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| The Memorable TV Episodes of 2016 | The Memorable TV Episodes of 2016 |
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| Ambitious creators and binge-ready releases have turned series television into a medium of sprawling stories that stretch across entire seasons, or longer. But the fundamental TV unit is still the episode. | Ambitious creators and binge-ready releases have turned series television into a medium of sprawling stories that stretch across entire seasons, or longer. But the fundamental TV unit is still the episode. |
| Here, the television critics of The New York Times discuss their favorite single episodes of 2016 — the hours or half-hours that most moved, amused or otherwise stuck with them, for whatever reason, out of the thousands they watched this year. | Here, the television critics of The New York Times discuss their favorite single episodes of 2016 — the hours or half-hours that most moved, amused or otherwise stuck with them, for whatever reason, out of the thousands they watched this year. |
| This utterly unscientific list, arranged alphabetically by series, contains spoilers. Please share your own favorite episodes of 2016 in the comments. | This utterly unscientific list, arranged alphabetically by series, contains spoilers. Please share your own favorite episodes of 2016 in the comments. |
| [Related: The Best TV Shows of 2016] | [Related: The Best TV Shows of 2016] |
| ‘The Americans’ (FX) | ‘The Americans’ (FX) |
| Among the many things at which this show excels is cat-and-mouse action, and the flight of the reluctant spy Martha Hanson in this episode was the high point of the season. It was suspenseful, comic (in the K.G.B.’s ability to stay two steps ahead of the F.B.I.) and heartbreaking, as she clung to the belief that her marriage to a K.G.B. agent was real. Unfortunately, it was also Martha’s next-to-last appearance of the season, and the chances that Alison Wright might reprise her wonderful performance look slim — she has roles in two coming series, “Sneaky Pete” for Amazon and “Feud” for FX. MIKE HALE | Among the many things at which this show excels is cat-and-mouse action, and the flight of the reluctant spy Martha Hanson in this episode was the high point of the season. It was suspenseful, comic (in the K.G.B.’s ability to stay two steps ahead of the F.B.I.) and heartbreaking, as she clung to the belief that her marriage to a K.G.B. agent was real. Unfortunately, it was also Martha’s next-to-last appearance of the season, and the chances that Alison Wright might reprise her wonderful performance look slim — she has roles in two coming series, “Sneaky Pete” for Amazon and “Feud” for FX. MIKE HALE |
| ‘Atlanta’ (FX) | ‘Atlanta’ (FX) |
| No other show this year had such a nimble mastery of tone or such a surprising and enchanting ability to toy with form. This is an entire episode of a fake talk show (“Montague”) on a fake channel (the Black American Network), including fake commercials. “B.A.N.” is hilariously silly — “I wasn’t getting enough crystal in my diet,” sighs a woman on a commercial for a dial-up oracle — but then shockingly and effectively slides into a scathing political commentary when a cartoon commercial for children’s cereal becomes a criticism of police brutality. MARGARET LYONS | No other show this year had such a nimble mastery of tone or such a surprising and enchanting ability to toy with form. This is an entire episode of a fake talk show (“Montague”) on a fake channel (the Black American Network), including fake commercials. “B.A.N.” is hilariously silly — “I wasn’t getting enough crystal in my diet,” sighs a woman on a commercial for a dial-up oracle — but then shockingly and effectively slides into a scathing political commentary when a cartoon commercial for children’s cereal becomes a criticism of police brutality. MARGARET LYONS |
| ‘Bates Motel’ (A&E) | ‘Bates Motel’ (A&E) |
| As a prequel to “Psycho,” this series has always had an inevitable future looming over it. The core piece of that future arrived in shattering fashion in this May episode, which ended with the young Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore) lying down beside his mother, Norma (Vera Farmiga), after making sure the faulty furnace would fill her bedroom with gas. Norman has been deteriorating psychologically from the start of the series in 2013, but the pace has accelerated, and Norma’s marriage to Sheriff Alex Romero (Nestor Carbonell) left the disturbed boy feeling under siege. He survived the gas thanks to Alex’s dramatic rescue, but Norma died, as we knew she must eventually. Ms. Farmiga, though, will still be there when the show returns next year for its fifth and final season. Because in Norman’s mind, Mother never dies, does she? NEIL GENZLINGER | As a prequel to “Psycho,” this series has always had an inevitable future looming over it. The core piece of that future arrived in shattering fashion in this May episode, which ended with the young Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore) lying down beside his mother, Norma (Vera Farmiga), after making sure the faulty furnace would fill her bedroom with gas. Norman has been deteriorating psychologically from the start of the series in 2013, but the pace has accelerated, and Norma’s marriage to Sheriff Alex Romero (Nestor Carbonell) left the disturbed boy feeling under siege. He survived the gas thanks to Alex’s dramatic rescue, but Norma died, as we knew she must eventually. Ms. Farmiga, though, will still be there when the show returns next year for its fifth and final season. Because in Norman’s mind, Mother never dies, does she? NEIL GENZLINGER |
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| ‘black-ish’ (ABC) | ‘black-ish’ (ABC) |
| This half-hour, in the spirit of the issue comedy of the Norman Lear 1970s, directly addressed the Black Lives Matter protests. The extended Johnson family watches a very familiar police-brutality case play out on the news, coming at the topic from multiple angles and drawing broad connections. As Andre (Anthony Anderson) remembers his pride and terror in seeing the newly elected Barack Obama leave his bulletproof limousine, he gives this comedy one of the finest dramatic moments of the year. JAMES PONIEWOZIK | This half-hour, in the spirit of the issue comedy of the Norman Lear 1970s, directly addressed the Black Lives Matter protests. The extended Johnson family watches a very familiar police-brutality case play out on the news, coming at the topic from multiple angles and drawing broad connections. As Andre (Anthony Anderson) remembers his pride and terror in seeing the newly elected Barack Obama leave his bulletproof limousine, he gives this comedy one of the finest dramatic moments of the year. JAMES PONIEWOZIK |
| ‘Black Mirror’ (Netflix) | ‘Black Mirror’ (Netflix) |
| The recurring theme of Charlie Brooker’s sci-fi anthology is the entanglement of digital and emotional life. As the series’ foreboding title hints, it rarely goes well, but “San Junipero” is a delightful exception. A virtual-reality technology that allows people to inhabit the past brings together two women (Mackenzie Davis and Gugu Mbatha-Raw) in a 1987 of the mind, where they make a connection that survives death. There’s a bittersweet theme about nostalgia as an opiate, but for once this ingeniously dark series ends on a note of cyberhope. JAMES PONIEWOZIK | The recurring theme of Charlie Brooker’s sci-fi anthology is the entanglement of digital and emotional life. As the series’ foreboding title hints, it rarely goes well, but “San Junipero” is a delightful exception. A virtual-reality technology that allows people to inhabit the past brings together two women (Mackenzie Davis and Gugu Mbatha-Raw) in a 1987 of the mind, where they make a connection that survives death. There’s a bittersweet theme about nostalgia as an opiate, but for once this ingeniously dark series ends on a note of cyberhope. JAMES PONIEWOZIK |
| ‘BoJack Horseman’ (Netflix) | ‘BoJack Horseman’ (Netflix) |
| A celebrity horse and his personal demons go underwater and find new depths. In this episode set — naturally — at a film festival at the bottom of the ocean, the self-absorbed BoJack (Will Arnett) gets lost in a city and finds himself caring for a newborn seahorse separated from its father. Gorgeously surreal and almost entirely without dialogue, this tour de force marries “Lost in Translation” with Looney Tunes to haunting, slapstick effect. JAMES PONIEWOZIK | A celebrity horse and his personal demons go underwater and find new depths. In this episode set — naturally — at a film festival at the bottom of the ocean, the self-absorbed BoJack (Will Arnett) gets lost in a city and finds himself caring for a newborn seahorse separated from its father. Gorgeously surreal and almost entirely without dialogue, this tour de force marries “Lost in Translation” with Looney Tunes to haunting, slapstick effect. JAMES PONIEWOZIK |
| ‘Broad City’ (Comedy Central) | ‘Broad City’ (Comedy Central) |
| Leave it to Ilana on “Broad City” to accidentally wear a dog hoodie to work — and to “solve” that by simply coloring in her exposed midriff with a red marker to match the hoodie. Also leave it to her to sing while sitting on the toilet, accompanying herself with an egg shaker. Abbi’s rabid competitive spirit at a work outing makes for a good B-story for the episode, but the crowning moment of the episode (and maybe the season) comes from Ilana’s co-workers, celebrating her firing. They lip-sync the “Joyful, Joyful” choir performance from “Sister Act II,” and then Whoopi Goldberg shows up in a full habit. MARGARET LYONS | Leave it to Ilana on “Broad City” to accidentally wear a dog hoodie to work — and to “solve” that by simply coloring in her exposed midriff with a red marker to match the hoodie. Also leave it to her to sing while sitting on the toilet, accompanying herself with an egg shaker. Abbi’s rabid competitive spirit at a work outing makes for a good B-story for the episode, but the crowning moment of the episode (and maybe the season) comes from Ilana’s co-workers, celebrating her firing. They lip-sync the “Joyful, Joyful” choir performance from “Sister Act II,” and then Whoopi Goldberg shows up in a full habit. MARGARET LYONS |
| ‘Documentary Now!’ (IFC) | ‘Documentary Now!’ (IFC) |
| In this parody of “Jiro Dreams of Sushi,” Arturo (Fred Armisen) apprentices in his obsessive father’s critically lauded restaurant but must overcome his own debilitating fear of poultry. (“They call a man who is afraid a chicken,” says his co-star Bill Hader, playing a food writer. “So what do you call a man who is afraid of a chicken? Can you even call him a man at all?”) As meticulously detail-obsessed as its subject chefs, this episode — written by Seth Meyers — is both hilarious and as sincere, even moving, as its source material. It’s a deceptively simple dish, impeccably plated. JAMES PONIEWOZIK | In this parody of “Jiro Dreams of Sushi,” Arturo (Fred Armisen) apprentices in his obsessive father’s critically lauded restaurant but must overcome his own debilitating fear of poultry. (“They call a man who is afraid a chicken,” says his co-star Bill Hader, playing a food writer. “So what do you call a man who is afraid of a chicken? Can you even call him a man at all?”) As meticulously detail-obsessed as its subject chefs, this episode — written by Seth Meyers — is both hilarious and as sincere, even moving, as its source material. It’s a deceptively simple dish, impeccably plated. JAMES PONIEWOZIK |
| ‘Easy’ (Netflix) | ‘Easy’ (Netflix) |
| “Easy” on the whole was aimless and under-constructed, but this one episode shines thanks to terrific performances, a perfectly depicted Chicago-in-winter mood, and one of the richest, most beautiful TV scores of the year. Gugu Mbatha-Raw plays Sophie, an actress going through the final phases of a breakup while poised for a big break professionally. Jane Adams plays Annabelle, one of Sophie’s co-stars and confidants, who’s startled and saddened to find herself single at this point in her life. These two performances are extraordinarily full, especially given how sparse the dialogue on the show is, and Jake Weber’s warm sexiness as Annabelle’s amiable booty call is a special treat. MARGARET LYONS | “Easy” on the whole was aimless and under-constructed, but this one episode shines thanks to terrific performances, a perfectly depicted Chicago-in-winter mood, and one of the richest, most beautiful TV scores of the year. Gugu Mbatha-Raw plays Sophie, an actress going through the final phases of a breakup while poised for a big break professionally. Jane Adams plays Annabelle, one of Sophie’s co-stars and confidants, who’s startled and saddened to find herself single at this point in her life. These two performances are extraordinarily full, especially given how sparse the dialogue on the show is, and Jake Weber’s warm sexiness as Annabelle’s amiable booty call is a special treat. MARGARET LYONS |
| ‘Halt and Catch Fire’ (AMC) | ‘Halt and Catch Fire’ (AMC) |
| Set at a fledgling internet company, Mutiny, in the early days of personal computing, “Halt” can’t rely on the usual tricks of serial drama. There’s no murder, no magic, just well-meaning people with conflicting ideas on how best to run a business and create a new world. Three seasons of this tension built to the stunning ending of this episode, in which the partnership behind Mutiny dissolves. Anchored by the committed performances of Mackenzie Davis and Kerry Bishé, it’s a sad, inevitable breakup that allows everyone to be a little bit right and a little bit wrong. JAMES PONIEWOZIK | Set at a fledgling internet company, Mutiny, in the early days of personal computing, “Halt” can’t rely on the usual tricks of serial drama. There’s no murder, no magic, just well-meaning people with conflicting ideas on how best to run a business and create a new world. Three seasons of this tension built to the stunning ending of this episode, in which the partnership behind Mutiny dissolves. Anchored by the committed performances of Mackenzie Davis and Kerry Bishé, it’s a sad, inevitable breakup that allows everyone to be a little bit right and a little bit wrong. JAMES PONIEWOZIK |
| ‘Mom’ (CBS) | ‘Mom’ (CBS) |
| No series is better at mixing laugh-out-loud comedy and somber themes than “Mom,” which managed that difficult feat with particular skill in this February episode. The show stars Allison Janney and Anna Faris as a mother and daughter working hard to shake substance abuse, and they have a circle of friends also in recovery. The episode, the strongest in a strong third season, devotes a lot of time and laughs to a bachelorette party. That makes the ending, with the news that a young character named Jodi (Emily Osment) has died of an overdose, all that much more jolting. This is a comedy confident enough to have a serious agenda. Treating addiction humorously works on a certain level, but, Chuck Lorre, one of the show’s creators, told The Hollywood Reporter, “you don’t lose sight of the fact that this is a life-and-death issue.” NEIL GENZLINGER | No series is better at mixing laugh-out-loud comedy and somber themes than “Mom,” which managed that difficult feat with particular skill in this February episode. The show stars Allison Janney and Anna Faris as a mother and daughter working hard to shake substance abuse, and they have a circle of friends also in recovery. The episode, the strongest in a strong third season, devotes a lot of time and laughs to a bachelorette party. That makes the ending, with the news that a young character named Jodi (Emily Osment) has died of an overdose, all that much more jolting. This is a comedy confident enough to have a serious agenda. Treating addiction humorously works on a certain level, but, Chuck Lorre, one of the show’s creators, told The Hollywood Reporter, “you don’t lose sight of the fact that this is a life-and-death issue.” NEIL GENZLINGER |
| ‘Occupied’ (Netflix, Pivot TV) | ‘Occupied’ (Netflix, Pivot TV) |
| This Norwegian political thriller had a great premise: When a Green Party prime minister announces that Norway is ending its oil production, the European Union backs a Russian occupation of the country (in the guise of industrial assistance). “April,” the premiere, detailed the complicated scenario and set the smart, twisty plot in motion in just 45 minutes of nonstop tension. Keep your eyes on the helicopter. MIKE HALE | This Norwegian political thriller had a great premise: When a Green Party prime minister announces that Norway is ending its oil production, the European Union backs a Russian occupation of the country (in the guise of industrial assistance). “April,” the premiere, detailed the complicated scenario and set the smart, twisty plot in motion in just 45 minutes of nonstop tension. Keep your eyes on the helicopter. MIKE HALE |
| ‘Outlander’ (Starz) | ‘Outlander’ (Starz) |
| Caitriona Balfe has been giving an award-worthy performance as the time-traveling Claire since this series began in 2014, but her work in this May episode really stood out. Claire suffers a miscarriage, and Ms. Balfe’s portrayal of grief is heart-rending. In another show, the episode would have built to that singular moment, but in this series, always fearless about depicting things that are hard to watch, it’s just one of several emotionally fraught developments. Among the others: the rape of a child, a rape by a king and a trial by witchcraft. To pack so much into an hourlong episode is an achievement; to do so without any of it seeming rushed or gimmicky is astonishing. NEIL GENZLINGER | Caitriona Balfe has been giving an award-worthy performance as the time-traveling Claire since this series began in 2014, but her work in this May episode really stood out. Claire suffers a miscarriage, and Ms. Balfe’s portrayal of grief is heart-rending. In another show, the episode would have built to that singular moment, but in this series, always fearless about depicting things that are hard to watch, it’s just one of several emotionally fraught developments. Among the others: the rape of a child, a rape by a king and a trial by witchcraft. To pack so much into an hourlong episode is an achievement; to do so without any of it seeming rushed or gimmicky is astonishing. NEIL GENZLINGER |
| ‘Silicon Valley’ (HBO) | ‘Silicon Valley’ (HBO) |
| Episodes of HBO’s start-up comedy tend to be as intricately assembled as the products its characters labor over. This one took the Pied Piper crew from joy at moving into lavish new offices — Dinesh could now play solitaire on six monitors at once — to the dawning realization that their utopian storage platform was being turned into a black box designed to hide information. And it included the unforgettable scene in which the cynical new chief executive played by Stephen Tobolowsky explained business realities while watching two of his thoroughbreds mate. MIKE HALE | Episodes of HBO’s start-up comedy tend to be as intricately assembled as the products its characters labor over. This one took the Pied Piper crew from joy at moving into lavish new offices — Dinesh could now play solitaire on six monitors at once — to the dawning realization that their utopian storage platform was being turned into a black box designed to hide information. And it included the unforgettable scene in which the cynical new chief executive played by Stephen Tobolowsky explained business realities while watching two of his thoroughbreds mate. MIKE HALE |
| ‘Speechless’ (ABC) | ‘Speechless’ (ABC) |
| “Speechless,” a sitcom about a family with a nonverbal child, knocks down more preconceptions about the world of disabilities with each episode. This one, from early December, took on a particularly annoying feel-good story that crops up constantly on local news and social media: the one in which a child with Down syndrome or autism or whatever is allowed to score a touchdown or goal in a meaningless game while the opposing team stands down. It happens to JJ DiMeo, who has cerebral palsy (as does Micah Fowler, the actor who plays him), during gym class, and he is quick to use his alternative-communication device to tell everyone that he is not interested in being condescended to or pitied in that way. By the end of the episode, he has found a sled-hockey team for people with disabilities where the competition is real, and so is the contact — he ends up with a smashed face, just as nondisabled hockey players sometimes do. The message, as always on this show, is served with a brash brand of mirth. A side plot in the episode finds JJ’s mother (Minnie Driver) walking in on his aide (Cedric Yarbrough) in the shower. NEIL GENZLINGER | “Speechless,” a sitcom about a family with a nonverbal child, knocks down more preconceptions about the world of disabilities with each episode. This one, from early December, took on a particularly annoying feel-good story that crops up constantly on local news and social media: the one in which a child with Down syndrome or autism or whatever is allowed to score a touchdown or goal in a meaningless game while the opposing team stands down. It happens to JJ DiMeo, who has cerebral palsy (as does Micah Fowler, the actor who plays him), during gym class, and he is quick to use his alternative-communication device to tell everyone that he is not interested in being condescended to or pitied in that way. By the end of the episode, he has found a sled-hockey team for people with disabilities where the competition is real, and so is the contact — he ends up with a smashed face, just as nondisabled hockey players sometimes do. The message, as always on this show, is served with a brash brand of mirth. A side plot in the episode finds JJ’s mother (Minnie Driver) walking in on his aide (Cedric Yarbrough) in the shower. NEIL GENZLINGER |
| ‘Superstore’ (NBC) | ‘Superstore’ (NBC) |
| The genial “Superstore,” about misfits who work at a Walmart-like establishment, is hardly the most daring or topical comedy on television, but the episode it broadcast five days before the November election somehow captured the bizarreness of the 2016 campaign better than many of television’s most earnest offerings did. The store was a polling site, and before the zany day was done, a customer used a voting booth as a changing booth, employees and management engaged in a battle of dueling pamphlets, and ballots were inadvertently destroyed, among other things. The names “Trump” and “Clinton” were barely mentioned, but the episode managed to capture the surreal electoral moment perfectly. NEIL GENZLINGER | The genial “Superstore,” about misfits who work at a Walmart-like establishment, is hardly the most daring or topical comedy on television, but the episode it broadcast five days before the November election somehow captured the bizarreness of the 2016 campaign better than many of television’s most earnest offerings did. The store was a polling site, and before the zany day was done, a customer used a voting booth as a changing booth, employees and management engaged in a battle of dueling pamphlets, and ballots were inadvertently destroyed, among other things. The names “Trump” and “Clinton” were barely mentioned, but the episode managed to capture the surreal electoral moment perfectly. NEIL GENZLINGER |
| ‘Westworld’ (HBO) | ‘Westworld’ (HBO) |
| Between the opaque scene-setting of its early episodes and the numbing exposition of its later ones, “Westworld” had a midseason sweet spot where it found the right balance of ideas and action — where it was just plain good science fiction. “The Adversary” stood out for Thandie Newton’s otherworldly performance as Maeve, the rebellious android who turned on her human handlers. Secretly touring the Westworld labs, she looked in wonder at her fellow robots being built, taught, repaired and disposed of. MIKE HALE | Between the opaque scene-setting of its early episodes and the numbing exposition of its later ones, “Westworld” had a midseason sweet spot where it found the right balance of ideas and action — where it was just plain good science fiction. “The Adversary” stood out for Thandie Newton’s otherworldly performance as Maeve, the rebellious android who turned on her human handlers. Secretly touring the Westworld labs, she looked in wonder at her fellow robots being built, taught, repaired and disposed of. MIKE HALE |
| ‘The Walking Dead’ (AMC) | ‘The Walking Dead’ (AMC) |
| You could argue that this season premiere was excessively gory and thoughtless. Many viewers did. Or you could argue that it gave the most realistic, uncompromising rendering in the show’s seven years of how people would actually think and behave in a zombie apocalypse. MIKE HALE | You could argue that this season premiere was excessively gory and thoughtless. Many viewers did. Or you could argue that it gave the most realistic, uncompromising rendering in the show’s seven years of how people would actually think and behave in a zombie apocalypse. MIKE HALE |
| ‘The X-Files’ (Fox) | ‘The X-Files’ (Fox) |
| “Yeah, this is how I like my Mulder,” Scully says as Mulder wraps up a kooky rant. She might as well have been speaking for the entire “X-Files” fandom: The reboot of the series was, like many reboots, less spectacular than one might have hoped. But at least there was this one episode, written by Darin Morgan, who is responsible for some of the best and most beloved installments of the original series. “Were-Monster” includes loads of callbacks and nods to superfans, but it was also the only revival episode that captured the wry humor of the series. MARGARET LYONS | “Yeah, this is how I like my Mulder,” Scully says as Mulder wraps up a kooky rant. She might as well have been speaking for the entire “X-Files” fandom: The reboot of the series was, like many reboots, less spectacular than one might have hoped. But at least there was this one episode, written by Darin Morgan, who is responsible for some of the best and most beloved installments of the original series. “Were-Monster” includes loads of callbacks and nods to superfans, but it was also the only revival episode that captured the wry humor of the series. MARGARET LYONS |
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