8 Perfect TV Episodes: Death on ‘Succession,’ Romance in the Ruins on ‘The Last of Us,’ and More

THE BEAR

Episode 7, “Review” FX

There’s ample salt, acid, and heat—but little fat—to be found in The Bear’s frenetic seventh episode, directed by creator Christopher Storer. Executive producer Joanna Calo describes it as a “resting place” for the season’s character arcs, including Sydney and Richie’s fractious dynamic and Carmy’s increasingly “rageful, deep, dark feelings hidden inside,” all exacerbated by a rave review that brings a flood of customers their kitchen can’t handle. But in writing the script, Calo says, it became “this place where everyone exploded.” The propulsive, almost 20-minute one-take result created “this massive feeling of anxiety, which sort of encapsulates the energy that all people working in restaurants feel.”

SUCCESSION

Episode 3, “Connor’s Wedding” HBO

Best not to get married on HBO. In “Connor’s Wedding,” the third episode of Succession’s final season, the eldest Roy’s nuptials on a boat quickly get overshadowed by an event of truly epic proportion: Logan Roy’s unexpected, ultimately unceremonious death. Rather than capture the fall of the king, director Mark Mylod focuses what he called his “sadistically voyeuristic” camera on the Roy siblings as they find themselves literally and emotionally at sea in a world without their father. “It had to stay really close without taking its eye off of them,” he said. “Because every time we cut away from the siblings, it seemed to let them off the hook.” With “Connor’s Wedding,” Succession simultaneously upended every expectation for the series while fulfilling its titular premise. What a way for L to the OG to go.

“EVERY TIME WE CUT AWAY FROM THE SIBLINGS, IT SEEMED TO LET THEM OFF THE HOOK.”

RESERVATION DOGS

Episode 8, “This Is Where the Plot Thickens” FX

Director Blackhorse Lowe took inspiration from 1970s cinema for this surprisingly poignant episode, which swerves away from its central characters to follow tribal cop Big (Zahn McClarnon) after he mistakenly chugs a bottle of soda laced with psychedelic drugs. Walking through the pulsating, spinning forest, Big winds up on an introspective journey to the past, confronting his feelings of guilt over the death of his friend Cookie. “In this seemingly fun, trippy episode, we actually really get deep into character,” says series cocreator Sterlin Harjo. “There’s a pain that drives Big.” There’s also a heavy dose of Native humor, like when Big stumbles upon a mysterious group of Secret Society members in the woods chanting things like “The earth is a whore, and it is our will to take her!” The punch line? The cult ends up not being a hallucination at all.

FLEISHMAN IS IN TROUBLE

Episode 7, “Me-Time” FX

Jesse Eisenberg’s Toby and his woes dominate much of the first six episodes, but by the penultimate “Me-Time,” it becomes clear he is not the Fleishman in real trouble. His missing ex-wife, Rachel (Claire Danes), reappears in this episode, which serves as both an explanation of where she’s been and a showcase of what Danes does best—raw, messy emotion. “Before the pandemic, I’d written my book out of a sort of primal scream,” says Taffy Brodesser-Akner, who adapted her book for the series, and a primal scream defines this episode too. Growing apart from her married boyfriend, Rachel lets loose in a therapy session so loud it shakes the trees outside. It’s a taut, cathartic reflection on what happens when your heart feels overstuffed and empty all at once.

ANDOR

Episode 12, “Rix Road” Disney+

It all builds to a brick. The first season’s extraordinary climax takes place at the funeral march for Maarva (Fiona Shaw), the adoptive mother of Diego Luna’s title rebel leader, whose remains have been forged into a hexagonal funerary stone. When Maarva delivers her own fiery eulogy by way of prerecorded hologram, a riot breaks out—and Maarva’s brick becomes a weapon used to clobber Imperial soldiers. “That is when the moviemaking takes off past the script,” says series creator Tony Gilroy. “I remember being really surprised when I saw it and going, ‘Holy…look what they did!’ ”

DEAD RINGERS

Episode 2 Prime Video

Deliciously twisted and unpredictable, the episode follows twin gynecologists Elliot and Beverly Mantle (both played by Rachel Weisz) as they attend a weekend getaway hoping to convince a billionaire (Jennifer Ehle) to invest in their bespoke fertility center. “We wanted to give them the gift of that center but make sure it came from a really morally corrupt place,” says showrunner Alice Birch. The tension builds as vulgar Elliot and uptight Beverly stumble their way through an awkward dinner party, alienating every despicable board member along the way. A late-night game of kidnapping eventually pushes Beverly to her breaking point, and she lashes out at the wealthy elite who are holding the keys to their future. Says the episode’s writer Ming Peiffer, “So much of what was encapsulated in that monologue came from this collective rage that we were all feeling.”

THE LAST OF US

Episode 3, “Long, Long Time” HBO

If The Last of Us broadly expanded what a video game adaptation could look like, the radical “Long, Long Time” exploded it. This third installment of HBO’s action-packed postapocalyptic drama series centered on two minor characters from the game, survivalist Bill (Nick Offerman) and the love of his life, Frank (Murray Bartlett). It spans decades, taking the shape of a gorgeous, timeless romance that deepens the series’ exploration of connection and resilience. “It was about showing both the passage of time and the creation of a functioning relationship,” says co-showrunner Craig Mazin, who wrote the episode. “It implied that two people could have success in this world.”

“IT WAS ABOUT SHOWING BOTH THE PASSAGE OF TIME AND THE CREATION OF A FUNCTIONING RELATIONSHIP.”

PARTY DOWN

Episode 3, “First Annual P12A Symposium” Starz

The hapless servers of Party Down’s eponymous catering company reach a new low when they find themselves slinging canapés at a convention of cheery white supremacists—or, as Ken Marino’s flailing manager Ron puts it, guys who are “not not Nazis.” But terrifying as their views may be, the men of P12A (including Perfect Episode MVP Offerman) are also clearly losers. “We wanted to speak to that, this idea that nobody really cares about them—that all they want is just to get more attention,” cocreator John Enbom says. At first, he and his team worried that the episode might feel dated; what if by the time it aired, the far-right loonies of the Trump era had faded from public view? It’s safe to say that didn’t happen. “Bad for the world,” Enbom says. “But good for Party Down.”

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