With so many broadcast and streaming options in the world, there’s no way anyone is keeping up with everything. TV’s designed to provide us with visuals for certain emotions, be they funny comedies or darker, twisted horror tales. The number of new shows, rebooted classics, or documentary-style investigations on Netflix, NBC, Amazon, Hulu, and other outlets never dwindles, but at the end of a calendar year, there’s without a doubt a host of series that stand tall above the hefty pack.
2018 started off amazingly and didn’t seem to let up. We got to see a little of everything, including Donald Glover crafting an incredible second season of Atlanta, Mr. Robot’s Sam Esmail building an epic tale—based on a podcast—for Julia Roberts to shine in, a series about women creating a professional wrestling show, haunted mansions, and a prep school full of poopers. There’s something for everyone out there, but there’s so much of it that it can make your head explode.
As 2018 winds down, it’s time to look back at the year that was on television, however you consume your shows. Hopefully, you’ve finished your binges; here’s a look at the best TV shows of 2018.
31.
With so many broadcast and streaming options in the world, there’s no way anyone is keeping up with everything. TV’s designed to provide us with visuals for certain emotions, be they funny comedies or darker, twisted horror tales. The number of new shows, rebooted classics, or documentary-style investigations on Netflix, NBC, Amazon, Hulu, and other outlets never dwindles, but at the end of a calendar year, there’s without a doubt a host of series that stand tall above the hefty pack.
2018 started off amazingly and didn’t seem to let up. We got to see a little of everything, including Donald Glover crafting an incredible second season of Atlanta, Mr. Robot’s Sam Esmail building an epic tale—based on a podcast—for Julia Roberts to shine in, a series about women creating a professional wrestling show, haunted mansions, and a prep school full of poopers. There’s something for everyone out there, but there’s so much of it that it can make your head explode.
As 2018 winds down, it’s time to look back at the year that was on television, however you consume your shows. Hopefully, you’ve finished your binges; here’s a look at the best TV shows of 2018.
30.‘Westworld’
Network: HBO
Stars: Evan Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, James Marsden, Tessa Thompson
Are you keeping up with Westworld because it’s an amazing show, or because you’re engrossed in the world they’ve built? During Season 2, it was hard to say. They would produce brilliant episodes like “The Riddle of the Sphinx,” which was close to high art in its repetition. On the flipside, they follow that up with episodes like “Akane no Mai,” which gave us the “Samuraiworld” we were hoping for, but with a storyline that definitely felt like it was phoned in. It was a constant struggle, with brilliance (including the performances of Jeffrey Wright and Thandie Newton) wrestling with tedious time-wasters that tested the patience of even the most dedicated viewers.
Still, Westworld isn’t afraid to present a universe, then destroy it in one fell swoop, which is more than most shows do. The question is, similar to the hosts in the park, how long can they sustain this? —khal
29.‘Insecure’
Network: HBO
Stars: Issa Rae, Jay Ellis, Yvonne Orji
The sweet spot, for me, in a season of a show, is 10 episodes at ~30 minutes each. Issa Rae’s acclaimed Insecure, operating with eight-episode seasons, has a lot of ground to cover with a smaller window. One of the comments I heard numerous times toward the end of the season was, “Wait, that’s it?!” Part of that is because Issa and company are weaving a beautiful tapestry with their story.
Season 3 found Issa slowly gaining her footing, finding her way without anyone in her life...until she gets someone in her life. There’s loads of hijinks, from Issa’s Lyft turning into a Fight Club to a drug-induced extravaganza at Beychella. You almost wish HBO would give Issa two more episodes to give the series more time to marinate on these relationships, instead of just giving us an amazing appetizer for its fourth season. —khal
28.‘One Day at a Time’
Network: Netflix
Stars: Justina Machado, Todd Grinnell, Rita Moreno
Many tweets have let the world know that if you’re looking for a real sitcom about a working-class American family, you should’ve been rocking with One Day at a Time instead of Roseanne. That’s an actual fact, but it’s actually deeper than that. While Roseanne’s 10th season left a lot to be desired (and her racist antics ended up in the show being canceled), One Day at a Time is a series that feels like it learned from what the previous iterations of Roseanne Barr’s series brought forth. One Day highlights the struggles of immigrants, the LGBTQ community, and more, including a raw look at what soldiers living with PTSD really go through. It’s one of the more important series on any platform today, and was so vital that fans and critics made sure their voices were heard when the question of a third season came up. If you’re not up on One Day at a Time, why do you hate yourself? —khal
27.‘American Vandal’
Network: Netflix
Stars: Tyler Alvarez, Griffin Gluck
One of the more intriguing stories out of 2018 has been why Netflix has been canceling some of their original series. Sure, we all know (or can understand) why a number of the Marvel series got the ax, but American Vandal’s cancelation is particularly upsetting. The first season was a sleeper for some, primarily because a mockuseries parodying Netflix’s true crime series with a tale about someone drawing dicks on a bunch of teachers’ cars at a school can feel one-note. The beauty of that season was the fact that they found so many ways to nail the genre, while also wrapping it up in a perfect bow with a deeper message.
Season 2 moved in similar directions: dicks on cars were replaced with the Turd Burglar, who literally caused the students of a posh private school to shit on themselves. It also added an amazing character in DeMarcus Tillman (portrayed by actor and social media star Melvin Gregg), the school basketball star who that looked like the prime suspect at one point. The show gains props for nailing how kids use social media, and doing so while producing a series of Instagram accounts that almost felt lived in. Sadly, we won’t be able to see what Season 2’s success (or failure) meant for the series as a whole...yet. —khal
26.‘Random Acts of Flyness’
Network: HBO
Stars: n/a
When filmmaker Terence Nance’s HBO series Random Acts of Flyness was announced, I didn’t know what to make of it. Imagine Woke Black Twitter dropped hella acid, then found a way to record its thoughts, memes, and story into six 30-minute blocks of time. That barely gets to the bottom of what Random Acts truly is. It’s part sketch comedy, part visual context to what’s ailed the disadvantaged for eons. It’s funny, it’s raw, it’s real, and it’s necessary. It’s like what Pee-Wee Herman would be doing if he were black, not seen as a porn theater masturbator, and got a fat check from a company like HBO. You laughed, you learned, and you felt.
It’s already got a second-season order, but who knows when it’ll hit, as Nance is set to direct the long-awaited Space Jam sequel. Whenever it drops, we’ve got our tabs ready. —khal
25.‘Seven Seconds’
Network: Netflix
Stars: Clare-Hope Ashitey, Beau Knapp, Michael Mosley, Regina King
Playing a mother who unravels with grief after her son is killed by police, Regina King didn’t win her third Emmy—she earned it. Her lead performance was just one of a number of strong showings in this “anthology” canceled by Netflix too soon.
Created by The Killing’s Veena Sud, Seven Seconds was ripped from the headlines: A black teen is killed by a police officer whose squad attempts to cover it up, outsmarting the D.A. (Ashitey) at every turn. Justice is pursued, but whether it’s won is arguable. Maybe Seven Seconds was too heavy or too close to real life to provide an escape for audiences seeking pure entertainment, but it’s an emotional roller coaster—as close to a “thriller” as a social-justice-type series can get—and it’s worth a binge as the year winds down. —Dria Roland
24.‘The Deuce’
Network: HBO
Stars: James Franco, Maggie Gyllenhaal
If The Wire creator David Simon made a show about pimping and the birth of porn in ’70s that featured Black Thought and Method Man as pimps, why wouldn’t you watch it? Do I need to write anything more than that?
James Franco playing twin brothers is secondary to the pimping and porn storylines. Maggie Gyllenhaal carries this show on her back like Iverson Game 1 of the 2001 Finals. The cast of characters around her isn’t as mid as that Sixers team, though. The series features multiple narrative arcs happening at once: You have the world of pimping, in which the city tries to clean up Midtown Manhattan. Then you have Candy (played by Gyllenhaal), who in the first season transitioned from prostitute to porn star and attempts to be taken seriously as a director. There’s also Lori (played by Emily Meade), who’s making a name for herself in the porn world, too, as she tries to shake her pimp C.C.’s (played by Gary Carr) abusive grip. All of this has residual effects on the lives of Vincent and Frankie (both played by James Franco) as their legitimate business are tied into their illegitimate side endeavors with the mafia. Watch this shit. —Angel Diaz
23.‘Ozark’
Network: Netflix
Stars: Jason Bateman, Laura Linney
In the second season of Netflix’s Breaking Bad-esque Ozark, the Byrdes made good on their Season 1 plan to open up a casino as a front to distribute product for the cartel and, hopefully, leave their current situation. As per usual, this can’t happen; the potholes they encounter on the road to getting right are what make series like this worthwhile. Does this show suffer from having a bit too much fat on it? Most definitely. Even at 10 episodes, this can feel like a slog. That said, Bateman and Linney are on their A-game as a couple looking to do anything to preserve their family. —khal
22.‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’
Network: Fox
Stars: Andy Samberg, Stephanie Beatriz, Terry Crews, Melissa Fumero
Even in Peak TV, there's no major network sitcom like Brooklyn Nine-Nine. With sharp writing and a sweet aesthetic, full of people who enjoy each other almost as much as they enjoy their job, Nine-Nine doesn’t sacrifice laughs for its earnestness.
When news of its cancelation broke, some argued that five seasons was a fair life-span for a series that’s not exactly breaking ratings records. Nine-Nine fans should be grateful for what we got, right? It was long in the tooth anyway, right? Not quite. Five years in, the show is still tossing up resonant character arcs like Rosa coming out as bisexual. It’s still delivering thoroughly compelling special episodes like Sterling K. Brown’s bottle episode, “The Box.” And it’s still packing more jokes in the cold open than the heartland’s fave does in 30 minutes. There’s enough cynicism in the real world—a pleasant comedy is hard to come by (title of your sex tape). Thank God for NBC. —Frazier Tharpe
21.‘High Maintenance’
Network: HBO
Stars: Ben Sinclair
Remember that Season 2 episode of Master of None where they followed a multitude of stories throughout one day in the city that never sleeps? HBO’s High Maintenance is sort of like that, but on weed. While the series highlights just how much is going on in massive metropolises like New York, a city where everyone seems to be making all kinds of plays in their own zone, it’s truly a look into stories that speak to many of us. Trying to quit social media, parents trying to “get” their child, a woman trying to cope with her protest group being white AF—these are all issues and concerns we have on the regular, presented with humor and grounded in reality. Hell, even our constant pot salesman, the Guy, becomes a fuller character during Season 2. It’s an impressive feat that could just end up being an ever-evolving series of misadventures of pot-addicted Brooklynites. —khal
20.‘Snowfall’
Network: FX
Stars: Damson Idris, Carter Hudson, Emily Rios
Season 2 of FX’s Snowfall is easily the most underrated show on television this year. Executive produced by West Coast crime drama aficionado John Singleton, the season was more focused than the first, as the viewer sees how fast things can come crashing down when “taking the easy way out.” Street dealer Saint (played by Damson Idris) learns how the fast money can turn family and friends into enemies just as quickly as he and his crew run out of supply.
This season also dug deeper into the role the United States government played in the streets of America being flooded with cocaine during the ’80s. Saint and undercover CIA operative Teddy (played by Carter Hudson) have a give-and-take relationship. Teddy supplies Saint with keys of coke and uses the profits to purchase guns that he gives to Nicaraguan Contras. As Saint proves his worth with consistency and business acumen, his relationship with Teddy gets closer, which helps Saint when he finds himself in a crazy jam during the last episode. I won’t spoil it, but you better catch up before Season 3 next year if you want to see why kids in the inner city turn to selling drugs to attain the “American dream.” —Angel Diaz
19.‘Maniac’
Network: Netflix
Stars: Emma Stone, Jonah Hill, Justin Theroux
Patrick Somerville’s Maniac, starring Jonah Hill and Emma Stone, was one of the more unique shows to drop this year. Under Cary Joji Fukunaga’s direction, they were able to create a world of the not-so-distant future that’s trippy as hell. Hill and Stone play a couple of loners with mental health issues who sign up to test a new drug that’s supposed to fix them for good. They’re then brought into clinical trials that not only bend reality and fantasy, but also inextricably connect them subconsciously.
Maniac is like something out of a Kurt Vonnegut novel, and the show’s retro ambience has some Mouse Hunt charm to it. Justin Theroux turns out a great performance as the embattled Dr. James K. Mantleray, who was able to invent said miracle drug even though he has a chronic masturbation addiction. Also, Sonoya Mizuno, as Dr. Azumi Fujita, steals multiple scenes with her British accent, haircut, and chain smoking.
If you’ve ever experienced depression due to loneliness or the death of somebody close to you, Maniac serves as a great way to help you deal with some of those feelings. —Angel Diaz
18.‘The Handmaid’s Tale’
Network: Hulu
Stars: Elisabeth Moss, Joseph Fiennes
The odds are always against an adaptation surpassing its source material. The Handmaid’s Tale’s award-winning debut season reached the end of the Margaret Atwood novel from which it drew a horrifying future in which religious extremists have turned America upside down, into a theocratic dystopia. How could it retain Atwood’s sharp commentary and nuance in an ongoing story without devolving into a rebellion narrative more akin to YA fiction—especially when some of that nuance was starting to wane by the time Season 1 reached the finish line?
The good news: The Handmaid’s Tale is still as exquisitely made and excruciating to watch. Elisabeth Moss is still more destined to get the trophy than the Warriors; the visual palette is still stunning; Max Minghella is still woefully miscast. Season 2 doesn’t lack for overwhelming tragedy or complex characterizations—Yvonne Strahovski’s complicit victim Serena Joy is still here, after all. What it lacks—besides subtle music supervision—is narrative propulsion. After an early twist in the first quarter, it’s hard to say where this story is headed, and not in a fun way. These are just 50 minutes of cinematically crafted misery, expounding on characters we already know but doing little to illuminate how this cracked-mirror version of contemporary America became this nightmare. One of the season’s most grotesque highlights is the flashbacks showing how Alexis Bledel’s Emily found herself in the middle of hell without realizing she was on fire, but it took a Wikipedia session to remind myself we’ve never gotten the full, straight story on how the country was coup’d in the first place. And sometimes, when you’re wondering when we’re gonna learn something new about these people, it’ll skip interesting character detail and go straight to “Oh, she had a whole-ass wife we’ve never mentioned until now.”
Subtlety has never been this show’s charm, but it’s still as effective as ever at viscerally forcing us to face our country’s darkest timeline. —Frazier Tharpe
17.‘The Haunting of Hill House’
Network: Netflix
Stars: Michiel Huisman, Carla Gugino, Henry Thomas, Elizabeth Reaser
Remixing classics can be tough. Sometimes you nail it. Other times? Garbage city. Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House reimagined the 1959 novel, weaving the Crain family’s tale from 1992 (when they lived in Hill House and got haunted AF) and today, where they’re still dealing with what happened back then. Chock-full of jump-scares and character building (with each family member getting to tell their tale through one episode), this series might be the annual Halloween binge.
Forever awesome Carla Gugino carries the emotional weight of the family, particularly in her episode, which tied everything we’d been experiencing together. Some performances were better than others, and some factors of the world they built worked more than others, but you have to give it up to the children who portrayed Little Nell and Little Luke (Violet McGraw and Julian Hilliard, respectively), who stole every scene they were in with their precocious, frightened ways. In terms of modern horror series with heart, Hill House is up there. —khal
16.‘Better Call Saul’
Network: AMC
Stars: Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks, Rhea Seehorn
I’m not sure how much longer Better Call Saul needs to go on. That said, four seasons in, the AMC series—which works as a prequel to the magnificent Breaking Bad—continues to get better. This season is the closest we’ve gotten to seeing Jimmy McGill transforming into his sinister alter ego, Saul Goodman. As we imagined from the onset of the series, it was a long trip (although, roughly, these four seasons have only taken place from 2002 to 2004). In that time, we’ve seen Jimmy lose a lot (including his brother, Chuck) and have to find a way to get right. At heart, Jimmy’s a good guy, but he’s seemingly been having to make up for his past for a lot longer than others. The darker side of life is easier for him to operate (and flourish) in, and throughout this fourth season, we practically see him saying “fuck it” and embracing that side, to the phenomenal last scene in the season 4 finale. Odenkirk’s a gem, and hopefully we get to see this story end as beautifully as it’s gone on. —khal
15.‘Sharp Objects’
Network: HBO
Stars: Amy Adams, Patricia Clarkson, Chris Messina
Adapted from Gillian Flynn’s debut novel, this intoxicating miniseries is proof positive that Amy Adams deserves all of your praise. Or, at least, we need to just allow her to stay in her bag at all times.
The show was a complicated one. A small town in Missouri is hit with a pair of murders of young girls, meaning an alcoholic, disturbed reporter (Adams) has to return to said town to deal not only with what’s going on now, but the source of her life’s struggle, primarily with her mother (portrayed brilliantly by Patricia Clarkson). It allowed women to be up front as antihero and villain and illustrated how deeply past trauma can affect us today.
From the beautiful things they did with sound to a number of awesome performances to one of the best endings of any television series in 2018, Sharp Objects demands a binge...then a second watch, to pick up on everything you missed. —khal
14.‘Homecoming’
Network: Amazon
Stars: Julia Roberts, Bobby Cannavale, Stephan James
When it was announced that Julia Roberts would be hitting the small screen, it was a big deal. Instead of chasing something “easy,” though, the fan favorite decided to star in Homecoming, a series brought to Amazon by Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail (who directed each episode). Based on a Gimlet Media podcast (which itself starred the likes of Catherine Keener, Oscar Isaac, and David Schwimmer), the story alternates between two timelines: the past, where soldiers are being sent to a program known as Homecoming—which is set to help them but is definitely not what it seems—and today, where everyone is trying to figure out what the hell happened.
Everything about the season is intriguing, from Esmail’s shot selection and the use of pre-existing film scores throughout to the performances of Roberts, Cannavale, and James. Cannavale and Roberts, in particular, have some heated exchanges via phone (especially in Episode 5) that, when set to the right music, will have your heart racing. We aren’t treading new ground, but we are seeing Esmail’s creativity continue to expand outside of Evil Corp. —khal
13.‘The Americans’
Network: FX
Stars: Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Holly Taylor, Noah Emmerich
This year saw FX’s excellent spy-in-the-family series, The Americans, come to an emotional end with its sixth season, and it was just as awesome as it’d been over the five previous seasons. For a show that was family first, spying second, it was intriguing to see them stick to that route during its swan song. It’s also good to note that this was television that was as beautifully written as it was filmed. Even great shows miss the mark when it comes to looking and sounding excellent, but with The Americans, no corners were cut. It’s a series that, over time, will no doubt be seen as one of the shining examples of what you can do with the television medium when approaching it as the art it can be. —khal
12.‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story’
Network: FX
Stars: Édgar Ramírez, Darren Criss, Ricky Martin, Penélope Cruz
Season 1 of American Crime Story was true event television; The People v O.J. Simpson opened up the floodgates on “Trial of the Century” anniversary specials and thinkpieces while providing a flashy, over-the-top recreation of this real-life drama. With Season 2, there wasn’t a current conversation that the series dived into, but Gianni Versace’s assassination is treated with the same stylish sheen that was given to O.J.’s time-stopping trial. The series isn’t perfect, and at times almost completely loses the plot, but it got better as the season moved on, and did a beautiful job of framing this disturbing, violent crime as a wholly American one. —khal
11.‘Evil Genius’
Network: Netflix
Stars: Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong, Kenneth Barnes
One of the beautiful things about Netflix’s docuseries is how these stories are both stranger than fiction and relatively forgotten. It’s insane to believe that Evil Genius, which aims to reveal the truth behind the 2003 “Pizza Bomber” incident, where a man died in the middle of the day via a bomb strapped to his chest after robbing a bank, can be so captivating. Sure, the shock and awe of the actual incident is shown in gruesome detail relatively early in the series, but the web of deception that led to this point, primarily orchestrated by Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong, is one of the deeper dives into mental illness and what some will do for love that we’ve seen in a while. The fact that this story is only 15 years old and still feels like a small slice of the American crime pie is astonishing and helps Netflix maintain its stranglehold on true crime. —khal
10.‘GLOW’
Network: Netflix
Stars: Alison Brie, Betty Gilpin, Marc Maron
With the last year-plus finding women truly using their voices to chant down the patriarchy, shows like Netflix’s GLOW are hitting at the right time. Further delving into the cocaine ’80s, Season 2 saw the all-women’s wrestling show trying to find its footing while the women working in it desperately looked to avoid spinning out entirely.
While the friction between Ruth (Brie) and Debbie (Gilpin) that was the emotional foundation of Season 1 took a bit of a backseat, it was still there. Debbie was still dealing with her life turning on its head, which resulted in her attempting to take more control of her work life. Ruth, on the other hand, was aiming to be heard, as well as becoming something of a leader at work. It resulted in her getting into her own #MeToo moment, further cementing how long this has been going on.
From bringing us a full episode of the show on the show to allowing Kia Stevens (aka former wrestling champion Awesome Kong) to shine in one particular episode about the balance between her work life and home life, GLOW flies high from the top rope and absolutely sticks the landing. —khal
9.‘This Is Us’
Network: NBC
Stars: Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, Chrissy Metz
After the great Jack reveal of Season 2, aka the longest death ever, the next mystery was how This Is Us would keep viewers enthralled. It tried, handily, with arcs that saw our the Big Three grow by being forced to look outside themselves. Kate had to be a rock when the usually steadfast Toby came unmoored, Randall had to be a light post as Beth lost her way, and even Kevin managed, via a blossoming interracial relationship, to reckon with the ways he could be ignorant and privileged as a partner and man. If there is a misstep, it’s the show’s attempt to tarnish Jack’s permanent good guy veneer by flashing back to the grim (and kinda boring) experiences that went down in Vietnam. Is Season 3 as good as the two before it? We won’t lie to you, but when a show of this caliber has even a small fall-off, it still lands above the level of most series on air. —Dria Roland
8.‘The End of the F***ing World’
Network: Netflix
Stars: Alex Lawther, Jessica Barden
While the U.K. got to see The End of the F***ing World in 2017, American audiences weren’t blessed with this magnificent series until early 2018, and if you’re anything like me, you tried to avoid anything resembling life while trying to binge the short, eight-episode series. It’s not every day that you get a quirky coming-of-age story that also raises its middle finger to authority wrapped in a sweet love story. The fact that its protagonists are of the awkward, low-key sociopathic type adds to the layers of this onion of a series. Shifting between downright hilarity and downright fright, The End of the F***ing World is one quick binge that could have you looking at the world, or at least those awkward adolescent years, way differently. —khal
7.‘Counterpart’
Network: Starz
Stars: J.K. Simmons, Olivia Williams, Harry Lloyd
J.K. Simmons is a marvel to watch on-screen, and Starz’s Counterpart gave us double the dose of the actor, who ends up playing the role of Howard...twice. As Howard, we get to see Simmons dwelling on both sides of the earth, the Alpha (our world) and the Prime (the “other” world). Truth be told, Simmons makes the series in more ways than one (or two, rather), but fans of political war games and espionage might not warm to it like many critics have. All of that said, Counterpart gives viewers an intriguing way to make us question the person we’re staring at in the mirror, and one of the more thoughtful series on television today. —khal
6.‘Billions’
Network: Showtime
Stars: Paul Giamatti, Damian Lewis, Maggie Siff
The only thing faster than the accruement of money and cars in Billions—Showtime’s hit hyper-modern, ripped-from-the-headlines, white-collar-crime dramedy—is the speed at which the show burns through the minutiae of byzantine financial law. Speak to anyone who works in any of the industries represented in Billions and they’ll tell you that 85 percent of it is 100 percent true (rough estimates). It’s telling. The Aaron Sorkin-lite approach to some of the dialogue keeps you from nodding off and/or switching to something a little less heady. It works. In between the various tendrils that seem to sprout each season only to be pruned right before the last episode, there are genuinely interesting characters being developed—characters you never thought you’d give two shits about now have you praying they make it through whichever scheme they’re running, while you pray for the downfall of former fan favorites. Sure, none of that is novel, but it’s done well—better than it needs to be, really. And that is really the highest compliment we can pay a show. —Damien Scott
5.‘Succession’
Network: HBO
Stars: Jeremy Strong, Brian Cox, Kieran Culkin, Peter Friedman
In this era of 400-plus original shows in a given year, binging seasons all at once has become the norm. Those two factors have made audiences less patient with a maiden season finding its footing. At first glance—by the rules of 2018—a series about an uber-rich white family squabbling for power sounds like yet another pale imitation of the Antihero Era to Ignore on Arrival. I’m glad I didn’t. What we got instead was a curiously dramatic spin on the ensemble comedic energy found in Veep and Arrested Development, a series that was at once satirical, hilarious, and deeply sad. And, also, unequivocally—and impressively because, again, 400 shows—the show of the summer.
In just one short season, the Roy clan has entered the pantheon of all-time TV families, as their unique world of money, power, love, and loyalty is explored, primarily by exposing the ways those four things butt heads or move in tandem. The first three episodes coast on potential, but by Episode 4 and increasingly with each episode onward, Succession took hold. It could be laugh-out-loud funny (Connor vs. the butter, anything involving Cousin Greg), a genuine nail-biter (Kendall vs. his father), or Mad Men levels of emotionally affecting (the New Mexico episode).
Most delightful were the ways those elements remixed. Greg and fiancé Tom are the Scooby and Shaggy of the show until Greg is revealed to be much more clever than he lets on and Tom a fool for love. At the center is Jeremy Strong as Kendall Roy, the salty heir apparent locked in a Shakespearean battle of wits and disappointment with the mercurial head of the family dynasty, his father, Logan. For all the snowballing jokes, corner-office-masturbation symbolism, and ortolan excess this show can throw, it’s ultimately all a distraction for a gut punch of a conclusion that proves the series has much deeper, darker things to say about family than poking fun at rich whites. Who said HBO wasn’t still leading the pack? —Frazier Tharpe
4.‘The Good Place’
Network: NBC
Stars: Kristen Bell, William Jackson Harper, Jameela Jamil, D’Arcy Carden, Manny Jacinto, Ted Danson
Thanks to a reset that sent them back to earth, Eleanor, Chidi, Jason, and Tahani spent Season 3 of The Good Place using their do-over to earnestly work to embody what the show is all about: trying to live a “good” life. This season pulled back the curtain on the pivotal people who informed how the gang lived—and ultimately died. While some viewers found the individual journeys a bit meandering, this show is masterful at taking its time, and the fog always clears up by the end of the ride; after all, there’s no payoff without a buildup. In this, The Good Place again delivers when it takes a turn that reminds us why we keep coming back. What makes this series one of 2018’s best is how unafraid it is to lay a foundation, brick by brick, then blow the whole thing up. —Dria Roland
3.‘Barry’
Network: HBO
Stars: Bill Hader, Stephen Root, Sarah Goldberg
Barry might not have worked. Who’s really checking for a black comedy starring SNL alum Bill Hader as the least-funny guy in the series? Yet, somehow, it works perfectly, to the point where Hader won an Emmy for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series.
Hader’s Barry is a lethal assassin, taking the skills that made him a great soldier to the civilian world, removing targets one at a time. Growing depressed with the life he’s living, he looks for a way out and stumbles into the world of acting. With a cast of characters that includes an asshole of a family friend setting up his hits to the impeccable NoHo Hank to a surprisingly hilarious Henry Winkler as the grizzled B-list acting coach, there’s a host of absurd laughs to be had surrounding Barry’s fits of depression.
Barry is a series that tells a wonderfully complete story that, with its finale, makes us excited to see where Hader and company take it for Season 2. —khal
2.‘Killing Eve’
Network: BBC America
Stars: Sandra Oh, Jodie Comer, Fiona Shaw
Any show with Sandra Oh is necessary, but over the course of the eight-episode first season of BBC America’s Killing Eve, fans realized very quickly that Oh (who plays the Eve referenced in the title) wasn’t even the brightest gem in the jewelry box (although she definitely earned that Emmy nom for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series). That distinction went to Jodie Comer, who jumped feet first into the role of the beautifully broken assassin Villanelle. We definitely follow Eve, as her obsession with female serial killers makes her the best person to follow the path of this murderous menace, but Villanelle’s twisted tale, sarcasm, and penchant for ultraviolence are what kept fans binging. The show did things we’ve only seen in films, and even still, there’s not been a tale that found a villain and the person pursuing them become this enraptured with each other. BBC America scores high with the most binge-worthy series to hit 2018, and it did it with a tale that’s as gruesome as it is bold. Stellar. —khal
1.‘Atlanta Robbin’ Season’
Network: FX
Stars: Donald Glover, Brian Tyree Henry, Lakeith Stanfield, Zazie Beetz
What is there to say about Atlanta Robbin’ Season that we didn’t dissect in the weekly interims? Donald Glover declared that the sophomore season of his first TV series would be a classic...back when he was doing press for its debut season. Goddamn if he didn’t live up to his own challenge. After a debut season spent exploring everything a show about Atlanta rappers trying to make it could be—i.e., much less about the cliché rise to stardom, much more about being black in Atlanta, where sometimes wry cynicism is the only way to survive—the biggest swerve of Robbin’ Season was the very straightforward story it coded into an overarching theme about what desperation does to the city and its inhabitants. As such, Donald, Stephen, Stefani and company’s greatest trick was fashioning a series where they’re now able to break convention and play to it at the same time. You get a self-contained horror movie Blumhouse would kill for, a middle school flashback Netflix would love to greenlight, and a screwball scammer comedy that are all rich meals unto themselves while also serving as courses in a greater story about familial bonds.
Atlanta could’ve ended right there, with Earn and Alfred having survived robbin’ season with both their business and brotherhood intact. But now that they’ve withstood the trials, I can’t wait to see what this show looks like when you can’t tell them nothing. All I know is Tracy better be there. —Frazier Tharpe