10. Chernobyl, “1:23:45”
HBO’s near-flawless historical miniseries took one of the most terrifying events in recent history — the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and subsequent alleged cover-up — and gave it the horror movie treatment it deserves. Most scenes are knockouts, but early in the first episode, two cross-edited sequences reveal wordlessly and horrifically the extent of the fatal conditions that blindsided scientists and first responders on the scene.
First, a series of firefighters arrive at what they assume is a fairly normal fire that happens to be at the nuclear facility. One picks up a shiny piece of rock that apparently came from the building; another tells him not to touch it. Moments later, the latter man passes the former again, and he’s screaming in pain as the flesh on his hand is revealed to have seared off.
Meanwhile, head engineer Anatoly Dyatlov (Paul Ritter) refuses to believe early reports that the nuclear core is gone and sends some men to check it out and set up precautions to prevent further issues. A series of horrors awaits these men, and in a few short minutes, two have faces that have burned red from a moment’s glance at the area where the core should’ve been, while another begins bleeding from the inside out after touching a radioactive door. The scale of unprecedented real-life tragedy here is staggering, but our retrospective understanding as viewers that these men are unwittingly walking into a pit of poison makes the scene all the more upsetting.
9. Mindhunter, “Episode 5”
Damon Herriman’s hypnotic, frenetic portrayal of Charles Manson in the second season of David Fincher’s FBI profiling series should put to rest any discussion about which actor does the cult leader the most justice on screen. In his single scene, Herriman transforms to look nearly identical to the real Manson, and he has his mannerisms down pat, too. This is more than just a good impression, though; the series writes a version of the infamous criminal that highlights his charisma and persuasiveness, intriguing and frightening aspects of his personality that tend to get (reasonably) overshadowed by his descent into madness.
It’s a wickedly funny scene too, as Manson not only deftly convinces deviant-personality-obsessed FBI profiler Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) that he didn’t commit any crimes but also talks Ford into giving him his sunglasses for no reason other than that he can. The perfectly written and acted tete-a-tete between the two hyper-fixated men, with occasional “damn hippies”-type interjections from Holden’s partner Bill Tench (Holt McCallany), are more than mesmerizing enough to earn Herriman and the episode some future Emmy nominations.
8. Fleabag, “Episode 6”
If you want to break my heart in two, the quickest way is to quote the series finale of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s phenomenal series Fleabag. “I love you,” the protagonist (Waller-Bridge) says in a rare moment of vulnerability. “It’ll pass,” the priest (Andrew Scott) with whom she’s formed a deep and instant connection over the past six episodes responds, as gently as he can.
The two are seated on a bus bench at dusk, after a wedding at which they shared stolen kisses and secret smiles. The scene, like the rest of the season, is brimming with romance and the stomach-butterfly-inducing chemistry of the two star-crossed characters, but it’s also an instance of incredible growth for the central character. As Alabama Shakes’ “This Feeling” plays her out, she walks away not only from her great love but also from us, the camera to which the fourth-wall-breaking character has confessed and joked and that she’s never had to worry about losing over the past two seasons. Somewhere along the way, she found that she doesn’t need us anymore. That’s a happy ending in itself.
7. Succession, “This is Not For Tears”
I imagine that somewhere in the world, viewers heard Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong) say the word “but” in the last two minutes of Succession‘s second season finale and reacted like it was a game-winning Super Bowl touchdown, screaming and hugging and jumping up and down. If not, let’s all get a head start on our Season 3 watch party planning, so we can inevitably lose our shit at whatever surprises the most inexplicably exciting series on television brings us next.
But first, let’s back up a little: the “but” in question comes into play about halfway through a press conference billionaire and actual devil Logan Roy (Brian Cox) pseudo-blackmails and psychologically manipulates his depressed son Kendall into putting on in order to take responsibility for a company cover-up he had nothing to do with. After a different tragedy was covered up on his behalf, Kendall spent much of this season as a shell of himself — an addict without a strong enough fix, a boy without a father to hold him.
Yet after a loaded conversation with Logan during which he agreed to be the family’s blood sacrifice, Kendall decided to go off-book at the press conference. “It has been suggested that I would be a suitable figure to absorb the anger and concern, but…the truth is that my father is a malignant presence, a bully, and a liar,” Kendall says, revealing that Logan knew about the cover-up and didn’t give a shit.
There are no winners in a show about billionaires whose playpen is all of America, or rather, it’s a rigged game they’ll all keep winning no matter how much they lose. Still, Kendall’s finale-ending public refusal to kiss the ring was a cheer-worthy moment of reckoning for a series that rarely puts its patriarch in situations he can’t easily slither out of.
6. Euphoria, “And Salt the Earth Behind You”
A dazzling, hyper-stylized series that might best be described as Skins on club drugs, Sam Levinson’s Euphoria gave us an intense first season that begged for a big finish. The one we got, though, was nothing short of indelible. After struggling through a period of sobriety for the sake of her girlfriend, self-destructive high-schooler Rue (Zendaya) finally gets her fix in a scene that also explains how she got her ever-present hoodie (from her dad on his deathbed).
As Rue gets high, music swells in the background and her body begins to lift off the bed. As if possessed, Rue’s nearly puppeteered body stumbles and crashes through her home. She connects tenderly with her mother, sister, and late father on the way out the door and, surprisingly, begins to sing. That’s right, the finale of Euphoria doubled as an unexpected musical as Rue begins to dazedly sing along to “All For Us,” a swelling, grandiose, endlessly catchy original song created by Zendaya herself and series soundtrack guru Labrinth. The DNA of the song had previously been running through the season like an undercurrent in other pieces of Labrinth’s score, and this moment feels like an inevitable eruption into its final form.
Before we know what hit us, a marching band and group of dancers, all dressed in Rue’s hoodie, assemble in her suburban street. They soon form a sort of human mountain, which she stumbles up as the song crescendos, eventually falling over the ledge as one cold breath escapes her. Is this what an overdose feels like for Rue? Is this death, or rapture? An addict’s high has rarely been portrayed with as much artistry or melancholic beauty, but it’s a bold choice we should’ve expected from an already iconic series.
Related Topics: 2019 Rewind, Barry, catastrophe, Chernobyl, Euphoria, Fleabag, Game of Thrones, GLOW, Mindhunter, Mr. Robot, Sex Education, shrill, Stranger Things, The Mandalorian Explained, unbelievable, Watchmen, When They See Us, you're the worst
