In the year that the comfort watch reigned, I suppose it’s only natural that my favorite episode is also the one I found most restorative. Pamela Adlon wrapped another exceptional season of television with a season finale that’s equally bracing and gracious. The episode comprises three parts with their own narratives and genre: The first is almost a whimsical ghost story, the second is live theater, while the conclusion is nothing less than a spell. season four was about metabolizing even your anger—decades-old and warranted though it may be— to make room for something more positive, more beneficial. But Adlon never glossed over the hurt or resentment; as Sam Fox, she’s had to sit with every betrayal, every rejection, every disappointment. And because of that, she couldn’t just churn out a conventional closer to the latest installment of her coming-of-middle-age comedy. In the spirit of the season-long exploration of religion and culture, “Listen To The Roosters” ends in a type of baptism for Sam and her daughters, washing away the bitterness and conflict (for a little while, at least). It was a chance to catch our breath, and for Adlon to take our breath away with a rousing speech about the real life-cycle of womanhood: “You’re primed and you’re prepped and abused and adored and harassed and worshipped. And then it all stops.” [Danette Chavez]
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So glad to see Vendy Wiccany on here. Its a beautiful tribute to Maya & Anna’s friendship, finding solace in being outsiders, escaping from troubles at homes, and trying to feel in control when you are utterly powerless. Plus I totally relate to the flirting fascination with witchcraft. My mom is Wiccan so it’s been a big part of my life, but as a dorky preteen, it was so appealing.I’d also include How To With John Wilson’s How to Make the Perfect Risotto, but maybe that’s just me
The whole season of Pen15 was great. As a theater kid at that age, I found everything with the play to ring so true to life!
Well said, that was the most heartbreaking episode for me. I couldn’t help but get choked up when Anna was trying to disappear, but they also played the adolescent commitment to witchcraft to such perfect hilarity.
Oh it’s definitely a hilarious episode too. The scene in the school greenhouse had me crying with laughter. That’s why it’s such a great show. It effortlessly blends comedy and drama.
That episode of Bojack was one of the most uncomfortable trainwrecks I’ve ever seen. I’ve never experienced a show where I’ve wanted so badly to just shake the main character and shout, “stop fucking this up! You can do better than this!” And yet I can’t stop recommending it to people. It’s one of the most captivating shows ever. And SHIELD – I binged the last season once it arrived on Netflix since I missed most of it live. That was a pretty good episode, but can I just say how happy I was to see Enver Gjokaj on tv again? He’s delightful. I miss Dollhouse.
It’s truly bizarre that Enver Gjokaj isn’t a gigantic star, I know not many people watched Dollhouse but every producer and showrunner and casting department folk who did should be climbing over eachother trying to land him, he demonstrates some *uncanny* acting abilities in that show.
The one and only season of Emergence was worth it for the chemistry between Enver Gjokaj and Allison Tolman. But him as Sousa and Chloe Bennet and Daisy on Agents of SHIELD was even better & I for sure did not see that coming & I loved how neither did she
I think it’s a real testament to his acting abilities and his natural charisma that he really made that relationship work, and actually seemed to elevate Bennet’s performance, because for the most part she was/is one of the weakest actors on that show, but their scenes together were always really good.
Wait, wait, I (sort of) watched Emergence. I don’t remember him at ALL. I guess I have to go back and actually watch it?
Glad to see the Enver love. He really blew me away on Dollhouse (unfortunately they seemed to, at least initially, want to focus on the female “dolls” instead). Actually, I know every Dollhouse fan knows this, but I still remember how off it felt that the show apparently was tailor made for Eliza Dushku, but, as much as I do like her, versatility is not one of her acting qualities whatsoever. It was quickly apparent (and I’m sure the people casting the show knew this when they were, well, casting it) that both Enver Gjokaj and Dichen Lachman were far far better at what those “doll” roles required.
Not every episode of BoJack is great but there are at least 5 that elevate the show to such heights that I can’t recommend it enough, even to people I know will never watch it. It’s just that well-written and performed.
There’s a few episodes of Bojack’s final season that are utterly amazing. The one where he (spoilers) almost dies is another one on a whole other level, as is the final episode just in terms of the resolution between him and Diane. That show is a wonder- it can do all of that while also having two characters running around like they’re straight out of His Girl Friday
I got a Community notification for this.
Yeah, it’s “The One Where We’re Trapped on TV” for me, too. Though I also loved “Swan Thong” and the end of Teenage Bounty Hunters.
Oh, Teenage Bounty Hunters . . . Netflix really giveth and taketh away eh . . .
“The One Where We’re Trapped on TV” had two Zaris so of course it is my favorite
I’ll admit I didn’t watch everything under the same, but Teenage Bounty Hunters was my favorite new show this year. So much fun! Such a shame that it’s only going to get that one, single season. Damn shame.
Yes. What We Do In The Shadows absolutely. I can’t even choose a favorite. The first episode maybe? I like the ones where they go out into public and engage with non-vampires. Ep. 6, Baron’s Night Out (2019, sorry) was funny. What do you do with a guest who has overstayed his welcome? They take the old Master out for some fun. His idea of ‘street wear’ is hilarious (I can’t describe it), so the fit him up like a weekender sports fan*. Many horrors ensue – a vampires version of doing a shot; what happens to a vampire if they eat pizza. It’s so refreshing to watch a show where the writers are free to go absolutely wild with the material.*There are some great bits about the Baron not having genitals.
I need to rewatch that episode because I think I was too dazzled by the sheer audacity of the comic brilliance of the episode that I never actually laughed.
Enjoy!
Did you know that there is no CGI in the show? I never really thought about it, but I just finished reading that the show’s creator is determined to rely on special effects only, not visual effects. It’s amazing (and I love it when they turn into bats, lol).
It is really hard to pick a favorite and S2 really improved on what was already a stellar comedy, but my pick would have to go to “The Curse”, if only because of that crazy good assault of (and subsequent retreat from) the extremely 70s vampire’s hideout. It’s so good that, if you would change a few details, it could be a scene out of a horror movie or some sequel in the From Dusk Until Dawn series.
This show is truly a gift. And this may sound odd, but you can tell it comes from a place of love and appreciation. As you pointed out, the show writers are captivated by their subjects. There’s so much tribute here.
That would be my pick too, but mostly because I’ll never get bored of Nadia saying “Bloody fucking Mary”.
Ugh I like what I’ve seen of this show a lot but I bought it on Prime Video and no matter how many times I turn off the TV/Roku/restart/whatever I can. not. get the video and audio to sync up. It’s a big enough gap that I can’t really enjoy watching it.
The baron eating pizza was one of those rare TV moments where I had to pause because I was laughing too hard.
“Ghosts”, “On the Run”, and “Collaboration” were the three Emmy-nominated episodes of WWDITS, and they are all good. IMO Collaboration is the best of the three, though. On the Run is fun, but it’s “What Matt Berry Does in the Shadows”; Collaboration gives everyone a chance to shine.
While both Bojack and What We Do In The Shadows are mandatory tv watches, the winner will always be Schitt’s Creek. Catherine O’Hara is the jewel in the crown of an awesomely talented cast. To quote Tippy Bernstein “Moira fucking Rose”. God I miss this show, who’s up for bingewatch?😎
My weird take on the show is that I much preferred the early seasons when everybody was much meaner and unlikeable than later seasons. I felt like the last few seasons suffered some of the same issues as Parks & Rec did in that it got overwhelmed by the genuine sweetness of the show. Still, it’s hard to argue that all four of the main characters and the actors who played them were brilliant
I really slacked off in my tv viewing for the year, but watching the last episode (“Mouse of Silver”) of “The Midnight Gospel” during the first lockdown alone in my house was an overwhelming experience. It was the first episode of any tv show in a good while that made me both openly weep and prompted me to call my mom immediately after finishing it.
That episode is one for the ages. Really great show and I hope Netflix makes more of it.
This list is a bit suspect as there is not one Better Call Saul episode on it.
I was thinking the exact same thing.
100%. The entire back half of the season was just unmitigated brilliance and any of those episodes could have appeared here with no quarrel from me.
Absolutely. Starting with I think “Wexler v. Goodman” straight through to the house raid in the finale, BCS had its best run of episodes the series has seen
Exactly. When I started the slideshow, the whole time I was thinking, “I wonder which episode of BCS will be on here.” Then I got to the end and was highly disappointed. I figured Bagman would be the one (as RobGrizzly had posted); it had extremely tense moments (Kim and Lalo’s first meeting) and then the more light montage of Jimmy and Mike trudging along the desert to Labi Siffre’s song.
Exactly. Pick one. I couldn’t.
Bagman or Bad Choice Road.
What Batman said. Either one would have been A-ok with me.
Right? I mean Masked Singer over BCS, I May Destroy You, Dave, or Ramy?
“The Vat of Acid Episode” got the nom, but “Rattlestar Ricklactica” was the best R&M of the season. Edit: Shit. It was in 2019.Maybe Vat of Acid wins 2020.
I did better with TV this year than I did with movies. And thankfully, it was a solid year of stuff. My Top 5 are probably looking like this:
The Good Place 4×13, “When You’re Ready”Better Call Saul 5×08, “Bagman”Ozark 3×9, “Fire Pink”Lovecraft Country 1×6, “Meet Me in Daegu”Raised by Wolves 1×01 “Raised by Wolves”
Yes to The Good Place!
Since both the Good Place and Saul mainly ran in the Before Times, I completely forgot they aired this year. I feel like the last time I watched either was a few years ago.
Oh right! I nearly forgot about that Lovecraft episode. Pretty much perfect for me.
Please stop the slideshows. Please.
I do find it interesting that in every one of these slideshow articles (especially the Best of 2020) someone comments with the same request, usually with a few stars, yet I always find it buried at the bottom of the thread, under a bunch of comments with less (and often no) stars at all.
Make your browser half-width and you can scroll through.
Thanks, that’s helpful. I know I can edit the URL to get it all on one page, but I’m too lazy to look it up or memorize it. Moving the window will be much easier.
That Agents of Shield episode is next level.
“PHLEBOTINUM!”
Stargirl – Wildcat. Yolanda’s backstory, Courtney recruiting her first hero, the wonderful relationship that blooms (friendship or romantic depending on your point of view), Yolanda turning down the opportunity to work on herself, and Courtney not giving up. It was all A+.
The little note that Courtney wrote to Yolanda at the end of the episode destroyed me
I know, apples vs oranges and all, but the worst Good Place episode is far better than the best Masked Singer episode.
And the Good Place has fewer anti-semites and anti vaxxers.
Nothing from I Will Destroy You? It had some of the best TV episodes this year–plus it seems like the kind of show AV Club would be all over (however, I get the feeling barely anyone watched it on HBO, something that happened the previous year with another of my fave UK shows they aired, Years and Years).
That is the best (I hesitate to say the only good, but the thought crossed my mind) episode of Bly Manor.
Bly Manor had its moments. I thought “The Romance of Certain Old Clothes” with its full origin to whole story, was a particular highlight.
I felt the opposite about that episode as a whole, though I enjoyed that the ghost’s “room” was really just the trunk of clothes.
That episode was beautiful, and sad, and well made. Just brilliant.
Kinda bummed the finale of Zoeys’s Extraordinary Playlist wasn’t included.
No “Whenever You’re Ready,” the Good Place finale? I call BS.
I’m still not sure if I enjoyed S4 of Fargo but Episode 9 with the Wizard of Oz homage was spectacular.
No love for The Good Place finale? I know it seems like it aired in 2020 (because this year has been a long decade) but I thought the finale was lovely and a beautiful culmination of 4 seasons of excellent storytelling.
Why do y’all hate The Good Place now?
Agree that WWDITS could have all its episodes on here, and the laughter it gave me was so needed this year. But the show, and the episode, that I needed this year, and especially this year, was “Ted Lasso” and its third episode, “Trent Crimm, The Independent.” This show consistently reaffirmed my faith in humanity and brought me joy and hope and a much-needed lift, and this episode ends on such a wonderful note that you can’t help but be swayed by it. I must have watched that particular episode five times over the first couple days it was out because I needed to. I still revisit it, and when I look back on the darkness that was 2020, Ted Lasso and this episode will be one of the small pinpricks of light that managed to find a way to shine through.
My favorite episodes of 2020 were the entirety of Community, including the DnD episode, and all DVD commentaries, on shuffle on VLC.More effective than any antidepressant or sleep aid.
I fianlly binged al of Community this year as well. And while the first 3 seasons are Brilliant, once Harmon is let go it turns pretty bad. Even the seasons where he came back the good bits are few and far between. Losing cast memebers didn’t help either.
I thought this as well, but give Season 5 and 6 another chance. There is bound to be difficulty adjusting, but there’s a lot of wonderful stuff there too. The more I go back and watch S5 the more I feel like it’s more consistent overall than S3, and S6 has Email Security, the third paintball ep, the wedding ep, Keith David. I just wish the last two had been longer.Season 4 on the other hand, has not aged well at all.
As I said, there are good bits I just don’t think there are enough of them to justify going back. I did like Keith David, and Paget Brewster, and I wish they had been around longer, but I just don’t think the genius is there anymore. To be honest the last season made me very sad and how far the show had fallen.
Glad I’m not the only one who felt that way. It’s been a long time since I watched season 6, and I vaguely remember liking at least one of them, but I never got the praise heaped onto it from this site. The lighting was darker, half the cast was gone, and with all due respect to Paget Brewster and Keith David, I never quite understood what was supposed to make them funny. That’s not their fault, of course. How do you do Community without Troy, Shirley, and Pearce?
Also, while I wasn’t a huge fan of season 4, I’m definitely in the minority of not wanting to shoot it into the Sun, as many seem to want to do. Season 5 was an improvement, but Dan Harmon’s constant ‘gas leak year’ meta-snark definitely took away from it, for me. It’s like the show lost Harmon for a year, doubled down on the heart and sentiment, got him back, and (mostly) ditched that for aforementioned snark, when the show clearly ran at its best with both elements at equal helm of it.
On my quarantine binge watch, I remembered the latter seasons being much worse than they actually were. There are some real duds in there, but overall seasons 5 and 6 have a lot of amazing moments, a couple truly exceptional episodes, and one of the best finale’s of all time (in my opinion)
There’s absolutely no compelling reason this should be set up as a slideshow.
Surprised none of I May Destroy You made it onto the list, hard actually to chose one from that season. We Are Who We Are’s first episode is pure magic as well.
Yes, I ‘m thinking a vast majority of viewers didn’t experience Michael Jordan fatigue at any point in The Last Dance.
For a show that looks terrible on paper but was vastly better than it had any right to be, Dave put together a couple stunners – my favorite being “Ally’s Toast”.
There isn’t Whenever You’re Ready from The Good Place so does this list really have any credibility?That WWDITS episode is fantastic though, even if I’d have picked the one with the chain email forward
I don’t think there’s a single series I’ve watched fully represented here other than Bojack Horseman, so I can’t speak for whether or not these episodes deserve to be on the list, but I’m really shocked that neither Better Call Saul nor Lovecraft Country made an appearance.LC wasn’t perfect as a series, but it put together some truly stunning episodes of television: “Strange Case,” “Meet Me in Daegu,” I Am,” “Jig-A-Bobo,” and “Rewind 1921″ were all just fantastic.BCS’s fifth season was just great, top to tail.
13 Reasons Why went out on a whimper (and probably lasted 3 seasons longer than it should have), but their final year did produce one standout episode, “Thursday” which was about a school shooting. If nothing else, the show never shied away from bold, risky choices. Putting the viewer in those classrooms, effectively conveying the fear and uncertainty, was unimaginably horrifying.I’ll also shout out the “Chris Benoit” and the “Death of Owen Hart” episodes of Dark Side of the Ring. These are two of the most controversial subjects in wrestling. Diving into these stories is something WWE would never allow, so it was interesting and appreciated to see Vice examine these situations. Particularly moving was hearing from Benoit’s other son about how people treat him because of his father.