The best-directed episodes of television in 2018 (so far)

Westworld, “Kiksuya”

Created by Jonathan Nolan & Lisa Joy
Written by Carly Wray & Dan Dietz
Directed by Uta Briesewitz

On balance, Westworld had a mixed second season. The series became more ambitious and more intriguing, but its narrative got much messier and its characters less engaging. The show’s focus on beguiling the audience often came at the expense of character development. And creators Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan’s decision to broaden Westworld’s scope meant that it often felt shallower than its first year.

However, one area in which the show greatly improved year-to-year was its direction. Vincenzo Natali, Lisa Joy, Nicole Kassell, and Stephen Williams gave Westworld a sense of dedicated tone and impact that it lacked in its first season. In the episodes they helmed, the program finally lived up to the captivating and cinematic TV its trailers always promised. And the best-directed example of the show’s visual leveling up was Uta Briesewitz’s “Kiksuya.”

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The episode is Bildungsroman about Akecheta (Zahn McClarnon), the leader of the park’s fearsome Ghost Nation Native American tribe. Through a series of beautifully composed sequences, Brieswitz tells the story of Akecheta self-realization, rejection of his assigned role, and gradual transformation into a messiah figure. And because the episode is related largely in the Lakota language, the story’s success depends up Briesewitz’s direction McClarnon performance to be legible. Because of the pair’s exceptional talents, it is that and the best episode of the series to date.

If Westworld can manage to be as sumptuous and emotionally resonant as it was in “Kiksuya” throughout its third season, it might finally live up to its hype and pedigree.