While this could change I think I'm going with "Twilight Zone"'s "Shadow Play." It's amazing how much they pack into that episode's twenty-four minute running time. The last twenty-minutes or so of "Twin Peak"'s season two finale would also be up there (the rest of the episode is pretty "meh").
shareHere are some of my random picks that come to mind:
Alias - "Phase One" (the post-Super Bowl episode, where the whole show changes)
Friends - "The One Where Everybody Finds Out" (...about Monica and Chandler dating)
Breaking Bad - "Ozymandias" (episode that opens with a big death, then later the big family fight)
Charmed - "All Hell Breaks Loose" (finale, world finds out they're witches, cliffhanger that killed one)
Mama's Family - "The Really Loud Family" (Bubba films the family with a camera with a short in it)
Six Feet Under - "Everyone's Waiting" (especially the last scene/montage, best series finale ever)
Mad Men, 3 I can think of off-hand, but as the episodes built on one another, pulling them out of context wouldn't do them justice.
The Suitcase is one of my favourites, but, as I said, watching it as a stand-alone, without knowing the characters and their relationships, which were so carefully built and drawn, the impact would be far less.
I would have gone with "The Suitcase" except you have to know a little bit about this great show first. Anthologies -- particularly ones like "TZ" -- you need no prior history with the show to get it, which is, for me, the anthology format's chief draw (seeing it stage a comeback currently makes me very pleased).
shareThat is one of the plusses of anthology shows. Also, less incentive to binge. ... Not that binging is necessarily a bad thing!
shareThe episode where "James" dies in Mississippi..."Good Times" - "Florida" refuses to grieve. So, grief stands there & waits. "Dayum, dayum, dayum." The standoff is over.
What show are these from? None of them are familiar to me.
share"Good Times" from the mid-70's.
Here's the part...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SJukf3RK-A
Ah. I'm much of a fan of sitcom, with a few exceptions, so never watched the show.
share"Night Of The Wolf" - "The Big Valley" - "Nick" is bitten by a rabid wolf and is told that there is no cure for rabies, that the incubation period is XX number of days. "If you're still alive after that there's a good chance you'll stay that way."
Only "Heath" knows about this incident. "Nick" goes off to die alone. He doesn't want to be a burden to the family, does not want them to see him die the death he is facing.
Symptoms soon surface after he arrives in a small town where once lived an old love. He's taken in by a widow with a young son (Ron Howard). Violent mood swings ensue (is it regular Nick, or, rabies?). Back home Heath is x'ing out days on a pocket calendar as the family is quizzing & grilling him about "Nick's" whereabouts.
Finally "Jarrod" tells "Heath" that it isn't up to "Nick" to disown his family. That they're beholden to one another in time of crisis. That he knows his brother needs him. Reminds "Heath" that as a child "Nick" ran away when old man Barkley had disciplined him. That he "Jarrod" had rushed home from school without prior knowledge that his brother needed him. "I didn't have to be told then, Heath, I just knew my brother needed me, like he needs me now. So, you tell him, to come on back home. Tell him, Pappy says so."
It's a wonderful episode. I love it so.
The Sopranos - Pine Barrens
It's the one where Chris and Paulie get lost in the woods. The most memorable episode of this awesome show.
I love the one immediately after it -- "Amour Fou" -- even more. "The Sopranos" started to lose me a little in season three but these two episodes brought me back big time (too bad they lost me again in season four).
shareThat's a good one too. I've always thought that The Sopranos is one of the few shows that kept its quality through out its entire run, sure there are some weaker episodes, but still. But as much as I love the show i'm not the biggest fan of the finale.
shareOld thread, but I'm going to respond anyways...
That was one of my favorite episodes. For the rest of the series, I kept expecting the Russian to show up and get revenge.
The finale of The Fugitive where Richard Kimble finally squares off with the one-armed man. It was epic television at that time !
shareYes, and they preserved the sister, the original actress to serve here in the final episode. She had sacrificed so much thru the years of flight. It is fantastic that the production (QM) had made the effort to recruit her for such a special moment.
Good one, db.