# Best Episodes of TV 2018
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episodes-of-tv-2018/826302
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [December 18, 2018, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episodes-of-tv-2018/826302 "2018-12-18T01:33:20Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2018, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episodes-of-tv-2018/826302/1 "2018-12-18T01:33:20Z")
What episodes of TV did you find to be the best in 2018?
I liked:
The Magicians - “ **Be The Penny** ” Oh my goodness, was this hilarious. Penny is dead/disembodied, can hear everyone talk about him now he’s gone. Meanwhile, he tries to learn how to possess objects from another dead guy. [Biggest laugh all year. Here is a clip.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7Ed1tTT33U)
X-files - “ **Rm9sbG93ZXJz** ” OK, so this was ludicrous, but a lot of fun. Scully and Mulder interact with evil technology all because Mulder won’t tip a machine.
Nightflyers - “ **The Sacred Gift** ” They find another ship with only women aboard, including a famous scientist. Things…go wrong. Check it out.
The 100 - “ **Damocles Part 2** ” No way to talk about it without spoiling it, but it was great.
I watch so much TV, I am sure I missed many things. I’ll add more later. What episodes did you think deserved attention this year?
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2018, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episodes-of-tv-2018/826302/2 "2018-12-18T01:35:19Z")
I forgot:
House of Haunting Hill - “ **Bent-neck lady** ” I can’t say a word about this other than you need to watch the show up to this point for it to really reveal how great it is.
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### Author:  [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2018, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episodes-of-tv-2018/826302/3 "2018-12-18T01:43:16Z")
Even if you’re not a fan of the show, S7 ep1 of Last Man Standing is worth watching the first five minutes of.
Back story: Last Man was canceled last season on ABC (Despite having excellent ratings). Over the summer break, it was picked up by Fox. And boy, did the writers have a field day on ABC.
The first five minutes are freaking hilarious!
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2018, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episodes-of-tv-2018/826302/4 "2018-12-18T13:41:42Z")
**The Good Place** : “Janet(s)”
D’Arcy Carden deserves an Emmy for that episode alone. Amazing acting, and very funny plot.
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### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2018, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episodes-of-tv-2018/826302/5 "2018-12-18T14:31:11Z")
**The Expanse** : “Immolation”, the mid-season climax.
> [@RealityChuck](#):
>
> **The Good Place** : “Janet(s)”
>
> D’Arcy Carden deserves an Emmy for that episode alone. Amazing acting, and very funny plot.
I’d go with “Jeremy Bearimy” myself, but it’s all good.
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### Author:  [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2018, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episodes-of-tv-2018/826302/6 "2018-12-18T14:45:28Z")
Bojack Horseman, “Free Churro.” It started off with me groaning about a gimmick episode, but ended with me thinking that was one of the funniest, most heartbreaking, well-written well-preformed shows I’ve ever seen.
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### Author:  [@JB99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JB99)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2018, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episodes-of-tv-2018/826302/7 "2018-12-18T15:19:06Z")
The final episode of ‘The House on Haunted Hill’ is just an absolute tearjerker. It might be literally _the_ best anything of 2018. If you haven’t seen it, you really don’t know how beautiful and perfect it is.
The aforementioned ‘Bojack Horseman’ S5E06 ‘Free Churro’ is also excellent.
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### Author:  [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2018, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episodes-of-tv-2018/826302/8 "2018-12-18T16:53:12Z")
> [@Alessan](#):
>
> I’d go with “Jeremy Bearimy” myself, but it’s all good.
I agree form a pure entertainment value. But I have much respect for the concept and execution of the Janet(s) episode.
The Bent-Neck Lady definitely also deserves a mention from the Haunting of Hill House.
Not sure how many other new shows I watched this year. Glow. I guess the best episode of that was The Good Twin, where they actually did a whole Glow episode with vignettes and skits and stuff.
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### Author:  [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2018, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episodes-of-tv-2018/826302/9 "2018-12-19T06:58:12Z")
**Legends of Tomorrow** : “Here I Go Again” - Zari is stuck in a time loop (or as she called it Hedgehog Day). She can only get out of it if she can stop the Waverider from blowing up.
**The Flash** : “Enter Flashtime” - Barry, Jessie Quick, and Jay Garrick team up to stop a nuclear bomb, which has already gone off.
> [@Mahaloth](#):
>
> The Magicians - “ **Be The Penny** ” Oh my goodness, was this hilarious. Penny is dead/disembodied, can hear everyone talk about him now he’s gone. Meanwhile, he tries to learn how to possess objects from another dead guy. [Biggest laugh all year. Here is a clip.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7Ed1tTT33U)
Penny is the biggest ass on the show, so anything that makes him uncomfortable is hilarious. And Penny was really, really uncomfortable in this one. But I can name three other episodes from the same season that I think are better than this:
“Six Short Stories About Magic” - Six different segments told from the point of view of six different characters, each with their own agenda that doesn’t necessarily completely agree with that of the others. The characters and events interweave; we’ll see something that happens in one segment that is unexplained until we see it happen in another segment. The standout is Harriet’s story. Since she is deaf, the entire piece takes place in utter silence. A great bit of storytelling.
“All That Josh” - Musical episodes aren’t for everybody, but I like them if they’re well done. And this was exceedingly well done. Check it out: [https://youtu.be/UyK3FyvXcGA](https://youtu.be/UyK3FyvXcGA)
“A Life in the Day” - The best episode of the season, I think, and probably of the whole series thus far. Quentin and Eliot have to solve an impossible puzzle. They keep trying and trying and trying…
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### Author:  [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2018, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episodes-of-tv-2018/826302/10 "2018-12-19T14:50:59Z")
Episode 6 of _Joe Pera Talks With You_, [Joe Pera Reads You The Church Announcements](https://www.adultswim.com/videos/joe-pera-talks-with-you/joe-pera-reads-you-the-church-announcements).
It starts off with the church announcements but quickly devolves into Joe excitedly telling everyone about his new favorite song, “Baba O’Riley” and how it got to be his favorite song.
Absurd and amazing!
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### Author:  [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2018, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episodes-of-tv-2018/826302/11 "2018-12-19T16:05:12Z")
**GLOW** S2, Episode 7: “Nothing Shattered”
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### Author:  [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2018, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episodes-of-tv-2018/826302/12 "2018-12-19T16:11:28Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#):
>
> I forgot:
>
> House of Haunting Hill - “ **Bent-neck lady** ” I can’t say a word about this other than you need to watch the show up to this point for it to really reveal how great it is.
This. A thousand times, this.
_The Haunting of Hill House_, though not above criticism, is quite possibly the best TV (so to speak) show to come along in decades. And Episode 5 is when it picks up steam.
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2018, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episodes-of-tv-2018/826302/13 "2018-12-19T21:55:47Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#):
>
> “A Life in the Day” - The best episode of the season, I think, and probably of the whole series thus far. Quentin and Eliot have to solve an impossible puzzle. They keep trying and trying and trying…
It was a great season, certainly Magicians best season. I put Be the Penny higher because it caught my wife and I so off guard, we were weeping with tears.
But, yes, I definitely loved A Life in the Day. It was amazing in a totally different way. I like that instead of eliminating everything that happened(such a cliche)…they remember all of it. Makes it more satisfying to me.
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2018, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episodes-of-tv-2018/826302/14 "2018-12-19T22:05:02Z")
I’m back and have thought of another. My favorite new show this year was Altered Carbon, though I had a hard time picking out an episode since it todl one story. However, I do have one if you want a sample and don’t mind a bit of confusion. Check out:
\*\*Altered Carbon \*\*- “Force of Evil” - Takeshi Kovacs is captured and tortured. It was a great episode and well worth checking out. Might suffer from some small confusion in some of the points, but I think you can get the gist of it if you want to test the show.
> [@HeyHomie](#):
>
> _The Haunting of Hill House_, though not above criticism, is quite possibly the best TV (so to speak) show to come along in decades. And Episode 5 is when it picks up steam.
Oooh, I loved it. In my top 5 of the year, maybe even top 3. Not the top of the last decade and not my favorite show of the year. Still, a great new show.
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### Author:  [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2018, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episodes-of-tv-2018/826302/15 "2018-12-20T00:57:31Z")
I’ve got another one:
**Westworld** : “Akane No Mai” - Welcome to Shogun World. It’s strangely familiar.
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2018, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episodes-of-tv-2018/826302/16 "2018-12-22T00:44:44Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#):
>
> I’ve got another one:
>
> **Westworld** : “Akane No Mai” - Welcome to Shogun World. It’s strangely familiar.
Good one. I think it was the only good episode in the season, sadly.
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### Author:  [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2018, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episodes-of-tv-2018/826302/17 "2018-12-22T01:32:03Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#):
>
> Good one. I think it was the only good episode in the season, sadly.
Season 2 of _Westworld_ certainly didn’t hang together as well as Season 1, but it had a few good episodes. Another one is “Kiksuya”, about Akecheta and the Ghost Nation, told mostly in Lakota. There’s also “Vanishing Point”, which is the Man in Black’s backstory.
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### Author:  [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2018, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episodes-of-tv-2018/826302/18 "2018-12-22T02:53:42Z")
Are we talking 2018 proper, or Fall 2018?
Most of the ones I was going to say we’re already mentioned - Janet’s, Bent Neck Lady, Day in the Life.
I would add Legends of Tommorow’s giant Beebo finale, altho the most recent episode with alternate pastiche versions of the crew was also amazing.
Riverdale’s Midnight Club was also a fun experiment.
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### Author:  [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2018, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-episodes-of-tv-2018/826302/19 "2018-12-22T03:33:45Z")
“Travelers” Season 3 finale “Protocol Omega” blew me away. Don’t know if there’s going to be a Season 4 or not, but the finale works either way.