Here are the best TV episode of the decade, from 2010-2019. This has been a fascinating period of change for the small screen, moving from the Golden Age of Television to the era of Peak TV, with both bringing some of the biggest series ever made.
The past 10 years have born TV giants such as Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead, an increased number of revivals and reboots, and, of course, the rise of streaming services producing their own original content. The latter will only dominate more in the next decade as Netflix, Disney+ et al continue to ramp up their efforts to outdo one another in the streaming wars.
Streaming - and the binge-watching the usually comes with it - has somewhat served to kill off the art of the TV episode as installments bleed from one to the next. Nonetheles, there have been an number of outstanding efforts that showcase the very best of what a single hour (or half-hour) of TV can do, whether it’s a brilliant series finale, an exemplar of the episodic form, or something that breaks the mold completely. These are the episodes that did those things this decade.
15. Black Mirror - “San Junipero”
When Black Mirror moved to Netflix for its third season, most people had a grasp on what it would do: a dark, dystopian take on technology that felt just five minutes into the future. And then along came “San Junipero”, which isn’t just a brilliant episode in its own right, but so expertly plays on that presumed understanding of the show itself. Telling the story of an introvert, Yorkie (Mackenzie Davis), and the extroverted Kelly (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), the episode uses its lush 80s setting to create an emotional and ultimately uplifting story about two people who find a real connection in a computer-generated world. Led by the chemistry of its two leads, it’s the best Black Mirror has ever been.
14. Inside No. 9 - “The 12 Days of Christine”
If you’re not familiar with British anthology series Inside No. 9, then do what you can to find it. One of the most inventive series to come from the UK in decades, there’s no bad episode, but “The 12 Days of Christine” is its crowning achievement thus far. Eschewing the series’ more comedic elements, “The 12 Days of Christine” focuses on the life of the titular character across 12 years. It’s a wonderfully told, elegiac tale, anchored by a superb Sheridan Smith performance, that will leave you surprised (as most Inside No. 9 episodes do) and devastated in equal measure.
13. Better Call Saul - “Chicanery”
The biggest compliment to pay Better Call Saul is that it lives up to its more famous predecessor, while also being a very different show. That’s best highlighted by season 3’s “Chicanery”, which ranks among some of Breaking Bad’s great installments, but plays directly into the spin-off’s strengths. A thrilling courtroom drama that highlights the power of great writing, dialogue, and acting, The increasingly stifling courtroom becomes the setting for heartwrenching reveals. Better Call Saul doesn’t need action and shoot-outs when it can do character work this good.
12. Parks & Rec - “The Fight”
Parks and Recreation was firing on all cylinders by season 3, and"The Fight" showcases just how great it was when it allowed its cast to all together in one place, this time thanks to Tom’s latest invention, Snake Juice. The alcohol allows each character to cut loose (even more so than usual), with a main plot, a passive aggressive spat between Leslie and Ann, that is pitch-perfect, but accompanied by an incredible amount of sublime subplots, from Bert Macklin & Janet Snakehole to the always great Jean Ralphio, and it’s all topped off by the sight of Ron Swanson dancing in a woman’s small hat.
11. HIMYM - “How Your Mother Met Me”
While How I Met Your Mother was known for its invention, a lot of that had dissipated by its ninth season, when it was clear the series needed to end. Still, it had one last stroke of genius left by flipping the script on the entire premise, fleshing out the Mother’s backstory in “How Your Mother Met Me”. The fun lies in the near misses Tracy has with Ted & Co., but the episode’s even greater strength is how, in just 20 minutes, it makes us care so deeply for the Mother’s journey, rolling in gut-punches, callbacks, laughs, and heartbreak, all superbly conveyed by Cristin Milioti. It ends with her singing “La Vie on Rose” as Ted listens from the next-door balcony, which is the show’s most hauntingly beautiful moment.
10. Fleabag - “Season 2, Episode 3”
Like most of Fleabag’s best moments, season 2’s “Episode 3” hilariously plays on the dynamic between Fleabag and sister Claire, this time with the former helping her sister out for a big work event (where she runs into Klare). It adds new layers to their relationship, mixing poignancy with humor in the way Fleabag does so well, but the episode keeps getting better. A run-in with a woman named Belinda (Kristen Scott Thomas) at a bar gives us a thrilling dialogue scene that is, again, moving and side-splitting, before attentions turn to The Priest. The already sizzling atmosphere turns up another few notches, and it’s paired with one of the greatest uses of fourth-wall-breaking in memory.
9. True Detective - “Who Goes There?”
The highlight of True Detective’s remarkable debut run, “Who Goes There?” is a pretty great episode even before its final six minutes. Building the relationship of Marty and Rust as they attempt to find some shared ground, it refuses to pull any punches in its examination of the lives they (and others around them) lead. “Who Goes There?” rather dispells the notion of the pair as anti-heroes, instead simply making clear they are deeply flawed individuals. But then those final six-minutes hit; an unbroken tracking shot that keeps the focus close in on Rust as he infiltrates the Iron Crusaders for their raid on a stash-house, which means six-minutes of heart-stopping tension where you’re nervous to so much as breathe. It transforms the episode from good to unforgettable.
8. BoJack Horseman - “Time’s Arrow”
Episode 11s have become to BoJack Horseman what episode 9s were to Game of Thrones: it’s the big one, but in place of spectacle is usually 25 minutes or so that will do their best to rip your heart from its chest. “Time’s Arrow” more than accomplishes this: from its innovative visual portrait of memory loss to the highlighting of the pain that comes with it, it’s a staggering portrayal of the unending, unstoppable march of time. “Time’s Arrow” hones in on the difficult relationship between a son and his mother, of life’s bright dreams and crushing reality, culminating in a shattering moment between BoJack and Beatrice, finding one last glimmer of light to grasp onto in the darkness, because what else can you do but ask: “Can you taste the ice cream, mom?”
7. Atlanta - “Teddy Perkins”
If you were to draw a Venn diagram featuring Michael Jackson, Get Out, and David Lynch, then in the middle you’d have “Teddy Perkins”, the standout episode of Atlanta’s genius second season. Almost entirely set in the creepy home of the titular Teddy, this is an astonishing half-hour from Hiro Murai, Donald Glover, and Lakeith Stanfield. “Teddy Perkins” is as captivating as it is weird; it’s what feels like a groundbreaking episode of television, the kind that you’ll always remember, or perhaps rather never quite escape from, serving up commentaries on race and art in ways both shocking and innovative.
6. Mad Men - “The Suitcase”
Sometimes it feels like Mad Men is a little forgotten about from TV’s Golden Age, placed as it was between the likes of The Sopranos and Breaking Bad, but it’s worth remembering that this show was capable of being as good as any other drama served up at the time. Case in point, “The Suitcase”, which is a lesson in constructing a 45-minute TV episode. Focused entirely on the relationship between Don (Jon Hamm) and Peggy (Elisabeth Olsen), “The Suitcase” allows Mad Men’s two best performers, characters, and indeed its greatest relationship to flourish. It’s an emotional, surprising, and intimate episode of television, with superb performances from the pair.
5. The Americans - “The Magic of David Copperfield v The Statue of Liberty Disappears”
The Americans was often at its best when it was about the tension, the push-and-pull, between Philip and Elizabeth’s work as spies and lives as a family, and more broadly them as Russians vs Americans. “The Magic of David Copperfield v The Statue of Liberty Disappears”, which is directed by star Matthew Rhys himself, understands and shows this better than most. It begins with a sombre goodbye to Martha, turns into a scathing fight between the Jennings, and then, with a time jump, allows them a taste of the American Dream. There’s mini-golf and magic, but it’s all undercut by a powerful reminder that this is just a facade for them, nothing more. It’s The Americans at its most poignant and reflective, and all the better for it.
4. The Leftovers - “International Assassin”
Having killed himself in the previous episode of The Leftovers, Kevin awakens in “International Assassin” into the realm of the undead, which in this case is a hotel full of people who either believe they’re still alive, or are simply out for revenge. Tasked with assassinating the Presidential nominee Patti, what unfolds over the course of this hour is better seen than described. It’s a mesmerizing, funny, sad, and profound installment of television that’s full of twists and turns, gorgeous imagery, and two stellar performances at its core. The Leftovers served up many of the decade’s best episodes across seasons 2 & 3, but for such incredible execution of a mind-bending concept, its hard to look past “International Assassin”.
3. Game Of Thrones - “The Winds Of Winter”
Game of Thrones’ defining moment is still the Red Wedding, but its crowning achievement in terms of an entire episode is season 6 finale “The Winds of Winter”. This is an episode that is all about delivering pay-offs, while pleasing every type of Game of Thrones fan. If you’re after spectacle, it doesn’t get much more impressive than the destruction of the Sept of Baelor, the long-build to which is the show’s best-directed sequence, and features its greatest music too. If you want more political machinations, well Cersei takes the crown, and Jon is crowned King in the North. For vengeance, it doesn’t come much sweeter than Arya and Walder Frey. For book readers, the Tower of Joy scene is as moving and beautifully done as you’d hope. “The Winds of Winter”, from first second to last, is an absolute stunner that perfectly epitomizes everything Game of Thrones was great at.
2. Breaking Bad - “Ozymandias”
Breaking Bad was often a thrilling show, but even by its own lofty standards “Ozymandias”, the 14th episode of the final season, is on another level entirely. Directed with great skill by Rian Johnson, from a shocking and emotional script by Moira Walley-Beckett, this is Breaking Bad’s magnum opus. Picking up in the aftermath of the dessert shoot-out, and culminating in a phone call between Walt and Skyler, this is a TV masterclass. It might not be the finale, but there’s a sense of everything crumbling down in a true Shakespearean fashion here. The episode ranks as one of the most intense ever produced, at times mind-bending and stomach-churning, but not one you can ever look away from.
1. Twin Peaks: The Return - “Part 8”
Twin Peaks: The Return’s “Part 8” is an episode that defies explanation (which, given that could be applied to much of Twin Peaks’ third season, is really saying something). It’s better seen than described, but what can be said is that this, more than anything else in the series, is the most pure, undiluted distillation of David Lynch imaginable, where he reaches into both his past (see: the atomic bomb) and the darkest recesses of his mind (see: everything else) to give us one of the most avant-garde TV episodes ever made. “Part 8” of Twin Peaks: The Return does eventually tie into the larger narrative, but it’s a brilliantly disturbing installment all of its own, full of indelible imagery and sounds designed to haunt you long after the credits roll. Safe to say it succeeded.
Honorable Mentions
- American Crime Story - “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia” Community - “Remedial Chaos Theory” Doctor Who - “Vincent And The Doctor” Fargo - “The Castle” The Good Place - “Michael’s Gambit” The Haunting of Hill House - “The Bent-Neck Lady” The Office - “Goodbye Michael” Orange is the New Black - “The Animals” Sharp Objects - “Milk” The Trip To Italy - “Episode 2”
More: The Most Divisive TV Shows Of The Decade
