Below, find my top ten episodes for the 2011-2012 television season below, in no particular order. And a few spoilers ahead, including that one episode of "Breaking Bad."
Game of Thrones, "Blackwater" - The first real "Game of Thrones" battle episode feels positively small scale now, especially considering the way it was contrived to skip most of the expensive battle scenes because we stuck to Tyrion's limited POV. But still, what an event! Cersei gets to be maternal, Tyrion gets to be inspirational, and at this point getting so many disparate characters in kinda close proximity to each other was something to cheer about.
Parks and Rec, "The Comeback Kid" - It's the one with the ice rink. Leslie launches a comeback push for her city council campaign while Ben takes up claymation and Andy and April adopt a dog. And all of this culminates in a trip across a slippery frozen arena, set to Gloria Estefan's "Get on Your Feet," that is one of the most hysterical things that "Parks and Rec" ever came up with. By this point in the show's run, the laughs could come from anywhere. And they did.
Breaking Bad, "Crawl Space" - The emotional lowpoint of the fourth season, where Walt gradually comes to learn how badly things are going with both his allies and his enemies. The tension ratchets up as the danger grows and Walt's options shrink, until there seems to be only one way out. The final shot where the axe drops is one of the best of the entire series run, capturing a chilling moment where Walter White seems to have gone over the edge at last.
Community, "Remedial Chaos Theory" - Witness the birth of the darkest timeline. This is truly an episode for the nerds who are willing to patiently sit through the first few cycles of the story, which are fairly similar to each other, in order to reach the chaotic joys of one-armed Jeff and evil Abed. Stuffed with meme-worthy lines, references, and in-jokes, the episode breaks all the rules and is one of the best examples of the experimental side of "Community."
Mad Men, "Commissions and Fees" - Jared Harris's performance as Lane Pryce was one of my favorite parts of "Mad Men." This episode is his swan song, a bleak, wintry farewell that has some truly heartbreaking scenes and existentially unnerving imagery. This is also very much a Don episode, where we watch him take care of business with the understanding that a few wrong moves will put him in the same boat as Lane. And the Jaguar shade is legendary.
Girls, "Pilot" - I didn't like "Girls" much from what little I saw of it, but I always appreciated the pilot episode, where we're introduced to the exasperating Hannah Horvath, who has a very long way to go on her path to maturity. From the very beginning, her awfulness and her privilege are clear, but I was also struck by the candidness of how she's portrayed. I was also relieved that the production values were better than Lena Dunham's feature, "Tiny Furniture."
Sherlock, "A Scandal in Belgravia" - This episode set off a storm in the fandom about the sexuality of the characters and the show's treatment of the female characters. This version of Irene Adler is incredibly sexual, self-contradictory, and ultimately a fantasy ideal of a love interest for Sherlock Holmes. And there's nothing wrong with that in this context. I still count this as one of the best episodes of the show - juvenile sure, but awfully entertaining.
Louie, "New Jersey"/"Airport" - What I loved about "Louie" was Louis C.K.'s ability to capture very specific moods and tones. In this case, a misadventure strands him far from home, forcing him to call up a friend for a ride in the middle of the night. And this leads to one of the best things I've ever seen special guest star Chris Rock do, acting as the disappointed, responsible adult who lectures Louie all the way home on how he's too old to be acting this stupid.
Doctor Who, "The Girl Who Waited" - The quality of "Doctor Who" was hit-or-miss in every era, but I stuck around for the occasional episodes like this, the ones that told time travel stories that really took advantage of the show's fantastic concepts and characters. Here we meet an embittered version of Amy Pond who was forced to wait too long for her rescue - creating a moral dilemma for the Doctor and Rory as they try to find a way to resolve the situation.
Black Mirror, "15 Million Merits" - Finally, the episode that began my obsession with "Black Mirror," back when it was a Channel Four production. I accidentally stumbled across a pirated version on Youtube, and thought it was a web series. I didn't know who Daniel Kaluuya was, or Jessica Brown-Findlay, and I'd never heard of Charlie Brooker. I just knew that the episode was one of the most effective pieces of science-fiction I'd seen in ages, and I wanted more.
---
No comments:
Post a Comment