The Best TV Episode of the Year

I've dropped an ungodly amount of thoughts in my Severance recap this week, but I'll just say this here: The amount of time I spent between watching episode 7 and asking if director Jessica Lee Gagné would speak with me was embarrassingly short. And this: It's the best episode of TV I've seen in a long, long time. "I had gone through a very crazy personal experience that was the beginning of me realizing many things in my life," Gagné told me. "One of them was that I had been playing safe for many things in my life. I read episode 7 and it really aligned with themes and things that I was very much in. I was like, Okay, I think I'm meant to do that episode."

View in Browser  SHOP EXCLUSIVE SUBSCRIBE Severance Episode 7 Is a Masterpiece. The Director Told Us How She Pulled It Off. I've dropped an ungodly amount of thoughts in my Severance recap this week, but I'll just say this here: The amount of time I spent between watching episode 7 and asking if director Jessica Lee Gagné would speak with me was embarrassingly short. And this: It's the best episode of TV I've seen in a long, long time. "I had gone through a very crazy personal experience that was the beginning of me realizing many things in my life," Gagné told me. "One of them was that I had been playing safe for many things in my life. I read episode 7 and it really aligned with themes and things that I was very much in. I was like, Okay, I think I'm meant to do that episode." Read More Chet Hanks Is Entering His Chet Hanks Era Hanks is widely seen as the antithesis of his father's persona as America's dad. Now three years sober, he's stealing scenes in Running Point, Netflix's new sports comedy. "I basically get to be a slightly exaggerated version of myself," Hanks says. Read More An Exhaustive Breakdown of the Entire Dutton Family Tree You should probably study up on the Duttons before 1923 reveals John Dutton's grandfather. Read More Trump and Rubio Officially Wave Goodbye to Ebola Control On Thursday, the Trump administration said it intended to terminate 5,800 USAID contracts. Ebola control? Poof. Malaria control? Gone, baby, gone. In addition, Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed off on portions of the cuts in apparent defiance of federal law regarding money already appropriated by Congress. So I ask in all seriousness, what would be the punishment if you held him in contempt? I mean, Cabinet officials don't have that John Roberts blessed immunity, do they? And hell, a lot of people who work in the White House—including the president—don't even seem to like him very much. But meanwhile, the chaos continues unchecked. Read More How to Read All the Cosmere Books in Order Brandon Sanderson wrote the largest interconnected fantasy universe in literary history. But where to begin? Read More Severance Episode 7 Is Revolutionary. And It Gives Answers. 'Chikhai Bardo' sees the Apple TV+ series—and everyone involved in it, from Adam Scott to Dichen Lachman—reach the absolute peak of its powers. Read More A Fisherman Sweater Will Lead Your Winter Wardrobe to Greatness Was I an Irish fisherman in a past life? Did I spend the 20th century on a boat, out in the cold, clad in a warm, cozy, Aran sweater that my wife knit for me? I'm kind of convinced I was, given how damn obsessed I am with fisherman sweaters in this life. It's the only plausible solution there is for my steadfast belief that a fisherman sweater is the most important winter garment that a man can own. Read More Follow Us Unsubscribe | Privacy Notice | CA Notice at Collection Esquire is a publication of Hearst Magazines. ©2025 Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This email was sent by Hearst Magazines, 300 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019-3779