Though summer is still a quieter time on television than fall, it is no longer the barren wasteland of reruns that it once was.

This year, the EW Community enjoyed the return of some of our summer favorites, and were blown away by the introduction of some new ones.

As the fall TV season descends upon us, we look back and honor seven of the most commanding performances of the summer.

Rami Malek as Elliot Alderson,Mr. Robot

On paper, Elliot Alderson isn’t terribly sympathetic. He’s a dog-stealing, morphine-snorting, privacy-invading weirdo with social anxiety disorder. Yet as played by Rami Malek in Mr. Robot, we like Elliot very much, from his acerbic, monotone voiceovers to the rage and despair that peek through the cracks as his life starts to spin out of control. Malek and his otherworldly features elevate every scene of the coolest, most challenging show of the summer as Elliot shuffles from work to therapy to home, hunched and guarded, under the weight of modern life, with its unfeeling capitalism and its creeping invasions. He wants to make the world better, even if he goes about it in shocking ways. Has disaffected alienation ever looked more winning? —Sara Netzley

Gillian Anderson as Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier, Hannibal

After the shocking finale of season two, it was clear that Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier was a force to be reckoned with. Season three proved that in a major way. It’s no lie to say that Gillian Anderson’s complicated Du Maurier (special shoutout goes to her extraordinary work during the Florence half) became one the most fascinating characters on Hannibal. Balancing between becoming a participant or an observant, Anderson was able to bring both traits to life, especially during those marvelously twisted interactions with Mads Mikkelsen’s Hannibal. Du Maurier was not only a major player in Bryan Fuller’s reinterpretation of Hannibal, but also a character with a fully satisfying arc that brought out the best of Anderson in a deliciously complex role. —Oscar Garza

Shiri Appelby as Rachel Goldberg,UnREAL

When we first meet Shiri Appleby’s Rachel in the pilot of UnREAL, she is wearing a “This is What a Feminist Looks Like” T-shirt en route to plying the female contestants of Everlasting, a Bachelor-type reality show, with alcohol to manipulate them into spilling their secrets on-camera. While Rachel’s actions typically ranged from questionable to despicable, Appleby’s compelling performance made her a deeply flawed, complicated woman (who is damn good at her job, for better or for worse), the likes of which television rarely sees. —Erin Conley

Taryn Manning as Tiffany “Pennsatucky” Dogget, Orange Is the New Black

At this point, it’s hard to do a successful storyline regarding rape on television, but Orange Is the New Black deftly pulled it off, adding new shading and heart to a previous villain, Pennsatucky. Taryn Manning rose to the top of a crowded ensemble of great actresses by successfully garnering sympathy for a character who was nearly a cartoonish embodiment of evil in the first season. There were many magnificent character arcs in Orange‘s third season, but none more heartfelt or better acted than Pennsatucky’s. —Mike Sorce

Richard Armitage as Francis Dolarhyde,Hannibal

The moment he signed on to play Francis Dolarhyde, Richard Armitage shouldered the burden of Hannibal book and movie fans’ expectations. Dolarhyde was indelibly marked in many of our memories by Tom Noonan as the Red Dragon, and Ralph Fiennes put his own powerful spin on the character decades later. So the real trick was creating a Dolarhyde who was unique and just as memorable as those who came before.

Armitage shattered those expectations and brought the Red Dragon to life in singular style. His Francis Dolarhyde was both vulnerable and terrifying, and his Becoming was almost orgasmic, which made it even more exciting. His commitment to the role both mentally and physically, and his willingness to embody the character so completely, is why he gets my vote for MVP. —Geek Girl Diva

Constance Zimmer as Quinn King, UnREAL

Quinn is the delicious kind of antihero we so rarely get to see a woman play—caustic, calculating, and relentlessly driven. However, in Zimmer’s hands, we also see layers of insecurity and vulnerability, with her desires for her own happy ending occasionally bubbling to the surface. Her friendship with apprentice Rachel (Shiri Appleby) is one of the most nuanced, captivating TV relationships I’ve seen in years; it’s a mix of toxicity and the truest of love (they also pass the Bechdel test with flying colors). Forget Kaitlyn and Shawn—Quinn and Rachel are the relationship of the summer, and Zimmer has cemented herself as a must-watch talent. —Cristina Iskander

Teri Polo and Sherri Saum as Stef and Lena Adams Foster,The Fosters

Teri Polo and Sherri Saum are the dream team. As Stef and Lena, Polo and Saum skillfully portray the ups and downs of their relationship. Week after week, they turn in beautifully nuanced performances, finding the tenderness in the in-between moments and reminding us that sometimes life’s greatest pleasures are in the small stuff. Their most impressive trick, though, is in the subtlety of the unsaid. Even when their marriage is faltering and fighting seems to be the only method of communication, Polo and Saum never let us forget how much love lies underneath. —Tamar Barbash

Season 2 | Episode 11 | “Bewilderment of the Heart” | Aired Sep 17, 2015

Previously:– All you really have to know is that Gabriel chucked the open amphora (Amphorae? Spelling differs. Can I get a ruling from the judges?) into the middle of Vega. Uh-oh.

Ooh, do I love an alternate timeline/mirror universe/”What if?” episode! Not only was “Bewilderment of the Heart” the best episode of Dominion‘s second season, but it was the best episode of Dominion ever! In the heart of every human, there are regrets, rueing of days, and recurring terrors. Gabriel’s amphorae attack brought everyone’s darkest nightmares and secrets to the light. Well, no, more to the dark, I guess? Anyway, it was bad.

As the black cloud of evil Bible stuff wafted through the city, everything went kablooey. In Vega’s central command … let me pause here by asking you how many times you’ve read someone describing chaos as “all hell broke loose?” Too many times, right? Well, this time it SO fits that I have to use it. ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE IN VEGA’S CENTRAL COMMAND. All of Claire’s soldiers and staff begin either attacking each other or killing themselves in a brutally choreographed sequence that was reminiscent of that one rather revolting yet exhilarating scene from Kingsmen: The Secret Service. You know, where Colin Firth decimated that church? Our heroes manage to avoid being killed by Lady Riesen’s staff, but just wait until the vase mojo gets in their heads. Let’s break it down by individual nightmare, shall we?

Claire flees the command, and escapes back to her penthouse. There’s a baby crying. Claire breaks some glass to enter the locked nursery. A beautiful baby girl (“Willow?” Did she name her “Willow?” Yay, Buffy reference.) is awaiting her in her crib. This is mean, making Claire see her miscarried child as alive. That amphora is one evil tchotchke. Despite her fantasy of living happily ever after with Alex and child, recurring images of blood keep popping up. This isn’t beneficial because everyone in Claire’s gut-wrencher is wearing white. You know how hard it is getting blood out! After Alex manages to destroy the amphora in real time (spoiler alert, sorry), Claire comes to. She realizes that her baby is still dead. All that remains is the bloody hole in the glass she made to get into the nursery. We leave her passed out from blood loss. CLAIRE, DON’T GO.

Arika gets a replay of the time she trained the eight-ball to frame David for … having interspecies eight-ball/human sex? Hey, that doesn’t play in Vega. Unfortunately, in this version, SHE’S the eight-ball. And poor, dead, shot-in-the-head Rose is her now human torturer. It’s one of those showing-up-late-for-class-in-your-underwear dreams, except in this one, you’re naked and being treated like an animal. We also learn that Arika’s mom was mentally ill and abusive and eventually institutionalized. By the way, don’t ever torture an eight-ball into committing your dirty work for you. They’re really, really mad about it when they pop up later in magically induced hallucinations.

William Wiele wins for “Most Emotionally Damaging Hallucination” in this ep. His nightmare is basically most of the cast appearing to him to tell him that he’s lame, a loser, a nobody, not the Chosen One, and that his beard is stringy and unkempt. Remember when he and Claire were forced into an arranged marriage? She shows up as his wife, turned into an eight-ball. As Claire and a punk-rock version of Gabriel demonstrate, becoming an eight-ball really adds volume to your hair. The worst is when a really bitchy version of Alex appears to laugh at Willy’s self-styled “Chosen One” scars and makes him confess to being a fake and a failure. Ouch. Dude had an easier time when Dad dropped him off in the desert to die.

Speaking of Dad, David Wiele is faced with an eight-ball version of himself. Complete with ponytail! That IS a nightmare. This version of David is running Vega. He gleefully reminds David what a complete ass he is by running down all the terrible things he’s done over two seasons. And he doesn’t even mention the time David offed that little girl in the hospital! Shouldn’t that have topped the list? David blames it all on losing his family to eight-balls, but demon David is all WAH WAH WAH, we’ve heard it before, Giles! David admits he blames Willy for alerting eight-balls to their presence and dooming his family. Uh, he was a kid? Kids cry loudly? Thanks, Dad. Eight-ball David has had enough and goes to kill regular David. He awakens at the Vega gallows, unhanged for his crimes and surrounded by dead guards.

Michael, Alex, and Noma fight their way through the city to try to stop the amphora. Noma imagines her wings have been returned to her, and she finds and zealously guards the amphora so she doesn’t have to lose them again. Alex imagines Michael pronouncing him a crappy Chosen One and relieving him of his magic tattoos. Michael has it rough. He is repeatedly slapped with visions of Alex’s death. First Noma murders Alex in front of him (Kim Englebrecht is really good as a villain), then Alex blows his own head off. Did Michael get saddled with Gabriel’s vision ‘cuz Gabe is already amphora-ed? That sucks when the amphora hits you with a two-fer.

The trio reunites, crazed with hallucinations, and Noma and Michael battle over the vase. Alex manages to use his still very present tats to destroy the accursed knickknack. And all is well!

Not quite. Gabriel is still hanging out on the city wall, annoyed that the amphora’s effects didn’t last very long and still determined to kill his twin brother. Next week we’re getting a fight to the death with wings, and swords, and hopefully Gates shows up. In a wrestling singlet. Hey, a recapper can dream!

Dominionairs Thursdays at 10/9C on Syfy.

Season 1 | Episode 5 | “A Town, a Gangster, a Festival” | Aired Sep 17, 2015

This week, the IFC mockumentary/doc-parody series Documentary Now! shines the light on the odd but very real world of fan festivals.

Helen Mirren once again greets the audience and introduces tonight’s documentary: A Town, a Gangster, a Festival. For three days sometime near January 17, the town of Arborg, Iceland, hosts an annual Al Capone Festival to celebrate the Chicago gangster who killed a lot of people and died of syphilis or a stroke or pneumonia. Who really knows? A group of documentarians travel to the Icelandic town to witness and capture the strange beauty that is the Al Capone Festival.

The town of Arborg is abuzz as the citizens prepare for the annual Al Capone festival. Even in the schools, the young children learn about cigars, tommy guns, speakeasies, and how they all relate to Al Capone.

The Al Capone festival was started in a local bar in 1966 and became a whole=town event in 1974. The town’s people are obsessed with Capone and the festival. Even the local baker traveled all the way to Chicago to learn how to make real Chicago deep-dish pizza. This year, though, there are some concerns. The neighboring town of Vogar is hosting the first annual Jimi Hendrix festival the same exact weekend as Arborg’s Al Capone festival. Arborg also has a new mayor who couldn’t care less about the festival, but is trying to put forth an effort.

Thanks to the Al Capone festival committee, we soon learn that the true gem of this festival is the Al Capone lookalike contest that takes place every year. The lookalike committee meets to narrow down the finalist for the contest. This year there are three: Neeloofar Shirazi (Fred Armisen), an Iranian immigrant and local shop owner; Nina Karlsdottir, an Al Capone fanatic; and the reigning champion, Gunnar.

To mix things up a bit, the lookalike committee thought it would be a good idea to add a trivia round to the contest. Both Neeloofar and Nina study for this new round, but champion Gunnar is not worried because he is Al Capone’s number-one fan.

Finally it is the morning of the festival, and everyone is ready to celebrate. The streets of Arborg are filled with locals and some tourists. Pop-up speakeasies, cop races, and even literature on how NOT to get syphilis are some of the festivals highlights. But everyone is waiting for the lookalike contest to begin.

Neeloofar, Nina, and Gunnar finish their final touches before heading off to the contest. Neeloofar adds a cigar to his look and heads to the festival with his two sons. Nina’s husband has made her a wooden tommy gun, and the two are very excited for the day. Gunnar paints on his scars, but is thrown for a loop when his son decides to attend the Jimi Hendrix festival instead.

Our three Al Capone lookalikes hit the stage, and the mayor begins the trivia round. Though Gunnar seems like a fan favorite, he is completely failing at the trivia—he did not answer a single Capone question right. Neeloofar and Nina are great at trivia. After the trivia round is over, the judges take a break to choose a winner. During this time, the documentary crew asks the townsfolk who they think should win. It is a mixed reaction, but it seems like the easygoing people of Arborg would be happy for any of the three to win the title.

The decision has been made, and the three Al Capone lookalikes take the stage again. The mayor announces that all three contestants have won! The town, Neeloofar, Nina, and Gunnar celebrate. The mayor then announces that there is a special guest: the great-great-granddaughter of Al Capone, Anne Severino (Aidy Bryant), is in Arborg to celebrate.

In an interview with the documentary crew, Anne shares that when she first got an email about this festival, she thought it was a prank. But holy crap, it isn’t.

The festival ends with a parade celebrating Capone and his lookalikes. Neeloofar now feels accepted in his new home.

Next week, on the season finale of Documentary Now!, the show will spoof the 2013 documentary History of the Eagles, with the documentary Gentle & Soft: The Story of the Blue Jean Committee.

Documentary Now!airsThursdays at 10 p.m. on IFC.

With the upcoming season nine premiere of The Big Bang Theory, I thought it would be a good time to reminisce about our favorite Sheldon and Amy moments. For those of you who have not yet watched the season eight finale, beware—this post contains spoilers.

For those of you who have watched season eight, I think you’ll agree with me when I say Chuck Lorre & Company had better not break up the Shamy, or they will have me leading a rather large crop of nerds to deal with. From the moment Amy Farrah Fowler ordered tepid water during her blind date with Sheldon Lee Cooper at the coffee shop, the entire focus of The Big Bang Theory shifted. For once in his life, Sheldon was able to concentrate on an actual human being who offered more to his life than a ride to the comic-book store.

Mayim Bialik is the perfect yin to Jim Parson’s yang. Of course, Chuck Lorre is a genius, so exploring the darker side of love lost might be just the storyline we need to shake things up in season nine. But I sure hope there’s a BAZINGA when all is said and done. Long live the Shamy!

It’s been a delight watching these two actors navigate the tricky waters that often come with Sheldon’s idiosyncrasies. Here are just a few that come to mind.

Hi, Stuart.

I present to you, the Relationship Agreement.

Put it on me, put it on me, put it on me!

You want to spank me?

In case of emergency, please contact Amy Farrah Fowler.

Keep rolling.

Grape juice that burns!

You said it.

You know how much I admire preparedness.

Who’s excited for season three of Sleepy Hollow? Fans are waiting impatiently, so much so that some are getting mad about it. It’s understandable; we’ve had a dry summer with no San Diego Comic-Con coverage. Personally, I was fine with the lack of coverage, since it seemed like proof that the writing and production team were adamant about getting this season right. And, from what I can glean from these new photos, I think they’re on the right track.

The first episode, “I, Witness,” finds Ichabod and Abbie coming back together after a large swath of time. During the time apart, Abbie has finished her Quantico training and Ichabod had gone back to England to find himself, especially after he was forced to see (and participate in) the destruction of his family during the second season. He also went back to find out more about what being a Witness actually means.

Now that the gang’s back together, they have to figure out how to work together again and, of course, fight evil by moonlight and save the world. There are some images from the episode, so let’s get out our teacups and read the tealeaves. We’ll start with the five things I think we can expect, at least from this first episode.

1. Ichabod is back to form

During the second season, Ichabod was beaucoup distracted. Between Katrina’s meaningless shenanigans and Henry trying to kill him, Ichabod couldn’t keep his familial responsibilities and Witness duties straight. It’s unfortunate that Abbie had to kill Henry and he had to kill his own wife in order for Ichabod to get a character reboot, but if these photos are true, it appears that Ichabod’s “Never Been to Me” trip to England really did do him some good. In these photos, he looks more focused than ever, ready to take on the duty that’s been placed on his life and finally find the answers to mysteries that have plagued him and Abbie.

2. The return of #Ichabbie (whatever that hashtag means to you)

A bit of a personal disclaimer: One of the more recent times I invoked the hashtag #Ichabbie on Twitter, I got mired in fandom wars I didn’t intend on being a part of, because one-third of the fandom supports Ichabbie as friendship, another third supports it as a pairing on its way to being a canonical romantic relationship, and another third hates the idea of them being together as anything more than work partners. So, in an effort to keep myself from having problems I don’t need, “Ichabbie” means whatever you want it to be, and whatever that is, we’re going to see more of it. We’ll see more of them as bibilcal co-workers, friends, and perhaps hints at whatever else people could see as a blooming romance. We were promised more Ichabbie togetherness, and whatever that turns out being officially, we’ll be getting a lot more kooky moments with Abbie and Ichabod. Can you just imagine what happened that prompted Abbie to give the “I don’t have time for your 1700s foolery!” look and for Ichabod to give her the concerned “Why are you giving me the side-eye right now?” look? Hilarity for us, certainly.

Side note: What do we think of this restaurant? Why doesn’t this exist in real life? I want a closeup of the menu.

3. Abbie means business

As we can see in the picture below, Abbie is on her phone, looking simultaneously worried and business-like, wearing her new costume for this season: the black blazer. Abbie has always been a “business” person (to her own detriment sometimes, since she uses business to cover up her emotions). But now that Abbie is an FBI agent, she is CAB—Completely About Business.

It would seem that, similar to Ichabod, Abbie has gotten her life together too. She’s now finished her goal of going to Quantico, something that was put on hold when the Apocalypse decided to pop off, and it would seem from the photos that Abbie is not about fooling around with bad guys, demons, Betsy Rosses, and Ichabod’s “stuffy British guy” behavior. She’s clearly running the ship (in case people were in doubt about her abilities for the past two seasons), and Ichabod will just have to do his best to keep up with her.

4. The Season of the Haircut

The first season was the Season of Orlando Jones. The second season was the Season of Annoying Family Members and Hawley. This season is starting off as the Season of the Haircut. Both Ichabod and Abbie have cut their hair, and true to their Witness #twinning ways, they ended up with the same haircut.

My hope is that their penchant for wearing the same hairstyles will finally come up this season in the form of Jenny teasing them about it. “You both had ponytails and now you both have lobs? You guys weren’t even on the same continent at the time!” Jenny would totally say this.

5. We’re back to solving crimes

The most important thing, apart from the core relationship (whatever that means to you) between Abbie and Ichabod, is that Team Witness is back to actually solving crimes and solving mysteries. Last season was dragged through the mud of wheel-spinning in the form of Katrina not knowing how to be an effective good witch, and Henry believing Moloch really loved him like a father, and hating his own. (If Henry wasn’t the one whose viewpoint on life was from that of victimhood, he would have realized that Ichabod was a blameless victim in Katrina’s plot to keep the world safe, a plot that routinely backfired.)

This season seems like we are going to get back to the nitty-gritty of doing research, digging up clues, and doing practical police work. In short, we’re doing what should have happened during every episode of last season without the distractions the season brought. (Instead, we had several episodes involving Hawley’s lack of usefulness and Katrina’s damsel-in-distress shtick. The lowest point of the season was having one whole episode, “Pittura Infamante,” devoted to Katrina and Ichabod doing their own version of Nick and Nora Charles, with the mystery relying on sadly written flashbacks that were a disservice to the character of Abigail Adams, played by Michelle Trachtenberg.)

Images courtesy of Fox

I’m pumped to see the first episode, and I’m sure fans are pumped too—especially after the release of these photos. What do you think about Sleepy Hollow? What are you expecting to happen this season? Write about it below!

Sleepy Hollowreturns to Fox on October 1 at 9/8C.

We’re less than a month away from the season two premiere of Star Wars Rebels.

While we knew Captain Rex, Commander Wolffe, and Gregor were returning thanks to the season two trailer, this new featurette gives us a better look at both the Clones and the man behind the mic.

Dee Bradley Baker, who gave each Clone a separate and distinct personality in The Clone Wars, is back. It’s great to get an idea of where he’s taken the characters since we saw them last.

Personally, I’m really interested to see some of the tension between Kanan and the Clones due to the fallout of Order 66; this video has some interesting tidbits about that. Ahsoka told Kanan to trust Rex, sure, but Kanan is not called the “Cowboy Jedi” for nothing –– he’s stubborn. Order 66 cost him his master and a lot more.

We’re at 27 days and counting!

Star Wars RebelsreturnsonWednesday, October 14 at9:30 p.m. ET/PT on Disney XD.