10 Best TV Episodes Of 2021
1. Succession - “All The Bells Say”
The third season of the world’s most revered ongoing show was about as eagerly awaited as TV gets. Delayed by the pandemic, fans were on tenterhooks after season two’s closing scenes, seeing Kendall turn against the family business. We expected fireworks from the off, the upstart son against patriarch Logan in a battle for power and familial supremacy.
And while the first episode promised this, the series was actually a bit of a slowburn, with fans worrying the status quo had essentially reset itself halfway through. They needn’t have worried. By the season’s final third, every single scene was electric, the show utterly unpredictable, climaxing in the wild finale which is packed with revelations, twists, and betrayals.
Succession offered us hope with the dysfunctional Roy kids finally coming together, only for the finale to snatch the possibility of a happy ending in the most brutal manner possible. The final shot, of Shiv Roy’s burning resentment as she realises just how badly she’s been screwed over, is one for the ages, as well as another perfectly pitched cliffhanger.
Jesse Armstrong’s series is that rare beast, a show of genuine heft and import that never takes itself too seriously. A worthy recipient of Best Show In The World status.