Below, find my top ten episodes for the 2008-2009 television season below, in no particular order. A few spoilers lie ahead, including the endings of "Avatar: the Last Airbender" and "Battlestar Galactica," and the second season of "Breaking Bad."
30 Rock, "Reunion" - "30 Rock" could always be counted on to turn common television storytelling tropes on their heads. In "Reunion," we journey outside the show's usual New York City digs, and Liz goes to her high school reunion, where everyone is avoiding her or acting weird around her. Because it turns out that Liz Lemon was a terrible person in high school and deserves it. Alec Baldwin also gets to play Jack playing someone else, which is always a delight.
Mad Men, "Meditations in an Emergency" - I love watching Don Draper outmaneuver his rivals, and this is one of the best examples, where an impending merger means he gets to show Pete and Duck exactly where he stands with the agency. Betty and Peggy also have their own revelations to share, Betty ultimately choosing to remain with Don, while Peggy ends any possibility of a renewed romantic relationship with Pete in the coldest possible terms.
Breaking Bad, "Phoenix" - I had a tough time picking a favorite episode, because I consider this one of the best seasons of television ever made. However, Walt reaching a new low with his part in Jane's death was undeniably one of the most important, nerve-wracking moments in the series. Cranston got a lot of kudos for his performance, and deservedly so, but Aaron Paul's work was what really got to me here, as Jesse's life takes yet another turn for the worse.
Doctor Who, "Midnight" - My favorite Russell T. Davies "Doctor Who" story is a bottle episode where the Doctor and an assortment of travellers are trapped in a small space with a nightmarish monster. We never see the monster, but it communicates well enough through possessing a passenger played by Lesley Sharp, quickly growing smarter and scarier. There's nothing fancy about the production, but the episode makes for an excellent small scale paranoid thriller.
Avatar the Last Airbender, "Sozin's Comet" - The entire feature-length finale is wonderful, but if I have to pick a specific episode, it's got to be the very last one, where Zuko and Azula finally have their duel, and Aang figures out how to defeat the Firelord in a way he can live with. The series remains one of the most impressive pieces of long-form storytelling in any medium, animated or otherwise, with a satisfying climax that knew exactly when it was time to say goodbye.
The Venture Bros., "The Buddy System" - This is the one where we meet Dermott, and Dr. Mrs. The Monarch gets a costume upgrade. Fairly uneventful episodes like this one, where Rusty runs a day camp to make some quick cash, employing a bunch of his friends as unpaid counselors, were always my favorites. There are so many wonderful bits of absurdity, like the Order of the Triad safety sketch, Billy getting shot, and the intense reappearance of Action Johnny.
Dead Set, "A Way Out" - The best thing that anybody did with the "Big Brother" reality show was to let Charlie Brooker take it over and turn it into a zombie invasion horror miniseries back in 2008. There are a couple of cameos from the regular host and a few prior participants, but all the major players in the miniseries are fictional and played by actors. Still, the use of the real sets counts for a lot, especially in this finale episode when things get really bloody and fun.
The Middleman, "The Palindrome Reversal Palindrome" - I loved this weird little genre show starring Natalie Morales and Matt Keeslar as secret agents in a comic book universe. It only lasted one season, but brought me much joy. I decided to pick the show's jaunt into an evil mirror universe for this list, because I can't resist darkest timeline stories and Keeslar gets to dress up like Snake Plisskin. If the series finale had been filmed, I probably would have picked that one.
Battlestar Galactica, "Crossroads Part 2" - Going into a midseason hiatus, "Crossroads" revealed the identities of four of the Final Five Cylons to the rest of the cast, and finally let the fleet have a win. It's an episode absolutely jam-packed with incident, capping off years worth of buildup and anticipation, and ends on one of the most quietly devastating scenes in the entire series. I have qualms about some of these storylines, but I remain deeply impressed at how it was pulled off.
Top Gear, "The Vietnam Special" - I'm biased because this was the first of the "Top Gear" specials that I saw, so any repetition of the bits was lost on me. I just adored watching this trio of hapless middle-aged Brits make increasingly ridiculous spectacles of themselves as they traversed South Asia on motorbikes on an epic eight-day journey. As a movie nerd, I was also very pleased with the constant stream of Vietnam War movie references.
---
No comments:
Post a Comment