3 amazing episodes that defined Apple TV+

With the huge amount of content on streaming services today, it's very easy to just find yourself going along with the flow and watching the same old TV shows.

After all, there are entire series designed to be "cosy" and able to be watched almost as a second screen option – those to have on in the background while you play on your phone.

Then there are shows that absolutely demand your attention, with weird or wonderful episodes you remember long after viewing. And Apple TV+ seems to be a master at those.

Here then are three amazing episodes to be found on Apple TV+ that not only stood their series apart, but the entire streaming platform itself.

Be aware though, there are definitely spoilers ahead.

For All Mankind

"The Grey" – Season 2, Episode 10

For All Mankind is an epic sci-fi drama set in an alternative 20th century. It follows the space race through the eyes of both American and Russian astronauts, and the families they leave back on Earth.

Running for multiple seasons already, the show has seamlessly blended family drama with political intrigue, while throwing in a solid dose of hyper-realistic space exploration for good measure.

And by the time we get to the end of season 2 and "The Grey", it has ramped up tensions between the US and Russia to boiling point, relationships are on the verge of collapse and the fate of Earth itself seems to be hanging in the balance.

In a single episode, we see major characters sacrifice themselves, marriages break down and a military attack on an unarmed space colony by Russian forces that leaves fan favourites dead, and the audience in no doubt that things have changed dramatically.

As a season finale it has everything and then some. It proved once again that For All Mankind isn't afraid of being brutal, and continues to be one of the best written and produced shows on the network

Powerful stuff and absolutely compelling viewing.

Severance

"Defiant Jazz" – Season 1, Episode 7

Severance is a weird and unique show... which is why we all love it so much.

It's intelligent, beautiful looking, and so deeply involving that it's almost impossible not to get drawn in and hooked. The show has been an absolute revelation for Apple, especially given the limited number of seasons currently available.

Coming near the end of the first season, "Defiant Jazz" marks a huge change in attitude for the characters. Plot points converge, motivations are revealed, and things will not be the same moving forward.

But perhaps even more importantly, in the middle of all this we suddenly get the "Music Dance Experience" – a reward for the character Helly reaching 75% refinement. And it provides David Lynch levels of weirdness.

A trolley is wheeled out and our characters are given the choice of music to literally simply dance to... well, for five minutes anyway. It sparks off a simply wonderful scene of much missed joy and abandonment, and pretty much sums up every corporate work party you have ever been to. It's odd, confusing, awkward, and ultimately memorable.

The "Music Dance Experience" change perceptions of Severance and set the stall for what was to become. And it spawned a million memes in the process.

Truly iconic.

Ted Lasso

"Beard After Hours" – Season 2, Episode 9

Imagine being so confident in your writing and having such belief in a show that you decide to add in a fully self-contained episode in the middle of a season, that has zero relevance to the ongoing story. One that makes no difference to the plot and is completely focused on a secondary character.

That's what Brett Goldstein did with "Beard After Hours". And it's something truly awesome.

Ted Lasso started in 2020 with upbeat, half hour comedy episodes about a struggling football team and their new and inexperienced American manager. It rapidly grew in both appeal and scope with the second season more in line with hour long serious drama shows.

Then came "Beard After Dark".

It follows Lasso's assistant, coach Beard on a night out in London after a semi-final defeat, watching him bouncs from drama to drama, location to location in a journey of self acceptance. He learns to release himself from anxiety and depression, and finds his own personal freedom.

It's a strange, random, but ultimately uplifting episode.