I've covered TV at Esquire for the better part of a decade now—the joys and pains of recapping Westworld still linger in my psyche—and I genuinely can't remember a better start to a year on the small screen. Ever. Halfway through 2025, we have The Pitt, Severance, The Studio, Andor, and The Rehearsal, which should all land comfortably in my year-end top ten list. (Though The Bear and the Jason Bateman-fronted Black Rabbit will soon have something to say about that.) Esquire's entertainment team is enjoying 2025's slate so much, in fact, that we weren't content naming the standout shows of the year to this point—we shouted out the top episodes, too. (If the words "Chikhai Bardo" mean anything to you, we'll be fast friends.) Check out the finest TV episodes of 2025 so far—and let me know if we missed any of your favorites. – Brady Langmann, senior entertainment editor Plus: |
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From The Last of Us to Severance, this feels like the year Hollywood finally figured out the key to a good flashback episode. |
If 2025's best TV episodes had one thing in common, it's that Hollywood may have finally figured out the key to a good flashback episode. The Last of Us season 2 looked back in time to remind viewers why Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey will forever remain one of the greatest onscreen father-daughter pairings of all time. Meanwhile, Paradise filled in the gaps of the past to reveal answers moving forward, and Severance left the bright hallways of the office to focus on the reason why Mark Scout and Gemma's strained relationship brought them both to Lumon in the first place. |
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I used to not think much about the pen I used. I like books and write for a living, so I already owned a nice custom refillable notebook. I had a Parker Jotter pen only because James Bond used one in GoldenEye. I got particular about my Parker refills, but that was as deep as I got into stationery. A fountain pen, to me, was something people used for actual calligraphy. I knew fountain pens were part of the whole Classic Man thing that Esquire is built on, but I tapped out at buying a nice suit. No need for an old-school pen. Turns out, I was missing one of life's great pleasures. |
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"I found a long time ago, the work-life balance stuff—it's just one thing," Bentley says. "It's just life, and you're either winning at that or you're not." Bentley, 49, takes more pride in prioritizing his wife and three kids than in his 20-plus years of country music stardom—to the point of piloting his own plane to take his band on the road, for greatest efficiency in getting everybody back home. "I don't think anyone has been able to do it the way I've done, as far as incorporating my family time into the touring thing," he says. "It's easy to chase the numbers when you're single or not a great dad, but it's a lot harder to do when you actually care a lot."
But Bentley's new album, Broken Branches (out now), mostly hearkens back to a different chapter in his journey. On his eleventh LP, he examines what drives young people to do something as crazy as move to Nashville and stake it all on the dream of being a musician. |
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