These Were The Six Best Episodes Of TV In 2018
TV! There was so much of it last year. Netflix continued its global dominance, international giants like Amazon Prime expanded their reach in Australia, and viewers were treated to a mind-bogglingly colossal amount of content.
We already know what the 10 best TV shows of the year are, but what about the best TV episodes of the year? Here, in totally subjective list-form, are six of them – mini-classics that we can’t stop thinking about.
6. Castle Rock – “The Queen”
All hail the Queen.
Castle Rock was always going to be a hard sell. The J.J. Abrams-developed show was designed pretty much for massive fans of author Stephen King and nobody else on Earth – the early trailers promised a twisty dive into deep, deep lore, with everything from Cujo to The Shining to Carrie referenced.
It was never going to be the kind of content even casual King fans were going to love. That’s probably why, despite being an astonishingly emotionally intelligent exploration of trauma and memory (not to mention spooky as all hell), Castle Rock never really got the attention it deserved. Critics kept their distance, and viewers dropped off.
No matter. Castle Rock stans know who they are, and they know that “The Queen” is one of the year’s very best hours of television. Starring Sissy Spacek (Carrie herself!) as an Alzheimer’s-riddled heroine trying to fight off the unwanted advances of the antagonistic Kid (Bill Skarsgård), “The Queen” moves back and forth between the present and the past with ease, ending with one helluva heartbreaking twist.
5. The Terror – “Go For Broke”
The Terror is, as the name probably implies, a hard watch.
Another hidden gem, The Terror is ten gruelling hours of arctic horror, based on the true story of John Franklin’s 1845 doomed journey to one of the most remote parts in the world.
The show sees things start bad and quite quickly get worse – by the end of the first episode, the titular ship and its poor crew are trapped in the ice, and not long after that, they turn to cannibalism.
THE TERROR (2018) pic.twitter.com/kYAJlrCQhD
— karen han (@karenyhan) November 24, 2018
But no matter how entertainingly horrifying things get, it’s that first episode that ends up being the real standout of the series. Perfectly setting up its doomed characters and their plight, it has all the sinking horror of a bad dream. This’ll be one you’ll probably want to watch from behind a pillow.
4. Atlanta – “Teddy Perkins”
Oh dear God no.
Speaking of quiet, lingering horror, was there a character on TV this year that could match the sheer existential dread conjured up by Danny Glover in eerie whiteface and a wig? Teddy Perkins is one of the most instantly iconic antagonists in modern television history, and over the course of the episode’s expanded 41 minutes, he firmly imprinted himself in the bad dreams of Atlanta fans.
Drawing heavily from the work of Stanley Kubrick in general and The Shining in particular, the episode moves slowly towards its horrifying climax like a sleepwalker stumbling their way to the edge of a cliff.
And anyway, is there any other comedy on television right now that would dare to end an episode with a double-murder?
3. Bojack Horseman – “Free Churro”
God bless Bojack.
Bojack Horseman‘s fifth series was almost universally acclaimed. Not quite as well-loved, however, was its bottle episode “Free Churro”, a lengthy monologue in which the show’s titular character, an emotionally stunted egomaniac-cum-horse, tries to reckon with the great weight of his childhood trauma following his mother’s death.
But “Free Churro” doesn’t deserve its bad rap. Indeed, it’s one of the most tightly written episodes of Bojack ever, encapsulating everything that the show has been working towards for years now.
It’s emotionally resonant, darkly funny, and utterly devastating. What more could anyone want from an episode of Bojack?
2. Sharp Objects – “Fix”
Probably best not to watch Sharp Objects with your mum.
In a year stuffed with dark, depressing television, Sharp Objects might have been the toughest watch of them all. A potent examination of grief, self-harm, addiction, and catharsis, the show sees a young journalist named Camille (Amy Adams, excellent as literally always) forced to confront the ugliness of her family’s history when two young girls are murdered in her hometown.
The show’s first two episodes are slow-burners, setting up the town of Wind Gap, Camille’s horrific mother Adora, and the central mystery. But it’s in the third episode, “Fix”, that the show’s queasy horror really kicks in.
Camille’s tragic past is revealed, Adora goes bug-nuts, and the previously angelic Amma (Australia’s own Eliza Scanlen) reveals her true, distinctly unpleasant intentions. It might be the hardest watch of the year. But it’s also one of the best.
1. The Haunting Of Hill House – “Two Storms”
The Haunting Of Hill House is episodic TV at its most compelling.
In The Haunting Of Hill House, the past has a mind all of its own. It is the extraordinary series’ true antagonist – a sinister, unstoppable force, determined to suck the heroic Crain family back into its fold. And never is that clearer than in the masterful “Two Storms”, a thrilling hour of television that unfolds in long, carefully choreographed takes.
Indeed, when Hill House dropped in its entirety earlier this year, a lot of the acclaim heaped on “Two Storms” focused on its technical achievements. And sure, it’s pretty goddamn impressive – the camera whirls, characters step in and out of the past, and the whole thing feels like an eerie ballet.
But “Two Storms” isn’t just some hollow technical exercise. Instead, it’s one of the most astute depictions of family and grief in recent history, as the Crain family bicker, bond, and find themselves drawn ever-closer to one another. It’s harder to think of a smarter, more important hour of TV since Mad Men‘s “The Suitcase”. It’s genuinely that good.