Over the last decade and the rise of Netlfix’s all-episodes-at-once model, the reality of having to wait a full week for the next dose of your favorite show seemed like it could’ve gone extinct by this point. But if anything, as streaming services like HBO Max, Disney+, and Apple TV+ have come to prominence, it seems like the various folks in charge have come to an understanding about the old-school weekly release model: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Numerous shows came out this year that proved coming back to a show week after week can be the superior way to experience a season of television. Below are just a few of the 2021 shows that best proved how having time to let an episode ruminate before seeing the next — as well as being left to dangle and anxious for more — can make engagement with a story all the more rewarding and memorable.
Cruel Summer
Not the first crime thriller on this list, Cruel Summer was a welcome surprise from Freefrom that used an unconventional approach as a major strength. Released weekly between April and June, each episode bounced between a specific day during the summers of 1993, 1994, and 1995, which made sticking with the show's dark story and complex cast of characters a bit jarring. But because of this approach, its weekly format made engaging with the story more rewarding, with each week offering a chance to take everything in, spend the next few days digesting, and then come back next week with renewed curiosity. There’s a sense of scope to it all that felt aided by its 10-week presentation, leading up to a shocking finale that made the whole journey and timeline juggling totally worth it.
For All Mankind Season 2
The first season of Apple’s revisionist historical drama For All Mankind was occasionally rocky, but Season 2 blasted off into something much assured in tone and visually magnificent in scope. The first episode alone – featuring the astronauts of the Jamestown lunar base taking in the rising sun after two weeks of darkness – is wondrous to behold. It’s hard not to be gripped by the show from that point on, especially given how well the show raised the stakes episode by episode regarding the Cold War-era tension between the U.S. and the Soviets. That commitment to alt-history world-building made stepping back into the show each week a captivating immersion into something both fantastical and familiar, with some “oh noooo” cliffhangers (see Episodes 8 and 9) adding that extra touch to make waiting for next week all the more stressful and brilliant.
Hacks
Much like another HBO comedy to hit in 2021 – Made for Love starring Cristin Milioti – two episodes of the show Hacks were released weekly instead of a single one. This was an interesting way of toeing the line between the usual weekly releases and the all-at-once model, and truly, two episodes of Hacks could only ever be a good thing for many reasons, chief among them the fabulous Jean Smart. Smart’s work as comedian Deborah Vance is some of the best from any actor all year and was without a doubt an event that needed to be celebrated every week and not merely blasted through it in a day right out of the gate. Her work alongside the also great Hannah Einbinder deserved to be cherished and levitated back to every week, and that weekly format made watching these two generations of comedy form feel like a grand, character-driven showbiz odyssey that, in taking its time to grow, rewards week-to-week dedication with a complex, ever-evolving relationship that makes tuning in a hilariously insightful delight.
Invincible
Of all the shows on this list, the one I looked forward to watching every week the most was Amazon’s R-rated animated superhero series – Invincible. While loaded with excessive violence and geysers of blood the series recalls nostalgic Saturday morning cartoon vibes, a sensation aided by the fact it was ready to watch Thursday mornings after the first three episodes landing on March 25. Leaving viewers wanting more at the end of each episode, wondering just how more violent the series could get, was a great way to make the show stand out over several weeks. Such is the case for the first four weeks, but with Episode 5 (“That Actually Hurt”) Mark’s (Steven Yeun) fight against several villains leads to him being beaten almost to death in excruciating fashion and simultaneously setting the stage for future tension with his father, Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons). From there on out each episode ups the ante between all the punching and family drama, making each episode hit harder and harder, leaving you left with the impact of the characters’ actions for a whole week. This made finding out how everything would shake out became a matter of desperate need, with the show building up the explosively violent finale befitting the several-week journey.
Mare of Easttown
HBO’s recent run of “White Lady Dealing with Murder” shows has become a genre all its own thanks to shows like Big Little Lies and The Undoing, and in 2021, audiences’ love for an acclaimed actress thrust into the middle of so much suspense once again resulted into another hit in Mare of Eastttown. As the titular Mare Sheehan, a detective in a suburb of Philadelphia, Kate Winslet spent week after week blowing audiences' minds with her “how is she doing that” accent, as Mare’s investigation into the murder of the young Erin McMenamin (Cailee Spaeny) left audiences clinging to the screen and left with nothing but theories. Like any good crime show, the waits could become unbearable in the best possible ways, such as after the end of Episode 5 (“Illusions”) which ended in a shocking shoot-out that left a major player down for the count, some questioned answered, but with plenty more left to be revealed as the credits rolled and countdown to next week started ticking. While episode quality varied, the series of seven Sundays became days for Easttown, and the thickening of the plot, occasional bombshells, and the fantastic cast proved that a quality weekly crime thriller is always a recipe for success.
WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Loki
This year Marvel Studios began releasing their first wave of television series on Disney+, and so far, they’ve generated massive amounts of conversation, theories, and fans responding angrily when their theories prove to be woefully incorrect – and that’s in large part thanks to their weekly release schedule. That classic television experience, injected into the Marvel tapestry, has already made each show appointment viewing. But add in episode endings like WandaVision’s Agatha Harkness reveal, John Walker’s violent kill in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and that big Sylvie reveal in Loki and you create a collective, weekly water cooler conversation that feels increasingly rare in an increasingly binge-and-forget world.
Mythic Quest Season 2
One of the inspirations for this very article was me getting crazy amounts of excited to watch the season 2 finale of Apple’s comedy, Mythic Quest. There is something so purely enjoyable about a great workplace comedy that uses its breezy 30-minute runtime to let you into the lives of the characters, share some laughs, and then sets you off on the right foot into the rest of the week. With Mythic Quest, we’ve got perhaps one of the best ever, with each new week proving how much of an improvement this season was over the already-solid first season. In what will hopefully come back for season 3, we got a new bottle/flashback episode, which acts as a delightful curveball that makes that week feel all the more special. Like The Office or Parks and Rec before it, this effortlessly entertaining spin on the genre borrows a lot from star/co-creator Rob McElhenney’s other series, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia – and just like with that series – Quest offers a hilarious little getaway once a week for a brief runtime that leaves you eager to come back next week and see what the gang of incredibly flawed co-workers gets up to next.
Servant Season 2
This second season of the M. Night Shyamalan-produced horror show Servant on Apple TV+ flew a bit under the radar compared to the more highly-advertised first season, despite the fact it manages to maintain – all before intensely escalating – the series’ grim atmosphere, playing like a horrifying soap opera. The show made the most out of its weekly schedule by keeping the show focused on a small number of characters in a single location and episodes short and quickly immersive, allowing you just enough time to feel the hairs on your neck stand on end before the 30(ish)-minute runtime brings the events to end for the week. As a result, the series feels special in the landscape of horror-dramas in how it exceptionally manages to simultaneously peel back the layers on the characters and the bizarre circumstances. Yet it never shows too much of its hand or overstays its welcome, making coming back to it every week a rare spooky treat, one that plays like chapters of a horror book being read to you each night. Then, the lights go out, and you’re left to wonder what happens next.