# Best episode of TV in 2016? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 2, 2016, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episode-of-tv-in-2016/773572 "2016-12-02T00:10:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episode-of-tv-in-2016/773572/1 "2016-12-02T00:10:09Z")
[I did one of these in 2010.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=591143) [I did it again in 2013.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=16997671) I’d like to try to do this annually now. What was the best episode of TV that aired in 2016? I’d say for this year it was Fix Everything, an episode of Dirk Gently that just aired this last week. It only works if you watched the previous 5 episodes of the show, but it was incredible. Hilarious and odd all the way through. Truly genius. It culminated in the main villain entering a room…and we expect him to deliver a pretty bold monologue about how he has won. Or that he will explain everything. What happens? [This scene, where we find out he has no idea what is going on either. It’s brilliant.](https://youtu.be/hU5g7IgaaQQ?t=13) It might be the funniest scene I’ve seen in a long, long time. My wife and I rewatch it all the time and we laugh every single time. His face! He’s so confused! So are we! And I love it. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episode-of-tv-in-2016/773572/2 "2016-12-02T00:21:54Z")
Recently watched the Bates Motel season 4 finale, and I’m _still_ blown away. The whole show is an anomaly - good in season 1, kinda OK-ish seasons 2 and 3, then suddenly season 4 is this dark, funny, tragic, sickening piece of beautiful television. A lot of it has to do with character arcs and whatnot, so I don’t think watching a clip packs the same punch, but if you’re looking for something to bingewatch I highly recommend it. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episode-of-tv-in-2016/773572/3 "2016-12-02T00:25:44Z")
“Return 0”, the series finale of Person of Interest. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episode-of-tv-in-2016/773572/4 "2016-12-02T00:27:11Z")
> [@Octarine](#): > > Recently watched the Bates Motel season 4 finale, and I’m _still_ blown away. The whole show is an anomaly - good in season 1, kinda OK-ish seasons 2 and 3, then suddenly season 4 is this dark, funny, tragic, sickening piece of beautiful television. A lot of it has to do with character arcs and whatnot, so I don’t think watching a clip packs the same punch, but if you’re looking for something to bingewatch I highly recommend it. Thanks, I may check it out. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episode-of-tv-in-2016/773572/5 "2016-12-02T00:39:35Z")
“San Junipero” from Black Mirror. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episode-of-tv-in-2016/773572/6 "2016-12-02T01:17:33Z")
Game of Thrones Battle of the Bastards. I still can’t breath just thinking about it. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episode-of-tv-in-2016/773572/7 "2016-12-02T01:21:58Z")
I tried a similar thread [last year](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=777680). Hopefully, this one will have more interest. ---
**Author:** ![zazablue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8491ac/32.png) [@zazablue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zazablue)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episode-of-tv-in-2016/773572/8 "2016-12-02T02:48:16Z")
For me, the best episodes aired so far in 2016 are The Walking Dead season 7, episode 1 - A day will come when you won’t be and Westworld Season 1, episode 7 - Trompe L’Oeil. ---
**Author:** ![toast\_pakora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@toast\_pakora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toast_pakora)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episode-of-tv-in-2016/773572/9 "2016-12-02T09:19:00Z")
The Abominable Bride / Sherlock. Skipping back and forth in time, with many in-jokes. I generally have to watch it two or three times to catch it all but Mrs Hudson in a snit because Watson’s stories only ever have her serving tea made me laugh out loud. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episode-of-tv-in-2016/773572/10 "2016-12-02T09:38:44Z")
Probably forgetting something, but the 2 I can think of at the moment: “Nailed” from Better Call Saul (Mike robs a truck, Jimmy works a scam on Chuck) and “That’s Too Much Man” from Bojack Horseman, (Bojack and Sabrina go on a bender) ---
**Author:** ![Translucent\_Daydream](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/translucent_daydream/32/16170_2.png) [@Translucent\_Daydream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Translucent_Daydream)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episode-of-tv-in-2016/773572/11 "2016-12-02T09:43:14Z")
South Park - Not Funny The story arc that is running this season is just insane. The wife and I have been glued to it so far (one more episode to go) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episode-of-tv-in-2016/773572/12 "2016-12-02T11:38:49Z")
I don’t know about the best episode, but by far the most memorable episode of 2016 was “Two in the Box” from “Silicon Valley”, where Richard tries to have a serious discussion with the CEO while two horses make sweet love in the background. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episode-of-tv-in-2016/773572/13 "2016-12-02T13:09:16Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > “San Junipero” from Black Mirror. I still haven’t seen it yet, but this is pretty much all that a lot of the TV people I follow on Twitter have been talking about since it aired. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episode-of-tv-in-2016/773572/14 "2016-12-02T14:30:07Z")
Westworld Season 1, episode 7 - Trompe L’Oeil. The actual twist wasn’t all that that surprising, but the way it was executed was the classic situation of the character said a line and you go “oh!” another line “OH!” another line “OHHHHH!!!” the big reaveal “OHHHH SHIIIIIII” It was awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episode-of-tv-in-2016/773572/15 "2016-12-02T14:46:56Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > I still haven’t seen it yet, but this is pretty much all that a lot of the TV people I follow on Twitter have been talking about since it aired. It’s an excellent hour of TV, but I would actually rank it as the second best episode of Black Mirror this year. Black Mirror is so good, a great episode like that is not even my #1 episode. Again, I still think Dirk Gently’s episode last week was the best, though. Humor and surprise can be harder in many ways than tears and love. Still, I love Black Mirror. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episode-of-tv-in-2016/773572/16 "2016-12-02T14:50:57Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Game of Thrones Battle of the Bastards. I still can’t breath just thinking about it. After sort of plodding along for awhile, the writers kicked it into high gear for the last 2 episodes of the season. I’d have trouble picking one over there other-- both were just wonderful. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episode-of-tv-in-2016/773572/17 "2016-12-02T16:18:08Z")
Are we thinking fiction TV only? Because every week I think “this episode of Last Week Tonight/Full Frontal With Samantha Bee is the best yet!” ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episode-of-tv-in-2016/773572/18 "2016-12-02T16:36:25Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Game of Thrones Battle of the Bastards. I still can’t breath just thinking about it. Cinema-level awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episode-of-tv-in-2016/773572/19 "2016-12-03T09:01:00Z")
It didn’t air in 2016, but it did air less than 12 months ago, so it kind of counts: “And the Point of Salvation” from _The Librarians_ (Ezekiel is the only person who remembers they’re in a time loop) is the best episode of anything I’ve seen recently. ---
**Author:** ![crucible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episode-of-tv-in-2016/773572/20 "2016-12-03T13:15:34Z")
First episode of ‘This is Us’. Gripping and clever. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episode-of-tv-in-2016/773572.md?page=2)