Rian Johnson’s breakout Peacock hit starring Natasha Lyonne as a human lie detector on the run brought a fresh breath of nostalgia to the golden age of television with its quirky anthology, Columbo style murder of the week series.

Each episode brought a wealth of veteran actors whose performances ranged from sinister to endearing…each one wackier than the next.

Here’s my definitive ranking of the entire season (Spoilers within)

10. “Exit Stage Death” (Episode 6)

Ellen Barkin and Tim Meadows play washed up network drama stars who take advantage of their public hatred for each other to cash in big. Barkin’s performance was clearly the highlight…with a few show stealing scenes from newcomer Audrey Corsa. It lacked a lot of what worked for “Rest in Metal” and the elements of it that made it unique from the other episodes weren’t overtly compelling

9. “Rest in Metal” (Episode 4)

The brilliant Chloe Sevigny needs one more hit song to escape her life in a Home Depot stock room and rejuvenate the career of her 90’s metal band, Doxxxology. When its dopey young rent-a-drummer writes it, she and the band stoop to a murderous plot to ensure he doesn’t come away with the spoils of fame and leave them back out in the cold. The on-screen chemistry between Leonne and Sevigny was perfect. The murder and execution was silly…and the shear stupidness of the other bandmates was as annoying as it was a bit hackneyed

8. “The Orpheus Syndrome” (Episode 8)

Charlie’s first exposure into the universe of the highfalutin found poor Nick Nolte the victim of the impeccable Cherry Jones’ unflappable quest to keep her deadly past a secret. Easily the most free-spirited episode of the season, it builds to a climax that’s more bizarre than it is satisfying

7. “The Future of the Sport” (Episode 7)

One of the more fun episodes of the season was a bit hindered by its wavering between trying to be large scale and fitting within the constraints of looking and feeling lower-budget. This was the first time that we were legitimately forced to empathize with the would-be murders…until Charlie firmly reminds us that we were, in fact, dealing with a legit “PSY-CHO.”

6. “The Night Shift” (Episode 2)

What’s special about The Night Shift is that you get to experience for the first time that the series isn’t just about Charlie’s life on the run (or even at all about that at some points), but instead that it’s going to be something different each week. This one had the most underrated guest cast including Oscar nominated Hong Chau as a drug peddling truck driver, Brandon Michael Hall as the poor victim, and a sort of over-the-top Colton Ryan as our heartless murderer. Megan Suri steals the show, and is one of the characters I’d love to see back in the second season. John Ratzenberger does his best John Ratzenberger…which was just John Ratzenberger-y by me.

5. “The Stall” (Episode 3)

Was I gonna love an episode about a BBQ Pitmaster who gets all animal-loving righteous, turns vegan and has to be murdered by his brother because of it?…of course I was. Living early in the episode, this one had a lot of heavy lifting. It had to reinforce the notion that this is an anthology series, but it also had to flex that the supporting cast could keep up with Natasha Lyonne. It did both of those things with perfection. Lil Rey Howery was brilliant as the murderous BBQ empire heir, as was his seedy accomplice played by Danielle MacDonald. The episode is filled with funny social=political commentary that makes you truly appreciate Charlie’s journey all over the United States. It was the first episode where I realized this was going to be a special series.

4. “Dead Man’s Hand” (Episode 1)

Poker Face had an arduous task in creating a pilot that would both attract an audience but sort of hide what its really about. I don’t think the pilot did that necessarily perfectly, but what it did do was force you to create an immediate bond with Lyonne that would be the foundation for the rest of the season. Looking at all ten episodes in retrospect, the performances in this episode by Adrin Brody or Benjamin Bratt (who we’ll get to in a second) weren’t anything to write home about. It effectively forced you to constantly have the details of that incident in your mind throughout the season…which also effectively put you directly into Charlie’s head. As a stand-alone episode it wasn’t tremendous…but as a backbone of the series, it was important and well executed.

3. “The Hook” (Episode 10)

…back to Benjamin Bratt. If he turned in a less than memorable job in Episode 1, he more than made up for it in the season finale. I could honestly listen to him slam-poet Blues Travelers songs for decades. The final showdown that’s been brewing for (what we learn has been a full year) comes to fruition as Charlie gets her revenge for the death of her friend, and Bratt’s “Cliff” sees himself unable to get out of the cage he’s been trapped in for decades. Was it campy? Sure. Was it the best episode of the season? No. Did it set up a 2nd season where we’ll get the television return of the legendary Rhea Perlman? You bet your goddamn ass.

2. “Escape From Shit Mountain (Episode 9)

The baddest bad guy around this season was Joseph Gordon-Levitt…of course he was. Rian Johnson’s bestie makes his inevitable debut in the most visually stunning and most exciting episode that combined all of the elements of the entire series. Unsurprisingly, directed by Johnson it was the biggest budgeted and most thrilling episode of the lot. Where it wasn’t the best episode of the season was in its performances…but one other episode was far better at that. Where it WAS the best episode of the season was its ability to place Charlie directly into the chaos

1. “Time of the Monkey” (Episode 5)

The best reviewed episode of the season was by far its most entertaining and the perfect encapsulation of what the entire series is about. Judith Light and S. Epatha Merkerson as murderous hippies with absolutely no consciences and a lifetime of getting away with it were the stuff that spin-offs are made of. Just absolute 10/10 performances a couple of legends. Enter K Callen as the nosy, but righteous neighbor, and you’ve got the stuff these types of series’ dreams are made of.