2015…what a year, amirite? During each of the final days of the year, the Decider staff will be counting down our favorite and most memorable moments of 2015. If you happen to miss an installment along the way, don’t fret! You can follow all the action on our official Best 15 Of 2015 hub page.
This year, though.
Even with fifteen spots to fill on the “bests” of this year, I still had trouble narrowing down the winners of my own, made up superlatives. In order to do so, my very scientific method included noting what irked me, what brought me to tears, what sparked more than one thinkpiece, and which movies, shows, episodes, web series, and buzzworthy moments urged me to watch them multiple times. Needless to say it was tough. And messy. I imagine this is what choosing your favorite kid must be like if you’re a parent. So before I change my mind, here are the very best pop culture moments of this year according to me, Olivia Armstrong, a post-grad with an incurable disease of telling people what to watch.
Best Web Series: 'Om City'
I’m always on the hunt for a solid web series because, like children, they are the future. I even make a weekly point of highlighting the best short form content the Internet has to offer in my Afternoon Delight column. And while I’ve been a tireless campaigner for series like High Maintenance and just about everything UCB is churning out these days, no web show blew me away quite like Om City did this year. Not only is the clever yoga dramedy heartwarming and refreshing, but its production value rivals even the biggest budget online productions the web has to offer.
Best Horror Movie: 'It Follows'
I think I’ve watched David Robert Mitchell’s modern masterpiece roughly ten times since its spring release. As a diehard horror junkie, I’m often disappointed by how frequently I find myself turning to foreign fare to get my scare fix. So imagine my surprise when I first saw Maika Monroe running away from a sexually transmitted monster. It was kind of a religious experience.
Best Reunion: 'Gilmore Girls'
Covering this reunion at ATX TV Festival in Austin back in June was like being swallowed up into a cult. A cult based on the work of Amy Sherman-Palladino (which could be pretty wonderful). I was surrounded by fans of all ages from all over the world who, upon watching Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, and the rest of Stars Hollow take the stage at the Paramount Theater, had tears of joy streaming down their faces. And you thought I was the crazy one?
Best Award Show Moment: Viola Davis' Acceptance Speech
If this speech didn’t bring tears to your eyes (looking at you Claire Danes), you might be made of stone. A groundbreaking moment for women of color, Viola Davis of ABC’s How to Get Away with Murder became the first black woman to win for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. Her poignant speech, however, reminded us that we still have quite a ways to go.
Most Pleasant Surprise: 'Red Oaks' on Amazon
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I binged through Amazon’s Red Oaks, but I surely didn’t think it would end up being one of my favorite series of the year. A blend of The Graduate and Caddyshack, the sharply-written ’80s throwback is a love letter to a slightly simpler time set around one college kid’s (Craig Roberts) life-changing summer at a local country club.
Craziest Reality Binge: 'Making a Murderer'
Though it doesn’t harness the same commercial appeal as Serial and it isn’t nearly as flashy as The Jinx, Netflix’s new docuseries, Making a Murderer is one of the craziest, most fascinating shows available to watch on streaming. Filmed over the course of ten years, the ten-episode true crime procedural follows the life of Steven Avery, a poor, Wisconsin man who served 18 years of jail time for a crime he didn’t commit only to come out and find himself as the prime suspect in the brutal murder of a young woman. Not only is Avery’s mind-blowing story a portrait of the legal system’s consistent attack on the poor and uneducated, but also brings to light the detrimental influence media has on high-profile court cases.
Best Trailer: 'Chi-Raq'
When you see the tagline, “A Spike Lee Joint,” you know whatever it is you’re about to watch is going to be smart, sexy, thought-provoking, maddening, and perhaps most importantly, different. Lee’s latest, Chi-Raq, is a modern day take on the Greek satire, Lysistrata, about the titular heroine’s cock-blocking campaign to help end violence in her community. But instead of Athens, Lee sets his story in Chicago’s South Side, where gang-related homicides have surpassed the number of American lives lost in Iraq.
Best Guilty Pleasure: 'Flesh and Bone'
Trading meth for madness in tutus, Breaking Bad’s Moira Walley-Beckett brought the year’s most bonkers bingewatch to premium cable. A sex, drugs, and incest-fueled soap opera, Flesh and Bone portrays the cutthroat nature of professional ballet through over-the-top characters and situations that make you feel as if you’re watching a performance unfold before your very eyes.
Best Sex Scene: Abbi Pegs Jeremy on 'Broad City'
2015 was a great year to be a lady and it’s no coincidence that in the same year, Abbi finally bedded her hot next door neighbor on beloved stoner comedy, Broad City. Oh yeah, and she got to peg him upon his request. A comedic triumph that was as groundbreaking as it was hysterical, Jacobson became an overnight dildo-donning Internet goddess who also delivered the single greatest response to her Emmy snub, “Who do you have to peg in this town?!”
Most Outrageous TV Experience: Bingeing 'House Of Cards' Season Three in One Sitting
For House of Cards‘ third season premiere, my editor and I thought it wise that I should get up at 3 AM, watch all thirteen episodes in one sitting, and live-blog the whole experience. I did it. And it was an experience to say the very least: full of laughs, tears, and delirium. Oh, the delirium. But perhaps CNN Money summed it up best:
Best Hour of Television: 'The Leftovers', "International Assassin"
From Justin Theroux’s slippery start to its heart-stopping finish at the bottom of a wishing well, the eighth episode of The Leftovers‘ relentlessly emotional sophomore season was arguably the single greatest hour of television this year. Packed to the gills with tear-jerking twists and turns and orchestrated by an opera-inspired score, “International Assassin” secured secured Damon Lindelof’s supernatural series a spot in television infamy.
Best Season of the Year: 'The Americans': Season Three
The Americans, you guys! Why don’t any of you watch this show?! (Long sigh). It’s fine. I have faith that one day, The Americans will have a legacy similar to that of The Wire: ignored when it was on only to be praised by audiences, critics, and academia ten years down the road. This season, it was all hands on deck for the Soviet spy drama which never failed to make me shout, weep, and storm away from my screen — a tornado of emotion — for thirteen straight episodes.
Best Moviegoing Experience: 'Mad Max: Fury Road'
2015 was a year of pegging (as noted above), chicks fighting with lightsabers, and Amy Schumer. But nothing made me feel prouder of my lady parts than watching Mad Max: Fury Road in IMAX. I was enveloped by post-apocalyptic feminism led by a one-armed Charlize Theron who took it upon herself to use Tom Hardy’s body as a human tripod for her semi-automatic. Yes, yes, and more yes.
All Around Best: Tom Hardy
Speaking of Tom Hardy, that muscly little dude had quite a year. Between Mad Max, WWII drama Child 44, bank-robbing biopic Legend, and survival epic, The Revenant; Hardy has established himself as one of Hollywood’s most profitable talents who never fails to deliver unforgettable performances (even if he has a habit of pissing off press). Now if only Peaky Blinders Season Three could get a move on, all would be right with the world.
Best Thing I Streamed in 2015: 'Chef's Table'
Dear God in Parmigiano-Reggiano heaven, please let there be tortellini from Modena, Italy up there. That’s really all I ask. An enthralling look at lives of six master chefs from New York to Italy to Argentina and more, this Netflix docuseries is hands down, my favorite original show the streaming platform has to offer. As mesmerizing as it is mouth-watering, Chef’s Table invites you to see, first hand, how artists of the kitchen are helping change the world through the power of cuisine. Bon appétit.