A Year in Review: The 10 Best Episodes of TV of 2018

Whittling down the 10 best TV shows of 2018 was surprisingly easy (that piece will launch next week), given how many shows pop up each week. With so many series, there countless episodes, varying in stylistic choices, tone and genre. Selecting just 10 episodes of TV to represent the year is no easy task.

The 10 episodes listed below are the ones that stood out the most; that either became part of the cultural conversation or were not well-watched but still excellent. Whether it was the writing, the acting, a visual moment or a hilarious scene, these selected episodes rose above the cut to show what TV can do in this unprecedented era.

10. Killing Eve, Season 1 "Don't I Know You?" (BBC America)
Directed by: Jon East
Written by: Vicy Jones

Creator and writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge set up the universe for "Killing Eve," writing the first two episodes and setting the show's fabulous tone. But it's the third episode "Do I Know You?" that flips this cat-and-mouse game between MI5 officer Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh) and psychopathic assassin Villanelle (Jodie Comer). Here, Villanelle lures Eve to Berlin with her coworker Bill Pargrave (David Haig) where the two get to know each other on a totally different level. But Villanelle reveals herself to be an evil force and carries out an act that changes the stakes for "Killing Eve."

09. Maniac, Season 1 "Option C" (Netflix)
Directed by: Cary Joji Fukunaga
Written by: Patrick Somerville & Cary Joji Fukunaga

Netflix's miniseries "Maniac" is one of the most stylish shows of the year, with creator/writer Patrick Somerville and direct/writer Cary Joji Fukunaga crafting a truly exciting and lived-in world. In its finale, "Option C," the strange experiment Annie (Emma Stone) and Owen (Jonah Hill) come to an end and the duo are forced to reconcile their experience and relationship. It's an honest and unexpectedly emotion episode that frames everything that came before it in a surprising way. And it looks incredible.

08. Succession, Season 1 "Prague" (HBO)
Directed by: S. J. Clarkson
Written by: Jon Brown

Where do you even start with "Prague," the eighth episode in HBO's comedy "Succession"? The episode does not take place in the capital city of the Czech Republic. It's set in a rundown Brooklyn warehouse where the richest people in New York City party. The occasion in this episode is that it's Tom Wambsgans's (Matthew Macfadyen) bachelor party. He's marrying into the mega-wealthy Roy family, set to tie the knot to Shiv Roy (Sarah Snook) and is celebrating with her brothers Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong), Roman Roy (Kieran Culkin) and Cousin Greg (Nicholas Braun). "Prague" is a showcase for each character's worst behaviors: Kendall is controlling and manipulative, Roman tries to talk a big game but is a giant man baby, Tom is a sniveling cuck and Greg is just trying to keep up. Throughout the episode, the men get into some W.I.L.D. shenanigans with one incident forever changing the meaning of "closed loop system."

07. Goliath, Season 2 "Diablo Verde" (Amazon Prime)
Directed by: Lawrence Trilling
Written by: Jennifer Ames and Steve Turner

I'm not sure what the target audience for "Goliath" is. Starring Billy Bob Thornton as an alcoholic but charming, brilliant and resilient lawyer, Season 2 of the Amazon Prime show was an enjoyable mess – think a CBS procedural that gets to swear, show graphic violence and nudity. Though most of the series has been quite bizarre (most of all, Mark Duplass as a sinister L.A. land developer with one of the strangest fetishes ever shown on TV), the seventh episode "Diablo Verde" is astoundingly entertaining and thrilling. This bottle episode of sorts finds Billy (Thornton) waking up from a night of heavy drinking. He's being held captive in an unfamiliar suburban home with another woman. As the episode unfolds, things get stranger and stranger more unbelievable at every turn, resulting in a David Lynch nightmare. If "Diablo Verde" dropped in the middle of "Twin Peaks: The Return" last year, it's doubtful anyone would have noticed.

06. Forever, Season 1 "Andre and Sarah" (Amazon Prime)
Directed by: Alan Yang
Written by: Alan Yang & Colleen McGuinness

"Andre and Sarah" is a stand-alone episode in the "Forever," a comedy starring Maya Rudolph and Fred Armisen. It's hard to talk about the show without spoiling its premise but "Andre in Sarah" hardly features its to leads. Instead, the bittersweet episode focuses on real estate agents Andre (Jason Mitchell) and Sarah (Hong Chau). In about 30 minutes, the duos entire life is played out in a series intimate moments mapping out the ups and downs of these star-crossed lovers. It's a tender episode that fits snuggly in "Forever," a show that questions love and relationships in a truly unique way.

05. Pose, Season 1 "Mother of the Year" (FX)
Directed by: Gwyneth Horder-Payton
Written by: Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk & Steven Canals

"Pose" is one of the most important shows of the year and its Season 1 finale "Mother of the Year" is a stunning way to close out a fantastic season of TV. It's an episode of positivity and hope, flipping the tropes of stories about trans people we're used to seeing. No, there's no tragedy, brutal murder, devastating violence or heartbreaking breakup here. "Mother of the Year" finds its characters uniting, mending burned bridges and getting along. It's clear co-creators and writers Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Steven Canals weren't sure if "Pose" was going to continue past its first season, ending the show in what could also be a series finale. Thankfully, "Pose" will march on and "Mother of the Year" sets an interesting stage of what's going to come.

04. The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, Season 2 "A Random Killing" (FX)
Directed by: Gwyneth Horder-Payton
Written by: Tom Rob Smith

In this heartbreaking episode of "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story," gay serial killer Andrew Cunanan (Darren Criss) is on a rampage. But unlike a number of true crime shows, this episode, "A Random Killing," makes it clear what "Versace" is about: the victims. Here, Cunanan brutally kills and humiliates an older lover, Chicago real estate developer Lee Miglin (Mike Farrell), who was married to Marilyn Miglin (a fantastic Judith Light). The episode shows Cunanan carrying out the murder but also focuses on Marylin's journey of dealing with the loss of her husband and learning that he was gay. It's a perfect episode that encapsulates homophobia in 90s America.

03. Succession, Season 1 "Which Side are You On?" (HBO)
Directed by: Andrij Parekh
Written by: Susan Soon He Stanton

The sixth and best episode of "Succession" full revels in its story about awful people doing awful things, perfectly highlighted when Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) and Cousin Greg (Nicholas Braun) eat a rare fried sparrow-like bird while putting a napkin over their face to hide their shame. Elsewhere Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) have an intense time trying to overthrow their father Logan Roy (Brain Cox) from running his media conglomerate, resulting in one of the most heart-racing moments of 2018.

02. Maniac, Season 1 "Windmills" (Netflix)
Directed by: Cary Joji Fukunaga
Written by: Patrick Somerville

The second episode of "Maniac" focuses mostly on Annie, played by Emma Stone in one of her best roles ever. "Windmills" explores Annie's past, her devastating trauma relating to her sister and how it's impacting her life now. It's another stylish episode that cracks open the strange world of "Maniac" – as if the aesthetics of technology halted in 1988 but far surpassed technology in our world. With nods to "Bladerunner," IBM technology "Hackers" and more, "Windmills" was one of the most enjoyable and skillful episodes of the year.

01. Atlanta: Robbin' Season, Season 2 "Teddy Perkins" (FX)
Directed by: Hiro Murai
Written by: Donald Glover

"Atlanta" has always been a show that dabbled in surrealism (creator, writer and star Donald Glover described the show as "'Twin Peaks' with rappers") but "Teddy Perkins," the sixth episode in the FX comedy's second season is a masterpiece in bending reality. Clocking in at just 35-minutes, this compact and precise nightmare features Glover in white face, playing the titular character – an eccentric musician living in a spooky mansion. Darious (Lakeith Stanfield) shows up to pick up a piano he purchased via a message board. Things go bizarrely awry, of course, and the episode unravels into a horror show, riffing on "Get Out" (a film that Stanfield appeared in) and so much more. "Teddy Perkins" is the centerpiece of the second season of "Atlanta" with Glover giving a truly outrageous performance.