Lucifer, Better Call Saul, and Outlander episodes among our top 5 in 2018

What are the five best overall episodes of 2018? It’s a hard thing to think about, mostly because there are so many different ways to look at shows. Often, you look at the collective show in such a way that it’s hard to differentiate episodes, and that’s why for us it’s harder to have anything streaming on this list. With those shows, you binge and then you can’t separate one episode from the next. We gravitate towards episodes that leave you with something, whether it is with laughter, tears, or just a feeling that you’ve witnessed something great. The top five episodes here run the gamut of shows and style, but we think they are all worth watching many times over.

Better Call Saul season 4 episode 10, “Winner” – This is the episode where everything came together from start to finish, whether it be the stellar conclusion of Mike and the superlab to seeing Jimmy McGill find a way to (somehow) get his legal license back and change his name. It’s Saul Goodman now!

Lucifer season 3 episode 24, “A Devil of My Word” – There were a couple of really good Lucifer candidates from the exceptional second of season 3 — “The Angel of San Bernardino” was a strong candidate due to the Bones montage and its sheer absurdity at times, but Tom Ellis’ performance, the final showdown with Cain, and the closing seconds with the Devil Face made this episode a jaw-dropping experience.

Outlander season 4 episode 6, “Blood of My Blood” – The best episode of season 4 to date is a wonderful, character-driven story of how Jamie and Claire take to new arrivals in their midst at Fraser’s Ridge. Through Jamie’s interactions with William, we better understand the difficulty that he’s felt hiding his true relationship with his son; meanwhile, with Lord John Grey we saw a story of suffering, as he could never feel the happiness that Jamie felt with Claire. This was all about both the quality of the writers and exemplary performances across the board.

The Good Place season 2 episode 12, “The Burrito” – One of the series’ most-bizarre episodes was basically a series of tests done to determine whether or not Eleanor, Jason, Tahani, and Chidi were capable of finding a better future for themselves outside of the Bad Place. Everything from the nature of these tests to also Maya Rudolph as a judge was outstanding, and it was a wonderful microcosm of what we know these four characters to be.

This Is Us season 2 episode 13, “That’ll Be the Day” – We feel like the Super Bowl episode (a.k.a. the one with Jack’s actual death) is the episode that generates the most buzz, but this is the one that, at least to us, stands out the most, whether it be the closing scene to the storyline with Kate and Audio the dog. While Jack’s actual death was sad, the dread and emotion of this episode bring everything to another level.

What are some of your favorite TV episodes from the past year? Be sure to share right now in the comments!

Photo: AMC