We’re currently living in another golden age of television — there’s so much good TV right now that you could remove yourself from society, hole up in a bunker (à la Andy Samberg in his opening bit to the 2015 Emmys), keep yourself glued to the small screen for months on end and you still might not get completely caught up.
So it’s no shocker that the first half of 2017 has welcomed some compelling new series, emotionally wrenching finales and more than a few Emmy-worthy performances. In short, it’s been a great year for TV lovers — and we haven’t even seen the newest season of Game of Thrones yet.
Now that we’re at 2017’s halfway point, we figured it’s a fitting time to take stock of all the TV that’s aired. So we’ve rounded up and ranked the 13 best episodes of 2017 so far.
13. "Legion,""Chapter 6" (Season 1, Episode 6)
This episode of creator Noah Hawley’s psychedelic, X-Men-adjacent series technically goes nowhere; the main characters are literally frozen in time. But it’s in the midst of this narrative stasis that Aubrey Plaza puts in her finest work as the show’s villain, Lenny, aka the Devil With Yellow Eyes, aka the Shadow King, aka the psychic parasite that’s been haunting protagonist David Haller since his childhood.
In a performance that feels like it’s actually a dozen different roles, Plaza is at her most terrifying while tormenting the other characters in a faux reality, posing as a therapist. She revels in their sorrow and confusion, and in a scene sure to garner Emmy consideration, gyrates around David’s body as she reveals her true, parasitic self. It’s terrific, terrifying stuff. (The hour gets bonus points for a set piece, in which Plaza dances to a remix of Nina Simone’s classic “Feeling Good.”)
12. "The Young Pope,""Episode 9" (Season 1, Episode 9)
While I enjoy trolling HBO’s "The Young Pope" and luxuriating myself in the show’s memes, I will admit it produced some powerful episodes of television in the second half of the season.
None were better than the penultimate episode, which sees the culmination of Monsignor Gutierrez’s investigation into a child abuse scandal in New York and the death of Pope Pius XIII’s mentor, Cardinal Spencer. Gutierrez overcomes his own shortcomings as a lonely, depressed alcoholic to bring justice to the children abused by a powerful archbishop, while Pius shares a tender farewell with the mentor who scorned him most of the season for being vindictive and petty. Gutierrez and Pius, both afflicted by profound alienation, become better versions of themselves by season’s end.
The memes were plentiful and the bizarre story flourishes — the kangaroo hopping through the Vatican, the LMFAO-soundtracked changing montage — are truly bizarre, but ultimately "The Young Pope" proved itself to be a series with a lot of heart. God bless this show.
11. "The Americans,""Dyatkovo" (Season 5, Episode 11)
"The Americans," the spy drama critics will harass you about incessantly for not watching, underwhelmed in a fifth season that was exceptionally sluggish considering this series will be heading into its final stretch in 2018. But it still produced powerful, resonant and incredibly depressing moments, reaching its apex in “Dyatkovo.” The Jennings are tasked with assassinating a Russian war criminal (just another day at the office), but the target reveals a far more disturbing truth behind her crimes — that she was liquored up, threatened and assaulted by soldiers and forced to shoot her countrymen in order to stay alive herself. After hearing her explanation, and once her innocent husband returns home in the middle of the assassination attempt, Philip hits a wall and refuses to pull the trigger. Elizabeth eventually does on both, but with a rare instance of anguish.
It’s a devastating turning point for the Jennings, who enter season six with dwindling faith for their cause. This past season may have been a bit of a letdown, but make no mistake: "The Americans" is still one of TV’s best dramas.
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