10. 30 Rock - 'Rosemary's
Baby' - 2.4
Trying to pick the best episode
from 30 Rock is really a crapshoot -
all of them were stuffed full of so many incredible jokes that there's a good
chance I'll overshoot one of them because so many of the subtle ones. But I'm
going to stick with the one I went with nearly a decade ago. When Liz finds
herself getting involved with a writer she idealized growing up (the incredible
Carrie Fisher), she seems willing to throw everything away - until she learns
how pathetic Rosemary's life really is. Meanwhile, Jack tries to send Tracy
through therapy - which leads to one of the great three minutes segments in
comedy history, where Alec Baldwin channels everybody in Tracy 's
family, and reaches arguably his highest point on a series that gave him
greatest moments. And yes, even though we see what would probably be considered
the inevitable Princess Leia, Fisher delivers it with such perfect timing, one
can't help but go into hysterics.
9. The Good Wife - 'Hitting
The Fan' -5.5
This series is, without question,
one of the greatest TV shows of the past decade. And what made this series such
an incredible one was how brilliant is was willing to completely upend itself,
particularly in its second half. And while some might consider the death of
Will Gardener its finest moment, I really think its most incredible one came a
few months earlier. Upon learning that Alicia is planning to leaving
Gardener-Lockhart to start her own firm with Cary, Will marches in to her
office, barely able to keep his emotions in his check, trying to figure out
whether he feels more betrayed or angry. Finally he utters three simple words:
"You were poison!", and in swift motion shoves all of Alicia's papers
and books on to the floor. It isn't just that Alicia has decided to leave the
firm, but in this motion, she utterly destroys any possibility of the
Will-Alicia relationship ever being realized. This was Josh Charles finest
hour, made even more remarkable considering that he'd had to be talked into
staying for Season 5 by Juliana
Marguiles. The series would do some
truly brilliant shifts, but it would rarely change the game more confidently -
or magnificently - than it did here.
8. Buffy the Vampire Slayer -
The Body - 5.16
By now, its considered a given that
the finest hour for this classic series came in its musical episode 'Once More
With Feeling'. And there's no question that Joss Whedon managed a great
accomplishment in a way that even his biggest fans didn't think he could pull
off. But frankly, I'm inclined to give this episode just the tiniest bit less credit because it was
the beginning of the downfall of this great series. And really, the episode
that resonates with me even more (at least, the one that qualifies for this
list) came earlier in 2001. Buffy dealt
with death so much that we were becoming inured to it, so when Joyce Summer
died in this episode from complications from brain surgery earlier in the
season, it stunned us - mainly because she died in a way no one in the series
had before or would again - peacefully. But the episode was all about
everybody's reactions to this death - Dawn's mental breakdown, Willow
being unable to choose a shirt, Anya, the most glib member of the group, who
lived for over a thousand years, utterly unable to come to terms with what had
happened. All of which, by the way, was done with no background music at all.
Few series, past or present, have been able to deal with death as soberly or as
well as did. The series being robbed of Emmy nominations was - until David
Simon came along - the awards shows biggest blunder. That the episode wasn't
even nominated is something I still can't forgive the Emmys, even nearly two
decades later.
7. 24 - 'Day 5- 6PM-7PM ' - 5.12
How do you pick the greatest
episode of the ultimate serialized drama? Jack Bauer's adventures over eight
days featured some truly incredible moments, but most of them don't work unless
they're seen in context. So ultimately, the choice comes down to what was 24's finest hour? And that's still an
easy call. Without question, the greatest season was Day 5, when Howard Gordon
and company decided to start taking out most of the characters we had come to
know and care about over the first four seasons. And in this episode, they
decided to lay waste to CTU itself. The last
ten minutes of the episode are among the series finest, as Jack spends it
trying to find an invader. Then we see that there's a nerve gas container in CTU .
In a matter of seconds, the staff begins dying right and left. Jack gets Chloe
to seal off certain rooms, with people still dying right in front of them. And
then: "Oh no." Edgar, one of the most beloved characters on the
series comes into the room. He has just enough time to get one word out:
"Chloe." Then he begins to double over. Its not the silent clock that
rams the moment homes. Its the look on Mary Lynn Raskjub's face as she watches
her best friend die. This is the moment that probably won the show its Emmy for
Best Drama. Never were moment and award so perfectly matched.
6. The Shield - Possible Kill
Screen - 7.12
This series was the first non-HBO
series to determine the true potential of basic cable. And unlike so many of
the great series in the early years of the Golden Age, its one of the few that
never had a bad season, and whose last season may well have been its best. When I first did this list nearly eight years
ago, I listed the last episode as one of the greatest ever. But in retrospect,
the penultimate one had one of the far greater moments. After years of eluding
justice for his illegal activities, Vic Mackey has finally gotten into a
position with the government where he can agreed to work for them in exchange
for immunity. The final fifteen minutes
of the episodes are among the greatest in TV history, and I'm not sure which
parts are among the best - the more than forty second closeup on Vic as he readies
himself to confess his sins, the look of horror on the face of the government
agents when he confesses to the murder that took place in the Pilot, the way he
keeps talking, and almost seems to be taunting her, by telling her there's no
way he's leaving anything out, or the look on Claudette and Dutch's face as
they finally realize that the man they've been chasing since the beginning of
the series is finally and unalterably out of their reach. All I know is that
there's only one possible reaction to this: "Oh my f-ing God."
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