“We’re doing much better now because we’re laughing about it.”

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It’s only April, but it’s been a looooong year already.

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This morning, I expected the worst.

“Venom” was the number-one trending topic on Twitter in America, with “symbiote” in the number-three slot. “Oh no,” I worried, “has the unthinkable happened: has Venom 2 been delayed?” The sequel to 2018’s Venom — which not be the greatest movie ever, but it’s the only movie where Tom Hardy climbs into a tank and feeds on a live lobster in front of Michelle Williams, so I take it back, it is the greatest movie ever — is supposed to come out on October 2, and thankfully, the release date hasn’t changed (for now).

No, the reason “Venom” and “symbiote” were trending is because of this:

Should we be worried about whatever that is? Maybe! Dunno about you, but I, personally, am not a fan of withering, slimy black spaghetti. But at least we still get Venom 2 in October! Assuming that thing doesn’t kill us before then. But what is “that thing”? It’s apparently a bootlace worm, which “can grow up to 55m long. When provoked, it releases a high concentration of venomous mucus which would paralyze potential predators, giving it enough time to retreat to safety,” according to one explanation. It’s the longest animal on Earth, but not as long as the wait until Ve2om.

Where’s Spider-Man, you might be asking? He’s daring Jake Gyllenhaal to do shirtless handstands. Honestly, that’s way more important than stopping this venomous goo. Continue on.

For a good portion of March, Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard performed daily livestream concerts, although he recently changed the series to be a once-a-week occurrence. His first weekly show happened yesterday, and during the performance, he paid tribute to Adam Schlesinger, the Fountains Of Wayne member who recently passed away due to coronavirus complications.

Gibbard covered Fountains Of Wayne’s “Barbara H.,” and before playing the song, he spoke about how Schlesinger was part of one of the proudest moments of his career. Gibbard wrote a song called “Me & Magdalena” for The Monkees’ 2016 album Good Times!, which Schlesinger produced, and Gibbard said Schlesinger was a big part of his song selection:

“I never got to meet Adam. We had a lot of connective tissue, a lot of friends in common, but we never had a chance to actually meet. I owe him a huge debt of gratitude because he was integral in picking ‘Me & Magdalena’ for The Monkees to record four years ago. I always thought, as one always does in life, that you’ll have plenty of time to say ‘thank you’ or ‘I love you’ or give somebody a compliment or what have you, and that day obviously did not come. But from the bottom of my heart, I’m so grateful for him to help me realize a life-long dream.”

Gibbard previously wrote of the song, “Before The Beatles, before The Velvet Underground and before punk and/or indie rock, The Monkees were the first band I truly loved. Their albums were always on in our home when I was a kid (especially Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.), and I learned to sing alongside them. I spent countless hours in front of the TV in the ’80s watching Monkees reruns wishing I could climb through the screen and be in the show with them. They made being in a band seem so fun — and godd*mmit, it should be! For these reasons and a million others, I can say with absolutely zero hyperbole that contributing ‘Me & Magdalena’ to this album has been the greatest honor of my career.”

Watch Gibbard perform “Barbara H.” above, starting at around 42:49 into the video.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

We’ve made it to April, but the joke’s on us because this quarantine is still going strong. Luckily, Netflix is giving us plenty of entertainment while we’re all trapped in our personal terror domes. A new comedy starring Ed Helms and Taraji P. Henson? Yes, please. The return of The Matrix trilogy? We’ll swallow that pill. More proof that Mark Zuckerberg is actually the worst a la The Social Network? Request accepted.

Here’s everything coming to (and leaving) Netflix this week of April 3.

Coffee & Kareem (Netflix film streaming 4/3)

Sure, watching billions of minutes worth of The Office means we’re probably all sick of Andy Bernard by now but look, Ed Helms is just trying to give us some good content to laugh at right now. Don’t punish him for the mistakes of the show’s later seasons. Here, he and Taraji P. Henson star in this action-packed comedy about the unlikely partnership between a 12-year-old kid and a police officer. Helms plays Coffee, a cop who starts dating Henson’s Vanessa and quickly finds himself on the bad side of Vanessa’s young son, Kareem. The boy’s plan to break the couple up begins with him hiring fugitives to take Coffee out, but things get complicated when Kareem stumbles upon a secret criminal network and Coffee has to help him get out of his mess alive.

The Matrix Trilogy (film series streaming 4/1)

The Wachowski sisters created one of the greatest sci-fi films in cinematic history with their mind-bending Matrix trilogy and now that it’s back on Netflix, we should pay our respects. Keanu Reeves plays Neo, a young man unplugged from the matrix — a kind of alternate reality that keeps humans docile, so machines can harvest their life energy. He teams up with a band of rebels fighting the machines (Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus and Carrie-Ann Moss as Trinity) and faces off against a henchman named Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving). The real draw of this trilogy, besides its inventive storyline, is the CGI effects that help pull off the most imaginative fight sequences you’ll ever see on the big screen.

The Social Network (film streaming 4/1)

It’s hard not to watch this Aaron Sorkin-penned, David Fincher-directed masterpiece and have your viewing experience colored by Facebook, and founder Mark Zuckerberg’s, many political misdealings but in the age of social distancing, this almost feels like required viewing. Jesse Eisenberg plays the boy genius, an outcast whose brainchild is the product of a bad breakup and sexism. He partners with Andrew Garfield’s business-minded Eduardo Saverin and the two create the famous social networking site before Zuckerberg outs his friend and alienates himself. The story isn’t new, but watching it play out is still thrilling, mostly because Eisenberg is just so great at being a prick.

Here’s a full list of what’s been added in the last week:

Avail. 4/1
40 Days and 40 Nights
Bloodsport
Cadillac Records
Can’t Hardly Wait
Cheech & Chong’s Up in Smoke
Community: Season 1-6
David Batra: Elefanten I Rummet
Deep Impact
God’s Not Dead
How to Fix a Drug Scandal
The Iliza Shlesinger Sketch Show
Just Friends
Killer Klowns from Outer Space
Kim’s Convenience: Season 4
Lethal Weapon
Lethal Weapon 2
Lethal Weapon 3
Lethal Weapon 4
Minority Report
Molly’s Game
Mortal Kombat
Mud
Nailed It!: Season 4
Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon: S3: Sun & Moon – Ultra Legends
Promised Land
Road to Perdition
Salt
School Daze
Sherlock Holmes
Soul Plane
Sunderland ‘Til I Die : Season 2
Sunrise in Heaven
Taxi Driver
The Death of Stalin
The Girl with All the Gifts
The Hangover
The Matrix
The Matrix Reloaded
The Matrix Revolutions
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
The Roommate
The Runaways
The Social Network
Wildling

Avail. 4/2
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Violet Evergarden: Eternity and the Auto Memory Doll

Avail. 4/3
Coffee & Kareem
La Casa de papel: Part 4
Money Heist: The Phenomenon
Spirit Riding Free: Riding Academy
StarBeam

And here’s what’s leaving next week, so it’s your last chance:

Leaving 4/4
American Odyssey: Season 1

Leaving 4/8
Movie 43

Last Updated: April 3rd

There are plenty of good TV series on Netflix. Arguably, too many, in fact. If you’re trying to figure out what to watch next, here’s a great place to start with a look at 65 of the best shows on Netflix right now (including some of the best Netflix original series). You can also find recent changes, including new seasons and removed shows, at the bottom of this list, while some of the most recently added entries listed first.

Related: The Best Movies On Netflix Right Now

Community

6 seasons, 110 episodes | IMDb: 8.5/10

Has there ever been a sitcom as downright clever as Community? Aside from the gas leak year, Community was quicker than nearly every other comedy out there, with jokes flying fast but also taking seasons to reach a punchline. After getting caught with a phony degree, former lawyer Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) heads to Greendale Community College to get a legitimate degree. There he gets into increasingly hilarious hijinks with his Spanish study group. Between paintball wars, zombie outbreaks, and the increasingly ridiculous presence of Senor Chang (Ken Jeong), Community is never, ever boring. Quit living in the darkest timeline and get to watching.

Feel Good

1 season, 6 episodes | IMDb: 7.5/10

Comedian Mae Martin stars in this feel-good dramedy series about a stand-up performer (named Mae), who falls for a young woman named George. Mae’s a recovering addict; George has just emerged from the closet. Sparks fly between the two, but Mae’s past drug use and George’s reluctance to come out to her friends and family threatens to break them up.

Tiger King

1 season, 7 episodes | IMDb: 8/10

There are stories to bizarre, too mind-boggling to be true… and then there’s this seven-part docuseries. Cults, queer romance, exotic cats — this true crime binge has it all. Is Joe Exotic, a gay, gun-loving conman running an exotic zoo out of his home in Oklahoma, a criminal or an American hero? Did animal rights activist Carole Baskin murder her husband and feed him to her tigers? Why are so many zoo employees missing limbs? These are just a few of the questions you’ll ask while watching this train wreck. Have fun, kids.

Narcos: Mexico

2 seasons, 20 episodes | IMDb: 8.4/10

Good news: Narcos is back. Even better news: Mexico is basically an entirely revamped show, which means you don’t need to be familiar with past installments to enjoy the wild ride. Diego Luna plays the new big bad, a drug lord looking to expand his reach, while Michael Pena plays the fed tasked with busting his operation. Luna looks to be thoroughly enjoying playing the sleazeball gangster-type, and since this installment is set in the 1980s, expect plenty of decadence, a killer soundtrack, and a ton of cocaine.

The Witcher

1 season, 8 episodes | IMDb: 8.5/10

Henry Cavill leads this fantasy epic based on a best-selling series of books and a popular video game franchise. The expectations are high, but they’re more than exceeded by Cavill, who plays a mutated monster hunter named Geralt. Showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich laid out for us the changes she made from page to screen, introducing key characters like the sorceress Yennefer and the destined princess Ciri early on, changes that take this show to the next level. It’s a cross between a police procedural and a Lord Of The Rings-style adventure. You’ll love it.

Living With Yourself

1 season, 8 episodes | IMDb: 7.3/10

The only thing better than a series starring Paul Rudd is a show starring two Paul Rudds. The funnyman leads this new original series while playing a man named Miles, who seems pretty dissatisfied with his life so far. After agreeing to participate in a mysterious spa treatment that promises a better, more successful life, Miles is left with a practically perfect doppelganger intent on taking his life from him. It’s dark and weird, and did we mention the two Paul Rudds?

When They See Us

1 season, 4 episodes | IMDb: 9/10

Director Ava DuVernay’s limited series about the wrongfully accused men in the Central Park Five case is an emotionally heavy reimagining of a truly tragic event in our history. The series sheds light on racial profiling and corruption in the NYPD as a group of young Black men are targeted for a heinous crime and put on trial with little evidence. It’s a gripping, heartbreaking retelling, but one that feels sadly relevant.

I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson

1 season, 6 episodes | IMDb: 7.6/10

Saturday Night Live and Detroiters alum Tim Robinson creates and stars in this 15-minute sketch comedy series that is perfectly happy to offer up a few irreverent laughs without all of the post-comedy commentary that weighs down other funny shows in 2019. It’s a mixed bag of unconnected stories about toddler pageants and old men out for revenge and how Instagram has warped our social interactions in hilariously bizarre ways. What each of these skits has in common is Robinson’s particular brand of comedy and his unrivaled ability to make you laugh.

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Tuca & Bertie

1 season, 10 episodes | IMDb: 7.4/10

Ali Wong and Tiffany Haddish voice the stars of this animated comedy from BoJack Horseman artist Lisa Hanawalt. Wong plays Bertie, a 30-something songbird thrush with debilitating anxiety, a knack for baking, and a truly toxic work environment. Haddish plays her best friend Tuca, a loud-mouthed toucan who loves to party and hates the thought of settling down. The friends try to hold on to their single days, even as Bertie takes the next step in her long-term relationship and Tuca struggles to find her place in the world. It’s a more colorful, comforting world than BoJack, but it’s got the same great humor and surprisingly-thoughtful musings.

Dead To Me

1 season, 10 episodes | IMDb: 8.1/10

Christina Applegate returns to TV with this grief-com about a woman trying to pick up the pieces after her husband is murdered in a horrible hit-and-run accident. Applegate plays the angry, grieving widow with equal parts humor and empathy while Linda Cardellini plays her sunny, optimistic best friend. The two meet in a grief group and navigate the challenges of moving on after loss while also solving a murder mystery. There’s no way you’ll know what to expect here, which is half the fun of watching.

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Russian Doll

1 season, 8 episodes | IMDb: 7.9/10

Natasha Lyonne stars in this Groundhog Day-from-hell remake about a woman who’s forced to relive the last day of her life over and over again. It’s been done before, but this series stands out thanks to its mix of dark humor and a tinge of the supernatural. Lyonne is one of the often overlooked OITNB stars, but it looks like this series is giving her a chance to show off her comedic chops as her character, Nadia, endures a constant loop of partying, dying, then waking up to do it all over again. As bleak as the premise is, Lyonne manages to find a silver lining, a universal message that basically read, “The world is sh*t, let’s help each other out if we can.”

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The Umbrella Academy

1 season, 10 episodes | IMDb: 8/10

Superhero team-ups are a dime a dozen, but the TV adaptation of this award-winning comic series created by Gerard Way — yes, the lead singer of My Chemical Romance — feels wholly unique and thus, totally refreshing. The show follows the story of seven kids, all born on the same day to mothers who didn’t even know they were pregnant. They’re adopted by a mysterious billionaire and trained to use their supernatural abilities to fight evil in the world, but when they grow up, their dysfunctional upbringing catches up with them, and they’re left struggling to live normal lives. It’s all kinds of weird, which is exactly what the genre needs right now.

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Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

3 seasons, 31 episodes | IMDb: 7.7/10

Kiernan Shipka stars in this witchy revival of a sitcom classic. This Sabrina Spellman is darker than what millennials are used to. As a half-mortal, half-witch, Spellman is an outcast with the magical community and the first season explores the cult-like fervor of magic users, their worship of Satan, and why Sabrina is being pressured to sign her name over to the Dark Lord. The show also tackles issues of romance, friendship, and sexism in clever, crafty ways and with season two newly released, expect things to get even more nightmarish for the Spellman clan.

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Bodyguard

1 season, 6 episodes | IMDb: 8.2/10

The UK’s most popular new drama has made its way across the pond. The procedural thriller stars Game of Thrones’ Richard Madden as David Budd, a military vet turned police officer tasked with protecting a high-profile politician during a, particularly dicey time. There’s plenty of suspense and action to string you along, coupled with a vulnerable performance by Madden, who ditches his King of the North swagger to play a man conflicted by his past and his present duty to his country.

The Haunting of Hill House

1 season, 10 episodes | IMDb: 8.7/10

Mike Flanagan knows how to do horror, and his latest series for Netflix, The Haunting of Hill House, is proof of that. The show, like the book off which it’s based, follows the fractured Crain family as they try to make peace with their dark and twisted path. Of course, through some carefully-timed flashbacks, we see why the Crain siblings are so messed up: They lived in a haunted house as children, a house that eventually caused the death of their mother. There are plenty of frights to keep horror fans interested in this thriller, but the real point of this show is investigating trauma and its lingering effects. Makes sense that horror is the best way to do that.

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Breaking Bad

5 seasons, 62 episodes | IMDb: 9.5/10

Not just the best series on Netflix, Breaking Bad is the best series of all time. There’s no debate about that.

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BoJack Horseman

6 seasons, 77 episodes | IMDb: 8.5/10

Not enough people on the Internet have explained that BoJack Horseman is not what it might seem like. Not enough people raved that it was an often very funny, often very heartbreaking meditation on depression. It’s an animated sitcom about a washed-up horse, and somehow, it’s also an incredibly profound look at deeper themes. It’s amazing, but it may also leave you in a depressive funk for days afterward. Its fourth season even placed it among our best TV shows of 2017, and, thankfully, Season 5 is just as funny and sad as ever.

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Stranger Things

3 seasons, 25 episodes | IMDb: 8.9/10

A throwback and love letter to the early 1980s movies of Steven Spielberg and John Carpenter, the Duffer Brothers’ Stranger Things feels both familiar and new. It’s about a boy named Will (think E.T.‘s Elliot) who is captured by a The Thing-like creature and trapped in a Poltergeist-like world. His mother (Winona Ryder) recruits the local sheriff to investigate Will’s disappearance. Meanwhile, Will’s dorky, Goonies-like best friends take to their bikes to do some sleuthing of their own and eventually befriend an alien-like girl with telepathic powers (the E.T. of the series). Season two continues that vibe as the show dives deeper into government conspiracies and alien monsters intent on wreaking havoc on small-town Indiana. It’s great PG horror/sci-fi, like the blockbusters of the early ’80s, and even if you didn’t come of age in the era, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.

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Mad Men

7 seasons, 92 episodes | IMDb: 8.6/10

Mad Men is one of the best-written, best acted, and engrossing dramas on television. Period. The first season is a little slow, but keep with it: Matthew Weiner eventually layers in a lot of fun elements, and takes it home for a great ending.

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The Office

9 seasons, 201 episodes | IMDb: 8.8/10

The original UK The Office mainstreamed Ricky Gervais’ awkward, uncomfortable humor, while The Office diluted it (some), layered in one of sitcom’s greatest romances (for four seasons, anyway), and surrounded Steve Carell with a remarkable, quirky supporting cast. The first four seasons still stand as the best workplace comedy in American sitcom history, even if the final four seasons were increasingly mediocre — though the series did redeem itself in the end.

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Parks and Recreation

7 seasons, 125 episodes | IMDb: 8.6/10

Witty, heartfelt, and funny, you’re not likely to find a more likable sitcom than Parks and Recreation. The first six episodes aren’t very good, but once they figured out what to do with Amy Poehler’s Leslie Knope, the sitcom began to thrive, thanks in huge part to its endearing supporting cast. Parks and Rec is blissful television, and a must watch for any fan of great sitcoms.

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Arrested Development

5 seasons, 84 episodes | IMDb: 8.9/10

The series lost some of the mystique it had gained after its cancellation because Netflix’s season four wasn’t to everyone’s satisfaction — though it flowers with repeat viewings, especially with the recut version of it. Arrested Development still stands as one of the funniest, most inventive, and most influential sitcoms of the generation.

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Orange is the New Black

7 seasons, 91 episodes | IMDb: 8.2/10

One of the best original shows on Netflix, this prison dramedy is a deeply human, funny, moving, realistic, progressive show about life and the bad decisions we’re all destined to make. OITNB humanizes the dehumanized, transforms labels — felons, thieves, murderers, embezzlers — into real human beings and reminds us that, even in prison, life isn’t put on hold. Life is being led. It’s a remarkably excellent series, and addictive as hell.

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Better Call Saul

4 seasons, 40 episodes | IMDb: 8.7/10

In its first season, Better Call Saul quickly put to rest any fears anyone might have had about a spin-off from arguably the greatest drama of all time, Breaking Bad (which sits atop this list). Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould return as showrunners, and they continue to bring the same level of complexity, intensity, and character development to Saul as they did for Breaking Bad. What’s most remarkable about the series, however, is that they managed to transform the Saul character into someone humane and sympathetic while staying true to the same character in the original series. Indeed, Saul is the most detail oriented and perhaps the smartest show on television, and one hell of an intense, suspenseful drama, which is all the more impressive because we know roughly where it will end up.

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American Horror Story

8 seasons, 106 episodes | IMDb: 8.1/10

Ryan Murphy’s horror anthology on FX is an unpredictable tour-de-force that, when it sticks its landing, is one of the best shows on TV. The series chronicles truly terrifying, mind-warping plots across multiple seasons, connecting some, ignoring others. What grounds these outrageous storylines involving haunted hotels, murder houses, insane asylums, cults, and covens is the cast, most notably Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, and Evan Peters. Murphy relies on their visceral portrayals of individuals unhinged to sell this whacky, nightmare-inducing rollercoaster and sell they do.

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Outlander

3 seasons, 43 episodes | IMDb: 8.5/10

At first glance, this bodice-ripper from Starz reads like the television adaptation of a dime-store paperback romance novel. It’s got time travel, sexy Scottish men in kilts, an arranged marriage, even a bit of witchcraft. But the show, starring Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan, elevates itself beyond those tropes, touching on everything from love and loss to the politics behind some of history’s most infamous conflicts. From the highlands to the French court, the series delivers awe-inducing visuals, career-making performances, and the kind of drama to keep you hooked.

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Documentary Now!

2 seasons, 14 episodes | IMDb: 8.1/10

Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, and Seth Meyers have created something truly unique with their riff on our culture’s obsession with docu-style TV series. The SNL alums mock the stylistic choices and subjects of other shows of its ilk, with episodes dedicated to everything from Grey Gardens to The Thin Blue Line. And the guest list for this thing is unbelievable.

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Mindhunter

2 seasons, 20 episodes | IMDb: 8.5/10

In Mindhunter, Jonathan Groff plays Holden Ford, a character based on the real-life John E. Douglas (the inspiration for Jack Crawford in the Hannibal series). The series itself is based on the origins of an actual behavioral science unit in the FBI used to study serial killers in the 1970s and 80s. Ford is a young FBI Agent who takes a keen interest in psychology which, in turn, grows into an interest in the psychology of sequential killers. It’s a fascinating exploration into the origins of what now seems commonplace, a science that has inspired dozens of police procedurals. What’s more interesting here, however, is that while Ford is studying serial killers (all of whom are based on actual serial killers from that era), Ford develops his own obsession with serial-killers that mirrors the obsession serial killers have with their victims. It’s engrossing and fascinating. The series comes from Joe Penhall and executive producer David Fincher (who also directs several episodes), and fans of Fincher’s Zodiac will appreciate Mindhunter for its same attention to detail, and the same dedication to character and research over surprising twists and reveals.

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Twin Peaks

2 seasons, 30 episodes | IMDb: 8.8/10

If small-town murder mysteries full of camp and supernatural phenomenon are your thing, well then why wouldn’t you watch (or re-watch) Twin Peaks? The series, crafted all the way back in the ’90s by David Lynch, is a cult-favorite and for good reason. With Kyle MacLachlan playing Special Agent Dale Cooper, a poor schmoe who’s called in to investigate the murder of homecoming queen Laura Palmer, he’s met with more than he bargained for. Conspiracies theories and otherworldly beings, time travel, and dwarves in red business suits soon follow. The original series may have ended with cliffhangers and unexplained plot-holes, but with the more recent Showtime revival, now’s as good a time as any to catch up on all the strange events that seem to plague this sleepy town.

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Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

4 seasons, 51 episodes | IMDb: 7.7/10

This Tina Fey-produced sitcom — which was originally supposed to air on NBC before the network agreed to give it to Netflix — is as dense and irreverent as 30 Rock, but it’s also immensely life-affirming. It’s funny, fast-paced, chock-full of pop-culture references and maybe the easiest Netflix original series to binge-watch. And, like 30 Rock, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt also includes a lot of fun — and unexpected — celebrity cameos and pop culture references throughout its four seasons.

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The Walking Dead

9 seasons, 131 episodes | IMDb: 8.3/10

Currently, the highest-rated scripted series on cable television, The Walking Dead is an up-and-down show. When it’s good, it’s phenomenal; when it’s not, it can be a slog (especially in the earlier half of the series, when Frank Darabont was showrunner). Greg Nicotero does fantastic FX work, and the series is particularly compelling because no one — no matter how high they are listed in the credits — is safe from the zombie apocalypse, and the showrunners seem to relish in killing off cast members (other than the almighty Rick Grimes). Some of the binge-watching value, however, is lost because it’s so difficult to avoid being spoiled to plot points of one of the most talked about series on TV. Nevertheless, unlike almost any television drama, up until the sixth season, The Walking Dead improved with age, Beware of the cliffhangers, however, in season six, and a precipitous fall off in quality thereafter.

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American Crime Story

2 seasons, 19 episodes | IMDb: 8.5/10

Although the original trial took place 20 years ago, and despite the fact that anyone watching the series already knows the outcome, The People vs. O.J. Simpson somehow remains a tense, suspenseful watch. Buoyed by incredible performances (the season was nominated for over 20 Emmy Awards, winning 8), The People vs. O.J. Simpson recreates the events following the murder of Ronald Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson and recasts them in the light of what we know now. In its second season, the shows moves focus on the assassination of design legend Gianni Versace by Andrew Cunanan. While not as strong as the amazing ensemble in Season 1, Season 2 boasts memorable portrayals of conflicted, complex figures by Darren Criss, Penelope Cruz, Édgar Ramírez, and (surprisingly) Ricky Martin.

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Sherlock

4 seasons, 13 episodes | IMDb: 9.2/10

Sherlock is the best iteration of the Sherlock Holmes ever to air on television. The British series from Steven Moffat stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, and despite the fact that it has been updated, it brilliantly captures the same spirit of Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic stories. It’s fast-paced, engrossing, brilliantly acted, often very funny, and frequently tragic.

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Master of None

2 seasons, 20 episodes | IMDb: 8.3/10

Intimate, funny, warm and kind, Master of None confidently tackles issues of sex and race from a perspective original to mainstream television. Creator, writer, and star Aziz Ansari loads the sitcom with smart observations and wry humor, and when it comes to dating as a thirty-something, Ansari just gets it. Sweet, sentimental, but never sappy, the mold-breaking Master of None may be the most thoughtful and well-considered dating sitcom on television.

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GLOW

3 seasons, 30 episodes | IMDb: 8/10

Packed full of hairspray, ’80s nostalgia, leotards, and neon eyeshadow, 2017’s GLOW surprised us all with a comedy about a group of unconventional women wrestling with stereotypes in and out of the ring. Led by Alison Brie and Marc Maron, the show is both a subversive commentary on issues of gender equality and sexism, and a raucous imagining of what goes on behind the scenes of an adult women’s wrestling league. In other words, it’s a damn good time. Brie carries the series, playing a struggling actress forced to take a “role” in this televised nonsense, but she’s by no means a heroine. In fact, it’s her battle to find her character and herself (while making amends for her bad behavior along the way) that’s so entertaining. Well, that and some good ol’ fashioned body slamming. Season two focuses the spotlight on the supporting cast as the women ready for their television debuts and contend with sexual harassment and misogyny in the workplace.

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Riverdale

3 seasons, 57 episodes | IMDb: 7.4/10

Riverdale is a dark teen comedy based on characters from the Archie comics. It mixes in elements of a conventional teen drama — romance, small-town life, and the high-school ecosystem — with a compelling, adult murder mystery. The series takes place in a small-town with a 1950s vibe (despite being firmly set in the present) where a high-school teenager is found dead under mysterious circumstances that implicate much of the community as suspects. Riverdale is powered not just by the mystery, but by characters who are instantly likable (Betty, Veronica, and Jughead are all standouts) and easy to invest in. The mystery is so incredibly intriguing that it’s almost impossible not to get wrapped up in it as the storyline guides us through numerous red herrings. It’s a madly addictive series, occasionally campy, and just self-aware enough not to take itself too seriously.

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Black Mirror

5 seasons, 22 episodes + interactive film | IMDb: 8.8/10

It cannot be stressed enough how amazing Britain’s Black Mirror is. It’s severely biting social commentary about the current and future technological age in the form of twisted, dark Twilight Zone episodes. It’s an incredible (and incredibly short) four seasons of television, and episode for episode, perhaps the best series on this list. Watch one episode, and you’ll be hooked.

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Dear White People

3 seasons, 30 episodes | IMDb: 6.3/10

Netflix’s original series Dear White People builds on the foundations laid by Spike Lee’s drama of the same name. The show kicks off during the aftermath of an event that happened in the film – a blackface party held by a white fraternity on a fictional college campus. Sam, a radio personality and student at the school, covers the fallout for her listeners and serves as a pseudo-narrator to all the goings-on at school. There are brief moments of humor and plenty of satire, but watching these kids deal with racist learning institutions and police brutality and ignorance from the privileged peers feels uncomfortable real and relevant. It’s a must-watch, not only because the acting is superb, and the storylines are rich, but because you’ll probably learn something you didn’t know but should.

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Rectify

4 seasons, 30 episodes | IMDb: 8.4/10

Rectify is maybe the best series on television that no one watched. Aden Young, in a soulful performance, plays Daniel Holden, a man locked up and put on death row nearly 20 years ago for raping and murdering his girlfriend. However, DNA evidence has come to light that casts doubt on his guilt, so the court system has no choice but to release him. Is he actually guilty? Or is he innocent and misunderstood? That’s the question at the heart of the series, and the question the people in his small town, including his family, have to ask themselves. Is this man we’re letting back into our family a murderer and a rapist, or is he the kind, thoughtful man he appears to be? Rectify is a beautiful show about appreciating life that manages to perfectly straddle the line between bleak and hopeful, and quietly features some of the best performances on television.

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Godless

1 season, 7 episodes | IMDb: 8.4/10

Exec produced by Steven Soderbergh and written, directed, and created by Scott Frank, who wrote Logan and Out of Sight, Godless, is equal parts a feminist Western and s a show about fathers and sons. The series is set in the 1880s in the small mining town of La Belle, where nearly all of the town’s men have died in a mining accident. Enter Roy Goode (Jack O’Connell), a charming gunslinger on the run from the mentor he double-crossed, Frank Griffin (Jeff Daniels), who — along with his crew out desperadoes — had already murdered everyone in another small town for harboring Goode. The series ultimately pits a town of mostly women against a brutal, merciless outlaw gang. Scoot McNairy, Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Sam Waterston play lawmen, but the standouts in Godless are Downton Abby‘s nearly unrecognizable shotgun wielding pioneer woman Michelle Dockery and Merritt Wever, a bisexual woman all out of f–ks to give. It’s a tremendously good series buoyed by beautiful cinematography, poetic language, a few great shoot-outs, and fine performances from the entire cast. It’s one of the best Netflix series of 2017.

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Daredevil

3 seasons, 39 episodes | IMDb: 8.7/10

Daredevil is unquestionably the best superhero series of all time. It has the addictive qualities of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it’s darker and more intense than any of those films. It’s harsh, with brutal eye-popping fight sequences. It has an excellent cast (led by Charlie Cox as the title character) with tons of chemistry, and nails the tone of the source material.

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The West Wing

7 seasons, 156 episodes | IMDb: 8.8/10

Television’s all-time best political drama The West Wing is Aaron Sorkin at his absolute best, working with one of the finest ensemble casts in television history. The show wavers after the fourth season (when Sorkin left), but it picks back up in its final season (with Jimmy Smits and Alan Alda). Here’s a celebration of the greatest fictional President of all time to get you warmed up for it.

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Big Mouth

3 seasons, 31 episodes | IMDb: 8/10

The animated, coming-of-age comedy from Nick Kroll is full of familiar voices and even more familiar life problems. Centered on a group of pre-pubescent friends, Kroll voices a younger version of himself, a kid named Andrew who’s going through some embarrassing life changes like inconvenient erections and strange wet dreams and bat-mitzvah meltdowns. All these traumatizing and hilarious happenings are usually caused by Maurice, Andrew’s own Hormone Monster (also voiced by Kroll) who takes pleasure (literally) in abusing the poor kid. As painfully accurate as the show is, if you’re lucky enough to be removed from that angst-ridden era of life, you’ll probably appreciate the humor in all of it.

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Marvel’s Jessica Jones

3 seasons, 39 episodes | IMDb: 8/10

As an episodic series, Jessica Jones occasionally falters in its first season. Jones is a private detective with certain special powers, but the series doesn’t put her P.I. talents to much use, instead focusing on one storyline surrounding the big bad, Kilgrave (David Tennant) for the entire 13 episodes. Tennant’s character, however, is the best reason to watch the series — he’s captivating yet repugnant, alluring yet vile — and the themes of rape and domestic abuse resonate loudly. Unfortunately, when Kilgrave is not onscreen, the series drifts, and that’s especially apparent in Season 2. Krysten Ritter’s title character is too often dour and sarcastic, robbing the series of some much-needed levity. Still, it’s a captivating, thematically-rich series that covers ground no other superhero series would dare to explore, and while that doesn’t make it the most entertaining Marvel series, it is the bravest and most unique among the Netflix originals.

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American Vandal

2 seasons, 16 episodes | IMDb: 8.2/10

In theory, American Vandal sounds silly and sophomoric, and it is, but it’s also a genuinely brilliant, incredibly clever, smartly written satire of true-crime documentaries. It plays just like any other true crime docuseries — interviews, investigations, multiple suspects, and numerous conspiracy theories — only the crime here is not a murder. In its first season, it’s a high-school student who has been accused by the school board of spray painting dicks on 27 cars, a crime that threatens his ability to graduate. It’s a brilliant whodunnit that just happens to also be the best parody of 2017, and it even took home a Peabody Award. The show’s follow-up season trades dick picks for explosive diarhhea which is just as fun, if not ten times as gross.

Gilmore Girls

7 seasons, 153 episodes | IMDb: 8.2/10

Maybe the wittiest, pop-culture rich drama ever, Gilmore Girls has nevertheless managed to hold up incredibly well over the years. It’s a great show to watch with a new generation of television viewers, it’s a great show to watch while bingeing on food, and it’s a great show to re-watch many times. The relationship between single mother Lorelai and her daughter, Rory, never gets old.

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Broadchurch

3 seasons, 24 episodes | IMDb: 8.4/10

A young boy is found dead in a seemingly idyllic small town, and the detectives charged with solving the case turn up twist after twist in tracking down the murderer. Despite its familiar premise (see also: Twin Peaks, The Killing), Broadchurch relies on its ensemble cast — specifically the impeccable David Tennant and Olivia Colman — to keep viewers caring after each red herring is tossed back into the ocean. The first series centers on the hunt for the killer while the second is on both the suspect’s trial and a reopened case from the past, but they both don’t let up in intrigue. A word of warning, though: This isn’t one of those TV dramas you should binge even if you want to. It gets heavy and emotionally exhausting, and unrestrained streaming kinda negates the effect of the show’s mysteries.

The Good Place

3 seasons, 37 episodes | IMDb: 8.2/10

Set in the afterlife, The Good Place sees a lazy, entitled selfish, Arizona woman Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell) enter into “Heaven” only to discover that — due to a mixup — she was incorrectly assigned. With the help of her new friends and, Shellstrop endeavors to be a better person and earn her place in Heaven. In the early goings, the high-concept premise feels like it’s going to run out of runway, but Mike Schur (Parks and Recreation) continually finds new directions to take the show and the characters, as the show humorously and sweetly tackles an array of moral dilemmas before arriving at a surprising twist ending. It’s a charming, clever and delightful series with a freshly-imagined approached that only improves as the season progresses and new wrinkles are explored, while Ted Danson is his usual remarkable self. It’s a fantastic comedy, one of the best TV shows on network television in recent years.

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Shameless

9 seasons, 110 episodes | IMDb: 8.7/10

The long-running Showtime series understands better than any other drama on television what it’s like to be poor in America. Set in Chicago, Shameless follows the lives of the Gallagher family as they struggle beneath the poverty line to make ends meet. The family is afflicted with alcoholism, drug addiction, mental illness, poor decision-making skills, and the kind of terrible luck that so often follows poor families, but they’ve also got each other, their resilience, and a determination to break the cycle, but in Shameless, impoverishment is the boogeyman that always comes back, hilariously and heartbreakingly.

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Peaky Blinders

5 seasons, 30 episodes | IMDb: 8.8/10

Another British import, Peaky Blinders is roughly the Netflix UK equivalent of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, taking place in the same time period and covering similar terrain. Peaky has one thing that Boardwalk does not, however, and that’s the piercing, intense Cillian Murphy. The show also features Tom Hardy as a phenomenal recurring character debuting in season two (along with Noah Taylor).

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The Crown

3 seasons, 30 episodes | IMDb: 8.7/10

At once intimate and sweeping, The Crown presents an inside view of the ascension of Queen Elizabeth II, played by Claire Foy, and the first few years of her reign. John Lithgow is featured as the indomitable Winston Churchill, struggling with the ignominy of age at the end of his career. Churchill’s support and mentorship of Elizabeth, despite his limitations, creates an important emotional center around which various historical events turn. Elizabeth’s relationship with her husband, Prince Phillip (Matt Smith) is also wonderfully explored; his role as consort is one that he by turns delights in and rebels against. The production spared no expense in painstakingly recreating the physical environments and rigid protocols that constrained and defined the royal family. The challenges posed by modernity and the post-colonial period are filtered through the Palace’s political structure, in which despite her role, Elizabeth’s personal needs and wishes are continually subsumed to protocol and appearance. This series will appeal to anyone who enjoys costume drama, but it is also a fascinating exploration of the post-WWII period and the development of a monarch who managed to maintain and even expand the popularity and stability of the British Monarchy against significant odds.

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Bloodline

3 seasons, 33 episodes | IMDb: 8.1/10

Bloodline is engrossing, so much so that somewhere along the way, you may find yourself wondering if you skipped an episode. You’ll start in on episode 7, fall into a trance, and wake up somewhere around episode 10, wondering what happened to the last four hours of your life. Ben Mendelsohn will hook you immediately, but after four or five episodes into season one — once the pieces begin to fall into place — the story will sweep you along toward the dark and sickly satisfying end, capping the season off with four of the best episodes in the short but stellar history of Netflix’s original programming. Unfortunately, the following seasons — while still a fine TV — don’t live up to the first.

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Jane the Virgin

5 seasons, 100 episodes | IMDb: 7.8/10

Based on a Spanish telenovela, Jane the Virgin plays more like a brilliant but genial satire of conventional telenovelas. Gina Rodriguez plays the virgin here, who is impregnated through an accidental artificial insemination. Matters are complicated, however, because she has to break the news of her pregnancy to her deeply religious family, as well as her fiancé, with whom she has never had sex. Jane also develops feelings for another man who just so happens to be the baby’s father. It sounds like a premise that could not sustain itself beyond 5 episodes, but the writing is so good and the characters so delightful that Jane never gets bogged down by its premise. It’s a genuinely delightful, heartwarming show, and Gina Rodriguez lights up the screen every second she is on it.

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New Girl

7 seasons, 146 episodes | IMDb: 7.7/10

Fox’s comedy about a quirky girl who moves in with three male roommates quickly evolved from a pretty straightforward premise to become one of the best shows on TV. Zooey Deschanel plays Jess, a teacher who’s forced to room with three other guys, Nick (Jake Johnson), Schmidt (Max Greenfield), and Winston (Lamorne Morris) after she discovers her boyfriend’s been cheating on her. For the next seven seasons, the gang grows to become close friends — getting married, having babies, experiencing sympathy PMS, and getting stuck in Mexico, among other disasters. Still, it’s the chemistry between the four mains that makes every outlandish episode work.

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House of Cards

6 seasons, 78 episodes | IMDb: 8.8/10

House Of Cards, Netflix’s first major foray into original programming, is worth every cent of its $100 million production budget, featuring searing performances, a droll sense of humor, slick writing, engrossing plot-lines, and Kevin Spacey chewing the face off the scenery. The first season is phenomenal, but the show rapidly goes downhill through its six seasons with some sparks of life in scattered seasons, with the final season focused on Robin Wright’s Claire Underwood being cluttered at best.

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Dexter

8 seasons, 96 episodes | IMDb: 8.7/10

Michael C. Hall is absolutely terrific as a blood spatter analyst for the Miami police department who moonlights as a serial killer and tries to keep his two lives separate. There’s a great opening season, a fantastic fourth season, and in between the two, a couple of decent ones. Do yourself a favor, however, and don’t bother with Dexter‘s final four seasons. It’s a testament to how good the first and fourth seasons were that it still gains a place upon this list, despite a deeply disappointing final season.

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Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

4 seasons, 62 episodes | IMDb: 7.7/10

A musical series about a woman who leaves her prestigious job in Manhattan to follow an ex-boyfriend to a small town in California, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is like no other show on a show on television. The premise is not unlike that of Felicity, but the tone is unique: Quirky and hilarious on the surface, but dark and subversive underneath. As co-creator (along with Aline Brosh McKenna) and star, Golden Globe winner Rachel Bloom provides catchy songs with irreverent lyrics that offer dark meditations on depression, insecurity, and the challenges of balancing careers and love lives. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is funny, feminist and infectious.

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Sense8

2 seasons, 24 episodes | IMDb: 8.4/10

Once the Wachowskis’ underappreciated sci-fi series establishes its characters, there’s at least one profoundly moving moment in every episode. Sense8 is rich with brilliant ideas, and, though they’re not always executed with perfect logic, the chemistry between the characters is undeniable. It’s impossible not to root for them, to feel and experience their ups and downs, their confusion and heartbreak, and, most of all, their love. The Wachowskis first foray into television is at once romantic, life-affirming, and thought-provoking.

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Grace And Frankie

6 seasons, 78 episodes | IMDb: 8.3/10

It’s rare that older women get a chance to shine on a half-hour comedy series, but if your stars happen to be Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda, you’d be insane not to have all the action center on them. Grace and Frankie follows the pair as they discover that their husbands have been carrying on an affair with each other. The news throws life into chaos, forcing Grace and Frankie to room together and pick up the pieces. Along the way, there are family squabbles, online dating drama, and a battle over the ladies’ organic lube company but at the heart of the show are these two women who bond after a devastating ordeal and support one another during a time of change and growth. Did we mention organic lube? There’s that, too.

Travelers

3 seasons, 34 episodes | IMDb: 8.2/10

Travelers is a sci-fi series co-produced by Netflix and a Canadian television network Showcase starring Eric McCormick (Will & Grace). It’s a light sci-fi drama about people from hundreds of years in the future whose consciences are sent back to the present day to take the place of others who are already about to die. They’re sent back, a la Terminator, to prevent a bleak future from taking place. In the present day, this group of people is tasked with missions to prevent the future dystopia from happening, but they also have to acclimate into the lives of their host bodies. It is a quintessential Netflix show: Easy-to-binge, madly addictive, fun as hell, and immediately engrossing. While it certainly borrows heavily from other sci-fi shows and movies, it does an excellent job of shaking it up and bringing fresh life to the genre.

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One Day at a Time

3 seasons, 39 episodes | IMDb: 8.2/10

A remake of a 1970s sitcom produced by 94-year-old iconic television producer Norman Lear, One Day at a Time manages to not only match its predecessor but miraculously improve upon it. This new version centers on a Cuban America family headed by a single mom (Justina Machado) raising three kids with the help of her mom (Rita Moreno). It’s broad jokes and laugh track feels somewhat out of place on the streaming service, but the jokes still land and more importantly, the characters connect in an honest way as they attempt to live on a modest nurse’s salary and maintain their Cuban heritage while adapting to modern progressivism (much like Fresh Off the Boat). It’s more poignant sitcom than it is funny, but it’s a warm, loving look at difficulties of single parenting that resonates as much today as it did in the ’70s.

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iZombie

5 seasons, 83 episodes | IMDb: 8/10

Creator Rob Thomas takes the same formula he applied to Veronica Mars and relocates it to iZombie, a police procedural with a twist. Liv More (Rose McIver) is a zombie who works in a Seattle morgue, where she eats the brains of murder victims. Doing so gives her access to the victims’ memories, which allows her to assist police in the investigations of their murders. Meanwhile, as the zombie virus spreads across Seattle, Liv Moore is also searching for a cure while also dealing with a love life complicated by the fact that she is undead. It’s a lightweight procedural that, like Veronica Mars, is bookended each season with a serialized arc. The series mostly succeeds, however, on the charms of its cast — Rahul Kohli is a particular standout, while David Anders plays the series’ Spike — and the clever, quick-witted writing (despite the presence of a zombie, the weekly cases tend to be fairly conventional).

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Schitt’s Creek

5 seasons, 66 episodes | IMDb: 8/10

Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara star in this Canadian sitcom about a wealthy family forced to scale down their extravagant lifestyle with hilarious results. Levy plays Johnny Rose, a rich video-store magnate who loses his fortune when his business manager fails to pay his taxes. O’Hara plays his wife, Moira, a former soap opera star who, along with her husband and their two pampered children, must move to a town called Schitt’s Creek. Johnny bought the town as a joke when the family had more money than they could spend, but now, the town and its residents serve as a comedic wake-up call for a guy who has problems rooting himself in reality. Levy is brilliant in this thing and it’s a damn shame the show is so overlooked by American audiences. Let’s change that.

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Happy Valley

2 seasons, 12 episodes | IMDb: 8.5/10

A gruff police sergeant (Sarah Lancashire) in North England tries to unravel an increasingly complicated and violent string of crime, stemming from a kidnapping of a young woman. As the pieces fall into place, she struggles to find justice for her own daughter who died years before and to care for the son she left behind. While the series follows plots done plenty of times before — kidnapping gone wrong, a killer targeting prostitutes — Lancashire’s commanding performance is more than captivating. A relatively unknown face for the casual American viewer, her portrayal of the very flawed yet non-compromising officer has earned Lancashire multiple BAFTA nominations and a win.

The OA

2 seasons, 16 episodes | IMDb: 7.9/10

The OA has been wildly divisive among both critics and viewers alike, with about 50 percent strongly disliking it and the other 50 percent incredibly intrigued by the Brit Marling series. Marling stars as Praire Johnson, a blind, adopted woman who disappears for seven years and when she returns, she has scars on her back, she’s clearly been underground for a long period of time, and she can see. She calls herself The OA, and shares the details of her disappearance with only a few select people, her cult of followers. It’s an ambitious, imaginative series and though it is wildly uneven, it still remains watchable, full of moments both profound and eye rolling. The problem with The OA, however, is that it buys too readily into its own ethos and ultimately takes itself way more seriously than any viewer could.

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Recent Changes Through April 2020:
Added: Narcos: Mexico, Community, Tiger King, Feel Good, Happy Valley, The OA

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This week on Top Chef, the contestants all traveled to the Getty Museum so that they could become inspired by famous styles of art — Rococo, Baroque, Renaissance, Neoclassical. It proved to be a tough challenge for the contestants, as “crudo” is not generally considered a style of art (yet?). That being said, experiencing beautiful art through the lens of a vanity project museum designed as a tax shelter by a ruthless oil magnate does feel very true to the spirit of Los Angeles. It should’ve included having to steal resources from other parts of the state.

The challenge was judged by a table of snooty hipsters and Ludo Lefevbre, punk rock Frenchman/human Pepe Le Pew. They also chose to include at least one judge wearing a baffling statement hat, which is, again, very true to the spirit of LA. I like how he cut out his own ear holes on the sides, like a bunny rabbit wearing a ten-gallon cowboy hat. Half of living in LA is trying not to comment on someone’s inexplicable, weather-inappropriate hat choice, so nice job on that, producers.

Before all that though, Randall Park and Ali Wong showed up to introduce a fried rice challenge — a guest spot that probably made a lot more sense when this season was originally supposed to air back in the fall, and Park and Wong’s food movie, Always Be My Maybe, was much fresher in our minds. But taking credit for things that were actually produced in the Bay Area like Ali Wong is, again, very true to the spirit of Los Angeles.

RESULTS:

Quickfire Top: Karen, Kevin, Eric.
Quickfire Bottom: Jamie, Nini.

Elimination Top: Malarkey, Voltage, Melissa, Eric.
Elimination Bottom: Lee Anne, Stephanie, Jamie, Karen

POWER RANKINGS

13. (-4) ((Eliminated) Jamie Lynch

AKA: Midnight Olive Oil. Aka Gravel. Aka Suicidal Ten-dad-cies.

Jamie whiffed on his giant spam cubes in the quickfire (too bad, the crispy shallots were a good idea), which probably would’ve worked great at half the size at which he cut them. You really want to maximize the surface area of Spam, not the taste. After the elimination challenge, he ended up going home, yet again, on account of serving dusty, dry-ass chicken breast. Just an absolute spackling paste of chicken mush, mealing around the judges’ mouths like a tumbleweed.

Jamie briefly made us believe that he’d learned something from his initial run on Top Chef, using his sous vide to cook the chicken breast instead of a sticky grill, but somehow he managed to screw up even sous vide chicken.

Not to Friday morning quarterback here, but I think I see the problem: choosing to cook fucking chicken breast. Be honest with yourself: do you really think you’re going to win a cooking competition cooking chicken breast? The best goddamn chicken breast I’ve ever eaten would still lose in a walk to, hell, a BLT. Or any other part of the chicken. And that’s before Jamie managed to serve his without the jus, which to a Frenchman is like serving a baguette without a striped turtleneck.

12. (-1) Lee Anne Wong

AKA: Frazzle. Aka Loud Mom. Aka Queasy. Aka Lee Anne Tigertelli.

A fried rice competition sounded like a gimme for Lee Anne, a Chinese-Hawaiian mom. But the fact that she didn’t end up in the top three AND ended up in the bottom of the elimination challenge (again) feels like more than enough to put her in the bottom of this week’s rankings. Honestly, I’m not sure how she’s even still here.

This week, she chose to make a duck egg with duck, as a riff on the Madonna and child. Which sounded like a good enough idea, if only she hadn’t paired it with (*deep breath*) two separate beet purees, a black garlic sauce, poached apples, and a bread and celery root puree. Madonn’, work smarter not harder! How many times have you said to yourself “Gee, this is good, but I think it’d be better with five more sauces?”

11. (+1) Lisa Fernandes

AKA: Salty. Aka Grimes.

In this week’s elimination challenge, Grimes cooked “chipotle-braised brisket with tons of dried fruit, habanero red onion, tomato salsita with lots of chilis, and crispy carrots on top for crunch,” which I guess does get points for baroque-ness. She really baroque the mold with that one. And thank God, no one should ever use that mold. Lisa or Lee Anne feel like stone cold locks to go home next.

10. (+3) Stephanie Cmar

AKA: C-Monster. Aka Underdog.

As always, you can count on the C-Monster for great ideas — Nashville fried frog legs spiced with red hots was a stroke of genius. In the elimination, she made tortellini with mortadella, something I literally made myself just last week (it was good, yo). Even the nude bellies in Rococo art reminding her of tortellini made more sense as an inspiration than just about anyone else’s dish. “Mortadella tortelloni with umami nage” also sounds like a sweet scat line. It’s got a very “RC Cola and-a, moon pie!” rhythm to it. “Mortadella tortelloni with-a, umami nage!” More dish names should be syncopated if you ask me.

But once again, the C-Monster couldn’t execute. She got dinged for undercooked pasta and just like that, a clever concept went pissing down her leg. That’s what you call an al-don’te. Between her chewy pasta and shithouse flatbread, maybe the key for Stephanie is to stop attempting high-risk starches. Remember the shrimp and corn, C-Monster. Repeat it to yourself as a mantra, like Tommy Boy and the chicken wings.

9. (-1) Jen Carroll

AKA: Calamity Jenn

Calamity Jenn continues to be this season’s most invisible contestant, which is disappointing as I find her to be one of the most compelling characters. Very on-brand that Calamity Jenn was hanging with the boys while the girls were having a heart to heart in the other room. Other than that, her screen time was mostly mispronunciation based.

Jenn’s quickfire dish went uncommented upon and she failed to impress guest judge Ludo with her fish, who said Eet eez just feesh een a sows! Trés boreeng! Wow, I can’t believe someone said that about a Jenn Carroll dish. And a Jenn Carroll fish dish at that! Jenn Carroll is the fucking Kobe Bryant of fish dishes, how dare you. Don’t you know she used to work for Eric Ripert??

I like to imagine that Ludo and Eric Ripert have some kind of extremely French blood feud, like one time Eric Ripert kicked Ludo’s snail in the dirt, and Ludo took it out on Calamity Jenn.

8. (-3) Karen Akunowicz

AKA: Good Witch. Aka Glenda. Aka Aunt Kitty. Aka Rosie The Triveter

I just don’t know what the hell to do with Karen. She’s up, she’s down, she seems like a favorite and then she fails to execute on a chicken thigh (a staple food, in my house). Karen was top three in the quickfire and then made a braised chicken thigh with braised chicory, which definitely sounded delicious but apparently wasn’t. I’m forced to drop her down in the rankings, even if “being able to translate paintings into food” isn’t necessarily high on my list of crucial chef skills. It should be illegal for someone with that good of a cat eye to fail at an art challenge.

7. (+1) Brian Malarkey

AKA: Grandpa Fancy. Aka Shenanigans. Aka Squirrelly Bird. Aka The Emperor.

Shenanigans started this episode with a vadouvan-spiced forbidden rice in the quickfire and finished it with a vadouvan haloed halibut in the elimination. Hey, man, save some vadouvan for the rest of us, will ya?

I don’t know if Shenanigans truly understands renaissance art — his fashion sense is certainly more baroque — but of all the dishes, his was the one that most looked like “art.” It was enough to earn him a surprise top-four finish. It’s hard to know how much stock to put in that though, whether it’s a harbinger of things to come or just an example of even an extremely spazzy clock being right twice a day. Tom said Shenanigans has a shot in this competition as long he continues to edit himself. And, well, I’m not quite ready to give the benefit of that to the guy who doesn’t even edit the thoughts he says out loud.

6. (even) Nini Nguyen

AKA: Broad City. Aka Quipz. Aka Bolo.

Nini immediately connected with Ali Wong, on account of both being sassy Vietnamese-American women in sumptuously patterned tops and fashionable eyeglass frames (do I hear buddy comedy?). Unfortunately, she chose to make fried rice with watermelon, which didn’t work out so well. On account of, ya know, water generally not mixing very well with crispy things.

In the elimination challenged Nini managed to work being from New Orleans into her “rebirth” themed gumbo for Renaissance, topping it with a veil-like rice tuile. Which… I dunno, seemed like a pretty good idea to me. But not so according to nose ring judge, who called it “not very beautiful.”

How DARE you. I will fight anyone who is mean to my beloved Nini. Nini always puts me in a good mood and I think she got a raw deal this week.

5. (+5) Eric Adjepong

AKA: Ghana. Aka Thesis. Aka Uncle Rico. Aka Kanye West Africa.

Thesis went weird and was rewarded in the quickfire, landing in the top three with his peanut butter and jelly (inspired) fried rice. That sounded weird as hell, but if anyone’s going to surprise me with peanut butter it’s probably the African chef. (Wait no, if anyone’s going to surprise me with peanut butter, it’s going to be your mom).

It was a much-needed high finish for Eric after two sub-par episodes, and he kept it going with a top-four finish in the elimination challenge. He made a poached fish over buttermilk xantham gum (yeah I dunno either, man) that somehow qualified as “austere,” in the neoclassical style. Gail Simmons even said Eric’s dish made her “feel something,” which made me feel something.

It was a solid result. But I also think Eric had a natural advantage this week on account of he’s been to grad school, the ultimate training ground of bullshitting about art, and justifying your own bullshit through art. Game recognize game.

4. (-1) Kevin Gillespie:

AKA: Hops. Aka Oops All Kevins. Aka Bachelor Fried Rice.

Bachelor Fried Rice over here won the dang quickfire despite (allegedly) not cooking much Asian food, a second win in a row for Kevin. He was clearly on a hot streak, and then he lived all of our dreams by using his immunity from the quickfire to totally mail it in in the elimination challenge. His lamb loin looked half-assed as hell, and honestly? You gotta respect it.

Use your vacation time, people. Kevin is an inspiration.

3. (-1) Gregory Bourdet

AKA: Kravitz. Aka Hepcat. Aka Lids.

Lids, being the coolest cat around, mostly succeeds by keeping it chill, cooking food that makes sense and not doing anything stupid. He doesn’t cook dumb shit that’s never going to win, like Jamie, or get so wrapped up in a challenge that he forgets the food, like Lee Anne, or attempt high-risk, easily fuck up-able starches like Stephanie. This week he made a miso-spiced beef short rib. Which sounds like… something you’d eat, right? Yep.

Gregory doesn’t overcomplicate things, he just hangs around, laying down that silky bass groove. I would kill to have half this guy’s chill.

2. (+1) Melissa King

Speaking of obnoxiously well put together people who exude preternatural chill, there’s Melissa, the female Gregory. Melissa seemed like a top seed from the beginning and still does, getting the win in this challenge. Melissa made a “Michelin star deesh, I would put eet een my restaurant,” according to Judge Ludo, a lobster wonton in charred allium sauce. That sounds delicious, and I don’t even know what allium is. (I believe the British call it al-you-mini-yum?). [It’s fancy chef wording for garlic. -ed]

In my mind, Melisa, Gregory, and Bryan are basically in a dead heat right now.

1. (even) Bryan Voltaggio

AKA: Flatbill Dad. Aka Bry Voltage. Aka Kyle Shanahan. Aka Linkin Clark Griswold.

Bryan Voltaggio, everyone’s dad, was clearly inspired by all the art this week, saying things like “Gosh!” “Wow!” and “Jeez that’s a heck of a painting.”

He went on to cook a halibut with smoked sweet potato puree so good that he landed in the top four despite it not being baroque at all. I’m actually pretty pissed that there was no cutaway of Bryan saying “well you know what they say, if it ain’t baroque don’t fix it, ha ha ha.” Bry-Voltage continues to remind me of Peyton Manning here — exuding a kind of natural authority and seeming almost too dorky to screw up. Bryan Voltaggio’s natural, thoroughly unremarkable competence is what I want in a president.

Vince Mancini is on Twitter. Read more of his cooking commentary and mom jokes in UPROXX’s Cooking Battles. For past Top Chef Power Rankings, go here.

TikTok has become a prominent force in the music industry as a growing number of artists have taken to the platform to promote their latest singles. Last week, Curtis Roach shared an official video and full-length song with Tyga based off his viral TikTok video, “Bored In The House.” K Camp’s “Lottery (Renegade)” achieved extreme success on the app thanks to its accompanying dance routine. Placing his surfboard right on the TikTok wave, Drake joins the mix with his latest single, “Toosie Slide.”

Prior to the song’s release, Drake sent the track over to Toosie, the famed Atlanta dancer in which the song is named after, to debut it to the world. Paired with a dance routine, Ayo & Teo (who released their viral track, “Rolex,” in 2017), Hiii Key, and Toosie instructed viewers on how to do the “Toosie Slide.” Following the song’s lyrics, listeners are instructed to put their “right foot up, left foot slide/left up, right foot slide.” A couple of days after the first previews of the song were shared, Drake revealed that the song would be released by the end of the week.

The song serves as Drake’s second release of the year following February’s “When They Say When/Chicago Freestyle.” The song also arrives days after he shared the first pictures of his two-year-old son Adonis.

Press play on “Toosie Slide” above.

Joining the growing list of artists, which includes Cardi B and Kehlani, who have been forced to delay their upcoming releases due to the coronavirus, Gunna has had his upcoming album, Wunna, shelved for the time being as a result of the virus. Looking to keep the anticipation for the album high following the last month’s “Skybox,” he shared his new single, “Quarantine Clean.”

Bringing Young Thug into the mix, the two Atlanta-born rappers join forces yet another collaboration, adding on to their laundry list of songs together. Produced by Turbo, the song stands as a well-timed released aimed a bringing a bit of attention towards the coronavirus and self-isolation.

Young Thug has been a bit vocal with his frustrations with the coronavirus and its effect on the music industry, noting on Thursday that he was losing millions of dollars as a result of the virus. Thug continued to air out his frustrations on the track with Gunna rapping, “Why would a disease come around when you getting rich,” adding onto the line, Thug also made some rather insensitive comments about sexual assualt accusations saying, “Seems like when you getting money rape come easy for a b*tch.”

Press play on the video above to listen to “Quarantine Clean.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.