Many of us watch television in batches now, inhaling seasons and whole series in snack-fueled sessions where individual episodes run together, differentiated by just a few impatient clicks of the remote. But the people who make those series still build them episode by episode, constructing individual half-hours and hours that can knock you out.
There may be no one at the office the next day who’s watching the same show you are, so consider this collection of memorable episodes from 2018, presented alphabetically by series, your virtual watercooler. MIKE HALE
‘Teddy Perkins’
Fame, in “Atlanta,” has been a fantasy, a disappointment, an elusive taunt. This time, it’s a gothic horror story. The eccentric title character (Donald Glover, encased in ghoulish prosthetics) haunts a mansion that serves as a shrine and a prison for his brother, a once-renowned musician. It’s also a museum, honoring Teddy’s father — represented in the form of a faceless mannequin — who tormented his sons toward greatness (like the fathers of Michael Jackson and Marvin Gaye, both mentioned in the episode). It’s a poignant, creepy showcase for the deadpan Lakeith Stanfield and for Glover, who depicted entertainment culture as a mask for nightmares in “This Is America,” and here plays a monster made out of dreams. (Watch on FX Plus.) JAMES PONIEWOZIK
‘START’
Equal parts tragic and tense, the series finale for “The Americans” pulled off the nearly impossible: A conclusion that felt startling but appropriate. Complete. We knew there would have to be some kind of reckoning between the Jenningses and Stan, but it could have been violent or unhinged or less truthful. What we got was a standoff in a parking garage, with Stan pointing his gun at Philip, Elizabeth and Paige, his surrogate family, his best friends. I thought he might shoot them, and then I thought he might shoot himself. But enough people have died on “The Americans” for the characters to know that death isn’t always a punishment, and it certainly isn’t the harshest one. The rending of one’s identity — not being able to be who you were before, to know who you knew, to love who you loved, to trust your own thoughts, to have a cohesive and continuing story of yourself — creates a permanent wound. It’s one Philip and Elizabeth grappled with for the entire series, and one they inflicted on their children and on Stan. (Watch on FX Plus.) MARGARET LYONS
[Read more about the series finale of “The Americans.”]
‘The Planned Parenthood Show’
The raunchy animated puberty-com has always been more sweet and insightful than its hormone-drenched premise might lead you to believe. Here, it became a downright public service. When well-meaning ignoramus Coach Steve (Nick Kroll) is assigned to teach sex-ed, his students end up taking over the lesson with sketches, fantasy sequences and parodies. (These include a “Bachelor”-style reality show in which a condom, an I.U.D. and other options compete with “the pullout method” to become a teenager’s contraception method of choice.) The story of terminating an unplanned pregnancy — scored entirely to, and reprising the video of, “Groove Is in the Heart” by Deee-Lite — made for a couple of the most ingenious, and oddly heartwarming, minutes of TV this year. (Watch on Netflix.) JAMES PONIEWOZIK
‘Just One of the Boyz 4 Now for Now’
The ever-optimistic Tina meets the latest love of her life (“I’m not boy-crazy, I’m boy-focused”), and in order to see him again she has to disguise herself and sneak into auditions for a struggling boy band. Of course. “Bob’s Burgers” is a model of consistency in its writing and delineation of its characters, a family of lovable misfits who run a diner you probably wouldn’t want to eat at, and any number of episodes could have made this list. The Season 9 premiere gets the nod for its closing musical number, in which Tina rides a unicorn while musing on “the right number of boys” in a girl’s life. (Watch on Fox.com and Hulu.) MIKE HALE
Read more The Nytimes
