I know you guys love lists...
I won't spoil it for you, so I'll put 100 here and 1 in a spoiler tag
http://besttv.theringer.com/?_ga=2.78193239.2129357004.1532979964-925815798.1505680775
I won't spoil it for you, so I'll put 100 here and 1 in a spoiler tag
THE WALKING DEAD
S2 E7
"PRETTY MUCH DEAD ALREADY"
In Season 2's Michelle MacLaren–directed midseason finale, Shane goes full Punisher after learning that Hershel has quarantined the county's walker population in his barn. Meanwhile, a not-yet-ruthless Rick, eager to be a good guest, lamely insists that the farm is still safe. Also, Glenn and Maggie make out.
WHAT IS THE EPISODE'S MOST ICONIC MOMENT?It might be the series's most iconic moment: As Shane and other soon-to-be-killed-off characters (this show did you dirty, T-Dog) silently contemplate the carnage in the wake of what one producer called "Barn-ageddon," a girlish groan emerges from inside. It's soon followed by its source, Sophia (Madison Lintz), who'd been missing since the season's first episode. Carol's undead daughter emerges from the barn and totters toward the group slowly enough for MacLaren to capture reaction shots from everyone. Even Punisher Shane seems paralyzed by the depressing sight, so Rick—who seconds earlier was all set to help Hershel add to the barn's walker count—strides forward and does to Sophia what he did to the young walker he put down in the pilot. Although in retrospect the significance of the ex-lawman's conversion to Team Post-Apocalypse is undercut by the countless resolutions Rick makes and breaks in subsequent seasons, it was powerful at the time.
WHAT IS THE BEST BEHIND-THE-SCENES ANECDOTE ABOUT THIS EPISODE?According to effects artist Greg Nicotero on AMC's Talking Dead, MacLaren shot two endings for the episode: one in which Sophia looked like a zombie, and one in which she looked like her old self, reflecting the way that her former companions still wanted to see her. A blend of both might have worked well—maybe MacLaren could have faked the audience out by hiding Sophia's true nature until after Rick pulled the trigger—but that approach would have detracted from the initial reveal. Not to mention that in most cases, it's probably wise not to risk any confusion about why a protagonist is killing a kid.
LOST
S4 E5
"THE CONSTANT"
The Desmond-centric time-travel yarn is a microcosm of everything Lost did expertly, and, just as crucially, it contains none of the pitfalls that hampered later installments. It's a pitch-perfect modern TV cocktail, one part sci-fi, one part romance, one part reimagining of The Odyssey, with an Easter egg garnish, on freighter rocks.
WHAT IS THE EPISODE'S MOST ICONIC MOMENT?Do you remember what it felt like to hear that phone ring? To wonder whether Penny, on December 24, 2004, would pick up as Desmond, mad with need, unstuck in time, had begged her to back in 1996? Can you still hear that first crackly "Hello?," still see Desmond's brow wrinkle, pulling in on itself as he finds his anchor, fully comprehending at last what one person can be for another?
Lost was never only Desmond and Penny's show. That, however, is part of the grand achievement of "The Constant": Great TV doesn't have to be about the who, but it usually has to be about the why, and in the fifth episode of its fourth season, with its main players largely sidelined or reduced to exposition-seeking roles, Lost found its why with more clarity than it had before or would after or than most shows ever do in their runs. Whether we're on a mystical island or an ominous freighter or back in the rhythms of our own dreary lives; whether we're in the past or the present or the future; whether we can even tell the difference; the bonds that matter most will tether us and reveal our true selves. "No matter what," Penny says, and Desmond answers: "I'll come back to you." And so will we, to "The Constant." I promise.
HOW DID THIS EPISODE INFLUENCE THE FUTURE OF TV?It's reductive to say that Lost changed television in ways both good and bad, but it's also true. Part of the magic of "The Constant" is that it buoys the good while rising above the bad. It stands as a testament to the power of mythmaking and world building—of trusting the viewer to trace every thread of an arc, even when the characters can't. But it also functions shockingly well as an isolated act, capable of serving as a treatise on the power of love, even if you don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of the show's ever-expanding mythology. "The Constant" proved that the best episodes of television can simultaneously fortify the series's mythology and be appreciated independently, unshackled from end-game speculation. Desmond and Penny's love story reminded us that the most rewarding 20th-century viewing experiences can give us message-board fodder while allowing us to appreciate the work free from the theories and well-actuallying that dictate so much TV discourse these days. The message of "The Constant," like its protagonist, is timeless: The puzzle may be fun, but heart will always be the heart.
http://besttv.theringer.com/?_ga=2.78193239.2129357004.1532979964-925815798.1505680775
