Twenty Greatest Episodes

What do you consider the ten or twenty greatest episodes?

Predictably, 1. In the Name of God, 2. The Violin Lesson, 3. Shallow Water and 4. I Will Walk With You are on my list but I would like to throw out some praise for others that don't get a lot of attention.

5. Sympathy for the Devil
6. Lost and Found
7. Clipped Wings

Kathleen is the perfect foil for Monica and two actresses play off each other so well. I also loved the way it kept Kathleen's story open ended. Is it possible that the demons can repent and come back to God or is it too late for her to mend? Nowhere in the bible does it say they can but it doesn't say they can't either and God DID create the angels with a free will like he did man so they would know the difference between good and evil and their love and obedience would be real. It does leave you wondering...

8. Into the Fire (The "Jonestown" episode. One of the scariest most intense episodes they ever did. Great use of suspense leading to the climax and a terrific performance from Montel Williams. Also the only episode that shows someone going to hell except for Beautiful Dreamer.)

9. The Occupant (Yikes! This one is definitely not for the fainthearted! Outstanding performance from Titus Welliver as the dangerous lunatic in the hospital. His character gives Andy Serkis in The Lord of the Rings a run for his money. I really liked how the doctor had to face his fear to witness to him and Tess' encouragement speech was A+. The ending is a tearjerker in the truest sense of the word.)

10. The Empty Chair (One of those sobering episodes that socks you in the gut and leaves you pondering over issues and consequences that never seem to leave you mind afterwards. Also a good cautionary tale about the banality of reality shows. It has a flair to it like Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf because of the set-up of four characters, although not nearly as crazy.)

11. The Face of God (Albert Einstein/Cloning episode.)

12. The Netherlands (Monica's faith is shaken by a city bombing and the devil tempts her to renounce God and join his army. The vision sequence and climax scene with the music is OUTSTANDING. It really made me want to see Dead Horse State Park, Utah. An eerily prophetic episode considering it was made a few months before 9/11.)

13. Holy of Hollies (The Ark of the Covenant episode)

14. Minute by Minute (The school bombing episode. Mary MacDonnell does a great job as the nun. Also the actor playing the psycho teenager is wicked and hilarious at the same time.)

15. The Birthday Present

16. A Death in the Family (A very daring episode about how both whites and blacks can be guilty of mob mentality and racial paranoia. You couldn't see this being made on TV today considering the Zinneman/Martin and Chauvin/Floyd cases.)

17. The Sky is Falling

18. Redeeming Love (The drug addict episode. Alanna Ubach is amazing in this role.)

19. Reasonable Doubt (A TBAA version of 12 Angry Men)

20. The Invitation (Who's the devil lurking in town? The writers make it look like one person to throw you off and then it turns about to be the character you least expected.)