Best of the 2016/17 Season

BEST OF THE 2016/17 SEASON

It's been a long season. With 37 weeks of US television, loads of shows reviewed either fully or partially, a lot has happened from the first to week to the last. So now I want to pick out some of the best moments from the season. And we'll start with the

TOP FIVE SHOWS (by episode ratings average)

There seems nowhere more appropriate than to review which of our shows had the most consistent performances across its seasons. These must of course be taken with a pinch of salt: they're a reflection of my feelings on individual episodes averaged together, and some will not have had as lengthy seasons as others, thus increasing their chances of a higher average and earning them a position in this top five.

Conviction 8.6

Quantico 8.6

Lucifer 8.2

Bull 8.1

Hawaii Five-0 8.0

To see the comprehensive list of averages, check out the Full Collections page.

TOP FIVE QUOTES OF THE WEEK

There were some fantastic quotes this season. I tried to keep to the most humorous, relevant or thought-provoking one-liner where I could, though when lacking options I would include conversational punchlines. These were what I felt were the picks of the bunch.

WEEK FIVE Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Captain Holt (attempting to psych out his competition): "I will slit you both open from mouth to anus and wear you like jackets."

WEEK ELEVEN Conviction
Hayes: "We're all bad guys in someone's story."

WEEK TWENTY-THREE NCIS Los Angeles
Nell: "Welcome to NCIS Los Angeles. We be crazy."

WEEK THIRTY-ONE Quantico
Roarke (on America): "Our definition of democracy is a first draft written centuries ago."

WEEK THIRTY-TWO Quantico
Caleb (singing to and about collaborator Roarke): "This white man / Old fascist / He wants Muslims on a list / With a knick knack Paddy whack, send them all back! / Soon he'll cooo-ooome for the Jews!"

TOP FIVE EPISODES (in no particular order)

Brooklyn Nine-Nine 4x05 "Hallowe'en Part IV"

Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Hallowe'en episodes are as much a staple of its identity as the inevitable appearance of the Pontiac Bandit. Like the Bandit, Hallowe'en episodes occur once per season, and serve as a hilarious sidebar from the usual police antics. The set-up is simple: Jake and/or Captain Holt issues a challenge to the other involving a heist (in the first iteration, Jake must steal Holt's Medal of Valour), and exaggerated stakes (ie if Jake loses, he must do 5 weeks of unpaid overtime); the loser must then not only fulfil the pre-agreed forfeits but proclaim the winner to be the "Ultimate Detective/Genius".

   The first heist (1x06) is won by Jake, the second (2x04) is won by Holt; Amy steals a duplicitous victory in heist number three (3x05). "Hallowe'en Part IV", which saw the three previous winners competing against each other for a plaque reading "Ultimate Detective/Genius" is the fourth foray into the Hallowe'en heists that have become an integral, anticipated and loved part of the show, and it reached heights unseen since the first in every aspect of the show.

The best example of this is the way it used its characters, by partnering someone with each of the 3 competing players, Jake, Holt and Amy. Jake's instant first choice would be Boyle since Boyle has a weird Platonic love for Jake; a spanner is thrown into the works when Holt selects Boyle, leaving Jake with Gina. Meanwhile, Amy's bookishness is juxtaposed with her partner Rosa's tough demeanour.

   From then on it's just a hilarious merry-go-round. Jake's plan - bringing in a weirdly sexual Boyle look-a-like - falls apart, Holt dismisses Boyle straightaway since he only selected him to disrupt Jake, and Rosa gives herself over to all of Amy's "nerdy crap" in order to win. Everyone suspects everyone, but Gina winds up injured early on and recuses herself. Suspicion therefore falls upon Terry, who continues to insist he is not secretly trying to win alone, until Gina's masterplan - involving duplicate plaques - is revealed.

   I know I personally didn't see this coming (although perhaps I should have), but had I done I'm not sure it would have made a difference to my feeling for the episode. The juxtaposition of Amy and Rosa's personalities was especially hilarious (as was the Boyle look-a-like), the plot was convoluted enough to keep viewers guessing, and the episode rehashed old fan favourite punchlines ("Bingpot!") while surely creating more.

Hawaii Five-0 7x09 "Elua la ma Nowemapa / Two Days in November"

Conspiracy theories aren't usually my kind of thing; I like them, but I don't follow them. But centre one around an episode of a TV show I watch and I'm pretty sure I'll be drawn to it. Make that about JFK, one of the biggest conspiracies in existence, and you have a hit episode. It was so interesting to find out more about the history of JFK and the politics surrounding him in the lead-up to his assassination. How much of the episode is based around fact I'm not sure, but this episode got me thinking.
   It was just such an out-of-the-box episode, so unusual for Hawaii Five-0, but also perfect for the way it utilised the conspiracy theorist character of Jerry. Although I disliked the ending (the hidden topic under discussion by members of JFK's cabinet was of course was not JFK at all), I don't find that detracted from an enrapturing episode of TV, and a glimpse into something meaningful and impactful.

NCIS LA 8x15 "Payback"

"Payback" was the culmination of a four-year arc that no one knew was really happening - which is partly why it's even cooler. The mole storyline stretches back to s6 and Kensi's Afghanistan mission to s5: with "Payback" we not only continue to find out more about the rogue CIA agents who are trying to bring down OSP, but learn that Joelle, Callen's ex-girlfriend and supposed elementary school teacher, is actually a CIA agent who watches kids of foreign dignitaries, Elias Person of Interest-style. Despite the uncertainty around his endgame, Ferris's intended torture of Kensi (along with her eventual escape and Deeks' lack of pause before shooting Ferris dead), was a thrill ride. And of course, we said a proper goodbye to Owen Granger following Miguel Ferrer's death. One of the most complete and busy episodes of the season.

Westworld 1x10 "The Bicameral Mind"

HBO hit show Westworld pulled off a 90-minute finale to wrap up its debut season. I didn't enjoy this show as much as others for multiple reasons: the very slow pacing of the story, the hour-plus-long episodes, and the fact that even for me this show was a bit too thinky.
   There were so many huge questions going into the finale (especially whether the story was being told in a linear fashion - it wasn't), and so much expectation of where the story would go. What Jonah Nolan's superb writing did was prove correct a number of fan theories (William being the Man in Black, the aforementioned non-linear narrative etc), reveal plenty more (Samurai World?) and flip the script entirely. Not only was Westworld co-founder Dr Ford not trying to inhibit the Hosts' attempts at consciousness, but he was actively trying to encourage it - and had been doing so secretly for the past three decades plus. For his final, dramatic exit, he had our main character Dolores shoot him dead before an exploitative and power hungry Delos board.
   Westworld is a show that requires more than just watching: you need to see a lie in everything, see a plot twist coming from every corner, ask questions of everything. It actively demands your undivided attention and considerable engagement, which I found to be a little too much. But there's no question that with the entire season, and especially the giant finale, Jonah Nolan made a masterpiece of TV.

Conviction 1x06 "#StayWoke"

Conviction was never shy, in its 13-episode first and only season, about broaching hot button topics. The treatment of terror suspects and campus rape were just two such subjects it put under the microscope, but a third in episode six was tensions after a white cop is supposedly killed by a black protester.

   It was an enthralling reversal of the current topic of white cops shooting black people and, while of course the black protester incarcerated for the crime was never going to be the killer (that would take the episode from commentary to wildly controversial and the show would be decried in a heartbeat), the entire 40 minute episode just felt like holding one big, tense breath.

   "#StayWoke" was one of the biggest episodes Conviction produced, and one of the most nail-biting episodes this season. It's easily on this list.

TOP FIVE SCENES (mostly in no particular order)

1 - Lucifer 2x13 - Amenadiel protects Chloe from being moved from her hospital room

In selecting the top fives for this roundup, I've simply done that: selected a top five. I've not ranked each category and likely won't rank anything but this scene, because for me Amenadiel protecting Chloe from being moved is the undisputed best scene of the season.

   For context, Chloe has been poisoned by a poisoner, Professor Jason Carlyle, who created singular, designer poisons and equally singular, designer antidotes. However, in episode 2x12, Carlyle killed himself before Chloe realised she had been poisoned. The only way to save her was, in 2x13, for Lucifer to die, go to Hell and get the antidote formula from Carlyle. This is only possible because the immortal Lucifer becomes mortal when he is in close proximity to Chloe; therefore, were she moved from her hospital bed while he was dead, the consequences would be potentially catastrophic. Thus, he instructs Amenadiel to at no cost allow Chloe to be moved from her room until he has returned from Hell.

   This is where it becomes all about Amenadiel.

   Amenadiel struggled all season up to this point with losing his powers, losing his closeness to Maze and the turmoil of his desire to get back to Hell. He betrayed his Mum, he betrayed Lucifer ... but this was his redemptive moment.

   Even with his loss of powers, he remains an overpowered angel in a human form, so it's no task for Amenadiel to fight off the guards who try to dislodge him from the doorway of Chloe's hospital room. But it's the expression on his face that makes this scene magical - he knows this is his moment to come through for his brother and he's ready to fight for him, despite his own feelings. The music ("Unsteady by X Ambassadors") is perfect and that, coupled with the slow-mo of Amenadiel fighting off the guards, makes this not only the best scene of the season, but one of the biggest tearjerkers too.

   And the relief on his face when Lucifer returns is indescribable.

Quantico 2x13 - Harry breaks down in the bar

Harry Doyle was an MI6 agent on an exchange-student-type swap deal with the CIA, but he had an ulterior motive: to find dirt on the bigoted shipping magnate father of his ex-boyfriend who had killed himself before his own eyes. Instead, what he found was this shipping magnate wasn't secretly transporting illegal goods but refugees, and Harry decided to let his hatred go in case his actions prevented other refugees reaching safety.

   That's a fantastic scene in itself, but the aftermath of this painful decision was Harry revealing himself to his Farm trainees as an MI6 agent (bar Alex and Ryan who were already aware). The way Russell Tovey delivers Harry's heartbreaking speech, his voice gradually breaking as 12 episodes and an intense backstory reach boiling point, is nothing short of phenomenal acting, probably backed up with Tovey's own experiences of prejudice for his sexuality.

   And there's really no better mark of how this scene imploded than Alex's expressions: at the beginning she was frustrated, but by the end of Harry's speech she looked utterly heartbroken for him. It's just a horrible, powerful, incredible, heartbreaking, beautiful scene.

Scorpion 3x11 - Walter and Tim fight

Tim was that character every fan hates. He was the character who pushes his way between the main two characters and their growing romance by dating one of them, in this case Paige. He appeared in the back end of season 2, but as the writers stepped up the #Waige hints, so too they stepped up Tim and Paige's romantic relationship. Walter does his best to make peace with this, but in the end even his most well-mannered attempts are easily seen through as ways of deliberately trying to isolate Tim. In 3x11, Tim finally cracks.

   While Scorpion ready their Christmas cabin for an onslaught of gunmen, Tim confronts Walter over his actions the past half-season. As #Waige fans it's hard not to enjoy Walter rip into Tim, even if we know Walter is in the wrong, since Tim is in the way of what we as the audience desire - and even if there's a hell of a lot of truth in Tim's words.

   Their confrontation is a turning point in the season, a tension-filled, nasty turning point - and it's the confrontation we all needed before waving Tim goodbye.

   Skip to 1:26 in the video for the scene I'm referring to, though for a little more context watch from the beginning.

Conviction 1x09 - Hayes tries and fails to stop Earl's execution

In 1x09 "A Different Kind of Death", CIU take on the case of a man on Death Row, who is days from being executed. He has continually professed his innocence to no avail, but Earl Slavitt's last chance for freedom is the CIU.

   And they do what he has been hoping for for years: prove he was not a killer. But the evidence comes too late to save him. We probably suspected this would be the way of it, but the scene was better than I could have imagined.

   With Wallace present at the impending execution, all Hayes can do is leave a voicemail and hope it reaches him in time. She is practically screaming down the phone, she's pedal to the metal trying to get there herself, and the utter panic is beautifully juxtaposed with Earl's slow walk to his death. And then the panic just stops. Wallace comes slowly, pensively out of the witness room and eventually finds the 17 voicemails from Hayes just as she walks through the door and realises Earl was dead. Her expression is heart-wrenching.

   But if that wasn't enough, the scene concludes with an evil look from the killer as he exits the witness room. It's stunningly paced, wonderfully acted and brilliantly edited.

Quantico 2x22 - Clay and Roarke's conversation

Henry Roarke was the Trump of Quantico's second season: a big bad Republican who would turn to terrorism to gain the Presidency - when he wasn't doing deals with the Russians. The current political landscape was deliberately mirrored, Roarke the shining centrepiece of showrunner Joshua Safran's scathing social commentary.
   Clay Haas was just one of our team of heroes fighting back. And he had not had it easy. He'd seen his mother ascend to the Presidency and be impeached, he'd fought valiantly against Roarke and the collaborators and failed, he'd destroyed his best friend's life, he'd struggled with growing feelings for Shelby; as a result of these compounding issues, Clay spent much of the final few episodes in an I don't care slumber. So when the time comes for the final stand against Roarke, the last thing Clay needs is to be brought before the President, who readily gloats about his victory.
   But only ten minutes later in the episode and the situation is flipped: Roarke is exposed as a terrorist and Clay pays him a final visit. This time Roarke is frantic, all over the place. He had everything he wanted, but, as Clay says, for less time than his mother did. And as Clay points out, Roarke has but two remaining options: police or press.
   It's thrilling watching Roarke desperately hold onto what he had ("IT'S MR PRESIDENT, IT IS MR ... PRESIDENT"), but ultimately it's the best payoff for him. He'd been largely portrayed as a one-dimensional villain up until this point; in this tense confrontation with Clay, we are reminded that he is simply a person with differing values. It's a point I think many of us forget when we consider the parallel.
   Of course, there's always option three: Roarke never leaves the room at all.

HONOURARY MENTION to the goodbye speech from Max in Hawaii Five-0 episode 7x13 - he gave a rousing, grateful shoutout to everyone whilst reflecting on seven years of appearances on the show. A wonderful tribute to the character.

TOP FIVE MOMENTS THAT MADE YOU CHEER (in no particular order)

Brooklyn Nine-Nine 4x05 "Hallowe'en Part IV" - Gina wins the heist

OK, so to many Gina's exit early in the episode might have been a clear sign she would be resurfacing eventually as the winner, especially since she was deliberately forgotten almost immediately. But whether you guessed it or not, I cheered at Gina revealing she had outsmarted everyone.
   For three Hallowe'en instalments, the heists have determined the "Ultimate Detective/Genius". Gina, a civilian administrator i.e. Holt's assistant, never really got a look-in for that title. What better way, therefore, to pull the rug from underneath all of the detectives than to have the only non-police character outsmart them all? And, in typically narcissistic Gina fashion, amend the winning announcement to "Ultimate Human/Genius".
   You go, girl.

Conviction 1x13 - Hayes "sexually harasses" Sam so he isn't fired from CIU

Sam was a naughty boy early on in Conviction's solitary 13-episode season. When Hayes forced CIU to re-examine the case of an anti-Muslim preacher incarcerated for the bombing and murder of 3 Muslims at a mosque, Sam considers the ramifications of finding Rodney Landon innocent - especially since Landon admits he will kill Muslims if released. Sam therefore takes action to ensure Landon can't be released, inciting an inmate to attack Landon in order to have Landon shiv him and charges added.
   In the final episode, those actions come back to haunt Sam: Landon knows Sam set up his attack and Sam dithers about whether to come clean or not. Wallace quashes Landon's appeal, but remains intent that Sam be fired to spare CIU any backlash. Disagreeing completely with Wallace's point of view, Hayes ensures Sam's career is safe by kissing him in full view of a cleaner, allowing him to claim sexual harassment if he is fired.
   I was unsure just how Sam could be saved from dismissal - but this out-of-the-blue move was peak Hayes and I love it. Unorthodox, sure, but Sam's got his job and Landon's still in prison. I call that a win-win.

Hawaii Five-0 7x21 - Jerry gets his Five-0 badge

Conspiracy theorist Jerry Ortega has been hankering for a Five-0 badge basically since he joined them full-time in season 5. Of course, the extent of his police training is how to use the facilities at Five-0, so even if he got his badge, he wouldn't be true police. But it's a symbolic thing for Jerry at this point, and Five-0 finally cave in an extremely poignant scene. It's only thanks to Jerry that the team are saved before Yakuza boss Michele Shioma has her goons kill them, and after nearly 3 years, he's finally rewarded with that symbolic you-are-part-of-the-team Five-0 police badge. I expect next season for some funny scenes with him abusing his newfound power, perhaps to get a discount at Kamekona's Shrimp Truck.

NCIS LA 8x18 Nell kisses Eric

Another cheer-inducing moment that has been building for multiple seasons is the relationship between NCIS LA's tech geeks Eric Beale and Nell Jones. Eric has been with the cast since the backdoor pilot, but ever since Nell's introduction early in season 2 they've always had a strong best-friendship, one that seemed a closer friendship in some respects than other partnerships on the show (namely Callen and Sam). Despite this, there was also always a deeper suggestion that they each had feelings for the other, a suggestion the show skirted around for seven seasons.

   It has been at times quite frustrating, since there has never really been a significant character or plot reason to continue keeping them apart this long, but there's also a sense of freshness to that as well. While most TV shows' will-they-won't-theys are drawn out a few seasons and then the characters are plunged together, NCIS LA has consistently bucked that trend of drawing its characters into relationships at the earliest convenience. After all, Kensi and Deeks were barely a thing before season 6 (meaning they were kept apart over 4 seasons).

   But in episode 8x18 "Getaway", Eric and Nell finally came together.

   Eric confesses his love for her at a couples' retreat where they are undercover; there's a beautiful moment where Nell is confused as to whether this is a cover story or truth, since the story Eric chooses was a real scenario they experienced together. But by the end of the episode, she's decided that since he's gone all in, she will too, and after some awesome gun work, Nell turns to Eric and finally, after seven seasons, kisses him.

   FINALLY!

Scorpion 3x23 - Ralph confronts Walter for hurting his mum

Walter has an almost non-existent emotional quotient (EQ), so it's understandable that his (often shocking) actions have effects on other characters that he can't comprehend. Things took a bad turn when Walter practically forced Tim out of Scorpion, effectively ending his and Paige's relationship - something Paige didn't exactly appreciate. Things came to a head when, unable to cope with the fact that Paige had previously told Walter she loved him and unable to see she hadn't been lying, Walter fired Paige from Scorpion. So Paige was definitely right to be ultra pissed with Walter.
   But who could make Walter see the damage he has caused than Paige's genius son, Ralph, with whom Walter has an extremely close relationship. Ralph has always been clued into the fact that his mum and Walter share unaddressed feelings for each other, even suggesting to Paige she consider that she actually does love Walter.
   And yet there's one scene, the episode after Paige has been fired, where Ralph confronts Walter for what he has done. In fact, it only took one line to do all the damage.
   "You're lucky I'm a kid. If I was bigger, I would fight you. You hurt my mother."
   The video is exceptionally low quality, but the first minute of it is the scene I'm describing. One shot, one kill, Ralph.

HONOURARY MENTION to the final scene of Quantico, where Alex and Ryan's reunion as Alex fled America was a beautiful throwback to their very first meeting.

TOP FIVE "WHAT THE SHIT IS GOING ON?" MOMENTS (in no particular order)

Scorpion 3x04 - Walter and Happy are married

Before the real #Waige push got started, the Toby/Happy wanting to get married storyline was the main character subplot. There was just one thing standing in their way: Happy was already married. And ex-Scorpion member and lunatic Mark Collins knew who the husband was. He offered Toby a cryptic riddle to figure it out - and Toby succeeded. Happy's husband was Walter: they married so Walter wouldn't be deported.
   This whole subplot was a little out of left field, never mind the reveal that Walter was Happy's husband. There was just the moment of "oh shit" when we realised how big of an influence this was going to have on the season with regards to our two favourite relationships: #Quintis and #Waige. Thank God everything turned out OK in the end.

Elementary 5x01 - The football/soccer ball explodes

OK, this was probably not Youtube-clip-worthy, and it's likely the least character-driven of these "what the shit" moments, but it certainly was a moment that took everyone by surprise, especially since it was the first scene of the season.
   A middle-aged man was walking by a park in New York when a football (that's a soccer ball for my friends across the pond) was kicked in his direction. He picked it up genially, readying to return it to the kids - when it promptly blew up in his face.
   Roll opening credits.
   There isn't much more to say than that: it was just totally unexpected.
   But there's perhaps a joke about bombs and how the rest of the season unfolded ...

NCIS LA 8x15 "Payback" - Joelle is a CIA mole

Some might argue NCIS LA writers were scraping the barrel for recurring characters to go dark with the semi-conclusion of the mole storyline. I don't necessarily disagree (it does now feel like most of the show's elite roster of recurring characters has been drained due to this plot), but I don't disapprove of Joelle's inclusion.
   It was kind of obvious she would be involved the moment she appeared in the high-strung episode, but confirmation didn't feel any less shocking for that. Joelle had supposedly been an elementary school teacher, one whom Sam and wife Michelle set Callen up with in season 5; she and Callen later break up because Joelle supposedly struggles to adapt to Callen's demanding job. That is, until "Payback", when we learn that she is a CIA agent involved with the moles.
   This was the perfect reveal: one that nobody saw coming prior to this episode. No one had any reason to be suspicious beforehand so no one was, but looking back everything makes complete sense.
   Almost everything. There remains one lingering question: did Michelle (of the CIA herself) know about Joelle's status as an agent? She surely can't have else she would have been upfront about that detail, and I imagine we'll have to suppose that for ourselves given that Michelle is now dead. But by and large, the revelation that Joelle is a CIA mole was a stunning, unpredictable twist that shook the audience.

MacGyver 1x12 - Thornton is a government mole

The early Nicki Carpenter arc seemed to be heading in one direction - Nicki was evil and Mac had been fooled - before suddenly flipping the script halfway through the season. Nicki was in fact trying to find a government mole codenamed "Chrysalis". In 1x12, MacGyver's boss and the leader of Phoenix Foundation Patricia Thornton was outed as "Chrysalis". It came totally out of left field, especially since it didn't hold true to the original show, and changed the show completely. But this gets a double "what the shit" rating: aside from the instant shock value of the reveal, there's also the realisation that a show as lowkey as MacGyver took one of its main characters - a beloved character from the original show - and flipped the script just over halfway through its debut season. That's a bold, bold move, especially for a CBS show. I was gobsmacked.

Scorpion 3x22 - Walter fires Paige

This one shouldn't have come as out of the blue as it did: we all know Walter can do some crazy shit without realising or understanding why he's acted incorrectly. But firing Paige was one of the craziest things he's done.
   In 3x03, Walter accidentally flew up to space in a rocket and began hallucinating Paige was with him; in order for Scorpion to get him back safely, the real Paige, from Earth, had to react positively as Walter spilled his love to his hallucination. Scorpion never spoke of it until 3x22, when similar circumstances that caused Walter's space hallucinations triggered the memories.

   In reaction to finding out Paige had lied, and unable to deal with his feelings, Walter fired Paige from Scorpion. The clip below encompasses basically everything that I've explained, but what it doesn't show is the impact. Pushing #Waige together had been the season's endgame, so when Walter came to speak to Paige at the end of the episode, no one was expecting what unfolded. It was just so drastic, so shocking, that a season's-worth of wedging the two together resulted in Walter expelling her from his team. Of course, Paige returned and #Waige became a thing, but this moment was best described in Paige's words from earlier in the season:

   "I did not see this coming."

Final thoughts

This list thoroughly proves a few things:

1. That this season was epic
2. That this season had some epic moments that stood out above the rest of the epicness
3. That there is so much more I could have included.

So what did you enjoy this season? What were your standout moments? Do they match any of mine? And what are you hoping for next season?

Thank you for reading guys, I hope you enjoyed this Best Of roundup and I'll see you soon with a short reflection on the shows we reviewed this season.

Sam