Television series are episodic, making them a very inconsistent medium. Even the best shows can still be mediocre. Episodeswill be better and more memorable than others, which is why we still talk about, say, the Teddy Perkins installment ofAtlantaInstead of the one where Paper Boi plays a college, But the plus side of that reality is that any show — even one that isn’t generally considered among the best of the best — is capable of leveling up in individual Episodeswhere everything comes together just right.
A list of the best TVs is not possible.Episodes of 2021 would naturally include work from a lot of shows that made our top 20 series list for the year — from that electricSuccessionfinale to the Atlantic City heist episode ofWhat We Do in Shadows. But, rather than revisit excellent series whose praises we’ve already sung, we thought we’d compile a list of great EpisodesHere are the highlights from the year in TV (presented in alphabetical order). Some of these will be highlights from shows that were serious contenders for the top 20 series list, while others are from shows that weren’t great overall, but had a shining moment this year that we just can’t forget.