I almost had this done in early January, but the day before I was going to wrap writing this, Renée Good was killed in my city by ICE agent Jonathan Ross. A couple of weeks later, Alex Pretti was killed about a block from my home by Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez. Those have been the big flashpoints, but since December, Minneapolis has been in a wild, unbelievable state seeing both modernly unprecedented federal violence and awesome, humbling neighborhood solidarity. One day, they gassed the park immediately outside my home. I wrote something for my neighborhood’s website about the chemicals they used.
Despite the departure of Greg Bovino, things have not slowed down. This is still happening.
So I apologize if it might seem crass to put out lists about television right now, but the truth is I need to get these out of my head or I will explode.
One of the most stressful periods of my entire year is while I work on these lists, and they sort of loom over my entire psyche while they’re in process. And delaying these until now has just meant that I’ve felt the weight of needing to finish them too far into 2026.
Television in 2025 was amazing. If you are looking for some escape or respite in these times, perhaps the things I highlight today and tomorrow can do well for you.
Unfortunately, I don’t count sports, so the best thing I watched in 2025, the Roland-Garros Men’s Singles final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, is not covered here. But you should really check it out.
10. “Le Voyage Incroyable de Monsieur Grenouille”
Smiling Friends
season 3, episode 2
stream: HBO Max
The optimal mode for Smiling Friends has always been anarchic, so I went into season three eager for more stuff like “The Magical Red Jewel AKA Tyler Gets Fired.” And so the turn in “Le Voyage” wasn’t quite what I was looking for at the time, but it’s wound up as the season’s most memorable material.
Things start pretty normally. Mr. Frog, the most chaotic character in the most chaotic show, has achieved everything and now feels nothing. As the Smiling Friends try to help cheer him up, as they’re wont to do, Mr. Frog turns the entire episode when he, upon hearing Pim mention family, punches Pim unbelievably hard and runs off to see his estranged father, played by (yes, seriously) a painted-green live action Creed Bratton. The humor comes to a screeching halt unlike ever before on the show as Mr. Frog’s father absolutely lays into him. The tone shift doesn’t feel entirely sincere. It’s broken up by an improvised bit where the Bug of Knowledge asks Mr. Frog for some computer advice (does the browser running slow sound like a hardware or software issue?), and it’s too incoherent to feel like a genuine stab at emotional catharsis. It almost feels like a send-up of when joke-machine animated comedies force themselves into more emotional moments in the hopes of some greater throughline, as with Adult Swim predecessor Rick And Morty. Smiling Friends has not truly stopped smiling.
But it does sneak just a dash of emotional catharsis in there anyway.
Also considered: “Squim Returns” (season 3, episode 6), “The Glep Ep” (season 3, episode 8)
9. “In Space, No One…”
Alien: Earth
season 1, episode 5
stream: Hulu
Do you like Alien (1979)? I like Alien (1979). Have we tried just doing that again? No, like, exactly that again, pretty much. What if a whole episode of the new Alien TV show was just an Alien (1979) remix? Like, a facehugger latches onto a crew member, and the rest of the crew has to deal with a quickly maturing xenomorph while trapped on a spaceship, and – spoiler alert for Alien (1979) – pretty much everyone dies.
“In Space, No One…” doesn’t embrace the emptiness and horror of space quite like its inspiration, so while the plot has the trappings of a horror film, there’s less tension and more…fun? The different monsters aboard keep things fresh so that we’re not just watching another eight-or-whatever people experiencing death-by-xenomorph. The proceedings of the rest of Alien: Earth are largely unlike what we get here, but it’s a blessing that Noah Hawley settled on this familiar territory for the backstory behind the show’s inciting incident.
8. “To You In 2016”
Takopi’s Original Sin
episode 1
stream: Crunchyroll
I could really pick any episode here, but I will absolutely never forget how completely blown away I was when I saw “To You In 2016.” Takopi‘s darkness would be bland without filtering it through Takopi, an infuriatingly naive alien who has a Nick Jr. understanding of conflict. It is simply too much that a show with a Dora the Explorer-ass guy like this will also feature him experiencing moments like Shizuka’s decision or Marina’s aggression. This show is so much more than shocking brutality, but I will always remember my headspace when Takopi was just a story about a depressed little girl and the happy-go-lucky alien that wanted to make her smile but could simply not comprehend the depth of human existence.
Also considered: “Takopi’s Salvation” (episode 2), “To You In 2022” (episode 5)
7. “Tower / Bad Time / Abacus And Braids / Running Through Youth / Definitely Safe Niikura”
CITY: THE ANIMATION
season 1, episode 5
stream: Prime Video
Every frame of CITY: THE ANIMATION is beautiful and perfect. You can sometimes watch it and just get hypnotized by the shot composition. But sometimes it really starts flexing. Nagumo finds herself kidnapped and thrown into a shonen-ass setup where she must descend a twelve-story tower – beautifully given some mixed media animation toward the start – by beating challenges on each floor. But Nagumo is instead drawn back to the premium hospitality offered on the twelfth floor, so she descends each staircase hoping to fail that floor’s particular challenge. Instead, in an entirely unprecedented coincidence, each challenge ends up being an automatic win. Pretty good!
But then as the B-plot kicks in, CITY cuts out the side of the frame to concurrently show the events of the tower story. And then more and more until it is splitscreened nine ways. When Nagumo finally emerges on the ground floor an unfortunate winner, CITY unleashes a completely astonishing visual sequence for the episode’s finale. And even after that, it throws in a special end credits for good measure. CITY is truly just out here stunting.
Also considered: “The 4th City Race / Champion” (season 1, episode 9)
6. “The Day”
Paradise
season 1, episode 7
stream: Hulu
I’m trying to avoid talking about the premise of this show so that you might properly watch the first episode with truly fresh eyes, so I’ll have to get abstract. Paradise depicts a new American reality, and as the story unfolds, it gives us a healthy dose of flashbacks that show why things are the way that they are but not why everyone feels the way they do in the present day. The first season’s penultimate episode finally gives us that necessary final piece, giving us more of the fateful day that changed the world than we bargained for.
After a dash of Day After Tomorrow and James Marsden doing The West Wing, the American people finally realize their situation and everything begins to come apart. Even though we know exactly where things are going, the final half of “The Day” is the very most intense television this year save Adolescence. Paradise is a very good show for its first six episodes, but a single episode achievement like “The Day” elevates it to such a higher level. It’s really something to watch a slow motion car crash on a global scale.
5. “The Oner”
The Studio
season 1, episode 2
stream: Apple TV+
This feels like something Community might have done. The Studio chases its visual style – an all-consuming obsession with extended oners – to its logical conclusion almost right away. Sarah Polley is trying to film Greta Lee in a complex single-shot scene, and it has to be during sunset and it has to be today. Matt, ever the film enthusiast, invites himself to bear witness, and though his presence keeps everyone on edge, no one feels that they can ask him to leave. Matt gradually feels more and more welcome to hang out and talk to Polley and Lee, and there are just so many moments where Matt does not know how destructive his behavior is and you will want to defenestrate yourself for all of them. The entire episode is a single, unbroken shot (well…), and “The Oner” is the ultimate marriage of The Studio‘s distinct aesthetic and the ability of its comedy to cause you untold amounts of frustration and pain.
Also considered: “The Note” (season 1, episode 3), “The Golden Globes” (season 1, episode 8)
4. “Star Potential”
The Rehearsal
season 2, episode 2
stream: HBO Max
I’m a little off the beaten path here. People will flip over “Bring Me To Life” or the Miracle Over the Mojave, but this right here is why I fell so hard for The Rehearsal‘s second season. In his quest to get to the bottom of pilot/copilot interactions, Nathan Fielder stages Wings Of Voice, a fake-but-real reality singing competition where professional copilots judge the singers and the winner will “get to sing a song of our choice on national television with a full backing band in a partial recreation of the Houston airport.” But as the contestants sing hilarious royalty-free songs in their tryouts (“Amazing Grace,” “The Star Spangled Banner”), Nathan isn’t investigating the contestants. He’s investigating the judges, asking the singers to rate what they thought of their judge, especially after a rejection. Nathan tries to emulate the behavior of the most successful judges, but as he tries to figure out whether you can actually learn likability, “Star Potential” becomes less of a general experiment and more of an investigation into the nature of his own shortcomings. This might be his most Kaufmanesque endeavor in a program that’s already so reminiscent of Synecdoche, New York.
And there are asides within this lengthy aside. In one, Nathan speaks to a pilot who’s been banned from all of the dating apps, like the usual Bumble and Hinge but also the lesser known sugar baby app SeekingArrangements. In another, Nathan rehearses a confrontation with Paramount, simulating his discomfort by making the Paramount office feel like Nazi Germany. This has aged rather well!
Also considered: “Pilot’s Code” (season 2, episode 3), “My Controls” (season 2, episode 6)
3. “I’ll Believe In Anything”
Heated Rivalry
season 1, episode 5
stream: HBO Max
There’s a lot going on in “I’ll Believe In Anything.” There’s Shane’s fateful dinner with Rose (Sophie Nélisse really kills this role). Ilya loses his father, and then Shane listens in on an all-Russian monologue that he can’t understand. That stuff really fills this one out. But we all know why this is here.
The scene where Scott celebrates his “MLH Cup” win has to be the most awe-inspiring and wonderful scene (and needle drop!) of the entire year. And it’s made all the better seeing it through the eyes of Shane and Ilya, each entirely mindblown not just by what they’ve seen but what it could it mean for them. Next episode, they try to find a place where nobody knows them, and nobody gives a damn.
Big congrats to Wolf Parade for finally overtaking old Montreal indie peers Arcade Fire in popular culture. That’s really for the best.
Also considered: “Hunter” (season 1, episode 3), “The Cottage” (season 1, episode 6)
2. “Cold Harbor”
Severance
season 2, episode 10
stream: Apple TV+
During Severance‘s second season, you can feel the clock ticking. Mark S. has a destiny, and we know the final showdown won’t happen until the tenth episode. The show’s elements gradually fall away to its barest essentials, and it’s like an office building where most of the lights are turned off. In the run-up, Severance dazzles by feeding us some lore and hyping up where we all know we’re going.
And when we’re finally there, it’s just crazy. At nearly eighty minutes, “Cold Harbor” is gargantuan, starting with an absolutely brilliant conversation before finally moving to Lumon’s Severed Floor for the real climax. There, we get “Sirius,” a deranged comedy bit, and Choreography and Merriment. Then, “Cold Harbor” wildly fulfills the promise of Severance‘s first two seasons as Mark S. finally runs up against Lumon in the way we’ve been dying to see. The first season finale was a somewhat arbitrary cutoff, mostly chosen to be as aggravating as possible. Season two instead gives us an unmistakable stopping point, something that’s simultaneously so satisfying and just frustrating enough to haunt us.
When it comes to season finales in this decade, there’s “Green Queen” – itself The Curse‘s series finale – and there’s “Cold Harbor.” When it comes to finales that don’t actually end the series, you’d have to go back a ways to match “Cold Harbor.”
Also considered: “Woe’s Hollow” (season 2, episode 4), “Chikhai Bardo” (season 2, episode 7)
1. “Episode 3”
Adolescence
episode 3
stream: Netflix
Without “Episode 3,” Adolescence would be impressive and quite nifty. But of its four disparate chapters, “Episode 3” is the reason we’re here. It’s why we’re doing this. And it’s an absolute body blow.
Psychologist Briony Ariston (Erin Doherty) conducts her final interview with Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) to determine his understanding of the murder charges against him before the early teen’s trial. After previously reaching dead ends, the discussion that finally bears fruit is about masculinity and how he feels about women. In the end, Ariston is shaken not so much by Jamie’s outbursts and attempts to intimidate her but by his warped but casual attitudes towards early sexuality, pornographic images, how he sees opportunity to ask a girl his age out, and of course towards the girl he murdered. Jamie goes through a change of his own. He starts almost eager to charm Ariston and make her laugh before raising his defenses against her trying to “trick” him. When Ariston tells Jamie that he’s given her what she had been looking for, he is upset, angry, and, most importantly, insecure. “Do you like me?”
Not to make too much of it, but Adolescence‘s four episodes are each just one single, unbroken shot, and it never works better than in “Episode 3” when the camera keeps swirling around the table. Both Doherty and Cooper turn in the two very best performances by anyone on television in 2025. “Episode 3” is immaculately crafted, and it’s so disturbing because we can feel the creeping effect that the manosphere and the like are having on our young men. It feels like it’s just getting worse.
Also considered: “Episode 4” (episode 4)
Honorable Mentions
“2:00 P.M.,” The Pitt, season 1 episode 8
“A Couple Clucking Chickens Were Still Kickin’ in the Schoolyard,” Fujimoto 17-26, episode 1
“Amor Fati,” The White Lotus, season 3 episode 8
“Bears,” The Bear, season 4 episode 7
“Bobby Gets Grilled,” King Of The Hill, season 14 episode 3
“Bomber Jacket,” Haha, You Clowns, season 1 episode 3
“Comrades,” Orb: On The Movements Of Earth, episode 23
“Grand Pre-Pre-Pre-Opening,” Bob’s Burgers, season 16 episode 1
“Have You Seen This Man?,” Adults, season 1 episode 3
“Ignorance Is Chris,” Peacemaker, season 2 episode 6
“I said to my dog, ‘How do you like my hippie shirt?’,” The Chair Company, season 1 episode 7
“I Thought You’d Never Shut Up,” Invincible, season 3 episode 8
“It’s Not That Serious,” Dying For Sex, episode 8
“Ka Zuigetsu,” The Apothecary Diaries, season 2 episode 12
“Mrs. Table,” Hacks, season 4 episode 6
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a river.,” Task, episode 6
“Part Two,” Pee-wee As Himself, episode 2
“Plaything,” Black Mirror, season 7 episode 4
“Prelude,” The Righteous Gemstones, season 4 episode 1
“Through The Valley,” The Last Of Us, season 2 episode 2
“The Final Boss!!,” My Hero Academia, season 8 episode 3
“The Gang Gets Ready For Prime Time,” It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, season 17 episode 7
“Uragiri,” Dragon Ball Daima, episode 19
“Volunteers,” Abbott Elementary, season 4 episode 9
“We Is Us,” PLUR1BUS, season 1 episode 1
“Welcome To The Rebellion,” Andor, season 2 episode 9
Joey Daniewicz 