watch Master of None on Netflix yet you are very far behind.  The show is brilliant, beautifully shot, and modernizes adult concepts for the “young professional” perspective.  Aziz Ansari, to put it briefly, nailed it with this show.  And more specifically, he nailed it on Episode 4 of the season.

Master of None does a beautiful job of addressing major issues in our society and making them approachable through Aziz’s humor and wit.  “Indians on TV”, if you couldn’t guess from the title, is an episode that focuses mostly on race.  In the episode Dev, Aziz’s character, experiences racism firsthand and also secondhand.  During an audition he is strongly requested (forced) to do an Indian accent for a part and then he mistakenly gets placed in an email thread that has a racist remark.  He is then forced to make a decision that is shown throughout the show, either take the high road or take the low road.  He, of course, initially takes the low road and tries to us it to have an edge over the producer who made the remark.  However, he eventually finds his way to the high road because his character is incapable of behaving that way even if his peers suggest otherwise.

Dev is no angel in the show, as it is shown in “The Other Man”, but that is what makes him and the show so relatable.  These are not over-the-top experiences that can only be captured in a television show.  He experiences real life feelings that are easily translated to the viewers’ own.  With a typical Aziz fashion, he uses modern day technology too to bring that aspect to the show to life.

The show is listed as a comedy, which can’t be argued. Yet the topics and issues that are dealt with each episode make the show so real that the comedy itself is sometimes brought in to dissolve into a dramatic feel.  Dev goes through issues that make you sit back and say, “Oh damn, that’s real heavy stuff”, rather than viewing a number of television shows that simply throw in a laugh track to make you forget the reality of a situation.

As the title of the show states, Dev is truly a master of nothing.  He’s a single man in the big city that believes he is as smooth and smart as he presents himself, but in reality relies on his friends and family through life’s stumbles, which is what makes the show so beautiful.

Ryan’s Top 10 Episodes of 2015

1) Master of None, “Indians on TV” (Season One, Episode 4)

2) Anthony Jesselnik, “Thoughts and Prayers”

3) Master of None, “Mornings” (Season One, Episode 9)

4) South Park, “Stunning and Brave” (Season Nineteen, Episode 1)

5) South Park, “Safe Place” (Season Nineteen, Episode 5)

6) You’re the Worst, “LCD Soundsystem” (Season Two, Episode 9)

7) You’re the Worst, “There is Not Currently a Problem” (Season Two, Episode 7)

8) Master of None, “Old People” (Season One, Episode 8)

9) You’re the Worst, “The Sweater People” (Season Two, Episode 1)

10) Master of None, “The Other Man” (Season One, Episode 5)

Mr. Robot – “eps1.8_m1rr0r1ng.qt”

(Season One, Episode 9)

By Nick Rogers

The following review has spoilers for the plot twists at the end of Season One of Mr. Robot.

The future has arrived! The wait is over!

So go the exclamations of promotional posters on the walls of Mr. Robot — a sort of claustrophobic computer store that, even in 1994, seemed dated, dingy and doomed. A radio DJ laments the canceled World Series. It certainly is autumn in America — a nation about to toss its traditionally touted dream of upward mobility for all in favor of suspicion, supremacy, selfishness and other tools of weapons-grade class warfare.

A customer brusquely accuses the shop owner’s son, Elliot, of stealing $20 from his wallet. The stunned shopkeeper tries to initiate discussion, but the customer grows impatient at mere suggestions of misunderstanding or innocence. The father refuses to pay. The customer angrily departs. Elliot cops to the swipe, which his father, surprisingly, puts toward two tickets to Pulp Fiction

“Why am I not in trouble?”

“Even though what you did was wrong, that guy was a prick. Sometimes that matters more.”

That last line encapsulated everything that eventually clicked into place about Mr. Robot. This sum-total magnum opus of moral rectitude was the last thing you’d expect on USA and a series that seemed to dance on the edge of narrative disaster (particularly for those of us with post-traumatic stress after Dexter’s sixth season).

With evocative writing from series creator Sam Esmail, smart direction from Tricia Brock and persuasively emotional performances from Rami Malek and Christian Slater, “eps1.8_m1rr0r1ng.qt” offered Mr. Robot’s finest moments in a season lousy with them. Even the good among us indulge minor moral flexibility now and then; Mr. Robot is an inventive, wondrous, richly rewarding look at that most interesting aspect of humanity — fallibility.

While the season finale flung us into the aftermath of an apocalyptic financial hack, this penultimate episode charted the series’ emotional apex. We already knew Mr. Robot (Slater), the hack’s presumed mastermind, was actually the presumed-dead father of a now-grown Elliot (Malek). In “m1rr0ring,” we discovered what we had suspected at first, then didn’t believe, then were sure of again, then were certainly wrong about — that Mr. Robot was but a figment of Elliot’s fractured mind.

It’s a testament to the show’s slippery nature that right up until the final reckoning, we thought maybe, just maybe, Elliot’s father wasn’t really dead. But this episode was thankfully less about coming clear about the specter and more about how it only further muddled things.

The reveal cut across chic nihilism or a cheap Fight Club retread (despite a lovely “Where is My Mind?” piano cover that was everywhere on great shows in 2015). It crystallized Esmail’s exploration of existential angst. For Elliot, who was certain he knew the ins and outs of human impulse but didn’t even know himself. For Elliot’s supposed nemesis Tyrell Wellick, who, no longer able to suckle the system’s teat, feels he can only help Elliot bring it down. For a society that’s just one digital disruption away from disarray. And for us, as viewers, unmoored by an unreliable narrator as we’ve never been on TV and, rather poignantly, made culpable in Elliot’s self-delusion by his direct-address narration. (It’s a rich, if wincing, joke in the final scene when Wellick calls Elliot “the one constant in a sea of variables.”)

“m1rr0r1ng” also underscored the dimensions of Malek’s bravura performance as Elliot, TV’s most compelling character right now — smug, jittery, unpleasant, utterly unraveled by what is just his latest realization of mental illness. “m1rr0r1ng” hurtles Malek through a gauntlet of disbelief, anger, relief, denial, acceptance, his voice cracking in pubescent terror and rising to the husky howl of unpredictable anger. Week in and week out, Malek was frightened, frightening, riveting.

On its surface, Mr. Robot may seem like an irredeemably nasty piece of fiction. But it insists, without atonal friction, upon the worth of love, connection and intimacy that Elliot craves truly craves. For that cold-open flashback to 1994 has another purpose: It reveals that Elliot, time and again, has conjured the idyllic image of a father who forgave, who loved, who guided, who understood there was growth in failure even if Elliot’s abusive mother he widowed did not.

Each is a hole the real people in Elliot’s life could fill if only his damnable mind didn’t intervene. While season two will undoubtedly investigate the corporate conspiracy that’s really pulling the hack’s strings, it will almost certainly delve into Elliot’s deliverance — or lack thereof — on this identifiably human front.

The future has arrived. The wait is over. The next great drama is here.

Nick’s Top 12* TV Episodes of 2015 (besides “eps1.8_m1rr0r1ng.qt”)

1) The Leftovers, “International Assassin” (Season Two, Episode Eight)
2) Mad Men, “Person to Person” (Season Seven, Episode 14)
3) Review, “Cult Leader; Perfect Body” (Season Two, Episode Four)
4) Parks and Recreation, “Leslie & Ron” (Season Seven, Episode Four)
5) South Park, “The City Part of Town” (Season 19, Episode Three)
6) Banshee, “Tribal” (Season Three, Episode Five)
7) Billy on the Street, “Billy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade” (Season Four, Episode Six)
8) Master of None, “Parents” (Season One, Episode Two)
9) Fortitude, “Episode 7” (Season One, Episode Seven)
10) The Jinx, “Chapter 6: What the Hell Did I Do?” (Season One, Episode Six)

11) Silicon Valley, “Two Days of the Condor” (Season Two, Episode 10)
12) Catastrophe, “Episode 6” (Season One, Episode Six)

* Cut me a second consecutive break for stretching the format slightly farther. TV was so good this year that I could have easily done a 50-episode list (or more).

Additional 2015 TV Awards from Nick Rogers

30 SHOWS WITH GREAT EPISODES I DIDN’T MENTION: Agent Carter, The Americans, Arrow, Better Call Saul, BoJack Horseman, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Carmichael Show, Difficult People, Drunk History, Fargo, The Flash, Fresh Off the Boat, Game of Thrones, Girls, Halt and Catch Fire, Hannibal, House of Cards, Justified, The Last Man on Earth, Limitless, Louie, Man Seeking Woman, Marvel’s Daredevil, Orange is the New Black, Orphan Black, Ray Donovan, Strike Back, Togetherness, Veep and The Walking Dead

MOST IMPROVED SERIES: Orphan Black

MOST DISAPPOINTING RELATIVE TO ITS PAST GREATNESS: True Detective

MOST UNEXPECTEDLY ENTERTAINING NEW BROADCAST SERIES: Limitless

BEST NEW BROADCAST DRAMA: Agent Carter

BEST NEW BROADCAST COMEDY: Fresh Off the Boat

BEST NEW CABLE / STREAMING DRAMA: Mr. Robot

BEST NEW CABLE / STREAMING COMEDY: Master of None

SEVEN NEW SHOWS I’VE YET TO CRACK: Another Period, Bloodline, Deutschland 83, Documentary Now, Marvel’s Jessica Jones, The Man in the High Castle, UnReal

NINE SHOWS ON WHICH I AM PERILOUSLY BEHIND (a month or more): Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Empire, Fargo (I know, guys. I know.), Into the Badlands, The Knick, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Quantico, Rectify, Supergirl

THE SHOW I WISH I’D NEVER STARTED: Scream Queens

Nathan for You – “The Movement”

(Season Three, Episode 3)

By Dennis Sullivan

Despite television’s modern golden age, I will not be discussing any of those shows with beautiful cinematography, high-caliber writing, and edgy plots. Instead, I will be telling you about Nathan for You, a show that blends satire of a reality show with cringe-comedy to create one of the most consistently laugh-out-loud shows for three years running.

The genius behind Nathan for You, and yes I said genius, is a combination of two factors: the character played by host Nathan Fielder and the people who go along with his ridiculous ideas (which I suspect is merely because of the fact a television crew present).

As the introduction states, Fielder’s goal is to use his savvy Canadian business college degree (look at his really good grades!) to help struggling businesses make it in a competitive world. However, the advice is questionable at best and awful at worst.

The best episodes tend to be the ones that have a real-world impact. Season ONe produced an insanely viral video of a pig saving a baby goat. Season Two also earned international notoriety with Dumb Starbucks. Season 3 produced The Movement, a new weight loss fad that produced an Amazon best-selling book and frequent morning show darling.

The goal of this weight loss program was to help a moving company with staffing costs by convincing people that they could lose weight by moving furniture instead of going to a gym. This would help the company by people paying to be his staff, instead of the company having to hire people to do work. It’s not an awful sounding idea, but as the owner says “people don’t usually pay to work.” True, but the plan will happen regardless.

Fielder finds an….interesting….spokesperson to be the face of The Movement. This guy is hysterical and over-the-top enough to go for anything thrown at him. This becomes especially handy when Fielder hires a Craigslist ghostwriter to write the spokesman’s story despite giving him no information and never meeting the subject. The book that was written is the aforementioned best-selling book, which includes wonderful tales of a childhood friendship with Steve Jobs and volunteering with jungle children. Once written, the spokesperson is booked on a bunch of morning shows to share these made-up stories and discuss how moving furniture is the best weight loss program.

Surprisingly, this whole actually scheme works. There is interest from the public, so he actually finds volunteers to complete a moving job for free. The weirdest part? They actually seem to enjoy it a bit (although the owner of the furniture is a completely different story!).

No, this isn’t a sustainable business model, but watching the events unfold is great television. It is sometimes hard to imagine that people cannot catch on to the fact Fielder is pulling a Colbert. He puts on the facade of a lonely man desperate for friends and female companionship, but also demands to be taken seriously in spite of acting in ludicrous ways to push the boundaries of politeness. His interactions with people unaware they are dealing with a character are beautifully awkward, occasionally cringe-worthy, and always worth watching.

Dennis’ Top 10 Episodes of 2015

(NOTE: Because I have not watched them yet this list does not consider Bloodline, Louie, Mad Men, Marvel’s Jessica Jones, or Narcos. So take that for what you will.)

1) Game of Thrones, “Hardhome” (Season Five, Episode 8)

2) BoJack Horseman, “Chickens” (Season Two, Episode 5)

3) The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, “Kimmy Goes Outside!” (Season One, Episode 1)

4) Fargo, “The Castle” (Season Two, Episode 9)

5) Orange is the New Black, “Trust No Bitch” (Season Three, Episode 13)

6) Jane the Virgin, “Chapter 22” (Season One, Episode 22)

7) Nathan for You, “The Movement” (Season Three, Episode 3)

8) Looking, “Looking for a Plot” (Season Two, Episode 7)

9) Marvel’s Daredevil, “Cut Man” (Season One, Episode 2)

10) Better Call Saul, “Hero” (Season One, Episode 4)

Orange is the New Black – “A Tittin’ and a Hairin’”

(Season Three, Episode 10)

By Lauren Hall

The following review has spoilers for the entirety of Season Three.

“This is your country, this is your world, this is your body, and you must find some way to live within all of it.”

Ta-Nehisi Coates, journalist for The Atlantic, author of Between the World and Me (which just earned him both a MacArthur Genius Award and the National Book Award for nonfiction) wrote his book as a letter to his son about being a Black man in America. Like Coates’ book, this season of Orange Is The New Black is raw. It is blunt at times, poetic at others; it meanders yet is clearly centered on a specific point/meaning. It is in your face, unapologetic, ready to topspin your sense of morality and make you consider the justice in vengeance. And—it’s content is wholly unavoidable, in this age when Freddie Gray is a household name, Donald Trump is attempting to ban “Muslims” from America, and 1/3 women experience sexual harassment.

So, why am I starting a review of Orange Is The New Black’s Episode 10 “A Tittin’ and A Hairin’” talking about a male author?

Because the genderized sexuality women’s bodies factor heavily into the third season of OITNB. Jenji Kohan, like Coates, is making a statement about bodies—how bodies are systematically, structurally manipulated and marginalized. The character Red puts it best when she explains to Healy why she was flirting with him in hopes to earn her old work assignment as head chef (i.e. her sense of purpose in life) back:

“No one in here is people. You think this is a normal relationship, human to human? I hurt your feelings and you forget that when you leave here tonight, you lock me in behind you. You take a woman’s power away her work, her family…You leave her one coin, it may be tawdry and demeaning, but if she has to she will spend it.”

In this OITNB season, control over bodies takes many forms in—of exploiting them for money, i.e. Piper’s panty smuggling—and even the potentially oppressive forces of faith, like that experienced by Black Christian Cindy or White Amish Leanne. The difference in control over bodies is dependent upon ethnic background, socioeconomic status, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, and the intersectionality of these. This season exposes many of them: Boo abhorred by her mother for her sexual orientation, Sophia violently attacked for her gender identity, Soso’s exclusion that leads to depression that leads to pill-induced knockout, Chang’s whole life demeaned because she was not seen as “pretty.”

Interestingly, OITNB creators made an attempt to separate white people from Whiteness—i.e. the political, social, and economic oppression, and privilege used to keep other’ed individuals from equitable opportunities and lives. Piper was, frankly, a bitch this season. She was an incredibly flat character who only appeared three-dimensional when she kicked Flaca out of the panty scheme, or connivingly got Stella sent to max. Piper ranted about how her hard work made her deserve the American Dream, which seemed to evoke the ideology of Whiteness. Pennsatucky’s statement seemed to extend this theme:

“It’s all about corporations because they look after us and you get religious freedom…that’s too bad because if you were Christian then you could tell everyone what to do and then they’d do it so they don’t hurt your feelings because that’s against the law.”

But, Pennsatucky’s statement, when juxtaposed with the trauma and injustice we see her endure, was jolting; it exemplifies just one of the moments when privilege was complicated. Pennsatucky’s statement connotes power, but it what researcher/educator/artist Jeffrey Andrade Duncan terms “False Hope.” This sense that one is free, in control, or has power and determination in their own lives was not true for her.

Pennsatucky’s Mama was right, “A Tittin’ and A Hairin’” (i.e. puberty) does make boys see her differently, treat her differently too.

We saw Pennsatucky raped—three times. Her narrative of backwoods parties, alcoholic miners, and a Mama who forces her to binge-drink Mountain Dew is not a tail of freedom. Her mother explains—in Episode 10’s “A Tittin’ and A Hairin’”—about getting her period in a way that poetically circumscribes the shame or embarrassment that girls are typically made to feel about their period. Her Mama describes the menstrual cycle as, “life coming out of you.” Her mother celebrated Pennsatucky not being “a little grubber” anymore with double fudge chocolate ice cream.

We learn the extent to which the imprisoned women yearn for their motherhood—to right their actin’ up teenage boys (e.g. Mendoza and Sophia), or to give them better options in life (e.g. Ruiz taking Daya to camp). We also go through the entire drama of Bennett proposing to Daya then fleeing after visiting Cesar who pulls a gun out on his son to convince him to eat his fries. Daya wants to give her daughter options too, and her mother undulates between seeing Daya’s baby as a paycheck to a grandchild. Much of Daya and Ruiz’s story attests to how much mothers need their daughters, and the vicious cycle this creates. Daya’s baby gets taken by the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) instead of by Pornstache’s wealthy, seemingly-loving mother. Really this is about people needing people.

As much as the women slash each others’ reputation, insult each others’ children, steal each others’ food, or even abuse one another physically, there are moments, quiet or in some way secluded, outside to share an illegal cigarette, or in the kitchen, sitting on a bed when these women’s visceral, vulnerable, yet hardened humanity comes out. Like when Mendoza jokes about Ruiz being a shitty mom to Daya or the sharp-tooth nerve singe when Boo tries to purchase Pennsatucky for a sexual act attempting to get her to admit she was raped. OITNB creators do an excellent job of juxtaposing moments like these, when support or even love contrast with women’s memories of silence, poor influences, or lack of options that resulted in their desperation (or, like in the case of Norma, rage), which led them to prison. The new counselor Berdie’s empathy-creating theatre class only begins to get at letting women express their pain and articulate it, even catharse it some way.

Yet there are so many aspects of these women’s experiences or past traumas that cannot be fully mended. Pennsatucky can always be counted on to say it bluntly in a truth we didn’t know could carry so much meaning and complex implications. In response to Boo’s encouragement that she seek revenge she said she didn’t have rage, but rather, “I’m just sad.” No matter if this makes your heartbreak or makes you want to Lysistrata in protest or seek more violent revenge, or judicial ones this sentence is telling. It encapsulates the oppression, carries with it all the deadened silence that too often surrounds sexual violence, or in the case of Sophia hate crimes that get you locked in solitary “for your own protection.”

OITNB women, and we as viewers, are in the throws of contemplating what is purported as “for our own protection.” Cindy’s grappling with faith exemplifies this. She was told to look to her family’s Christian faith as a sanctity, or at least a guide, yet she wanted to convert to Judaism because:

“Honestly, I think I found my people.

I was raised in the church; where I was told to believe and pray and if I was bad, I’d go to hell and if I was good I’d go to heaven, and if I asked Jesus he’d forgive me and that was that.

And here y’all saying ain’t no hell; ain’t sure about heaven, and if you do something wrong you got to figure it out yourself.

And as far as god’s concerned, it’s your job to keep asking questions and to keep learning and to keep arguing.

It’s like a verb; it’s like you do God and it’s a lot of work, but I want to learn more.

I’m a Jew.”

Ta-Nehisi Coates tells his son to embrace the “Struggle”—to survive, yes, but also to bring others to witness wrongs and inequities so that someday things will change. As Coates said in an NPR interview, when asked about why his book didn’t describe or inspire hope, he affirmed that if you’re looking for hope you have missed the point.

If you are looking for hope in OITNB’s “A Tittin’ and A Hairin’” then you have missed the point.

OITNB creators end the season with an ironic statement, when all the women are rejoicing in a still-in-captivity lake, as if it were the idealized white (or maybe just popular?) America spring break. Though they are not free, and so many social, political, and economic inequities are left emblazoned in our hearts and minds after this season, at least Red got to cook, Cindy got her Mikveh (what Ginsberg calls a “Jewish baptism”), and Soso found a prison family.

Go, watch this season, and figure out why it is necessary for us not to hope, but to think, act, interact, vote, and live differently.

Lauren’s Top 10 Episodes of 2015

1) Narcos, “La Catedral” (Season One, Episode

2) Show Me a Hero, “Parts 5 & 6” (Season One, Episodes 5/6)

3) Master of None, “Parents” (Season One, Episode 2)

4) Death Note, “Episode 11” (Season One, Episode 11)

5) Girls, “Sit-In” (Season Four, Episode 5)

6) Inside Amy Schumer, “12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer” (Season Three, Episdoe 3)

7) The Mindy Project, “While I Was Sleeping” (Season Four, Episode 1)

8) The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, “Kimmy Goes to School!” (Season One, Episode 6)

9) Grace and Frankie, “The End” (Season One, Episode 1)

10) Community, “Modern Espionage” (Season Six, Episode 11)

Parenthood – “May God Bless and Keep You Always”

(Season Six, Episode 13)

By Sara Rust

It seems that the writers of Parenthood were thinking about the opening verse of the theme song, “May God bless and keep you always, May your wishes all come true” when they planned our final goodbye to the Braverman Clan. This episode had everything you could ever imagine; a wedding, adoption, father-daughter bonding, a new business, and the loss of a beloved patriarch. Hank, played by Ray Romano, makes all of our hearts melt by asking Zeek (Craig T. Nelson) for Lorelai…errr Sarah Braverman’s hand in marriage. It apparently wasn’t enough to make us all sob so then Hank asks Sarah’s (Lauren Graham) son to be his best man, forcing an ugly cry on anyone with a heart. Fast forward to the wedding where we see Sarah’s nephew, who has Asperger’s just like her new husband, taking the couple’s family photos. The whole wedding is a silent montage with the most beautiful music playing over even more beautiful scenes.

Julia (Erika Christenson) and Joel (Sam Jaeger) have just rekindled their marriage flame when their adoptive son’s biological mother calls to say she’s had another baby and she wants them to adopt her. Just when we think they’re going to pass and work on their own marriage, they adopt this gorgeous baby girl and make all doubts of their love fall flat.

Adam (Peter Krause) decides to move on from the Luncheonette, the historic recording studio he co-founded with his brother Crosby (Dax Shepard) to become the headmaster of Chambers Academy, a school he co-founded with his wife Kristina (Monica Potter). This leaves Crosby (and his niece Amber, who just gave birth) without a job and wondering where their future lies. Crosby goes to his father, Zeek, for a little guidance. Zeek proves once again that he’s the world’s best father and instills the confidence needed for Crosby to take over the Luncheonette. This is Crosby who had a child he didn’t know about for most of the child’s life, started dating the mother again, cheated on her, proposed to her, and then had another baby with the coolest name ever, Aida. I would love to see where this story goes.

Sensing that he’s nearing the end of his life after many troubling incidents with his heart, Zeek asks Sarah if he’s been a good father. You can feel the end of the season, series, and Zeek are coming as Sarah starts to cry as she tells him he’s been the best father. A few days later Zeek’s wife of 40 some years, Camille, finds him slumped over in his chair. The whole family gathers on a baseball field for one last game during Zeek’s celebration of life, bringing the whole series around to a perfect finish. Even though the episode could have ended there, the brilliant writers gave us a peek into how everyone ends up. We see how wonderfully everyone is adjusting to life without Zeek as Camille goes to an inn they visited in France, Amber has found love (with yet another Friday Night Lights Alum), Julia and Joel have another baby, and the whole family is as tight as ever. I haven’t experienced a series finale so satisfying since Six Feet Under. It must be a Peter Krause thing.

Sara’s Top 10 Episodes of 2015

1) Parenthood, “May God Bless and Keep You Always” (Season 6, Episode 13)
2) The Mindy Project,” Best Man” (Season 3, Episode 21)
3) Doctor Who, “The Witch’s Familiar” (Series 9, Episode 2)
4) Parks and Recreation, “One Last Ride” (Season 7, Episode 13)
5) The Big Bang Theory, “The Opening Night Excitation” (Season 9, Episode 11)
6) Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, “Auditions” (Season 1, Episode 4)
7) Difficult People, “The Children’s Menu” (Season 1, Episode 5)
8) Another Period, “Pageant” (Season 1, Episode 4)
9) The Muppets, “Pig Out” (Season 1, Episode 4)
10) Mad Men, “The Milk and Honey Route” (Season 7, Episode 13)

Parks and Recreation – “Leslie and Ron”

(Season Seven, Episode 4)

By Abby Eddy

As the final season of Parks and Recreation came to a close, the series reminded audiences why they fell in love with the show in the first place.

In the episode “Leslie & Ron,” there was a look back on Leslie and Ron’s fallout, but a heartfelt reunion and realization of what the two had accomplished over the years. (As if for a minute, Leslie and Ron could be mortal enemies. Blasphemy!) In the end, Leslie and Ron realize that they are an unstoppable team and need one other to work together to make Pawnee a better place.

Many times final seasons for TV shows can spell disaster and tough scrutiny. Parks and Recreation expanded on its heart from the previous seasons and helped create a satisfying ending (or some could say a future) for all of its central characters.

In a season that was complete with Billy Joel and Pearl Jam references, it would be hard to top this story arc even if the show had been granted an eighth season. Parks and Recreation will be remembered for playfully making fun of its quirky, well-written characters, but what made the show so relatable was its undeniable heart.

And whether you live in Indiana or New York, you can only hope your office is as hardworking and has as much spirit as the Pawnee Parks and Recreation Department.

Thanks for the memories, Parks and Recreation. We’ll never forget you, Mouse Rat or Li’l Sebastian.

Abby’s Top 10 Episodes of 2015

1) Mad Men, “Person to Person” (Season Seven, Episode 14)

2) Master of None, “Old People” (Season One, Episode 8)

3) The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, “Kimmy Goes to School!” (Season One, Episode 6)

4) Billy on the Street, “Billy Plays ‘Is Beyonce Scared of That?’ with Jason Sudeikis” (Season Four, Episode 4)

5) BoJack Horseman, “Chickens” (Season Two, Episode 5)

6) Girls, “Home Birth” (Season Four, Episode 10)

7) Difficult People, “Pledge Week” (Season One, Episode 3)

8) Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “Yippie Kayak” (Season Three, Episode 10)

9) Orphan Black, “History Yet to Be Written” (Season Three, Episode 10)

10) Broad City, “The Matrix” (Season Two, Episode 6)

Project Greenlight – “Hug and Release”

(Season Four, Episode 8)

By Ken Jones

The fourth season of Project Greenlight is about the unlikely bromance of amateur director and professional mannequin Jason Mann and Pete Jones, writer of the artistic genius that is Hall Pass. Last year I wrote about the delightful ride into chaos that is The Chair. I am now a huge fan of watching insane people make bad movies.  The producers of Project Greenlight the incredibly stupid decision to give 3 million dollars to the only person that did not beg for the opportunity to make their movie. What they got was Jason Mann, a hamster turned human, that spends all of his time arguing to shoot his movie on film and pissing off his magical producer Effie Brown.

It is difficult picking the best episode of this season; its one of those shows that is always over way too soon. But this episode has Effie saving the movie and Jason reacting as only an anemic vampire can and Craig Haves, an editor who is certainly too good for this, absolutely lose his mind as Jason fights against every note HBO gives him. It also unveils the ultimate irony of the show. Effie is a producer wholly concerned with females and black people not playing stereotypical roles, yet the whole season really only has two black people, both of whom are portrayed as having some anger issues.

Between The Chair and this season of Project Greenlight you may be thinking that all filmmakers are crazy people that stumble through every movie. In my experience you would be absolutely correct. Perhaps the reason that I love these shows so much is that they prove that documenting real life for television can be captivating. Unfortunately these shows don’t make much money and overproduced and scripted “reality” crap does.

Ken’s Top 10 Episodes of 2015

1) Better Call Saul, “Five-O” (Season One, Episode 6)

2) Rick and Morty, “The Wedding Squanchers” (Season Two, Episode 10)

3) Doctor Who, “Heaven Sent” (Season Nine, Episode 11)

4) Game of Thrones, “Hardhome” (Season Five, Episode 8)

5) Community, “Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television” (Season Six, Episode 13)

6) Parks and Recreation, “The Johnny Karate Super Awesome Musical Explosion” (Season Seven, Episode 10)

7) Master of None, “Parents” (Season One, Episode 2)

8) Archer, “Pocket Listing” (Season Six, Episode 9)

9) Project Greenlight, “Hug and Release” (Season Four, Episode 8)

10) The Last Man on Earth,  “Christmas” (Season Two, Episode 10)

Rectify – “Hoorah”

(Season Three, Episode 1)

By Eric Martindale

Why aren’t you watching Rectify? I’m serious. You sit there with your wine and cheese debating Hannibal, Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey, and you’ve never even heard of this show. Okay, Maybe you’ve heard of it. But you aren’t watching it. I know this because according to the ratings Austin and myself are the only people to have seen an episode.

Instead of telling you how perfect it is (it is), or how beautifully shot it is (it is), or how wonderful the writing is (it is), or how it’s the best acted show on television (it is), I will instead spend this entire segment trying to frame its brilliance in some way that might actually get you to watch it. This will be difficult. Because you won’t. But what the heck! Like Winston Churchill said, “Never in the history of television, have so few, risked so much, to get someone to watch a nuanced Christian family drama on the Sundance Network.”

Okay, so, the story revolves around Daniel, a convicted murderer on death row who is released 19 years after being detained on a not-so-technical technicality. Once released back into his family’s care he finds that the only thing holding them together was the struggle to get him out. Daniel’s release is Chernobyl and what ensues is the fallout. Rectify’s deliberate pace takes every opportunity to cherish the moments in between the moments. It’s hopeful, but hopeless. The world is beautiful but we’re destined to take it for granted whether we like it or not.

Did Daniel actually do it though? I am three seasons in and I couldn’t answer that question. Oddly, it’s superfluous. The show teeters on answering the question with, “So what if he did?” It’s been 19 years, so everything has changed. So why can’t Daniel?

The drama, as I said, is in the day-to-day moment’s post Daniel’s release from death row. This isn’t vindication, mind you. He can still go back. And that’s the drama we’re left with leading up to the Season Three premiere, “Hoorah.” In this episode the narrative stops being about whether he goes back to prison or not. That issue, at least temporarily, is seemingly settled. Now it’s the aftermath. “Hoorah,” as the title is a punch line to a bad joke. An Atheist, a Christian, and a Jew walk into a bar. Except no one is laughing. And people keep secrets. And people lie. And people die. The small town claustrophobia clamps on the noose so tight through the duration of the episode you’re either going to cry during the whole thing (I did), or be left breathless through an entire episode. This is especially the case during a very troubling dinner sequence. The episode makes you consider your own family’s dinner table. Who there is most important to you? Who there do you love the most? Does the question make you squirm in your seat or the answer?

Each year Austin comes to me to pick a show for this thing. So far I’ve done Game of Thrones (A good season), True Detective (THE good season), and Breaking Bad (The best season). I’ve never felt more passionate about this tradition than I do with Rectify. Rectify made me want to affect the world more positively. I’ve never had any storytelling medium do that. It’s trippy. Perhaps it’s because Rectify is drama. Real drama. Real family drama. What’s more relatable than that? The answer is nothing.

Save your imps, ads, and fava beans and for the love of God, watch Rectify…

Eric’s Top 10 Episodes of 2015

1) Rectify, “Hoorah” (Season Three, Episode 1)

2) Mad Men, “Person to Person” (Season Seven, Episode 14)

3) Hannibal, “The Wrath of the Lamb” (Season Three, Episode 13)

4) Rectify, “Thrill Ride” (Season Three, Episode 2)

5) Outlander, “The Devil’s Mark” (Season One, Episode 11)

6) Mad Men, “The Milk and Honey Route” (Season Seven, Episode 13)

7) Rectify, “The Source” (Season Three, Episode 6)

8) Rick and Morty, “Total Rickall” (Season Two, Episode 4)

9) Better Call Saul, “Five-O” (Season One, Episode 6)

10) Better Call Saul, “Pimento” (Season One, Episode 9)

Rick and Morty – “Mortynight Run”

(Season Two, Episode 2)

By Pedro Aubry

This year I will be reviewing Rick and Morty. This season was fantastic, and it was really hard to settle on a favorite episode, but after going through the season a couple of times I’m going with Episode 2, “Mortynight Run”. This episode follows our favorite duo as fun times are had in various places, most notably Blips and Chitz, and whatever the Gear World is called. (Everyone there is composed of gears). The episode opens with Rick teaching Morty how to drive the spaceship, and they are joined by the insecure Jerry who is promptly left to have a fun time with himself. Later they have a gaseous being, named Fart, accompany them and things get a bit crazy from there.

I like this episode for several reasons. The Jerry sub-plot is fun to watch, as the show lets Jerry gets to be Jerry, in all his plain and simple mediocrity. As for Rick and Morty, well Rick is basically the same pessimistic (realistic?) ass he always is, and Morty, when faced with Rick’s lack of morality, decides to firmly take a stand for what he believes is right. I like how Rick, who could probably end the story at any time doesn’t really put up a fight against Morty, apart from his commentary, and lets Morty see the full consequence of that can come from his own narrow view of morality.

Morty has had grim life lessons before, such as coming to terms with his own insignificance while burying his own dead corpse, but now his adventures with Grandpa have challenged and possibly shattered his beliefs on the universe and sentient life as a whole. Just how much does this change Morty, we don’t know yet. In watching this, I had roughly the same beliefs as Morty, though not nearly as strong. I would’ve gone along with Rick and just been a bit angry for a while. But as the show went along I definitely saw myself coming around to Rick’s point of view, and as the series continues it’s hard not to get sucked into the dark reality of Rick’s world (which I must admit seems a bit easier to live in and cope with). Now just how good this is for an adolescent Morty, I have no idea. So give the episode a watch, and see where you fall on the fluid spectrum of morality of their infinite universe.

P.S.

I really really really really wanna play that game, “Roy”. Please someone create this for me.

Pedro’s Top 10 Episodes of 2015

1) The Leftovers, “I Live Here Now” (Season Two, Episode 10)

2) Hannibal, “The Wrath of the Lamb” (Season Three, Episode 13)

3) The Leftovers, “International Assassin” (Season Two, Episode 8)

4) Game of Thrones, “Hardhome” (Season Five, Episode 8)

5) Hannibal, “The Number of the Beast is 666…” (Season Three, Episode 12)

6) You’re the Worst, “Spooky Sunday Funday” (Season Two, Episode 8)

7) Better Call Saul, “Pimento” (Season One, Episode 9)

8) The Returned, “The Returned” (Season Two, Episode 8)

9) Mad Men, “Person to Person” (Season Seven, Episode 14)

10) Rick and Morty, “The Wedding Squanchers” (Season Two, Episode 10)

Sense8 – “Demons”

(Season One, Episode 6)

By Kevin Brown

Sense8 is an ensemble drama about eight people from across the globe who share a psychic connection as a result of [insert sci-fi plot device here].  And of course, there’s [insert malicious sci-fi institution]coming after them, so of course, cooperation is essential.   Truth be told, the less time you spend musing over how and why this is happening and the more time you simply bask in the aesthetics of the Wachowskis’ vibrant storyworld, the more you’re likely to get from this series.

As with most Netflix shows, it’s hard to look back on one piece as anything other than a fragment of the season (one thing I lament from the golden years of Network TV).  The first few episodes make it difficult to discern whether this experimental narrative structure is visionary or ridiculous.  Plot arcs are rushed out, central characters are introduced like archetypes, themes are heavy-handed, and one couldn’t be blamed for initially deeming this the Wachowski’s attempt at a serialized Cloud Atlas  (Disclaimer: I am one of those people that really liked Cloud Atlas)

But, if I had to pick one episode that stands out, it’d have to be “Demons”.  While most fans probably remember Episode 6 as “the orgy episode” (and yes, that is a thing), I reflect on this piece as the moment where it became clear exactly where the showrunners were going with all this madness, what that madness might entail, and the extent of possibilities this madness could yield if developed correctly.

There’s a whole socio-political angle to the show as well, as we have main characters from all over the world sharing consciousness and experiences, creating a sort of cultural think-tank for any crisis that may emerge in one of their lives.

High concepts aside, this is a story that puts eight central characters everywhere all the time, sharing in one another’s sensory experiences and always on reserve to weigh in on unfolding events.  If one gets attacked, flight-or-flight kicks in for the others.  If one is coping with powerful emotions, another will usually show up to talk them through it.  If one or more of them are having sex, well…“Demons” is the episode in which all of that starts to take form.  It’s the point when the characters start to really come to terms with these psychic links and question why it’s happening, and like many great shows before it, this process of questioning is often more fun than the answers.

Kevin’s Top 10 Episodes of 2015

1) Mr. Robot, “eps1.0_hellofriend.mov” (Season One, Episode 2)

2) Game of Thrones, “Hardhome” (Season Five, Episode 8)

3) BoJack Horseman, “Hank After Dark” (Season Two, Episode 7)

4) The Leftovers, “No Room at the Inn” (Season Two, Episode 5)

5) Doctor Who, “Heaven Sent” (Season Nine, Episode 11)

6) Louie, “Untitled” (Season Five, Episode 5)

7) Veep, “Election Night” (Season Four, Episode 10)

8) Justified, “The Promise” (Season Six, Episode 13)

9) South Park, “Safe Space” (Season Nineteen, Episode 5)

10) Show Me a Hero, “Parts 5 & 6” (Season One, Episode 5/6)

South Park – “Where My Country Gone”

(Season Nineteen, Episode 2)

By Nick Hussong

Since early in its run, almost twenty years ago now, South Park has been simultaneously one of the smartest and one of the dumbest shows on television. Which way a viewer perceives it is entirely up to them. The show contains both cutting satire and juvenile jokes. It can be enjoyed by someone who does not understand the satire and simply enjoys potty humor. At the same time, it can be enjoyed strictly for the social commentary by people who would never laugh at a dick or fart joke.

In its 18th season, South Park began running storylines. That is, events from one episode would be remembered in future episodes. The most obvious example was that Randy Marsh was Lorde. South Park has flirted with this idea before, like when Mr. Garrison had a sex change, but it was always limited in scope. In its 19th season, South Park has pushed this to a new level, having events not only carry over, but build to a climax. Along the way Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and the rest of the South Park team still managed to include their usual commentary on up to the minute current events. The result has been the best season of South Park to date and quite probably the best season of any cartoon (and that is coming from someone who has a deep appreciation for The Simpsons’ Seasons Three-Nine).

The episode which best encapsulates the heights to which the show has risen is the second of the season, “Where My Country Gone?” The episode begins with Kyle getting the Presidential Medal of Freedom for a speech he gave on why Caitlyn Jenner was a hero. However, the speech President Obama gives preceding the ceremony was fully intended to make the audience think that it was going to be about Ahmed Mohamed and his clock. Airing nine days after Ahmed was arrested for bringing a homemade clock to school, Obama’s remarks begin, “Last week we were all reminded that intolerance still exists in our country. It took a very special young student to light up social media and we’ve invited him to the White House today to show our appreciation.” The President then brings Kyle on stage, rather than Ahmed. It was a quick, but deliberate misdirection made all the more brilliant because it will not suffer years down the line when Ahmed and his clock have faded from our social consciousness; it is appropriate within the storyline of the season, because it is tied to the end of Episode 1.

The beginning of the season also saw the addition of a major new character on the show, PC Principal; a frat boy meathead who enjoys nothing more than drinking beer, working out, and that feeling he gets when he rhetorically defends a marginalized community from systems of oppression. PC Principal became the principal of South Park elementary and began enforcing PC rules on the very much not PC South Park Colorado. “Where My Country Gone?” sees the predictable backlash against this new normal. It comes from South Park’s resident ignorant deviant, Mr Garrison. Garrison is upset that the country’s new culture of tolerance and openness has allowed illegal immigrants to enter the country and nobody seems to care.

“They just keep crossing the border with their dirty families, playing their stupid music…We should have put up a god damn wall.”

But in the South Park universe, Canadians are the immigrant scourge. Mr Garrison gets fired by PC Principal as a result of his anti-Canadian rhetoric, leading him to write a country song called “Where My Country Gone?” The song becomes popular with white people who feel disenfranchised because of lines like, “There’s a great big hole in the liberty bucket / ‘Cause someone forgot to tell the foreigners to suck it.” Due to his increased profile, Garrison decides to run for President despite admitting, “I may not understand politics or immigration policies or the law or basic ideological concepts.” In keeping with his anti-PC ignorance his plan is to fuck all the immigrants to death. Literally.

Mr. Garrison is a clear parody of Donald Trump. But, it turns out that the Canadians have been fleeing their country for the United States because they elected a Canadian version of Trump as their Prime Minister. They thought he was just a joke, but by the time they finally got around to figuring out who the real candidate should be, Canadian Trump had already been elected. Mr. Garrison crosses the border into Canada to investigate.

What he discovers is a dystopian nightmare Canada where the streets are deserted and Canadian Trump is engaged in a self-serving solo dance party. True to his word, Mr. Garrison wrestles Canadian Trump to the ground, huffs some poppers, and violently fucks him to death. Fascinatingly, this goes a long way to fixing the immigration problem in South Park. Since Canadian Trump has been fucked to death, all of the Canadians feel comfortable returning to their home country.

There are a lot of reasons that this was the best TV episode of 2015. The first and primary one is that it showed one parody of Donald Trump violently, and very literally, fucking another parody of Donald Trump to death. It also included a fairly standard South Park trope, wherein the gang has to use a lesson learned from pop culture to fix a problem in their lives. In this case it is the plot of The Lion King II which, in this case, means that Butters has to give a Canadian girl a “hot Cosby,” the new South Parkian phrase for sex. It also introduces a trope that will run throughout the 19th season, that every time Caitlyn Jenner drives a car she hits and kills a pedestrian, lest the public ever forget that the real Caitlyn Jenner very much got away with exactly that. Finally, it fits neatly into the overall storyline of the season in more ways than can be enunciated here, save to say that it introduces us to PC Principal’s enemy, Leslie, a rivalry which does not find its climax until the season finale.

So, better than they ever have before, the South Park folks have turned an unflattering mirror on the United States and demonstrated real problems that need real solutions while deftly reminding us not to take things too seriously.

Nick’s Top 10 Episodes of 2015

1) South Park, “Where My Country Gone?” (Season Nineteen, Episode 2)

2) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, “July 19, 2015” (Mandatory Sentencing) (Season Two, Episode 22)

3) South Park, “Stunning and Brave” (Season Nineteen, Episode 1)

4) The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, “December 8, 2015” (Donald Trump Wants to Fuck His Daughter)

5) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, “March 22, 2015” (Municipal Violations) (Season Two, Episode 7)

6) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, “July 12, 2015” (Stadiums) (Season Two, Episode 20)

7) It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, “Charlie Work” (Season Ten, Episode 4)

8) South Park, “The City Part of Town” (Season Nineteen, Episode 3)

9) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, “March 1, 2015” (Infrastructure) (Season Two, Episode 4)

10) The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, “September 28, 2015” (Trevor’s First Episode)

Star Wars Rebels – “The Siege of Lothal”

(Season Two, Episodes 1/2)

By Jonathan Williams

To frame my choice, I want to disclaim that this is not the best show of the year (that would be Masters of None) nor the best culmination of a season or series-long arc (BoJack Horseman or Rick and Morty might walk away with that prize).  But I want to argue that this was one of the year’s best episodes of TV, in terms of its individual contribution to helping a series be watched and loved.

“The Siege of Lothal” follows an entertaining Season One finale (“Fire Across The Galaxy”) that resolved many of the show’s plot hooks — which can be a serious disadvantage!  This is exactly when shows often falter, having lost their initial direction and facing network demands to both “provide an entry for new viewers” and “focus on what worked in the first season”.  Showrunner Dave Filoni aces this metaphorical trench run by turning off his targeting computer and trusting in The Force… and I mean that almost literally.  The genius of this episode is to shake off the ham-fisted programming choices, which are responsible for the show’s worst decisions (e.g. anything involving Zeb or Sabine) and let Star Wars be Star Wars.  Without disrespect to the fantastic Clone Wars series, the franchise hasn’t felt this true to its roots in a long time.

In particular, “The Siege of Lothal” successfully 1) respects the themes which have anchored Star Wars since 1977, and 2) considerably ups the ante with its new antagonist.  To my first point, the strong Original Trilogy vibes that this episode puts out go beyond individual stills and scenes (which are too many to list, though in the first five minutes we see a CR-90 Corvette under attack, gunners in the turrets of a VCX light freighter hunting TIE Fighters, a sunset approach to a Ralph McQuarrie-esque skyline, and Lord Vader dressing down Imperial civil servants).  It also trades in many of the same emotions: Ahsoka’s shock at learning Darth Vader’s identity mirrors Luke’s in Episode V and adds another sad layer to Star Wars‘s penchant for pitting pupils against former masters.  Ezra’s resolve upon watching Tarkintown burn recalls Luke in front of the charred Lars homestead.  And so on.

This blends in to my second point, which is the hypnotic, terrifying power that “The Siege of Lothal” gives to its newly-introduced villain, Darth Vader.  He doesn’t snarl or twirl his mustache like the Grand Inquisitor of Season One.  He doesn’t embrace Evil as a role or religion.  He simply DOES terrible things, and neither gloats nor acts flippantly casual afterward.  He is always right.  And he cannot be beat.  “The Siege of Lothal” does a fantastic job of showing this, not telling it to us, never moreso than when a seemingly-defeated Vader force-pushes an entire AT-ST’s worth of rubble off of himself.  (Though his complete massacre of an entire Rebel capital ship and fighter squadron runs a close second.)  We see that everyone in “The Siege of Lothal” is terrified of this… thing, from rebel pilots to Jedi to Imperial ministers, and we see their fear justified.  Those without fear are soon dead.  And this fear allows Rebels to tap into some of the original trilogy’s power.

Better shows have stumbled worse when starting their second seasons.  “The Siege of Lothal” gives Star Wars fans new hope while tackling the difficult job of changing course, and so gets my vote as the hardest-working episode of the year.

Jonathan’s Top 10 Episodes of 2015

1) Master of None, “Indians on TV” (Season One, Episode 4)

2) Master of None, “Ladies and Gentlemen” (Season One, Episode 7)

3) BoJack Horseman, “Escape from L.A.” (Season Two, Episode 11)

4) Community, “Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television” (Season Six, Episode 13)

5) Star Wars Rebels, “The Siege of Lothal” (Season Two, Episodes 1/2)

6) Master of None, “Parents” (Season One, Episode 2)

7) Master of None, “Mornings” (Season One, Episode 9)

8) Rick and Morty, “The Wedding Squanchers” (Season Two, Episode 10)

9) Marvel’s Daredevil, “Path of the Righteous” (Season One, Episode 11)

10) Rick and Morty, “A Rickle in Time” (Season Two, Episode 1)

The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt – “Kimmy Kisses a Boy!”

(Season One, Episode 5)

By Leigh Montano

UNBREAKABLE!

If you’ve seen the show, you’re now singing the insanely catchy theme song for Tina Fey’s latest foray into the sitcom world. If you haven’t seen the show, what is wrong with you and why haven’t you done this yet?

I have to admit that when I heard the premise for The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, I thought, “I don’t know how this is going to be funny.” A woman who has been a captive of a religious cult and kept underground for the past 15 years and then goes to New York? Yeah, that doesn’t scream comedy to me either and yet it is one of the few shows that made me laugh out loud every episode. And not just, “oh, haha, that’s cute,” but laughing so hard I couldn’t catch my breath

The show goes beyond the catchy theme song and the contagious cheerfulness of the main character, Kimmy Schmidt. It also explores a lot of kinda deep topics without ever preaching to the audience. While the premise itself is inherently dark, the show never feels depressing. This is definitely because of Kimmy’s never ending supply of optimism and willingness to find the good in every situation.

The supporting cast also helps the show. Tituss Burgess, Jane Krakowski and Carol Kane round out the cast and provide Kimmy with some much-needed guidance along the way. Everything from not getting into vans with strangers to the dangers of excessive plastic surgery seems obvious to a generation of millennials who have had these lessons drilled into us by every sitcom, cartoon and after school special we’ve seen since the early 90s but since Kimmy was stuck in a bunker with only three other women and Rev. Richard Wayne Gary Wayne without access to the outside world, she has to learn these lessons with the help of her new friends.

I was hooked on the show after the theme song played in the first episode. Ellie Kemper is so incredibly charismatic and so believable as a naive teen stuck in an adult’s body. The scene where she first uses an automatic hand dryer is brief but makes me smile every time. The jokes are, of course, wonderful and so well thought out (DONA MARIA MOLE SAUCE!). As a native Hoosier, I could easily take offense to the jokes poking fun at Indiana but they’re so spot on you can’t help but laugh with them.

The episode that solidified my love was Episode 5, “Kimmy Kisses a Boy!” Kimmy’s friend from the bunker, Cyndee, comes to New York, along with her obviously gay boyfriend, to visit Kimmy. Titus tries to woo the obviously gay boyfriend, Kimmy tries her hand at love with the emotional maturity of a middle schooler and then enrolls in an GED program to get her goals back on track. Though she may be emotionally stunted, Kimmy is surprisingly aware of what she wants out of life. Hell, I don’t even know what I want and I wasn’t kept captive in a bunker for 15 years. She knows that she wants to experience all of the things that an adult on TV should like having a job and an education and a boyfriend and she has the tenacity to do it all without ever relying on her fame as an Indiana Mole Woman to get her those things.

This show has definitely stuck with me and continues to make me laugh every time I watch it. It’s a show that even though I’ve seen it all numerous times, I still laugh at new jokes I didn’t catch the first, second, fifth time around. My love of this show is definitely rooted in Kimmy Schmidt though. So many times in my life since watching this show, I’ve found myself quoting little inspirational things she said like, “Just take it 10 seconds at a time,” and I have definitely found myself power posing more often than I’d like to admit. Kimmy’s tenacity and optimism truly makes her unbreakable.

Leigh’s Top 10 Episodes of 2015

1) Mad Men, “Lost Horizon” (Season Seven, Episode 12)

2) Mad Men, “Person to Person” (Season Seven, Episode 14)

3) The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, “Kimmy Goes to School!” (Season One, Episode 6)

4) The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, “Kimmy Makes Waffles!” (Season One, Episode 13)

5) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, “August 16, 2015” (Televangelism) (Season Two, Episode 25)

6) Marvel’s Daredevil, “Cut Man” (Season One, Episode 2)

7) Marvel’s Jessica Jones, “AKA WWJD?” (Season One, Episode 8)

8) Jane the Virgin, “Chapter Twenty-Two” (Season One, Episode 22)

9) BoJack Horseman, “Yes and…” (Season Two, Episode 10)

10) Bob’s Burgers, “The Oeder Games” (Season Five, Episode 21)

The Group’s Top 10 List

Using a simple point system where a person’s #1 pick gets 10 points, #2 gets 9 and so on, here are the Top 10 Episodes of 2015 the received the most points from the 29 Top 10 lists.

1) Game of Thrones, “Hardhome” (Season Five, Episode 8) (66 points)

2) Mad Men, “Person to Person” (Season Seven, Episode 14) (56 points)

3) Doctor Who, “Heaven Sent” (Season Nine, Episode 11) (48 points, tie)

3) Hannibal, “The Wrath of the Lamb” (Season Three, Episode 13) (48 points, tie)

4) The Leftovers, “International Assassin” (Season Two, Episode 8) (47 points)

5) Marvel’s Jessica Jones, “AKA WWJD” (Season One, Episode 8) (34 points)

6) Community, “Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television” (32 points)

7) Master of None, “Parents” (Season One, Episode 2) (31 points)

8) Parks and Recreation, “Leslie and Ron” (Season Seven, Episode 4) (29 points)

9) Doctor Who, “Hell Bent” (Season Nine, Episode 12) (28 points)

10) Parks and Recreation, “One Last Ride” (Season Seven, Episode 12) (27 points)

·       88 different shows were on a Top 10 list. (10 more than last year)

·       27 of those shows first premiered in 2015. (2 more than last year)

·       191 different episodes were on a Top 10 list. (5 less than last year)

·       The top three episodes (“Hardhome”, “Person to Person”, “Heaven Sent”) were on seven different Top 10 lists.

·       6/10 Better Call Saul Season One episodes were on a Top 10 list.

·       3/6 The Jinx Season One episoes were on a Top 10 list.

·       6/10 Master of None Season One episodes were on a Top 10 list.

·       4/7 Mad Men Season Seven Part Two episodes were on a Top 10 list.

·       7/13 Marvel’s Daredevil Season One episodes were on a Top 10 list.

·       5/10 Game of Thrones Season Five episodes were on a Top 10 list.

·       5/10 The Leftovers Season Two episodes were on a Top 10 list.

·       6/13 The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Season One episodes were on a Top 10 list.

·       5/12 BoJack Horseman Season Two episodes were on a Top 10 list.

Best Episodes of 2014

This is the fourth year writing these silly TV articles and they are some of my favorite things to work on every year. In the previous one, it’s just me ranting about a ton of great shows. This one is easily more fascinating each and every time. Why? It’s because my friends are fascinating.

Critic polls always are a great way to look at a year of art but they are limited by the fact they all are critics. That is what their perspective is. TV is a medium that everybody watches and has an opinion on. Since there are so many installments of a show and so much time is devoted towards the story and characters, everyone is a little bit of a critic as they decide whether they should keep going or not.

Every year I’ve increased the number of people I have writing in this because I’m greedy. I want to read more and more thoughts about what is exciting my friends. So this year I do have some excellent film critics, but I also have lawyers and news producers and video editors and actors and directors and students and marketing experts. I have people who work at a film festival. I have people who work in Spain. I have people who work in sports, in advertising, in publishing and for colleges and nursing homes. I have writers who write about cowboys and skeletons and fools. What connects them all—besides their regret about having me as a friend—is their love for art.

So without further ado, here are everyone’s Top Episodes of 2014!

The Americans – “Echo”

(Season Two, Episode 13)

By Nick Rogers

Editor’s note: There are spoilers for the dramatic reveal featured at the end of the second season in the second paragraph. If you don’t wish to be spoiled skip ahead.

The second-season finale of The Americans — cable’s best current series never nominated for a meaningful Emmy — climaxes with a long reveal. Perhaps it’s a tad too long for the usual badge-of-honor believability of the show, which follows Philip and Elizabeth, married undercover KGB agents undermining 1980s America from inside and played by the astonishingly versatile Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell.

Jared, a mortally wounded teen whom we thought cruelly orphaned by a rogue element, reveals that he killed his KGB-operative parents. He retaliated for their rejection of his decision to become a second-generation spy, made after a lithe, comely female KGB agent lured him. Later, we learn this insidious KGB initiative has its sights set on Philip and Elizabeth’s teenage daughter, Paige.

This atypical rush of exposition hardly matters when it so beautifully crystallizes the (sometimes overly) slow burn of themes that dominated the season’s other two best episodes: “Behind the Red Door,” in which Elizabeth demands Philip make love to her like his married alter ego “Clark” to destructive ends; and “New Car,” in which America’s unfettered confidence wilts Philip’s own greener-grass curiosity about iconic American culture.

It’s easy for Philip and Elizabeth to be themselves seduced by sexual health, a sense of supremacy and their comparative ease of life in America. So subsidized by suburbia was their confidence in the first season that they actually fell in love, much to their surprise. But the second-season focus on their parenting showed just how vulnerable softening the edges of their sharpened ideals has made them.

“Echo’s” closing moments suggest three horrifying possibilities. The first is the ultimate worry of any parent, let alone one using children as cover: Will the worst of us manifest itself in them? The second is the idea that their Russian handlers know Paige better than they do, that the KGB suspected Paige’s rebellious streak, so well developed over the last two seasons, would need an outlet — a violent one.

Finally, the episode’s closing scene pulls the rug out from under Philip and Elizabeth’s reconnection. When she says, “She’s our daughter,” it’s not a rejoinder to Russia. It rejects Philip’s insistence that Paige be shielded from Russian influence. “Is that so horrible?” she asks, “To be like us?” As he sits for dinner, Philip barely recognizes the woman with whom he’s come to share much more than a mission.

While driving a larger wedge between Philip and Elizabeth, “Echo” also exhibits all of the series’ enjoyable surface pleasures. There are the pornstache-and-ponytail disguises, perfect 1980s music cues (Twilight Zone here) and lively wit (“If I had to hear any more about nonviolent resistance, I was going to punch her in the face”). Then, a total command of the B-plot (a stern Fed’s longstanding affair with a KGB seductress undone less by patriotism than by male pride), enough to keep the C-plot juicy (as “Clark’s” wife’s new gun foreshadows discovery of his deception), and a judicious body count that hits home (four onscreen and another strongly inferred).

It may seem an easy, well-traveled out for a third season of The Americans to follow Paige into her family’s treacherous tradecraft. But there’s every confidence it will do so with a unique, unsettling and unforgettable deconstruction of identity and ideology that makes it one of TV’s boldest endeavors.

Nick’s Top 11* TV Episodes of 2014 (besides “Echo”)

1) True Detective, “Form and Void” (Season One, Episode Eight)
2) Sherlock, “His Last Vow” (Season Three, Episode Three)
3) The Leftovers, “Guest” (Season One, Episode Six)
4) Parks and Recreation, “Moving Up” (Season Six, Episodes 21 and 22)
5) Homeland, “There’s Something Else Going On” (Season Four, Episode Nine)
6) Review, “Pancakes; Divorce; Pancakes” (Season One, Episode Three)
7) Hannibal, “Takiawase” (Season Two, Episode Four)
8) Mad Men, “The Strategy” (Season Seven, Episode Six)
9) Louie, “So Did the Fat Lady” (Season Four, Episode Three)
10) Arrow, “Seeing Red” (Season Two, Episode 20)

11) Veep, “Crate” (Season Three, Episode Nine)

* Cut me a break for stretching the format. TV was so good this year, I could have easily done a 20-episode list.

Additional 2014 TV Awards from Nick Rogers

MOST IMPROVED SERIES: “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

MOST UNEXPECTEDLY VIBRANT NOSTALGIA: “24: Live Another Day”

MOST MERCILESSLY CUT DOWN JUST AS IT GOT INTERESTING: “Legit”

STRONGEST START, OK-EST FINISH TO A PRESTIGE SERIES: “Fargo”

MOST DISAPPOINTING RELATIVE TO ITS PAST GREATNESS: “Justified”

BEST NEW BROADCAST SERIES: “The Flash”

BEST NEW CABLE SERIES: “Review”

BEST NEW PAY-CABLE SERIES: “The Leftovers”

WORST EPISODE OF A SHOW I LOVE: Arrow, “Guilty” (Season Three, Episode Six)

FIVE SHOWS I WISH I’D SEEN THIS YEAR: “Boardwalk Empire,” “The Knick,” “Nathan For You,” “Rectify,” “Transparent”

Arrow – “The Brave and the Bold”

(Season Three, Episode 8)

By Evan Dossey

Arrow isn’t just an example of a superhero show that gets it right, it’s an example of one that has worked extremely hard to do so. The first season was fairly average for superheroes on network television; while filled with famous characters and scenarios, it still reeked of CW-standard plotting and a very questionable approach to violence. Season Two, however, almost immediately launched the show into a new trajectory. Oliver Queen (Steven Amell) was now doing his best to be a hero, rather than a murderous vigilante. His supporting cast was bolstered by the Canary (Caity Lotz) and Roy Harper (Colton Hayes), and a larger for his eyes in the sky, Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards). Arrow went from a straightforward revenge fantasy to a full-fledged superhero team-up show each week, and it did wonders for the show’s overall storytelling, which was given a more serialized approach thanks to the appearance of season-long villain Deathstroke (Manu Bennet). Season Two also saw the introduction of Grant Gustin as Barry Allen, whose performance earned him a spinoff in the form of The Flash.

Thanks to the Season Two course-correct, Season Three has taken the characters to interesting new places. After the death of one of their number, most of the Arrow team has been scrambling to figure out where they fit as heroes in a new, more dangerous world. Roy deals with the fallout of mistakes he can’t remember; Felicity and Oliver wonder if they can have normal lives outside of their mission; Diggle welcomes a child. Season Three also introduces a new villain in the form of Ra’s Al Guhl (Andy Poon), better known as a chief antagonist of Batman, here performing most of his signature moves on a slightly less A-List hero.

In “The Brave and the Bold,” Ollie & Co. receive a little help from the cast of The Flash, who show up in Starling City to help track down a killer. While a cross-over may seem an odd pick for best episode, it’s a credit to writers Greg Berlanti & Andrew Kreisberg that it functions as a perfect piece of the Arrow Season Three narrative. It’s a breather, a moment for team Arrow to look at themselves through the eyes of a lighter, more happy-go-lucky outlook on life. Season Three of Arrow has been a lot of soul-searching, and working alongside The Flash allows Oliver Queen to find a bit of himself again, to remember what he stands for. In the meantime, the snappy dialog allows the characters to poke fun at each other’s respective universes, a classic staple of the superhero cross-over.

Evan’s Top 10 Episodes of 2014

1) Arrow, “The Braev and the Bold” (Season Three, Episode 8)

2) Doctor Who, “Dark Water” (Season Eight, Episode 11)

3) True Detective, “Who Goes There” (Season One, Episode 4)

4) Adventure Time, “Wake Up” (Season Six, Episode 1)

5) The Flash, “Flash vs. Arrow (Season One, Episode

6) Parks and Recreation, “Moving Up” (Season Six, Episodes 21/22)

7) Hannibal, “Tome-Wan” (Season Two, Episode 12)

8) Mad Men, “Waterloo” (Season Seven, Episode 7)

9) Adventure Time, “Little Brother” (Season Six, Episode 11)

10) Arrow, “Suicide Squad” (Season Two, Episode 16)

Black Mirror – “White Christmas)

(2014 Christmas Special)

By Austin Lugar

I was so happy when Black Mirror appeared on Netflix this month. It’s one of the best shows on the air but it was so underseen by Americans because it was only available through DirectTV or by…magic. It is a dark anthology show that examines the way we use technology. The criticism isn’t on the technology itself but our relationship to it. Thanks to the nature of the anthology, it can be any kind of show in any episode. In the six previous it has ranged from unnerving realism of the modern day to science-fiction dystopia set in the far future.

“White Christmas” is somewhere between those times. In their first feature length episode, Black Mirror decided to go in a really bold direction. It begins in a small cabin isolate in a winter storm. Two men (Jon Hamm and Rafe Spall) appear to have been there for five years for an assignment but they never speak to each other. In the Christmas spirit, they decide to open up about what sent them to this punishing job. The stories they tell perfectly fit into the grim Black Mirror world where inventions seem fantastical but could easily be developed within the next five years.

So much of the show’s brilliance is the discovery process. Even though I figured out some of the twists a beat before the characters did, didn’t make them any less soul-crushing. I won’t say anything about the stories that are weaved together in this episode; I’ll just leave you with that confusing image I picked. The world they inhabit can easily turn from leisurely convenient to some of the most horrifying concepts I could ever imagine within a few seconds.

I was bummed there wasn’t a full season of the show this year but if Charlie Brooker needed that time to craft a script so perfectly structured with so much to analyze and shock and (I’m using the word again) horrify, by all means take as long as you want. This is perhaps my favorite episode of Black Mirror because of how deeply it affected me. An episode has power if it changes the way you look at what you didn’t notice has crept into your life and you’re not sure what to do about it.

Merry Christmas!

Austin’s Top 10 Episodes of 2014 

1) Hannibal, “Mizumono” (Season Two, Episode 13)

2) Black Mirror, “White Christmas” (2014 Christmas Special)

3) Orange is the New Black, “A Whole Other Hole” (Season Two , Episode 4)

4) The Leftovers, “Guest” (Season One, Episode 6)

5) Masters of Sex, “Fight” (Season Two, Episode 3)

6) Rick and Morty, “Meeseeks and Destroy” (Season One, Episode 5)

7) Mad Men, “Waterloo” (Season Seven, Episode 7)

8) Community, “Cooperative Polygraphy” (Season Five, Episode 4)

9) Nathan For You, “Dumb Starbucks” (Season Two, Episode 5)

10) Inside No. 9, “A Quiet Night In” (Season One, Episode 2)

Honorable Mentions – The Americans’s “Echo”, Bob’s Burgers’ “The Equestranauts”, Doctor Who’s “Listen”, Fargo’s “A Fox, A Rabbit and a Cabbage”, Girls’ “Dead Inside”, The Good Wife’s “The Last Call”, Hannibal’s “Mukozuke”, hitRECord on TV’s “Re: One”, The Leftovers’ “Two Boats and a Helicopter”, Mad Men’s “The Strategy”, Orange is the New Black’s “We Have Manners. We’re Polite.”, Outlander’s “The Wedding”, Rectify’s “Unhinged”, Rev.’s “Episode 6”, Review’s “Pancakes, Divorce, Pancakes”, Ricky and Morty’s “Rixty Minutes” and Sherlock’s “The Sign of Three”

BoJack Horseman – “Later”

(Season One, Episode 12)

By Dennis Sullivan

I’m going to get the easiest joke out of the way first. BoJack Horseman, who is half-man and half-horse, could have easily have been played by Sarah Jessica Parker.

And now that that’s out of the way, BoJack Horseman is a seriously great piece of television. Netflix once again produced something refreshingly original that far surpassed expectations. I tried watching the show once, but couldn’t get past the first episode. Luckily, I gave it a second shot and ended up binge-watching the entire show in a weekend. While the show seems like another generic Adult Swim cartoon in which animals act like humans, it quickly becomes so much more. The show dives into the deep, dark waters of depression for a serious moment before switching gears to some hilarious slapstick comedy. They walk a fine a line between too much and not enough, but they walk the line beautifully.

And the magic doesn’t stop with BoJack. This world is filled with a literally colorful cast of characters, many of which also get fleshed/furred/scaled out into more than just one-dimensional beings. The writing is witty. The plot is intriguing. And the gags are laugh out loud funny. If you haven’t checked it out yet, get prepared for greatness.

It was difficult to select just one episode of BoJack. The show is similar to other Netflix shows in that it was created for binging purposes. Jokes and storylines are set up in early episodes and have great payoffs in later on, but BoJack adds another layer to this mix. The show follows the progression of BoJack’s ghostwriter learning about his life. Just like their early interviews, the season begins light and not very emotionally deep. However, as the ghostwriter bonds with BoJack, they begin to explore complex elements of his personality and the show starts to tug at the heart strings. The humor is not lost at all, but it makes for a much more rewarding experience. This is why I selected the finale of the show. It’s just as good as the rest of the episodes, but this one is an epilogue of sorts where the conflict from the season is addressed (and just like real life, not easily resolved) and sets up Season Two beautifully. It succeeds as a finale because it leaves the viewer wanting more. And I cannot wait for Season Two.

Dennis’ Top 10 Episodes of 2014

1) True Detective, “The Secret Fate of All Life” (Season One, Episode 5)

2) Orange is the New Black, “We Have Manners. We’re Polite” (Season Two, Episode 13)

3) Inside No. 9, “A Quiet Night In” (Season One, Episode 2)

4) Game of Thrones, “The Mountain and the Viper” (Season Four, Episode 8)

5) BoJack Horseman, “Later” (Season One, Episode 12)

6) Fargo, “A Fox, a Rabbit and a Cabbage” (Season One, Episode 9)

7) Nathan For You, “Dumb Starbucks” (Season Two, Episode 5)

8) Rick and Morty, “Meeseeks and Destroy” (Season One, Episode 5)

9) The Colbert Report, “Grimmy” (Episode 1447)

10) Top Gear, “Burma Special” (Season Twenty-One, Episodes 6/7)

Broad City – “The Lockout”

(Season One, Episode 4)

By Rachael Clark

Broad City is one of those series where I ended up watching the entire season in one day. Every episode was fantastic and quirky, but the one that had me laughing out loud until the very end was “The Lockout.” Abbi and Ilana are locked out each other’s apartments and find themselves homeless for the day all while trying to get Abbi cleaned up and ready for her first art gallery show. They attempted to get into Ilana’s apartment thanks to a creepy locksmith, but they felt so uncomfortable with him knowing where she lived, Ilana gave him a fake name and had him open her neighbor’s apartment instead of hers. Of course timing is everything and within two minutes of them inside the apartment, the neighbors return home and spray mace in Abbi and Ilana’s faces. The rest of the episode they are running all over New York City with spray-maced faces and comedically large bags from Beth, Bath, and Beyond. (Ilana wants to turn her room into a walk-in closet, but then she realizes she would be closeted. HA!) Towards the end of the episode we discover that Abbi’s first art show is in a (vegan) sandwich shop. She considers it an art show because, “after 8 so many people put their laptops away, it can be considered an art gallery.” Just another day in the life of Abbi and Ilana.

This is a show about two confident young women who are enjoying and exploring life with each other. Abbi and Ilana are drastically different people and you wonder how they ever became friends. They have different personalities, styles, outlooks on life, and whatever else you can imagine. As a viewer you come to realize they understand and complement each other so well. They are the most important people in each other’s lives at this time and they wouldn’t have it any other way.

FYI Season Two starts in a month and I cannot wait!

Rachael’s Top 10 Episodes of 2014

1) Game of Thrones, “The Laws of Gods and Men” (Season Four, Episode 6)

2) Orange is the New Black, “You Also Have a Pizza” (Season Two, Episode 6)

3) Broad City, “The Lockout” (Season One, Episode 4)

4) Veep, “Debate” (Season Three, Episode 8)

5) Community, “Geothermal Escapism” (Season Five, Episode 5)

6) Community, “Cooperative Polygraphy” (Season Five, Episode 4)

7) Doctor Who, “Deep Breath” (Season Eight, Episode 1)

8) The Legend of Korra, “Enter the Void” (Season Three, Episode 12)

9) Bob’s Burgers, “Turkey in a Can” (Season Four, Episode 5)

10) Parks and Recreation, “Doppelgangers” (Season Six, Episode 4)

Brooklyn Nine-Nine – “The Mole”

(Season Two, Episode 5)

By Molly Raker

A lot of people want to punch Andy Samberg in the face. This is the common response I get when I tell people I watch Brooklyn Nine Nine to then I respond with it’s hilarious and Andy’s character gets punched in the face. Will that make you watch it? This show also offers so many other fantastic actors and characters; this show introduced me to Chelsea Peretti and her awesome dance moves.

This “office” comedy started its run in 2013 and had a rocky start but then coming into 2014 it hit its stride and then even come back stronger with its second season. It gave us one of my favorites “will they won’t they” relationship and a great game called Kwazy Cupcakes. They have running plots, like the Halloween prank, the Pontiac bandit and Giggle Pig. It was hard to pick one episode because each episode as they all bring it, (especially the second season) but I had to go with ‘The Mole’ as this clearly showcases the comedic genius of Andy and Andre as most of the episode they’re stuck in a room, which is a occurring theme for Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Let’s for one second talk about the location, Brooklyn, where I live and love living. Conveniently the outside shot of the police building is in the neighborhood I live in Park Slope and another coincidence is Pawnee is based on a town I went to college. I’m predicting he makes his new TV show in Wisconsin, where I was born because he is obviously basing his location off my life

Essentially, who doesn’t love a dead pan Andre Bruaghner, also did I mention it won two Golden Globes, those mean a lot, well for this one show it does!

Molly’s Top 10 Episodes of 2014

1) Broad City, “Apartment Hunters” (Season One, Episode 9)

2) Sherlock, “The Sign of Three” (Season Three, Episode 2)

3) Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “The Mole” (Season Two, Episode 5)

4) Hannibal, “Mizumono” (Season Two, Episode 13)

5) Fargo, “A Fox, a Rabbit and a Cabbage” (Season One, Episode 9)

6) Game of Thrones, “The Laws of Good Men” (Season Four, Episode 6)

7) The Leftovers, “Cairo” (Season One, Episode 8)

8) Veep, “Clovis” (Season Three, Episode 4)

9) Doctor Who , “Listen” (Season Eight, Episode 4)

10) Mad Men, “The Runaways” (Season Seven, Episode 5)

Honorable Mentions

·       Parks and Recreation, “Filibuster” (Season Six, Episode 6)

·       The Affair, “7”, (Season One, Episode 7)

·       House of Cards, “Chapter 14” (Season Two, Episode 1)

·       Broad City, “The Lockout” (Season One, Episode 4)

·       Silicon Valley, “Optimal Tip to Tip Efficiency”

The Chair – “Movin’ On”

(Season One, Episode 6)

By Ken Jones

Did you create the monster, or is it always there?

My favorite documentaries are ones that seem unassuming from the outside, but take dark turns as the story progresses. The ones that no one knew how dark they would be when they started planning it. The Chair is ten episodes of such unassuming darkness. As a former grunt in the filmmaking world, I have a certain love of watching other people go through the hell that is making films. I was already sold on watching people struggle making a film with very little money, but I had no idea for the wild ride I was getting into.

The Chair follows two first time directors, Shane Dawson and Anna Martemucci, making a feature length movie based on the same source material. The director with the most popular movie gets $250,000. Will Shane win because of his built-in Youtube fanbase of 12 year old girls? Or will Anna win with her expertise in the film world, with things like story and characters? The suspense is killing me.

The Chair is split up into the normal production cycle: pre-production, production, and post-production. Episode 5 is the start of production, but Episode 6 is when I knew this show is something that will stick with me my entire life. The first four episodes build up a strong worry about how either movie will end up, but Episode 5 is strangely positive. But Episode 6 makes it clear everyone is doomed and this show will never get a Season Two (but maybe it will?). The episode also poses some fascinating questions. Is Zachary Quinto a robot? Is Shane Dawson in love with Youtube semi-celebrity and Richmond from The IT Crowd impersonating Drew Monson? Who on the show could eat the most pumpkin pies? Does Chris Moore daydream of making out with Pittsburgh? Like the whole city, not just the people. I’m afraid to say too much about this show because it is something that just needs to be experienced so all the absurd characters, who are somehow real people, are understood. Just watch it already.

Ken’s Top 10 Episodes of 2014

1) Black Mirror, “White Christmas” (2014 Christmas Special)

2) Sherlock, “The Sign of Three” (Season Three, Episode 2)

3) Game of Thrones, “The Laws of Gods and Men” (Season Four, Episode 6)

4) Doctor Who, “Listen” (Season Eight, Episode 4)

5) Community, “Cooperative Polygraphy” (Season Five, Episode 4)

6) Rick and Morty, “Ricksy Business” (Season One, Episode 11)

7) Bob’s Burgers, “The Equestranauts” (Season Four, Episode 17)

8) Parks and Recreation, “Moving Up: Part 2” (Season Six, Episode 22)

9) Archer, “Archer Vice: Arrival/Departure” (Season Five, Episode 13)

10) Game of Thrones, “The Lion and the Rose” (Season Four, Episode 2)

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey – “Standing Up in the Milky Way”

(Season One, Episode 1)

By Ray Martindale

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey is a beautiful re-imagining of the original 1980 Cosmos. Cosmos ASTO traverses the origins of the universe and human existence. In the pilot “Standing Up in the Milky Way” the audience is told the story of Giordano Bruno, a Dominican monk in Naples, who defied the Roman Catholic Church by publishing some of the first books that presented the idea of an infinite universe with other worlds and stars.

Through spectacular computer generated effects and beautiful animation we are shown the immense age of the universe. In a particular sequence the host, Neal deGrasse Tyson, breaks down the age of the cosmos into something more easily understood. He compresses the 13.8 billion year old history of the cosmos into a single calendar year. It begins on January 1st with the Big Bang and ends with the entirety of recorded human history occupying only the last 14 seconds of December 31st of the same year.

If you are interested in adventure, sci-fi, religion, history, science, or just good simple storytelling, then I highly recommend checking out Cosmos.

Ray’s Top 10 Episodes of 2014

1) Cosmos, “Standing Up in the Milky Way” (Season One, Episode 1)

2) The Walking Dead, “The Grove” (Season Four, Episode 14)

3) Game of Thrones, “The Watchers of the Wall” (Season Four, Episode 9)

4) Rick and Morty, “Meeseeks and Destroy” (Season One, Episode 5)

5) Doctor Who, “Mummy on the Orient Express” (Season Eight, Episode 8)

6) Fargo, “The Crocodile’s Dilemma” (Season One, Episode 1)

7) Sherlock, “The Sign of Three” (Season Three, Episode 2)

8) House of Cards, “Chapter 22” (Season Two, Episode 9)

9) Black Mirror, “White Christmas” (2014 Christmas Special)

10) Rick and Morty, “Rick Potion #9” (Season One, Episode 6)

Doctor Who – “Mummy on the Orient Express”

(Season Eight, Episode 8)

By Kevin Brown

Editor’s note: Kevin discusses a major scene that happened in the episode previous to this one. It is a not a major spoiler, but a significant plot point in the season.

Sharing your thoughts on Doctor Who is like writing an academic paper.  Whovians need a certain degree of background information before they determine if your opinion means anything at all.  They need to know your philosophy (Time travel should have consistent rules) your politics (Ten>Eleven>Nine) and your credentials (not versed in the classics, but filling in gaps with Amazon Prime.)

Now that I’ve established my perspective going into the Capaldi Era and plugged my favorite online streaming service, I can safely revert to fanboy mode to say: “OMG Season 8 was totez the best season yet!”

Got that out of my system.  While I’d love to rant and rave about how brilliantly the season-long narrative addressed themes of agency, authority, modernity, and intellectual detachment, for the sake of time, I’m going to focus in the best British Imperial Mummy-drama we’ve seen all year (sorry, Timothy Dalton).

“Mummy on the Orient Express” builds off the previous episode’s rift between The Doctor and Clara to start us off with a uniquely somber tone.  The backdrop is this:

Clara is out.  Her relationship with Danny is getting serious and her frustration with the Twelfth Doctor’s cold exterior has become overwhelming.  Unlike other companions, who have either blindly accepted The Doctor’s detachment, or naively taken it upon themselves to fix him, Clara accepts that her Doctor has seen too many wars, extinctions, and empires rise and fall, to feel the emotional weight of every little disaster.  That being said, she knows that she can’t be like him, and more importantly, she doesn’t want to.  So this is one last trip for the books, their Good-bye Trip.

And what first appears to be a nostalgic vacation through 19th Century Europe, the camera zooms out to reveal this Orient Express is a bit more… interstellar.  Yes, this whole episode takes place on a space train, decorated with a suave post-Victorian aesthetic.  As with any proper depiction of English colonialism, writer Jamie Mathieson offers up some signature dry wit, flawed Darwinian ethics, and a scary-ass mummy.

In a season that conceived a handful of great new alien menaces, “The Foretold” is arguably the most developed and intriguing.  It’s a remnant of a technologically advanced world, outlived by its own war-like ideologies.  It’s a program that, in the course of a minute, terrifies its victims “out of phase” with their reality, so it can essentially kill them with fear.  But it’s protecting something super-duper important, which I won’t spoil.

I also won’t spoil how The Doctor takes control and saves the day, but in terms of plot construction, it’s one of the show’s more genius conclusions.  This isn’t another fuse-with-your-hand-for-an-extra-life or btw-the-sonic-screwdriver-could-always-do-this kind of endings.  It’s a thoughtful and cohesive ethical narrative, with a resolution so deceptively simple that the audience should feel guilty for having subconsciously written it off themselves.

But this episode is playing a much deeper mind-game with its audience.  As this e-Mummy terrorizes passengers to death and the HAL-like conductor, Gus, politely explains that they’re all expendable because Science rules, the Doctor winds up in an environment that thinks exactly like him, but to an extreme.

Individual human lives are inconceivably small in the grand scheme of things, and at the end of day, all that matters is that we learn something from every experience.  That’s been The Doctor’s implied outlook for a while now.  Do his job for a millennium and it would have to be, right?   This episode reminds us why that line of thought is ultimately problematic.

And while The Doctor’s humanist take on the value of human life leaves us feeling refreshed, we can’t help but wonder, was  this whole ordeal is just a theatrical statement to Clara?  He uses the Good-Bye Trip as an excuse to bring her into the middle of a deep-space research project, knowing the risk.  Even after he saves the day, we should all be a little weary of that.
But this season’s willingness to explore The Doctor’s flawed character is makes it shine above the others.  After the end of the world, the end of the universe, the end of time, and a few more of the most importantest events ever in all of time and space, we’re taking a break from the giant leaps of mankind to cultivate drama, once again, in the small steps of one man, and that man is Peter Capaldi, my new favorite Doctor.

Kevin’s Top 10 Episodes of 2014

1) True Detective, “Who Goes There” (Season One, Episode 4)

2) Fargo, “A Fox, a Rabbit and a Cabbage” (Season One, Episode 9)

3) Boardwalk Empire, “Friendless Child” (Season Five, Episode 7)

4) Doctor Who, “Mummy on the Orient Express” (Season Eight, Episode 8)

5) True Detective, “The Secret Fate of All Life” (Season One, Episode 5)

6) Transparent, “The Wilderness” (Season One, Episode 6)

7) Sherlock, “The Sign of Three” (Season Three, Episode 2)

8) Fargo, “Buridan’s Ass” (Season One, Episode 6)

9) Hannibal, “Mizumono” (Season Two, Episode 13)

10) The Honourable Woman, “The Paring Knife” (Season One, Episode 8)

Honorable Mentions: Rectify, “Running with the Bull”, Boardwalk Empire, “Devil You Know”

Face Off – “Scared Silly”

(Season Seven, Episode 9)

By Alan Gordon

It’s easy to be a snob about reality shows. You say to people, “Oh, I would never watch one of those.” Then your internal hypocrisy monitor kicks in, and you quickly add, “Except for Dancing With The Stars, of course, but that’s more of a … and The Great American Sing-Off, because they’re so talented, and the arranging … and then there’s Face Off.”

Okay, those are the reality shows that I watch. Religiously. Addictively. In my defense, they are shows that reward actual talent and creativity, as opposed to amateur personalities ingratiating themselves with the masses.

Syfy’s Face Off is an elimination competition show for special effects make-up artists. Consider the skill set required: Drawing, sculpting, molding, familiarity with an abundance of different materials, costume design and execution, fabrication of weird props and accessories, all at the service of some underlying conceptualization to meet the weekly challenge. And that challenge itself might require additional complicating factors: A make-up that will function underwater or in black light. Or be able to withstand full-on medieval combat, or ballet, or acrobatics.

The contestants are by and large self-taught, working in low-budget regional indies, amusement parks, haunted houses and the like. They range across the spectra of race, gender, sexuality and so forth, but all have the same aspirations. And they can do stuff that we can’t under a three day deadline, which is insane. And sometimes produces insanity. What makes Face Off different from the other two shows? The voting is confined to the three professional judges [although one or two seasons brought in fan voting for the finales]. And the contestants support each other unlike any show that I’ve seen, jumping in to help someone carry a mold that weighs too much, or break open one that’s stuck. They all work in one big soundstage rigged as a fully-stocked lab, and we get to watch.

The format is relatively rigid. Host McKenzie Westmore presents the challenge [and the viewer drinking game is waiting for her to use the word “iconic.”]Then off to the races they go. But the presentation for Episode 8 of the last season, “Scared Silly,” was different. The eight remaining contestants were roused in the middle of the night and carted off to the soundstage, which was pitch black. We observed them under night-vision staggering around until a video monitor lit up with McKenzie’s face issuing the challenge: Scary clowns.

Okay. A cliché, big deal. But here’s where it soared into genius. Each of the contestants had completed a biographical survey before the season started which contained buried within it the question, “What was your childhood fear?” They now were read back the answers, and directed to incorporate that fear into their scary clown.

What could be more primal? Monsters under the bed, spiders, dark water, tornadoes, antique dolls … this is how design can rise into the realm of art.

The winner was a surprise. Sasha Glasser was one of the whiners, the ones you root for early elimination. In two earlier episodes involving team efforts, she complained about her partner taking charge and not letting her have any real input. In both of those episodes, the partner ended up being the one eliminated by the judges. Perhaps that was Sasha’s strategy. (I was reminded of an old Bob Balaban short, “Tex, the Passive-Aggressive Gunslinger.”) Sasha herself was eliminated, but then saved by the one-time use of a judges’ resurrection.

She took the most risks this episode, choosing to focus on the fear (antique dolls) rather than the clown. An aged, cracked, porcelain visage with hints of clown around the eyes, and superb attention to detail. The wig hair was punched through a mesh covering like you’d find on actual dolls of the period, a touch that had judge Glenn Hetrick exclaim, “Oh, oh, that’s fantastic.”

Others did well. Eventual contest winner Dina Cimarusti did her usual wonderful work, a birthday party clown impaled by his props by a tornado. [Said one judge, “I like the blood, I love the piece of skin coming off, and I adore the balloon animal.”] Constant second-place finisher Cig Neutron (yes) had a wet, slightly decomposed denizen of dark water (“So clearly reads as waterlogged corpse — it’s gorgeous!” I never get complimented like that.) And all of the clowns performed without anything flying off.

Sasha won — her only win, and she would be eliminated within two more episodes. But for that one moment, she was happy, and we liked her.

Alan’s Top 10 Episodes of 2014

1) Face Off, “Scared Silly” (Season Seven, Episode 9)

2) Fargo, “The Crocodile’s Dilemma” (Season One, Episode 1)

3) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, “Coverage of Ferguson and the Staten Island Non-Indictment”

4) Doctor Who, “Listen” (Season Eight, Episode 4)

5) Dancing with the Stars, “America’s Choice” (Season 19, Episode 9)

Let it be known that I called Alfonso Ribeiro as the winner before the season started, but there were actually four real contenders at the end, a first. And the fifth was my new hero, 76 year-old stoner and cancer survivor Tommy Chong, who was unexpectedly elegant and energetic. [See his tango.] But this episode feature the gimmick of adding a third dancer to each pair. Alfonso’s partner Witney “Buy an H” Carson turned a paso doble into, I guess, a paso treble with fellow young blonde Lindsay Arnold, choreographed to DJ Snake and Lil Jon’s “Turn Down For What.” They killed it.

6) Penny Dreadful, “Séance” (Season One, Episode 2)

Fun, stylish, creepy, and Eva Greene steals it

7) Nashville, “It’s All Wrong, But It’s All Right” (Season Two, Episode 13)

Hayden Panetierre’s Juliette, ordered to apologize, throws it in everyone’s face – via song.

8) Grey’s Anatomy, “Fear (of the Unknown)” (Season Ten, Episode 24)

Sandra Oh was always the best thing on this show. Her final episode.

9) Sleepy Hollow, “The Weeping Lady” (Season Two, Episode 5)

Another guilty pleasure. Occasional howlers in the writing, but the two leads have fantastic chemistry without any teasing romantic undertones, which is unusual.

10) Homeland, “Halfway to a Donut” (Season Four, Episode 8)

Yes, implausibilities abound in the plotting, but the series is so much stronger without Brody and the baby. This is the episode with Saul’s escape from captivity. Tense, surprising, authentic.

The Flash – “Going Rogue”

(Season One, Episode 4)

By Sarah Staudt

The Flash is not just damn good TV, it’s some of the best superhero stuff to hit either the big or the small screen in years. And it’s revitalizing the whole idea of comics and comic book heroes as a form of media worth celebrating. By finally moving the tone and style of comic books to the screen, it’s celebrating the idea that superhero stories don’t have to be dark and brooding to be affecting.

For the past 20 years or so, our superheroes have been serious. Epic. Heavy. With the exception of some children’s TV shows (Young Justice) and maybe The Avengers, DC and Marvel have largely abandoned the lightheartedness of superheroes. Now, don’t get me wrong. Entries in this darker style of movies and TV have often reached far greater heights than their silly predecessors. Compare The Dark Knight to Tim Burton’s Batman and you have no comparison in terms of emotional depth. But still, we’re losing something in the entertainment value of comics and comic book stories. They’re not just vehicles for big scary battle scenes and stakes that include the destruction of the world. They’re stories about guys who dress up in ridiculous suits and run around saving people. They’re supposed to be FUN.

The Flash does this. While maintaining an emotional core and serious stakes, it still manages to make every episode a damn entertaining time. And “Going Rogue” is probably the most entertaining of the series so far.

The first scene of this episode encapsulates everything both fun and awesome about the show. Barry running between Operation, table tennis, and Chess testing his powers is a good gag, but it gets at a lightheartedness that neither Arrow nor any of the superhero movies to hit the big screen, really, have managed to achieve. Make no mistake, The stakes are high in this episode. The deadly weapon that can actually stop The Flash has been stolen, and there’s a real concern that The Flash is going to see his little career come to an end. The Flash is facing one of his most famous villains, and this guy is pretty scary in terms of his random killing count. In the end, he uses The Flash’s goodness against him, giving him the classic superhero choice between a train full of people and letting him go. And Barry makes the choice we all know he’s going to make.

I can’t say enough about the finale of the episode. Again, The Flash is at its best with silliness with a heart. The STAR labs vacuum cleaner dressed up as a cold gun is a deeply stupid idea, but it’s the kind of thing that would work in comic books, so why shouldn’t it work here? And it gets at that emotional core: Cisco and Felicity and Caitlin coming together to help Barry even though they can’t really help as puny non-super humans, but knowing they have to try. And it pays off. This is a show that rewards creativity, humor, and good intentions from its characters. In a sea of superheroes with dark pasts, brooding presents, and lonely futures, The Flash gives us something a little more fun.

Sarah’s Top 10 Episodes of 2014

1) You’re the Worst, “Fists and Feet and Stuff” (Season One, Episode 10)

2) The Leftovers, “Guest” (Season One, Episode 6)

3) The Flash, “Going Rogue” (Season One, Episode 4)

4) The Flash, “Pilot” (Season One, Episode 1)

5) You’re the Worst, “Drink Your Milk” (Season One, Episode 8)

6) The Mindy Project, “Caramel Princess Time” (Season Three, Episode 6)

7) Community, “Basic Story” (Season Five, Episode 12)

8) You’re the Worst, “Constant Horror and Bone Deep Dissatisfaction” (Season One, Episode 9)

9) Parks and Recreation, “Ann and Chris” (Season Six, Episode 13)

10) The Leftovers, “The Prodigal Son Returns” (Season One, Episode 10)

Game of Thrones – “Mockingbird”

(Season Four, Episode 7)

By Jim Huang

A mystery writer once said: “plot is character is motion.” In “Mockingbird,” there’s a lot of motion, but little of it is physical. The movement here is expressed in words, in telling details that are quintessential expressions of character, as pure as you’ll ever see in fiction. The words are both blunt and subtle; practically every line in this episode is memorable.

Arya and the Hound encounter a dying man. “Nothing could be worse than this,” Arya observes, adding, “nothing isn’t better or worse than anything. Nothing is just nothing.” The dying man learns that Arya is from the north; he approves of how northerners used to live: “You give me, I give you. Fair. A balance. No balance anymore.”

This episode is all about characters seeking balance, trying to figure out how to live in a world where everything they know has been upended. The Hound ends the dying man’s suffering, showing Arya where the man’s heart is. “That’s how you kill someone.” A moment later, Arya has an opportunity to put that lesson to good use.

Others in this epic’s big cast are also at turning points:

·       At the Wall, Jon Snow urges the leadership of the Night’s Watch to seal the tunnel, but the leadership won’t change its ways.   The commander of the watch evokes tradition and heritage and duty, but, like Snow, we know that the world has changed.

·       In Mereen, Daenerys’ sellsword is restless. He says: “I only have two talents in this world, war and women…. Let me do what I do best.” What happens next – at night and in the morning after – shows us how Daenerys has grown in her role as a monarch.

·       The encounter between Brienne and Samwell over kidney pie is another succinct and lovely turning point. “You cannot give up on the gravy” seems like a comic line, but it’s as much an expression of determination as anything anyone else says in this episode.

·       Sansa tells Baelish that she’ll never see her home again. “A lot can happen between now and never,” he replies. “In a better world, one where love can overcome strength and duty, you might have been my child. But we don’t live in that world.” And then Baelish makes his move.

The central thread of the episode belongs to Tyrion, who is bargaining for his life. In the previous episode, Jamie made a deal with their father to save Tyrion’s life. But “it felt good to take that from him,” Tyrion says, explaining why he upended his father’s plan. “I couldn’t do it.” This decision sets up Tyrion’s search for a champion, someone who must fight for him. His first choice is his brother Jamie, but Jamie is no longer capable of that kind of fight.

Tyrion’s second choice is his sellsword Bronn. Their bargaining is delightful – sharp, funny and totally believable. Tyrion’s appeal to friendship isn’t going to work. Bronn is too pragmatic for that. (His explanation of how he intends to profit from Cersei’s bribe is just perfect: “Ladies fall from horses and snap their pretty necks all the time.”) Bronn is sorry that he won’t help Tyrion; Tyrion’s comeback demonstrates that he understands perfectly: “Why are you sorry, because you’re an evil bastard with no conscience and no heart? That’s what I liked about you in the first place.”

Tyrion’s third visitor is unexpected: Oberyn, who revels that the sibling dynamic that’s led to the brink of Tyrion’s death goes back to Tyrion’s birth. Oberyn also revels what he wants: justice. Tyrion is incredulous; “if you want justice, you’ve come to the wrong place,” he says. But Oberyn explains why he is in fact in exactly the right place.

I haven’t tried to introduce these characters, haven’t set any of this in context. Game of Thrones is like that. It’s rich and complex, and you have to just let it wash over you. Likely what strikes you first about this show is visual – the places and the people, the violence and the sex. But it’s the words that make this episode work, the clear, concise and direct expression of compelling characters adrift in a world they struggle to understand.

Jim did not submit a Top 10 list.

Gotham – “Penguin’s Umbrella”

(Season One, Episode 7)

By Adam Lord

Gotham is a show that shouldn’t be successful, and while the jury is still out on whether it is, “Penguin’s Umbrella” is definitive evidence that it could be. The series focuses on Jim Gordon as he tries to serve and protect Gotham while finding the killer of young Bruce Wayne’s parents. I can only imagine the pitch meeting for this show, “It’s about Batman, but Batman’s not in it! And, if you like that, we also have a show idea about the Kents BEFORE Superman crashes onto their farm.”

“Penguin’s Umbrella” is great because it changed the pace of the “Jim sees criminal, Jim finds criminal, Jim stops criminal,” routine. Prior to this, Gotham was essentially a trumped-up CSI with characters who are only noteworthy if you’re familiar with the Batman world. The episode is both a set up for the inevitable war that Penguin incessantly reminds you of in the “previously on Gotham” intro and a payoff as Jim’s dangerous secret comes to light.

The episode begins when Oswald Cobblepot (The Penguin) shows up at the police station just as Gordon is arrested for his murder—a murder he was supposed to commit per Carmine Falcone’s orders (mob boss) but didn’t. So now the mob wants to bring him in alive (not necessarily unharmed), his partner wants to kill him because he was also involved, and the entire police force wants nothing to do with him. He spends the episode enacting a daring plan to arrest the mayor and Falcone and I genuinely didn’t know if it would work.

A common theme in most Batman iterations is that Gotham is a bad city with some good people, and “Penguin’s Umbrella” was spectacular evidence of that. When the entire police force abandons him to be taken to Falcone by Victor Zsaaz (brilliantly introduced in this episode as a man dabbling in insanity), Gordon stands his ground and fights to show that there is still law and order in Gotham City. Only a few people join him after this, including his partner who says to Jim, “You’re still a douchebag. But you have the moral high ground. So I’m gonna back your play, whatever it is. I figure I’m doomed anyhow.”

Cobblepot deserves special mention in this episode as well when some of his dastardly plans are revealed. We learn how masterful a manipulator he is, so I’m most excited about how he progresses into The Penguin. Robin Lord Taylor plays him with a great mix of humor, malice, and charm that is always fun to watch. If nothing I’ve said before in this review inspires you to see this episode, watch it for Taylor’s performance.

Was “Penguin’s Umbrella” the best episode of the year? No. It’s not even my #1 pick and I would be surprised if it showed up on any of the other lists in this blog. But it deserves recognition for breaking the formula it established while remaining true to the story, focusing on a through-line versus an episodic “solve in an hour” case, and allowing us to see Gordon pushed to his limit as everyone around him betrays him. If Gotham is going to last long enough to see Batman in it, the writers need to make more episodes like “Penguin’s Umbrella.”

Adam’s Top 10 Episodes of 2014

1) The Leftovers, “Two Boats and a Helicopter” (Season One, Episode 3)

2) True Detective, “Who Goes There” (Season One, Episode 4)

3) Game of Thrones, “The Lion and the Rose” (Season Four, Episode 2)

4) Orphan Black Season Two. (I LOVE THIS SHOW)

5) South Park, “Grounded Vindaloop” (Season Eighteen, Episode 7)

6) Orange is the New Black, “It Was the Change” (Season Two, Episode 12)

7) Community, “Geothermal Escapism” (Season Five, Episode 5)

8) Gotham, “Penguin’s Umbrella” (Season One, Episode 7)

9) Key and Peele, “Scariest Movie Ever” (Season Four, Episode 6)

10) Nathan for You, “Dumb Starbucks” (Season Two, Episode 5)

11) 24: Live Another Day, “6:00PM to 7:00PM” (Season Nine, Episode 8)

Gravity Falls – “Scary-oke”

(Season Two, Episode 1)

By Toni L.P. Kelner

I could claim that the reason we watch so many cartoons in my house is that my oldest daughter is an animation major, and naturally she has to keep abreast of what’s going on in the field. In fact, I suspect that the opposite is true. My daughter was almost certainly drawn (har!) to animation because of the countless hours we’ve spent watching cartoons. Which leads me to the show I want to laud: Gravity Falls.

In case you aren’t familiar with the show, it’s about the Pine twins—the eternally curious Dipper and the inescapably cheerful Mabel—who are sent to spend the summer with their Great-Uncle Stan in Gravity Falls, Oregon. Grunkle Stan is not the obvious choice for childcare. He puts the kids to work in his business, a tourist trap called The Mystery Shack, and pretty much ignores them. That’s all to the good, because with the very first episode, Dipper finds a long-hidden journal with clues to the many mysteries in town. Zombies? Gnomes? Dinosaurs? Forgotten American presidents? Ghosts? Living wax statues of Larry King? Merman? Time travel? Diminutive psychics? All here, but nobody but Dipper and Mabel—and sometimes their pals—seem to realize. And yeah, it’s a cartoon, so there are silly episodes with a boy band grown from a vat, but there’s also character growth and continuity and a story arc that is leading…somewhere.

All of that ties into the episode “Scary-oke,” the first episode in Season Two and my contribution to Top TV Episodes of 2014. At the end of Season One, the Pines defeated a dire enemy, so this season starts with them planning a big party to celebrate being back at the Mystery Shack. Government agents arrive, and for once Dipper thinks he’ll be able to prove that something is odd in town but they won’t believe his stories. So to convince them, he raises the dead. It turns out that zombies aren’t great at parties.

So we’ve got hilarity (zombies), horror (karaoke), action (fighting zombies), heart-warming family scenes (fighting zombies together), and a few more answers to the town’s secrets (no parenthetical spoilers on this one). All in half an hour! That’s what I call storytelling!

Toni’s Top 10 Episodes of 2014

1) Gravity Falls, “Scary-oke” (Season Two, Episode 1)

2) Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., “Beginning of the End” (Season One, Episode 22)

3) The Flash, “Pilot” (Season One, Episode 1)

4) Doctor Who, “Time Heist” (Season Eight, Episode 5)

5) Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., “T.R.A.C.K.S.” (Season One, Episode 13)

6) The Flash, “The Man in the Yellow Suit” (Season One, Episode 9)

7) Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., “Shadows” (Season Two, Episode 1)

8) Gravity Falls, “Society of the Blindeye” (Season Two, Episode 7)

9) Castle, “Under Fire” (Season Six, Episode 11)

10) The Big Bang Theory, “The Proton Transmogrification” (Season Seven, Episode 22)

Grimm – “The Grimm Who Stole Christmas”

(Season Four, Episode 7)

By Nikki Phipps

Josh: I just thought my dad was kind of crazy, and getting crazier.

Juliette: If you thought he was crazy why’d you bring him to Nick?

Josh: He was dying. This was the only thing he wanted to do before he died. At that point you don’t care if it’s crazy. And then I met you guys and I realized that crazy is relative.

Grimm is one of those rare shows, at least for me, that is just as interesting and captivating in Season Four as it was in Season One. I find myself rooting for the characters and their happiness. Which, unfortunately for them, is frequently snatched away. The dialogue is clever and the storylines are engaging.

For those who aren’t familiar with this show, Portland, OR homicide detective Nick Burkhardt is a Grimm. A guardian who protects humanity from Wesen, creatures that history has made into myth. In “The Grimm Who Stole Christmas,” Nick and his partner Hank Griffin investigate a series of break-ins. In each case the victims report seeing three “hairy little beasts” who are more interested in annihilating Christmas decorations than in stealing anything. Nick and Hank discover that the creatures are actually Wesen boys who are undergoing a rare condition that happens during puberty. And the way to cure them? Fruitcake, of course. In all of history, this is the first time I’ve seen an actual use for fruitcake.

This episode incorporates some of the issues the characters have been facing this season, such as the attacks on newlyweds Monroe and Rosalee, the consequences of Nick losing and regaining his Grimm abilities, and Sergeant Wu’s growing suspicion of supernatural goings-on in Portland. But this episode also focused on Teresa Rubel, or “Trubel.” A dangerous young woman when she first arrived in town, with Nick’s help Trubel realized she is also a Grimm and is now eagerly learning everything she can under Nick’s tutelage. But Trubel puts her Grimm training on hold to leave town in order to help a friend. Josh, whose late father was a Grimm, is being targeted by criminal Wesen who think he has a Grimm artifact that his father kept hidden. Even though it means leaving the only home she’s ever know and the only family (Nick and girlfriend Juliette) she’s ever felt a part of, Trubel feels that she needs to help Josh return to his home.

For anyone seeking a show that combines complex storylines, mystery, fantasy, and mythology, look no further.

Nikki’s Top 10 Episodes of 2014

1) Grimm, “The Law of Sacrifice” (Season Three, Episode 18)

2) Sherlock, “His Last Vow” (Season Three, Episode 3)

3) Almost Human, “Simon Says” (Season One, Episode 7)

4) Sherlock, “The Sign of Three” (Season Three, Episode 2)

5) Supernatural, “Mother’s Little Helper” (Season Nine, Episode 1)

6) Castle, “The Time of Our Lives” (Season Seven, Episode 6)

7) Supernatural, “First Blade” (Season Nine, Episode 11)

8) Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., “Beginning of the End” (Season One, Episode 22)

9) Castle, “Under Fire” (Season Six, Episode 11

10) Suburgatory, “No, You Can’t Sit With Us” (Season Three, Episode 10)

Hannibal – “Mizumono”

(Season Two, Episode 13)

By Beau Thompson

Editor’s note: The following review discusses the shocking plot developments in the season finale.

It’s not too far of a stretch to say what can be said about the character Hannibal can also be said about the show. Both have a way of presenting macabre scenarios in (an almost unsettling) beautiful fashion; both are able to sprout in quick segments of unimaginable violence, and both show an unapologetic seriousness in their values. When a bloody Hannibal is caught trying to break into a door hiding a wounded Jack Crawford by Alana Bloom, a lesser crafter character would have tried desperately to make an excuse or chase Dr. Bloom like a mad man with a knife. But Hannibal, the character and the show, is better than that. When asked where Crawford is, Hannibal responds “In the pantry” with such an outline of obviousness that you’d think he was asked what room keeps food in storage. This is a villain, and a show, that absolutely confident in what they have set in motion.

For Hannibal the character, it is escaping the grasp of the police. For the show, it is pulling off one of the most intense, and fast paced episodes of television you will ever find. We know the showdown with Hannibal and Crawford was coming since the beginning of the season, but what we don’t expect is how the pacing never, and I mean, never lets up after that confrontation. Characters appear and are just as soon discarded in a blood bath ballad orchestrated by Hannibal. The surprises feel earned; the shocks genuine; the violence brutal. And knowing the show has taken enough liberties from its source material makes you wonder just who is coming back next season. Yet for all the physical violence that is displayed, it is the personal pain of Hannibal himself that is oddly felt the most, as he realizes the one connection he ever had with another human was not to be. That the show can make that the highlight while juggling all the other emotions and action moments reveals just how great this show has become.

The first season of Hannibal was a show that had no right to be as good as it was, yet it overcame the odds and delivered a refreshing new take on the characters of Red Dragon by Thomas Harris. Now, Season Two has taken that strong foundation and created an enthralling saga that has once again made the character and world of Hannibal Lector scary and compelling again. And this season finale has cemented how dangerous a world with Hannibal Lector is, even to the ones he loves.

Beau’s Top 10 Episodes of 2014

1) Hannibal, “Mizumono” (Season Two, Episode 13)

2) Orange is the New Black, “We Have Manners. We’re Polite” (Season Two, Episode 13)

3) Doctor Who, “Mummy on the Orient Express” (Season Eight, Episode 8)

4) Doctor Who, “Listen” (Season Eight, Episode 4)

5) Orange is the New Black, “It was the Change” (Season Two, Episode 12)

6) Sherlock, “The Sign of Three” (Season Three, Episode 2)

7) Mad Men, “The Monolith” (Season Seven, Episode 4)

8) Mad Men, “Waterloo” (Season Seven, Episode 7)

9) Doctor Who, “Kill the Moon” (Season Eight, Episode 7)

10) You’re the Worst, “Pilot” (Season One, Episode 1)

Hinterland – “Night Music”

(Season One, Episode 2)

By Larry D. Sweazy

Hinterland, is a strict police procedural set in the lovely, desolate, mountainous, beautifully lonely Aberystwyth, Wales. This series goes toe-to -toe with Wallender, set in Sweden, and The Killing, set in Copenhagen, when it comes to employing the landscape as an additional character. Add it to your Celtic Noir list of must see TV shows. But the subtle brilliance of this series doesn’t stop with the location. First off, each episode was shot twice, once in Welsh (Y Gwyll — translated: The Dusk), and once in English. I’ve only watched the English version, but I want to find the Welsh version and see if there is any difference, a reflection in the mirror that offers a little more depth in its native tongue. It’s an interesting idea, but must have been a grueling shoot for the actors and crew.

The series is only four episodes long, at two hours each, making it the perfect format for a weekend Netflix binge. I picked Night Music as my favorite, but all of the episodes are strong. It’s just that the “sins of the past” story structure has always appealed to me.

The main character, DCI (Detective Chief Inspector) Tom Mathias could be the stereotypical brooding lead character in lesser hands, but is brilliantly portrayed by Richard Harrington. We know little about Mathias other than he is a recent transfer to the Aberystwyth department, and is deeply scarred. His silence speaks volumes. The scars are not quickly revealed, and the layers of his personality are exposed slowly, almost too slowly sometimes, to show a compassionate and dedicated cop who also has no aversion to working the system, or going around it, if he has to, to get the job done—delivering justice in a humane way.  Harrington is surrounded by an equally talented cast, Mali Harries (DI Mared Rhys), Hannah Daniel (DS Sian Owen), Alex Harries (DC Lloyd Ellis), and the creepy, hardnosed, Aneirin Hughes (Chief Superintendent Bran Prosser), who all have personal lives, but are slowly revealed as well. The focus here is the procedural, with character development built through the investigation. Backstory is tightly restrained and doesn’t get in the way of the plot or the mystery (which, as a minor complaint, the writers don’t always play fair with).

In Night Music, the team is called out to a lonely farm to investigate the death of sixty-nine year old Idris Williams, a recluse, who on the surface of things has had very little contact with the outside world, but had more than it first appeared (of course). The investigation twists and turns, unveiling a secret organization, greedy land developers, a secret love affair in the present—and the past—along with a deep betrayal, Nazi hate crimes at a long forgotten POW prison camp, and an enduring sadness that is palpable long after the episode ends. All in all, a fine mystery where there is not one gun in sight. Typical for British television viewers, but it might be a bit unsettling for Americans who are accustomed to criminals being captured with bullets and gunpowder instead of brains, a little brawn, and strategic thinking.

Larry’s Top 10 Episodes of 2014

1) Hinterland, “Night Music” (Season One, Episode 2)

2) Orange is the New Black, “We Have Manners. We’re Polite” (Season Two, Episode 13)

3) Orange is the New Black, “Thirsty Bird” (Season Two, Episode 1)

4) Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond, “Episode 1” (Season One, Episode 1)

5) Hinterland, “Devil’s Bridge” (Season One, Episode 1)

6) Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond, “Episode 2” (Season One, Episode 2)

7) A Chef’s Life, “Blueberries and Boiling Over” (Season Two, Episode 1

8) Sherlock, “His Last Vow” (Season Three, Episode 3)

9) Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond, “Episode 3” (Season One, Episode 3)

10) Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond, “Episode 4” (Season One, Episode 4)

House of Cards – “Chapter 14”

(Season Two, Episode 1)

By Tim Irwin

Editor’s note: Every plot twist in the series is mentioned.

This episode is the most striking piece of television I’ve seen in 2014. Season One did an admirable job setting up a plausible world, plausible characters, and actions and events that would not seem plausible if the world were not so neatly grounded in reality. But for all of the ridiculous and outrageous happenings in Season One, nothing prepared me for the start of Season Two. The first season sets up a love triangle among alternately despicable and sympathetic people – Frank and Claire, the twisted yet adorable power couple, and Zoe, the young, perky and intrepid reporter whose affair with Frank is nothing that shocks, or even barely perturbs, Claire.

Season One has its shocking moments, to be sure: Russo’s murder, the revelation of Frank’s past relationships. And Season Two has further shocking episodes, such as a random sexual encounter with Meechum, and the murder of my favorite character, Frank’s sincere right hand man Doug. Yet the first episode of the season stands out, as it contains one of the moments that has most genuinely shocked me in any television series I’ve seen. After two or three seasons most shows are reticent to kill off primary characters. LOST was able to get away with killing off characters through the first season, but after the primary three or four characters have been established it becomes almost impossible to get rid of them until closer to the series finale. This is what makes “Chapter 14” so enjoyable – a large part of what comprised the first season’s story is suddenly, brutally pushed in front of a train, simultaneously closing so many story opportunities while reminding the audience that with this show anything is possible.

Tim’s Top 10 Episodes of 2014

1) House of Cards, “Chapter 14” (Season Two, Episode 1)

2) The Walking Dead, “The Grove” (Season Four, Episode 14)

3) House of Cards, “Chapter 26” (Season Two, Episode 13)

4) The Simpsons, “Simpsorama” (Season Twenty-Six, Episode 6)

5) Hannibal, “Shiizakana” (Season Two, Episode 9)

6) The Walking Dead, “Still” (Season Four, Episode 12)

7) Hannibal, “Kō No Mono” (Season Two, Episode 11)

8) House of Cards, “Chapter 15” (Season Two, Episode 2)

9) Hannibal, “Mizumono” (Season Two, Episode 13)

10) House of Cards, “Chapter 23” (Season Two, Episode 10)

Jane the Virgin – “Chapter Four”

(Season One, Episode 4)

By Claudia Johnson

Are you looking for love triangles, unconventional means of baby making, baby daddies, unrealistic depictions of life, murder, mayhem and cover ups? Well then Jane the Virgin is a much watch for you.

Disclaimer: I will openly admit that I had no interest in ever watching Jane the Virgin because it just sounded awful, and that is coming from a person who has seen every season of and currently watching Bad Girls Club and Love and Hip Hop. But alas I have found the errors of my ways and am completely obsessed with this show.

Jane the Virgin centers around Jane Villanueva and the events following her being accidentally inseminated. And like the title suggests Jane is a virgin. She vowed to god and her grandmother from a young age to not have sex before marriage. There are many issues that come up with an accidental pregnancy. Deciding whether to keep the baby? In what ways could the baby derail your life? Will your fiancé be willing to raise a baby that is not biologically his? Is the baby daddy fit to raise the child? Who murdered the baby daddy’s best friend? The show is fabulous at being realistic and relatable in this situation, while also feeding into the crazy and being imaginative in its story.

Without giving too much away, there are two things that make this show worth watching. The first is the authenticity and genuine appreciation for culture. Some shows a find can make characters who embrace their culture too much of a caricature and offensive. I appreciate that the show shows a love for the characters Latino roots.

The second thing that the show does extremely well are the characters. My absolute favorite character in the show is the narrator. The unnamed and unseen male voice that gives us everything we need to know, sometimes with a little sass. He presents the story as if reading from a book. But he’s not the only one. There is Xiomara “Xo”, the eccentric and sexual mother, who had Jane at 16. Alba, Jane’s deeply religious and telenuvela obsessed grandmother, Rogelio, Jane’s father that she just learned she had and telenuvela super star. Then there are the lovers. Michael, her fiancé who is a detective and investigating cases related to a hotel run by Rafael, Jane’s employer and baby daddy. Along with a host of other characters some sweet and others downright sinful.

An episode that stands out the most to me is ‘Chapter Four’. Jane still doesn’t know who is father is, but her mother and grandmother are desperately trying to hide him from her, even though he desperately wants to meet her. He finds a way of meeting her, while still keeping anonymity (as much as a famous telenuvela star can have). Jane does discover who her father really is while trying on wedding dresses. She is heartbroken and crushed that her family could keep such a secret from her. At the same time Jane and Michael are have difficulties in their relationship, since she is dreaming about her baby daddy, Rafael. Michael is investigating the murder of Rafael’s best friend which makes for a very complicated relationship. Rafael decides he is through with his marriage to his wife Petra. But she isn’t so through with him. There is so much that goes on in this episode with main and side characters I cannot fit it all in this paragraph!

This show is a must watch for much needed comic relief from the everyday life. This show reminds us all that as crazy as life can seem sometimes nothing is as crazy as living life like a soap opera.

Claudia’s Top 10 Episodes of 2014

1) Bob’s Burgers, “Uncle Teddy” (Season Four Episode, 14)

2) Bob’s Burgers “The Equestranauts” (Season Four, Episode 17)

3) Game of Thrones, “The Waters on the Wall” (Season Four, Episode 9)

4) Broad City, “The Lockout” (Season One, Episode 4)

5) Broad City, “Destionation: Wedding” (Season One, Episode 8)

6) Jane the Virgin “Chapter 4” (Season One, Episode 4)

7) The Flash, “Going Rogue” (Season One, Episode 4)

8) The Walking Dead, “Coda” (Season Five, Episode 8)

9) RuPaul’s Drag Race, “Drag Queens of Comedy” (Season Six, Episode 8)

10) Orange is the New Black, “You Also Have a Pizza” (Season Two, Episode 6)

The Leftovers – “Pilot”

(Season One, Episode 1)

By Zach Bundy

LOST is in my top 3 TV shows of all time, and upon hearing the news of Damon Lindelof’s new endeavor The Leftovers I knew I would be instantly hooked. The Leftovers, based on the Tom Perrotta novel and co-created for HBO by Perrotta, follows a small group of people in the town of Mapleton, three years after the mysterious “Departure.” The event changed the world after 2% of the world’s population vanished without a trace. The pilot opens with a woman, clearly very stress with her days routine of errands, putting here crying baby in the car seat while talking on her phone. After a quick pan from the baby to the mother, the crying stops. The mother looks behind her to see an empty car seat, no baby. She exits her car and begins screaming for her baby, while another child is crying out for his father and a car crashes in the background… the baby, the father, and the driver of that car, gone.

What a way to start a show.

The rest of the pilot and series takes place three years after the event where 140 million people went missing. We meet Kevin Garvey, the chief of police, played by Justin Theroux, preparing for the third anniversary of the Departure. With a distant daughter, Margaret Qualley, and a stepson, Chris Zylka, on the other side of the country working with a self-proclaimed “healer” named Holy Wayne, Kevin has enough to worry about. But his main focus is what the Guilty Remnant might do at the anniversary parade. The GR is a chain smoking, mute cult dressed in all white, whose sole purpose is to remind people that the Departure did happen, despite peoples need to forget about it and return to their normal lives. Chief Garvey’s biggest problem with the Guilty Remnant is with their second in charge, his wife, Laurie, played by Amy Brenneman. Feeling lost, she joined the cult months after the Departure. Rounding out the cast of characters is Kevin’s father, and former police chief who communicates with mysterious invisible figures who know something about the Departure, played by Scott Glenn, the leader of the Guilty Remnant, played by Ann Dowd, a devout pastor of a failing church, played by Christopher Eccleston, and his sister, Nora, who lost a husband and both children in the Departure, played by Carrie Coon. The cast and crew are a brilliant combination for good storytelling.

In the end it is a Damon Lindelof production, so there will always be questions, but it is not about the answer to where did the 2% go and why (to which I don’t think we will ever get the answer). It is about the journey we take with these characters in a world where some have given up and others believe there is a purpose for this. This show has done one thing that a television show has never made me do… go out and buy the book so I can know what is next.

Zach’s Top 10 Episodes of 2014

1) The Leftovers, “Pilot” (Season One, Episode 1)

2) The Leftovers, “The Garvey’s at Their Best” (Season One, Episode 9)

3) The Leftovers, “The Prodigal Son Returns” (Season One, Episode 10)

4) The Leftovers, “Cairo” (Season One, Episode

5) How I Met Your Mother, “Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra” (Season Nine, Episode 14)

6) How I Met Your Mother, “Rally” (Season Nine, Episode 18)

7) Game of Thrones, “The Lion and the Rose” (Season Four, Episode 2)

8) Game of Thrones, “The Laws of Gods and Men” (Season Four, Episode 6)

9) Game of Thrones, “The Watchers of the Wall” (Season Four, Episode 9)

10) Game of Thrones, “The Children” (Season Four, Episode 10)

Mad Men – “Waterloo”

(Season Seven, Episode 7)

By Abby Eddy

Editor’s note: Spoilers for the entire season including this finale are discussed.

Several reviews I read of Mad Men’s seventh season claimed that the episodes were “too slow-moving.” My response to those naysayers? You probably shouldn’t watch Mad Men at all. From the beginning, creator Matthew Weiner has always carefully crafted the storylines of each episode — meticulously building both character and plot points over time. It’s this strategic pacing that has made the show one of the greatest TV series of all time.

This season’s standout episode was “Waterloo,” which served as a halfway-season finale, thanks to a recurring theme that defined the episode and, as Mad Men comes to an end, the series itself: Some things change, but others will always remain the same.

1. Don and Peggy: At the beginning of the season, it seemed like they would never be able to repair their relationship. After Don has to work under Peggy’s direction, the tables turned and they finally begin to see each other as creative equals.

2. Roger and his ex-wife: Although they divorced, the couple came back together amidst their daughter’s disappearance into a cult. When he goes to rescue her, Roger realizes his wandering eye left a lasting impression on his daughter, and she has now turned into him.

3. Joan: Bob Benson proposes marriage, but Joan sees through his half-hearted offer. Now that she’s financially secure as an agency partner, she seems more empowered than ever to speak her mind and perhaps enjoys being on her own and free of companionship that would tie her down.

4. Roger and Don: It was disorienting to see Roger and Don so at odds earlier in the season. However, after the two decide to mend fences and work together, they’re able to cook up a multimillion-dollar deal to merge SC&P with McCann Erickson.

5. Don and Megan: “You don’t owe me anything.” These are Megan’s parting words to Don as he realizes their marriage — the second one he’s caused to crumble — is officially over.

And, true to form, Weiner didn’t fail to disappoint in the final scene to tide us over until next year. Just after Don and Roger convince the other partners to go through with the merger — and earn the partners millions of dollars — Don has a vision of Bert Cooper, the recently deceased co-founder of SC&P. As Don stands frozen in the SC&P, Bert croons a song-and-dance version of “The Best Things in Life Are Free.”

In chasing everything else, the characters of Mad Men have discovered just how expensive the cost. What may seem “slow” is the show’s greatness: Over several years, we have seen everyone pay for the lives they think they want in small, painful installments that make for fascinating long-form storytelling.

Abby’s Top 10 Episodes of 2014 (besides Waterloo)

1) Parks and Recreation, “Moving Up” (Season Six, Episodes 21/22)

2) Silicon Valley, “Third-Party Insourcing” (Season One, Episode 6)

3) Sherlock, “The Sign of Three” (Season Three, Episode 2)

4) Orphan Black, “Things Which Have Never Been Done” (Season Two, Episode 9)

5) Veep, “Special Relationship” (Season Three, Episode 7)

6) Girls, “Truth or Dare” (Season Three, Episode 2)

7) Welcome to Sweden, “Vänner/Fitting In” (Season One, Episode 5)

8) Homeland, “There’s Something Else Going On” (Season Four, Episode 9)

9) Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “Undercover” (Season Two, Episode 1)

10) BoJack Horseman, “One Trick Pony” (Season One, Episode 10)

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – “What They Become”

(Season Two, Episode 10)

By Josh West

When Austin first asked me to do this kind of thing, I was used to writing about TV for classes in college. Now about two years later I’m good if I manage to tweet something that makes sense. Austin asked for a few paragraphs, he’s lucky if he gets a few coherent sentences from me! Now, on to my show.

I chose/was forced/whatever into picking an episode of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. from this year. While S.H.I.E.L.D. has many amazing moments throughout its short history so far, very few episodes stand out as being amazing overall. The season two “winter finale” which is really just a stupid way of saying “Hey! We’re not going to be on air for a couple of months!” was the most recent episode of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Continuing off of recent events from previous episodes, S.H.I.E.L.D. gives a conclusion to Season Two’s main overarching question. Between insane family reunions, outrageous stakes being raised, and unnecessary deaths, “What They Become” is full of action and resolution but ends with raising plenty of questions.  My favorite thing about S.H.I.E.L.D.  is that it answers the question “What happens in the real world between our favorite superheroes saving our tiny fragile planet?” Sure, at times you get bogged down in following rules and jumping through hoops to find out a tiny piece of information, but there are plenty of hints, nods, and jokes that reference either the comics, movies, or both.  “What They Become” not only does this, but it sets up for more characters from the comics to be introduced.

Josh’s Top 10 Episodes of 2014

1) The Flash, “The Flash is Born” (Season One, Episode 6)

2) The Flash, “Flash vs. Arrow” (Season One, Episode 8)

3) The Flash, “The Man in the Yellow Suit” (Season One, Episode 9)

4) Arrow, “The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak” (Season Three, Episode 5)

5) Arrow, “The Brave and the Bold” (Season Three, Episode 8)

6) Doctor Who, “Dark Water/Death in Heaven” (Season Eight, Episodes 11/12)
7) Orange is the New Black, “A Whole Other Hole” (Season Two, Episode 4)

8) Selfie, “Here’s This Guy” (Season One, Episode 7)

9) Selfie, “Imperfect Harmony” (Season One, Episode 10)

10) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, “Mazes and Mutants” (Season Two, Episode 15)

Masters of Sex – “Fight”

(Season Two, Episode 3)

By J.C. Pankratz

In a season widely criticized for lacking a strong, central throughline, Master of Sex’s third episode, “Fight,” provided us an incredible moment of pure focus. In a simple, intense episode that could just as easily take place on the stage, the ever emotionally elusive Bill Masters and the indomitable Virginia Johnson explore what makes Masters of Sex so damn intriguing: the roles we play, the reasons we’re so desperate to play them, and the raw intimacy of giving them up. Having restarted their “research” together (read: an affair for science!), Bill and Virginia play married in a hotel room one night for the bell boy and the results are electrifying.

Set almost exclusively inside their hotel room one night and briefly interspersed with flashbacks from Bill’s day–a couple with an intersex child insisting Bill perform gender reassignment surgery–and a boxing match on TV, we’re presented with almost too many metaphors to manage…but somehow, it works. As Virginia and Bill slip deeper into their roleplaying as Mr. and Mrs., their discussions on “what makes a man” both unify the episode and cut through all Bill’s many defenses and layers. He comes clean–or as close to coming clean as Bill Masters is emotionally capable of–about the years of abuse from his father. We learn not only what Bill thinks makes a man, but what made Bill the strange, contradictory paragon he is. One particular line stings worse than a blow: Bill’s private rebellion against his father consisting of never raising his hands in retaliation, never giving him the honor of considering it a fight at all. Of course, it’s Virginia who reminds him of the true and of the obvious: that Bill was a boy, not a man, bearing the load in whatever way he could. And this cuts deeper than any reveal ever could.

This doesn’t even touch on the evolution of their sexual relationship, of their impossible way of navigating deep intimacy without acknowledging their utter devotion to one another, and the slapstick humor that somehow sneaks its way in there. An episode as detailed, perfect, and intently focused as a ship in a bottle.

J.C.’s Top 10 Episodes of 2014

1) Transparent, “Best New Girl” (Season One, Episode 8)

2) Masters of Sex, “Fight” (Season Two, Episode 3)

3) Orange is the New Black, “A Whole Other Hole” (Season Two, Episode 4)

4) Hannibal, “Takiawase” (Season Two, Episode 4)

5) Broad City, “Last Supper” (Season One, Episode 10)

6) Game of Thrones, “First of His Name” (Season Four, Episode 5)

7) Hannibal, “Mizumono” (Season Two, Episode 13)

8) Elementary, “Tremors” (Season Two, Episode 10)

9) Community, “Cooperative Polygraphy” (Season Five, Episode 4)

10) Bob’s Burgers, “Turkey in a Can” (Season Four, Episode 5)

The Mindy Project – “The Desert”

(Season Two, Episode 14)

By Leigh Montano

The Mindy Project is one of those shows that most people think, “Oh, yeah, that looked kinda funny but not really my cup of tea.” This makes me sad.

Yes, the character of Mindy Lahiri seems to be the girliest girl in the world, a stereotype of all the girls in high school that I couldn’t stand. The type that always knew when Jennifer Aniston’s birthday was but couldn’t tell you what homework we had last night. The ones that always wanted to talk about clothes and boys when all I wanted to do was sit in a corner and continue writing my terrible poetry. Needless to say, I was one of those hesitant people as well because ugh, gross. But then I watched an episode and I was hooked. Yes, she is a bit of a walking stereotype but she isn’t obnoxious. She’s relatable. One of the most difficult things I have found when watching television is finding characters I relate to. Only in the past few years has there been an upsurge in the awkward characters that aren’t the butt of all the jokes. *COUGHBIGBANGTHEORYCOUGH*

Mindy might seem, on the surface, like she knows what she’s doing but then there are moments when she admits that she didn’t know she needed to do her taxes or a sex tape she didn’t know she starred in is released. She’s that awkward person that we all are on the inside and shows us that you can have those stereotypical tendencies to be something but deep down, we all are public embarrassments who just want our RomCom ending.

Of the episodes from the past year that I have really enjoyed from The Mindy Project is “The Desert.” Danny and Mindy go to California and Danny confronts his father who wasn’t present for most of his childhood. The end of the episode has Mindy and Danny write an email to Mindy’s recently ex-boyfriend about why they should get back together. The episode ends with Mindy and Danny having a very stereotypical RomCom moment. It isn’t obnoxious. It isn’t forced. It feels real. Like all of those romantic comedies that you watch and go, “UGH, I just want that!” It isn’t one of those that at the end of the 90 minute movie, during the rolling credits you scoff and say, “Well, that would never happen.” Romantic comedies are a very delicate balance between suspension of disbelief and realistic encounters. No, we all probably aren’t going to end up waiting for Tom Hanks at the top of the Empire State Building, but having a situation as simple and realistic as that makes movies like Sleepless in Seattle such a perfect representation of the RomCom genre.

What really makes a RomCom successful is the relatability with the characters. We’re not all perfect like Reese Witherspoon but we are all awkward like Mindy Lahiri. The Mindy Project takes the romantic aspect of the RomComs and combines it with a half hour sitcom format that works surprisingly well.

Leigh’s Top 10 Episodes of 2014

1) True Detective, “Form and Void” (Season One, Episode 8)

2) Orange is the New Black, “A Whole Other Hole” (Season Two, Episode 4)

3) Parks and Recreation, “Ann and Chris” (Season Six, Episode 13)

4) Community, “G.I. Jeff” (Season Five, Episode 11)

5) Orange is the New Black, “You Also Have a Pizza” (Season Two, Episode 6)

6) Bob’s Burgers, “The Equestranauts” (Season Four, Episode 17)

7) Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “Tactical Village” (Season One, Episode 19)

8) Game of Thrones, “The Children” (Season Four, Episode 10)

9) New Girl, “Cruise” (Season Three, Episode 23)

10) Marry Me, “Pilot” (Season One, Episode 1)

Nathan For You – “Daddy’s Watching / Party Planner”

(Season Two, Episode 6)

By Greg Sorvig

PROLOGUE – AN IMAGINED CHRISTMAS EVE – December 25, 2014, 12:59 a.m.:

In my nightcap, I wait in silent torment as I count down the seconds, until…DING! DING! DING! A flash of light and I knew it to be true—Marley’s ghost was indeed real, just as this Ghost of Christmas Past in front of me now!

In its vibrant, yet ever-changing state, the phantom softly asked, “Do you remember?”

“Remember what, dear spirit?” I trembled and clenched the covers closer to my face.

“That just one Christmas ago you didn’t know that your favorite TV show existed?”

I sprung up out of bed so quick and forthright! My arms and legs outstretched so far that I must have appeared like the vibrant North Star that beckoned the mystics to follow from countries beyond. In that instant I was a changed man; Marley’s shackles shall not be my own!

“Come, good sprit! I have learned my lesson! Let us sit together with figgy pudding and watch Nathan for You!”

And we did just that.

—–

Granted I mostly catch TV via streaming services and DVR—and don’t keep up on the latest and greatest TV shows as I do movies—it’s no wonder that I hadn’t heard much about Nathan for You in all of 2013. However, in 2014 the stars seemed to align, as Nathan for You happened to be in the two extra recorded minutes after Drunk History and was simultaneously promoted for its big second season premiere on Hulu. (Note: Technically only two stars aligned, but it ended up being enough stars.)

Here’s how Nathan for You works: Comedian Nathan Fielder helps fledgling companies with sometimes helpful, sometimes hilariously dumb ideas to spice up their business. The humor initially lies within Nathan’s pitch to a company and how receptive or guarded the featured individual is to the proposal (examples: offering poo flavored ice cream, having a woman give birth in a taxi, rebranding a coffee shop as “Dumb Starbucks”). Post-proposal, comedy ensues based on the ongoing reaction of the featured individual, unsuspecting or awkward patrons/helpers, the sheer quality of Nathan’s implementation and Nathan’s witty reactions and comments throughout the whole process. Each episode weaves between a few projects.

Nathan for You is really the hidden camera show of all hidden camera shows. It is smart, effective and has a high rewatchability factor unlike any other show in recent memory. It’s an innovative comedic experiment that does all the right things, combining dry/deadpan humor and awkward situations that appeal to a wide range of folks from average Joes to sociologists with PhD’s.

As I told more people about the show and recommended one episode to get people on board, one episode rose above the rest: Season 2, Episode 6 – “Daddy’s Watching/Party Planner”.

The A.V. Club has a great, in-depth review of this episode, so I’ll simply entice you with three of my favorite highlights:

– Nathan disguised/bowling in a hijab, watching over a woman who is on a blind date

– A naked, overweight man laying in a giant hot dog bun as Nathan photographs him for a personal blackmail project

– Awkward, sparsely-attended party featuring a cringingly-unaware Bill Gates impersonator

Enjoy the episode and your new favorite show!

Greg’s Top 10 Episodes of 2014

1) Nathan For You, “Daddy’s Watching / Party Planner” (Season Two, Episode 6)

2) Game of Thrones, “The Children” (Season Four, Episode 10)

3) Boardwalk Empire, “Eldorado” (Season Five, Episode 8)

4) Nathan For You, “Taxi Service / Hot Dog Stand” (Season Two, Episode 7)

5) True Detective, “The Secret Fate of All Life” (Season One, Episode 5)

6) Nathan For You, “Toy Company / Movie Theatre” (Season Two, Episode 8)

7) Mad Men, “Waterloo” (Season Seven, Episode 7)

8) Fargo, “Buridan’s Ass” (Season One, Episode 6)

9) The Leftovers, “The Prodigal Son Returns” (Season One, Episode 10)

10) The Walking Dead, “Four Walls and a Roof” (Season Five, Episode 3)

Orange is the New Black – “We Have Manners. We’re Polite”

(Season Two, Episode 13)

By Alex Manzo

I was a fan of Orange is the New Black pretty much right away when it first premiered on Netflix last year, so I was obviously super excited when Season Two premiered over the summer. I’m the person that sat and watched it all in basically one sitting.

For better or worse, binge-watching makes it significantly more difficult to differentiate between particular episodes, but what struck me about Season Two of Orange is the New Black though is that the whole of the season was far greater than the sum of its parts. While each episode held its own, it’s hard for me to choose one that really stood out in a stellar season, so I went with the final episode where the whole story came crashing together.

Vee and Red’s feud came to an end and Vee’s ultimate “end” on the show proved to be one of my favorite parts of the season. Watching Rosa drive off with a smirk on her face saying “always so rude, that one,” pretty much made me want to clap and cheer (much to the confusion of my poor dogs).

Beyond that it seems like we finally get to see improvements for the prisoners with Caputo taking over for Natalie Figueroa in light of an embezzlement scheme. However, as the (rather dramatic) day progresses, the viewers (and prisoners) are left feeling a little less sure of the future. I can’t wait to see what this development means for the future of the show.

Overall, this episode helped a strong sophomore season end in fireworks. All I know now is that I can’t wait for Season Three!

Alex’s Top 10 Episodes of 2014

1) Doctor Who, “Listen” (Season Eight, Episode 4)

2) Parks and Recreation, “Moving Up” (Season Six, Episodes 21/22)

3) Game of Thrones, “The Laws of Gods and Men” (Season Four, Episode 6)

4) Sherlock, “His Last Vow” (Season Three, Episode 3)

5) Sherlock, “The Sign of Three” (Season Three, Episode 2)

6) Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., “Turn, Turn, Turn” (Season One, Episode 17

7) Orange is the New Black, “We Have Manners. We’re Polite” (Season Two, Episode 13)

8) Game of Thrones, “The Lion and the Rose” (Season Four, Episode 2)

9) Community, “App Development and Condiments” (Season Five, Episode 8)

10) Parks and Recreation, “Ann and Chris” (Season Six, Episode 14)

Over the Garden Wall – “The Old Grist Mill”

(Season One, Episode 1)

By Aaron Wittwer

What is going on? Where did this come from? Why does it exist? How does it exist? It’s a cartoon miniseries for children. That’s not a thing. I mean it’s never been a thing before has it? And it’s not just some regular old, bright, simple cartoon either. Ohhhh-no. Over the Garden Wall is a strange mash-up of American folklore influences by way of Wind in the Willows with hints of Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. It’s a deliberately paced, mystery/adventure played out on painted-canvas backdrops with muted autumnal tones, and a soundtrack full of musical numbers fit for your great-grandmother’s Victrola, It’s ridiculous. An absurd notion, indeed. You don’t make atmospheric mood pieces for stupid children. They’re too stupid. They won’t get it.

Can we all just give Cartoon Network a standing ovation here for having faith in its audience’s ability to appreciate something that is both unique and intelligent? There’s no doubt that this is creator, Patrick McHale’s baby from start to finish, and major kudos to CN for giving him the freedom to bring it to life. This is the sort of show that makes you wish you had kids right now just so you could show it to them with the confidence that they’d be better people for it. But enough gushing…

As the show in its entirety is only about 100 minutes long, picking a single episode would be akin to choosing a favorite scene in a movie in that, though it may be a good scene, it works best when it’s placed within the whole. As such, perhaps the best episode to discuss here is the first one. This way we can avoid any major spoilers, while still getting at the heart and theme of work.

The dulcet tones of a singing frog underscore a short montage of the forthcoming, episodic vignettes: two children set a toy paddlewheel afloat on stream, a girl and her dog are startled by a bird taking flight, a set of wood figurines sit idly on the shelf, a young woman stands before a wall of bones. On first viewing these are without context, but, even so, serve well to establish a tone and pace for this world. We are then introduced, in media res, to a pair of brothers lost in the woods. Wirt, we learn, is lovelorn teen with a penchant for clarinet and poetry. His younger brother, Greg, serves as a foil for Wirt’s frequent cynicism. Greg is a joyful innocent full of optimistic naiveté. He wears an upside town tea pot on his head and has pants full of candy. Don’t worry. There is a reason.

After a brief encounter with a talking bluebird named Beatrice, with whom we will reconvene in episodes future, the brothers stumble on the titular “Old Grist Mill” where they meet a seemingly senile woodsman. He warns them of a darkness in the woods, a beast who feasts on lost souls. It’s a warning that will haunt the rest of this tale as it plays out in the next nine episodes. There’s humor though too, perhaps epitomized in this episode by Greg’s unflinching positivity. Even in the face of the abominable demondog that pursues Wirt and he though the mill, Greg finds time to compliment the monster’s “beautiful eyes”. However, behind the humor there’s always a shadow of ominous melancholy looming. Something awful awaits our heroes as they leave the Woodsman’s mill to continue their journey home through The Unknown.

This show is a marvel and a unique delight from start to finish. It’s no wonder it attracted such an impressive cast of talent including Elijah Wood, Christopher Lloyd, John Cleese, Melanie Lynskey and Tim Curry among many others. There is absolutely no excuse for you not to start watching this right now. Hell, watch it twice. There are little, miss-able bits scattered throughout that serve to set the re-watchability value very high. The entire show is currently available to stream on the Cartoon Network website. I suggest you head there posthaste.

Aaron’s Top 10 Episodes of 2014

1) True Detective, “Who Goes There” (Season One, Episode 4)

2) Hannibal, “Mizumono” (Season Two, Episode 13)

3) Arrow, “The Climb” (Season Three, Episode 9)

4) Rick and Morty, “Close Encounters of the Rick Kind” (Season One, Episode 10)

5) Fargo, “A Fox, a Rabbit and a Cabbage” (Season One, Episode 9)

6) The Walking Dead, “No Sanctuary” (Season Five, Episode 1)

7) Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., “A Hen in the Wolfhouse” (Season Two, Episode 5)

8) Adventure Time, “Something Big” (Season Six, Episode 10)

9) The Affair, “9”, (Season One, Episode 9)

10) Silicon Valley, “Articles of Incorporation” (Season One, Episode 3)

The Roosevelts: An Intimate History – “Get Action (1858-1901)”

(Season One, Episode 1)

By Robbie Mehling

Amidst the glut of reality programming guised as history, it is always refreshing when something comes on and makes you say, “Huh, I didn’t know that before.”

Enter Ken Burns, who has produced some of the most compelling documentary series in the past many years, Baseball, The Civil War, and now, The Roosevelts. “Get Action” sets the stage; detailing the beginnings of the Roosevelts, focusing mostly on Teddy, leading up to his ascent to the Presidency.

Burns paints a picture of a life that seems to almost come out of a tall tale, rather than an actual history. Emotions rose and fell as Teddy fought with the Rough Riders and won elections and then lost his wife and mother in the same day. My favorite story Burns tells is when Theodore was Police Commissioner in New York City and was essentially, a real life Batman, fighting corrupt cops while wearing a cape. Burns proved once again with this episode (and the series as a whole) that non-fiction can be just as dramatic and compelling as any fictional narrative.

Robbie’s Top 10 Episodes of 2014

1) Game of Thrones, “The Watchers on the Wall” (Season Four, Episode 9)

2) Doctor Who, “Time Heist” (Season Eight, Episode 5)

3) Game of Thrones, “The Mountain and the Viper” (Season Four, Episode 8)

4) Doctor Who, “Robots of Sherwood” (Season Eight, Episode 3)

5) Doctor Who, “Death in Heaven” (Season Eight, Episode 12)

6) Game of Thrones, “First of His Name” (Season Four, Episode 5)

7) Parks and Recreation, “Moving Up” (Season Six, Episodes 21/22)

8) House of Cards, “Chapter 15” (Season Two, Episode 2)

9) The Roosevelts: An Intimate History, “Get Action (1858-1901)” (Season One, Episode 1)

10) Parks and Recreation, “The Wall” (Season Six, Episode 15)

Sherlock – “The Empty Hearse”

(Season Three, Episode 1)

By Jackie Jones

Created/written by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes, and Martin Freeman as John Watson. Oh, holy shit.

This too-good-to-be-true BBC series is a modern update of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic detective stories, and has proven to be easily the best Holmes adaptation I’ve ever seen. Cumberbatch and Freeman are both spectacularly entertaining as Holmes and Watson, and the rest of the cast are equally charming/talented. It’s really just…SO DAMN GOOD.

And how about that season three premiere, am I right? At the end of Season Two, Sherlock Holmes goes up against his archenemy, James Moriarty, and is ultimately forced to kill himself in front of his friend and partner John Watson. The Season Three premiere takes place two years later, and the threat of an underground terrorist organization forces Sherlock to come out of hiding and reveal that he had faked his death to fool his enemies and protect his friends.

Ok, I LOVED this episode. Sherlock’s ham-handed approach to revealing himself to Watson is endearing and horribly clumsy, and Watson’s reaction (a lovely mixture of shock, relief, and rage) is just perfect. One of the things I loved most about this episode is that we aren’t forced to overlook how dramatically Sherlock’s deception would have affected Watson. This is Sherlock’s most meaningful and important relationship, and in this episode we see not only how Watson processes the news, but also how Sherlock reacts to Watson’s reaction. And there’s still enough time for them to foil a terrorist plot!

This was an entirely satisfying and entertaining episode, and most certainly one of the best shows aired in 2014.

Jackie’s Top 10 Episodes of 2014

1) Hannibal, “Mizumono” (Season Two, Episode 13)

2) Hannibal, “Yakimono” (Season Two, Episode 7)

3) Tim and Eric’s Bedtime Stories, “The Endorsement” (Season One, Episode 7)

4) Sherlock, “The Empty Hearse” (Season Three, Episode 1)

5) Sherlock, “The Sign of Three” (Season Three, Episode 2)

6) Hannibal, “Tome-Wan” (Season Two, Episode 12)

7) House of Cards, “Chapter 17” (Season Two, Episode 4)

8) Tim and Eric’s Bedtime Stories, “Bathroom Boys” (Season One, Episode 3)

9) House of Cards, “Chapter 26” (Season Two, Episode 13)

10) Orange is the New Black, “We Have Manners. We’re Polite” (Season Two, Episode 13)

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon – “Episode 1”

(Season One, Episode 1)

By Victoria Disque

“Hey hey hey hey!” So began the first episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, as well as a new era of late night television. In the years leading up to Fallon’s takeover of the most coveted of all talk shows, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (as well as The Late Show with David Letterman) had become increasingly stale. In the late 2000s, Leno and Letterman became stubborn in their roles, sticking with what worked for them as hosts and comedians, and never really trying anything new. In February of this year, Fallon became a welcome and refreshing change of pace. Finally, here was a host who was willing to bring the variety back to the variety show.

While Fallon’s new Tonight Show kicked off with a not-so-memorable monologue (he may have had one—or twelve—too many jokes about starting his new job), the show got off to an exciting and promising start with a hilarious bit featuring several special guests. You see, Fallon is the type of host (much like Jimmy Kimmel) who can get his celebrity guests to do anything: he conversed with Brad Pitt through yodels across midtown Manhattan; he convinced Morgan Freeman to end his interview by sucking helium out of a balloon; most impressively, he got Kevin Bacon to ramp up his entrance by reenacting two of his most famous scenes from Footloose.

In fact, on his very first episode in the Tonight Show chair, first guest Will Smith joined him for The Evolution of Hip Hop dancing, where the two men not only twerked and dougied, they pulled out the Carlton dance from Smith’s Fresh Prince days. So it was a not-so-surprising surprise when no less than fourteen mega-celebrities, including Robert de Niro, Tina Fey, Rudy Giuliani, and Joan Rivers came out from behind the curtain to each slap a $100 bill on Fallon’s desk (just before, he made a reference to a “buddy who said I’d never be the host of The Tonight Show” and that said buddy owed him a hundred bucks). The cherry on the gag went to Stephen Colbert, who dumped a bucket of $100 worth of pennies on Fallon’s desk, then proceeded to take a selfie with the new host.

With Kimmel having moved to the 11:35 timeslot, and Colbert preparing to take Letterman’s chair sometime next year, this has become such an exciting time for late night television. Each host has something different to bring to the game. For Fallon, that something is a goofy, rather than biting, wit as well as a much appreciated willingness to try new things in the name of comedy. Sure, he brought his most beloved bits over from his Late Night days, such as Thank You Notes, Hashtags, and Lip Sync Battles, but he’s also begun new Tonight Show traditions, like Lip Flip, Box of Lies, and Truth or Truth (if you haven’t seen his Truth or Truth showdown with Amy Schumer, do yourself a favor and YouTube it now). His sketch work is still prominent, with his most popular character right now being preteen drama queen Sara—with no ‘H’ because “H’s are EW!” and his Neil Young popping up from time to time to sing a cover of something like Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy.” The beauty of the new Tonight Show is that when something works, it really works, and when it doesn’t, the writers try to improve it for next time or scrap it all together. Whatever your late night show preference is, one thing has become clear in 2014: it’s fun again to stand around the water cooler discussing the best parts of last night’s show.

Victoria’s Top 10 Episodes of 2014

1) Parks and Recreation, “Moving Up” (Season Six, Episodes 21/22)

2) How I Met Your Mother, “How Your Mother Met Me” (Season Six, Episode 16)

3) The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, “Episode 70” (Season One, Episode 70)

4) The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, “Episode 55” (Season One, Episode 55)

5) Nathan For You, “Dumb Starbucks” (Season Two, Episode 5)

6) Parks and Recreation, “Ann and Chris,” (Season Six, Episode 14)

7) Nathan For You, “Souvenir Shop / E.L.A.I.F.F.” (Season Two, Episode 2)

8) The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, “Episode 1” (Season One, Episode 1)

9) Orange is the New Black, “A Whole Other Hole” (Season Two, Episode 4)

10) Scandal, “The Price of Free and Fair Elections” (Season Three, Episode 18

Minus the cringe worthy “I’m the scandal” line.

Top Gear –“Series 21, Episode 3”

(Season 21, Episode 3)

By Pedro Aubry

Now I’m a car fan. Huge fan. And so it makes sense that I like this show. But I have to say that I have never ever seen a show that is so specifically and blatantly geared (PUN!) to a specific audience where others who couldn’t give two shits about cars in general still love the show.

But this does it. The thing is the show is fairly formulaic, where they review an amazing car and they have a (usually British) celebrity drive a round of their track in a reasonably priced car, and for the rest, though they may change things a bit. The thing that everyone most likes is the main and longest storyline they create and portray (in case you didn’t know, this show is very, very highly edited). But it’s true, the meat of the story is always the deciding factor of whether I like the show a lot, and a lot, and a lot. Otherwise I simply just enjoy it. But this one has one of the best roadtrips I’ve ever seen and not wanting to give anything away, I really hope you give this show a shot, because as I’ve said before you truly don’t need to be a car fan to love the show, and you will probably like it anyways from their sheer production value and the sheer talent and chemistry amongst the announcers. Loving cars help, but it really is the weakest and least important (IMHO) part of the show if the main quest doesn’t catch your mind.

The car review portion this episode was fun, not because of how good the supercar was but how bad it was. The whole part is made to look like this car is the product of the gods…right up to the part it’s not. The meat, the most important and best part, the challenges…in this episode they have one that easily sits in my Top 10 of the entire show, maybe even Top Five.

It involves them going to the Crimean Peninsula in what is now Russia (interesting when now rewatching this episode), and all the challenges and cars are great. One thing is they use normal, small fairly cheap cars instead of crazy awesomness that only the super rich can experience, so the episode is interesting and applicable to the audience at large.

And for the challenges, the last one is the best, not only for the goal but how they go about trying to reach the goal. Very quickly, Hammond swerves, May turns his Check Engine Light on and Clarkson opens his driver’s side door. Enjoy!

Pedro’s Top 10 Episodes of 2013 (“and im not joking”)

1) Hannibal, “Mizumono” (Season Two, Episode 13)

2) Hannibal, “Tome-wan” (Season Two, Episode 12)

3) Hannibal, “Ko no Mono” (Season Two, Episode 11)

4) Hannibal, “Naka-Choko” (Season Two, Episode 10)

5) Hannibal, “Shiizakana” (Season Two, Episode 9)

6) Hannibal, “Su-zakana” (Season Two, Episode 8)

7) Hannibal, “Yakimono” (Season Two, Episode 7)

8) Hannibal, “Futamono” (Season Two, Episode 6)

9) Hannibal, “Mukozuke” (Season Two, Episode 5)

10) Hannibal, “Takiawase” (Season Two, Episode 4)

True Detective – “Who Goes There”

(Season One, Episode 4)

By Eric Martindale

“Who Goes There,” the fourth episode of True Detective’s inaugural season is, in my opinion, easily the best episode on television last year. It was the episode when True Detective felt the most, well, true. The most obvious reason that people will point to is the final moments that featured a tracking shot that was well over two hours long. Okay, maybe a little less than that. And, I’ll admit it was a big part in why I chose it as well. It wasn’t, however, the fact that it was a tracking shot and tracking shots are cool. It was the artistic expression that each second of the final moments dripped with.

Director Cary Fukunaga, who won an Emmy for his work on this episode, conveyed a true since of danger that was more than palpable and really came to light because of the length of the shot. It was technically impressive for sure, what with the amount of extras, sets, fucking helicopters. But the peril that Rust (Matthew McConaughey) felt seemed so real that the shot, in the end, felt almost necessary to make the world feel true. Which, for me, was a problem that had existed through the first three episodes of the season.

In many ways I found the plot of True Detective pretentious and unrealistic. I understand that no television show, or any story-telling medium, has to exist in a reality. But True Detective presented its narrative in such a way that we were to be depressed by how fucked-up our world is. All the while asking us to pretend that serial killers sewing antlers to victims in our world, especially in conservative southern communities, is somewhat commonplace. Because, you know, they’re weird down there in Louisiana where they sleep with their sisters. Oh wait, that was a spoiler. Yeah…

However, “Who Goes There,” with tracking shot in tow, made the story so much more visceral. The world came alive and I was able to immerse myself and forget about the show’s negatives. Even prior to the ending to the episode, it was as if the show decided that in its fourth hour it was set goals for the rest of the season and by the time episode five had arrived I was hooked. Captivated, really. Because until that point, in spite of the fantastic acting by Woody Harrelson and McConaughey the show felt more like False Detective.

Eric’s Top 10 Episodes of 2014

1) Hannibal, “Mizumono” (Season Two, Episode 13)

2) True Detective, “Who Goes There” (Season One, Episode 4)

3) Mad Men, “Waterloo” (Season Seven, Episode 7)

4) Outlander, “The Garrison Commander” (Season One, Episode 5)

5) Hannibal, “Naka-Choco” (Season Two, Episode 10)

6) Mad Men, “The Monolith” (Season Seven, Episode 4)

7) Fargo, “A Fox, a Rabbit and a Cabbage” (Season One, Episode 9)

8) Game of Thrones, “The Mountain and the Viper” (Season Four, Episode 8)

9) True Detective, “After You’ve Gone” (Season One, Episode 7)

10) Rick and Morty, “Meeseeks and Destroy” (Season One, Episode 5)

Veep – “Crate / New Hampshire”

(Season Three, Episodes 9/10)

By Keith Jackson

I quickly fell in love with Veep. Much like Parks and Rec or my recommendation from last year, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, it contains an office of eclectic people each with their own characteristic strengths that make it nigh-impossible to rank above each other (however, Jonah does stand out many a time, be it his widely-announced drop-ins at the VP office or his later career ambitions/struggles). Again like P&R, these characters are engaged in the theatre of politics, and they’re no less incompetent despite being on a bigger stage.

One of the best examples of what makes Veep brilliant is this season’s finale. A favorite show of mine and many others is Arrested Development, a show that was canceled for several reasons, one of which being such a dense show that it was described as “hard to keep up with”. Network execs thought people wanted a sitcom they could have on, but not necessarily pay 100% attention to. I am so glad Veep is on HBO, because it is difficult to say if it would have the freedom to move at the speed it does elsewhere. Throughout the last two episodes of the season (aired as an hour-long finale), circumstances changed every ten seconds it seemed. Everyone is rushing and reacting to things both within their control and out of their control (like Gary’s nosebleeds). It’s a whirlwind of absurdity, but it’s just so much fun to witness.

Keith’s Top 10 Episodes of 2014

1) Cosmos, “Standing Up in the Milky Way“ (Season One, Episode 1)

2) Sherlock, “His Last Vow” (Season Three, Episode 3)

3) Game of Thrones, “The Lion and the Rose” (Season Four, Episode 2)

4) Community, “Cooperative Polygraphy” (Season Five, Episode 5)

5) Veep, “Crate / New Hampshire” (Season Three, Episodes 9/10)

6) Game of Thrones, “The Mountain and the Viper” (Season Four, Episode 8)

7) Parks and Recreation, “Moving Up” (Season Six, Episodes 21/22)

8) Veep, “The Choice” (Season Three, Episode 2)

9) Too Many Cooks, (One-off Comedy Special)

10) The Colbert Report, “Grimmy” (Episode 1447)

You’re the Worst – “Pilot”

(Season One, Episode 1)

By Ryan Lugar

Boy meets girl. Girl meets boy. Love ensues. Magic in the air. White doves flying after each pass through a doorway. Mass consumptions of alcohol. Drugs consumed like candy. Self-centeredness. Control freaks. All for one and one for one. Jimmy. Gretchen.

You’re The Worst has taken a whole new swing to the genre of romantic comedy.   I would consider myself an expert in the field because one, I know more about romantic comedies than the almighty Austin Lugar, and two, I strongly believe Sweet Home Alabama is a perfect movie. However, You’re The Worst is not the shimmering love magic that occurred in Alabama. It is the horrific sense of being with someone in Los Angeles.

The start of this romantic comedy from hell laid down the ground rules of the show right from the get-go. The two lovebirds, Gretchen and Jimmy, are at a wedding and wrecking the entire thing. Jimmy has found a way to make the bride bawl her eyes out before her first dance and Gretchen is stealing gifts, both intoxicated. The romance gods worked their magic and Jimmy and Gretchen found each other outside while both trying to bail from the wedding.

This is where their love blossoms and they live happily ever after. Ok, that’s a lie. They have fun together and separate entirely. However, they remain in contact with each other even though they both are on to a new person. At the end of the night, they somehow end up “together” and it freaks the hell out of them. Their fear of any type of commitment and relationship scares the shit out of them. They don’t want to turn into the boyfriend-girlfriend mold, but the season would die after the pilot if they didn’t.

Jimmy and Gretchen are, don’t let the title of the show give it away, the worst. They care only for themselves and could give a rat’s ass less about what happens to whoever is around them. Jimmy’s roommate/cook/veteran Edgar served in Iraq and is battling an extreme case of PTSD, posttraumatic stress disorder. Jimmy being the great “friend” that he is made sure his book sales was going fine before teasing Edgar about his serious problem. Edgar is Jimmy’s closest and only friend in the sense of the word. Lindsay has been Gretchen’s best friend for a long time and is currently battling the stress of being a married woman and also still having the sexual instincts of a whore. Gretchen does a great job in consoling her by abandonment and putting her problems first. Jimmy and Gretchen are ultimately two main characters who are almost self aware that they are the main characters of the show. They understand that Edgar and Lindsay are their sidekicks and are a means to an end of their problems. They’re the worst and deserved to be hated.

But damnit if they weren’t so great together. During the entire show you want them to fill that mold of the classic romantic comedy couple and be all lovey-dovey. They show glimpses of it and you want so badly for the glimpse to become a continuous emotion. That isn’t like them though. They are self-centered, terrible people who are afraid of commitment and growing up and they just so happen to be perfect for each other. There are times during the show where you just want to scream “JUST BE HAPPY TOGETHER!”

This relationship is a train wreck and it is impossible to turn away. Although they are terrible people doing terrible things, they both express such raw and deep emotion for each other that it’s impossible to not root for them. For every five bad things they do to one another or someone else, there is one moment of extreme bliss between the two. It’s this moment of a Sweet Home Alabama romantic bliss that makes the show great.

I would recommend this show to absolutely anybody because I think it’s an extremely relatable show. The fear of commitment and relationship struggles are something everyone has gone through, even if Gretchen and Jimmy take it to the extreme. Oh yeah, Gretchen is the publicist for a rapper who is pretty much the same person as Tyler, The Creator. How could you say no to that?!

Ryan’s Top 10 Episodes of 2014

1) You’re the Worst, “Constant Horror and Bone-Deep Dissatisfaction” (Season One, Episode 9)

2) You’re the Worst, “Pilot” (Season One, Episode 1)

3) Rick and Morty, “Meeseeks and Destroy” (Season One, Episode 5)

4) South Park, “Go Fund Yourself” (Season Eighteen, Episode 1)

5) You’re the Worst, “Sunday Funday” (Season One, Episode 5)

6) Nathan for You, “Dumb Starbucks” (Season Two, Episode 5)

7) Nathan for You, “Liquor Store / Exterminator / Car Wash” (Season Two, Episode 4)

8) South Park, “The Cissy” (Season Eighteen, Episode 3)

9) Silicon Valley, “Optimal Tip-to-Tio Efficiency” (Season One, Episode 8)

10) Game of Thrones, “The Watchers on the Wall” (Season Four, Episode 9)

The Group’s Top 10 List

Using a simple point system where a person’s #1 pick gets 10 points, #2 gets 9 and so on, here are the top 10 episodes of 2014 that received the most points from the 33 Top 10 lists.

1) Hannibal, “Mizumono” (Season Two, Episode 13) (64 points)

2) Sherlock, “The Sign of Three” (Season Three, Episode 2) (62 points)

3) True Detective, “Who Goes There” (Season One, Episode 4) (46 points)

4) Sherlock, “His Last Vow” (Season Three, Episode 3) (42 points)

5) Doctor Who, “Listen” (Season Eight, Episode 4) (34 points)

5) Game of Thrones, “The Laws of Gods and Men” (Season Four, Episode 6) (34 points)

6) Orange is the New Black, “A Whole Other Hole” (Season Two, Episode 4) (31 points)

6) Orange is the New Black, “We Have Manners. We’re Polite” (Season Two, Episode 13” (31 points)

6) Parks and Recreation, “Moving Up” (Season Six, Episodes 21/22) (31 points)

7) Fargo, “A Fox, A Rabbit and a Cabbage” (Season One, Episode 9) (30 points)

8) Game of Thrones, “The Watchers on the Wall” (Season Four, Episode 9) (29 points)

9) Game of Thrones, “The Lion and the Rose” (Season Four, Episode 2) (24 points)

9) The Leftovers, “Guest” (Season One, Episode 6) (24 points)

9) Rick and Morty, “Meeseeks and Destroy” (Season One, Episode 5) (24 points)

10) Community, “Cooperative Polygraphy” (Season Five, Episode 5) (23 points)

10) Game of Thrones, “The Mountain and the Viper” (Season Four, Episode 8) (23 points)

·       78 different shows were on a Top 10 list.

·       25 of those shows first premiered in 2014.

·       196 different episodes were on a Top 10 list.

·       Sherlock’s “The Sign of Three” was on 10 different Top 10 lists.

·       All three episodes of Sherlock Season Three was on a Top 10 list.

·       10/13 episodes of Hannibal Season Two was on a Top 10 list.

·       6/8 episodes of Nathan For You Season Two was on a Top 10 list.

·       8/12 episodes of Doctor Who Season Eight was on a Top 10 list.

·       5/8 episodes of The Flash Season One was on a Top 10 list.

·       4/7 episodes of Mad Men Season Seven was on a Top 10 list.

·       6/10 episodes of Game of Thrones Season Four was on a Top 10 list.

·       6/10 episodes of The Leftovers Season One was on a Top 10 list.

Best Episodes of 2013

No matter what we watch, my friends always want to discuss TV shows more in depth than movies. That doesn’t mean that they like these shows more than the movies we watch, but there’s something subject to debate when you break up a story into installments. There’s the theorizing about what happened next and arguing what episode was better. To view a show in segments tricks you to analyze parts of the whole and to watch the show over a course of weeks makes you more invested.

So I love talking with my friends about their thoughts on these excellent shows. Every year I like to ask them to write for my blog and show everyone their perspective. Here are 23 of my friends and myself writing about some of their favorite episodes of the year equipped with their Top 10 list. Due to when I’m posting this, there are few episodes in 2013 that sadly won’t be up for consideration like the Treme series finale, Matt Smith’s final episode of Doctor Who and the Downton Abbey Christmas Special.

At the very end you can read about what episodes were the collected Top 10 with other bits of trivia. But first let’s head over to Sudden Valley…

 Arrested Development

“Señoritis” (Season Four, Episode 12)

By Robbie Mehling

Without a doubt, the fourth season of Arrested Development is different than anything that has ever come before. While the entire season is one large story, each individual episode is unique. So my favorite episode of the season, has to be ” Señoritis,” the story of Maeby Funke, the daughter who had no choice to keep her life together.

Throughout the entire season, Maeby pops up sporadically in George Michael’s dorm room or with her parents, then disappears off the map again. It’s a lot of fun to finally see just what exactly she is up to in one of the funniest stories of the season. Within one episode, she’s accepting an award while cursing out the entire audience to attempting to seduce someone she believes to be an undercover cop. Hilarious.

Robbie’s Top 10 Episodes of 2013

1) Doctor Who – “The Day of the Doctor” (Season Seven, Episode 15)

2) Breaking Bad – “Ozymandias” (Season Five, Episode 14)

3) Game of Thrones – “The Rains of Castamere” (Season Three, Episode 9)

4 Game of Thrones – “And Now His Watch Is Ended” (Season Three, Episode 4)

5) Doctor Who – “The Name of the Doctor” (Season Seven, Episode 14)

6) Breaking Bad – “Felina” (Season Five, Episode 16)

7) House of Cards – “Chapter 11” (Season One, Episode 11)

8) Parks and Recreation – “Fluoride” (Season Six, Episode 8)

9) Arrested Development – “Señoritis” (Season Four, Episode 12)

10) Arrested Development – “The B. Team” (Season Four, Episode 4)

Arrow

“Three Ghosts” (Season Two, Episode 9)

By Aaron Wittwer

It’s hard to turn the TV on anymore without becoming mired in the tendrils of some cinema-quality masterwork of a show like Breaking Bad or Homeland or Game of Thrones or Justified or Sons of Anarchy etc… Tightly plotted, intelligent dramas perfectly crafted to challenge our idea of what television can be. Arrow isn’t one of these. Arrow is a show about a second tier, comic book superhero who shoots things with arrows. It’s got a cast of really, really good-looking people. It’s on the CW. All the ingredients are there for it to be yet another piece of under-wrought YA garbage. But it’s not. Instead, it’s one of the most gleefully fun and entertaining shows on television, treating us with a refreshing degree of unapologetic melodrama, consistently well-choreographed action, and a compelling cast of core characters.

The first season of Arrow was primarily list based. That is to say that our hero, Oliver Queen, literally had a list of bad guys and each week he’d try to cross another name off. As mentioned earlier, this usually involved shooting someone with arrows. Only towards the end of the season did it start to ease up on that formula as the “big bad” became more apparent. It was fun, and it let the writers work on establishing the character before starting the major arc of the plot, but too often potentially decent shows get stuck in this episodic phase and never mature. Not so with Arrow. This season they’ve pushed the show much closer to the serial end of the scale. Oliver has ditched the list and is trying, with dubious success, to be at least slightly less murderous. Where he was an avenging angel, he now seeks to become a protector/savior/hero. It’s not a clean journey for him to make, and the show has been handling it well with gradual steps all leading up to this pivotal episode.

“Three Ghosts” is the mid-season finale, sort-of a Christmas special, and also the primer for a spin-off about The Flash. On top of the main plot, and the flashback plot, that’s a lot of (or at least two) potentially terrible things for one hour of television to handle, and yet, Arrow pulls it off with class, humor, emotion, and violence. After a near-death experience, Oliver’s regrets begin to haunt him in the form of three former friends whom he has failed to save. As Oliver confronts these manifestations of his psyche, he must also contend with the significantly more material threat of a potential army of super-soldiers, the architect of which has kidnapped his sister’s boyfriend. We get to see Oliver shoot arrows at both his internal and external demons and the results are…transformative. This is all coupled with a particularly devastating installment in the flashback plot, and capped off by the reveal of the inevitable big bad we’ve all been dreading. And also…Oliver finally gets an actual mask. And also…the Flash.

All in all, this episode represents everything that this show aspires to be and frequently achieves. It’s fast paced and full of action, but also fearless when playing with character dynamics and growth. Several things that occur during this episode change everything for the show going forward, and this isn’t even the first time in its one and a half season run that Arrow’s dared to mix things up so suddenly, almost casually and drastically. This is Arrow’s way of preventing stagnation and it’s been working wonderfully. It may be somewhat out of place playing for pure escapism in a world of increasingly high-grade, stone serious drama, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t complex, smart, and thrilling.

Aaron’s Top 10 (or 12) Episodes of 2013

1.) Breaking Bad – “Ozymandias” (Season Five, Episode 14)

2.) Game of Thrones —“The Rains of Castamere” (Season Three, Episode 9)

3.) Sons of Anarchy— “ A Mother’s Work” (Season Six, Episode 13)

4.) Hello Ladies— “The Wedding” (Season One, Episode 7)

5.) Justified —“ Decoy” (Season Four, Episode 11)

6.) Hemlock Grove — “Children of the Night” (Season One, Episode 12)

7.) The Venture Bros. — “O.S.I. Love You” (Season Five, Episode 5)

8.) Veep— “Helsinki” (Season Two, Episode 5)

9.) Orphan Black —“Unconscious Selection” (Season One, Episode 9)

10.) Homeland — “Gerontion” (Season Three, Episode 7)

11.) Banshee— “We Shall Live Forever” (Season One, Episode 9)

12.) South Park— “The Hobbit” (Season Seventeen, Episode 10)

Black Mirror

“The Waldo Moment” (Season Two, Episode 3)

By Ken Jones

Wait, there’s a show not meant to be binge watched and demands discussion with friends about our culture and morally ambiguous gray area? If I used the word ‘jam’ to mean something I really love, Black Mirror would totally be my jam. Me, I’m a grape jam kind of guy. But through watching this show I have learned that people have different views on things, so strawberry and apricot are cool too. Everything else is weird and different and should be avoided. My favorite jam I ever had came from … What? Oh, Black Mirror, right! The best thing on television in 2013. Yeah, I said it. “Oh, but The Walking Dead has zombies.” Get the hell out of my house! Or at least watch better shows. Yeah, Breaking Bad was phenomenal, but lying and murdering is fairly black and (Walter) white bad in this case. Black Mirror uses all 50 shades of gray to make your brain hurt. Much like the first workout after being a slob for years. I can’t think of anything that has made me question my moral standing like this show. I took an ethics course in college, but that entailed fairly easy questions and the only thing I learned was that most people don’t have the spine to think for themselves. Much like zombies.

So why this episode of Black Mirror? Well, the second season offers a heart-wrenching drama involving very futuristic technology, and intense thriller that, well let’s just say it takes things way beyond what our society currently is, and there’s this final episode that is the least bizarre, non-futuristic one of the series.  It’s chilling just how applicable it is to our lives now. Do you watch The Daily Show? The Colbert Report? Fox News? What? That one is supposed to be serious? You may want to check your facts on that one. Anyway, this episode is about a guy who voices and animates a cartoon bear that gets pushed into local politics. The bear, not necessarily the man. Yes, this is a cartoon bear and Colbert is a human, but they’re both characters. I love that after five brilliant episodes that pose difficult “what if” scenarios, Charlie Brooker says, “This is actually happening, how is it affecting the way you view politics and media?”

If you mistakenly make your way over to the IMDb discussion section for this episode, you will see a bunch of morons who complain about this episode not being as bizarre and futuristic and twisty as the other episodes. I don’t understand how anyone can watch all six episodes and not find this episode amazing and brilliantly put as the final episode.

But don’t take my word on it, watch all six episodes. No, don’t take an afternoon to watch them all by yourself. Get some friends together and maybe watch two episodes in a gathering. Trust me, you want to have friends also watching the show, because you will want to discuss this show until your throat bleeds from overuse. Yeah, gross. And if you are like me and don’t have friends, feel free to seek me out to discuss this show, because I will gladly drop everything I am doing to discuss this show.

Ken’s Top 10 Episodes of 2013

1.    Black Mirror – “The Waldo Moment” (Season Two, Episode 3)

2.    Breaking Bad – “Felina” (Season Five, Episode 16)

3.    Spartacus – “Victory” (Season Three, Episode 10)

4.    Doctor Who – “The Day of the Doctor” (Season Seven, Episode 15)

5.    Breaking Bad – “Blood Money” (Season Five, Episode 9)

6.    Game of Thrones – “The Rains of Castamere” (Season Three, Episode 9)

7.    Doctor Who – “The Name of the Doctor” (Season Seven, Episode 14)

8.    Treme – “Yes We Can Can” (Season 4, Episode 1) Finally they capture what it’s really like to live in New Orleans, potholes.

9.    Archer – “Fugue and Riffs” (Season 4, Episode 1) Bob’s Burgers, gotta love it!

10.                Arrested Development – All of Season Four Binge watching makes it all seem like one big episode

Special mention to Master Chef Junior for being the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen on television. Just feel like that needed to be mentioned and I have no shame in saying it.

Breaking Bad

“Ozymandias” (Season Five, Episode 14)

By Eric Martindale

“Ozymandias” wasn’t just the best episode on Breaking Bad this year. Nor was it merely just the best episode on all of television this year. It was, in the humble opinion of this author, the best hour of television in this self-proclaimed “golden age.” In large part this was due to Walter White, Bad’s infamous protagonist, finally receiving his just reward. Defeat. Main characters are killed, the family falls apart, the money is stolen, and everyone knows he’s Heisenberg. The end? Not exactly.

The show did have two more episodes remaining in its fifth and final season, but they were the curtain call, a denouement. Great, as well. But they served the show in a different way. “Ozymandias” changed everything that came before and profoundly served us everything we ever wondered might happen in one, solitary episode. This was the real ending. The just reward for Walter White’s unthinkable wickedness. It was showrunner Vince Gilligan’s chief masterpiece amongst a show that will go down in history as one of the finest pieces of fiction ever.

Eric’s Top 10 Episodes of 2013

1.    Breaking Bad – “Ozymandias” (Season Five, Episode 14)

2.    Breaking Bad – “”To’hajillee”” (Season Five, Episode 13)

3.    Game of Thrones – “The Climb” (Season Three, Episode 6)

4.    Breaking Bad – “Granite State” (Season Five, Episode 15)

5.    Game of Thrones – “The Rains of Castamere” (Season Three, Episode 9)

6.    Game of Thrones – “”Kissed by Fire” (Season Three, Episode 5)

7.    Mad Men – “The Crash” (Season Six, Episode 8)

8.    Arrested Development – “Flight of the Phoenix” (Season Four, Episode 1)

9.    Game of Thrones – “Second Sons” (Season Three, Episode 8)

10.                Breaking Bad –”Rabid Dog” (Season Five, Episode 12)

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

“Sal’s Pizza” (Season One, Episode 9)

By Keith Jackson

Of the new shows this fall, Brooklyn Nine-Nine came up on top. It has a great sense of familiarity to another of my favorite comedies on right now, Parks & Recreation – and it should, since it contains much of the same DNA in producers Mike Schur and Dan Goor (I always enjoy the production company tag after a Brooklyn Nine-Nine episode when we hear Nick Offerman: “Fremulon”). Importantly, it doesn’t feel like a carbon-copy of the show that came before. Yet it shares the spirit of the ensemble cast. Parks & Rec is in its sixth(!) season, and the characters are so well fleshed out that much of the comedy comes from what we know about them. That show had a notoriously rocky first season, and it took a while to get to where they are now.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine didn’t repeat history for Schur and Goor in that way, fortunately: at only the midpoint of the first season, the characters are already lived-in. All of the different dynamics, like Peralta/Santiago, Peralta/Captain Holt, and Boyle/Diaz, are all working so well and then you sweeten the pot with Chelsea Peretti’s character, Linetti, or Terry Crews’ character, Jeffords. Whereas I fear that Parks & Rec will lose steam in their story arcs, we’re only getting starting with the 99th precinct and by nature of the profession there’s a lot of avenues to take. One thing that solidified it for me was the introduction of Patton Oswalt as the fire marshal, and the contention between him and the police detectives just feels so right and organic that I can’t wait to see that rivalry pop up again.

Whenever NBC decides to send Parks & Rec off, as sad as that will be, we can take solace in the fact its heir apparent is alive and well.

Keith’s Top 10 Episodes of 2013

1.    Breaking Bad – “Felina” (Season Five, Episode 16)

2.    Breaking Bad – “Granite State” (Season Five, Episode 15)

3.    Breaking Bad – “Ozymandias” (Season Five, Episode 14)

4.    Breaking Bad – “”To’hajillee”” (Season Five, Episode 13)

5.    Breaking Bad –”Rabid Dog” (Season Five, Episode 12)

6.    Breaking Bad – “Confessions” (Season Five, Episode 11)

7.    Breaking Bad – “Buried” (Season Five, Episode 10)

8.    Breaking Bad – “Blood Money” (Season Five, Episode 9)

9.    Parks and Recreation – “London” (Season Six, Episodes 1/2)

10.                Brooklyn Nine-Nine – “Sal’s Pizza” (Season One, Episode 9)

Honorable mentions: Arrested Development season 4, Doctor Who “The Day of the Doctor”, Hannibal season 1, House of Cards season 1, Rectify season 1

Dishonorable mentions: Community season 4, Doctor Who season 7 minus “The Name of the Doctor”, Whose Line Is It Anyway? after the freshness wore off.

Bunheads

“Next!” (Season One, Episode 18)

By Alan Gordon

I’ve by and large given up on sitcoms. They all sound the same — the same rhythms, the same caricatures walking about doing the same shtick, the same old same old. One recent episode of a series that I’m almost through giving the benefit of a doubt sounded entirely as if the writer had been told to write lines that sounded like jokes, but weren’t quite. I felt like a character in a book I’ve been reading, who says, “Your joke is no doubt very amusing.”

Then there was Bunheads. A show I never wanted to end. I hadn’t seen Gilmore Girls, Amy Sherman-Palladino’s previous show, but I heard great things about the rapid, intelligent dialogue. Yeah, goes double here. Double-speed, double- smart. Starred Sutton Foster, who won a Tony for The Drowsy Chaperone, perhaps my favorite musical of the last twenty years, and Kelly Bishop, who won a Tony for A Chorus Line, my favorite musical of the previous twenty. And four girls who could do anything — be realer than real, more stylized than stylized, and dance, dance, dance. Sasha, Boo, Ginny, and Mel. Not merely assigned their designated quirk to beat to death with a laugh track, but four fully-realized girls on the verge of everything. Sasha, who emancipated herself from her divorced parents, but who found her alpha status slipping. Boo, who came to realize she didn’t have to be a second banana. Mel, with her unexpected reserves of liberating violence. And Ginny, the smallest girl taking the largest leaps into the unknown. Girls who fell down, fell in love, fell from grace, fell out, and fell back together again. Girls who obsessively planned their next moves, and the moves after that, who thought that if they planned hard enough and well enough that the plans would save them, and that they would save each other. But who constantly learned that life has other plans for those who plan.

The best comedy comes from pain, and the greatest comedy will break your heart. The girls’ role model, their surrogate big sister, their scout in the real world was Foster’s Michelle, who was in fact fleeing towards the place the girls wanted to flee from. Foster was to this writing born, her post-modern screwball rhythms throwbacks yet like nothing that has ever been. She could take that wrong turn at Albequerque in mid- sentence. “No, I was yes, that’s exactly what happened.” [as she realizes that she had the wrong audience to tell that particular blow-job story.]

In the final episode, “Next,” the girls surreptitiously trail Michelle as she heads into L.A. for a cattle call chorus audition. As the hopefuls are winnowed down, the girls watch as their idol, who has the game to back her stories, soars above the pack, finishing at the top. Then Michelle gets to see the director’s chosen dancers strut by — the whole audition a sham, a sop to appease the union rules. She never had a chance.

And the girls themselves, their lives in disarray, their long-time pecking order disrupted in the second season by the arrival of a preternaturally gifted pair of twins, find themselves subjected in their ballet class to sex ed with bananas, taught by Kelly Bishop as one more life tool. Which leads to this

I invested in these characters. I wanted to know what happened to each of them. But “Next” was the last.

At least they finished with a dance.

Alan’s Top 10 Episodes of 2013

1.    Bunheads – “Next!” (Season One, Episode 18)

2.    Doctor Who – “The Day of the Doctor” (Season Seven, Episode 15) Fun writing, great chemistry. Billie Piper stole the episode. The season wasnʼt great, mostly due to the writersʼ inability to define Claraʼs character and her relationship to the Doctor.

3.    Nashville – “Dear Brother” (Season One, Episode 14) Shout out to “Old Yeller”

4.    Grey’s Anatomy – “She’s Killing Me” (Season Nine, Episode 20) The writing has come back, although I still wouldnʼt want to get treated at this hospital. A few less arbitrary outside disasters would suit me.

5.    Dancing With the Stars (Season Sixteen) Yeah, we take ballroom lessons. Ya gotta problem with that? Final showdown between Kelly Pickler and Zendaya was killer. Both deserved to win. Derek Hough may be one of the best choreographers, period, in the USA — not just of ballroom.

6.    Bunheads – “The Astronaut and the Ballerina” (Season One, Episode 14) This is the one that ends with Michelle and her brother [played by Fosterʼs actual brother]recreating the Steve Martin/ Bernadette Peters ukulele duet of “Tonight You Belong To Me.”

7.    Doctor Who – “The Name of the Doctor” (Season Seven, Episode 14) A good explanation for the Impossible Girl. Redeemed the rest of the season, and great intro for John Hurtʼs Doctor.

8.    Ray Donovan – “The Golem” (Season One, Episode 5)

9.    Nashville – “I Don’t Want to Talk About It Now” (Season Two, Episode 3)

10.                Face Off – “The Laughing Dead” (Season Five, Episode 10) Another addiction. This one, Roy created a brilliant double midget act. Trust me, itʼs genius.

Burn Notice

“Reckoning” (Season Seven, Episode 13)

By Brandon Lugar

Burn Notice’s series finale, “Reckoning”, was not only one of the greatest episodes on television in 2013, but also the perfect wrap that could have been written for this television show. Burn Notice has been a show that is wrapped around the general concept of loyalty, not only from the characters in the show, but also from the fans. My brother introduced our family to this show back when it first started and I was the only one that stuck with it through the years. Each year it seemed to get a bit repetitive, but slowly the plot did move forward. Michael continued to be the ultimate badass, and his friends made you continue to love them through their devotion and loyalty.

What made this episode not just good, but great, was the closure it brought to all the characters that grew to be a part of you. One of the greatest and most loyal characters of television history had the grandest exits to the show, which actually brought a tear to my eye. Maddie Weston gave her life to the son who always seemed to make life a little riskier than normal; to the son who always fought and did everything he could to make her life safe. She finally got the chance to pay him back. She sacrificed her life to give Michael, Fiona, Sam, Jesse, and Charlie another chance with either the old life they had or with a new life they always wanted. Overall, this was one of the best shows aired in 2013 and a fantastic finish to one of my favorite television programs.

Brandon’s Top 10 Episodes of 2013

1.    Breaking Bad – “Felina” (Season Five, Episode 16)

2.    Breaking Bad – “Confessions” (Season Five, Episode 11)

3.    Burn Notice – “Reckoning” (Season Seven, Episode 13)

4.    Doctor Who – “The Day of the Doctor” (Season Seven, Episode 15)

5.    Doctor Who – “The Name of the Doctor” (Season Seven, Episode 14)

6.    Doctor Who – “Nightmare in Silver” (Season Seven, Episode 13)

7.    Breaking Bad – “Ozymandias” (Season Five, Episode 14)

8.    Breaking Bad – “Granite State” (Season Five, Episode 15)

9.    Doctor Who – “The Bells of Saint John” (Season Seven, Episode 7)

10.                Burn Notice – “Psychological Warfare” (Season Seven, Episode 7)

Cougar Town

“You Tell Me” (Season Four, Episode 10)

By Molly Raker

New network, new writers and new showrunner. Unlike Community all these changes didn’t affect the cul-de-sac crew. Did anyone else see the webseries of the writers, Brad and Emily? That was just the first sign of an awesome season to come.

Lets get to the real reason why Cougar Town was one of my favorite shows of the year, it was naturally because I made a special cameo appearance in the tenth episode! I was living Abed’s dream but I didn’t poop my pants. The change of the new showrunner is always a red flag but thank goodness Bill Lawerence didn’t leave his shows side like Dan Harmon. Plus I met the new showrunner and he’s a cool guy, we said ‘Hi’ to each other.

But really, there’s always concerns when two of the main characters get married it may fall flat like New Girl or excel like Parks and Recreation! Cougar Town joins the ranks of Parks and Rec, Jules and Greyson marriage may seem dysfunctional but the wine brings them together.

Almost everyone is paired off besides Bobby (which makes sense) but the two married couples go through their rough and funny patches. Even though I thought Ellie was being extra harsh to Andy and Jules being crazy to Greyson (cue the therapist) the comedy is still there but I hope the dial back the crazy and harshness of the relationship. Then the not surprise relationship of Jellybean and Travis finally bloomed, what will the cul-de-sac do now with all of them paired off.

As any good comedy does, they do handle pretty rough stuff as Jules discovers her dad has Alzheimer’s and they forgo their trip to Jamaica to go to LA. The finale of them going to LA was heart felt and funny, it was interesting to see Ken Jenkins in a vulnerable role also that dance with Tippi.

With the change of network and many other things as Ellie would say, “change approved”. Grab some wine and catch up with Cougar Town, it’s back January 12th!

Molly’s Top 10 Episodes of 2013

1.    Cougar Town – “You Tell Me” (Season Four, Episode 10)

2.    Breaking Bad – “Rapid Dog” (Season Five, Episode 12)

3.    Game of Thrones – “Second Sons” (Season Three, Episode 8)

4.    Justified – “Decoy” (Season Four, Episode 11)

5.    Parks and Recreation – “Women in Garbage” (Season Five, Episode 11)

6.    Mad Men – “A Tale of Two Cities” (Season Six, Episode 10)

7.    Veep – “Running” (Season Two, Episode 9)

8.    Parks and Recreation – “The Cones of Dunshire” (Season Six, Episode 9)

9.    Game of Thrones – “The Rains of Castemere” (Season Three, Episode 9)

10.                Arrested Development – “Colony Collapse” (Season Four, Episode 6)

Doctor Who

“The Name of the Doctor” (Season Seven, Episode 14)

By Evan Dossey

This review contains spoilers for the season finale of Doctor Who Season Seven.

Steven Moffat’s run on Doctor Who has been controversial, to say the least. It’s worth saying up front that I think Moffat’s highs are greater than his lows, and that when he writes a good episode of Doctor Who, he writes a really good episode of Doctor Who.

“The Name of the Doctor” is the start of Matt Smith’s swansong on the show, a trilogy comprising of Name, Day, and, this Christmas, Time of the Doctor. At the end of the sixth season, Moffat left us with the question: Doctor Who? This trilogy of episodes, bit by bit, aims to answer that question, starting with the most essential: who are the people the Doctor chooses to surround himself with?

Like most of Moffat’s episodes, “Name” moves from concept to concept at an absurdly brisk pace. The episode begins with The Doctor’s friends Vastra, Jenny, and Strax, being captured by The Great Intelligence and taken to Trenzalore, which we learn is the Doctor’s grave site. It’s a molten, desolate world, scarred by a cataclysmic past war fought by The Doctor in his own future. Looming above the field of graves is a giant, dead TARDIS. The Doctor’s TARDIS. What else would they bury him in? Naturally, the Doctor collects his companion, Clara, to go rescue their friends.

To The Doctor, Trenzalore is the most dangerous place in the universe. He explains that a time traveler finding his own grave is immensely wibbly-wobbly stuff. You see, time travel leaves an open wound in the fabric of space and time. The Doctor has traveled more than anyone. His wound is enormous. If someone besides himself were to enter his time stream, they could do immense damage to him. If he were to enter it, he might never escape.

The Great Intelligence intends on entering the time stream to kill the Doctor across time. Clara follows him in, thwarting his multitude of murders. In doing so she is splintered into infinite Claras across time and space, each leading their own lives that in some way involve meeting, and saving, the Doctor. He doesn’t always know it’s her – most of the time, he hardly hears her – but she’s always there, always rescuing him.

Clara.

She’s the key to all of this.

Moffat has gotten a lot of flack for Clara’s lack of characterization throughout Season Seven. She doesn’t have much of a supporting cast, or any characteristics besides being cute, kind, and brave. As a character, she really is somewhat underwhelming. But as an idea, as the quintessence of companion in Moffat’s grand scheme, she works wonders for me. It is her kindness and bravery, uniquely human, that keeps the Doctor returning to humanity again and again. It is ultimately what saves him.

What makes “The Name of the Doctor” so satisfying is that it largely works on the archetypal level. It’s a story about The Doctor, about his companions and friends and his life. It’s about what makes the Doctor ‘the Doctor,’ and why we, simple humans, love his strange alien ways.

Evan’s Top 10 Episodes of 2013

1.    Hannibal – “Sorbet” (Season One, Episode 7)

2.    Doctor Who – “The Name of the Doctor” (Season Seven, Episode 14)

3.    Breaking Bad – “Ozymandius” (Season Five, Episode 14)

4.    Doctor Who – “The Day of the Doctor” (Season Seven, Episode 15)

5.    Mad Men – “The Doorway” (Season Six, Episodes 1/2)

6.    Arrow – “Three Ghosts” (Season Two, Episode 9)

7.    Breaking Bad – “Felina” (Season Five, Episode 16)

8.    The IT Crowd – “The Internet is Coming” (Season Five, Episode 1)

9.    Hannibal – “Savoureux” (Season One, Episode 13)

10.                Arrow – “City of Heroes” (Season Two, Episode 1)

Game of Thrones

“Kissed by Fire” (Season Three, Episode 5)

By Beau Thompson

This review contains spoilers about the entirety of Game of Thrones Season Three.

“The Rains of Castamere” is seared into every viewer’s memory for the surprising slaughter of main characters, yet it was “Kissed by Fire” that has just about everything that makes Game of Thrones is such a great show. Sword fights and magic? The episode starts out with a wonderfully coordinated fight sequence between the physically imposing Hound, Sandor Clegane (Rory McCann) and Beric Dondarrion (Richard Dormer), who can magically set his sword aflame. The brutal fight lasts just long enough for us to appreciate the spectacle, then ends with a sudden victory by Clegane and a fatally wounded Dondarrion… Except he gets back up, good as new a few moments later. Game of Thrones is so good at human drama, and plays its magic so close to the chest that it’s a constantly pleasant surprise to see the show become more and more fantastical. Loyalty, honor and oaths are constantly being questioned in this episode, and in true Game of Thrones fashion, there is no right or wrong. We are simply given different characters’ viewpoints and are left to ourselves to make our own judgment.

Jon Snow (Kit Harington) breaks his oath of celibacy to the Night’s Watch for Ygritte (Rose Leslie), but the Night’s Watch is a broken mess of rapists and murderers that killed their own Lord Commander. Robb Stark (Richard Madden) executes his comrade Lord Rickard Karstark (John Stahl) for his treason in executing his Lannister captives, yet Robb himself has broken an oath of his own last season by marrying Talisa (Oona Chaplin) instead of a Frey.

And then there is Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). Wow. This is the real magic of the show. I hated Jaime Lannister with a passion almost from the very beginning of the series. I mean, he throws a little boy from a window because he catches Jaime having sex with his sister! He is repeatedly told to his face again and again that he has no honor for killing the former King of the Iron Throne. And he is the father/uncle of that awful King Joffrey! Yet he has probably saved more people than anyone else has or possibly will in the entire story. In of the most powerfully acted monologues I have ever seen, Coster-Waldau finally shows us the real Jaime that was hidden under a smug smile and cynical words. Maimed, and struggling for consciousness, Jaime shares a bath with Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) and reveals the awful truth that the former King was going to burn the entire population of King’s Landing when it was endanger of being sacked.

The simplicity of the scene is a thing of beauty. A lesser show would simply show us this in a flashback, but that would take away from the relief, and hurt that Jaime reveals in telling the whole truth. The show trusts Coster-Waldau’s acting ability to tell the tale. Game of Thrones’ surprising, brutal deaths, are not easily forgotten, but what elevates it to great storytelling is its long, dialog-heavy scenes that show us characters like Jaime Lannister, and not only eventually come to understand their (sometimes deplorable) actions, but even like them. Nowhere is this more evident than in “Kissed by Fire”.

Beau’s Top 10 Episodes of 2013

1.    Breaking Bad – “Ozymandius” (Season Five, Episode 14)

2.    Spartacus: War of the Damned – “Victory” (Season Three, Episode 10)

3.    Game of Thrones – “Kissed by Fire” (Season Three, Episode 5)

4.    Mad Men – “The Crash” (Season Six, Episode 8)

5.    Breaking Bad – “Felina” (Season Five, Episode 16)

6.    Game of Thrones – “The Rains of Castemere” (Season Three, Episode 9)

7.    Arrested Development – “A New Attitude” (Season Four, Episode 11)

8.    Doctor Who – “Hide” (Season Seven, Episode 10)

9.    Orange is the New Black – “Fucksgiving” (Season One, Episode 9)

10.                Mad Men – “The Flood” (Season Six, Episode 5)

Hannibal

“Buffet Froid” (Season One, Episode 10)

By Pedro Aubry

This is a creepy episode. Creepier than most. And that means a lot given that this is… well… Hannibal. This show follows protagonist Will Graham, a troubled man whose unique cocktail of mental disorders allows him a rare ability (not sure he would call it a gift). Capable of perfectly and completely empathizing with others, he can place himself in another’s point of view entirely and he is uses this to bring crime scenes back to life. He envisions himself as he who commits the heinous and brutal murders and, feeling as the killer feels, gains a unique insight into their personality, hopefully leading to arrest. Of course, with such a hefty load on his psyche, he needs and indeed enlists (though initially not of his own accord) the help of esteemed surgeon-turned-psychologist Dr. Hannibal Lecter. As the show progresses, Will’s psyche becomes stretched to unbelievable limits and, coming back to this specific episode, we start to see true evidence that he indeed near (or has already tipped past) his breaking point. The first episodes of the season rely on shock and awe to grip you to the screen, and amazing performances all around by the four or five main characters (especially the interplay between Will and Hannibal). This episode, however, begins to confirm what we fear to be the inevitable and gets the snowball rolling. In a similar fashion, though the show always has an awkward and uncomfortable aura of impending doom, this episode seems take the emotional distress itself and bring it to the climax for a dreadfully creepy and utterly amazing set up to the terrible things sure to come. To me, then, this episode encompasses all things that this show is about, but you’ll have to watch for yourself to find out.

P.S. Hannibal’s dishes look amazing…. Not sure I’d be able to pass.

Pedro’s Top 10 Episodes of 2013

1.      Spartacus: War of the Damned – “Victory” (Season Three, Episode 10)

2.      Breaking Bad – “Ozymandius” (Season Five, Episode 14)

3.      The Returned – “Camille” (Season One, Episode 1)

4.      Spartacus: War of the Damned – “The Dead and the Dying” (Season Three, Episode 9)

5.      Top Gear – “Africa Special Part 1 & 2” (Season Nineteen, Episodes 6/7)

6.      Mad Men – “In Care Of” (Season Six, Episode 13)

7.      Breaking Bad – “Granite State” (Season Five, Episode 15)

8.      Hannibal – “Buffet Froid” (Season One, Episode 10)

9.      Mad Men – “A Tale of Two Cities” (Season Six, Episode 10)

10.                Hannibal – “Savoureux” (Season One, Episode 13)

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

“Talking to Myself” (Season One, Episode 96)

By Jim Huang

Lizzie Bennet is asking questions.  “I don’t understand Darcy at all,” she says.  She’s learned that William Darcy intervened to protect her younger sister Lydia.  But Darcy hasn’t taken credit, hasn’t contacted her at all.  She wonders what to make of the situation.  She wishes her sister Jane was with her, and she realizes she knows exactly what Jane would say.  She puts a large flower in her hair, and mimics Jane.  And then she mimics what Fitz William would say, though she doesn’t don the ‘fro to impersonate Fitz.  Then she puts on a cap and flower to portray Gigi Darcy, William’s younger sister.  What she realizes is that Darcy doesn’t want her to know that he’s responsible for saving Lydia’s reputation.  But she does know and, she says, “I’m not sure what to do about that … If his good opinion once lost is lost forever, well then we’re right back where we started, I guess.”

It’s Pride and Prejudice — a remarkably faithful Pride and Prejudice, and not just faithful in plot but in every other way too — except that this Lizzie Bennet is very much of our moment, pursing an advanced degree in new media and telling her story in a series of video blogs that she’s creating as a thesis project.  The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, developed by Hank Green and Bernie Su, isn’t just a delightful update of a beloved Jane Austen novel, it is an audacious and brilliant innovation in storytelling, using the internet in all its glory — video, tweets, websites, comments, social media, etc. — to create a totally immersive experience.  The central story unfolds through Lizzie’s 100 video blogs, but there’s lots more — vlogs from Lydia, Gigi and Charlotte Lu’s younger sister, plus Mr. Collins’ company’s videos, a company website and profile for Collins on LinkedIn.  Not to mention lots of tweets from various characters.  It’s a rich universe, and it’s hard to figure out how to wrap your head around it all.  Which is, in part, the point.

So let’s just focus on the central thread of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Lizzie’s 100 video diary entries.  Is the rest just supporting material?  Margin notes?  Advertising?  Fanfic?  Who knows?  Sticking with the main vlog posts also keeps us focused on the part of all this that’s the most like a “show” anyway, and television shows are what we’re supposed to be writing about here.  (Hard to argue that a fake LinkedIn page is television in any way.)  We watched much of Lizzie Bennet on the flatscreen television in the family room — YouTube via AppleTV — so that pretty much counts as television.  (But we also watched episodes on a computer and on an iPad. That’s television too, these days, right?) Let’s just leave all those existential questions to the side.

You all know and cherish the novel so we don’t need to talk about plot. We can focus, instead, on the how the story is told.  The vlog entries are simple and straightforward, Lizzie talks to the camera, three to five minutes a pop, about what’s going on in her life and the lives of those around her.  She’s being assisted in this project by her best friend Charlotte, whom we’re told, is handling all of the editing and technical aspects of the production (though the production values never lag when Lizzie and Charlotte are apart).

The vlogs command attention right from the start because Ashley Clements, who plays Lizzie, is terrific — smart, engaging, lively and earnest.  And the writing is also smart, engaging and lively, as sharply observed and cleverly delivered as you’d expect from Austen herself.  Bits of Austen are quoted and paraphrased — Janeites will recognize Darcy’s line “my good opinion once lost is lost forever” — but this Lizzie has a voice all her own.

The vlogs are more than just Lizzie.  Right from the start, folks barge in on her while she’s filming, and end up sharing what’s going on with them.  When Lizzie needs to tell us what others are saying or when she needs to work things out, she performs a little costume theater.  She enlists Charlotte and others to play various parts. They wear a scarf, a hat, a flower, etc. to indicate characters, and Lizzie usually writes scripts that reenact conversations.  The key to all this, though, is that these little costume dramas aren’t just exposition, they are the vlog version of Austen’s arch and intelligent delivery — devastating, on-target and (usually) affectionate all at the same time.  “Lizzie sees what Lizzie sees,” we hear more than once throughout the series.  These costume theater allows us to see what Lizzie sees.

But the ingenuity of the writers doesn’t stop there.  The writers are keenly aware that this is a new way of telling a story.  This is more than just an epistolary narrative because letters don’t have the same audience as do posts on the internet, and making a video is different from writing a letter.  The series is fully invested in exploring these possibilities, posing questions about how this works and What It All Means.  Bing Lee is among the (many) folks who barge in on Lizzie while she’s filming, but he’s the one person whom Lizzie wants to keep in the dark about the audience for the videos.  She lies and tells him that the videos are just for Charlotte.  Then in episode 29, Lizzie frets over “the ethics of putting Bing in these videos under ‘grey’ pretenses.”  It’s not the only time that Lizzie and company confront questions of what should be filmed and what shouldn’t be, and whom the vlogs are for.  Lucky for us, they’re always erring on the side of filming.  The series does a nice job of showing us how and when the folks around her discover what she’s doing, and the effects of their discoveries.

Episode 80, “Hyper-Mediation in New Media,” is the best exploration of these meta issues, a moment when Lizzie delves into how costume theater helps her figure things out.  “Nothing like a little costume theater to focus the mind,” she says.  But she can’t find anyone to work with her; she’s away from the usual fellow thespians.  So she enlists Darcy, and that leads to a fabulous and funny, self-conscious and self-referential conversation between Lizzie and Darcy about costume theater.  When Lizzie tells Darcy that he will be portraying Darcy and Lizzie will be portraying Lizzie, Darcy observes “you thought that costume theater as ourselves would remind the audience that this isn’t a conversation that we would naturally have but because of that the obviously constructed nature of the scene would by its very artificiality create its own sense of verisimilitude.” Yes, exactly, as counterintuitive as all that sounds.

It all comes together in episode 96, “Talking to Myself.” “My name is Lizzie Bennet, and I don’t understand Darcy at all,” she says. This four minute and twenty second chapter is the series at its best, a tour de force for writer Margaret and for Clements, who is at the top of her game as a Lizzie at her most uncertain and emotional. Lizzie turns to costume theater, but instead of providing the comfort and the answers that she’s seeking, costume theater argues back until she reaches the epiphany that spurs her to take action, to take charge of her life: “Talking to the internet.  Not the same as talking to people.”

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries isn’t like anything we’ve seen before. It’s dazzling new media storytelling. We should be ever sensible of the warmest gratitude towards the persons who showed us the possibilities, and who made it all so engaging and so much fun.

Jim did not have a Top 10 Episodes for 2013.

Mad Men

“In Care Of” (Season Six, Episode 13)

By Nick Rogers

“Peggy, listen to me. Get out of here and move forward. This never happened. It will shock you how much it never happened.”

Narratively, we’re nearly a decade removed from Don Draper’s plea to Peggy Olson after the birth of her illegitimate child. Back then, we thought we knew every anxiety in Don’s own past this endorsement of self-delusion was meant to assuage. But we’ve learned much more about Don, perhaps more than some care to know.

Large swaths of the audience turned on season six — complaining about Don’s newlywed bliss curdling into another adulterous clench or grousing about “The Crash,” a cryptically experimental episode in which the agency inadvertently took speed to soldier on through a weekend of work. They thought they knew everything worth knowing about Don and that the series would repeat ad infinitum until its end. As usual, the ubiquitously complaining “they” were wrong.

The season finale finds fascinating footing from which to venture forth for a seventh, final season — to be split in half because AMC likely fears whatever other Low Winter Suns it has lying in wait. We think we know everything about Don? Here’s a man who, for the first time, understands the value of knowing himself by way of recognition, not reinvention.

Amid this metaphysical subtext, the finale also reminds us how unpredictable, morbid and uproarious its comic asides can often be. Here, Pete Campbell and his fearfully retreating hairline investigate his mother’s mysterious death, likely abetted by shadowy new adman Bob Benson. (“Pete, how are you?” “Not great, Bob!”)

Don begins the episode bleary-eyed after a drunken night in the stir — poaching art director Stan’s plan to move to California to handle the Sunkist account. There, he tells second wife Megan, they can be happy as they were when they got engaged. But over the course of the episode, Don makes a more difficult choice to stay put.

He does it to save his kids, whose love he’s at greater risk of losing than ever after his oldest, Sally, discovers his infidelities. And he also does it to help hapless colleague Ted Chaough, who sees a move to California as a way to save his own family and forcibly end his affair with Peggy.

But Don’s choice comes at a price after a Hershey meeting that’s occupationally disastrous and personally victorious, in which the king of pitches negates his smooth bullshit with a jaggedly authentic tale of his broken childhood and his real mental association with chocolate. The most honest pitch Don has ever made gets him hobbled, perhaps permanently, from the agency he helped to ascend to new heights. It’s a scene powerfully underplayed by Jon Hamm and shrewdly written with aching emotional entendres (“The wrapper looked like what was inside.”)

Whatever catharsis Don finds is bound to be a bleakly beautiful mess. After all, the ground he gains with his kids by showing them the dilapidated whorehouse where he grew up is lost when he jeopardizes Megan’s career by backpedaling on the move. For a man whose selfishness has known no bounds, the first hints of selflessness are inevitably reined in.

But until this moment, unabashed truth has been the only suit Don Draper has been afraid to try on. As we enter the last season, I can’t wait to see how he wears it.

Nick’s Top 10 Episodes of 2013 (aside from “In Care of …”)*

1.    Breaking Bad – “Ozymandius” (Season Five, Episode 14)

2.    The Americans – “Pilot” (Season One, Episode 1)

3.    Hannibal – “Savoureux” (Season One, Episode 13)

4.    Parks and Recreation – “Leslie & Ben/Correspondents Lunch” (Season Five, Episodes 14/15) They aired back to back.

5.    Rectify – “Plato’s Cave” (Season One, Episode 4)

6.    Orange is the New Black – “Tall Men With Feelings” (Season One, Episode 11)

7.    Eastbound and Down – “Chapter 29” (Season Four, Episode 8)

8.    Homeland – “The Star” (Season Three, Episode 12)

9.    Orphan Black – “Variations Under Domestication” (Season One, Episode 6)

10.                Jimmy Kimmel Live – “Jimmy Kimmel Sucks” (January 24, 2013)

* Limited to 10 separate series lest “Breaking Bad” make up an unfair majority

Orange is the New Black

“Bora Bora Bora” (Season One, Episode 10)

By Leigh Montano

For those who don’t know me, I recently moved from Indiana to Florida, something I can’t really recommend because Florida is hot all the time and it is gross. It is taking a lot for me to adjust but one thing I found comfort in was TV. I know that this sounds a bit sad, but it was nice to be able to turn on Netflix and continue watching shows I had watched in Indiana even though I was now 1000 miles away.

Unfortunately because I couldn’t find a job, I was stuck at home all day with not much to do. So I watched Netflix. A lot. Probably more than was healthy. The new TV season hadn’t started yet and I was slowly making my way through every sitcom that Netflix has to offer when I started seeing ads for Orange is the new Black. I was skeptical because I’ve heard mixed reviews of Netflix produced shows but I thought I’d give it a try because I didn’t have anything else to do.

And then I watched the whole season. In 14 hours. I paused for bathroom breaks and to quickly make some food. I didn’t really get hooked into this excitingly original show until “Lesbian Request Denied.” That episode started to show what this whole thing was all about. It wasn’t just going to be some quirky romp about a upper-middle class white girl going to jail, an idea that I rolled my eyes at because uuugh, it was going to talk about people with problems who needed to find a way out and ended up in prison.

And then “Bora Bora Bora” happens. This episode, I feel, is the turning point in the season. Up to this point, the audience deals with these characters who are all kinda heinous and frustrating and then shit goes down and they go from frustratingly terrible to actually terrible. It takes a lot for me to hate a character in a television show or movie or book (Umbridge and Joffrey are pretty much my list) but Orange is the New Black created a whole set of characters that were all in shitty situations and showed how real people would react and guess what, real people are the terrible.

I started my marathon at about 3pm. It was at about 1am that I watched “Bora Bora Bora” and then decided I needed to see what happened to these characters and it couldn’t wait until the morning.

“Bora Bora Bora” took the idea that these are people who just happen to be in a bad situation because of mistakes they made and amplified it. It also showed, without question, that there are consequences because of your actions and sometimes they are really bad, like someone OD’ing on drugs that you gave them. Up to this episode, everyone is on edge, threatening to become worse people and then it all comes to a head like the world’s ugliest pimple. This was the episode that I fell in love with the show. This was the episode that makes me continue to recommend this show to everyone I talk to. This was the episode that made me want to watch the whole season again as soon as I finished it, something that I restrained myself from doing until about a week later.

Leigh’s Top 10 Episodes of 2013

1.    30 Rock – “Last Lunch” (Season Seven, Episode 13)

2.    Parks and Recreation – “Leslie and Ben” (Season Five, Episode 14)

3.    Orange is the New Black – “Bora Bora Bora” (Season One, Episode 10)

4.    Downton Abbey – “Episode Three” (Season Four, Episode 3)

5.    Girls – “On All Fours” (Season Two, Episode 9)

6.    Archer – “Sea Tunt: Part 1” (Season Four, Episode 12)

7.    Bob’s Burgers – “Boyz 4 Now” (Season Three, Episode 21)

8.    The Mindy Project – “You’ve Got Sext” (Season Two, Episode 8)

9.    Happy Endings – “Deuce Babylove 2: Electric Babydeuce” (Season Three, Episode 22)

10.                Don’t Trust the B—– in Apt. 23 – “Using People…” (Season Two, Episode 17)

Orphan Black

“Endless Forms Most Beautiful” (Season One, Episode 10)

By Alex Manzo

In its first season on BBC America, Orphan Black threw us headfirst into a massive conspiracy as a group of clones (played brilliantly by Tatiana Maslany) become self-aware and work together to discover their true origins.

It’s difficult to choose a standout episode from the series so far, but the finale “Endless Forms Most Beautiful” certainly competes for a top spot in my mind if only for the sheer number of jaw dropping moments. This episode does a masterful job of wrapping up a few of the storylines while still providing the audience with new revelations and plenty of mystery going into next season.

The aspect of this episode I love the most is that it reminds us that in spite of everything, the clones are unique women with very different needs, hopes, and desires. Dr. Leekie and his team know that it will take radically different approaches for each clone to get Sarah, Alison, and Cosima to play by their rules.

Of course in the end, their unique personalities and lives doesn’t change the fact that their shared DNA connects every clone. What Cosima and Delphine find in that DNA is what helps send this episode over the top, and what will bring me back as a regular viewer next season.

Alex’s Top 10 Episodes of 2013

1.    Breaking Bad – “Ozymandias” (Season Five, Episode 14)

2.    Breaking Bad – “Felina” (Season Five, Episode 16)

3.    Doctor Who – “The Day of the Doctor” (Season Seven, Episode 15)

4.    Orphan Black – “Endless Forms Most Beautiful” (Season One, Episode 10)

5.    Doctor Who – “The Name of the Doctor” (Season Seven, Episode 14)

6.    Orange is the New Black – “Fucksgiving” (Season One, Episode 9)

7.    Orphan Black – “Natural Selection” (Season One, Episode 1)

8.    Orange is the New Black – “The Chickening” (Season One, Episode 5)

9.    Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – “F.Z.Z.T.” (Season One, Episode 6)

10.                Arrested Development – “Señoritis” (Season Four, Episode 12)

Rectify

“Jacob’s Ladder” (Season One, Episode 6)

 By Ryan Lugar

This year was full of great television. Breaking Bad. Game of Thrones. Hell, even Drunk History was pretty damn good. However, Rectify was the best television show in the entire year of 2013. That’s right Aaron Paul: Breaking Bad won the silver medal. Yes, Breaking Bad had its final season and ended perfectly. Yes, it will most likely win every single Emmy (if the Emmy’s didn’t suck). And YES, we will all miss the show greatly, but Rectify was still better. Rectify, in its six episodes, made its viewers beg for more and become infuriated at the Sundance Channel for not allowing a longer first season. Each shot, each line, each blink by a character is done perfectly and this makes all six episodes perfect. There was no big explosions or any ploy to get more viewers, just pure humanity.

Rectify embraced human emotion more than any other show I have ever seen. There was more said through actions and body language than any amount of dialogue in this show’s opening season. The main character may have said a total of 500 words in 6 episodes, but you can describe him in a million words through his behaviors and reactions to the world around him. The show took a simple concept, in a simple town, with a simple man, and ran wild with it.

Rectify made the audience, myself mostly, really dig down deep to find emotions that I knew not existed. I, and the audience as well, were forced to pick sides in a conflict of which there truly is no winner. You can either root for a man who was accused of rape and murder and put on death row or root for a malicious small town out to get him after he is found innocent after already spending 19 years on death row. I will not say much more about the plot because there is not much more. That is how amazing this show is. I will admit however, there are some big details I am leaving out. So go watch the show! I’m serious don’t read any more of these articles and watch Rectify.

Ryan’s Top 10 Episodes of 2013

1.    Rectify – “Jacob’s Ladder” (Season One, Episode 6)

2.    Breaking Bad – “Ozymandias” (Season Five, Episode 14)

3.    Game of Thrones – “The Rains of Castamere” (Season Three, Episode 9)

4.    Breaking Bad – “Felina” (Season Five, Episode 16)

5.    Rectify – “Always There” (Season One, Episode 1)

6.    Rectify – “Drip, Drip” (Season One, Episode 2)

7.    Drunk Chicago – “Chicago” (Season One, Episode 2)

8.    Breaking Bad – “Rapid Dog” (Season Five, Episode 12)

9.    Game of Thrones – “Walk of Punishment” (Season Three, Episode 3)

10.                Talking Bad – “Felina” (Season One, Episode 8)

The Returned

“Camille” (Season One, Episode 1)

By Kevin Brown

As television dramas develop, we’re witnessing more and more experimentation and stylization, and in 2013, and nothing better encapsulates that evolution than the new French series, Les Revenants (The Returned). The mythology intrigues and the characters compel, but the pilot makes it clear; this show’s about atmosphere.

Watching The Returned is like watching cinematic poetry. Every movement, every conversation, every camera angle compliments the aesthetic of the overall product. Each episode begins by unveiling another character’s past, starting with Camille, a little girl who becomes the victim of a highway bus accident. After the crash and an indefinite forward leap through time, we find her walking down the same road, unharmed. We have no idea how she’s alive, but our inner LOST-junkies are resurrected with her. No more holding our breath for every 15th episode of Once Upon a Time. The next mystical TV saga has arrived.

As the episode segues seamlessly into its chilling opening credits sequence, I’d be remised if I didn’t take a moment to mention the amazing score, composed by Glasgow post-rock legends, Mogwai. Equally epic and esoteric, the droning organ and distorted guitar riffs lay the perfect backdrop for the surrealism to come.

I don’t want to go too much into the plot, partially to avoid spoilers, but the basic premise is that Camille is just one of many, dead or disappeared, that have suddenly returned, rejoining their families as if nothing ever happened. It’s fodder for countless theories, but before we can withdraw to our message boards and water coolers, the episode delivers with a pack of last-minute twists that changes the perspective entirely.

And then there’s the setting itself, a misty mountain community that exists there but for the grace of a nearby dam. The last time the dam broke, the residents lost their town and got a new lake in its place. They built the new town above the lake but the top of the old church steeple still peeks out above the water as a reminder of the sunken ruins, looming below. That alone is creepy as hell.

For those of you who really don’t want to read subtitles, I’m sure it won’t be long before AMC churns out an American version. But, in all honesty, this show isn’t going to be the same in English. At the risk of pulling out the cliché snobbery of “the foreign version was better”, whispering in a Romantic language just makes any line of dialogue feel more poetic. I can’t imagine Colorado having the same mystique.

Network television has been trying to push that separate-yet-connected-people-with-unique-abilities format for almost a decade now, and France, possibly just to spite us, found a way to make that format work. It echoes Twin Peaks and LOST with a tone just slightly more hopeful than Top of the Lake. That being said, The Returned felt like the most original TV I’ve seen all year. It finds a way to be elegant in its gloom, and exhilarating in its introspection. It brings the French subtlety but salvages the levels of suspense we thrive on. You never know what’s coming next, but you always feel like whatever it is, it’s about to happen and it’s going to be huge.

Watch The Returned in what ever state of consciousness you find yourself most perceptive, and I promise, you won’t regret a minute of it.

Kevin’s Top 10 Episodes of 2013

1.    Boardwalk Empire – “Farewell Daddy Blues” (Season Four, Episode 12)

2.    Homeland – “The Star” (Season Three, Episode 12)

3.    The Returned – “Camille” (Season One, Episode 1)

4.    Breaking Bad – “Ozymandias” (Season Five, Episode 14)

5.    Boardwalk Empire – “The Old Ship of Zion” (Season Four, Episode 8)

6.    Broadchurch – “Episode 4” (Season One, Episode 4)

7.    House of Cards – “Chapter 12” (Season One, Episode 12)

8.    Orphan Black – “Instinct” (Season One, Episode 2)

9.    The Fall – “The Vast Abyss” (Season One, Episode 5)

10.                Orange is the New Black – “Can’t Fix Crazy” (Season One, Episode 13)

Rick and Morty

“Pilot” (Season One, Episode 1)

By Austin Lugar

The way I rewatch shows is when I find something that I’m so excited about that I have to show it to everyone. There hasn’t been a comedy pilot that has done that to me like this since the Community pilot. Dan Harmon also has a say in this one, which is clear from the show’s commentary on its own structure. Yet the real joy of this pilot is the limitless insanity. By putting a twist on the Back to the Future/Doctor Who formula, Rick regularly endangers his grandson through his drunken and dangerous scientific experiments through different universes. Instead of commending this Doc Brown figure, we are forever worried about how ruined Morty is, all with hilarious consequences.

In the scene to introduce the characters, Rick wakes up Morty, spills alcohol all over his bed, throws him into a homemade spaceship with a surprise that he’s going to blow up humanity. But he’ll pick up that girl he likes in school and he promises that he won’t try to make a move on her. That’s about a minute in. The episode continues to go down insane paths involving inter-dimensional customs, horse heart surgeries and casually murdering a high school bully. There seems to be a plethora of imagination at a breakneck speed. It’s one of the darkest shows on the air and for some messed up reason that only keeps making it funnier. Here’s to Rick and Morty for 100 years!

Austin’s Top 10 Episodes of 2013

1.    Breaking Bad – “Ozymandias” (Season Five, Episode 14)

2.    Spartacus: War of the Damned – “Victory” (Season Three, Episode 10)

3.    Doctor Who – “The Day of the Doctor” (Season Seven, Episode 15)

4.    Hannibal – “Buffet Froid” (Season One, Episode 10)

5.    Game of Thrones – “Walk of Punishment” (Season Three, Episode 3)

6.    Justified – “Decoy” (Season Four, Episode 10)

7.    Mad Men – “In Care Of” (Season Six, Episode 13)

8.    Breaking Bad – “Granite State” (Season Five, Episode 15)

9.    The League – “Rafi and Dirty Randy” (Season Four, Episode 4)

10.                Arrested Development – “Flight of the Phoenix” (Season Four, Episode 1)

Honorable mentions: 30 Rock’s “A Good’s Deed in a Weary World”, Black Mirror’s “Be Right Back”, Bunhead’s “Next!”, Doctor Who’s “Hide”, Game of Thrones’ “The Rains of Castamere”, Happy Endings’ “The Marry Prankster”, The IT Crowd’s “The Internet is Coming”, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s “The Gang Saves the Day”, Masters of Sex’s “Standard Deviation”, Misfit’s “Episode One”, Nathan For You’s “Santa / Petting Zoo”, Parks and Recreation’s “Two Parties”, Rectify’s “Drip, Drip”, Rick and Morty’s “Pilot”, and Veep’s “Running”.

Spartacus: War of the Damned

“Victory” (Season Three, Episode 10)

By Claudia Johnson

This article contains spoilers for the series finale of Spartacus.

We knew it would happen eventually, but it still hurt. Spartacus ended after 3 seasons and a mini series, with a finale that did not disappoint. Some historical shows and movies are predictable and boring but not Spartacus. The writers did a phenomenal job of taking what we already know and making it heart wrenching and emotional. Viewers, like myself, would forget that we know what happens to Spartacus in the end. The final episode showed Spartacus as the legend we all know. And just like what occurred in history, Spartacus is killed.

Of the whole episode there are two scenes that standout the most to me. The first is the love scene between Gannicus and Saxa. Gannicus found true love with Saxa. It was beautiful to see their love before the end of Gannicus’ life. The other scene that stood out is the last scene, the credits. A montage of all the characters throughout the series played under the credits. As each person came on the screen memories of their role and how great the show was flooded my mind. The very last moment is with Andy Whitfield, who played Spartacus in the first season before he died of cancer, yelling “I am Spartacus”.

Claudia’s Top 10 Episodes of 2013

1.    Game of Thrones – “And Now His Watch Is Ended” (Season Three, Episode 4)

2.    Game of Thrones – “The Rains of Castamere” (Season Three, Episode 9)

3.    Game of Thrones – “Kissed By Fire” (Season Three, Episode 5)

4.    Psych – “Right Turn or Left For The Dead” (Season Seven, Episode 8)

5.    Orange is the New Black – “Can’t Fix Crazy” (Season One, Episode 13)

6.    Orange is the New Black – “Fool Me Once” (Season One, Episode 12)

7.    The Americans – “Trust Me” (Season One, Episode 6)

8.    The Real Husbands of Hollywood – “Auf Wiedersehen, Mitches” (Season One, Episode 6)

9.    Spartacus – “Victory” (Season Three, Episode 10)

10.                American Horror Story: Asylum – “The Name Game” (Season Two, Episode 10)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

“Parasitica” (Season One, Episode 23)

By Josh West

There is a mixed bag when it comes to reviews of Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. There are those who like it, and then there are those who:

– don’t like it because of the animation style

– don’t like it because the turtles are too childish

– don’t like it because its too goofy

– don’t like it because its not dark enough

The people who don’t like it are looking at it from a logical, critical point of view. What everyone needs to do is look at it thought my eyes, the eyes of 8 year old me who loves everything ninja, turtle, mutant, and teenage. Every time I watch an episode of this show I am taken back to when I was a child. I laugh at all of the stupid jokes, I gasp at all the shocking moments, and I get scared for my favorite ninja team whenever it looks like they are about to lose. Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is not the most groundbreaking, prettiest funniest, or darkest Ninja Turtles adaptation but it is MY ninja turtles.

The episode I have chosen is called “Parasitica” from season one. In this episode a mutated wasp stings Leo during a fight. After killing the wasp, the team finds its egg and decides to bring it back to the lair. While sitting around watching a hilarious in-show spoof of Star Trek the Animated Series, Leo decides he needs to wipe out the egg before anything bad happens. Just when he is about to take it out, his eye glaze over and he stops. Raph has the same idea later, but Leo begins fighting Raph protecting the egg. Leo bites him and Raph’s eyes also glaze over. Donnie hears the two fighting and investigates. The duo team up to fight Donnie. In the middle of the skirmish Donnie gets bit. Realizing his limited time, Donatello turns to his only hope, Michelangelo and tells him how to create a cure. Donnie glazes over and Mikey now has to fight off his brothers and also try create the cure. Mikey gets bit and passes out. I won’t tell you how this one ends. I will however say that the writers totally make me love Michelangelo more and more each episode.

Josh’s Top 10 Episodes of 2013

1.    Doctor Who – “The Day of the Doctor” (Season Seven, Episode 15)

2.    Breaking Bad – “Felina” (Season Five, Episode 16)

3.    The Walking Dead – “Too Far Gone” (Season Four, Episode 8)

4.    Pokémon Origins – “Cubone” (Season One, Episode 2)

5.    Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – “Mutagen Man Unleashed” (Season Two, Episode 4)

6.    How I Met Your Mother – “The Final Page Part 1” (Season Nine, Episode 11)

7.    How I Met Your Mother – “The Final Page Part 2” (Season Nine, Episode 12)

8.    Doctor Who – “Nightmare in Silver” (Season Seven, Episode 13)

9.    Orange is the New Black – “Moscow Mule” (Season One, Episode 8)

10.                Girls – “Boys” (Season Two, Episode 6)

 Top of the Lake

“Episode 1” (Season One, Episode 1)

By J.C. Pankratz

In the first scene of Jane Campion’s Top of the Lake, we watch a twelve-year-old walk with slow and terrible purpose into an ice-cold lake. We cannot stop her, and after learning why she tried–she’s pregnant and cannot reveal the father–we know she’s out of choices.

Top of the Lake perfectly captures the constant back-and-forth of the helplessness and rage of a community held tight by men’s violence towards women. The seven episode miniseries pulls you headlong into the dark, guarded world of the small town of Lake Top during the investigation of the statutory rape and kidnapping of a pregnant twelve-year-old named Tui. Gorgeous shots of the New Zealand landscape in soft, watery blues and grays blanket the terse drama with a still, quiet calm, but it only serves as a stark foil to the town’s shocking, pain-filled history.

Elizabeth Moss shines as a detective and prodigal daughter returning to her hometown–first to find Tui’s rapist, and then to find Tui herself after she disappears. Her search unearths not only her own past but turns the entire town on its gritty head. There’s nothing left to hide and nowhere is safe. By the end of the series, we realize the sloping mountains and deep lakes are no longer beautiful terraforms, but the bars of the wretched cage Lake Top is for those who live there.

J.C.’s Top 10 Episodes of 2013

1.    Masters of Sex – “Catherine” (Season One, Episode 5)

2.    Game of Thrones – “Kissed by Fire” (Season Three, Episode 5)

3.    Archer – “Live and Let Dine” (Season Four, Episode 7)

4.    Top of the Lake – “Episode 1” and “Episode 5” (Season One, Episodes 1/5)

5.    Breaking Bad – “Blood Money” (Season Five, Episode 9)

6.    Moone Boy – “Dark Side of the Moone” (Season One, Episode 4)

7.    Orange is the New Black – “Bora Bora Bora” (Season One, Episode 10)

8.    Broadchurch – “Episode 5” (Season One, Episode 5)

9.    Community – “Basic Human Anatomy” (Season Four, Episode 11)

10.                Hannibal – “Rôti” (Season One, Episode 11)

Veep

“Running” (Season Two, Episode 9)

By Rachael Clark

Never has a show made me laugh out loud as much as this episode of Veep. What makes this show great is that the entire ensemble is brilliant. The chemistry between everyone seems effortless that you wonder how much of the show is scripted and adlibbed. This episode revolves around Vice President Selina Meyer accidentally running into a glass door giving her cuts all over her face. Her depression medication is mixed with some “Saint Johns” medicine causes her to get a nice high. While barricaded in a hotel room, her team has to figure out how to present a doped up vice president mixed with messed up face to the public.

The witty comebacks and complete lack of interest of anybody else in the room except their own is a great combination for satirical comedy. Where else are you going hear, “Knock, knock, J-rock the clock, I’m here to boom service. As a senior white house official, I am commandeering the situation.” Or, “There are going to be difficult choices to make, like ‘Sophie’s Choice,’ choices except for more important because they’re going to be about me.” They are all incredibly smart people, but sometimes make stupid decisions for their own good and it ends up biting them in the ass later, which makes for great television.

The only selfless person in the show is Gary, Selina’s assistant/bag man, who really stands out in this episode. His adoration for Selina is creepy and he probably knows too much about her personal life. Tony Hale’s portrayal of Gary is wonderful. He makes Gary one of the most pathetic people you have ever seen and you wonder how he even stumbled upon this job in the first place. His awkwardness with every other character only adds to each scene.

Even though each one of these people are pretty deplorable, except for Sue the awesome secretary, you want to see each one of them succeed and you can’t wait to hear what snarky comeback they have stored ready for use. The end of the episode takes a pretty interesting turn, especially for a show that is titled, Veep. I’ll leave it at that!

Rachael’s Top 10 Episodes of 2013

1.    Breaking Bad – “Ozymandias” (Season Five, Episode 14)

2.    Game of Thrones – “The Rains of Castmere” (Season Three, Episode 9)

3.    Orphan Black – “Variations Under Domestication” (Season One, Episode 6)

4.    Doctor Who – “The Day of the Doctor” (Season Seven, Episode 15)

5.    Orange is the New Black – “The Chickening” (Season One, Episode 5)

6.    Parks and Recreation – “Jerry’s Retirement” (Season Five, Episode 20)

7.    Veep – “Running” (Season Two, Episode 9)

8.    Game of Thrones – “The Bear and the Maiden Fair” (Season Three, Episode 7)

9.    30 Rock – “Last Lunch” (Season Seven, Episode 13)

10.                American Horror Story: Asylum – “Madness Ends” (Season Two, Episode 13)

Vice

“The Hermit Kingdom” (Season One, Episode 10)

By Dennis Sullivan

I guess we should have seen this coming. I mean, c’mon. This year ends in the number 13 for crying out loud. Of course it was going to be unlucky and ridiculous for a number of our favorite beloved characters. It may have not been a great year for the Starks, Whites, or Drapers, but their misery was our entertainment. Viewers have been rewarded with absolutely amazing storylines, superb acting and jaw-dropping moments that stick with you long after the show ends. However, the show that continuously shocked and challenged me the most this year wasn’t written by a top-notch staff. In fact, it wasn’t written at all.

It was Vice, a documentary series on HBO that proved once again that the truth is, indeed, stranger than fiction. Already a popular online magazine and multi-media company, I was ecstatic to learn that Vice and HBO were teaming up. Their website already has a slew of successful videos from throughout the world exploring everything from lesser known subcultures to dangerous political climates and warzones. Their new show is no exception. Each week, Vice took viewers to different locations around the world to explore the absurdity of the human condition. Topics ranged from the motivations behind child suicide bombers in Afghanistan to the insanity of dating in modern day China thanks to the one-child policy to the lives of Nigerian Oil Pirates.

Vice correspondents get involved with their stories at times, like when they snuck out of North Korea with some defectors or when they trained to participate in Senegal’s national sport: Laamb Wrestling. They toured with Filipino politicians constantly under the threat of assassination, explored the reasons behind Chicago’s increased violence in an area colloquially known as Chiraq, and spent time hanging out along the most dangerous border in the world. However, the most fascinating journey is the one that made international headlines. It’s called “Basketball Diplomacy.”

So here’s the story: The Harlem Globetrotters and Vice went to North Korea to play a friendly game of basketball with North Korea’s top team for, what I can only assume is, Kim Jong-Un’s amusement. The team awkwardly tours the country before meeting up at a stadium, doing a schoolyard style draft pick that mixes the two teams, and then play ball. Also, Dennis Rodman is there, chilling next to Dear Leader himself. Turns out Jong-Un is a huge Bulls fan. Rodman gives a speech resembling something diplomatic, but is still wince-worthy. After the game, the teams change and they find themselves whisked away to an unknown location where Kim Jong-Un is waiting to meet and eat with them. So the Harlem Globetrotters, Dennis Rodman, and the Vice team become the first Americans to meet with the dictator. Yup. They’re as close to ambassadors as the United States has.

It’s a plot so ridiculous that any written TV show would be heavily accused of jumping the shark. It’s a ridiculous albeit fascinating story. You can see the looks of bewilderment on the correspondents’ faces and experience the zaniness alongside them. Each episode of Vice feels like your friends from the bar grabbed a camera crew and went on an adventure that challenges perceptions of normalcy and justice in today’s growing global society. It is a refreshing change of pace to realize a show depicting reality doesn’t have lower the bar for televised standards, but can actually raise it.

Top 10 TV Episodes of 2013

1.    Game of Thrones – “The Rains of Castmere” (Season Three, Episode 9)

2.    Breaking Bad – “Ozymandias” (Season Five, Episode 14)

3.    Vice – “The Hermit Kingdom” (Season One, Episode 10)

4.    The IT Crowd – “The Internet is Coming” (Season Five, Episode 1)

5.    The League – “Rafi and Dirty Randy” (Season Four, Episode 4)

6.    Orange is the New Black – “Bora Bora Bora” (Season One, Episode 10)

7.    Black Mirror – “White Bear” (Season Two, Episode 2)

8.    Scandal – “Nobody Likes Babies” (Season Two, Episode 13)

9.    Rectify – “Always There” (Season One, Episode 1)

10.                Mad Men – “In Care Of” (Season Six, Episode 13)

Special shout outs to “Gas Station/Caricature Artist” (Nathan for You), “Take the Ride, Pay the Toll” (The Bridge), “Shutdown” (Veep), “A Goon’s Dead in a Weary World” (30 Rock), “Camille” (The Returned), “The Gang Saves the Day” (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), South Park’s “Game of Thrones” 3-part parody, and every episode of House of Cards.

The Walking Dead

“This Sorrowful Life” (Season Three, Episode 15)

By Tim Irwin

I’m at a bit of a disadvantage here; I watch very few recurring shows on television, and those I do watch I tend to watch a year or two behind new broadcasts. For instance, I’m only caught up on The Walking Dead through Season Three, meaning that for the purposes of this I am not permitted to include the best episode of Season Three, “Killer Within”, and have not yet seen any of Season Four. Thanks to Netflix, however, I’ve also seen House of Cards and the newest season of Arrested Development. This year, too, I was introduced to Hannibal thanks to the strong recommendations of some friends, and have managed to watch the entire first season.

I’ve loved The Walking Dead since the second half of the second season (I only kept watching after the mediocre first season and poor first half of the second season because I love the atmosphere and setting of the show). Season Three is continuously enjoyable, however, and the aforementioned Episode 4 contains one of the most brutal moments I’ve seen in a television show. The last couple of episodes are very fun, and even though the actual finale doesn’t contain much in the way of a climax, the darkest side of The Governor finally appears and Rick’s gang rallies together in a meaningful way. One of my favorite episodes, however, is Episode 5, “This Sorrowful Life.”

In this penultimate episode of Season 3, Rick’s occasional wishy-washiness has severe consequences regarding Michonne’s fate. Merle decides to take matters into his own hands, as viewers will have expected him to do; this time, however, there are surprising motives behind his actions. Merle and Daryl’s relationship plays out in emotionally satisfying ways, leading to perhaps the second saddest moments of the season. And, as a result of Merle’s actions, Rick decides to finally change the way he deals with his gang. All of it leads to the somewhat climactic events of the season finale, and I’m curious where the show will go in Season Four. “This Sorrowful Life” stands out in a television season that has been the one I most enjoy bingeing on.

1.    Hannibal – “Fromage” (Season One, Episode 8)

2.    House of Cards – “Chapter 11” (Season One, Episode 11)

3.    Hannibal – “Savoureux” (Season One, Episode 13)

4.    The Walking Dead – “This Sorrowful Life” (Season Three, Episode 15)

5.    Hannibal – “Relevés” (Season One, Episode 12)

6.    The Walking Dead – “Welcome to the Tombs” (Season Three, Episode 16)

7.    Arrested Development – “Blockheads” (Season Four, Episode 15)

8.    Hannibal – “Buffet Froid” (Season One, Episode 10)

9.    The Walking Dead – “Clear” (Season Three, Episode 12)

10.                House of Cards – “Chapter 13” (Season One, Episode 13)

The Group’s Top 10 List

Using a simple point system where a person’s #1 pick gets 10 points, #2 gets 9 and so on, here are the ten episodes of 2013 that received the most points from these 23 Top 10 lists.

1.    Breaking Bad – “Ozymandias” (Season Five, Episode 14) (133 points)

2.    Doctor Who – “The Day of the Doctor” (Season Seven, Episode 15) (74 points)

3.    Game of Thrones – “The Rains of Castamere” (Season Three, Episode 9) (71 points)

4.    Breaking Bad – “Felina” (Season Five, Episode 16) (51 points)

5.    Doctor Who – “The Name of the Doctor” (Season Seven, Episode 14) (35 points)

6.    Game of Thrones – “Kissed by Fire” (Season Three, Episode 5 points) (30 points)

7.    Spartacus: War of the Damned – “Victory” (Season Three, Episode 10) (30 points.

8.    Breaking Bad – “Granite State” (Season Five, Episode 15) (26 points)

9.    Hannibal – “Savoureux” (Season One, Episode 13) (19 points)

10.                Justified – “Decoy” (Season Four, Episode 10) (18 points)

·       65 different shows were mentioned on a Top 10 list.

·       136 different episodes were mentioned in a Top 10 list.

·       “Ozymandias” was on 15 out of the 23 Top 10 lists.

·       Seven different series finales were on a Top 10 list.

·       All eight episodes of Breaking Bad Season Five Part Two were on a Top 10 list.

·       7/10 episodes of Game of Thrones Season Three were on a Top 10 list.

·       2/3 episodes of Black Mirror Season Two were on a Top 10 list.

·       4/6 episodes of Rectify Season One were on a Top 10 list.

·       5/9 episodes of Doctor Who Season Seven were on a Top 10 list.

·       5/10 episodes of Orphan Black Season One were on a Top 10 list.

·       7/13 episodes of Orange is the New Black Season One were on a Top 10 list.

·       6/13 episodes of Hannibal Season One were on a Top 10 list.

Best Episodes of 2012

One of the reasons why I like television so much is that it feels more communal than any other form of entertainment. Usually walking out of a movie, my friends don’t like to talk about it as much but if they finished a season of a show they need someone to talk to. So once again, I have recruited my friends to talk about their favorite episodes of 2012. Below you will see a wide range of opinions and writing styles which makes it all the more fun.

Small warning, there is occasional foul language and in one circumstance a lot of foul language. Most of the time, the author is vague about what happens in the episode or season, but in cases where that is not true, a spoiler warning is attached.

At the very end of this very long article, check out what episodes occurred the most Top 10 lists as I formulated the results of everyone’s picks.

Archer

“The Man From Jupiter” (Season Three, Episode 4)

By Ryan Lugar

Burt and Ernie. Buzz and Woody. Cheech and Chong. These are some of the most dynamic duos over the course of history, but they all fall second to one last duo. A duo that can do no wrong, in all the wrong ways. I am of course referring to Sterling Archer and Burt Reynolds. The combination of Archer’s black turtleneck and Burt Reynolds’ amazing moustache cannot fail.

Archer does it again with it’s fourth episode of Season Three: “The Man From Jupiter”. Archer’s wide range of emotions bounces around after he realizes his childhood hero, Burt Reynolds, is dating his mother. So, Archer does the only reasonable thing and kidnaps Burt Reynolds and leaves a fake note saying Burt left Archer’s mother for a younger woman. I don’t want to describe the episode in any more depth to avoid spoilers, but I will say the episode involves a Cuban hit squad.

Also, this episode starts the beginning of the best 5-second joke ever, Archer’s elaborate voicemail hoaxes. These season-long jokes are the funniest thing to happen to the show since Archer’s three greatest fears are revealed. This episode sets the bar very high (which it exceeds) for Season Three and leaves nothing off limits since BURT REYNOLDS leads a car chase!

With Archer being the man of all men and Burt Reynolds being the man Archer has always dreamed to be, it is hard to not call ‘The Man From Jupiter” the best episode of the season and all of television.

Ryan’s Top 10 Episodes of 2012

1.Archer – “The Man From Jupiter” (Season Three, Episode 4)
2. Game of Thrones – “Valar Morghulis” (Season Two, Episode 10)
3. The Newsroom – “We Just Decided To” (Season One, Episode 1)
4. Game of Thrones – “A Man Without Honor” (Season Two, Episode 7)
5. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia – “The Gang Recycles Their Trash” (Season Eight, Episode 2)
6. The Life and Times of Tim – “Action-Packed Heist/Fall Foliage” (Season Three, Episode 8)
7. Game of Thrones – “Garden of Bones” (Season Two, Episode 4)
8. Archer – “Space Race: Part 1” (Season Three, Episode 12)
9. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia – “The Gang Gets Analyzed” (Season Eight, Episode 5)
10. Community – “Pillows and Blankets” (Season Three, Episode 14)

Breaking Bad

“Dead Freight” (Season Five, Episode 5)

By Beau Thompson

[There are plot spoilers for what happens in this episode of Breaking Bad.]

And I always thought spiders would be the scariest thing to find in the desert. It is with surprise that in the middle of the darkest season yet of Breaking Bad comes the heist episode “Dead Freight.” In an attempt to continue their meth business, Walt (Bryn Cranston), Jesse (Aaron Paul), and Mike (Jonathan Banks) plan to rob a train full of methylamine… Wait for it… Without hijacking it, or being discovered by the train engineers. Now that’s more like it, Mr. White.

In only 47 minutes time, we are shown the planning of the heist, the preparation, the execution, and the execution. (More on that in a bit.) It is to the show’s credit that these scenes do not feel rushed. Instead of getting us immediately to the heist, we see scenes of Walt, Jesse, and Mike discussing their options. We see them digging a big hole underneath a train track in the middle of the desert. We see them bring in Todd (Jesse Plemons) to help in the heist and bang it into his head that no one can ever know about it.

For a show known for it’s dark humor, Breaking Bad outdoes itself. From the trio discussing whether they should kill a business partner that they think betrayed them while this partner is in the same room in ear shot, to Saul Goodman’s hired gun Kuby (Bill Burr) attempting to stall the train engineers when he gets his truck to “shut down” in the middle of the train tracks, allowing Jesse and Todd to climb aboard the train and begin the heist that, of course, doesn’t go according to plan, and the show does a great job of balancing the tension with the humor. Can we not watch this scene and not recall the misadventure of the early seasons when Walt and Jesse were trying to cook meth in their RV?

However, the humor is only a set-up for what is to come. After successfully robbing the train of it’s methylamine, the group notice that a young boy-not yet a teenager-has witnessed the whole heist. Todd takes out his gun and kills him.

This is the catalyst for the rest of the season. Walt and Jesse had their share of problems in dealing with external factors, like drug distributors, but the episodes when they were on their own, just making their product, it seemed so harmless, like they could do no harm. This episode takes our nostalgia of those episodes and uses it to show us the harsh reality that nothing will ever be that simple again. Walt and Jesse’s actions have left a boy dead in the desert. Look how far they have come.

Beau’s Top 10 Episodes of 201

1.Breaking Bad – “Dead Freight” (Season Five, Episode 5)
2. Sherlock – “A Scandal in Belgravia” (Season Two, Episode 1)
3. Mad Men – “Signal 30” (Season Five, Episode 5)
4. Game of Thrones – “A Man Without Honor” (Season Two, Episode 7)
5. Spartacus: Vengeance – “Libertus” (Season Two, Episode 5)
6. Sherlock – “The Reichenbach Fall” (Season Two, Episode 3)
7. Breaking Bad – “Fifty-One” (Season Five, Episode 4)
8. Parks and Recreation – “The Comeback Kid” (Season Four, Episode 11)
9. Spartacus: Vengance – “Wrath of the Gods” (Season Two, Episode 10)
10. Game of Thrones – “Blackwater” (Season Two, Episode 9)

Call the Midwife

“We Are Family” (Season One, Episode 5)

By Larry D. Sweazy

I was prepared not like Call the Midwife, but I have some British friends who assured me I’d like it. Out of respect for them, I took a look. By the end of the first episode, I was hooked because of the great writing, unforgettable stories, and the willingness to look at difficult subjects squarely in the eye, with a stark dose of honesty that’s rare for something shown on American TV, during primetime.

The series concerns a newly-qualified midwife, Jenny Lee, who comes to a religious order’s house of nuns, when she had been expecting to be placed in a hospital. It’s 1957, but there are still signs of the war in the working-class section of the East End. Jenny is naïve, not without her own set of troubles, and is wholly unprepared for the poverty, and unfolding dramas, that she faces in her new capacity.

I like episodic television, and I’m not opposed to a soap-opera feel if it’s handled correctly, which in Call the Midwife, it is. The writers peel back the story like an onion, layer by layer, exposing Jenny and her fellow midwives and nuns as fully developed characters, who have loved and lost, or are in the process of losing their innocence, in one way or another, always with solid emotional direction that makes perfect sense. The writing is really top-notch.

By the time Episode #5 rolled around, I was fully involved in the Jenny’s life, why she was spurning a nice enough beau, Jimmy, and curious at what her lingering secret was. But it was Peggy’s secret that was the heart of this, my favorite, episode. Peggy was a cleaner at the house, and when her brother, Frank, fell ill she turned to the nuns and Jenny Lee for help. Peggy and Frank had been raised in a work-house (think Dickens), and Frank had no use for anything institutional, so a hospital visit was out of the question for him. As it turned out, Frank had pancreatic cancer, so there really wasn’t much they could do for him, but keep him comfortable. Jenny and one of the nuns, Sister Julienne, took to doctoring Frank, and it was then that Jenny learned that there was only one bedroom in the house that Peggy and Frank shared. Peggy and Frank lived as man and wife, sharing the one bed. Incest is a rare subject for television, and it was handled maturely and without judgment by Sister Julienne, but not by Jenny—at first. All the while, Fred the handyman was set on making some extra money by raising pigs at the convent, which provided an nice offset of comedy relief to such a deep, and difficult subject.

“Dogs look up to us, cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals,” Sister Monica Joan said in one of the many memorable scenes of Episode #5…

By the time the end of the season rolled around, I was cheering for Chummy and her on-again, off-again romance with Peter Noakes, and thoroughly concerned for the welfare of Sister Monica Joan as she slowly declined into dementia. As well as Jenny Lee’s continued journey toward maturity and honesty. To put it simply: The characters of this show had become like family to me. I cared about what happened to them long after the television was turned off. It doesn’t get any better than that, as far as I’m concerned.

Larry’s Top 10 Episodes of 2012

1.Call the Midwife – “We Are Family” (Season One, Episode 5)
2. Game of Thrones – “Blackwater” (Season Two, Episode 9)
3. Justified – “The Gunfighter” (Season Three, Episode 1)
4. Justified – “Thick as Mud” (Season Three, Episode 5)
5. Call the Midwife – “Baby Snatcher” (Season One, Episode 4)
6. Game of Thrones – “A Man Without Honor” (Season Two, Episode 7)
7. Wilfred – “Progress” (Season Two, Episode 1)
8. Top Gear – “Series 18, Episode 1” (Season Eighteen, Episode 1)
9. Call the Midwife – “The Adventures of Noakes and Browne” (Season One, Episode 6)
10. Justified – “Slaughterhouse” (Season Three, Episode 13)

Community

“Pillows and Blankets” (Season Three, Episode 14)

By Keith Jackson

Community has been off the air so long that I keep forgetting it’s coming back for a fourth season. The fact it’s even returning (sans showrunner Dan Harmon) is astounding, considering the tone of much of Season Three. Despite starting by saying, “we’re gonna have more fun and be less weird”–promising to appeal to the masses–there was always the unspoken through line of “we’re going to go all-out, masses be damned”. And as the second part of the season progressed and things started to break apart, tumbling toward the series’ (assumed) end, an unprecedented amount of heart prevailed.

Of course, Community is renowned for its “stunt” episodes, and Season Three had plenty of great ones. One such episode was “Pillows and Blankets”, the second in a two-parter that pit best friends Troy and Abed against each other for school-wide linen superiority. All of this was presented as a Ken Burns documentary, because why not? Through an array of media (some of which contributed by Britta’s, uh, talents) the show portrays this epic battle without a hint of insincerity. In the end, it comes to a heartwarming conclusion, in its own silly yet grounded way. It speaks a lot of how Community is as a whole: wacky, yet able to reflect on reality in a poignant honesty.

Keith’s Top 10 Episodes of 2012

1.Sherlock – “The Reichenbach Fall” (Season Two, Episode 3)
2. Breaking Bad – “Dead Freight” (Season Five, Episode 5)
3. Community – “Pillows and Blankets” (Season Three, Episode 14)
4. Community – “Basic Lupine Urology” (Season Three, Episode 17)
5. Parks and Recreation – “The Debate” (Season Four, Episode 20)
6. Parks and Recreation – “Halloween Surprise” (Season Five, Episode 5)
7. Parks and Recreation – “Ron and Diane” (Season Five, Episode 9)
8. Doctor Who – “The Angels Take Manhattan” (Season Seven, Episode 5)
9. New Girl – “Fluffer” (Season Two, Episode 3)
10. 30 Rock – “Stride of Pride” (Season Seven, Episode 3)

Doctor Who

“A Town Called Mercy” (Season Seven, Episode 3)

By Robbie Mehling

Can good deeds done in the present make up for terrible deeds done in the past? This is the issue the Doctor and Ponds must face in “A Town Called Mercy.” Hidden in a small western town is an alien doctor (Jex, not our Doctor) who is guilty of war crimes but has since helped save the town. A remnant of Jex’s crimes is out to bring justice, no matter what cost.

The opening narration describes a man who has lived forever, heavy with all that he had seen, and had fallen from the stars. This description can fit multiple people in this episode and is a beautiful way to start out the episode. This episode features some excellent acting from our regulars and guest cast along with a horse named Susan, a stunning western setting, and some excellent cinematography. It is truly a well-shot episode.

My favorite part of any Doctor Who episode is seeing how the Doctor reacts to the tragic moments around him and this episode truly pushes the Doctor to the limits of his ability to forgive. I loved seeing the Doctor and Ponds on different side of the arguments and what makes them change their minds.

Robbie’s Top 10 Episodes of 2012

1. Doctor Who – “A Town Called Mercy” (Season Seven, Episode 3)
2. Game of Thrones – “Blackwater” (Season Two, Episode 9)
3. Breaking Bad – “Dead Freight” (Season Five, Episode 5)
4. Doctor Who – “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” (Season Seven, Episode 2)
5. Downton Abbey – “Episode 5” (Season Three, Episode 5)
6. Doctor Who – “Asylum of the Daleks” (Season Seven, Episode 1)
7. Breaking Bad – “Gliding Over All” (Season Five, Episode 8)
8. Game of Thrones – “Valar Morghulis” (Season Two, Episode 10)
9. 60 Minutes – “The Death and Life of Asheboro, Stealing History, The Face of the Franchise” (Season Forty-Five, Episode 5)
10. 60 Minutes – “The False Confession Capital, The Race to Save the Tortoise, Hugh Jackman” (Season Forty-Five, Episode 11)

Downton Abbey

“Episode 5” (Season Three, Episode 5)

By Leigh Montano

I’m not one to cry at movies or books or television shows. Most of the time, I just don’t see the point. The amount of caring that I have about the characters lasts for that half hour or hour-long program and then I move on with my life. I rarely yearn for the next episode or don’t think twice about hitting “next” on Netflix. All of that changed with Downton Abbey.

There is an effort with this show that isn’t seen with your weekly sitcom or your carbon copy crime drama. It has actors and writers and directors who care about the characters they create and as such makes the viewer care about them as well. I don’t really care if Gloria has a boy or a girl this season or if Alex and Dave stay together or if Watson and Holmes sleep together (okay, no I do care about that but I needed to make a point).  Downton Abbey changed that.

I am trying my best to stay spoiler free but it is hard to talk about the most emotional episode of television this year without spoiling a bit.

I sobbed. Outright, chest rattling, gasping, snot all over, ugly face sobs. Sobs that I hadn’t experienced since I read Dumbledore’s funeral. The last 15 minutes of this episode are edited in such a way that once I thought I had control over myself again, something else was said and it started all over. It wasn’t a happy cry like I experienced when Anna and Mr. Bates were married or when Mathew and Mary finally kissed or a sad cry like when William died. No, I cried as if someone in my own family had died.

My brother came to visit the next weekend after that episode premiered and I made him watch it with me. Never mind he hadn’t seen the rest of the season or that I had already seen it, I made him watch it. And we sobbed together.

The most believable and gut-wrenching moment was from Dame Maggie Smith. It might be because I had compared her to my grandmother before that her momentary pause made me sob all over again but I think that that short moment, that stop she had in the hallway that was so brief, showed the audience so much emotion and character that many others wouldn’t be able to convey.  This is a show that is driven by small glances and sideways looks, but this small glimpse at a single character’s emotions because of a stumble in her stride could sum up this entire show for me.  Everyone argues with me about what the best show on television right now, and I even argue with myself, but Downton Abbey is always in the top two. This episode is why.

Leigh’s Top 10 Episodes of 2012

1.Downton Abbey – “Episode 5” (Season Three, Episode 5)
2. Sherlock – “The Reichenbach Fall” (Season Two, Episode 3)
3. 30 Rock – “Murphy Brown Lied to Us” (Season Six, Episode 18)
4. Parks and Recreation – “Win, Lose or Draw” (Season Four, Episode 22)
5. Call the Midwife – “We Are Family” (Season 1, Episode 5)
6. Raising Hope – “I Want My Baby Back, Baby Back, Baby Back” (Season Two, Episode 22)
7. Modern Family – “Baby on Board” (Season Three, Episode 24)
8. 30 Rock – “Stride of Pride” (Season Seven, Episode 3)
9. Parks and Recreation – “The Debate” (Season Four, Episode 20)
10. Sherlock – “A Scandal in Belgravia” (Season Two, Episode 1)

Fringe

“Letters of Transit” (Season Four, Episode 19)

By Nick Rogers

[Plot spoils for what happens in this episode of Fringe that is dramatically different than anything else that has happened in the series before.]

A marijuana-induced musical laced with steampunk and film noir. A hallucinogenic, animated rescue mission inside the mind carried out by two tripping-balls characters. An acid-conjured homage to absinthe’s green fairy and Terry Gilliam’s herky-jerky, bulbous Monty Python animations of omnisciently squashing feet.

The viewership and budget of Fringe has dwindled since its first-season finale. However, in Episode 19 of each subsequent season — or Episode 9 in the current, shortened fifth (and final) season — writers have been given carte blanche for creative concoctions inspired by Walter Bishop’s (John Noble) recreational drug use.

But “Letters of Transit” was the only Episode 19 Experiment during which even the deepest “Fringe” devotees must have felt they’d been dosed with a potent blotter. Without a hint of foreshadowing or, more worrisomely, a fifth-season renewal, “Transit” hurtled us away from a present-day, multiverse-collapsing plot into 2036.

An epigram informed viewers that the Observers — bald, business-suited and heretofore docile humans from the future able to see, and travel, through time — traveled back from a poisoned, 27th century Earth to assume control of our world. Those they didn’t kill either comply in a bleak totalitarian state under their thumb or fight in a resistance intent on stopping them and saving the world.

No Olivia. No Peter. No Walter. No Astrid. Just Etta and Simon (flaxen-haired Georgina Haig and LOST vet Henry Ian Cusick), freedom fighters that eventually extracted Walter from amber in which he encased himself after the Observers’ invasion. A plan to defeat the Observers, hidden in a long-ago extracted portion of Walter’s brain, was ultimately retrieved, along with Astrid and Peter, and we learned Etta is actually Peter and Olivia’s grown daughter.

It was a powerful, unexpectedly emotional conclusion to a bold episode slyly stuffed with references to The Prisoner, Casablanca, Star Wars and Blade Runner. But at what cost to finality or closure for a show that seemed certain to have just three episodes left?

Yes, Fringe returned, miraculously, for a final season set in this dystopian future. So far, it has beguilingly and surprisingly tied back to Season One while thoughtfully, and sometimes painfully, developing Walter, Peter and Olivia’s suspicions, habits, fears and doubts as equally formidable to the Observers. Will it stick the landing? Only January will tell.

But even if “Fringe” hadn’t come back, “Letters” would remain emblematic of everything at which the show always excelled — sly in-jokes, solid action pacing, terrific acting and staunch rejection of de rigeur sci-fi nihilism.

By Noble’s count, “Letters” offered the ninth version of Walter he’d portrayed. And it gave this criminally overlooked performer a chance to display Walter’s darkness and doddering in the same time and space — playfully hopping a curb with joy to be alive in one act and later coldly killing enemies and sawing off hands. It set the table for how the weight of mental omniscience is tearing Walter apart in his future fight.

And so what if we hadn’t learned how our heroes would fight the Observers? Neither they, nor the show, has given us reason to doubt, as Olivia has called it, their “love’s invulnerability to space and time.” As listed in the fifth season’s opening credits, “imagination” is now an anomaly to be investigated. Thankfully, imagination has never been an anomaly in what’s likely to be the last serialized network sci-fi show of its ilk.

Nick’s Top 10 Episodes of 2012 (Aside from “Letters of Transit”)

1.Sherlock – “A Scandal in Belgravia” (Season Two, Episode 1)
2. Breaking Bad – “Fifty-One” (Season Five, Episode 4)
3. Louie – “Late Show” (Season Three, Episodes 10-12)
4. Parks and Recreation – “The Comeback Kid” (Season Four, Episode 11)
5. Homeland – “Q&A” (Season Two, Episode 5)
6. Mad Men – “The Other Woman” (Season Five, Episode 11)
7. Justified – “Slaughterhouse” (Season Three, Episode 13)
8. 30 Rock – “Leap Day” (Season Six, Episode 9)
9. Game of Thrones – “Valar Morghulis” (Season Two, Episode 10)
10. Chuck – “Chuck vs. Sarah” & “Chuck vs. the Goodbye” (Season Five, Episodes 12-13)

Game of Thrones

“Blackwater” (Season Two, Episode 9)

By Eric Martindale

“Those are brave men knocking at our door, lets go kill them.” – Tyrion Lannister

The Battle of the Blackwater is truly one of the most impressive things ever filmed for television. When you consider: A) it’s a battle sequence, and B) that a television show does it justice, it’s hard not to be impressed. Before Game of Thrones came along such things did not happen, however Thrones is constantly pushing the envelope on what’s considered possible for television.

Perhaps, in a post Lord of the Rings era many viewers have epic battle fatigue. I mean, let’s be honest, how many times in the past ten years have we been exposed to computer-generated armies charging at each other? Maybe spectacle has become more important than suspense (or cheaper). Yet, you have to admire how extraordinary it is when a show can pull something like “Backwater” off using a remarkable set, featuring real extras, incorporating excellent visual effects, all packed tightly within a television show’s budget. Even though I wouldn’t even consider this the best episode of the season, I find it to be a monumental achievement.

It appears that excellence is the norm and the future of Thrones. And considering the genre, many viewers had to be waiting for the show to fall through the ice. Yet, here we sit two seasons and twenty episodes in and the show has continued to be relentless in its distinction as the greatest fantasy epic ever filmed for the small screen.

No fantasy epic is complete with out its climatic battle, and to think we’ve got so many more to come…

Eric’s Top 10 Episodes of 2012

1. Breaking Bad – “Say My Name” (Season Five, Episode 7)
2. Breaking Bad – “Dead Freight” (Season Five, Episode 5)
3. Mad Men – “Signal 30” (Season Five, Episode 5)
4. Game of Thrones – “A Man Without Honor” (Season Two, Episode 7)
5. Sherlock – “The Reichenbach Fall” (Season Two, Episode 3)
6. Game of Thrones – “Blackwater” (Season Two, Episode 9)
7. Mad Men – “Far Away Places” (Season Five, Episode 6)
8. Breaking Bad – “Live Free or Die” (Season Five, Episode 1)
9. Game of Thrones – “The North Remembers” (Season Two, Episode 1)
10. Sherlock – “A Scandal in Belgravia” (Season Two, Episode 1)

Girls

“Welcome to Bushwick a.k.a. The Crackcident” (Season One, Episode 7)

By Claudia Johnson

[Plot spoils for what happens in this episode of Girls.]

As an early 20-something who recently graduated college, is broke out of her mind and has no clue what her future is the HBO show Girls is a voice of a generation. Maybe that is a bit too cliche but that’s how this show is for me. The show is a well written, directed and acted depiction of today’s young people. In the ten episode first season there was not one bad episode, but my favorite was episode seven, “Welcome to Bushwick a.k.a. The Crackcident”.

The episode centers around a night where the four girls go to a warehouse party. Shoshanna accidentally smokes crack, Marnie sees her ex boyfriend with another chick, Jessa accidentally invites her boss to the party and Hannah navigates how she feels and what she wants from Adam (her on and off again booty call).

Throughout the episode the theme was relationships. Whether it was past, present or possible future. The main focus was Hannah and Adam’s. Hannah sees Adam at the party and wrestles with how she feels when she learns more information about him she wasn’t prepared for. She clearly likes Adam but up to that point she had not seen Adam outside of their booty calls at his apartment.

Something this show does well is the final scene. Hannah and Adam were arguing and Marnie pulls up in a cab to pick up Hannah. Adam is fed up and is about to leave on his bicycle. There is a wide shot of Adam and Hannah facing each other. Hannah has his book bag and doesn’t give it back. Adam says, “Look kid, I don’t know what you want from me. Do you want me to be your boyfriend?” Then Adam gets upset. “Is that it?! Do you want me to be your f***ing boyfriend?!” There is silence. Then there is a cut to Adam, Hannah, Marnie and Adam’s bike crammed in the backseat of the cab. No one speaks but a small slow smile forms on Hannah’s face. Watching it I feel so overjoyed. Because it is reminiscent of that giddy feeling you get when you are officially a couple with the one you like. There is only promise and possibility.

To finish off this review I have to mention one of my favorite funny moments, when Shoshanna was freaking out on crack. Best line was when Ray was chasing after her and yelled, “Shoshanna, I’m your crack spirit guide!” I seriously almost wet my pants when he said that.

Claudia’s Top 10 Episodes of 2012

1.Misfits – “Episode Four” (Season Four, Episode 4)
2. Girls – “Welcome to Buswick a.k.a. The Crackcident” (Season One, Episode 7)
3. Parks and Recreation – “Ron and Diane” (Season Five, Episode 9)
4. Game of Thrones – “Blackwater” (Season Two, Episode 9)
5. Girls – “Hannah’s Diary” (Season One, Episode 4)
6. Girls – All Adventurous Women Do” (Season One, Episode 3)
7. Parks and Recreation – “Ben’s Parents” (Season Five, Episode 6)
8. Spartacus: Vengeance – “Wrath of the Gods” (Season Two, Episode 10)
9. The Walking Dead – “When the Dead Come Knocking” (Season Three, Episode 7)
10. The Vampire Diaries – “The Departed” (Season Three, Episode 22)

Homeland

 “Q&A” (Season Two, Episode 5)

By Dennis Sullivan

[Spoils ahead for what happens in everything up to this episode of Homeland.]

Season One of Homeland is easily one of my favorite seasons of television because they have figured out a recipe for success. Claire Danes plays Carrie Mathison, a secretly bi-polar CIA operative who becomes obsessed with Sergeant Nicholas Brody (Damien Lewis), a man with post-traumatic stress disorder after being a prisoner of war for 8 years. Based on intelligence from a deceased informant, Mathison believes Brody is working with international terrorist Abu Nazir (Navid Negahban) to plan an attack on the United States. However, nobody believes her and this drives her into obsession. Her new desire sets for a chain of events that lead to an unexpected romance, illegal wiretaps, explosions, and a risky race against time.

By the end of Season One, we know that Brody tried to make Nazir proud, but a technical malfunction prevented it. Time for plan B: infiltrate the US government by becoming a Congressman. Carrie, whose mental health status had been exposed to the CIA, was distraught after losing both Brody and her job. She begins making a new life for herself when she gets drug back in. She then proceeds to fuck up everyone’s plans. Brody’s cover? Blown in the first episode. The CIA’s secret mission to spy on Brody? Blown in the fourth episode.

So the CIA responds in the only way they know how: kick Brody’s ass and hold him indefinitely. In an interesting parallel, they begin doing exactly what Abu Nazir did for 8 years: break Brody down emotionally to get him to flip sides AGAIN. Seriously, this poor bastard gets the psychological shit beat out of him AGAIN. Then he’s stabbed just because.

A game of words and technicalities begins while the clock is ticking down before somebody notices the national hero is missing. Who can outwit the other? Brody is faring well, despite the CIA’s best efforts. Then their wildcard is played. Carrie, who is doing a lot of work for the CIA despite being fired, is sent into the interrogation room and the two have an intense conversation that changes the entire course of the show. In fact, it takes just one word for everything to be different. One. Word. This conversation is powerful and beautifully showcases the acting talents of the two leads, but especially Lewis. He is back to being a broken man. At least Nazir has the decency of rebuilding him.

And on a completely different note, this is the episode where Brody’s daughter Dana (Morgan Saylor) goes on a date with the Vice President’s son and they kill a lady. Yup.

Dennis’s Top 10 Episodes of 2012

1.Breaking Bad – “Fifty-One” (Season Five, Episode 4)
2. Mad Men – “The Other Woman” (Season Five, Episode 11)
3. Homeland – “Q&A” (Season Two, Episode 5)
4. 30 Rock – “There’s No I in America” (Season Seven, Episode 5)
5. Breaking Bad – “Dead Freight” (Season Five, Episode 5)
6. Mad Men – “Commissions & Fees” (Season Five, Episode 12)
7. Parks and Recreation – “Win, Lose or Draw” (Season Four, Episode 22)
8. Happy Endings – “Party of Six” (Season Two, Episode 18)
9. The Walking Dead – “Beside the Dying Fire” (Season Two, Episode 13)
10. Community – “Digital Estate Planning” (Season Three, Episode 20)

The Hour

“Episode Six” (Season Two, Episode 6)

By J.C. Pankratz 

At some point in Abi Morgan’s The Hour, never-say-die journalist Freddie (Ben Whishaw) confronts his hesitant producer Bel (Romola Garai) with this little gem: “Cut you to your core, you’ll find news running through your spine.” And finally, this season we can say the same of this terrific newsroom drama. Of course, The Hour is always about news—but last year’s series suffered, I think, from a slightly overwrought obsession with a Soviet conspiracy plot line that never felt quite real. This year, The Hour features a twisted plot that reaches from sex scandal to nuclear conspiracy, with its credibility and existence as a program in the balance. But it works magnificently, because The Hour also gives us new, better-realized characters—instead of shadows in the dark. Commander Stern (Laurence Sullivan), a two-faced police chief with a troubled past, stands out in particular as a complex portrait of an abuser. Angus McCain (Julian Rhind-Tutt) is transformed from an insufferably evil bureaucrat into a man with too many secrets and just as much to lose as The Hour itself. These are complex, difficult, destructive players in an all-consuming game for power during the global race for nuclear arms. Add to that the beautiful cinematography and art direction, and you really do have a show that’s difficult to stop watching.

This leads me to the finale: along with a better narrative arc and through-line, The Hour’s season has been an exercise in both destroying and rebuilding relationships. Here, Hector (Dominic West) and Marnie’s (Oona Chaplin) sham of a marriage endures obstacle after obstacle–yet by the end of the finale, you’re rooting for them just as much as anyone else. Chaplin in particular is luminous on the show, having been upgraded from sad housewife to a sharp and vibrant TV personality. Bel and Freddie’s strained will-they-won’t-they chemistry finally comes to a rather heartbreaking conclusion, though this season’s most compelling interaction is watching international news expert Lix Storm (Anna Chancellor) and head-of-news Randall Brown (Peter Capaldi) attempt to piece their mutual pasts together while searching for a daughter they’d given up into the hands of strangers. Capaldi is truly in his element here, and watching him interact with Chancellor’s verve and swagger is a treat. Watching his breakdown at the result is like a punch to the stomach, and perhaps the best moment on the entire show. In that moment, we see the core of The Hour–what happens when we pursue the truth, no matter the cost.

J.C.’s Top 10 Episodes of 2012

1.Game of Thrones – “Valar Morghuils” (Season Two, Episode 10)
2. The entirety of the 2012 Summer Olympics
3. The Hour – “Episode Six” (Season Two, Episode 6)
4. Homeland – ”Q&A” (Season Two, Episode 5)
5. Sherlock – “The Reichenbach Fall” (Season Two, Episode 3)
6. Doctor Who – “Asylum of the Daleks” (Season Seven, Episode 1)
7. Community – “Pillows and Blankets” (Season Three, Episode 14)
8. Parks and Recreation – “Halloween Surprise” (Season Five, Episode 5)
9. Game of Thrones – “The North Remembers” (Season Two, Episode 1)
10. Karl Rove and the Cast of FOX News on the night of Tuesday, November 6th 2012

Justified

“Guy Walks Into a Bar” (Season Three, Episode 10)

By Molly Raker

[Plot spoilers for what happens in this episode of Justified.]

It has been awhile since I have seen Season Three and since they don’t release the DVD until a week before the new season, it doesn’t give me much time to refresh my memory. But one episode stands out. The episode consists of a stand off between Raylan and Querles, the Emmy-winning Jeremy Davies as Dickie, the monster that is Limehouse and also my favorite Supernatural guy, Jim Beaver.

This episode marks the fall of Querles. Querles started off the season high on power and ideas but once he put those ideas into action, in Harlan, his power slowly decreases. Querles to me was never a smart guy so his character just bugged me so it was nice to see his plan crumble. After his Sheriff lost office on a technicality, thanks to Boyd, he knew he was screwed. What else was he to do then to get high and tie a man to a toilet. His humility continues when he tries to “scare’ Raylan and threatens him. First he gives a great speech on how he will kill Raylan sometime soon, “Maybe not tonight, maybe not tomorrow, but someday you’ll be walking down the street and I’m going to put a bullet in the back of your skull.” Boom, so he thought. Raylan shoots his gun to the ceiling clearing all the patrons from the bar stating “Why wait?” (BEST RAYLAN MOMENT EVER!)

Querles is thrown off guard and unprepared, which seems to be a theme for him. He isn’t ready to take Raylan because he knows the only advantage of taking down Raylan is the element of surprise. But of course him being cocky that he is thinks he can do it, but alas has no chance. He is scared off by a girl with a shotgun. Now this is the third act of humility and downfall for him. It can only get worse and it does.

This episode had Raylan being humiliated but in the end it all work out for him in a way. He’s speech about letting Dickie go was on cue. Either he will end up back in jail or he will be dead. Why should Raylan get a smoothie dropped on him, from some crazy lady, to stop it. This begins the new adventure of Dickie and his stupidity. I love Jeremy Davies portrayal so more of him is good! Boyd hears about Dickie inevitable release and he knows he will do something stupid to get his hands on the money. Limehouse is worried about the same thing so in his pig-murdering den he tells his minion to bring him to him. The way Limehouse always gives order while in the pig dissection room brings a stronger evil presence to Limehouse. I can only hope we will be seeing him in Season Four.

This episode picked up Limehouse’s storyline and decreased the power of Querles two things I wanted to see happen in the season. I just love when things go my way!

(Sidenote When Shelby lied to the deputies about having cancer I totally got a Bobby vibe.)

Molly’s Top 10 Episodes of 2012 (disclaimer: I hate picking favorites and numbering best to worst.)

1.Community – “Digital Estate Planning” (Season Three, Episode 20)
2. Mad Men – “Far Away Places” (Season Five, Episode 6)
3. Game of Thrones – “Valar Morghulls” (Season Two, Episode 10
4. Cougar Town – “Ain’t Love Strange” (Season Three, Episode 1)
5. Justified – “Guy Walks Into a Bar” (Season Three, Episode 10)
6. Breaking Bad – “Dead Freight” (Season Five, Episode 5)
7. Parks and Recreation – “Halloween Surprise” (Season Five, Episode 5)
8. The Vampire Diaries – “The Murder of One” (Season Three, Episode 18)
9. Community – “Virtual System Analysis” (Season Three, Episode 16)
10. New Girl – “Bath Tub” (Season Two, Episode 10)

Louie

“Late Show Part 3” (Season Three, Episode 12)

By Jason Braun

[Spoils for the resolution to the three-part storyline. Yet continuity doesn’t really matter on this show. Still the small warning.]

Louie C.K.’s life is shit, and his semi-autobiographical show, simply titled Louie, doesn’t sugar coat that fact with slapstick jokes or feel good endings. That being said, it’s probably the funniest show on television. Louie doesn’t force jokes; it sets stories and says “look how funny life can be”.

Louie breaks down the walls of what comedies and dramas are.

Scrubs tried to do what Louie does successfully. When Scrubs was written they had parts where you were supposed to laugh and parts where you were supposed to cry. Louie just writes stories with the pretense that this is a comedy, so you laugh.

That is something everybody can do every single day. Pretend when you wake up tomorrow that your life is supposed to be funny and I guarantee you will laugh all day long.

The third season’s three-part saga, “Late Show”, hits the nail on the head with this idea that comedy is changing. In these episodes David Letterman is retiring and Louie, along with Jerry Seinfeld, is considered as a replacement. Louie is given a date for a test show and a coach, played by David Lynch.

The episode chronicles the emotions and decisions Louie has to make. It shows the ugly underside of show business. His friends Chris Rock and Jay Leno betray him. He works his ass off and nails the test show. In the end, Louie doesn’t get the job but his impressive performance sends a message to David Letterman, forcing him to renegotiate his contract from $60 to $40 million dollars.

The last scene of this saga is the reason I chose this episode as the season’s best. Louie stands in front of the Ed Sullivan Theater, where the Late Show is filmed, and he shouts “I did it!… Letterman, fuck you!”

Even though he didn’t get what he hoped for he still stuck it to the man. No one expected Louie to do so well, but he did. So well, in fact, that he took $20 million dollars out of Letterman’s pocket.

There isn’t this perfect ending like most comedies usually shoot for. However, in the eyes of Louie it was still a huge victory because he knew his 20 years of doing stand up comedy were worth something. He had not only been walking down the right path but his path has a bright future.

Jason’s Top 10 Episodes of 2012

1.Boardwalk Empire – “Margate Sands” (Season Three, Episode 12)
2. The Newsroom – “We Just Decided To” (Season One, Episode 1)
3. Sherlock – “The Reichenbach Fall” (Season Two, Episode 3)
4. The Amazing Race – “Off to See the Wizard” (Season 21, Episode 7)
5. Game of Thrones – “Blackwater” (Season Two, Episode 9)
6. Breaking Bad – “Dead Freight” (Season Five, Episode 5)
7. Shameless – “Just Like the Pilgrims Intended” (Season Two, Episode 11)
8. Awake – “Pilot” (Season One, Episode 1)
9. XXX Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony
10. Louie – “Late Show Part 3” (Season Three, Episode 12)

Mad Men

“The Other Woman” (Season Five, Episode 11)

By Austin Lugar

Mad Men’s plotting is done as a surprise. Every scene is an interaction towards a small goal or thematic arc, you don’t know what it’s planning until the end. In this episode, it put majority of its characters in a room and they had to make a decision. Then suddenly, it threw me back on the couch. Everything had been leading up to this moment where Joan, Pete, Sterling, Cooper, Lane and Don had to decide what they really believe. It was perfect writing where everyone’s argument was dictated by how the characters had propelled themselves for the previous eight episodes.

In the previous episode, Don and Joan had one of my favorite scenes in the entire series as they played out their ideal versions of themselves in a bar. They were witty, sexy and warm to each other without ever being romantic. It was two people who knew the versions of themselves they liked the most and they were able to be that with a friend for a moment. To have two characters who always respect each other, but rarely get to interact with each other was a special moment.

Then like everything else after the decision in this episode, it becomes bittersweet. They can never have a moment like that again. At the end, great things happen for the agency and for the partners but Don can’t enjoy it because he refuses to forget what they’ve done. None of this is fun anymore. There used to be an understand of how business was done but now it’s all about greed, perversion and a downfall in quality.

To top it all off, Don has to say goodbye to someone very special to him. I think in that scene, Don is more desperate and emotional because he knows she’s right. He can’t do anything else for her. She has to move on and find the best situation for her life….something, that until recently, Don thought he finally found for himself.

Austin’s Top 10 Episodes of 2012

1.Sherlock – “A Scandal in Belgravia” (Season Two, Episode 1)
2. Mad Men – “The Other Woman” (Season Five, Episode 11)
3. Sherlock – “The Reichenbach Fall” (Season Two, Episode 3)
4. Breaking Bad – “Live Free or Die” (Season Five, Episode 1)
5. Homeland – “Q&A” (Season Two, Episode 5)
6. Doctor Who – “The Angels Take Manhattan” (Season Seven, Episode 5)
7. Mad Men – “At the Codfish Ball” (Season Five, Episode 7)
8. Breaking Bad – “Dead Freight” (Season Five, Episode 5)
9. Spartacus: Vengeance – “Libertus” (Season Two, Episode 5)
10. Misfits – “Episode Eight” (Season Four, Episode 8)

Parks and Recreation

“Win, Lose or Draw” (Season Four, Episode 22)

By Rachael Clark

[Spoils for what happens in the election at the end of the Season Four election.]

What a great finale to a solid season of Parks and Recreation. From the very beginning of this season, Leslie Knope had been campaigning against all odds for city councilwoman with the help of the people who loved and cared for her. Now was the moment to see if Leslie was going to beat Bobby Newport, the heir to the Sweetums factory that employs many Pawnee citizens, and Brandie Maxxx, the porn star. This episode was filled with many laughs as usual, combined with moments of revelation, relationship dilemmas, and the notion that you can’t achieve anything alone.

Some of the best moments in this show are the silent/unspoken ones. My favorite scene was the peek we got to see of Leslie in the voting booth. She has just voted for herself and is standing in awe realizing what she has accomplished, on the verge of tears. She has waited practically her whole life for this moment and it has finally arrived. Then in true Parks and Recreation form, Bobby Newport breaks the seriousness of the scene and brings on the laughter, asking for Leslie’s help on how to vote. The second best unspoken scene was Leslie and Ben’s facial reactions when they hear the recount was in Leslie’s favor. Leslie jokes with Anne on how sneaky she was with her choice of words. Going from sincerity to silliness is why I enjoy this show so much. They are able to show these little moments of being authentic and genuine, and then they effortlessly go back to being a hilarious show with the goofy but loveable characters.

If anything else, this episode had the best ending line ever to a season. At the last second when Leslie finds out that Jerry forgot to vote, she appropriately responds, “Dammit, Jerry!”

Rachael’s Top 10 Episodes of 2012

1.Sherlock – “A Scandal in Belgravia” (Season Two, Episode 1)
2. Breaking Bad – “Dead Freight” (Season Five, Episode 5)
3. Parks and Recreation – “Win, Lose or Draw” (Season Four, Episode 22)
4. Game of Thrones – “Blackwater” (Season Two, Episode 9)
5. Doctor Who – “Asylum of the Daleks” (Season Seven, Episode 1)
6. Community – “Pillows and Blankets” (Season Three, Episode 14)
7. Mad Men – “Christmas Waltz” (Season Five, Episode 10)
8. Girls – “Welcome to Bushwick a.k.a. The Crackident” (Season One, Episode 7)
9. Homeland – “The Smile” (Season Two, Episode 1)
10. Veep – “Tears” (Season One, Episode 8)

Peep Show

“Jeremy Therapised” (Season Eight, Episode 1)

By Joshua Carroll

[This episode contains major plot spoilers for the season premiere in the marked paragraph.]

Flying by the seat of one’s pants for nothing more than personal gain is perhaps the driving force behind many of Peep Show’s, a British television series (which, by the way, is what this rambling will cover) characters. Mark and Jez, roomies, ‘El-Dude Brothers’, and perpetual assholes (can I say assholes?), exist in an ever-constant battle with each other and their individual dreams. The show’s ‘gimmick’ is allowing us to hear Jez and Mark’s individual thoughts to a revealing extent; so we are right there with the two of them through everything. And the result is some very layered and uncomfortable comedy.

Jez and Mark’s exploits are never what you’d think two guys could get themselves into, but, minus the wincing a viewer often wears while watching it all unravel and explode in their faces, we never doubt Jez or Mark as the performances and writing solidly sell the insanity. Why is that? I’d venture to say it’s the honestly they and the writers ground themselves within. These two endearing twats excel in bringing to light that wonderfully wicked quality within us all: our ability, obsession, and incessant habit…of lying.

Let’s be frank. We all have a love affair with ourselves. Why else do every single thing we do? In some way, it benefits us. With our every action, we gain a smidge of something toward the completion our individual goals. ‘How dare you!’ you may exclaim. ‘What kinda monster are you?’ you may ask. Well, maybe I am a monster or maybe I’m just honest. Or I guess an ‘honest monster’ works so long as we’re getting picky (I can have one-sided conversations with myself!).   The point is, we aren’t great creatures, and since step one is admitting it, we can move on to step two.

Okay, you’re still reading, swell. That monster thing was out there wasn’t it? That guy needs to be fired. Anyhow, step three: ‘But Jez and Mark aren’t really monsters, are they?’ No. Certainly not. While we share a certain worldly culture of enjoying a good ‘ol train wreck, over time, very few of us would likely return to Peep Show if there didn’t exist that other very true human quality…compassion.

Jez and Mark use each other. That said, they have limits. If their need comes at too high a cost, they’ll back off. Maybe. Most of the time. Then again, maybe not. The close of the third episode this season (season eight) leaves us wondering just how horrible is Jez? Will he actually do that to Mark. Well, he might. So maybe they don’t have limits. Or maybe their limits have variables that they themselves evaluate – because who else is better to reason with then oneself when it comes to screwing over a friend for personal gain? Dangit. I’ve just contradicted myself. But I stand by my contradictions! Mark and Jez are horrific people that sometimes, maybe, will be there for each other and do the kinda right thing so long as it doesn’t stick a shiv into their own sinister goals. Yes.

Whew. Now what? Philosophical stuff aside (did I mention I don’t write reviews?), Peep Show doesn’t necessarily require a viewer to start at Season One Episode 1 in order to fully understand the show or its characters. Now, I’d encourage a fresh viewer to go back to the beginning at some point, but what I’m driving at is the skill of the writers and actors (again). I noticed that the first episode this season could very well have acted as a Series starter. While it’s not as good as the actual series starter (and shouldn’t have to be), it does not go out of its way to tell us who Jez or Mark are as people – Jez and Mark do that just by being themselves (as in their characters). They simply show us ‘this is us’ and what of it? In short, the series knows itself inside and out. There’s no doubt in my mind there.   Nothing is forced. And that’s a rarity in entertainment writing.

[Only the next paragraph contains major spoilers. The ones after are safe to read if you have not seen this season yet.]

Let’s examine a typical progression of the show (yes, it does have a formula, but hey – it works). Mark is a jealous, frightened, insecure, shell of a man. He’s great. Episode 1 finds him worrying whether or not Dobby, his newest girlfriend (and yes, be prepared to ask yourself why she chooses him…often) is going to actually move in with him. That worry eats at him and his insecure thoughts reveal the depths of his sexual paranoia as well as his consideration of locking her in his non-existent cellar once she hypothetically moves in. In other words, it’s almost a victory in and of itself to just trick her into shacking up. That’s normal right (refer to the ‘monster’ paragraph)?   Furthermore, Gerrard (who’s head over heels with Dobby) feigns an illness resulting in a doting Dobby and suspicious Mark showing up at his home to see if all is okay.   Based on his knowledge of Gerrard’s love interest and even pseudo-(when convenient)-friendship with him, Mark sees right through the plan and calls Gerrard out in private. Gerrard reveals Mark is indeed correct but that he’s ‘playing the long game’ and increases his sickly boo-hoos receiving Dobby’s immediate attention. Later, Mark and Dobby are attempting to have a romantic date, as they were interrupted by Gerrard the last time, and the phone rings. It’s Gerrard. But Mark refuses to allow her to answer it. Instead, they have their reality show watching date. Later, it’s reveled that Gerrard has died. Mark is pissed, basically believing Gerrard did it on purpose. And to make matters all the more awkward, Mark and Dobby’s living relationship ends up going into further obscurity (despite Mark’s sabotage attempts to Dobby’s microwave) as Gerrard left her a nest egg of money making it easier to afford her own flat.   Paranoia. Selfishness. Death. A Delicious Cocktail.

So that typical show progression I mentioned? Mark and Jez have goals and dreams but their own arrogance, insecurities , and rotten core, often stand in the way in accordance to the whole ‘careful what you wish for’ motif. Despite regularly failing, they somehow grow closer to each other and retain social contacts. And we keep watching, wincing and shaking our heads but smiling between it all.

Do we learn something from watching? Anything?   I think so.   I mean why else would scour I the internet (YouTube) in search of these episodes for my friend Austin Lugar (good guy, who will totally do something in return for me now) and write this review (if my review is even kinda good enough maybe I’ll get some recognition)? I do it because I enjoy writing (hey, I do!) and hope that this draws a larger audience to Peep Show (indifferent) and helps Mr. Lugar out (why is he having others do his work for him? What’s his angle?).

Just watch the show.

Joshua’s Top 6 Episodes of 2012

1.Sherlock – “A Scandal in Belgravia” (Season Two, Episode 1)
2. Sherlock – “The Reichenbach Fall” (Season Two, Episode 3)
3. Sherlock – “The Hounds of the Baskervilles” (Season Two, Episode 2)
4. Peep Show – “Jeremy Therapised” (Season Eight, Episode 1)
5. Peep Show – “Business Secrets of the Pharoahs” (Season Eight, Episode 2)
6. Peep Show – “The Love Bunker” (Season Eight, Episode 3)

Sherlock

“A Scandal in Belgraiva” (Season Two, Episode 1)

By Jim Huang

The triumph of Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss’ series Sherlock is that it’s both familiar and totally fresh.  This new BBC series takes Holmes and Watson out of Victorian England and places them squarely in today’s London, with mobile phones, blogs and thoroughly modern interpersonal relationships.  The season two opener, “A Scandal in Belgravia,” written by Moffat, is a brilliant remaining of Doyle’s “A Scandal in Bohemia,” and it’s this great series’ most charged and tightly-wound episode.

Doyle’s story opens with the line “To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman,” and continues with Watson’s observation that there’s no place for “softer passions” in the mind of a reasoning machine.  Moffat and Gatiss’ Sherlock is all about relationships, especially in this great episode – Holmes and Mycroft, Holmes and Watson, Holmes and Molly Hooper, Holmes and Mrs. Hudson, and, mostly importantly here, Holmes and Irene Adler.  Describe someone as “The Woman” today and what do you get?  Moffat’s answer is dominatrix, with a website of her own. What a brilliant answer it is.

But has Sherlock fallen under Irene’s spell, or is Irene enthralled by Sherlock?  I’m not going to divulge any details here.  Watch for yourself, without letting me or any one else spoil even a single twist or (apparently) incidental bit.  This Sherlock may be all about relationships – indeed, all of Moffat’s work seems to be obsessed with how people connect – but there’s also a dazzling plot that truly challenges Holmes on every level.

“Brainy is the new sexy,” Irene says to Holmes at one point.  “Scandal in Belgravia” is both.

Jim opted out of having a Top Ten Episodes list but offers this additional commentary.

I don’t have a top ten list.  There haven’t been 10 gems among the (few) shows that I watch regularly, and I don’t think rediscovering “Frank the Potato Man” (Picket Fences, Season One, Episode 5) or Fraiser episodes “Three Valentines” (Season 6, Episode 14) and “Room Service” (Season Five, Episode 15) is what Austin has in mind.

I did like “What Up, Bro?,” Raising Hope (Season Three, Episode 6), which offers a nice message.   Standout for the year may be “The Final Page, Part Two” from How I Met Your Mother (Season 8, Episode 12).  It’s been an up and down season for HIMYM, but where this episodes ends is totally lovely.  Part of what’s so great here is you know all those ups and downs?  Turns out that’s what you do to get to the lovely.

Spartacus: Vengeance

“Libertius” (Season Two, Episode 5)

By Pedro Aubry

[Editor’s note. Instead of reviewing the episode, Pedro decided to write a running commentary of him watching the episode. What resulted was so strange and hilarious that I’m not going to edit a single word. This obviously spoils the entire episode. Also there is a lot of strong language.]

I will be reviewing the 5th episode of Spartacus: Vengeance.

I’m watching it now, as I type this, with a less than fresh memory of the previous episode or two, apart from the fact that the end of the 3rd episode saw Crixus knocked out by Ashur while biding time for Navia and Spartacus and the other to escape the mines. The next episode saw the three rebels captured in the mines alongside Oenomaus, previously taken by Ashur while severely weakened from constant and consecutive fights in the pits (his attempt at suicide as he had no honor in his life left to live for, his wife and the ludus of Batiatus being all he had, both now gone). One of the four was tortured and killed at the ludus as a party piece, the other three being left to await execution in the arena.

Now the 5th episode opens, with two gladiators fighting in the arena of Capua. Once their game ends, the horns sound for the execution of the three rebels. Once on the sands, Varinius announces to the crowd (and condemned) that their execution will be carried out by Gannicus, the only gladiator to ever earn his freedom on the sands. Now this was a big deal for me. Gannicus is …the shit. Again, he actually gained freedom from being so awesome (many of you may recall, this was the Fire-Net episode of Gods of the Arena). He may be my favorite character of this whole show. So I watch in a weird, anxious excitement as they make a scene of opening the gates, thinking to myself “oh my god, is it really him? Is he coming back? He has to be right? Why else would they have a whole mini-season prequel thing with him as main of character as he was, if they weren’t gonna bring him back? Is it finally time?” Then I realized what was happening…. He was going to (very likely) make his appearance …IN ORDER TO KILL CRIXUS AND OENOMAUS!!(and some other guy I don’t really care about)! Now my emotions have pulled a complete 180, and I have a whole new string of sentences flying through my head on how there’s no way he’ll succeed but at the same time how he (I so dearly wish) can’t die, and bear in mind that all this happens within a span of …however long it takes them to open a set of gates (seconds).

Then they actually show him (AND IT’S REALLY HIM!) and he struts out, being the shit (which he is) and with his awesome cocky half-smile greets Oenomaus as an old friend, mentioning how they’re finally meeting each other on the sands, what he said was Oenomaus’ wife’s “greatest fear.” Oenomaus, clearly seething at the sight of Gannicus given what Ashur had just imparted him the day before, asks him if it’s true that he slept with his wife the night she died. When Gannicus hesitates at a reply, Oenomaus strikes at him, starting the fight. By now I’m on the edge of my seat, quietly freaking out, when all of a sudden BOOM ….cut to “One day earlier”. So of course the episode’s actually starting now (or at least the meat of the episode), and being a good one, I’m forced to sit in anticipation for what the hell’s going to happen when they get back to Gannicus and Oenomaus (the other guy might be dead by now for all I know or care (even though I know he’s not); by now I actually care more about his girlfriend than about him).

So now, at most 5 minutes later, the episode more-or-less actually gets started. Ok, so now after finding a (mostly) abandoned temple, the rebels take refuge and come along an old Roman (priest?) who couldn’t give two shits for the Romans. He tells Spartacus of the coming executions and Spartacus gets it in his head that they should save their brothers. Now I’m all for it, I wanna see him do some crazy shit. But at the same time he’s saying “who knows more about the arena than those who’ve fought on its sands” and I’m thinking “um…. Anyone who was allowed to walk freely within, not confined to the sands and their cells.” But whatever, let’s see where this goes.

Meanwhile Ashur and Lucretia keep doing their backstabbing sneaky shit, to what avail I’ve lost track of by now. Clearly Lucretia’s doing fine cause she’s insane and a vessel of the Gods and Glaber likes having her around. Maybe Ashur could do with some more power cause he’s kinda still being treated like a slave, but why they’re working together… whatever, it makes for good TV.

Cut to a whorehouse, where I’m 99 percent sure we’ll find Gannicus (HELL YEAH). Oh, and there he is.

Looks like he’s found himself a pretty young thing, who quickly (after a romp) takes attraction to his rudus (a wooden sword that tells of his victories on the sands). Now I tend to like these brothel scenes in this show because (apart from the obvious) they usually have a collection crazy, jaw-dropping cuts, and by this point they’ve even conditioned you to expect an up-and-coming orgy/brothel/wtf-sex scene with this funny, high-pitched squeal of a score, as if the makers of the show know how ridiculous all this is. Not so in this scene. There’s no squeaky score, nothing out of the ordinary, and once Gannicus settles down for a cup of wine with his newfound companion, things get serious and emotional, with him telling this (presumably slave) about his rudus and how it’s a symbol of his freedom. The whole time, I’m just thinking of how awesome Gannicus is and it seems (to me) that the calmness is just an homage to Gannicus, and that the brothel, and entire scene, are just basking in his glory and awesomeness just as his companion is. But then they cut to him recalling the cup of wife that killed his best friend’s (Oenomaus’) wife, one they shared just after their (agreed) final affair. That was a downer, and brought Gannicus down to a human level, not the God of the Arena that he is. But whatever, makes him more awesome cause …it just does.

Well Ashur does some more sneaking and reveals to Glaber his wife’s intention to abort their child, which is cool and all, but doesn’t really stir any emotions on behalf of Glaber or Ilithyia (though perhaps for their unborn child) cause pretty much any non-slave is a terrible person who you just want to die. Also (big shocker) Ashur tells someone of someone else’s secret, thus further elevating himself and blah blah blah …Really I just hate fucking Asher cause he’s a slimy cunt.

Anyway, finally we’re back to the arena, oh and by the way, Spartacus and his crew just did some badass Navy SEALs shit, lifting their head out of the water in a body disposal sewer, presumably to attack the arena like he said before. Then after stealing roman soldier uniforms, he ends up standing by the gate while Gannicus awaits being released onto the sands, by which point I’m jumping up and down in my seat again. Fuck yeah, Gannicus.

I pause now, to watch the fight, maybe to type withought looking at the screen. Hell yeah, they’re setting fire to the arena, more more so, Hell Yeah for the fight. We’ve always secretly wished to see the best of the gladiators fight seriously, and Gannicus and Oenomaus are fulfilling that desire perfectly. And holy shit dozens of spectators are falling into a pit of fire, and oh shit dozens more just did.

Nice fucking shot Spartacus, on throwing a spot on spear right at Glaber, but of course Glaber’s a trained soldier so he just barely dodges it and this other guy gets hit. Awesome thing is he’s the guy who loves fucking slaves while getting they’re getting fucked by filthy gladiators, in other words he’s a fucking creep (prolly one of the biggest ones in the show), and when he gets hit with the spear he goes down like a little bitch, so he gets his just deserts.

The rest of the episode wraps up well, Ilithyia’s dad gets his face smashed by Glaber, kindof sweet. And Oenomaus and Crixus get rescued, with Gannicus helping at the end. So Wooo, all I hoped for at the beginning came true and no one important died.

All in all, prolly the best episode of the season. Awesome fights, engaging story, catches our attention early on, and FUCKING GANNICUS!!!

Pedro’s Top 10 Episodes of 2012

1.Sherlock – “A Scandal in Belgravia” (Season Two, Episode 1)
2. Game of Thrones – “Blackwater” (Season Two, Episode 9)
3. Breaking Bad – “Dead Freight” (Season Five, Episode 5)
4. Spartacus: Vengeance – Libertus” (Season Two, Episode 5)
5. Sherlock – “The Reinchenbach Fall” (Season Two, Episode 3)
6. Breaking Bad – “Say My Name” (Season Five, Episode 7)
7. Spartacus: Vengeance – “Wrath of the Gods” (Season Two, Episode 10)
8. Breaking Bad – “Gliding Over All” (Season Five, Episode 8)
9. Top Gear – “India Special” (Season 18, Episode 0)
10. Doctor Who – “The Angels Take Manhattan” (Season Seven, Episode 5)

The Thick of It

“Episode Three” (Season Four, Episode 3)

By Aaron Wittwer

Back from a three year hiatus, Series 4 of The Thick of It wastes no time, throwing us right back into the everyday, mundane chaos at work behind the scenes of the (fictional) British “Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship” aka DoSAC.

With this (and the funny, yet slightly redundant, Veep), show runner Armando Iannucci satirizes the trivial power-struggles and day-to-day inanities that one imagines must overtake lesser government positions in the off-seasons. Not satisfied to simply “humanize” government authority figures, The Thick of It turns them into a bunch of children going to war over the last piece of candy.

There is so very much going on this episode that it’s almost impossible to describe it. It involves a “thought camp” team building exercise, the suicide of a homeless nurse with a funny name, a £2 billion community bank purchased out of “social embarrassment”, and a debate over inappropriately colored pants. This all culminates in two grown men, waving their phones in the air and climbing over each other to get to the top of a playground slide.

I chose this episode because I don’t think I can imagine a more perfect and concise visual metaphor for everything this show is about.

Aaron’s Top 10 Episodes of 2012

1.The Hour – “Episode Six” (Season Two, Episode 6)
2. Breaking Bad – “Dead Freight” (Season Five, Episode 5)
3. Louie – “Late Show” (Season Three, Episodes 10-12)
4. Game of Thrones – “Blackwater” (Season Two, Episode 9)
5. Justified – “Slaughterhouse” (Season Three, Episode 13)
6. Peep Show – “Business Secrets of the Pharaohs” (Season Eight, Episode 2)
7. Sons of Anarchy – “Laying Pipe” (Season Five, Episode 3)
8. American Horror Story: Asylum – “Welcome to Briarcliff” (Season Two, Episode 1)
9. Strike Back – “EXPLOSIOOOOONNNSSS!!!!!!!!” (Season Three, Episode 4)
10. The Walking Dead – “Made to Suffer” (Season Three, Episode 8)

Treme

“Tipitina” (Season Three, Episode 10)

By Ken Jones

Treme is one of those shows that I find hard to explain why I love so much. There is very little plot in every episode, but I find myself engrossed in the lives of the characters that it feels like a lot happens. It’s the kind of show that you watch and love, or you don’t get it and are obviously a miserable person because you don’t like the rich culture of New Orleans. The latest season has been especially fun for me since I am now living in New Orleans, which brings a new familiarity. I recognize names of places and streets, as well as have seen a number of the musicians perform live. It also helps that now I get jokes about certain neighborhoods and recognize a few extras because I’ve worked with them.

One issue with deciding which episode is the best of the season is that they all sort of blend together. I would much rather discuss the significance of a show so true to New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina, or how David Simon has once again captured the essence of a city, but I’ll play by the rules. The last episode of the season was my favorite partially because it felt like an episode of The Wire, but with a lot of awesome music. There’s police corruption, shady politics, lack of justice, racial tension, drugs, and problems with the education system. The episode was one line about unions away from being The Wire. I’m also a sucker for finales. Hey, I like seeing things finally pay off.

This episode, “Tipitina”, has many New Orleans musical staples, occasionally playing together. One of my favorite parts of the show is the musical collaborations that happen on screen. You get the wide range of New Orleans music, from Jazz to Folk to Bounce. I love the DJ Davis song in this episode. Can’t say much about it because the song itself is a bit of a spoiler, but it’s another fun pissed off Davis original. And if you’ve ever wanted to see a Jewish boy playing Jazz piano, you’re in luck!

“Tipitina” is filled with awful things happening to good people. Enough bad things happen to make you feel awful at the end, but there are also many plotlines left unresolved. There will be plenty of joy and sorrow to be enjoyed in the next season.

Ken’s Top 10 Episodes of 2012

1.Breaking Bad – “Dead Freight” (Season Five, Episode 5)
2. Community – “Pillows and Blankets” (Season Three, Episode 14)
3. Mad Men – “Far Away Places “ (Season Five, Episode 6)
4. Parks and Recreations – “Win, Lose, or Draw” (Season Four, Episode 22)
5. Game of Thrones – “Blackwater” (Season Two, Episode 9)
6. Archer – “The Man From Jupiter” (Season Three, Episode 4)
7. Treme – “Tipitina” (Season Three, Episode 10)
8. Spartacus: Vengeance – “Libertus” (Season Two, Episode 5)
9. Community – “The First Chang Dynasty” (Season Three, Episode 21)
10. Doctor Who – “Asylum of the Daleks” (Season Seven, Episode 1)

The Walking Dead

“When the Dead Come Knocking” (Season Three, Episode 7)

By Josh West

[Plot spoils for what happens in this episode of The Walking Dead.]

The Walking Dead is one of my favorite shows on television not only because there are zombies, but also because I care for the characters. These characters are what drive the story and make the show interesting. Also, who doesn’t love watching countless zombies get their face destroyed by a hammer, shovel, etc.? My favorite episode of this year is “When the Dead Come Knocking.”

Tyreese is a character the fans of the comics have come to know and love. Seeing this new group expose such a weak point in the prison defenses and Tyreese destroy zombies adds tons of points to this episode. The only fall back to his introduction is the show’s unsaid mantra of “to introduce a black male, you must kill a black male” and sadly, Oscar was no more.

Michonne is a vital reason this episode is so great. As a character who we know can be very brutal, we see a glimpse of her vulnerable side. Looking for the Governor, Michonne finds Penny instead. When she sees a child that is chained up with a hood over its head, we see Michonne’s face soften. She looses her cold steely demeanor and replaces it with concern and caring. Only then does she find out that this child is actually a zombie.

Although he is shown for only a short time, we see that Glen is a badass. In a previous episode we saw Glen get duct-tapped to a chair and then break the chair to kill a walker. Well in this episode, knowing he had no weapon to break Maggie and him out, he tore open a zombie open so that he could use its bones as weapons. Glen has gone from errand boy to brutal warrior who will do anything to survive and protect Maggie.

The final reason this episode is the best this year is the showdown between Michonne and the Governor. Now, this didn’t go down exactly like it did in the comic, which is kind of a letdown, but they wouldn’t let anyone show that on basic cable. This fight was between a woman who saw a man as sick and deranged and a man who saw a woman that was trying to mess up his way of life. They both did everything in their power to win this fight, including some pretty awesome eye-stabbing!

Josh’s Top 10 Episodes of 2012

1.Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – “New Friend, Old Enemy” (Season One, Episode 4)
2. Doctor Who – “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” (Season Seven, Episode 2)
3. The Walking Dead – “When the Dead Come Knocking” (Season Three, Episode 7)
4. Girls – “All Adventurous Women Do” (Season One, Episode 3)
5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – “Metalhead” (Season One, Episode 6)
6. Doctor Who – “Asylum of the Daleks” (Season Seven, Episode 1)
7. The Walking Dead – “Beside the Dying Fire” (Season Two, Episode 13)
8. Doctor Who – “The Angels Take Manhattan” (Season Seven, Episode 5)
9. Girls – “Welcome to Bushwick a.k.a. The Crackcident” (Season One, Episode 7)
10. How I Met Your Mother – “The Final Page” (Season Eight, Episodes 11 & 12)

Collected Results

(This was done by a simple addition formula. The #1 pick got 10 point, #2 got 9 points, etc.)

The Gang’s Top 10 Episodes of 2012

1.Breaking Bad – “Dead Freight” (Season Five, Episode 5) (91 points, 12 lists)
2. Sherlock – “The Reichenbach Fall” (Season Two, Episode 3) (67 points, 7 lists)
3. Game of Thrones – “Blackwater” (Season Two, Episode 9) (66 points, 10 lists)
4. Sherlock – “A Scandal in Belgravia” (Season Two, Episode 1) (62 points, 8 lists)
5. Game of Thrones – “Valar Morghulis” (Season Two, Episode 10) (32 points, 5 lists)
6. TIE Community – “Pillows and Blankets” (Season Three, Episode 14) (27 points, 5 lists)
6. TIE Homeland – “Q&A” (Season Two, Episode 5) (27 points, 4 lists)
7. TIE Game of Thrones – “A Man Without Honor” (Season Two, Episode 7) (26 points, 4 lists)
7. TIE Parks and Recreation – “Win, Lose or Draw” (Season Four, Episode 22) (26 points, 4 lists)
8. TIE Breaking Bad – “Fifty-One” (Season Five, Episode 4) (23 points, 3 lists)
8. TIE Mad Men – “The Other Woman” (Season Five, Episode 11) (23 points, 3 lists)
9. Doctor Who – “Asylum of the Daleks” (Season Seven, Episode 1) (22 points, 5 lists)
10. Mad Men – “Far Away Places” (Season Five, Episode 6) (21 points, 3 lists)

Trivia About the Collected List

–There were 19 Top 10 lists in this article and one Top 6.

–46 different shows were mentioned on at least one list.

–97 different episodes were mentioned on at least one list.

–A Scandal in Belgravia was had the most #1 slots with 5.

–Every episode of Sherlock Season Two was mentioned on a list

–Four of Doctor Who Season Seven’s 5 episodes were mentioned on a list.

–5 out of Breaking Bad Season Five’s 8 episodes were mentioned in a list.

–5 out of Game of Thrones’s 10 episodes were mentioned in a list.

–6 out of Mad Men Season Five’s 13 episodes were mentioned in a list.

Best Episodes of 2011

One of the reasons I love TV so much is because the format is so freakin’ goofy. People don’t sit around comparing chapters in novels because we see it as a whole. With TV it’s as much about the parts as it is about the whole. Episodes are written to be seen separately and usually they’re viewed that way. A show can be terrible, but has one episode that is masterful. A series of great episodes in a row is an awesome feeling. It’s more common to rewatch specific episodes instead of a multiple season show.

Yesterday I wrote about the full seasons that were stellar in 2011, but I also want to highlight certain 30 or 60 minute blocks that were amazing. Instead of just having my opinion again, I brought in some friends. Each of us wrote about the best episode of some of the best shows of last year. Then we each supplied our own personal Top 10 list of the Best TV Episodes of 2011. We avoided spoilers as much as possible, but you are officially warned.

Breaking Bad

(Season Four, Episode 11, “Crawl Space”)

By Dennis Sullivan, Senior at Ball State University

[Major Breaking Bad Season Four plot SPOILERS]

Imagine you’re in way over your head. And I mean way, way, WAY in over your head. You know you’re going to be murdered in the near future and because of your actions, everyone you love is going down as well. Your spouse, your children, your brother-in-law are all in danger.

Basically, you’ve messed up, but wait…what’s that? Hope? A way out? Is salvation really around the corner? It’s too good to be true, but it’s there! All you have to do is grab the money you’ve been saving in the crawl space back at home and you can flee! New names, new locations, new life. It would be a difficult transition and hard to explain to the family, but that’s better than being dead, right?

You rush home to get the money. It’s exactly where you left it! But wait…some of it is missing. Actually, a lot of it’s missing. Uh oh. You ask your spouse, who admits to giving to the person she cheated on you with.

And suddenly, it hits you. It’s over. You lost. With no other options, all you can do is laugh.

Now you can understand the most haunting moment in season 4 of Breaking Bad. In a season of tense, shocking, and borderline insane moments, the image of Walter White (Bryan Cranston) lying and laughing in the crawl space of his house sticks out high above the rest.

As a viewer, you’re left with goose bumps. The writers spent three and a half seasons building up White’s ego only to have it come crashing down all at once. Every option and friend he has is gone and with two episodes left in the season, it is impossible to guess where the show’s going. All you know is that it’s going to be good.

You may ask how you can know? Just look at the rest of this episode. Gunshot victims are taken to an off-the-record hospital. White purposely drives his car into oncoming traffic to prevent his partially paralyzed DEA brother-in-law, Hank (Dean Norris) from snooping around the location of his meth lab. White’s partner, Jesse (Aaron Paul) is placed in charge of the meth lab for the first time. White’s boss, Gus (Giancarlo Esposito), does little to save face by bragging to his mute and crippled rival that he killed off the entire cartel they were both part of. White’s wife, Skyler (Anna Gunn) indirectly causes the death of her former boss and lover, Ted (Christopher Cousins), which is one of the most humorous ends to a plotline the show has done. And Gus has his henchmen kidnap White, tie him up, and drive him into the desert to threaten not only his life, but his family’s as well. That’s when White realizes he’s in way over his head.

Breaking Bad is the best show on television. There. I said it. You can try to argue with me on that point, but deep down, you know I’m right. Outstanding acting, beautiful directing, and shockingly perfect writing all come together in a visual experience unlike any other. It is one of those rare shows that get better year after year. Nearly any episode this season could have been selected as the best. The finale was another strong contender, but without “Crawl Space”, the finale would have never happened. It was in this episode that the show changed forever. We finally saw Walter White’s lowest point and now we’re left to wonder if he can recover. I won’t spoil the ending, but I will say that, yes, there will be blood.

Dennis’ Top 10 Episodes of 2011

1.“Community” (Season Three, Episode 4, “Remedial Chaos Theory”)
2. “Breaking Bad” (Season Four, Episode 11, “Crawl Space”)
3. “Breaking Bad” (Season Four, Episode 13, “Face Off”)
4. “South Park” (Season Fifteen, Episode 7, “You’re Getting Old”)
5. “Game of Thrones” (Season One, Episode 9, “Baelor”)
6. “Archer” (Season Two, Episode 10, “El Secustro”)
7. “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” (Season Seven, Episode 3, “Frank Reynolds’ Little Beauties”)
8. “Breaking Bad” (Season Four, Episode 1, “Box Cutter”)
9. “Parks and Recreation” (Season Three, Episode 9, “Andy and April’s Fancy Party”)
10. “Boardwalk Empire (Season Two, Episode 12, “To the Lost”)

Community

(Season Three, Episode 4, “Remedial Chaos Theory”)

By Ken Jones, The Reel Deal producer

With a show as fantastic as Community it is difficult to pick the best episode of the year. To help me chose I thought about which episode I have talked with people the most. That answer is clearly “Remedial Chaos Theory”. Troy and Abed throw a housewarming party and Jeff creates six alternate timelines by rolling a dice to decide who will go get the pizza from downstairs. It may seem like something we’ve all seen before, but Community gave the concept freshness in a way only it could. Every time a different person goes to get the pizza the several storylines happening are altered dramatically. It is a fascinating look into the dynamics of the group and simply wildly fun and entertaining.

Ken’s Top 10 Episodes of 2011

1.“Breaking Bad” (Season Four, Episode 13, “Face Off”)
2. “Doctor Who” (Season Six, Episode 4, “The Doctor’s Wife”)
3. “Community” (Season Three, Episode 4, “Remedial Chaos Theory”)
4. “Breaking Bad” (Season Four, Episode 1, “Box Cutter”)
5. “Breaking Bad” (Season Four, Episode 11, “Crawl Space”)
6. “Doctor Who” (Season Six, Episode 13, “The Wedding of River Song”)
7. “Archer” (Season Two, Episode 9, “Placebo Effect”)
8. “Spartacus: Gods of the Arena” (Episode 4, “Beneath the Mask”)
9. “Doctor Who” (Season Six, Episode 8, “Let’s Kill Hitler”)
10. “Community” (Season Two, Episode 14, “Advanced Dungeons & Dragons”)

Doctor Who

(Season Six, Episode 7, “A Good Man Goes to War”)

By Austin Lugar

Early in the episode, River Song recognizes what is about to happen. She’s from The Doctor’s future so she has already lived through this even though it’s new for our heroes. She says, “This is The Doctor’s darkest hour. He’ll rise higher than ever before and then fall so much further.”

Such a statement is a bold one, but it’s the sort of challenge that Steven Moffat brings upon himself as writer. The first half of the episode is a daring rescue mission. There is plenty of extreme badassary thanks to Rory the Roman and a cool set of new characters like a lesbian couple from Victorian times with samurai swords. Then the drama sinks in.

It wasn’t just about the bad guys getting away or a few characters meeting their demise. All of the weight is because it’s all The Doctor’s fault. This group of villains have formed because they are devoted to stopping his reign of terror. The Doctor’s adventures may seem like fun, but there are serious consequences that will affect those he loves. When he met Amy Pond, her life was forever changed not because of the whimsy but because of the danger and scars that can’t be healed. What happens to her in this is The Doctor’s ultimate fall.

Then something fascinating happens. It’s not a simple cheat to save the day, but a small ray of hope. For the first time The Doctor is not horrified about what is to come in his future, but the slimmest possibility that what he does can cause benefit to the universe. It’s all through a major reveal and a secret the show has held for two years. No way, I’m going to spoil it here for you today. Watch the show!

Austin’s Top 10 Episodes of 2011

1.“Doctor Who” (Season Six, Episode 7, “A Good Man Goes to War”)
2. “Breaking Bad” (Season Four, Episode 1, “Box Cutter”)
3. “Community” (Season Two, Episode 19, “Critical Film Studies”)
4. “Community” (Season Three, Episode 4, “Remedial Chaos Theory”)
5. “Archer” (Season Two, Episode 10, “El Secuestro”)
6. “Treme” (Season Two, Episode 11, “Do Watcha Wanna”)
7. “Breaking Bad” (Season Four, Episode 11, “Crawl Space”)
8. “Doctor Who” (Season Six, Episode 4, “The Doctor’s Wife”)
9. Louie (Season Two, Episode 3, “Moving”)
10. “The Hour” (Season One, Episode 1, “Episode 1”)

Friday Night Lights

(Season Five, Episode 13, “Always”)

By Ryan Lugar, Freshman at Purdue University

Friday Night Lights started off as a great book, evolved into a motion picture and ended as an amazing television show that will be forever remembered. The show brought together a wide collection of characters that the audience couldn’t help but get emotionally attached to. In a show that is supposedly centered around football, the worry and care about the sport in the final episode of the season and show were non-existent. With football out of the way, the theme of family and love reigned supreme. I won’t give away any spoilers so I will keep the details to a minimum. The show is clearly wrapping up all loose ends for all characters in a spectacular way, whether it is bringing back old characters, to close the chapter for another character or other characters breaking the mold. What can remain true over it all is the theme of family and love, which the Taylor family lives by and rubs off on to everyone around them. It is this real love that is shown on the show that makes the audience cry because the show is over but smile all the same because they get to see the characters they have watched evolve come to a truly happy ending.

Ryan’s Top 10 Episodes of 2011

1.“Friday Night Lights” (Season Five, Episode 13, “Always”)
2. “Doctor Who” (Season Six, Episode 7, “A Good Man Goes to War”)
3. “ESPN’s 30 for 30” (“Catching Hell”)
4. “Community” (Season Two, Episode 21, “Paradigms of Human Memory”)
5. “South Park” (Season Fifteen, Episode 1, “HumancentiPad”) & (Bonus Documentary, “Six Days to Air”)
6. “Community” (Season Two, Episode 19, “Critical Film Studies”)
7. “ESPN’s 30 for 30” (“Roll Tide/War Eagle”)
8. “Friday Night Lights” (Season Five, Episode 12, “Texas Whatever”)
9. ABC Special (“A Celebration of the Life of Dan Wheldon”)
10. “Doctor Who” (Season Six, Episode 4, “The Doctor’s Wife”)

Game of Thrones

(Season One, Episode 9, “Baelor”)

By J.C. Pankratz, Senior at DePauw University

“Baelor” redefined what I considered a horrifying moment of television, especially given the lack of blood and guts spilled in the duration of the episode. This is a show perpetuated by the schemes of others—after all you play to win in the game of thrones. But, even the most high, mighty and cunning players are waiting with baited breath by the end, and perhaps what is most upsetting—and mesmerizing—is watching each of their schemes, no matter how well-plotted, shatter and explode.

J.C.’s Top 10 Episodes of 2011

1.“Game of Thrones” (Season One, Episode 9, “Baelor”)
2. “Doctor Who” (Season Six, Episode 4, “The Doctor’s Wife”)
3. “Community” (Season Two, Episode 14, “Advanced Dungeons & Dragons”)
4. “Parks and Recreation” (Season Two, Episode 9, “Andy and April’s Fancy Party”)
5. “Boardwalk Empire” (Season Two, Episode 12, “To the Lost”)
6. “Doctor Who” (Season Six, Episode 10, “The Girl Who Waited”)
7. “Community” (Season Three, Episode 4, “Remedial Chaos Theory”)
8. “Parks and Recreation” (Season Three, Episode 16, “Li’l Sebastian”)
9. “Game of Thrones” (Season One, Episode 10, “Fire and Blood”)
10. “Community” (Season Two, Episode 21, “Paradigms of Human Memory”)

Justified

(Season Two, Episode 13, “Bloody Harlan”)

By Larry D. Sweazy, novelist and 2011 winner of Best Fiction Book of Indiana

I thought there was no way Justified could get any better after Season One. Once the writers found their stride, and decided to keep Boyd Crowder, portrayed brilliantly by Walton Groggins, alive and at the center of the storyline, the first season ended in a crescendo rightly called “Bulletville.” I have said “Bulletville” is the best season finale ever, and I still stand by that. So, I was certain of a sophomore slump, expected a dip in season two—and I was ultimately and gratefully, wrong. I’m not going to recount all of season two here, but let’s just say this: Margo Martindale walked in as Mags Bennett and took the show to another level (and deservedly won an Emmy). Jeremy Davies as the crippled-by-Raylan-Givens-bad-guy added a polar layer to Boyd’s nastiness and teetering confusion between good and evil. Raylan, Timothy Olyphant on point as usual, had his own struggle with right and wrong, and really, I hope he dumps that no good Winona once and for all. The entire season wrapped up in a blood feud worthy of being called “Bloody Harlan.” Raylan barely got out of Harlan alive this time. For this episode to have the full impact, you’ll have to watch the entire season from beginning to end.

Larry’s Top 10 Episodes of 2011

1.“Justified” (Season Two, Episode 13, “Bloody Harlan”)
2. “Justified” (Season Two, Episode 1, “The Moonshine War”)
3. “Justified” (Season Two, Episode 11, “Full Commitment”)
4. “Game of Thrones” (Season One, Episode 1, “Winter is Coming”)
5. “Game of Thrones” (Season One, Episode 9, “Baelor”)
6. “Hell on Wheels” (Season One, Episode 3, “A New Birth of Freedom”)
7. “True Blood” (Season Four, Episode 1, “She’s Not There”)
8. “Luther” (Season Two, Episode 1, “Episode 1”)
9. “Chopped (Season Six, Episode 1, “Victory on the Brain”)
10. “Game of Thrones” (Season One, Episode 10, “Fire and Blood”)

Louie

(Season Two, Episode 11, “Duckling”)

By Aaron Wittwer, Ball State graduate

As could be said of the series, Louie, as a whole, “Duckling” is remarkable more for the things it doesn’t do, the clichés it doesn’t fall into, and the messages it doesn’t try to send than for anything that actually happens in the episode itself. Here, we follow Louie on a USO trip to Afghanistan, but it’s not an episode about the war. It’s doesn’t try shove any political nonsense down your throat. It’s not biased. And, most importantly, it avoids the hyper-sentimentality inherent in the subject matter. Outside of the overarching concept, there is no clearly definable plot. It’s more just a collection of interactions between Louie and the various people he meets. The soldiers are neither mocked, nor put on some sort of heroic pedestal of moral perfection. The patriotic country singer character, who would be the brunt of the joke in any other sitcom, is just an honest, sincere guy trying to entertain the troops. The USO cheerleader, whose ignorance of Led Zeppelin and insistence that Louie make his act “more Christian” should make her an easy target for ridicule, functions more as a spotlight on Louie’s inability to connect with those around him. And that’s where much of the comedy of this episode comes from. Whether it be his fear of an attack that neither the soldiers nor the ex-army singer share, or his self-consciously pathetic attempts to pick up one of the cheerleaders, Louie’s insecurities put him in a constant state of unease. But it’s not overplayed. Louie doesn’t go around muttering things like “what am I doing here?” and “I’m too old for this”, rather this is accomplished in much more and honest and natural ways; through subtle hesitations, glances, and passing hints of anxiety in dialogue.

Aaron’s Top 10 Episodes of 2011

1.“Breaking Bad” (Season Four, Episode 13, “Face Off”)
2. “Justified” (Season Two, Episode 13, “Bloody Harlan”)
3. “Doctor Who” (Season Six, Episode 4, “The Doctor’s Wife”)
4. “Community” (Season Three, Episode 4, “Remedial Chaos Theory”)
5. “Being Human” (Season Three, Episode 6, “The Longest Day”)
6. “American Horror Story” (Season One, Episode 5, “Halloween: Part 2”)
7. “Misfits” (Season One, Episode 7, “Episode Seven”)
8. “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” (Season One, Episode 26, “The Best Night Ever”)
9. “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (Season Eight, Episode 2, “The Safe House”)
10. “True Blood” (Season Four, Episode 11, “And When I Die”)

Parks and Recreation

(Season Four, Episode 9, “The Trial of Leslie Knope”)

By Keith Jackson, co-host of the podcast “And the Nominees Are”

I promise I’m not showing any bias to Parks and Rec just because it’s set in Indiana. But without a doubt, the comedy had one of the best years of any network show. Community had a great episode that poked fun at “mockumentary” shows like The Office, Modern Family and Parks and Rec.Admittedly this narrative device is one of the weaknesses of the show, but somehow it isn’t as obtrusive as it is in others like it. There are better punch lines in the “confessionals”, as the lesser shows resort to staring at the (seemingly invisible) camera. Funny faces are funny(?).

It’s hard to pick a single episode to highlight since the show maintains quality pretty much every week with its memorable characters. One of the best steps the show made was introducing Adam Scott and Rob Lowe’s characters. But you can’t forget about the minor characters—for instance, I can’t help but laugh whenever Perd from “Ya’ Heard? with Perd” shows up. And Tom’s friendship with Jean-Ralphio to create Entertainment 720 created some incredibly funny situations.

But I won’t cop out and say “every episode’s a winner!” This current season is Parks and Rec’s “fourth (well, third-and-a-half), and it seemed every episode topped the previous week’s. One that comes to mind is “The Trial of Leslie Knope”, which had more plot development than the last three seasons of The Office (I’m assuming). Leslie and Ben have been having a secret relationship that is frowned upon in the workplace. When Chris finds out about it, an ethics trial is held to make sure there isn’t corruption. A callback to an earlier season occurs when the maintenance worker from the Lil’ Sebastian remembrance testifies that he was bribed. While a loophole is sought, it is discovered that Ben took responsibility and Leslie will not completely lose her job. A tender moment is presented in a clever and humorous way: by way of the stenographer.

The best episodes of any comedy are ones that exhibit both heart and humor. “The Trial of Leslie Knope” had this in spades, and a fun play on courtroom drama to boot.

Keith’s Top 10 Episodes of 2011

1.“Doctor Who” (Season Six, Episode 13, “The Wedding of River Song”)
2. “Community” (Season Two, Episode 19, “Critical Film Studies”)
3. “Parks and Recreation” (Season Four, Episode 9, “The Trial of Leslie Knope”)
4. “Archer” (Season Two, Episode 5, “The Double Deuce”)
5. “Doctor Who” (Season Six, Episode 7, “A Good Man Goes to War”)
6. “The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson” (His week in Paris)
7. “Parks and Recreation” (Season Three, Episode 12, “Eagleton”)
8. “Community” (Season Three, Episode 4, “Remedial Chaos Theory”)
9. “Game of Thrones” (Season One, Episode 6, “A Golden Crown”)
10. “Community” (Season Two, Episodes 23-24, “A Fistful of Paintballs” / “For a Few Paintballs More”)

Treme

(Season Two, Episode 11, “Do Watcha Wanna”)

By Beau Thompson, Ball State Graduate

[SPOILERS for the end of the season, only in the 2nd paragraph]

I don’t think I’ve seen a show that has a stronger sense of time and place than Treme. It feels like a documentary crew just happened upon this characters while filming the aftermath of one of the worst natural disasters in the United States‘ history. This is not surprising, considering that the creator of the show, David Simon, is the co-creator of The Wire A.K.A The Greatest Show in Television History. Like The Wire, “Treme” explores the workings of a city (New Orleans) and follows an ensemble of characters of different social classes roughly a year after Hurricane Katrina destroyed their homes, and their spirit. They are trying to rebuild their lives while dealing with a government that seems more problematic than helpful.

The storytelling is masterful. Each episode takes its time with these characters, as we see every aspect of their lives. This slow pacing comes together in beautiful fashion in Season Two’s finale “Do Whatcha Wanna”. The episode shows the characters dealing with the end of old dreams, and the possible promise of others to come. Both Davis, and Antoine quit their bands, but Davis has a potential bright future with his girlfriend, Annie, whose ex-boyfriend, Sonny, is finding love with something other than a guitar, and cocaine. But the highlight came with Ladonna, when she encounters of the men who sexually assaulted her. Khandi Alexander simply gives the best performance I’ve seen on any medium this year with playing this woman who finally snaps out of the depression that her rape has caused her, and becomes the strong person that she used to be.

Season Two has characters dealing with sexual assault, murder, suicide, moral and financial corruption, and redemption, yet I am still left with a smile on my face at the end of the season, because there is the music shown between the drama. The humanity is shown. We, as the audience, get to share with the good, and bad times with these characters, and through them, we get a glimpse of history, and can identify with a people and culture that we might not have otherwise understood; we wish these characters, like the real survivors of Hurricane Katrina, the best. “Treme” allows us to visit New Orleans, and makes us not want to leave.

Beau’s Top 10 Episodes of 2011

1.“Breaking Bad” (Season Four, Episode 13, “Face Off”)
2. “Treme” (Season Two, Episode 11, “Do Watcha Wanna”)
3. “Game of Thrones” (Season One, Episode 7, “You Win or You Die”)
4. “Breaking Bad” (Season Four, Episode 11, “Crawl Space”)
5. “Doctor Who” (Season Six, Episode 8, “Let’s Kill Hitler”)
6. “Treme” (Season Two, Episode 7, “Carnival Time”)
7. “Breaking Bad” (Season Four, Episode 10, “Salud”)
8. “Breaking Bad” (Season Four, Episode 8, “Hermanos”)
9. “Community” (Season Three, Episode 1, “Biology 101”)
10. “Game of Thrones” (Season One, Episode 5, “The Wolf and the Lion”)

Wilfred

(Season One, Episode 4, “Acceptance”)

By Mike Gospel, Junior at the University of Miami of Ohio

I find it tough to choose an absolute favorite episode of Wilfred, but I think that episode 4, “Acceptance,” may be the one. It is starting to become clear that despite how annoyed by Wilfred Ryan may be, Ryan values Wilfred as his closest friend. This episode shows the beginning of the Ryan-Wilfred relationship norm of “Wilfred tells Ryan to do something, Ryan is skeptical, Ryan finally gets pushed over the edge, shenanigans ensue, a lesson is learned.”

I loved Ed Helms as a guest star, and a good part of why I picked this episode as my “favorite” is that it was where we were first introduced to the character of Bear. I first wanted to start watching Wilfred because of all the “personification of a dog” humor that you get to see out of Brian Griffin in early Family Guy episodes. A perfect example from this episode is when Wilfred says, “Ryan how can I be racist, I’m incapable of seeing color.”

Bear ends up being Wilfred’s sex object/wife and actually a relatively crucial character, which is absolutely hilarious.

The interactions between Ryan and Wilfred are always fun and sometimes crazy, but as far as a show where a pot-smoking dog is played by a human in a giant furry costume, it is one of the most genuine shows I watched this year.

Mike’s Top 10 Episodes of 2011

1.“Family Guy” (Season Ten, Episode 5, “Back to the Pilot”)
2. “The Office” (Season Eight, Episode 2, “The Incentive”)
3. “Modern Family” (Season Three, Episode 1, “Dude Ranch”)
4. “30 Rock” (Season , Episode 100, “100”)
5. “Dexter” (Season Six, Episode 9, “Get Gellar”)
6. “Saturday Night Live” (Season Thirty-Seven, Episode 7, “Jason Segel”)
7. “Castle” (Season Four, Episode 2, “Heroes and Villains”)
8. “Wilfred” (Season One, Episode 4, “Acceptance”)
9. “Desperate Housewives” (Season Seven, Episode 23, “Come On Over for Dinner”)
10. “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” (Season Seven, Episode 7, “Chardee MacDennis: The Game of Games”)