[For more of Collider’s Best of 2016 lists, clickhere]
Part 2 of our countdown for the Best TV Episodes of the year kicks off around June of 2016, and it’s interesting to note that so many of our picks include one writer/director, or that a writer/director is also a show creator. Maybe it’s that special ingredient that makes some of these episodes truly outstanding, or maybe it’s something else. Regardless, below you’ll find our list of the most outstanding hours (or half hours) of television this year, and if you haven’t caught up with a particular show you may want to skip it because ofspoilers.
Felt we missed your favorite? Be sure to add it in the comments. And if you missed Part 1, you may find ithere.
The Crown Season 1: “Gelignite”
Writer: Peter Morgan
Director:Julian Jarrold
Sometimes there is a single episode that truly sums up its show, and “Gelignite” was absolutely that forThe Crown. One of the year’s best series,The Crowntakes us inside Buckingham palace to follow the rise of Queen Elizabeth II (Claire Foy) and what that kind of meteoric appointment means for a young woman. In “Gelignite,” Elizabeth is approached by her younger sister Margaret (Vanessa Kirby) about marrying Peter Townsend (Ben Miles), a well-respected Captain and long-time friend of the royal family. While Elizabeth is initially supportive of her sister and tries to remain so, Townsend is tinged with scandal — he’s divorced, something that just caused the abdication of a King. The hour is an agonizing progression of Elizabeth realizing first that she cannot give her sister what she wants, and then ultimately, that she may have her own motivations for wanting to banish Peter (because he is overshadowing her in the press, perhaps?) It’s deeply complicated but a perfect encapsulation of the series, where Elizabeth is often at war with herself. But as her grandmother advised, “the crown must always win.” Here it does, but we also see its personal cost.— Allison Keene
Mozart in the Jungle Season 3: “Not Yet Titled”
Writer: Roman Coppola
Director: Roman Coppola
Mozart in the Junglecontinues its tradition of having one experimental episode per season with “Not Yet Titled,” which was shot as a short documentary by the character Bradford Sharp (Jason Schwartzman), as the New York Symphony — at the behest of their maestro Rodrigo (Gael Garcia Bernal) — plays at Riker’s Island Prison. The documentary format is a perfect way to convey the event, not only because it satirizes the pretension of Bradford’s designs for it, but also because it allows for one-on-one interviews with the characters and with prisoners, who react in sincere, moving ways to the symphony’s performance. The episode makes sure to stay sharp so that it doesn’t ever get sentimental, but it also allows the music to speak, something show always does wonderfully. Ultimately it’s an episode that emphasizes the accessibility of classical music, if you drop your preconceptions and just open yourself up to something different.— Allison Keene
Last Week Tonight: “President-Elect Trump”
Writer:Tim Carvell & Dan Gurewitch
Director:Jim Hosinski
Not long after the nation realized thatDonald Trump, a thin-skinned racist and proud misogynist, would be our next President, the articles started rushing in, looking for someone to blame…other than the Electoral College and, ya know, racists or people who don’t mind racism. Those who wanted to take it easy on people who either embraced or willfully ignored the very real dangers of giving Trump presidential power quickly turned to the “snotty” humor of liberal comedians likeJohn OliverandSeth Meyers, and their inability to reach out too more moderate and right-leaning audience members.
That’s cute and all, and there might even be a modicum of truth to the criticism, but it’s not like Oliver and Meyers weren’t trying to reach out to those who hold conservative views. Oliver, in particular, focused on issues that affect the poor first and foremost, a group which – surprise! – does end up including a lot of minorities. When he was talking about such evils as Opioid addiction and multi-level marketing, however, he didn’t speak in terms solely about race or gender or sexuality. He talked about how they affected everyone.
So, when he took the stage for his final episode of the season, in which he attempted to come to terms with the despair of Trump’s victory, he was speaking to everyone, even those who might not realize how bad his ascension will prove to be for those who live in poverty or close to it. And when he ended the episode with a big fuck-you to a year of inexplicable rampant tragedy, he offered a small bit of catharsis. The release of his factual counterpoints to all things Trump is only overwhelmed by the fury that Oliver is barely capable of keeping at bay. -Chris Cabin
Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life: “Winter”
Writer: Amy Sherman-Palladino
Director: Amy Sherman-Palladino
Few series were more highly anticipated than the return ofGilmore Girlson Netflix after 9 years off the air. And while the return was largely uneven with a fairly controversial ending (one that felt like it did a great deal of disservice toAlexis Bledel’s Rory Gilmore), the opening, “Winter,” felt like home. Written and directed by the show’s creatorAmy Sherman-Palladino(her husband Daniel wrote and directed the next two installments), it re-introduced the characters and places of Stars Hollow in ways that felt both fresh and familiar. In later episodes, the show became increasingly surreal and often dragged, but “Winter” was whimsical and, ironically, warm, something that has always definedGilmore Girls. It was a grand introduction to what was, ultimately, a mixed affair.— Allison Keene
Fleabag Season 1: “Episode 4”
Writer:Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Director: Harry Bradbeer
One of the biggest surprises of the year,Fleabag(a six-part British series that airs in the U.S. on Amazon) subverted all of the tropes of a show about a young woman’s dating life in London by giving it a achingly dark undercurrent that wasn’t fully revealed until its first season finale. But in “Episode 4” we got our first solid glimpse of it, when Fleabag (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) and her sister Claire (Sian Clifford) go to a female-only silent retreat. It’s a terrible idea and the two are extremely ill-suited for it, but it brings out some important truths about their relationship. But even more impressive was a scene where Fleabag sits with a man (who was a loan officer who rejected her in an earlier episode), both of them on the run from their respective retreats, and they reveal their deepest fears in simple, incredibly real terms. It was an exceptionally raw moment, somehow both funny and bleak, and one that solidifiedFleabagas one of the best shows of the year.— Allison Keene
Fresh Off the Boat Season 3: “Coming from America”
Writer: Nahnatchka Khan
Director: Nahnatchka Khan
Fresh Off the Boatwent to Taiwan to film its Season 3 premiere, and the result was a hilarious cultural mashup that showed how much the Huangs had changed since coming to America, yes, but it also highlighted the show’s weirder and more surrealistic side. The rivalry between Louis (Randall Park) and Gene (Ken Jeong) worked well as a way to convey unique cultural juxtapositions without feeling like either really wins out, and the show also continued to make its nostalgic moments feel organic, as Eddie (Hudson Yang) tries to fax his girlfriend while he’s away. With some of the sharpest jokes and best sequences of the entire third season so far (especially a joke whereIan Chen’s Evan demands to be taken to a U.S. Embassy),Fresh Off the Boat’s trip to Taiwan was an excellent gamble for one of the most reliable comedies on television.— Allison Keene
Luke Cage Season 1: “Step in the Arena”
Writer:Charles Murray
Director:Vincenzo Natali
Like all too many fans of Marvel on Netflix, my initial obsession withLuke Cageended up dithering hard in the final episodes, as Diamondback became the main villain and the show became a bit untethered from its compelling community-based narrative. The first half of the season, however, remains a promising, occasionally breathtaking push toward audacity and ambition in Marvel adaptations, and the best episode was, surprisingly, Luke’s origins story. Here, the emotional connection betweenMike Colter’s hero and his late wife is conveyed with stunning clarity, as are his experiences in jail that both led to his powers and first introduced him to villains like Shades. Cut between an attempt to save a neighbor from under a pile of rubble, which could out him as a superhero, and his time in jail, the episode earns it’s Gang Starr-supplied title as this is the first time where the series feels like it’s firing on all cylinders, prepared for an onslaught of action and melodrama that never quite arrives in full. -Chris Cabin
Atlanta Season 1: “B.A.N.”
Writer: Donald Glover
Director: Donald Glover
Atlanta’s entire first season was unique and worthy of praise, but “B.A.N.” stood out in particular as a stretching of boundaries, and it was only one of two episodes directed by creator and starDonald Glover(thoughHiro Muraideserves a lot of credit for setting the visual tone of the series). The entire episode focused on Paper Boi (Brian Tyree Henry) as a guest on a fictional PBS-style talk show calledMontague, and it was a frank and honest discussion about black culture and, more surprisingly, the trans community. Henry was outstanding in this episode as the the beleaguered and frustrated Paper Boi, who upended the conversation and unexpectedly found common ground, creating a worthwhile discussion that never once felt preachy. “B.A.N.” also featured several fake commercials that were hysterical, increasingly surreal, and incredibly culturally specific. The most affecting one turned a kid’s cereal cartoon in a fraught comment on Black Lives Matter, all of which perfectly mirrorAtlanta— funny, deep, dreamy, haunting, and smart as hell.— Allison Keene
BoJack Horseman Season 3: “Fish Out of Water”
Writer:Elijah Aron, Jordan Young
Director:Mike Hollingsworth
Amongst one of the great seasons of animated television to ever see the light of day was this act of pure wonder, in whichWill Arnett’s washed-up sitcom star and so-to-be Oscar-winner forSecretariatfinds himself lost, underwater, during the Pacific Ocean Film Festival. The obvious link here would beLost in Translation, but the episode intensifies the feeling of isolation and alienation that were coming in waves inSofia Coppola’s masterwork. The incapability for us to understand anything that anyone says allows for grand flourishes of storytelling invention, as well as some of the most dazzling images that the routinely brilliant series has ever come up with. What would have been a gimmick on almost any other show ends up highlighting the sense of narrative detail that’s packed into each from of the show, beyond the cutting, rhythmic dialogue. And like any great imaginative coup, it’s given a backbone by feelings of strong regret, exhaustion, curiosity, and that feeling of being lost for a good reason, even if you don’t understand that reason yet. -Chris Cabin
Mr. Robot Season 2: ”eps2.4_m4ster-s1ave.aes"
Writer: Adam Penn
Director: Sam Esmail
ThoughMr. Robot’s second season struggled with pacing and even its own sense of story (getting bogged down by a desire for another big twist), “Master-Slave” jolted viewers awake with Elliot’s (Rami Malek) mental journey through a twisted sitcom world of the 80s and 90s. It was funny, sad, and even a little scary (in that sort of lightly horror-filled “Too Many Cooks” sort of way, especially with the teases it gave of Tyrell Wellick — particularly when it seemed to confirm that Elliot murdered him). It was unique and unexpected, and initially was only available to see if you watched the episode live.
But “Master-Slave” also featured a great scene between two of the show’s women, Angela (Portia Doubleday) and Dom (Grace Gummer), and successfully created several excellent scenes full of tension for Angela and she attempted to help fsociety with an FBI hack. The show also traded in some genuinely emotional moments in a flashback with Elliot and his father (Christian Slater), and it explained the significance of the moniker “Mr. Robot.” In an uneven season where individual episodes had great moments but not always great full hours, “Master-Slave” was a shining example of how great the show can be.— Allison Keene
