Apple TV and Hulu dominated the top of our weekly tv list this week, with the best episodes from both Dark Matter and Slow Horses releasing, along with comedy favorites at Hulu with It's Always Sunny and Abbott Elementary, a truly unique week for 2026 TV. TwilightRoom’s TV Weekly recap for October 12 - October 18, 2026, covers the latest episodes from everyone’s favorite shows over the past seven days, making sure you’re fully caught up and ready to hit play on everything worth watching in the week ahead.
1. Dark Matter Season 2 Ep. 8
88/100 – Apple TV – Next Ep. October 22 – 7:00 PM
Dark Matter delivers the best episode the show has ever produced, an expansion built almost entirely around one new character that brings together everything happening inside the Box across time into a single hour. Margo Martindale’s Laurel is a former military nurse living alone in a house she converted into a makeshift hospital after a dirty bomb hit Chicago. The episode traces her through an authoritarian crackdown that took her partner Rory into a holding cell he never left, leaving her convinced nobody can be trusted. What finally cracks that conviction is a Jason and an Amanda falling out of the Box into her living room, Amanda impaled and dying. The months Laurel spends nursing them both back become the most quietly devastating material the show has attempted, with Jason refusing to leave Amanda’s bedside as the two fall in love. The gut punch is that this Jason eventually makes it back to his own family and then returns anyway, choosing Amanda. That choice gives Charlie’s arrival at the end its full weight, as a father who is not his father tells him to go find Max. A truly heartfelt sci-fi episode and the standout hour of the week.
2. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 18 Ep. 10
87/100 – Hulu – Season Complete
It’s Always Sunny closes out season eighteen with its best episode, a sleepover premise that is both completely self-aware and genuinely hilarious. The whole thing rides on the simple absurdity of grown men committing fully to a childhood ritual, with Charlie cementing his place as the season’s MVP by giving Dennis some surprisingly sincere advice. Dennis responds with the softest, most endearing version of himself the show has ever allowed, a shift that is jarring for about thirty seconds before becoming the best thing in the episode. Frank operates in his usual register of underwear theft and worse while the danger escalates over at Dee’s apartment, keeping the whole thing from tipping too far into sentiment. Dennis and Charlie staying up all night drawing on everyone else is exactly the right closing image, a real return to form that reaffirms the partnership the show was built on eighteen seasons ago.
3. Abbott Elementary Season 6 Ep. 2
85/100 –Hulu/CBS – October 21 5:30 PM
Abbott Elementary isn’t quite as good here as it was in the premiere, but this is another great episode, with Gregory again emerging as the standout of a season he is excelling in. His check-in meetings with the teachers give the episode its spine, with Ava correctly diagnosing him as being in the double-down stage of refusing to admit he was wrong. His eventual decision to ask her for a substitute so he can commit fully to being assistant principal is handled with more grace than the show usually allows him. Janine finding Courtney wandering the halls late is the emotional center, especially once Ava quietly works out that the girl’s parents are divorcing and talks to her about schoolwork without ever naming what is really going on. Barbara navigating her class’s questions about Justin’s alopecia while respecting his parents’ wishes is the best small story here, and the General Hospital runner paying off with everyone gathered in the lounge is exactly the kind of ensemble beat this show lands better than anyone.
4. Slow Horses Season 6 Ep. 5
85/100 – Apple TV – October 20 – 9:00 PM
Slow Horses proves again that a little romance and some careless decision-making never hurt a thriller, leaning into both in an episode executed about as well as anything this series has done. The lakeside sequence is the standout, with Sid using a hidden novelty plate from the back seat to flip the car before Jim chases her to the water and nearly drowns her, only for River to arrive just in time for the two of them to finish him together. From there, the episode belongs to Lamb, who finally pieces together the Kazan operation and realizes Taverner funded an unauthorized revenge mission with Cantor’s money, used Sid’s identity as cover, and wiped her records—the decision that exposed Slough House to Vassily’s hit list in the first place. River refusing to hand Sid over once he clocks that the flight plan leads to Bulgaria rather than Russia is exactly the kind of reckless choice this character would make, and their kiss before he stays behind to buy her time is long overdue. With Jane still out there, Sid on the run, and Lamb tracking Natasha toward Cantor’s dinner, this sets up a great finale next week.
5. War Ep. 3
83/100 – HBO MAX– October 23 – 6:00 PM
War finds its groove after last week’s setup episode, with the business-of-divorce setting finally generating the implications, complex dialogue, and genuine drama that make this show intriguing. The whole hour is built around Taylor & Byrne trying to break the prenup, running through one failed theory after another before settling on Serena’s argument that Gabe is Morgan’s dependent—a line Carla hates precisely because it requires admitting she was never the one raising him. The career-sacrifice angle collapsing when it emerges that Carla was never actually offered the superhero role, having been passed over as too difficult, is the sharpest writing the show has produced, and her voicemail telling Morgan that Gabe will never be his son nearly torches the only argument she has left. What saves it is Morgan himself, who sees Gabe banging on the office glass and reflexively reverts to being his father in front of everyone, a single misjudgment that gives the arbitrator everything needed to invalidate the prenup. Closing on the two of them opening beer bottles the exact same way is a perfect final image, and this is comfortably the best episode so far.
6. Apothecary Diaries Season 3 Ep. 3
83/100 –Crunchyroll – Next Ep. October 23 – 7:40 AM*
The Apothecary Diaries is finally caught up and entering our weekly rankings, and we have been loving this new season and the way the plot keeps moving forward. “Let Them Eat Cake” is another great entry, built around Maomao being summoned to treat a malnourished girl who no longer speaks, with the older sister eventually revealing that the sweet the family has been eating contains an ingredient capable of causing abortion and that their mother likely died from it after telling her daughters to eat it only when food was scarce and never to share it with their father. Maomao making the man sign a payment contract before she agrees to help, then immediately clocking that he views his wife and daughters as labor rather than family, is the kind of sharp practicality this show does better than anything else in its lane. The older sister volunteering to become a courtesan herself to support her younger sister and escape him is a quietly devastating resolution, and the father arriving to collect them and finding he can no longer reach either one is perfectly handled. The threads around the mysterious street drug, the White Lady, the missing insect volume and Suirei living with Ah-Duo are tying together nicely, and this remains one of the best calmer anime currently airing.
7. South Park Season 29 Ep. 3
83/100 – Hulu /CBS– Next Ep. October 28 – 7:00 PM*
South Park bounces back after a pretty lazy second week, jumping on the looksmaxxing train in a way that manages to be both a bit cringe and genuinely hilarious. The premise sends Wendy, Stan, and half the fourth grade into full anti-aging panic after TikTok convinces a group of ten-year-olds that their skin is already failing. That escalates into Ike feuding with a classmate over aura battles while Kyle panics that his little brother is about to be branded permanently uncool. The Sephora sequence is the best thing here, staged as a Backrooms-style cosmetics hell with endless fluorescent aisles, distorted time, and Captain Clark delivering customer service that plays like a threat. Cartman appointing himself Ike’s mentor on the principle that losing is fine as long as you look good doing it is another highlight, while Randy overdoing the regimen until he looks young enough to sit in class and then solving the whole problem with his fists is the right ending for this material. Not one of their best episodes by any stretch, but certainly a lot better than the last one.
8. The Traitors: New Blood Ep. 6
83/100 –Peacock – October 22 5:00 PM
The Traitors: New Blood runs into a real length problem here, with episodes that feel a bit too short and this one spending its entire runtime watching a castle refuse to listen to the one guy actually holding information. Victor is right about everything, piecing together Fruitgate from Joe refusing to let go of the apple and Tomica’s weird fruit distribution. His round table argument that only someone who already had Niyyah’s trust could have gotten close enough to kill her is the sharpest case anyone has made all season. It is also entirely his own fault that nobody listens, because he presents it sounding like a maniac, while Abby L. keeps insisting on Wyatt after being wrong about Sherry the night before, then hands Victor’s confidential theory straight to Joe. The Dolls fracturing and banishing Michael instead, with Katie steering Abbey B. and Ben deciding he was the perfect recruit, is a fine outcome for a group operating on nothing, and Tomica declaring in the turret that Victor must die is the right cliffhanger. The Traitors is not as good without the celebrities, but this is still a great reality series.
9. Treasure Island Episode 2
82/100 – MGM + – Next Ep. October 19 – 6:00 PM*
Treasure Island delivers a strong continuation of its premiere, moving the action onto the Hispaniola for the voyage out and showing us the beginnings of Long John Silver’s takeover of the crew. Silver spends the hour assembling a faction out of the roughest sailors by dangling Flint’s treasure in front of them while simultaneously spreading superstition that Bess, the widow, is bringing sickness and storms down on the ship, which is a far smarter version of the character’s manipulation than most adaptations bother with. Bess is given considerably more to do than the novel ever allowed, throwing Silver overboard early and picking up a weapon when the Spanish pirates attack, and Graham exposing Silver’s harassment to get him locked up adds a third party with his own designs on the treasure. The best stretch is the battle itself, with Jim freeing Silver to help fight, following him onto the Spanish vessel, and using Silver’s own smoldering boot to light the powder on their way out. One of our favorite novels ever is still looking like another great show, carried by some fantastic television performances, and the fact that Jim’s heroics hand Silver unofficial control of the ship is exactly the irony this story runs on.
10. MobLand Season 2 Ep. 5
82/100 – Showtime – October 23 – 12:00 AM
MobLand lands in the middle tier of the season with an episode I still liked quite a bit, built around Maeve sending Eddie and Gina to Ireland for Medusa’s head without telling Eddie what the job actually is until they are already underway. Watching a man with almost no firearms experience pull up YouTube tutorials on the drive to McMullan’s is the most MobLand sequence the show has produced, and Eddie immediately naming Maeve the second Colm Meaney’s Medusa gets hold of him is exactly the right payoff before Harry arrives to clean the whole thing up with headshots. The problem is that Harry leaving the family meeting to handle it is precisely what costs the Harrigans their stronghold: Seraphina’s slip about the gathering gives Donnie and Colin the opening they need, and Frankie’s gunmen storm the Cotswolds estate while the family escapes by helicopter. Nobody central dies, which is the episode’s one real weakness, but losing the estate is a genuine shift, and Jan spotting Seraphina’s missed call on Donnie’s phone sets up something worth watching.
11. Brothers Ep. 5
82/100 – Apple TV – Next Ep. October 19 – 9:00 PM*
Brothers turns forgotten Valentine’s Day gifts into a hilariously avoidable arrest for Matthew and Woody, building the episode around two men realizing on the spot that they have nothing prepared. Matthew handing Val a framed, signed photo of himself after she gives him the framed napkin from their first date is the best joke here, and Woody countering with a children’s choir—only for Matthew to admit he arranged most of it to outdo his friend—is exactly the register this show works best in. The arrest is the payoff: after the wives stage a prank call about fraudulent card use, the men assume a real traffic stop is another bit and talk their way straight into a cell. The wives then dismiss the jailhouse call as part of the joke until Lisa Gilroy has to bail them out. The budding romance between Wyatt and Kai is handled with more care than I expected and could open up some genuinely interesting conversations, while Jimmy turning up in Austin to recreate the Say Anything moment for Olive is the right cliffhanger. The DNA mystery barely moves again, but I have not given up on this show yet.
12. The Drop: A Snowfall Saga Ep. 6
81/100 – Hulu – Next Ep. October 20 – 6:00 PM*
The Drop delivers its best episode so far by a gigantic margin, finally finding real passion behind the material instead of just the shape of it. Lamar hasn’t finished a song in three weeks and refuses Jenny’s push to bring in outside producers, insisting on being the album’s sole creative force. The breakthrough comes from an unexpected place: Andy takes him out tagging, and the observation that fame means people know your name before they ever meet you unlocks the concept he has been chasing. Rebranding as DJ Nex and pitching an album about rebirth and return that follows Artillery’s journey through Los Angeles is the most genuinely alive the show has felt, and Wanda backing that vision over Jenny’s producer list is the right call for both the character and the series. The street half finally carries weight too, with Deon shooting Keith dead over the stolen watch he insisted on wearing openly, then placing the gun in his hand. It landed even harder because Keith had just told Dara and Artillery he planned to leave after two more. This is exactly what The Drop needs to be: a passionate LA story that feels like it has something new to say.
13. The Diplomat Season 4
80.1/100 – Netflix – Season Complete
The Diplomat returns for a fourth season with more complexity and drama inside the White House than anything this show has given us before, picking up from Kate’s discovery that President Grace Penn and Vice President Hal Wyler conspired to steal a superweapon off a sunken Russian submarine. We have had a disconnect with the middle two seasons that has kept us lower on the show as a whole than the general consensus, and while season four does not fully reconcile that, the plot development here is comfortably the best yet, with Kate caught between Penn, Trowbridge and her own marriage while being pulled into a cover-up that forces her to decide how much of an administration like this one she is willing to participate in. Allison Janney’s Penn keeps escalating and dressing recklessness up as duty to the country, Bradley Whitford’s Todd Penn turns jealousy of Hal into the thing that cracks the conspiracy open, and Billie Appiah gets real material in the back half. Keri Russell has never been better in this role, and the season ends on a powerful and genuinely exciting decision for the future of the show that makes this one of the best runs The Diplomat has produced.
14. Avatar: Seven Havens Ep. 4 - 6
80/100 – Paramount+ – October 23 12:00 AM
Avatar: Seven Havens settles into what it is likely going to be over these three episodes: an intriguing entry in the Avatar universe that still carries some simplistic writing and fairly basic animation. The Faceless abducting benders while a soldier spots the twins using multiple elements brings their secret closer to exposure, and the city’s growing conviction that its leaders are hiding the Avatar is the most interesting pressure the show has applied so far. The Anomaly material is where it gets genuinely good, with the red cubes spreading and producing the Afflicted, whose violent hallucinations lead Bountan to turn a mob against Pavi and Nisha because they see the twins as demons. Karthik’s conclusion that fear itself is the root cause is a solid piece of world logic. The memory fragments the Anomaly restores are the strongest thread, from the twins’ parents discussing a two-week crossing of the Harshlands to Karthik being sent three years ago to find a girl with a green-gem bracelet and returning with only Nisha. The lullaby Daemin recognizes as Uki’s keeps that mystery open. It is still a great origin story so far, and Kayoko broadcasting Ellora’s call to the other Havens is a strong place to leave
15. Vision Quest Ep. 1 & 2
80/100 – Disney + – Next Ep. October 20 – 6:00 PM*
VisionQuest opens with two episodes that work as a real proof of concept, carrying genuine implications even as I continue to hold these MCU shows at arm’s length. The setup is stronger than most, with White Vision working at a pub in Edinburgh and spending every night motionless in a storage room while his mind runs a constructed world where J.A.R.V.I.S., F.R.I.D.A.Y., and E.D.I.T.H. keep him company. Ultron sits confined upstairs, needling him into admitting he is starting to feel something, and leaking his location to the dark web is what sets everything in motion. Paladin arriving to collect him gives the show a genuine antagonist rather than a sky beam. The second episode is the better of the two, with Thomas escaping a psychiatric transport by shooting energy from his hands and Vision knowingly walking into a trap at Saint Mabyn’s after hearing the line about grief being love persevering. J.A.R.V.I.S. deleting his own code to save the rest of the mind palace is a legitimately affecting beat, and this looks to be one of the better ones.
16. The Challenge: Cutthroat Season 42 Ep. 12
80/100 – Paramount+ – October 20 – 12:00 AM
The Challenge returns to normal with the last episode before the big final this season has been building toward all along. Swing Into Action is a brutal hour-long obstacle course with penalties for anyone who cannot complete a section, and both teams take one: Adrienne fails the rope swing for Grey, while CT gets disqualified at the punching bag transfer for Orange. Lete then essentially carries Grey through the rest of it to secure the win. The nominations are where the strategy finally resurfaces, as Adrienne sends Lete into the Arena against Justin rather than risk facing CT, the puzzle specialist she correctly identifies as the bigger threat. Pressure Puzzles is a genuinely good Arena, with each solve sabotaging the opponent, and Lete sweeping all three sends Justin home just before the final for the second straight season, a rough exit for him. TJ then announcing that everyone else has made the final puts Lete back on a team she is openly furious with, which is exactly the tension you want heading into the last stretch.
17. Tougen Anki Season 2 Ep. 3
80/100 – Netflix – October 23 – 7:00 AM
Tougen Anki delivers a lot of the same here as episode two, reassuring us that the action and the unique power system still carry real intrigue behind them. Mudano’s lesson that teamwork and mental state are what actually build a stronger oni is the clearest statement the show has made about its own rules, with blood tied directly to the strength of the heart and a weak one surrendering to anger triggering the berserk state and burning the power away. The character work is strong throughout, especially Homare learning to summon Sumire without biting her thumb, Jin going softer and stronger at once while turning his saws into roller skates, and Ikari flinching away from Shiki’s offered hand in a way that clearly sets up where that arc is heading. Nekosaki cursing out Shiki for ruining his shot and then glaring at Mudano into a thousand-squat punishment down the mountain is the comedic highlight, and the animation continues to lean away from clunky CGI. This one sits just a touch lower only because of its hesitancy to move a mile a minute the way season one did.
18. Youth Episode 6
79/100 – HBO Max – October 25 – 2:00 PM
Youth gives us more of the same this week, which is starting to lose me a bit, because there is nothing bad here and nothing standout either. The episode picks up after Frank’s heart attack with him already back on his feet, joking that his doctor called it the best one to have while pouring drinks and pushing his cooking on everyone, and the show’s decision to treat the cliffhanger as a passing scare rather than a turning point is exactly the kind of deflation this series keeps choosing. Alex and Patrick are finally together and the material around it is the most interesting thing in the hour, particularly her asking whether they are actually exclusive and getting back a shrug of an answer that she can do what she likes, which lands harder because of Sam telling him to lock her down moments earlier. Sam’s own restlessness and her anticipation about the lunch with Malcolm is the one thread that feels like it is building toward something, and at this point the show badly needs it to.
19. Survivor Season 51 Ep. 4
79/100 – Hulu – Next Ep. October 22 – 5:00 PM*
Survivor takes a step down this season absolutely did not need, as the three-tribe swap forces far too much linear decision-making and strips away the open, changeable environment season 51 has been built around. The buff drop reshuffles everyone into uneven tribes thanks to Rob’s quit, leaving Savu down to five and the new Dina tribe building camp from scratch. The numbers fall so cleanly along old lines that most of the hour feels decided before anyone makes a move. Dina offers the most promising material, with Eric bonding quickly with Kilby before scrambling to reassure Sharonda that he hasn’t abandoned the former Savus. Meanwhile, Kristin holds Toka together on multiple broken foot bones while Carter openly refuses to engage with her. Savu losing Toss the Bucket sends the smallest tribe to Tribal with only two realistic options, and the 4-1 vote against Jenna lands as the obvious outcome rather than a meaningful decision, which is the whole problem with this episode.
20. American Hostage episode 6
78/100 – MGM+ – October 25 – 6:00 PM
American Hostage keeps losing me episode by episode, and with so many shows right now doing a far better job of conveying their plot, this one is running out of room. “Moon News and Markets” abandons the real-time pacing entirely for a non-linear flashback hour that fills in how Tony’s loan was approved over Dick Hall’s objections because M.L. Hall personally vouched for it, and why the default that followed was effectively inevitable from the start. Fred gets the better half, with his estranged con man father Cookie turning up with a space-themed candy bar scheme and a betrayal that nobody watching could fail to see coming, which at least gives real weight to why a newsman built his entire career around honesty and why selling Tony a fake immunity agreement on live television is a betrayal of himself as much as of Tony. The episode wants to position all three men as victims of different kinds and it mostly gets there, but structurally this is another hour that stops the story cold to explain something the show had already implied.
21. The Amazing Race Season 39 Ep. 3
76/100 – Hulu/CBS/Paramount+ – October 28 – 9:30 PM
The Amazing Race gives us yet another episode that simply does not capture my attention the way the other reality series airing right now do, and the show needs something extra to elevate it after a thin opening run. The Moroccan Scramble is a genuinely new format for the franchise, handing teams 100 dirham and sending them off at two-minute intervals to complete three tasks in any order across the Medina of Marrakech. On paper, it should be the shakeup the season needs. Slipper Search is the best of the three, with teams grabbing a single babouche and combing the stalls for its match, while Dye & Dry and the Rug Run deliver exactly what you expect. Michelle and Matt win the leg and the trip to Okinawa by finishing first at all three tasks, while Cody and Jaime go out after burning their Express Pass two legs ago. It is all perfectly competent, and almost none of it is memorable.
22. American Horror Story Season 13 Ep. 9 & 10
75/100 – Hulu – Next Ep. October 22 – 7:00 PM*
American Horror Story turns in yet another pair of episodes with a real vibe and absolutely no direction, and the season continues to struggle badly for it. Episode nine is built around Constance arriving at Mr. Nas’s apartment with a list of demands ranging from ending nuclear weapons to getting jobs for her children, only for him to read back her sins and reveal he is her father. It lands as a shrug rather than a shock because the show has given us nothing to anchor it to. Ben’s 616 tattoo leads him to recovered memories of a cult ritual, while an AI search turns Taylor Dorium Nas into an anagram of “I’m Your Lord Satan”, the kind of reveal that could play as gleeful camp if the season had any tonal consistency. Episode ten at least supplies a structure, with Papa Legba and Marie Laveau explaining the 1939 wager that gives the Devil God’s dominion if he reaches a hundred as a human, and Mallory finally confessing she went back to kill Michael Langdon. But it arrives nine episodes too late to pull everything together. Ben walking into the witches’ war council and asking if they are looking for him should land as a huge moment; instead, it just feels like the next thing that happens.
