2021 In Review: The 19 Best Needle Drops Of The Year

The right song, deployed at the exact right moment, can elevate a show from amazing to near-divine. Lucky for all of us, 2021 TV featured a bunch of these transcendent tracks woven into our favorite series. Come on down musical memory lane with us, won't you?

As part of our ongoing Year in Review series, the TVLine staff is thinking about all of the music that truly made the year's best scenes — you know, the perfect marriage of song choice and dramatic (or comedic!) action, resulting in a TV moment you couldn't get out of your head?

Our picks this year run the gamut from the song that had us doing praise-hands to an Insecure glow-up to the music that heralded Lucifer's return to Hell. We've also included killer tunes from BMF and The Handmaid's Tale, a bouncy Sex Education romp and a nonsensical — but still totally bangin' — Doom Patrol needle drop.

Read on to see which songs made our list, and then hit the comments and tell us which needle drops really wowed you in 2021. Still to come in TVLine's Year in Review: Dumb Things TV Did, our Performer of the Year winner, The Year in 'Ships and more!

Nothing punctuated Issa and her friends' post-college glow-ups like when they strutted into their 10-year college reunion at Stanford to Too $hort's West Coast rap anthem. Added points for executive producer Amy Aniobi's sick flute accompaniment.

Honestly, what better way to set the mood for the summer recess-set Season 2 than to cue up this super-jaunty Eddie Cochran ditty? Adding to the needle drop's impact was that the tonal contrast of it coming on the heels of Mrs. McNider's blood-curdling scream, upon discovering Eclipso's handiwork!

After Alex told Gordon about her childhood ice skating routing to the Whitney Houston classic, of course we hoped Lauren Graham would lace up and hit the ice. Though her character hadn't performed for quite some time, the actress was absolutely charming as Alex stumbled, skated and twirled her way through "The Greatest Love of All." Sometimes you just gotta prove to the kids that you've still got it, and that's exactly what she did here. (Sort of.)

Being cooped up in the Bank of Spain for 100+ hours started to wear on the Dali-masked marauders on Netflix's beloved caper. So the women within the gang stepped into the sun with bare feet and unbroken spirits in hopes of striking a deal as Phoebe Bridgers' methodic cover of The Cure's 1992 chart-topper served as the perfect song for dramatic, slow-motion walking.

When closing the door on his past, it only made sense that Franklin would confront his ex-girlfriend Mel, the woman who shot and nearly killed him. But she did so because Franklin killed her father Andre. Proving he didn't need Mel's forgiveness or help walking any longer, the self-assured kingpin hung his cane on the back of a chair and sauntered away to Curtis Mayfield's most beloved song.

We always love a good Sex Ed montage, and Season 3 delivered with yet another raunchy-but-fun opener. The Rubinoos' cover of the Tommy James and the Shondells original was the perfect cut to soundtrack all of Moordale's kinky haps. Plus, we'll now forever think of Otis and his crew every time we hear it.

The best part of Roy Kent's journey back to Nelson Road, where he accepted Ted's coaching offer, was the use of this Rolling Stones classic, which earlier in the episode was revealed to be the song that played the night that Higgins first laid eyes upon his now-wife Julie. (If we weren't rom-communists before...)

In a sly callback to the dystopian drama's pilot, Lesley Gore's triumphant tune plays over footage of June and other former handmaids ripping rapist/war criminal Commander Waterford to pieces with their bare hands. So savage, yet so satisfying!

As Kid (star Kevin Hart) returns to his hometown of Philly, his plane lands to MFSB's iconic Soul Train theme song. And just as the title implies, the tune is also the lively East Coast enclave's disco-inspired theme music.

The 9-1-1's always pick the perfect and/or most ridiculous song for every scenario, and this was no exception. "What a lovely way to burn" took on new meaning as T.K. and Carlos got down to business... unaware that their house was going up in flames around them.

In the supernatural drama's grand finale, the titular devil returned to Hell — not to torture, but to help those in the Bad Place face their guilt and maybe, just maybe, earn a trip up north. And as Chloe at long last joined her love down under, the My Chemical Romance banger popped on to very aptly ask, "Son, when you grow up / Would you be the savior of the broken, the beaten and the damned?" It was hella perfect.

At the end of the Apple TV+ drama's first season, the Fox family finally started their new life at sea... but not at all the way they'd envisioned. Still very much on the run, and stocked with few supplies, the Foxes' existence on the water — for everyone except patriarch Allie, at least — was simply miserable, and The Beach Boys' cheery ode to island living was the perfect juxtaposition to Margot, Dina and Charlie's somber expressions.

There was no real reason for an acting exercise led by Madame Rouge to segue into a full-blown Gaga number, especially given how the scene occurred nearly a century before the song was written. But on the other hand, there was also no reason for it not to happen.

We are bending the rules a bit with this one, as "Agatha All Along" was an original ditty and not a previously beloved song. But of all the perfectly timed musical moments on this list, the reveal of Agatha Harkness' true power was perhaps the most memorable, with the Emmy-winning tune elevating this Episode 7 twist from "Yeah, we kinda saw that coming" to "And she killed Sparky, too?!" Bonus points to Kathryn Hahn for adding her own singing to the number, along with some wonderfully wicked cackles.

There aren't a lot of TV gangsters who turn to R&B hits for their theme music, but that's what Lamar did as he sang and stabbed his former bestie Slick to death. (RIP Slick.) In one of those unpredictable social-media viral moments, the bloody scene inspired dozens of hilarious parodies and reinvigorated Loose Ends' 1985 sleeper hit.

Sure, "Heads Will Roll" may be a little on the nose for a decapitation scene, but the vibe that indie rockers Yeah Yeah Yeahs added to the scene was perfect for the shock and horror that was to come. Once the song's synths kicked off, we were smiling in anticipation before the principal's head bounced and rolled out on stage. What a mic drop to end the episode with!

After being grounded by anxiety and depression, Gordo made his triumphant return to space to the sounds of the AC/DC anthem. As the song kicked into high-gear, so, too, did Gordo's excitement and energy, getting us even more pumped about the astronaut's big personal win.

At the start of Loki's second episode, we still knew little about the dangerous variant who was swiping TVA materials all over the timeline, but we did sorta love his or her style. With Bonnie Tyler's '80s jam blasting in the background, the variant's enchantment of an unsuspecting TVA agent was perhaps not behavior we'd condone... but it was badass nonetheless.

Star Olivia Holt's cover of the Radiohead tune was the perfect backdrop for the season finale's chilling last twist, which revealed that Jeanette didn't see Kate while she was being held captive, but she did hear Kate begging for help and did nothing. The spot-on lyrics only added to the unnerving nature of Jeanette's actions. Creep, indeed.