Disclaimer: Contains massive spoilers for multiple shows! Taking a break from movies for a bit, these statements are all in my opinion and don't necessarily reflect my favorite shows as many are not making this list because they don't have a stand out episode or not top ten worthy.
10. Supernatural "The French Mistake" (season 6 episode 15)
Had this show originally ended as intended after season 5, I would have said my favorite episode was "Yellow Fever" which is still a strong contender for this position. Despite season 6 being mediocre, it did produce my actual favorite episode so I appreciate it for that, but I still wish this show would get cancelled before it loses all dignity (which it's very close to). All you really need to know about this episode's story is that the lead characters, Sam and Dean Winchester, are sent to the "real world" where they are fictional characters and everyone believes they are their real-life actor counterparts. I hope that makes sense because it's hard to explain! Nonetheless, it leads to so many humorous situations that make fun of the state of the show and the actors themselves. For example, you have the Sam character, played by Jared Padalecki, going to Jared's house where you meet his real-life wife who was also a cast member of the show at one point. Another situation is that they keep mocking the fact that they are in season 6 and some acknowledgement of the show's decline with the original creator gone. The writers played with many ideas fans had wanted to see and joked about over the years and created an overall memorable experience that genuinely topped anything they had attempted before. Now if only all the episodes could have maintained such creativity and fun.
9. Buffy the Vampire Slayer "Normal Again" (season 6 episode 17)
Much like Supernatural, season 6 of Buffy was at the point where things were falling apart and the show had been originally intended to end after season 5. This season did have some decent episodes overall, but it wasn't until this episode came along that I truly felt there was still some hope for the writers. Essentially, Buffy fights some kind of monster and is presumably poisoned. Buffy then finds herself stirring to awareness at a mental institution where we are told by her psychiatrist that she has been imagining all the events of the show up to that point. It works nicely because, through the psychiatrist, the writers give an honest critique of the season and how it has been a let down thus far. At the same time, they provide some interesting analyses of events in the show and connect them to how Buffy would imagine them to cope with her psychosis. While this is going on, Buffy is drifting in and out of consciousness and back to the "real" world where her friends (the Scoobys) are trying to figure out what's wrong with her. Eventually everything comes to a head as Buffy tries to kill her sister, Dawn, to escape her delusions, but is unable and returns to her "real" life as a vampire slayer. After being cured of the poison, Buffy is shown to be back to normal or is she? To my great rejoice, the writers did not wimp out and ended the episode with a shot of Buffy still at the mental institution allowing audiences to draw whatever conclusion they wanted about what is actual reality. While this plot line is nothing new, the way it is presented, and the way it is built upon a show with a rich mythos, it enhances the fun and creativity. (I should note a strong contender for this spot was an episode of the anime "Big O" called "Roger the Wanderer" which deals with this same theme which is definitely worth a view as well)
8. Batman: The Animated Series "I Am the Night" (episode 49)
Some may brush this show off as just a "kid's show" but it was far from that. This was one of the few shows out there to deal with violence realistically while featuring gunfire rather than lasers or whatever bullshit cartoons were doing over the decades. In fact, this episode dealt with the shooting of Commissioner Gordon and the possibility he could die; so you can imagine the themes were often mature and dark. But the heart of this episode and the reason why I love it so much is because it addresses Batman's doubt and weariness with fighting crime. The episode opens perfectly with some cool music and Batman wondering if he should throw in the cape while talking with Alfred. It happens to be the anniversary of Batman's parents being shot and you feel that despair as he limply brings himself to go out into the night. There was a powerful moment similar to this in the 1989 "Batman" movie, but this does it a little better as Batman leaves roses at crime alley. As I said, Gordon is shot and of course Batman feels responsible. He comes so close to losing it as he seeks revenge, but Batman is able to pull himself together. The show does end a little too cheerfully as Gordon recovers, a troubled kid reforms, and Batman feels he is, in fact, making a difference. The mood, atmosphere, music, and dialogue were so perfect in this episode, and it made such a great change of pace away from fighting one of the classic villains each week.
7. Xena: Warrior Princess "The Bitter Suite" (season 3 episode 12)
Selecting an episode from this show was difficult for me because I had to pick from one of the many great episodes featuring Callisto! This is a special circumstance for me because, while I do find the actress that plays Callisto (Hudson Leick) quite beautiful, obviously, I prefer the character instead. For the better part of a decade I found Callisto to be the most beautiful woman until I saw Ms. Rika Ishikawa (as I've mentioned before in other reviews), and as it stands goddess Callisto is my number 2. But anyway, the reason I chose this episode over an actual Callisto-themed episode is because this had her sexiness along with so many cool things going on at once; ideally the best Callisto episode is "A Necessary Evil." Like many long running shows, they often feature a musical episode and that's what this was. Surprisingly the songs are really good, catchy, and mostly sung by the actors themselves. The plot was that after Xena's son had been killed by her sidekick, Gabrielle's, evil daughter the two clashed in such a way it sent them to an alternate universe called Illusia. In this place everyone "speaks" through song and as such the two former allies are able to slowly recover their friendship while dealing with all the lies, tension, and disagreements they have faced up to that point. I really loved a lot of the presentation as they began to forgive each other and brought resolution to many ongoing plot lines. Although it kind of ends in a cheesy way, it was a fantastic ride with great musical numbers and, of course, heavily featuring my goddess Callisto! This was definitely the standout episode of the series and the only one to feature so many recurring characters all in one episode.
Callisto vs Rika...so hard to choose!
6. Community "Basic Lupine Urology" (season 3 episode 17)
While I love the natural comedy of Community and so many episodes feature the genius of pop culture references, this episode was virtually the ultimate homage. Borrowing from the storytelling formula of "Law and Order," the procedural crime drama is made to be its most ridiculous nature through the students of Greendale Community College. In a nutshell, the main cast is growing a yam for a lame science project and they believe someone sabotaged their project and begin to investigate. There are so many burst out laughing moments I can't possibly list them all. While you do need to appreciate the humor and characters of Community to "get it" you do also need to be familiar with L&O. For example, they mimic the scene setups as the witnesses always seem to be talking and doing their job at the same time, the clothes of the characters, a hilariously creative way to create the courtroom feel through a classroom, etc. They even use the same film quality and have a cameo from the medical examiner from L&O. The dialogue, the music, even the commercial breaks are perfectly timed to enact an episode from L&O. The writers do everything right...I just love it!
5. The Twilight Zone "The Hitch-hiker" (season 1 episode 16)
Now we come to one of the most legendary shows of all time with a long list of episodes that could have easily made my list. However, none impacted me more or resonated with me the way the "Hitch-hiker" episode was able to. I do want to say that many viewers nowaday are missing out on this episode in its entirety as it's shortened to allow for even more stupid commercials that were thankfully not played back in the '60s. The plot is quite simple as a beautiful young woman, played by Inger Stevens, is traveling across country and is being haunted by a man in black that is hitchhiking. The thing that is making her so uneasy is the weird vibe she gets from him and the fact that he is always ahead of her despite the fact that she is going faster and faster and almost never stopping. Now, for many that moment at the end of "The Sixth Sense" when you realize Bruce Willis was really dead came as a big shock, but I saw it coming a mile away because I watched this episode of the TZ. At the beginning of the episode, the woman just narrowly escapes being killed in a car accident only to suddenly be at a gas station fixing her car up. By the end of the episode you realize she really did die in that crash and that the hitchhiker is Death or something along those lines. That revelation at the end of the episode was when I first felt that shock that the character I've been following was dead all along. This left a strong impression upon me especially considering how excellently the Nan character is acted out through Ms. Stevens. She provides such a moving performance and considering how troubled her real life was and that she would later commit suicide, it was no wonder she probably connected so strongly with her own character. These kind of twist endings are the best part of the TZ, but this episode was able to pull a great story together and still stand the test of time.
4. Elfen Lied "No Return" (episode 13)
This was the final episode of an unfortunately too short anime that I think a lot of people missed out on. While the story is definitely complete, I would have loved to follow the further adventures of the main characters. Although many may be turned off by the ridiculous amount of violence, gratuitous nudity, and mature subject matter, there is actually a deep and compelling story worth checking out. What you need to know is that there is a growing number of mutated beings called the "diclonius" which have telepathic powers that appear as invisible arms called "vectors." Throughout the story we learn of the horrible lives of suffering the main characters have all gone through because they are a diclonius that have been ridiculed by society and eventually captured, experimented on, and tortured by the government, or they were the people that had the misfortune of being hurt by a diclonius' powers; there are a few characters who have even just had a shitty life flat out! It all sounds so depressing, but as the story progresses each characters seeks resolution to their story lines through forgiveness or a sense of love and belonging; it becomes quite touching by the end and this episode brings it all to a close epically. The two best moments are when the most powerful diclonius, Mariko, reunites with her father, Kurama, as he's come to kill her. Kurama had run the facility that experimented on the diclonius and the two reach forgiveness as they are killed by another scientist. But the most touching moment is when Lucy, the main character and the "queen" of the diclonius, reveals the only reason she endured being captured, tortured, etc. was for the chance that she could make amends to her only friend and crush, Kohta, because in a fit of rage as children she killed his father and sister with her powers. Lucy's begging for forgiveness almost brings a tear to my eye because it felt so sincere and you can just imagine how sorry she must have been to go through years and years of torture just to say sorry to someone who has every reason to hate her. There is so much more going on here that I'd rather save for a time I can do complete reviews on these entire shows, but, suffice to say, this episode rightfully earns its spot on my list for gripping storytelling and invoking an emotional connection with the characters.
3. Heroes "Five Years Gone" (season 1 episode 20)
It has always bothered me that this show had possibly the best single season of any show I've ever watched only to go downhill immediately afterward and later being cancelled in disgrace. But we can't let the failures of the later seasons hurt the image of the amazing first season in which this episode was the highlight. Here we have Hiro, whose power is to bend time and space, travels to the future with his friend Ando to find out how to save the world. I already loved most of the characters of this show, but this alternate future that they are trying to avoid provides the audience with a cool spin on each person. Each character has a chance to shine and we see how their lives could be totally different if certain events go unchanged. For example, some of the heroes are villains in the future and some of the villains are heroes due to some circumstances. The best part is of course when we realize that the Nathan character, who has become president of the United States, is actually Sylar, the main villain, in disguise as he absorbed the shapeshifting power from another hero. Worse yet, the cheerleader that they kept believing was the key to stopping Sylar had never actually been killed in the alternate timeline. The cheerleader's power was to heal from any wound and presumably immortality and she now has had that power taken by Sylar! One of the last shots of the future before Hiro and Ando travel back to present day is of Sylar and the main character, Peter, going toe to toe with all their powers (since each can absorb other heroes powers) and one is using fire and the other ice. It felt so epic and really had you hyped for the season finale! I loved watching this first season so much that I just imagine it all ended by the finale and that season 2-4 never existed.
2. Death Note "New World" (episode 37)
Let me begin by saying if you haven't watched DN yet, get out there and watch it! The writing is excellent and planned perfectly, the dialogue and story are clever and creative, and this show really moves you to cheer for one or both of the main characters, Light and L. The overall plot is that beings known as "Shinigami," which are like grim reapers, have magical notebooks that any name written in it will kill the said person. One "bored" Shinigami, named Ryuk, leaves his notebook in the human world where a young genius named Light picks it up. Light then takes it upon himself to kill all the criminals in the world in an attempt to make a better life for everyone or so he tells himself. Honestly, there is an incredible character study to be had here with Light as he began as an idealist obsessed with justice and doing what's right only for him to be tragically led astray into an egomaniac killer through corruption of the notebook's power and his inability to cope with the fact he had become what he hated. At the same time, he is being hunted by the world's greatest detective, L, who believes he can uncover the identity of the one killing criminals around the world. Most of the show is a cat and mouse game as the two come head to head. Eventually L is killed which leads us to this final episode which is my favorite. Anyway, by episode 37 Light has set into motion events that will finally kill everyone left who knows about the notebook leaving himself unchallenged. But L's successor, Near, manages to outsmart Light at the last minute. Considering the edge-of-your-seat buildup in the previous episode, "1.28," watching Light's plan unravel due to his reliance on controlling people backfires gloriously. Now revealed as his alter ego, Kira, Light goes crazy as his associates all realize the evil he has done throughout the series and how he has deceived them. It all ends with Ryuk writing Light's name in his notebook just as he had said he would do someday in the first episode. The music is phenomenal and enhances the reflection and conclusion to the series so appropriately. As much as a villain Light was, it was hard for me to see him go as I was still rooting for him to win! I love every second with this episode and often re-watch it because it's just that good!
1. Lost "Walkabout" (season 1 episode 4)
Okay, let me get a few things out of the way to start. As much as I loved "Lost," I have trouble looking back fondly due to the disappointing ending and my sense that the direction of the show was lost (no pun intended) at some point. But the first season, and this episode in particular, brings back a nostalgia that I wish never went away. There was so much wonder and mystery surrounding the show and you had no idea where the story or characters were heading. What was the island? Were the characters already dead? Why is there a polar bear there?! That fascination would later be shattered, but if you take yourself back to the days when we knew nothing, this really was the pinnacle of TV writing and storytelling. It has all the positives I've discussed thus far in other shows, except it takes it a little further. "Walkabout" focuses on my favorite character, Locke, as we first delve back into his life through flashbacks. There was a certain aura to Locke leading up to this episode as he seemed to know something about the island no one else did and he seemed oddly happy or just crazy. Now there were other cool things going on in the background of this episode like the main character, Jack, seeing his dead father roaming around the island, but the real action is with Locke. At first Locke appears to be some kind of survivalist, hunter, or maybe some kind of crazy military guy. However, through the flashbacks we discover Locke was just some office guy with dreams of going on an Australian "walkabout" in the outback while everyone else doubts him. Furthermore, Locke seems quite pathetic as he uses like a phone sex hotline to try and get a girlfriend and reveals he has a therapist. Back on the island, Locke, is trying to hunt wild boars and growing angry over people doubting him. In the most subtle and genius way, it is revealed that the reason why Locke is acting the way he has been is because he has been in a wheelchair, unable to walk, all of this time leading up to crashing on the island! Somehow the island has restored his ability to walk and now he is out to prove all the people wrong from his life telling him he can't do some things. If you watch the episode again, you see so many little clues you would easily overlook. The way the revelation is presented, the incredible music score accompanying the scene, and the final shots afterward create possibly the best twist in TV history while telling an amazing and inspiring tale along the way. I love this episode so much and only wish there could have been another episode on its level. While "Lost" is a fantastic show, it was sad that their crowning achievement was right out the gate and no episode could equal it...but then again it is a hard act to follow. This episode is a must watch for any fan of great story telling or else you're just missing out!
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