For TV fans, the Peak TV era is both a blessing and curse. There is so much great television out there, and yet there is also too much to keep up with. Halfway through the year, Chris Cabin and I pause and take stock of the great series and episodes that have already aired, but now that we’ve reached the end of 2017, we’ve updated our list with the best episodes since June as well.
If you don’t see your favorite on here, fear not – there was a lot of great TV, and while we tried to get to most of it, we can’t watcheverything. Plus, there are also absences for great shows likeBig Little LiesandFeud: Bette and Joan, series I loved but where one particular episode didn’t jump out at me, though the works as a whole are wonderfully engaging (and visually stunning). Let us know your favorites in the comments, and formore of the Best of 2017, check out mytop 25 TV showsof the year, Chris Cabin’stop 25, Dave Trumbore’s list of thebest new animated series, Emma Fraser’s look atthe best songs on TV, and Evan Valentine’s ranking of the year’ssuperhero TV.
A note onspoilers: If you aren’t caught up with a show, skip past it!
Preacher Season 2: “Mumbai Sky Tower”
Writer: Sam Catlin
Directors: Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg
ThoughPreacherultimately lost me (and I had already struggled to return after the Season 1 finale), the new season’s second episode felt like the show coming into a creative renaissance. “Mumbai Sky Tower” was a surprisingly emotion (and visually exceptional) standalone story of the angel Fiore (Tom Brooke), who attempts to kill himself over and over again after losing his partner DeBlanc, but can’t because of his powers of immediate resurrection. The way Fiore tries to off himself in front of a crowd and then realizes that he can turn that into an act (with increasingly gruesome ways of killing himself, before popping back up again) is a unexpectedly touching story, especially when he “finds peace” through the Saint of Killers. Brooke did an exceptional job of conveying Fiore’s depression and ennui, yet also his slight pleasure at entertaining the crowds.— Allison Keene
Legion Season 1: “Pilot”
It’s a bit of a cheat to pick a season premiere as a best episode, even more so aseriespremiere. Pilots and premieres are built and designed to immediately entice and ensnare the audience in the world that, if all goes well, will be built up and out as the episodes go on. And yet, it’s impossible to ignore the immediate and ruminative delights thatNoah Hawleylays out in the series premiere ofLegion. Tricked out with all manner of “Look Ma!” camera movies, flourishes of bright color, and a superb cast fronted byDan StevensandAubrey Plaza, the story of David Haller (Stevens) — one of the most formidable mutant in the X-Men universe — is first and foremost a trip to witness. The scenes in Clockworks are dazzlingly expressive and bold even by FX’s standards. And at the core of the show’s success is Hawley’s unwavering interest in diving into his main character’s knotty inner issues, as the show fixes itself more on the importance of self-knowledge, skepticism, and self-care in defeating villains than the ability to turn a person inside out or grow blue hair and hang from the ceiling.
Nevertheless, Hawley decides to cap this electrifying hour of visual storytelling off with a thrilling escape that includes telekinetic tosses, burnt corpses, and a beachfront rescue via helicopter should show just how much ambition the visionary has culled from here. With “Chapter 1,” he’s issued a serious challenge to any Marvel adaptation that thinks exclusively in terms of plot, which is to say most of them, and by the end of the season, the challenge stands.— Chris Cabin
The Crown Season 2: “Vergangenheit”
Writer: Peter Morgan
Director: Philippa Lowthorpe
Though each ofThe Crown’s episodes are distinct, one of that most affecting was “Vergangenheit,” which documented the Duke of Windsor and his wife’s social affiliations with the Nazi party, and how — had he remained King — England might have surrendered to Hitler. There are a lot of damning sequences in “Vergangenheit,” not the least of which are the scenes of archival footage where Edward is touring Nazi Germany and meeting Hitler. But “Vergangenheit” was also a consideration of faith, as Queen Elizabeth (Claire Foy) invites Billy Graham (Paul Sparks) to England, and asks for his counsel regarding forgiveness as a Christian virtue. How can she possibly forgive her Nazi-sympathizing uncle, who suggested to the Germans they keep shelling England because that would likely make them give up? It’s a complicated episode full of emotional stress and not a particularly satisfying conclusion, even though Edward is booted out of England forever. It’s simply a necessary acknowledgement of a hard truth about one’s family — which is at the heart ofThe Crown.— Allison Keene
Game of Thrones Season 7: “Spoils of War”
Writer: David Benioff & D. B. Weiss
Director: Matt Shakman
“Spoils of War” had everything that an early seasons’Game of Thronesfan might have thought would never happen. Arya returns to Winterfell, Bran and Littlefinger have a reckoning about the dagger, Jon convinces Dany to join forces with him (and … more?), and then we got that final fight where Dany rides Drogon to destroy the Lannister army. That battle — which including breathtaking scenes of the Dothraki in full fight mode, let us not forget — included not only a dragon lighting up an entire army, but some hero moments from Bronn, and a perilous(ly dumb) moment from Jaime. More than anything, it was an episode that had my heart racing, my nerves shattered, and visceral reactions to what was happening onscreen. While later episodes in Season 7 felt, at times, a little too fan service-y, “Spoils of War” was an unparalleled experience in pure joy and excitement, and was a fantastic culmination of so many storylines that we have been following for the better part of a decade.— Allison Keene
Fargo Season 3: ”The Law of Non-Contradiction”
Writers:Matt Wolpert & Ben Nedivi
Director:John Cameron
It’s rare for a show to make it onto our list twice, but if any show deserves it it’sFargo.Noah Hawley’s loving crafted anthology series is a work of aesthetic control and purposeful restraint, whether it’s in the muted “Minnesota nice” of its heroes, or in the deliberately swift and brutal movements of its villains. “The Law of Non-Contradiction” broke form, though, as a capsule episode and a road trip that took the show out of the tundra and to California, where Gloria (Carrie Coon) set to find out more about her recently murdered step-father. It’s a showcase for Coon’s talents, which is always delightful to behold, but it also included an extended animated sequence that illustrated her step-father’s lost sci-fi novel “The Planet Wyh,” featuring a helpful android named MNSKY. Hawley’s incorporation of animation is something nearly unheard of in the world “prestige TV dramas,” and it was a fantastic story-within-a-story-within-a-story that (with the flashback) also feltTwin Peaks-y in its use of diners and old Hollywood scams and suddenly escalated violence. A stand-out episode for what has always been a stand-out series.— Allison Keene
Master of None Season 2: “First Date”
Writers: Aziz Ansari & Alan Yang
Director: Eric Wareheim
If you’ve used online dating and lived in any major city,Master of None’s “First Date” probably hit a little too close to home. Edited with finesse and paced brilliantly, this trip through a flurry of first dates, fragmented into representative flashes, allowsAziz Ansari’s Dev to react to a number of distinct types. There’s the spoiled young woman frivolously living off her parents; the flirty colleague; the busy but good-humored career woman; and, of course, the witty, warm stoner who takes him home. Ansari gives even the least admirable of these characters a relatable pulse of life. He averts treating any of them like a simple stereotype, and the results is 20-odd minutes that evokes the thrill of meeting new people and possible romantic parties while also highlight how exhausting, confusing, and repellant the dating scene can be. No small feat.— Chris Cabin
Twin Peaks: The Return: “Part 8”
Director: David Lynch
Writers:David Lynch & Mark Frost
In the middle of one of the greatest seasons of television that the medium has yet to produce withTwin Peaks: The Return,David Lynchdecided to drop a bomb. After a rather short intro, involving the murder and subsequent resuscitation of Bad Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan), and an appearance by Nine Inch Nails, Lynch sent us out into the ether of history, wherein the aftermath of the creation and detonation of the atomic bomb evinces monstrous human and metaphysical effects. On its own, at less than an hour in length, the episode would count as a highlight in a career marked almost exclusively by peaks. In the realm of TV, the experimental nature of the episode and its surreal, frightening tone counted as a defining moment in the medium, the wildly rare case in which TV truly had it over anything that was seeing release in the movie theater.– Chris Cabin
The Punisher Season 1: “The Judas Goat”
Director: Jeremy Webb
Writer: Christine Boylan
I wasn’t sure aboutThe Punisherat first. The pilot episode felt like a knock-off of some misbegotten 1980s action flick and the slow pace of Frank Castle and Micro’s budding friendship and working relationship that followed did not give me great hope. Still, there were signs throughout the first five episodes that prepared you for the most agonizingly intimate and vulnerable moments in “The Judas Goat,” in which Castle reveals himself to his erstwhile best friend, Billy Russo (Ben Barnes), who he does not know secretly works for the villainous Rawlins. The series’ true subject is how men communicate feelings, acts, and ideas that are often seen as the opposite of masculine, such as loving another man or feeling vulnerable, and seeing the joy and relief Frank gets out of just seeing his brother-in-arms is itself a kind of revelation for the series. It’s the first time that we fully know that Castle’s humanity is still alive underneath all the grief, resentment, and vengeance. And it’s that exact thing that ends up differentiating him from the confused, angry men and monsters who he hunts throughout the series, and its what makes it so much easier to empathize with him when all the bloody work is done.– Chris Cabin
Legends of Tomorrow Season 2: “The Legion of Doom”
Writers:Phil Klemmer & Marc Guggenheim
Director: Eric Laneuville
Oh boy oh boy did I love this episode ofLegends of Tomorrow. Like several other series on this list,Legendsvastly improved with its second season. One of the biggest reasons was thanks to its new villain team, the Legion of Doom, made up ofArrow-verse baddies Eobard Thawne (Matt Letscher), Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough), and Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman). The episode which bears their names came with a fantastic Eobard introduction, as well as the reveal that the speedster is being chased out of existence by Black Flash (the first time we’ve seen him return sinceThe Flash’s Season 2 finale). All of this helps the Legion balance out their power and become a truly united force in their ultimate quest for power. It was a great episode (I wrote more about ithere) that allowed the villains to have their moment to not only bicker with one another (which was gleeful fun), but it solidified them in these new roles. Plus, the hour ended with Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) shooting George Washington in 1776, which is really just peakLegendson every level.— Allison Keene
Better Call Saul Season 3: “Sabrosito”
Writer: Jonathan Glatzer
Director:Thomas Schnauz
In aBetter Call Saulseason that travelled further into the world ofBreaking Badthan ever before, “Sabrosito” showed the right balance of how to keep the Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) storyline intact and still flirt with “Breaking Bad: Origins” for a multitude of other characters. I’ll admit that I was very hesitant at the start of the season with the time the show was spending with Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) while lessening time spent with characters like Kim (Rhea Seehorn), but “Sabrosito” showed exactly how the two shows can be reconciled in one fantastic episode (which I wrote about more in-depthhere). It was a taught, tense, twisty, and fantastically acted episode that shows the series at its best. Now if only we would get some news on that Season 4 renewal …— Allison Keene
