Much like the dogs, the TV has been good this year. Though the (successful!!) SAG and WGA strikes led to some long hiatuses and some shortened seasons, there was still plenty to watch, discuss, and flail about, and that last part is where we come in.
We’re extremely proud to present to you the nominees for the Eleventh Annual Feelies. (What is time??) Below you’ll find 18 categories requiring your input. Our job was only to narrow the field down and do our best to explain why these performances, shows, and memorable moments deserve your clicks.
But before we get to the fun, there are some caveats and ground rules:
- Firstly, the polls will be open from Monday, July 29 at 9am ET to Sunday, August 4 at 5pm ET. You can vote once per hour in each category, and while we hope you get behind your faves and are enthusiastic, we can see when one or two IP addresses are spamming the polls. We’re not above deleting votes – do not test us!
- Forminator’s poll can be finicky – if you submit several in a row too quickly, you may get a message that you’ve already voted in a poll even though you haven’t. If that happens, just give it a couple seconds and try again. The moral of the story is: Don’t speedrun these.
- There are only two of us, and while we do watch an abnormal amount of television, it is impossible for us to watch it all. As we say every year, if you think something should be in these polls that isn’t, you are almost certainly right! Please don’t yell at us about anything we have not gotten to yet. We believe you that Shōgun is a masterpiece!
- BELOW BE SPOILERS. Proceed with caution, especially with the last five categories.
- We’re not the Emmys over here, but we do have a loose eligibility period and that is: Seasons that started and ended between last year’s Feelies and the time that we finalized this year’s list. Therefore you won’t see the the most recent seasons of Evil, House of the Dragon, or The Boys here, among several others – they’ll be in contention next time around.
- Please feel free to campaign, promote, and trash talk to your heart’s content. The Feelies are for feeling after all.
With that, we will leave you to it! Please join us in honoring the best of a stellar year in TV.
––Sage
Best Comedy Series
Abbott Elementary
The Bear
Ghosts
Good Omens
Hacks
Only Murders in the Building
Kim: Abbott Elementary managed to pack a LOT in its strike-shortened third season from a career move for Janine to a post-Oscars broadcast cameo by Bradley Cooper to finally getting the Gregory/Janine romance off the ground. It remains the most hilarious half-hour on TV, with so many jokes that it’s nearly impossible to catch them all on first viewing. Ghosts continues to be one of the most underrated comedies out there, reliably delivering both genuine laughs and heartfelt emotion. Plus, it’s wild to see how every season continues to push the boundaries on just how much double entendre they can get past CBS standards and practices. Finally, it feels like the third season of Only Murders in the Building was custom designed for our interests. Murder, catchy musical theatre songs written by Pasek and Paul, niche Broadway jokes, Paul Rudd, AND Meryl Streep? Sign us the fuck up.
Sage: Picking up after their respective bosses’ plot to end the world was thwarted, Good Omens Season Two gives us the gift of so much domestic Aziraphale and Crowley over the years. Sure, there’s the matter of an amnesiac Gabriel showing back up in their lives, but mostly, these episodes are about tracking the slowest burn of romances and peppering in funny vignettes from throughout their time on Earth. Fine by us. Risking the backlash, The Bear delivered a contemplative, dreamy third season full of memories, ruminations, and alternate histories. Some will tell you that not enough happened, but the plot at its most basic is not why we tune into TV’s most well-rounded, character-driven dramedy. It’s another stunner filled with quiet moments we’re still thinking about. Season Three of Hacks sees Deborah go after a dream she thought was dead decades before, while both she and Ava come to realize that they get something out of working with each other that they just can’t find in anyone else. Their camaraderie – and the consequences of what they’re learning from each other – are the centerpiece of these episodes, though storylines like the appearance of Deborah’s estranged sister and Ava’s fling with a gay Republican are just as rich.
Best Leading Performance in a Female Role – Comedy
Quinta Brunson as Janine Teagues, Abbott Elementary
Ayo Edebiri as Sydney Adamu, The Bear
Hannah Einbinder as Ava Daniels, Hacks
Selena Gomez as Mabel Mora, Only Murders in the Building
Jean Smart as Deborah Vance, Hacks
Sage: Jean Smart is a national treasure, and we’re so lucky that she’s being written roles worthy of her talents. Hacks’ Deborah Vance is both a superstar and an underdog, and Jean conveys her ballsiness and her soft belly of vulnerability in every single scene. Meanwhile, Jean’s costar Hannah Einbinder has grown so much in her role as Ava, going toe to toe with a stalwart TV star and consistently rising to her level. She delivers many of the season’s laugh-out-loud moments, from her mortification at her mother’s newfound love of Indian culture to her misunderstood attempts to connect with her fellow “young” people at Deborah’s college visit.
Kim: Season Three of The Bear sees Ayo Edebiri’s Sydney torn between her loyalty to her found family at The Bear and a lucrative offer to head up a new restaurant. We’ve long asserted that Syd shares DNA with Mad Men’s Peggy Olson and Ayo does a masterful job depicting the turmoil of knowing you may have outgrown the house that built you. Selena Gomez’s Mabel is in a similar situation for the third season of Only Murders in the Building as she toys with the idea of branching out with her own podcast. Selena’s always had a tough job on OMITB, playing the straight guy to Martin Short and Steve Martin, but she makes it look effortless and deserves just as many flowers as her costars. And finally, in a totally unintentional theme, Quinta Brunson’s Janine Teagues spreads her wings in Season Three of Abbott Elementary as she takes on a new job with the district. When Janine ultimately returns to her beloved classroom, she does it with a new maturity and sense of self – something that comes entirely from Quinta herself. What a treat it has been to watch her grow as an actress every season.
Best Leading Performance in a Male Role – Comedy
Steve Martin as Charles Haden-Savage, Only Murders in the Building
Michael Sheen as Aziraphale, Good Omens
Martin Short as Oliver Putnam, Only Murders in the Building
David Tennant as Crowley, Good Omens
Jeremy Allen White as Carmy Berzatto, The Bear
Tyler James Williams as Gregory Eddie, Abbott Elementary
Kim: Much like the end of Good Omens Season Two, we are separating David Tennant and Michael Sheen’s nominations this go-around. Yes, they were joint winners for Season One, but we love impossible choices here at Head Over Feels, so now you must declare your allegiance to either Heaven or Hell. Last year’s champ Jeremy Allen White continues to deliver a career-defining performance on The Bear as Carmy’s tortured psyche really starts to crumble under the weight of his ambition and need for perfection. His soulful performance keeps us rooting for Carmy even when he makes it really hard for us to like him.
Sage: What is there to say about Tyler James Williams as Gregory Eddie that we haven’t said before? Abbott Elementary’s leading man continues to shine as the most relatable introvert at that school in Season Three, especially with Janine’s move to the district freeing him up to be paired with other castmates. Watching him grapple with his feelings for her and become legitimate besties with Jacob has been a joy. Charles’ status as a has-been actor has been in the DNA of Only Murders in the Building since the very beginning. Finally, in Season Three, we get to see him in his element – sort of. Steve Martin amps Charles’ nervous energy up to a thousand as Oliver’s play becomes the musical Death Rattle Dazzle, his performance of its trippingly complex patter song bringing the house down. (More on that later.) Meanwhile, it’s also quite the season for Oliver who, a) has a near-death experience, b) returns to the director’s chair, and c) FALLS IN LOVE. Martin Short’s chemistry with Meryl Streep as striving actress Loretta Durkin is so lovely that it launched a new Hollywood ship. (Please let them go to the Emmys together!)
Best Supporting Performance in a Female Role – Comedy
Abby Elliott as Natalie “Sugar” Berzatto, The Bear
Janelle James as Ava Coleman, Abbott Elementary
Sheryl Lee Ralph as Barbara Howard, Abbott Elementary
Meryl Streep as Loretta Durkin, Only Murders in the Building
Lisa Ann Walter as Melissa Schemmenti, Abbott Elementary
Rebecca Wisocky as Hetty Woodstone, Ghosts
Sage: We would never want to be on the bad side of Melissa Schemmenti (especially in Birds territory), nor will we ever bet against Lisa Ann Walter. As Abbott Elementary’s resident tough broad, she is consistently laugh-out-loud funny – and fiercely loyal to her work wife, Barbara. Though we’re still mourning Hetty’s situationship with Trevor, Rebecca Wisocky really got to show off her chops this season, as Ghosts finally revealed how she died. (More on that later – it’s deeply upsetting!) On top of that, she is still the queen of line readings, milking every drop of humor out of the sitcom’s already hilarious script. It is high time for Abby Elliott to be given her flowers alongside her castmates on The Bear. She has been giving a rock-solid performance since Season One, but Sugar’s unexpected labor and reconnection with Donna proves just what a treasure she is. And they did it all in just two takes!
Kim: It was amazing seeing Meryl Streep flexing her comic and musical theatre muscles on this season of Only Murders in the Building. Whether it was her pitch-perfect performance of “Look For The Light” or the way our heels kicked in delight thanks to her on-screen (and off????) romance with Martin Short, she definitely reminded us why she’s one of the GOATs. We’re truly spoiled that we get to watch both Sheryl Lee Ralph and Janelle James work every week on Abbott Elementary. Whether it’s going toe to toe with the new librarian or actually delivering on Questlove for Ava Fest, these two ladies always bring the laughs, not to mention the best lipstick game on television.
Best Supporting Performance in a Male Role – Comedy
Jon Hamm as Gabriel, Good Omens
Brandon Scott Jones as Isaac Higgintoot, Ghosts
Matty Matheson as Neil Fak, The Bear
Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Richie Jerimovich, The Bear
Kayvan Novak as Nandor the Relentless, What We Do in the Shadows
Chris Perfetti as Jacob Hill, Abbott Elementary
Kim: While the supporting cast of Abbott Elementary women tend to (deservedly) dominate the conversation, it’s time to give Chris Perfetti his proper due. He plays Jacob’s idealism and cringey but endearing earnestness to perfection and the unexpected pairing of Jacob and Melissa as roommates was one of the highlights of the season. It’s insane to me that major awards bodies are ignoring Brandon Scott Jones as Isaac on Ghosts. It was a roller coaster of a season for Isaac, between coming into a small fortune from Sam’s book, a newly awakened dinosaur fetish, his near-marriage to Nigel, and his kidnapping by a pissed off Puritan ghost in the last moments of the finale. We have no idea what’s next for him but we can’t wait to find out. The ensemble of The Bear is obviously stacked with talent, but we think Matty Matheson deserves a shoutout for his work in Season Three. Neil Fak doesn’t always get things right, but he wants to. His heart is made of solid gold and he’s the guy who shows up when it matters. We should all be so lucky to have a Neil Fak in our lives.
Sage: Respectfully, playing dumb is one of Jon Hamm’s strong suits (Bridesmaids alone!), and Season Two of Good Omens allows him once again to do just that. As Gabriel sans memory, he gets to mug, mope, and generally be goofy, and it is so much fun to watch, especially because it’s obvious how much fun he’s having. Ebon Moss-Bachrach has been in so many great things, but Richie Jerimovich is, as far as I can tell, his heart’s song. He delivers so many more classic Richie moments in Season Three of The Bear, from sweetly (and regretfully) being there for his ex-wife, to bro-ing out with his once-colleagues and forever friends at Chef Terry’s restaurant, to rightfully instructing Carmy to “stay the fuck out of the dream weave.” Nandor spends most of What We Do in the Shadows Season Five in the dark about Guillermo’s unsanctioned transformation, and in the dark is where we like Kayvan Novak best. But, despite appearances, Nandor contains multitudes, and it’s genuinely moving to watch him take charge and rescue his faithful familiar from a choice he should never have made.
Best Drama Series
9-1-1
Doctor Who
Elsbeth
The Gilded Age
Interview With the Vampire
Loki
Sage: The Marvel Disney+ series have been a mixed bag, to put it politely, but Loki showed the rest how it’s done with its second and final season, following up the stomach-dropping cliffhanger of the Season One finale with a trippy race through time, the introduction of charming new additions including Ke Huy Quan’s O.B., and a hugely satisfying resolution to the emotional arc of one of the MCU’s longest-serving characters. Over on The Gilded Age, our least guilty guilty pleasure, the battle between NYC’s new and old money contingents rages on, centering this season on nothing less bitchy than an opera war. The HBO soap remains addictive and delicious, features one of the hottest couples on TV (Train Daddy/Bertha Russell, you will always be famous), and is on a mission to cast every stage actor in New York before it finally goes off the air. What’s not to love? No sophomore slump either for Interview With the Vampire, the operatic and impeccably acted Anne Rice adaptation that’s currently all over your FYP. With Lestat quite literally haunting the narrative, Louis and Claudia make their way to postwar Paris and into a coven of undead theater kids, leading to some major revelations in the present. There’s something to chew on (suck on? sorry.) in every line delivery and every frame, making IWTV endlessly re-watchable (and meme-able).
Kim: You don’t have to be a fan of The Good Wife in order to fall in love with Elsbeth. The best spinoffs are the ones that are able to stand completely on their own, and Elsbeth is Columbo for a whole new generation. It’s also quickly becoming a go-to guest spot for all the beloved theatre vets not employed over on fellow nominee The Gilded Age. We may be six years late, but we are finally on the 9-1-1 train fire truck and having a hell of a good time. The gang at the 118 moved over the ABC for its seventh season and boy, did it arrive in style with an epic three-part cruise ship adventure and a long-awaited sexual awakening. Network dramas aren’t dead! Lastly, Doctor Who also changed networks, with returning showrunner Russell T. Davies landing the TARDIS on Disney+ and producing three 60th anniversary specials starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate that led into the highly anticipated debut of Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor. The change felt like a much needed return to form for our beloved show with audacious plot swings backed by a Disney budget and a charismatic lead on the brink of superstardom.
Best Leading Performance in a Female Role – Drama
Angela Bassett as Athena Grant Nash, 9-1-1
Carrie Coon as Bertha Russell, The Gilded Age
Nicola Coughlan as Penelope Featherington, Bridgerton
Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday, Doctor Who
Mariska Hargitay as Olivia Benson, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Carrie Preston as Elsbeth Tascioni, Elsbeth
Kim: To quote the fabled song, Angela Bassett is really doing the thing as Athena Grant Nash on 9-1-1. The outlandish and over the top plots of 9-1-1 work because the cast commits to them completely, and no one commits more than Angela, be it being a badass action hero on a disaster cruise or holding vigil at Bobby’s bedside. It has to be daunting stepping into the role of Doctor Who’s companion, but Millie Gibson did so with ease. She easily carries her solo episode “73 Yards,” she’s got a face made for reaction gifs, and she’s a beautiful crier. What more could you ask for? We’ve been a fan of Nicola Coughlan’s Penelope Featherington since Season One of Bridgerton, so it was a treat to finally see her step into the spotlight for Season Three. Sure, she gets her man, but what stood out the most to us was Penelope’s staunch defense of her work as Lady Whistledown and her right to preserve and own her legacy. It’s no secret we are Carrie Coon stans here at Head Over Feels and casting her as the baddest and most well-dressed bitch on The Gilded Age feels like a reward. Only an actress of her caliber can make a petty battle over an opera box feel like life or death stakes.
Sage: Perhaps Mariska Hargitay could play Olivia Benson in her sleep by now if she wanted to, but our girl is still putting in the work on Law & Order: SVU. Season 25 sees the captain plagued by a split-second glimpse of a teenage girl who later goes missing, setting her on a single-minded quest that is the stuff legendary procedural arcs are made of. (In fact, Mariska is so good at her job, she was out in these streets saving actual lost children.) It was always a joy when Carrie Preston’s Elsbeth Tascioni dropped in on The Good Wife and The Good Fight, but watching her take center stage in her own cozy murder procedural Elsbeth is on a whole other level. In another actor’s hands, the lawyer’s quirky nature might be cloying, but Carrie imbues her with so much confidence and savvy that her optimism and friendliness never seem anything less than 100 percent genuine. Columbo couldn’t ask for a better successor.
Best Leading Performance in a Male Role – Drama
Jacob Anderson as Louis de Pointe du Lac, Interview With the Vampire
Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor, Doctor Who
Walton Goggins as Cooper Howard/The Ghoul, Fallout
Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Loki
Peter Krause as Bobby Nash, 9-1-1
Morgan Spector as George Russell, The Gilded Age
Sage: There are actors who live and breathe their characters, and then there’s Tom Hiddleston, who’s shepherded Loki through 14 years of MCU storytelling. In Loki Season Two, the trickster-god-turned-TVA-agent faces his loneliness and embraces his destiny, and Tom (with his big wet eyes) makes you feel every bit of that growth, and the pain that comes with it. He may be prone to dad jokes and motivational speeches, but never forget that 9-1-1’s Bobby Nash is a deeply tragic figure plagued with the worst kind of survivor’s guilt. And Season Seven puts him through it with the appearance of another person who escaped the fire that killed his family, and three-time Emmy nominee Peter Krause (TV royalty!!) is more than up for the challenge, taking Bobby back to that dark place Athena and his 118 family helped him escape years before. Know this as Jacob Anderson does: Louis de Pointe du Lac is as complicated as Lestat de Lioncourt, and Season Two of Interview With the Vampire puts him in a precarious position a few times over. Jacob modulates his performance expertly, ensuring that the fearful, furious, and vengeful Louis we see in Paris (and San Francisco, for that matter) is the same as the collected, controlled, and (pun intended) dead-inside version we see in Dubai. And that’s to say nothing of his pitch-perfect accent work.
Kim: We don’t call The Gilded Age’s Morgan Spector “Railroad Daddy” for nothing. George Russell commands our attention every time he’s onscreen, be it facing off with a burgeoning railroad union or threatening to ruin the reputation of anyone who dares to get in his wife’s way. Yes, Daddy, we will. We had high expectations for Ncuti Gatwa on Doctor Who thanks to his star turn on Sex Education and boy, did he exceed them. It was immediately clear that Ncuti knew exactly what he wanted to do as the Doctor and it’s impossible to not be mesmerized by him. Plus, he makes all of us who cry when we get angry or frustrated feel REALLY seen. Walton Goggins once again proves he is one of the finest character actors of his generation with his work on Fallout. It’s practically a dual role as he gets to portray matinee idol and the reluctant face of Vault-Tec’s propaganda Cooper Howard and the Ghoul and bounty hunter that he becomes in the fallout (get it??) of nuclear war. It’s tough work being buried underneath a bunch of prosthetics but Walton makes it look easy… and strangely hot, okay???
Best Supporting Performance in a Female Role – Drama
Christine Baranski as Agnes van Rhijn, The Gilded Age
Delainey Hayles as Claudia, Interview With the Vampire
Aisha Hinds as Henrietta Wilson, 9-1-1
Ella Purnell as Lucy MacLean, Fallout
Wrenn Schmidt as Margo Madison, For All Mankind
Susan Twist as Multiple Characters, Doctor Who
Kim: Ella Purnell must be a glutton for punishment going from the set of Yellowjackets to the set of Fallout. Or perhaps she does her best acting in brutal elements, because her Lucy MacLean is a delight. Ella deftly balances Lucy’s naïveté with her innate will to survive at all costs, giving us a heroine we can easily root for. Wrenn Schmidt’s Margo Madison is once again put through the wringer in Season Four of For All Mankind, going from living in secret in the Soviet Union to rising up through their space program and returning to the United States as a traitor. And she does it all with such dignity and gravitas, not to mention makeup and prosthetics that age her more than 20 years. Susan Twist may not be the most conventional choice for this category, but she does appear in every single episode of this series of Doctor Who. She plays a different character every time, and her appearances are an essential part of the big picture mystery, so let’s give her her flowers!
Sage: Christine Baranski knows from grande dames, and The Gilded Age’s Agnes Van Rhijn is certainly that. In Season Two, the typically unflappable tastemaker is challenged, however, by her sister’s surprising, later-in-life romance and by her own financial ruin. Putting Agnes off her game allows Christine to add new layers to the character, confirming that Agnes isn’t just a woman of pride and substance but also of feeling. Delainey Hayles had the arduous task of taking over the role of Claudia after the original actor couldn’t return for Interview With the Vampire Season Two. And she sank her teeth into it, finding immediate push-and-pull chemistry with Jacob Anderson’s Louis, embodying the eternal 14-year-old’s bitter rage and defiance, and establishing a strange and beautiful friendship with an ostracized French dressmaker. We’ll miss her fire. Hen’s work is never done on 9-1-1, whether she’s rescuing her boss and her bestie from a capsized cruise ship (without any official approval!); standing up for the wellbeing of her foster child, who’s being used as a pawn by a vindictive politician; or clocking Buck’s queerness before anyone else. Aisha Hinds is always outstanding, but she especially shines in Season Seven.
Best Supporting Performance in a Male Role – Drama
Billy Crudup as Cory Ellison, The Morning Show
Manny Jacinto as Qimir, The Acolyte
Sam Reid as Lestat de Lioncourt, Interview With The Vampire
Oliver Stark as Evan “Buck” Buckley, 9-1-1
Owen Wilson as Mobius, Loki
Assad Zaman as Armand, Interview With The Vampire
Sage: Lestat may not be physically present for much of Interview With the Vampire Season Two (having your throat slit and getting tossed in the city dump will do that to a guy), but my god, does Sam Reid make the most out of his screen time. It’s an audacious, delicious performance that’s fully considered (and seductively playful) from head to toe. Bring on his rockstar era! Meanwhile, Assad Zaman gets to go full Scenes From a Marriage as Armand, wallowing in his jealousy, misery, and pettiness as Daniel’s questions drive a wedge between him and Louis and the truth about Paris and San Francisco out. Manny Jacinto is pulling double duty on The Acolyte, transforming in a scene that would have had us screaming in the theater from a cowardly smuggler to the masked Sith lord who’s been pulling Mae’s strings. We already knew this man had the range, but his mastery of fight choreo, meaty but-is-he-right? villain chops, and those arms could tempt anyone to the Dark side.
Kim: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it here again: Billy Crudup is giving one of the finest performances of his career on The Morning Show, and he often seems to be on a completely different show than everyone else. Listen, Cory Ellison may be a slime ball, but he’s an interesting slime ball and he’s the main reason I tune in every week. I thank the casting gods whenever I think about Owen Wilson in Loki. He remains the perfect foil for Tom Hiddleston in Season Two with Mobius’ easy charm and steadfast belief in goodness expertly counterbalancing Loki’s chaotic melodrama and self-doubt. And my God, has Oliver Stark completely stolen our hearts as Evan “Buck” Buckley on 9-1-1. I know that as a society we’ve most moved past the term “cinnamon roll” when it comes to describing our faves, but that’s really the term that most encompasses Oliver’s performance. Buck’s too good and too pure for this world, and now the bisexual community can canonically claim him as their own.
Best Limited or Anthology Series
A Murder at the End of the World
Fargo
Fellow Travelers
Ripley
True Detective: Night Country
Kim: True Detective: Night Country poses the following question: What would happen if we took one of the finest episodes of The X-Files (“Ice”) and made it into a miniseries, centering the story around Indigenous women and casting a two-time Oscar winning icon as the cranky lead? The answer: You get banger of a time that really pissed off all the dude bros, because it was the best it’s ever been since its iconic first season. Fellow Travelers deserves a spot in TV pantheon right next to the adaptations of The Normal Heart and Angels in America. It is truly exquisite, from the production design and styling to the pitch-perfect performances for every member of the ensemble. It’s romantic and sexy, it’s terrifying and heartbreaking, and it’s an important story that remains all too relevant in today’s political climate.
Sage: People start dying in a tech billionaire’s remote (and I mean remote) compound on A Murder at the End of the World, an appropriately chilly murder mystery that has a lot to say about AI, the horrors of late-stage capitalism, and the kind of amateur armchair sleuthing made possible by the internet. Emma Corrin leads a stellar cast that also includes Harris Dickinson, Raul Esparza, Clive Owen, and co-creator Brit Marling, every one of them delivering. Fargo returned with another must-see installment, starring Juno Temple as a mom and wife with an indestructible survival instinct and a secret traumatic past. Once again, this show weaves fantastical elements into a largely terrestrial story, making it both haunting and satisfying. Meanwhile, the jury’s still out on whether Andrew Scott or the stunning black-and-white cinematography is the star of Netflix’s Ripley, a new, stylish adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novels. Either way, we’d watch Tom con (and murder!) his way across Europe for a few more seasons. (There are so many books!)
Best Leading Performance in a Limited or Anthology Series
Jonathan Bailey as Tim Laughlin, Fellow Travelers
Matt Bomer as Hawk Fuller, Fellow Travelers
Jodie Foster as Liz Danvers, True Detective: Night Country
Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens, Justified: City Primeval
Andrew Scott as Tom Ripley, Ripley
Juno Temple as Dot Lyons, Fargo
Sage: Timothy Olyphant slipped Raylan Givens back on like the U.S. Marshal’s favorite hat for Justified: City Primeval. The laconic lawman has still got it (in so many ways), as the Detroit-set revival series shows. All of Juno Temple’s characters have spunk and grit, and that’s especially true for Fargo’s Dot Lyon. As a woman fighting tooth and nail for the life she built for herself after years of abuse, Juno is the most relatable of superheroes. Many of us first got to know Andrew Scott as a psychopathic villain, so it was about time that he put his sociopathic hat on. For someone who seems like an extremely nice and fun guy, he can be deeply unsettling when he flips that switch, and Ripley’s remorseless chameleon is the perfect role for that very specific talent.
Kim: I know we have been in the age of big movie stars doing television for a while now, but it still feels like a casting coup to have freaking Jodie Foster as the lead of True Detective: Night Country. I love how messy Liz Danvers is – she’s bitchy and a bit slutty but she’s also sneakily compassionate, driven, and keeps to a strong moral code. Jonathan Bailey proved he belongs to both the girls and the gays, following up his Bridgerton leading role with his role in Fellow Travelers. The role of Tim Laughlin is a demanding one that spans 30 years, but Jonny handles it with ease, deftly moving from idealistic, religious, and clean cut 1950s Tim to the rage-filled and shaggy-haired AIDS activist Tim of the 1980s, often within the same episode. It certainly helps that his chemistry with Matt Bomer is off the freaking charts. Hawk is incredibly stoic and much of his journey is internal because his entire life is a carefully constructed facade. Matt lets you see through the cracks, be it the emotion in those big blue eyes or the twitch of a lip, and it was so nice to see him pull off this role, especially when you contrast it with his more emotive work a decade ago in The Normal Heart.
Best Supporting Performance in a Limited or Anthology Series
Jelani Alladian as Marcus Gaines, Fellow Travelers
Jessica Gunning as Martha, Baby Reindeer
Jon Hamm as Roy Tillman, Fargo
John Hawkes as Hank Prior, True Detective: Night Country
Boyd Holbrook as Clement Mansell, Justified: City Primeval
Kali Reis as Evangeline Navarro, True Detective: Night Country
Kim: We’re always delighted (and a little bit sad) to see a theatre baby cross over to TV and Film, and Jelani Alladin is no exception in Fellow Travelers. He brings such warmth and dignity to the role of Marcus Gaines, and I have to imagine there are big things for him on the horizon. True Detective: Night Country is just the third major acting role for boxer-turned-actress Kali Reis, but you’d never know it by watching her. She easily goes toe to toe with Jodie Foster and she makes Evangeline Navarro the beating heart of the series. Meanwhile, Academy Award nominee John Hawkes is stellar as corrupt deputy Hank Prior. His mix of toxic masculinity and incompetency make him a perfect antagonist.
Sage: That’s right, Jon Hamm is a double Feelies nominee this year, having followed up a Certified Silly Goose performance on the angel/demon show with Fargo’s Roy Tillman – the embodiment of unchecked, sadistic alpha-male MAGA rage. The nipple rings may be fake, but the danger Roy poses is real, and watching him square up with Juno Temple’s Dot (and emasculate Joe Keery’s Gator) is a reminder that Jon’s still one of our greatest dramatic actors, as well. Boyd Crowder is a nigh impossible act to follow, but Boyd Holbrook was up for the challenge in Justified: City Primeval. His Clement Mansell is as vicious and cold-blooded as Walton Goggins’ character is playful and opportunistic, switching up the vibe and making for a very different dynamic with the U.S. Marshal pursuing him. Baby Reindeer’s Martha is a tour-de-force for Jessica Gunning, and you know we love it when a steadily working character actor gets their major breakout moment. The magic she does is in making you feel for Richard Gadd’s unhinged stalker, even as she systematically destroys his life.
Best Shipper Moment
Sage: The Righteous Gemstones has been playing the homoerotic tension between Kelvin and Keefe for laughs since Season One, so it’s totally unexpected and hugely satisfying when, as the Gemstone kids are strutting to the stage with Judy and Jesse’s significant others looking on, Kelvin peels off from his siblings to go back and lay one on his. I could not be rooting more for these two made-for-each-other weirdos, and from the amused and proud looks on Kelvin’s family’s faces, neither could they.
It’s not every day that a shipper moment inspires a full-series binge, but that’s exactly what happened to us when 9-1-1 made Bi!Buck canon. (Within three days I believe, we n00bs were watching the pilot together.) A few months later, getting to experience Buck and Tommy’s first kiss again, this time with six+ seasons of context, sent me into the fucking stratosphere. The light, sparky banter leading into it, the way Tommy literally interrupts Buck mid-sentence, the two fingers on the chin, the italicized “oh” look on Buck’s face… we may be Buddie endgame truthers like everybody else, but if the process of getting there involves Buck exploring his sexuality with another hunky firefighter, who are we to complain??
Meanwhile, Doctor Who gifted us a perfect episode of television with “Rogue,” costarring newly minted Tony winner Jonathan Groff as a sexy bounty hunter with an obscene amount of chemistry with the Fifteenth Doctor. The entire story is one long shipper moment, from the weighted stares before they even speak to the flirting over Kylie Minogue to the spotlit dance, and, of course, the kiss. Doctor Who is built for brief and tragic love stories, but the fact remains that Rogue is still out there somewhere and this is one period romance that requires a sequel.
Interview With the Vampire never lets us (or Louis) forget that the link between him and Lestat can never be severed, no matter what they do to each other, how many miles are between them, or how many years pass. Their reunion in New Orleans after Daniel reveals Armand’s deception feels like a sigh of relief on both their parts, as they see what’s become of each other (“Did you hurt yourself?”) and finally grieve Claudia together.
Kim: After numerous stops and starts and countless longing looks and stolen glances, Abbott Elementary finally pulled the trigger on Janine and Gregory in the Season Three finale. They make eyes at each other all through Janine’s end of year party, but for a few terrifying minutes it seems that it will be another fake-out, with Gregory leaving the party early, thinking that Janine and Manny are a thing. Meanwhile, once the party clears out, Janine decides to take matters in her own hands by chasing Gregory down. Just as she’s about to leave, there’s a knock at the door. She opens it, revealing Gregory. “Fixed your light,” Gregory declares about Janine’s wonky porch light. He rolls his eyes at the camera crew but doesn’t let them stop him from PLANTING ONE on Janine and slamming the door in their faces. *SWOON*
I haven’t read the Bridgerton books, but the internet warned me to gird my loins for the infamous Colin and Penelope carriage scene and boy, does it deliver. It has everything: desperate confessions of feelings, breathless kisses, and the best finger bang since the rollercoaster scene in Fear. And it’s all scored to a string arrangement of Pitbull’s “Give Me Everything.” What more could you ask for?
For two seasons the unspoken truth of Good Omens is the fact that Aziraphale and Crowley are irrevocably in love with each other. In the final moments of the finale, after Aziraphale reveals that he’s made a deal to get Crowley back into Heaven, Crowley finally says the quiet part out loud, telling his Angel that they don’t need Heaven or Hell, they just need each other. Aziraphale waffles, lamely trying to convince Crowley of the good they can do together in Heaven, so Crowley calls him an idiot and gives him a desperate kiss before storming out of the bookshop. It’s the kind of delicious angst that AO3 was founded upon.
Best Right in the Feels Moment
“Napkins,” The Bear
Hetty’s death story, Ghosts
Ada’s priest dies, The Gilded Age
Ava blackmails Deborah, Hacks
Claudia’s fate, Interview With the Vampire
Loki ascends the throne, Loki
Maxiumus and Fixico’s reunion, Reservation Dogs
Kim: Given that we are both fans of Downton Abbey, we should have KNOWN Ada’s dreamy priest Luke Forte was doomed from the moment he confessed his love on The Gilded Age. That doesn’t make his cancer diagnosis and eventual death any less devastating, especially since Ada had waited her whole damn life to take that flight to find love, only to have it immediately snatched away.
Ghosts had always led us to believe that Hetty had died via an accidental overdose. However, everything changed when it was revealed that Flower had not been sucked off, but stuck in a well instead, unable to climb out without anything to hold on to. Rather than leave her friend to a fate of being permanently suspended in cement, Hetty yanks down her collar to reveal the phone cord she had used to commit suicide in order to ensure that her son’s inheritance stayed in tact. It’s a definite emotional swerve for the show and incredibly touching how Isaac and Sam rally around Hetty in the aftermath.
It took two and half seasons for The Bear to give us Tina’s backstory, but boy, does it deliver one in “Napkins.” Expertly directed by Ayo Edebiri, the episode takes us through Tina’s struggles to find employment after being let go from a job she held down for decades. It perfectly captures how demoralizing a job search can be, especially in a market where it feels like a gargantuan feat to just get your resume to a human being. After a particularly devastating non-interview, fate leads Tina to The Beef and to Mikey Berzatto, completely changing her life. After getting so many flashbacks showing Mikey’s fraught mental state, it’s a true gut punch to see him at his best here and to really understand why he earned such devotion from everyone who encountered him.
Sage: An arc that takes a character from self-hating villain to selfless hero is almost certainly bound to end in sacrifice, and Loki is no different. To save his friends (and the love of his life, Mobius M. Mobius, LOOK IT UP) from the annihilation caused by the destruction of the Temporal Loom, he gives up the life he’s come to love, ironically ascending to the all-powerful seat he no longer wants. Except that he does, because that’s his destiny and his purpose, and it will do good. The sorrowful but contented look on Tom Hiddleston’s face as Loki, who had been lonely his entire life, settles in alone to keep watch over the people who saved him as they go on without him ranks up there with Tony’s death as one of the most bittersweet, perfect endings in the MCU.
Anyone who’s read the book knows that Claudia, Louis and Lestat’s vampire “daughter,” does not survive it and was therefore very unlikely to survive the second season of AMC’s Interview With the Vampire. But the show draws out the injustice of her death, giving her the opportunity to rebuke the coven, Lestat, Louis, and everyone else who failed her before she is quite literally executed, just as she was achieving happiness (or at least an existence) on her own terms. Louis displaying her yellow dress in a place of honor (and shame) in his Dubai penthouse underlines that Claudia is one of the tragedies he’ll never live to get over.
Deborah and Ava are so aligned throughout most of Season Three of Hacks, and their dynamic is just so sassy and sparkly that it almost lulls you into a false sense of security. But the truth is that Ava is learning from Deborah as far as what it takes to survive in an industry that’s perpetually trying to take you down. It’s disappointing but not entirely surprising that Deborah takes back her promise to give Ava the head writer job on her late-night show, but neither she nor the audience expects Ava to strike back, dangling a piece of sexual blackmail that would not only ruin Deborah, but also set feminism back a few more years. Fucking brutal, and I loved it.
One of the joys of the final season of Reservation Dogs is the focus on the elders, their evolving relationships with each other, and the importance of intergenerational bonds on the rez. In the 1976 flashback episode “House Made of Bongs,” we see that Fixico and his cousin Maximus had a falling out as teenagers, as well as the first signs of Maximus’ mental illness taking root. Back in the present, the kids take it upon themselves to “break” Maximus out of his facility so that he can make peace with Fixico before his cousin dies. No words are spoken in the sequence, but Maximus holds Fixico’s hand, and Fixico knows that he’s there. Just being there means a lot on this magical gem of a show.
Best YAAAASSSSSS! Moment
Buck and Eddie rescue Bobby, 9-1-1
Benedict’s threesome, Bridgerton
Bigeneration, Doctor Who
Ada inherits a fortune, The Gilded Age
“I have five rules,” Grey’s Anatomy
Boyd breaks out, Justified: City Primeval
Charles makes it through “Which of the Pickwick Triplets Did It?,” Only Murders in the Building
Sage: It was an exquisite sort of pain to be so thrilled to have David Tennant back as the Doctor during the 60th anniversary specials but also raring to see what Ncuti Gatwa was going to do with the part. Well, Doctor Who ended up sparing us the familiar trauma of a regeneration by introducing bigeneration and literally splitting the Doctor into two Time Lords who can keep on existing at the same time. Forget “some new man goes sauntering away” – the Fourteenth Doctor gets to welcome Fifteen with an ecstatic hug, and Fifteen gets to literally heal himself by retiring Fourteen’s jersey. Say what you will about preserving canon (meh), but if there’s one modern Doctor who deserves tenure, it’s the show’s biggest fan.
Meanwhile, it’s a party of three over on Bridgerton, where Benedict’s dishy friend-with-benefits Tilley clocks his latent bisexuality and invites an equally dishy young man to potentially join them in the bedroom. After a brief moment of gay panic, Benedict dives in head first, and god bless him for it. In addition to being very hot, it’s nice to see our most rootless Bridgerton embrace freedom and discover something new about himself. Wouldn’t mind watching him find a husband next season, tbh!
As much as I enjoyed Justified: City Primeval, for much of it, I couldn’t shake the feeling that Justified just isn’t Justified without Boyd Crowder. So imagine my squeal when the finale cut to a Kentucky penitentiary and the back of a man in an orange jumpsuit holding a Bible with minutes still to go. Of course Boyd is preaching in prison. Of course he seduces a prison guard to break out! And of course, Raylan gets the call. A second season featuring these two eternally bonded frenemies flirting across state lines is now not a want but a need.
Kim: Sure, Julian Fellowes killed off Ada’s priest on The Gilded Age, but at LEAST he employed the “secret millionaire changes his will at the last minute” trope and bestows Ada with a fortune RIGHT as her sister Agnes’ money is squandered by Oscar’s stupid choices. Will the new Lady of the House please stand up?
Grey’s Anatomy ended the premiere for its 20th season with a wink to those of us who have been watching since the first. Miranda Bailey is given control of the intern program for Grey-Sloan, and she turns to our ragamuffin intern class with a smirk. “I have five rules,” she says, mirroring her speech from the pilot episode. When I tell you I literally screamed “YASSSSSSS!” from my spot on the couch.
There’s no shortage of “YASSSSSSS!” moments on 9-1-1 but the one that makes the list for Season Seven comes at the end of the epic three-part cruise disaster premiere. Just when it seems all hope is lost, and Bobby and little Cory are gonna have a Titanic-style drowning behind a locked door moment like Jack’s best girl Cora and her dad, the porthole above them swings open revealing the two faces I’d most want to greet me in Heaven, Buck and Eddie. “Hey, Cap,” Eddie grins. The music swells. “Need a lift?” Buck asks, with an equally bright shit-eating grin. YASSSSSSSSSSS.
Listen, patter songs in musical theatre are intimidating as hell, and Only Murders in the Building’s “Which of the Pickwick Triplets Did It?” is one daunting son of a bitch. It’s a running gag that Charles can’t make it through the song without disassociating from his body and wreaking all sorts of havoc, so it’s incredibly rewarding to see that he nails it on opening night. Even if we don’t get to see the full number that particular time, we do get to see him finishing the song to raucous applause. YASSSS!
Best Warm Fuzzy
Natalie makes peace with her mom, The Bear
“I’ve never been so happy in my life,” Doctor Who
Elsbeth’s fashion show, Elsbeth
Margo takes the fall for Aleida, For All Mankind
Nandor reveals why he didn’t turn Guillermo, What We Do in the Shadows
“Elora’s Dad,” Reservation Dogs
Kim: There are few things I love more than when a ragtag group of misfits comes together to form a team. That moment for Elsbeth comes in the season finale, when Elsbeth is part of a fashion show inspired by her own quirky (awesome) fashion sense. As she steps out on the runway, beloved Lost classic “Make Your Own Kind of Music” starts. Elsbeth sees her new bestie Kaia sitting in the audience. As she walks down the runway, she sees Captain Wagner, who she had a bust-up with in the previous episode, smiling at her as he takes his seat. Elsbeth solves the murder, gets offered a permanent position in New York City, and starts a new fashion trend. Sing your own special song indeed.
When it was announced that David Tennant was returning to Doctor Who for three specials, we all wondered what terribly angsty send-off RTD might give him this time around. Imagine our surprise when Fourteen’s end is not a sad or painful one, but a joyous one where he gets to permanently settle down with his bestie Donna Noble and live out his time in peace. “I’ve never been so happy in my life,” the Doctor declares as he sits down to what is obviously a weekly family dinner with Mel and the Temple-Nobles. Us either, Doctor. Us either.
The friendship and mentorship between Margo Madison and Aleida Rosales has been one of the enduring strengths of For All Mankind. They had a lot of hurdles to overcome in Season Four, given that Aleida knew Margo had slipped secrets to the Russians and thought she was, you know, dead after the bombing of the space center when in fact Margo had just defected to the Soviets to save herself. No big deal. But these two ladies’ friendship was always based in their love of knowledge, so it gradually repairs as they reluctantly work together on the Goldilocks project. In the wake of Sergei’s murder, they team up to sabotage the joint efforts of the US and Russia, causing the asteroid to remain in Mars’ orbit and preserving the space program. When their dirty work is discovered, Margo takes sole responsibility for it, both sparing her friend’s career and reputation and (in a way) atoning for her original spy crimes. That’s true friendship, bitch.
Sage: The very first thing we learn about Guillermo on What We Do in the Shadows is that he is desperate to be a vampire, hence devoting himself to years of thankless familiar service. By Season Five, he’s achieved it, albeit by going around his master, and it’s just not hitting quite right. The vamps step up to support Guillermo in very sweet ways, from Laszlo devoting himself to scientific study to Nadja fucking shit up to protect him from the familiar doctor to all of them hiding him from Nandor when the truth is finally exposed, but the reveal that one of the reasons Nandor kept putting off changing Guillermo was because he knew he wouldn’t like it truly takes the cake. He loves that little guy!!
The laws of television dictate that when Sugar heads out on a solo errand nine months pregnant on The Bear, she will end up going into labor. The twist is that she cannot get a hold of anyone except her estranged mother, Donna, who is a complete shitshow, but nevertheless shows up for her daughter when she needs her the most. “Ice Chips” is a gorgeous two-hander for Abby Elliott and Jamie Lee Curtis, featuring a lot of mother/daughter healing and a fuller, more empathetic picture of Donna than last season’s explosive “Forks” allowed.
Elora goes on a journey to find her biological father so she can get financial aid for college on Reservation Dogs, and of course this flawlessly cast show found the perfect actor for this guest role. Ethan Hawke is a master of the naturalistic acting style that drives so much of Rez Dogs, and his chemistry with the equally talented Devery Jacobs is palpable. “Elora’s Dad” was inspired by Ethan’s Before trilogy, allowing this new relationship to breathe and develop as Elora and Rick spend most of the runtime walking around and talking. There’s no question that Elora has a bright future ahead of her – what she’s missing is something to ground her and a place to come back to. This episode beautifully lays the foundation for that without letting Rick off the hook.
Best WTF?! Moment
Eddie cheats with his dead wife’s doppelganger, 9-1-1
It was Sutekh all along, Doctor Who
Sergei’s Big Mac, For All Mankind
Isaac’s kidnapping, Ghosts
The San Francisco episode, Interview With the Vampire
The truth about January 6th, The Morning Show
Sage: Full disclosure: I was out the night “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” premiered, so I ended up watching it at midnight in total darkness and freaked myself out to a degree where I was afraid to go to sleep – not something that happens much with Doctor Who these days! The penultimate episode of the season all leads up to the reveal of the big bad. (Well, one of them. Still waiting to find out Who’s the Boss?™) Questionable anagrams, some typically extra Murray Gold scoring, and the creepiest creature makeup the series has ever seen herald the arrival of SUTEKH, the once-fake-now-real god the Doctor first battled when he was Tom Baker. It was Sutekh all along, and whatever your stance on that, you can’t deny that it was a big swing, especially for Disney+.
Season Seven of 9-1-1 has some writers room gas leak vibes, mostly when it comes to Eddie’s Vertigo-inspired arc. Yes, our favorite PTSD-ridden, biblically repressed, lapsed Catholic firefighter ends up having an emotional affair with a random shopgirl who happens to look exactly like his dead wife, torpedoing his relationship with his son (and his girlfriend, but was that really going that well to begin with?) in the process. It’s a bonkers storyline with some very real consequences – and is that not exactly what we come to 9-1-1 for?
There’s nary a reliable narrator in Interview With the Vampire, which is what makes episodes like “Don’t Be Afraid, Just Start the Tape” so illuminating. After a tease in Season One, we go back to San Francisco, 1973 to see everything that actually happened after Louis met a young reporter named Daniel Molloy in a gay bar. And many secrets out, including the depths of Louis’ depression, the heights of Armand’s manipulation, and (most importantly), the fact that Daniel had assumed all this time that he and Louis must have gotten high and smashed. It’s the beginning of the end of Louis and Armand’s relationship in the present and one hell of an hour of television.
Kim: I didn’t think The Morning Show could get any more ridiculous than Season Two’s jaunt to Italy but then they placed Bradley Jackson at the Capitol on January 6th, 2021. They have her win some sort of Pulitzer-esque prize for her on the ground coverage of the insurrection, which catapults her into the position of anchor for the evening news. No one really wanted The Morning Show’s take on Jan 6th anyway, but what really puts it into WTF territory is the reveal that Bradley catches her own damn brother beating up a Capitol policeman and rather than turn him in, she EDITS HIM OUT OF HER VIDEOS. Videos that she later has to turn over to the FBI, thus COMMITTING A FEDERAL FELONY. WTF!?
Ghosts started laying the groundwork for its season finale cliffhanger in “Holes are Bad” when they mention how Isaac and a Puritan ghost named Patience got stuck in a hole and tried to navigate their way back to the manor’s basement by wandering through the dirt, only to get separated when Isaac sneezed, leaving Patience to wander alone for several hundred years. It’s like Chekhov’s Puritan – you just don’t mention it unless you plan on using it. Still, I gasped when Nancy lured Isaac down to the basement for a present, only for the present to be a VERY pissed off Patience, who promptly yanks him through the wall and into the dirt.
Margo and Sergei have always been the star-crossed lovers of For All Mankind, so for as much as they wanted to believe that they were going to be able to run away to Brazil and build the space program there, I knew there was just no way it was going to happen. Even so, that did not lessen the impact of the final moments of “Brazil.” The penultimate episode of the season ends with Margo and Sergei settling into their respective hotel rooms for the night with their dinners – Margo with a room service burger, Sergei with a Big Mac. Duke Ellington plays as they both dress their burgers with an obscene amount of ketchup. Margo studies websites about Brazil, taking a big bite of her burger and rolling her eyes in obvious pleasure. Sergei lifts his Big Mac to his lips and BOOM! His brains are on the wall courtesy of an unknown assassin. What. The. Fuck.
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