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The AARONS 2018 - Best TV Episode

Peak TV is tearing me apart trying to binge-watch every show that is epic, so defending individual chapters of these shows is a good way to remind oneself to not get so lost in the big picture. Here are The Aarons for Best TV Episode:

#10. “Captain Underpants and the Costly Conundrum of the Calamitous Claylossus” (The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants, Season 1, Episode 7)

Even more so than the fun but formulaic movie of last year, The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants embraces the irreverent spirit of Dav Pilkey’s children’s books. This charming childishness is no more prominent than in “The Costly Conundrum of the Calamitous Claylossus,” in which the latest vile villain brings the world of the Wedgie Warrior from its traditional genial 2D animation to 3D Claymation, threatening its survival... due to, as the characters note, the budget cuts to their show needed to maintain such animation. This meta-narrative proved that, when it comes to the colossal undertaking of retaining the joy of Pilkey’s series, the Netflix Series is certainly wearing the pants.

#9. “A House Divided” (Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia, Season 3, Episode 10)

Trollhunters rose above the basic tropes at the backbone of its story thanks to the creative spirit of creator Guillermo del Toro. For its final season, del Toro’s influence was felt harder than ever, particularly in “A House Divided,” which marks protagonist Jim Lake’s fateful loss of innocence, a common theme among the director’s works. Jim’s journey has left him with an impossible choice, which renders the viewer nervously unable to breathe for the duration of the episode, only to culminate in an unforgettable ending that features only the sound of breathing. While spin-off series 3 Below may be off to a good start, it will be difficult for any of del Toro’s planned Tales of Arcadia to match the heights of his subterranean world of trolls.

#8. “I’m Not the Person I Used to Be” (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Season 4, Episode 8)

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’s final season is off to an affecting start, but has suffered from a sense of place-setting in its first half, the blessing and the curse of its extended episode order this year. However, the series’ endgame seems to have finally begun in its tight-knit mid-season finale, which saw the return of season 1 mainstay Greg like you’ve never seen him before… literally. Skylar Astin gets off on the right foot as the recasting of the role, a backstage change used within universe to demonstrate and further develop Rebecca’s changing sense of self as she seeks happiness and reconciliation, noble pursuits that make for notable television. That doesn’t sound so crazy now, does it?

#7. “Winner” (Better Call Saul, Season 4, Episode 10)

If Crazy Ex-Girlfriend has made excellent television out of the pursuit of personal growth, then Better Call Saul’s moral decay can perhaps be designated its mirror image. As with all of the show’s season finales, “Winner” is a product of bad decisions on the part of the characters, and great decisions on the part of the show’s creators. The episode acts as a microcosm of a season filled with exhilarating schemes, striking cinematography, and poignant decisions, culminating in a turn of events that remains shocking despite being known as inevitable. The episode title says it all. This one’s a winner.

#6. “Legends of To-Meow-Meow” (Legends of Tomorrow, Season 4, Episode 8)

As noted in its ranking in the Best TV Shows of the year, there is a large assortment of gonzo episodes of Legends of Tomorrow that deserve distinguished praise, but the show might have snuck its most awesomely oddball episode in just under the wire for this awards show. A teammate’s transformation into a feline following a regretful change to history is but the cat-alyst of an episode that illustrates the multiple revisions to the Legends of Tomorrow (aka Custodians of the Chronology aka Sirens of Space Time) timeline via retro-TV-themed intros, explicitly mocks the comparatively tame nature of the concurrent running “Elseworlds” crossover, and, yes, teaches kids helpful lessons through the power of singing puppets. It’s an episode brimming with loveable moments, but all knit together with a touching story of a lost love that perfectly illustrates why Legends of Tomorrow has clawed its way up to the best of the Arrowverse.

#5. “Time’s Up for the Gang” (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Season 13, Episode 4)

Always Sunny has never shied away from addressing hot-button issues, tackling racism, abortion, and gun control with a biting satirical edge in just its first batch of episodes. Yet, it’s still shocking how much dark humor the show can unearth in the most unlikely of places, a delicate balancing act that succeeds because the show is keenly aware of where its jokes should fall. Written by series standout Megan Ganz, “Time’s Up for the Gang” puts its hilariously-horrible cast of characters through the ringer over their past behavior with rollicking gall and technical grace. There’s likely no other show that can maintain such quality and relevance thirteen seasons in, suggesting that Always Sunny’s time is far from over.

#4. “Jeremy Bearimy” (The Good Place, Season 3, Episode 4)

Written by the bearer of one of Twitter’s best accounts, and the mind behind last year’s eclectic entry “Dance Dance Resolution,” Megan Amram, Jeremy Bearimy brought The Good Place’s third season roaring to life in wild fashion. Kickstarting with the reveal that our universe’s true nature is more “Jeremy Bearimy” than timey-wimey, the episode features a slow descent into existential crises that is, despite the show’s wonderfully heightened reality, presented in the most relatable of fashions: a truly, truly disgusting bowl of chili. The episode’s major resonance lies in the credo cultivated in its final moments, a commitment to doing good in the face of inescapable punishment, but it’s also an unbearably funny journey to get there.

#3. “Free Churro” (BoJack Horseman, Season 5, Episode 6)

BoJack Horseman’s most remarkable episodes, such as previous Aaron winners “Fish Out of Water” and “Stupid Piece of Sh*t,” have been those that have toyed with its animation format. “Free Churro” breaks these conventions in a completely different manner, isolating the entire action of the episode to a single monologue via eulogy delivered by Will Arnett’s BoJack. This striped-down focus parallels the striping down of BoJack’s psyche through a rambling, soul-churning soliloquy that lays bare BoJack’s tragic backstory. As it goes on, the monologue leads the protagonist and the viewer to the harrowing realization that perhaps there will not be a happy ending waiting at the end of all this. It’s heavy stuff, but the cherry on the top of a great episode is the comedic pay-off to the piece, in case you were afraid that “Free Churro” was entire free of cheer.

#2. “Party Monster: Scratching the Surface” (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Season 4, Episode 3)

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, like BoJack Horseman, is a show that address a history of abuse in unexpectedly uproarious ways, and, like BoJack Horseman, produced one of the best episodes of the year by breaking its Unbreakable formula. Framed as an expose documentary on Kimmy’s once-captor, the Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne aka DJ Slizzard, “Party Monster: Scratching the Surface” is at once a staggering assortment of long-running gags, a painfully precise mockery of documentary formats (including riotous instances of narrative tangents and stock footage), and a scathing lampooning of how misogynistic radicalization takes hold. The show has always been fueled by a righteous fury, but with the fourth season’s no-holds-barred approach to its darker material that never sacrifices the rapid-fire humor, it’s sad that Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt will be ending this year, when it seems like it’s still just scratching the surface.

AND THE BEST TV EPISODE OF 2018 IS...

#1. “Teddy Perkins” (Atlanta, Season 2, Episode 6)

Unexpected even in a show that’s routinely impossible to predict, “Teddy Perkins” is undoubtedly the strangest episode of TV all year… and certainly the best. Fulfilling, and perhaps exceeding, the bizarreness of Atlanta’s oft-cited inspiration Twin Peaks, the episode follows Lakeith Stanfield’s Daryl quest for a particular piano that lands him in the decrepit mansion of the peculiar eponymous Teddy Perkins, an eerie, ersatz late-in-life Michael Jackson, played by star Donald Glover in extensive make-up. It’s surreal without sacrificing structure (in fact, the episode aired unbroken by commercial to enhance the immersion) or the show’s social commentary. For the entire extended-length of the unnerving and unforgettable episode, viewers are rankled by the horrifying possibilities of a show that has so unequivocally shattered all boundaries of television, including the possibility of a fateful end for a beloved central character. A standalone dreamlike masterpiece strengthened by its relation to a superb show, “Teddy Perkins” will undoubtedly perk up your ears if you’ re not already all in on Atlanta.

Yes, I know my puns got worse as the episodes got better.

NEXT UP: THE 2018 AARON FOR BEST TV PERFORMANCE!

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