Have you missed our weekly TV round-up as much as we have? Here’s hoping! With new shows like Togetherness, and the recent return of some old favorites on HBO, we realized it was officially time to revive this list. Our TV critics expressed feelings upon feelings, as they reviewed some of the funniest, strangest, awkward-est moments on television this week. Here are our top five picks for the week of January 25, 2015.
1. Girls: Of course, Jess
It took three seasons and another three episodes, but mark this Girls landmark immediately: Someone just told Jessa to grow the fuck up.
Granted, she had to pee in the streets of New York City to get the ball rolling, but it’s one of those things that’s so “Jessa,” you slap your head. Like, why am I even upset about this right now? Of course Jessa pees in the street. Of course it’s a social injustice when two cops—the fuzz, the po-po, her words—write a ticket. But what we don’t expect is for Adam, who already has a not-too-shabby criminal record, to get swept up with the globetrotting brat. —Tyler Kane
2. Togetherness: Thank you, Rush
The final scene of “Insanity” is a perfect encapsulation of how fantastic this show is, balancing pure heartbreak with complete joy that few shows can pull off. It’s a move that made The Office such a great series and Togetherness is already nailing this ambiance. Brett is able to turn Rush’s “Tom Sawyer” into a metaphor for Alex, where Sawyer was able to raise spirits by the very nature of who he was—and Alex is just the same. So he should never feel embarrassed for who he has feelings for. It’s a beautiful moment, punctuated by the absolutely hilarious air-drumming of Alex and Brett to “Tom Sawyer,”—one of the best TV moments so far this year.—Ross Bonaime
3. Justified: Meet Choo-Choo
Where Dewey was tiny, Choo-Choo is absurdly large. Where Dewey could never shut up, Choo-Choo says only what is necessary (or what he thinks is necessary, anyway).
Choo-Choo’s scene with Raylan is an instant classic. It bops seamlessly from Raylan being cool and all Raylan-y, to Choo-Choo being genuinely threatening before finally ending with an Elmore Leonard version of an Abbott and Costello routine. It’s three minutes of genius that are absolutely impossible to describe to someone else while accurately conveying the content, and I really think that is the most accurate measure of this show. The better the scene, the harder it is to effectively explain.—Jack McKinney
4. Sirens: Grown Man’s Prom Night
Running parallel to this whole storyline is a take on the same situation, but with Brian at the center. The crew responds to a car accident and the young EMT tries to comfort a teen girl with a cut and bruised face, worried about her upcoming prom. And after running into her at the hospital a few days later, and learning that the girl’s date dumped her, Brian offers to step in and take her.
Naturally, the night starts off as noble as can be, with Brian doing everything he can to make sure that his date has one of the best nights of her life. But it takes a quick turn when the couple is named prom king and queen. In one of those great, painfully funny moments, Brian takes the mike and gives a blustery self-important speech that barely acknowledges his date. It’s a nice microcosm of the same arc that Johnny goes through, made even funnier by actor Kevin Bigley’s sharp comic timing and acting that skirts the edge of going over-the-top. —Robert Ham
5.Scandal: Illusion of Freedom
But let’s discuss that awesomely strange ending. It was weird, and we know Scandal isn’t typically weird. Crazy, yes. Over-the-top, definitely. And it even does creepy well (Hi Huckleberry Quinn). But Olivia bursting through those locked doors, escaping to her freedom, only to find that she was still in captivity (and had, therefore, escaped from this illusion of captivity to her real captivity, which actually looked like a movie set, AKA another illusion)? That was weird. And strange. And one of the coolest reveals Scandal has ever given us.—Shannon M. Houston
Shannon M. Houston is Assistant TV Editor at Paste, and a New York-based freelance writer with probably more babies than you. You can follow her on Twitter.