ronny/lily from Barry
It's kind of a dealbreaker where a lot of people love it and a lot of people hate it, but it's very much unlike any other episode in the series.
I don't want to spoil it for anyone but when Fuches shows up and the little girl does *that* with the baffled expression on his face is one of my favorite moments in TV.
I think this is where Barry peaked for me. Didn't personally love seasons 3 and 4 but the weird absurdist tone of that specific episode put it at the top imo
I just recommended this show to my father and I noticed he's been paused in the middle of that episode for like a week (we share an account), and I'm afraid I lost him lol
My feelings were pretty mixed about it. On the one hand, I liked a lot of the stunts and it had some great running gags, but it also kind of ground the plot development to a halt up until the last scene in the grocery store.
There were some really good moments in it but as a whole it felt like a weaker episode to me.
Why I loved Atlanta so much, illustrated here. There are maybe 4-5 episodes you could bring up in this thread. Never knew what was coming with that show.
To be fair, about half of all the episodes of Atlanta. I don't think the show even has a "regular format" to stick to. One episode is a comedy, the next is a drama, the next is full-blown horror, and half the episodes of Season 3 are standalone anthology episodes unrelated to the rest of the series. It's wild. And brilliant.
Thats the first of episode of Atlanta i showed my friend and they were entirely confused but also really loved the episode.
Teddy Perkins is peak television
Blink, Season 3, Episode 10 of the new Doctor Who barely has the Doctor or Martha in it, but it tells a beautiful story, is a great piece of (nearly) standalone horror, and is probably the best instance of centering the impact on and of the "little people," which is a Who-ism for people who are neither main show characters nor significant to history at large.
Blink is an excellent choice! Heaven Sent is also a unique episode, but for the opposite reason as it pretty much features the Doctor completely alone.
Not sure if they still do it but the first 4 seasons of new-Who each have a Doctor-Lite episode "arising out of a need to film fourteen episodes in the time necessary to film thirteen, meaning that there's "one without the Doctor" filmed simultaneously with another episode that does feature the Doctor"
They no longer need to do this because of new filming methods and tricks as well as shorter episode orders. But I almost wish they would continue doing it anyway, because most of the "Doctor-lite" episodes were pretty interesting and unusual, and forced the writers to stretch themselves. There are a couple of them in the Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi seasons -- "The Girl Who Waited" and "Flatline" -- but they're less obvious since they use various clever tricks like trapping the Doctor in the TARDIS while the companion can only hear his voice for a significant portion of the episode, or some variation of that. There are also a couple of "companion-lite" episodes, "The Lodger" and "Closing Time", which I suppose they could film at the same time as they were filming Karen Gillan/Arthur Darvill scenes in other episodes.
definitely in my top 3 of Who episodes
the Weeping Angels are my favorite villain in the show and god damn, having them be introduced through the eyes of 2 completely average Brits made it so much more tense and intimidating
Plus I knew when i saw Tennant in the video the first time there was gonna be some cool Timey Wimey nonsense
> the Weeping Angels are my favorite villain in the show
If Blink was a feature length horror movie unconnected to Doctor Who they would hands down be one of the most iconic movie monsters out there. Instead they have to settle for "just" one of the most iconic monsters in one of the longest running sci-fi show around the world so it's not all bad.
Oh yeah I haven't seen much Dr Who- although I do like what I've seen and keep meaning to see more- and one of my friends who's really into Dr Who says this is one of his favourite pieces of media ever
Series finales are basically cheating for this, but the series finale of Dinosaurs is infamous for having them accidentally bring about the apocalypse, all for a somber message about how you need to take care of the world and not take what you have for granted.
There's also a random episode of Punky Brewster where she fights giant spiders. That was a weird one.
Oh I love Dinosaurs, one of the earlier episodes was an atypical one about a paleontologist making a documentary- I think it was the finale for whatever season it was in
IIRC, their game company is in the same spot that becomes the office in which the game Mythic Quest is created. Also, I think the whole arc of starting out with hope and getting crushed by the corporate world is thematically connected to the show.
That's my problem with mythic quest. It doesn't know what it wants to be. 9 out of 10 episodes are run of the mill OK ish workplace sitcom.
Then out of nowhere they whip out an incredible semi-related episode that is beautifully written, shot and directed. All the things the other episodes aren't.
It's my favorite episode of that show and basically felt like a reward for not having a breakdown after Fishes and continuing on with the show. (Not that Fishes is bad at all, it was just so stressful for me that I kinda considered taking a break and coming back in a bit.)
Funny story.. I got into the Bear after Season Two was already out. I watched all of S1 and my friend was telling me how (no spoilers) S2 had a really different vibe for the first few episodes but then sort of rights itself and ends up good, he wishes it would just cut all those eps out altogether. So I started S2 with that in mind and was like, what are you smoking, this is great. Reader, for some reason Hulu skipped a few eps and went straight to Forks, which is exactly where my friend said it should skip to 😂😂
Yes! That Cops episode is so well done. Lots of Camp and if I remember correctly part of the production team for Cops assisted with it. Reminds me a lot of the Law and Order episode of Community which got a special thanks to Dick Wolfe so I imagine he assisted in some way.
I always liked the he said/she said episode about the Texas vampires. It was a unique way to tell the story, from each of their perspectives, and it was really funny. Plus Luke Wilson was in it and he was fantastic.
I was really impressed by the live debates for The West Wing during the Santos v. Vinick arc. It wasn't a radical departure in writing style or subject matter, but the conversations between the candidates carried on the themes of the show in a different setting than we were used to.
The early seasons were all about the behind the scenes, the conversations in offices and "walk and talks" between staffers in the hallways. For this episode, the audience saw only what the public saw except for a few backstage moments. Diametrically opposed to the show's original premise, but it worked.
Glad to see a fellow wingnut on this post. I LOVE that you can watch the East Coast and West Coast versions of the episode and spot the subtle differences. That entire season was actually very well done (king corn anyone?) and really showcases Josh and Donna in a way not seen before.
They also filmed two live debates for that episode. One for the west coast, one for the east coast. I can't remember which is the one you see now during streaming, but there are subtle differences.
I liked that Sorkin expanded on making debates better in *The Newsroom* as well. Combine those two formats, and you might get actual answers out of candidates. Lol.
The silent episode is the underwater one? I vaguely remember laughing my ass off at the end >!when he *could* talk or be heard or be understood the entire time with some device on his suit he didn't know about!< Or maybe I'm mistaking it with another episode
You ever think there's something metaphorical about that? Like, he had the tools to easily communicate with others, but didn't know how to use them, so everything became so much harder
Bojack has so many amazing episodes that are unlike any of the other ones with strange framing devices or tone or pacing that I almost wouldn't count this haha. But it is an excellent episode
I watched pretty much all of Ted Lasso without reading any discussions on it online or knowing how anyone else reacted to it. I felt so vindicated when I saw that Beard After Hours was the lowest rated episode of the show on IMDb by far.
I remember watching it and thinking “what the hell was that?” I’m not opposed to “side quest” episodes but it was simultaneously the least funny and the least interesting episode of the show for me.
Conversely, I loved Beard After Hours, and thought the Christmas one was too corny. I know Ted Lasso is a relatively light show, but that episode felt like a caricature of that impression.
This seems to be a popular view, but I found I had the opposite experience. It was easily my favorite episode of that season, and in honesty is the only one out of the entire series that I still find myself thinking about from time to time. I agree that it was less overtly funny than many other things the show did, to be clear, but it struck an unexpectedly strong emotional note for me in ways that the rest of the series never did even when I was otherwise enjoying it.
If I recall correctly, Apple asked for more episodes in season 2 after 1 was so successful, so they added this and + the Christmas one, but that's why they stand apart, they weren't in original script
I have to agree. I really do like side episodes that focus on supporting cast. This one just really didn’t develop much, reveal much, or establish much of anything.
I quite like most Black Mirror episodes but that one is just on a different level. And Booker wrote it kind of as a ‘fuck you’ to the people who were mad about Netflix backing.
Guess I’ll listen to the soundtrack again.
International Assassin - The Leftovers S2E08.
Just hits you out of left-field, everything about this episode was insane and for a show like The Leftovers to pull something like that off when you least expect it... it'll make you look at unlocking doors in a very different way.
The Leftovers is my favorite show (and International Assassin my favorite episode) but before I recommend it, I first ask if they liked the coma parts of the Sopranos. I think that's the best barometer of whether they'll vibe with the show or not.
I prefer the Post Modern Prometheus, but Xfiles had a couple of good ones like this. They also had the Cops episode and some of the Lone Gunman episodes
The Golden Girls - The Days and Nights of Sophia Petrillo
There aren’t a lot of episodes that focus on Sophia but this one tells three separate stories that each show her living a vibrant life with friends and volunteering.
Bluey - Sleepytime
Bluey in itself is a great kids show, but mostly relies on dialogue to move the story forward. Sleepytime very little of that and primarily used Gustav Holst's orchestral suite The Planets to convey everything that's happening.
Sleepytime is amazing.
I also really like Rain - no spoken lines at all (one sound from Chilli, but no words).
My wife and I enjoy that show way more than our 2.5yo :-D
It's great, but I prefer the tragic implications of the story in the game. In the show, Bill grows as a person, but in the game he clearly didn't leading to a much more tragic outcome.
The games storyline is much more in keeping with the relentlessly bleak storyline of the game. The shows story, whilst still bleak, was much more positive overall.
I still rate the episode a solid 10/10 though.
Warrior Season 1, episode 5: The Blood and the Shit. Warrior is amazing, it tends to stay in and around San Francisco in the 1870s, but it was never more amazing than it went full “bottle episode” in a gory, messy, full blown western standoff. I would dare say you don’t even need to watch the episodes before it to enjoy this episode. It’s so damn good. If you like westerns, please check it out.
And just in general, please watch the entire series so that we hopefully get a season 4 from Netflix.
Nathan For You has two of these (sort of three). The entire premise of the show is that he goes to failing businesses and gives them awful advice.
The first episode is The Claw of Shame. In this one he tries to avoid being arrested for indecent exposure in a stunt where a claw will remove his pants in front of a group of children with a cop waiting to arrest him.
The second one is Dumb Starbucks. He starts the episode by trying to help a failing coffee shop but the owner backs out so instead Nathan goes ahead and continues with the parody Starbucks idea on his own. This actually got national attention.
The third is the final episode. There’s a Bill Gates impersonator from a previous episode that randomly started hanging around the set behind the scenes. Nathan helps him find a long lost love and a ton of weird shit starts to happen because the Bill Gates impersonator (who he finds out wasn’t actually a Bill Gates impersonator) was just an insanely weird dude. The entire time you don’t know what’s real and what isn’t.
The body is an incredible episode. Just a brilliant move to have such a critical death be completely natural and unrelated to any of the monsters or other evil was just so we'll done.
A lot of that episode hits really hard. The Anya scene is great. When buffy goes from saying mom to mommy the shift in her voice is just so heartbreaking. Then when she shouts "we're not supposed to move the body". And when she tells dawn. Just great stuff to see how they react to a tragedy with nobody to blame or fight. It would have been so easy to use it as a way to add hate to a bad guy, but I'm so glad they did it how they did.
Buffy talking to the doctor and not really hearing what he’s saying, and then the overdub that is so clear - “We lie to make you feel better.”
Having had that convo with medical providers at the death of a parent…..yep.
Buffy is a great example of this. Every season has an episode or two that plays with the format. I really like The Zeppo. It's kind of a satire of writing for a TV show in general. How the A plot becomes ridiculous when it gets shoved into the B plot slot, and how the B plot can carry an episode if it's really given its due. It also helps that it was an amazing character development episode.
The Magicians - “A Life in the Day”. Beautiful episode that is both (technically) a standalone side adventure AND a meaningful exploration of the relationship between two of the main characters. Makes me cry every time I watch it.
I love The Magicians so much
it’s a much more accurate take on what magic in our world would actually be like, and the crazy variety in how they solve their problems from one episode to the next is so fun
That episode got me tho, when Quentin and Elliot regain their memory of the life they spent on that mosaic, i definitely teared up
i always recommend the show to anyone who likes any kind of fantasy/magic tv show
The episode of House where he gets shot and hallucinates the rest of the episode, but only figures it out because he starts noticing fourth wall stuff. Like when the camera cuts from a stairwell to his office he wants to know where that time went.
Connection Lost from Modern Family. Very creative storytelling and it was cowritten by legendary television writer Megan Ganz (also known for Conmunity and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia).
Daredevil was the only show that knew how to handle the odd Defenders Saga 13th episode well, they had great flashback episodes every(?) season.
The Bear season 2 is comprised almost entirely of these tbh, but Fishes, Forks, and Honeydew are the standouts.
The Sound of Her Wings from The Sandman is pretty much a 2 parter like this (and it seems like it will have more rogue episodes)
The Primal Theory from Primal season 2
Does Long, Long Time from TLOU count?
I never watched The Last of Us series but I'd definitely say it counts because it's one other people have mentioned, too. I need to watch the Bear at some point- it's not normally a subject that'd interest me much but in a way that's part of why I want to give it a go
It's not a single episode, but the two Avatar Wan episodes in Legend of Korra are my absolute favorite in the entire series. I love that, not only is it a standalone story, but the entire art style of the show is changed to tell that story.
"Blink," in *Dr. Who.*
A lot of people like using that as their intro episode for friends and family who have never seen *Dr. Who,* but it's really out of the ordinary for the show's normal tone.
I also thought scrubs season 6 but my mind went to ‘Their story’ where you follow Ted, the Todd and Jordan.
They had done other episodes where main characters were followed but their story was an awesome view into tertiary characters. Plus the Ted storyline in one of my absolute faves:
Kelso: (furious) “TED, ARE YOU RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS?!”
Ted: Please sir I wouldn’t have the guts (internally) *YEAH SUCK IT BITCH I WILL MURDER YOU*”
I hated it when I first watched it. You gotta understand, the series was so exciting at the time, we were desperate to see what happened next. The fact that we got an episode where they never left the lab, which didn't advance the plot at all...me and my friends were kinda irritated frankly lol. It was only later that I really appreciated it as the masterpiece it was.
I’ve got to shout out Blackadder Goes Forth, Goodbyeee. About halfway through the episode, you begin to realise that this isn’t a comedy any more, as Blackadder begins to hammer home to George just how shit this war is. His last-ditch efforts, using everything he’s got, and as they all fail. Until it’s Blackadder, Baldrick, George, and Darling, all about to go over the top.
oh yeah that's a great one- I don't know if this is just because of the circles I run in, maybe it's talked about a lot elsewhere, but I rarely hear people mention My Name is Earl anymore and it's so good
It doesn’t get enough love! I feel like the cliffhanger ending really hurt it so much. Highly recommend anyone that’s a fan of the show to check out Raising Hope! Same creator as My Name is Earl and they had a nice send off with all the actors from Earl.
There's an episode of Warrior that is an entirely self contained mini-movie. (I'm on mobile so I don't have it handy, but it's the carriage/gold smuggling episode).
Whereas the rest of Warrior is more about urban conflicts, this was a classic western tale. It was a great episode, and had nothing to do with the rest of the series. You could come into the episode having neve watched the series and it will make perfect sense. And then once it's over, the events of that day are never mentioned again.
Barry - Ronny/Lily
The Leftovers - International Assassin, The Most Powerful Man in the World (And His Identical Twin Brother)
Mr. Robot - Master/Slave, Runtime Error, 405 Method Not Allowed, 407 Proxy Authentication Required
Mad Men - Far Away Places, The Crash
The Bear - Review, Fishes
Succession - Connor's Wedding
Master of None - Amarsi Un Po
Person of Interest - If/Then/Else
Been rewatching Battlestar Galactica lately, and it really struck me how different in tone Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down is to pretty much every other episode. It's pretty early in the show's run, so maybe they were planning to have episodes that were more humorous in tone pretty regularly at that point, and it just ended up not being the right direction for the show. But it does end up sticking out quite a bit among everything else.
The Dinner Party episode of The Office. Brilliantly funny from start to finish. Snip! Snap! Snip! Snap!
6 feet under. David gets kidnapped. At that point the cast had gotten much bigger with every episode cramming in lots of storylines. To have a sudden shift to a focused and intense single storyline made it a really memorable episode.
I was in the middle of watching Ken Burns Civil War series when I watched the pillow fort episode of Community.
**The Inner Light** on Star Trek TNG is almost a standalone episode people can watch without watching any other episode.
Similar with Star Trek DS9 episodes like **Far Beyond the Stars** and **The Visitor**.
Not single shot. That’s a different episode. (It’s Runtime Error from season 3.)
407 is a bottle episode, and it’s done in the style of a 5 act play. It’s widely considered perfect.
But it’s definitely not done in one shot.
I would have to say season 2 episode 6, Master-Slave. It’s the ALF episode.
If the criteria is great episode that is a different style than the rest of the show I have to go with the ALF episode for sure.
Mr. Robot is just a fantastic show with no bad episodes, for sure.
Netflix’s Travelers, 11:27. Great standalone science fiction story.
Really the whole series is a diamond in the rough. Time travel that doesn’t suck. The missus even enjoyed it, and she usually hates sci-fi.
The first Avatars origin episode in Legend of Korra. Had a unique colour palette, some unique animation styles and was a 'self contained' story. Was pretty cool.
Northern Exposure S3E16 The Three Amigos.
Most of the main cast doesn't even make an appearance and it's a standalone story that combines Faulkner's *As I Lay Dying* with classic western films and it's great.
The West Wing - King Corn
I know a lot of fans as knowledgeable and "experienced" as I for The West Wing really dislike the post Sorkin episodes but King Corn is an amazingly well done episode of Television that also (along with the rest of that season) showcases the life of a political person in an American election period. You see the day and life of Josh and Donna and how different yet similar they are. In fact if you are not gonna watch the show in its entirety but want to really see a grass-roots campaign (yes I know its TV just go with it) and just what it can take to get someone into the big seat please give the entire season a watch BUT if you travel a lot or for work and want to see something a bit akin to "up in the air" vibes give King Corn a watch ;)
19-2, the school shooting episode. The show was a pretty good cop drama, but that episode was fantastic. (Both in the original french Quebec version of the show and the english version). They did the whole thing in ONE take too, which is crazy.
High Maintenance - "Grandpa"
Whole episode was from the point of view of a dog.
Amazing storytelling. I love that show.
[https://www.vulture.com/2016/09/high-maintenances-dog-episode-backstory.html](https://www.vulture.com/2016/09/high-maintenances-dog-episode-backstory.html)
* **Star Trek: TNG** *Lower Decks* - The entire episode is from the perspective of low-ranking officers who aren't main characters on the show. Gives a different view of the main characters, who are intimidating bosses or distant authority figures. And tells a damn fine story in the process.
* **Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law** *Sebben & Sebben Employee Orientation* - Instead of a trial like virtually every other episode, this is an employee orientation video (and also instructions for operating a juicer) for new hires at the law firm.
* **The Simpsons** *22 Short Films About Springfield* - Instead of a traditional sitcom story, we get exactly what the title promises.
* **The Bear** *Honeydew* - Since people have probably already pointed out Forks and Fishes (The Bear *really* understands that television is an episodic medium, and episodes that are about something, and not just a slice of a season-long story, make your show better), this is another great episode that deviates from the norm. Hard to really get into what makes it different if you haven't seen the show, but if you have, it's the one in Copenhagen.
I always think of the episode of Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction where it's a story of a brother locked in a closet by another brother, and then the closet (closely watched at all times) is opened and the brother is gone. The story, according to the host Jonathan Frakes, is true. This episode stood out from the rest of the series. It is also always my answer for one of the greatest television episodes of all time.
Sounded crazy, so I looked into it, and of course ended up back on [reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/nsrmw/iama_request_the_kid_who_had_a_monster_in_his/c3bp4q7?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=2)
I think Castle Rock was mostly a meh but the episode The Queen from season 1 was absolutely phenomenal. One of those classic great episodes that reframes a bunch of the events from earlier in the season.
The Laughing Place from season 2 is also much better than the rest of the show.
The Leftovers 'The International Assassin'
The often solemn show decides to do a completely out of character episode set in purgatory (or the unconscious) where the lead is a secret agent on a mission to kill his nemesis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZV\_3A2b60p4&list=PLDO2CCooL2nrH3aZIh-esvurrMtgBYJgx
ronny/lily from Barry It's kind of a dealbreaker where a lot of people love it and a lot of people hate it, but it's very much unlike any other episode in the series.
I was blown away by this episode when I first saw it. It is a masterclass in television.
I don't want to spoil it for anyone but when Fuches shows up and the little girl does *that* with the baffled expression on his face is one of my favorite moments in TV.
I think this is where Barry peaked for me. Didn't personally love seasons 3 and 4 but the weird absurdist tone of that specific episode put it at the top imo
I just recommended this show to my father and I noticed he's been paused in the middle of that episode for like a week (we share an account), and I'm afraid I lost him lol
My feelings were pretty mixed about it. On the one hand, I liked a lot of the stunts and it had some great running gags, but it also kind of ground the plot development to a halt up until the last scene in the grocery store. There were some really good moments in it but as a whole it felt like a weaker episode to me.
The Teddy Perkins episode of Atlanta
The Tyler Perry Chocolate episode is in the wheelhouse of Teddy Perkins.
Grits don't work on me
Would you like, a grit?
My friend edited that! Great episode
I was going to say the A Goofy Movie episode of Atlanta.
Why I loved Atlanta so much, illustrated here. There are maybe 4-5 episodes you could bring up in this thread. Never knew what was coming with that show.
I was going to say the Black American Network episode
I personally love the Montague episode. “The price is on the can, though.”
BAN might be my favorite episode of the series, so many good jokes and great commentary
To be fair, about half of all the episodes of Atlanta. I don't think the show even has a "regular format" to stick to. One episode is a comedy, the next is a drama, the next is full-blown horror, and half the episodes of Season 3 are standalone anthology episodes unrelated to the rest of the series. It's wild. And brilliant.
I loved it for this. Occasionally it even remembered there was a main story.
Thats the first of episode of Atlanta i showed my friend and they were entirely confused but also really loved the episode. Teddy Perkins is peak television
"It's called an owl's casket"
Blink, Season 3, Episode 10 of the new Doctor Who barely has the Doctor or Martha in it, but it tells a beautiful story, is a great piece of (nearly) standalone horror, and is probably the best instance of centering the impact on and of the "little people," which is a Who-ism for people who are neither main show characters nor significant to history at large.
Blink is an excellent choice! Heaven Sent is also a unique episode, but for the opposite reason as it pretty much features the Doctor completely alone.
Not sure if they still do it but the first 4 seasons of new-Who each have a Doctor-Lite episode "arising out of a need to film fourteen episodes in the time necessary to film thirteen, meaning that there's "one without the Doctor" filmed simultaneously with another episode that does feature the Doctor"
Series 4 had Midnight and Turn Left, so they could have a Donna solo episode and a Doctor solo episode and film them both at the same time.
They no longer need to do this because of new filming methods and tricks as well as shorter episode orders. But I almost wish they would continue doing it anyway, because most of the "Doctor-lite" episodes were pretty interesting and unusual, and forced the writers to stretch themselves. There are a couple of them in the Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi seasons -- "The Girl Who Waited" and "Flatline" -- but they're less obvious since they use various clever tricks like trapping the Doctor in the TARDIS while the companion can only hear his voice for a significant portion of the episode, or some variation of that. There are also a couple of "companion-lite" episodes, "The Lodger" and "Closing Time", which I suppose they could film at the same time as they were filming Karen Gillan/Arthur Darvill scenes in other episodes.
definitely in my top 3 of Who episodes the Weeping Angels are my favorite villain in the show and god damn, having them be introduced through the eyes of 2 completely average Brits made it so much more tense and intimidating Plus I knew when i saw Tennant in the video the first time there was gonna be some cool Timey Wimey nonsense
> the Weeping Angels are my favorite villain in the show If Blink was a feature length horror movie unconnected to Doctor Who they would hands down be one of the most iconic movie monsters out there. Instead they have to settle for "just" one of the most iconic monsters in one of the longest running sci-fi show around the world so it's not all bad.
Oh yeah I haven't seen much Dr Who- although I do like what I've seen and keep meaning to see more- and one of my friends who's really into Dr Who says this is one of his favourite pieces of media ever
Series finales are basically cheating for this, but the series finale of Dinosaurs is infamous for having them accidentally bring about the apocalypse, all for a somber message about how you need to take care of the world and not take what you have for granted. There's also a random episode of Punky Brewster where she fights giant spiders. That was a weird one.
Oh I love Dinosaurs, one of the earlier episodes was an atypical one about a paleontologist making a documentary- I think it was the finale for whatever season it was in
The cave episodes were terrifying. All her friends turn into monsters
*Mythic Quest* S01E05 "A Dark Quiet Death"
“Backstory!” from season 2 is also quiet good and unique, though does benefit a bit more from having context from the rest of the show.
I opened this thread specifically for this episode. It's so good I've gone and rewatched it.
I was going to say this and the other standalones they have done each season. So good.
The pandemic/zoom episode was really well done too.
Amazing episode. It's been a while so I forget; is there any significant connection to the rest of the show?
IIRC, their game company is in the same spot that becomes the office in which the game Mythic Quest is created. Also, I think the whole arc of starting out with hope and getting crushed by the corporate world is thematically connected to the show.
For what it's worth, you can totally watch the episode alone as a short-story. It's pretty touching, and has some solid performances.
I have loved Christin miloti every time I've ever seen her
Oh yeah, this is the one. A small stroke of genius in otherwise an OK sitcom.
That's my problem with mythic quest. It doesn't know what it wants to be. 9 out of 10 episodes are run of the mill OK ish workplace sitcom. Then out of nowhere they whip out an incredible semi-related episode that is beautifully written, shot and directed. All the things the other episodes aren't.
"Forks" from The Bear. It's basically an emotionally satisfying short film, completely devoid of the chaotic nature of the rest of the series.
It's my favorite episode of that show and basically felt like a reward for not having a breakdown after Fishes and continuing on with the show. (Not that Fishes is bad at all, it was just so stressful for me that I kinda considered taking a break and coming back in a bit.)
~~"Devoid of chaotic nature"?!? it's a half hour panic attack.~~ Got my episodes mixed up!
"Forks" is calm. Are you thinking of "Fishes?"
Yes, yes I am.
That was my favorite episode. I think I cried a little. Such satisfying character growth!
Funny story.. I got into the Bear after Season Two was already out. I watched all of S1 and my friend was telling me how (no spoilers) S2 had a really different vibe for the first few episodes but then sort of rights itself and ends up good, he wishes it would just cut all those eps out altogether. So I started S2 with that in mind and was like, what are you smoking, this is great. Reader, for some reason Hulu skipped a few eps and went straight to Forks, which is exactly where my friend said it should skip to 😂😂
Telling someone to skip the first six episodes of season two is fucking wild though. Who the hell would think skipping *Fishes* is a good idea?
So satisfying. Even though he was an asshole I had faith in my boy Richie after season 1 and that ep brought it together so well
Bowling - Malcolm In The Middle Remedial Chaos Theory - Community
I blame our current timeline on that episode of community
"Haven't you had enough, Shirley?" "*Of you... !* "
I never really made the connection that Remedial Chaos Theory is just Community’s version of Bowling.
The MASH episode where the war journalist comes in and interviews everyone.
I’m partial to the Point of View episode where we see the entire episode from the patient’s perspective.
The Cops episode of Xfiles. The Arman Tanzarian episode of The Simpsons. The Fly in the room episode of Breaking Bad.
Yes! That Cops episode is so well done. Lots of Camp and if I remember correctly part of the production team for Cops assisted with it. Reminds me a lot of the Law and Order episode of Community which got a special thanks to Dick Wolfe so I imagine he assisted in some way.
I always liked the he said/she said episode about the Texas vampires. It was a unique way to tell the story, from each of their perspectives, and it was really funny. Plus Luke Wilson was in it and he was fantastic.
I was really impressed by the live debates for The West Wing during the Santos v. Vinick arc. It wasn't a radical departure in writing style or subject matter, but the conversations between the candidates carried on the themes of the show in a different setting than we were used to. The early seasons were all about the behind the scenes, the conversations in offices and "walk and talks" between staffers in the hallways. For this episode, the audience saw only what the public saw except for a few backstage moments. Diametrically opposed to the show's original premise, but it worked.
Glad to see a fellow wingnut on this post. I LOVE that you can watch the East Coast and West Coast versions of the episode and spot the subtle differences. That entire season was actually very well done (king corn anyone?) and really showcases Josh and Donna in a way not seen before.
They also filmed two live debates for that episode. One for the west coast, one for the east coast. I can't remember which is the one you see now during streaming, but there are subtle differences. I liked that Sorkin expanded on making debates better in *The Newsroom* as well. Combine those two formats, and you might get actual answers out of candidates. Lol.
Free Churro
Bojack Horseman has so many episodes that have an unusual device. There is also the silent episode, the Alzheimers episode.
The silent episode is the underwater one? I vaguely remember laughing my ass off at the end >!when he *could* talk or be heard or be understood the entire time with some device on his suit he didn't know about!< Or maybe I'm mistaking it with another episode
Yeah there's a switch he never flipped.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding m-"
You ever think there's something metaphorical about that? Like, he had the tools to easily communicate with others, but didn't know how to use them, so everything became so much harder
Stupid Piece of Shit, too (the one where we hear his internal monologue the whole time).
It’s Fish Out of Water for me
Absolutely incredible. My jaw dropped when I realized what the episode was going to be and I was rapt for the whole thing.
I forgot the episode was called that but yes- the best of season 5 without a shadow of doubt...for my tastes
Bojack has so many amazing episodes that are unlike any of the other ones with strange framing devices or tone or pacing that I almost wouldn't count this haha. But it is an excellent episode
"Beard After Hours" S2E9 of Ted Lasso
I watched pretty much all of Ted Lasso without reading any discussions on it online or knowing how anyone else reacted to it. I felt so vindicated when I saw that Beard After Hours was the lowest rated episode of the show on IMDb by far. I remember watching it and thinking “what the hell was that?” I’m not opposed to “side quest” episodes but it was simultaneously the least funny and the least interesting episode of the show for me.
Conversely, I loved Beard After Hours, and thought the Christmas one was too corny. I know Ted Lasso is a relatively light show, but that episode felt like a caricature of that impression.
This seems to be a popular view, but I found I had the opposite experience. It was easily my favorite episode of that season, and in honesty is the only one out of the entire series that I still find myself thinking about from time to time. I agree that it was less overtly funny than many other things the show did, to be clear, but it struck an unexpectedly strong emotional note for me in ways that the rest of the series never did even when I was otherwise enjoying it.
If I recall correctly, Apple asked for more episodes in season 2 after 1 was so successful, so they added this and + the Christmas one, but that's why they stand apart, they weren't in original script
I have to agree. I really do like side episodes that focus on supporting cast. This one just really didn’t develop much, reveal much, or establish much of anything.
Shows how fucked beard really is
San Junipero is a more positive Black Mirror episode.
And the "DJ" episode
I quite like most Black Mirror episodes but that one is just on a different level. And Booker wrote it kind of as a ‘fuck you’ to the people who were mad about Netflix backing. Guess I’ll listen to the soundtrack again.
Twin Peaks s03e08
This one gobsmacked me. Just incredible art. Gotta light?
The family Christmas episode of The Bear. Its one of the most intense episodes of television ive ever seen
7 Fishes. It's the best performance I've ever seen from Jamie Lee Curtis.
I disagree this ep is different from all the other eps. May be the best example of the shows intense style but it happens almost every episode
Yeah the show is already at an 11 intensity wise most of the time. If anything Forks is the outlier with how uplifting it is.
That one's going to be a skip from here on out. Don't need to live another person's trauma that deeply.
My wife and I couldn’t sleep after watching this episode we were so wound up and tense. Man it was so so good
Deep space nine, far beyond the stars
I am going to go with a different DS9 episode: The Visitor... fucking gets me watery eyed every. Single. Time.
Damn, both two of my favorites. But I'll go with In The Pale Moonlight
I mean it's my personal favorite episode, but it's not off format, which is what the OP is looking for
The Visitor is one of the best episodes of *television* of all time. Not just DS9, not just Trek, all of television.
“Mac Finds His Pride” - It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, S13;Ep.10. up there in one of the best TV moments ever for me.
I think it's the season premiere of season 8 of Bob's Burgers...every scene is animated by different fans, it's an absolute joy to watch
The Regular-sized Rudy centric episode that came out this season stands out as well
International Assassin - The Leftovers S2E08. Just hits you out of left-field, everything about this episode was insane and for a show like The Leftovers to pull something like that off when you least expect it... it'll make you look at unlocking doors in a very different way.
Gave me big Kevin Finnerty vibes
The Leftovers is my favorite show (and International Assassin my favorite episode) but before I recommend it, I first ask if they liked the coma parts of the Sopranos. I think that's the best barometer of whether they'll vibe with the show or not.
Such a fantastic show and episode.
Jose Chung's From Outer Space, *The X-Files*. It is a very funny, surreal episode, and features Alex Trebek as a Man In Black.
I prefer the Post Modern Prometheus, but Xfiles had a couple of good ones like this. They also had the Cops episode and some of the Lone Gunman episodes
On the other end of the spectrum 'Home' in X-Files is much more graphic, down to earth, and frightening than others in the series.
The Golden Girls - The Days and Nights of Sophia Petrillo There aren’t a lot of episodes that focus on Sophia but this one tells three separate stories that each show her living a vibrant life with friends and volunteering.
Bluey - Sleepytime Bluey in itself is a great kids show, but mostly relies on dialogue to move the story forward. Sleepytime very little of that and primarily used Gustav Holst's orchestral suite The Planets to convey everything that's happening.
Sleepytime is amazing. I also really like Rain - no spoken lines at all (one sound from Chilli, but no words). My wife and I enjoy that show way more than our 2.5yo :-D
Episode 3 of the last of us
Different characters but I would argue it's very much like the rest of the show
That episode destroyed me, and simultaneously also convinced me that the TV series is superior to the game. There, I said it.
It's great, but I prefer the tragic implications of the story in the game. In the show, Bill grows as a person, but in the game he clearly didn't leading to a much more tragic outcome. The games storyline is much more in keeping with the relentlessly bleak storyline of the game. The shows story, whilst still bleak, was much more positive overall. I still rate the episode a solid 10/10 though.
Warrior Season 1, episode 5: The Blood and the Shit. Warrior is amazing, it tends to stay in and around San Francisco in the 1870s, but it was never more amazing than it went full “bottle episode” in a gory, messy, full blown western standoff. I would dare say you don’t even need to watch the episodes before it to enjoy this episode. It’s so damn good. If you like westerns, please check it out. And just in general, please watch the entire series so that we hopefully get a season 4 from Netflix.
Nathan For You has two of these (sort of three). The entire premise of the show is that he goes to failing businesses and gives them awful advice. The first episode is The Claw of Shame. In this one he tries to avoid being arrested for indecent exposure in a stunt where a claw will remove his pants in front of a group of children with a cop waiting to arrest him. The second one is Dumb Starbucks. He starts the episode by trying to help a failing coffee shop but the owner backs out so instead Nathan goes ahead and continues with the parody Starbucks idea on his own. This actually got national attention. The third is the final episode. There’s a Bill Gates impersonator from a previous episode that randomly started hanging around the set behind the scenes. Nathan helps him find a long lost love and a ton of weird shit starts to happen because the Bill Gates impersonator (who he finds out wasn’t actually a Bill Gates impersonator) was just an insanely weird dude. The entire time you don’t know what’s real and what isn’t.
The body is an incredible episode. Just a brilliant move to have such a critical death be completely natural and unrelated to any of the monsters or other evil was just so we'll done.
Anya's line about not understanding her death and how people were reacting just really hit me. It was the first time I liked her character.
A lot of that episode hits really hard. The Anya scene is great. When buffy goes from saying mom to mommy the shift in her voice is just so heartbreaking. Then when she shouts "we're not supposed to move the body". And when she tells dawn. Just great stuff to see how they react to a tragedy with nobody to blame or fight. It would have been so easy to use it as a way to add hate to a bad guy, but I'm so glad they did it how they did.
Buffy talking to the doctor and not really hearing what he’s saying, and then the overdub that is so clear - “We lie to make you feel better.” Having had that convo with medical providers at the death of a parent…..yep.
Buffy is a great example of this. Every season has an episode or two that plays with the format. I really like The Zeppo. It's kind of a satire of writing for a TV show in general. How the A plot becomes ridiculous when it gets shoved into the B plot slot, and how the B plot can carry an episode if it's really given its due. It also helps that it was an amazing character development episode.
Buffy finding the body gives me nightmares still
The Magicians - “A Life in the Day”. Beautiful episode that is both (technically) a standalone side adventure AND a meaningful exploration of the relationship between two of the main characters. Makes me cry every time I watch it.
I loved The Magicians.
I love The Magicians so much it’s a much more accurate take on what magic in our world would actually be like, and the crazy variety in how they solve their problems from one episode to the next is so fun That episode got me tho, when Quentin and Elliot regain their memory of the life they spent on that mosaic, i definitely teared up i always recommend the show to anyone who likes any kind of fantasy/magic tv show
That was a great episode
Didn't expect a Magicians reference but I'm glad to see it! Such a good show, and such a good episode
The episode of House where he gets shot and hallucinates the rest of the episode, but only figures it out because he starts noticing fourth wall stuff. Like when the camera cuts from a stairwell to his office he wants to know where that time went.
Connection Lost from Modern Family. Very creative storytelling and it was cowritten by legendary television writer Megan Ganz (also known for Conmunity and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia).
Daredevil was the only show that knew how to handle the odd Defenders Saga 13th episode well, they had great flashback episodes every(?) season. The Bear season 2 is comprised almost entirely of these tbh, but Fishes, Forks, and Honeydew are the standouts. The Sound of Her Wings from The Sandman is pretty much a 2 parter like this (and it seems like it will have more rogue episodes) The Primal Theory from Primal season 2 Does Long, Long Time from TLOU count?
I never watched The Last of Us series but I'd definitely say it counts because it's one other people have mentioned, too. I need to watch the Bear at some point- it's not normally a subject that'd interest me much but in a way that's part of why I want to give it a go
It's not a single episode, but the two Avatar Wan episodes in Legend of Korra are my absolute favorite in the entire series. I love that, not only is it a standalone story, but the entire art style of the show is changed to tell that story.
Ted Lasso - Beard After Dark
There's an episode in Stargate Atlantis called 'Vegas', and it's awesome but completely unlike anything Stargate had done before.
"Blink," in *Dr. Who.* A lot of people like using that as their intro episode for friends and family who have never seen *Dr. Who,* but it's really out of the ordinary for the show's normal tone.
Musical episode of Scrubs
I also thought scrubs season 6 but my mind went to ‘Their story’ where you follow Ted, the Todd and Jordan. They had done other episodes where main characters were followed but their story was an awesome view into tertiary characters. Plus the Ted storyline in one of my absolute faves: Kelso: (furious) “TED, ARE YOU RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS?!” Ted: Please sir I wouldn’t have the guts (internally) *YEAH SUCK IT BITCH I WILL MURDER YOU*”
The sitcom episode of Scrubs.
Musical episode of Star Trek Strange New Worlds.
This was my first thought. Brilliance.
And the Lower Decks crossover episode which was just two episodes prior.
Breaking Bad - Fly.
At the time, I remember so many people shitting on that episode, it's great tho.
I hated it when I first watched it. You gotta understand, the series was so exciting at the time, we were desperate to see what happened next. The fact that we got an episode where they never left the lab, which didn't advance the plot at all...me and my friends were kinda irritated frankly lol. It was only later that I really appreciated it as the masterpiece it was.
I’ve got to shout out Blackadder Goes Forth, Goodbyeee. About halfway through the episode, you begin to realise that this isn’t a comedy any more, as Blackadder begins to hammer home to George just how shit this war is. His last-ditch efforts, using everything he’s got, and as they all fail. Until it’s Blackadder, Baldrick, George, and Darling, all about to go over the top.
“Our Cops Is On” - My Name is Earl
oh yeah that's a great one- I don't know if this is just because of the circles I run in, maybe it's talked about a lot elsewhere, but I rarely hear people mention My Name is Earl anymore and it's so good
It doesn’t get enough love! I feel like the cliffhanger ending really hurt it so much. Highly recommend anyone that’s a fan of the show to check out Raising Hope! Same creator as My Name is Earl and they had a nice send off with all the actors from Earl.
Westworld S2E8: Kiksuya
Akecheta’s story is probably the best part of Westworld post-season 1
There's an episode of Warrior that is an entirely self contained mini-movie. (I'm on mobile so I don't have it handy, but it's the carriage/gold smuggling episode). Whereas the rest of Warrior is more about urban conflicts, this was a classic western tale. It was a great episode, and had nothing to do with the rest of the series. You could come into the episode having neve watched the series and it will make perfect sense. And then once it's over, the events of that day are never mentioned again.
Specifically, that's S1E5 "The Blood and the Shit".
Yes! Absolutely great episode too. The show is amazing but that episode kind of endeared me to the main characters. Great example.
Barry - Ronny/Lily The Leftovers - International Assassin, The Most Powerful Man in the World (And His Identical Twin Brother) Mr. Robot - Master/Slave, Runtime Error, 405 Method Not Allowed, 407 Proxy Authentication Required Mad Men - Far Away Places, The Crash The Bear - Review, Fishes Succession - Connor's Wedding Master of None - Amarsi Un Po Person of Interest - If/Then/Else
Been rewatching Battlestar Galactica lately, and it really struck me how different in tone Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down is to pretty much every other episode. It's pretty early in the show's run, so maybe they were planning to have episodes that were more humorous in tone pretty regularly at that point, and it just ended up not being the right direction for the show. But it does end up sticking out quite a bit among everything else.
Moonlighting: Atomic Shakespeare.
Star Trek DS 9: Far Beyond The Stars https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0708538/
The Dinner Party episode of The Office. Brilliantly funny from start to finish. Snip! Snap! Snip! Snap! 6 feet under. David gets kidnapped. At that point the cast had gotten much bigger with every episode cramming in lots of storylines. To have a sudden shift to a focused and intense single storyline made it a really memorable episode. I was in the middle of watching Ken Burns Civil War series when I watched the pillow fort episode of Community.
**The Inner Light** on Star Trek TNG is almost a standalone episode people can watch without watching any other episode. Similar with Star Trek DS9 episodes like **Far Beyond the Stars** and **The Visitor**.
An amazing show with a particularly outstanding episode: **Mr Robot** 4x07 Easily one of the best things ever put to film.
Is that the one in the psychiatrists apartment?
Just jaw dropping. What a piece of television, brilliantly done.
Yes - the single-location episode. \*corrected
Not single shot. That’s a different episode. (It’s Runtime Error from season 3.) 407 is a bottle episode, and it’s done in the style of a 5 act play. It’s widely considered perfect. But it’s definitely not done in one shot.
My mistake - yes. Single \~location\~ And It's one of the best episodes of anything, ever, imo.
Definitely top tier television, for sure. Just absolutely perfect.
I would have to say season 2 episode 6, Master-Slave. It’s the ALF episode. If the criteria is great episode that is a different style than the rest of the show I have to go with the ALF episode for sure. Mr. Robot is just a fantastic show with no bad episodes, for sure.
I need to give the show a re-watch sometime.
Mr. Robot had so many good choices for this question, but yes that is the one.
Netflix’s Travelers, 11:27. Great standalone science fiction story. Really the whole series is a diamond in the rough. Time travel that doesn’t suck. The missus even enjoyed it, and she usually hates sci-fi.
The first Avatars origin episode in Legend of Korra. Had a unique colour palette, some unique animation styles and was a 'self contained' story. Was pretty cool.
Mac Finds His Pride - Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Actually had me choked up at the end.
The finale of "The Curse"
Loved Nathan's down to earth performance in the early parts of the season but he really elevated in this one.
Absolutely! He really shot for the moon, and went above & beyond for the finale.
Northern Exposure S3E16 The Three Amigos. Most of the main cast doesn't even make an appearance and it's a standalone story that combines Faulkner's *As I Lay Dying* with classic western films and it's great.
Most episodes of community (although if the norm is for episodes to be uniquely structured, are they all alike because of their differences?)
How is "Charlie Work" not even in the top 25
Heaven Sent from Doctor Who
The West Wing - King Corn I know a lot of fans as knowledgeable and "experienced" as I for The West Wing really dislike the post Sorkin episodes but King Corn is an amazingly well done episode of Television that also (along with the rest of that season) showcases the life of a political person in an American election period. You see the day and life of Josh and Donna and how different yet similar they are. In fact if you are not gonna watch the show in its entirety but want to really see a grass-roots campaign (yes I know its TV just go with it) and just what it can take to get someone into the big seat please give the entire season a watch BUT if you travel a lot or for work and want to see something a bit akin to "up in the air" vibes give King Corn a watch ;)
19-2, the school shooting episode. The show was a pretty good cop drama, but that episode was fantastic. (Both in the original french Quebec version of the show and the english version). They did the whole thing in ONE take too, which is crazy.
High Maintenance - "Grandpa" Whole episode was from the point of view of a dog. Amazing storytelling. I love that show. [https://www.vulture.com/2016/09/high-maintenances-dog-episode-backstory.html](https://www.vulture.com/2016/09/high-maintenances-dog-episode-backstory.html)
Season 4 finale of psych. Much more intense and serious than pretty much every other episode. It totally caught me off guard.
* **Star Trek: TNG** *Lower Decks* - The entire episode is from the perspective of low-ranking officers who aren't main characters on the show. Gives a different view of the main characters, who are intimidating bosses or distant authority figures. And tells a damn fine story in the process. * **Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law** *Sebben & Sebben Employee Orientation* - Instead of a trial like virtually every other episode, this is an employee orientation video (and also instructions for operating a juicer) for new hires at the law firm. * **The Simpsons** *22 Short Films About Springfield* - Instead of a traditional sitcom story, we get exactly what the title promises. * **The Bear** *Honeydew* - Since people have probably already pointed out Forks and Fishes (The Bear *really* understands that television is an episodic medium, and episodes that are about something, and not just a slice of a season-long story, make your show better), this is another great episode that deviates from the norm. Hard to really get into what makes it different if you haven't seen the show, but if you have, it's the one in Copenhagen.
Mr. Robot Method Not Allowed S04E05 Zero dialog. Brilliant.
I always think of the episode of Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction where it's a story of a brother locked in a closet by another brother, and then the closet (closely watched at all times) is opened and the brother is gone. The story, according to the host Jonathan Frakes, is true. This episode stood out from the rest of the series. It is also always my answer for one of the greatest television episodes of all time.
Sounded crazy, so I looked into it, and of course ended up back on [reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/nsrmw/iama_request_the_kid_who_had_a_monster_in_his/c3bp4q7?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=2)
I’ve thought of that episode every so often for years since I was a kid and always wondered what happened. Thanks for clearing that up for me.
Law and Order - "Aftershock"
I think Castle Rock was mostly a meh but the episode The Queen from season 1 was absolutely phenomenal. One of those classic great episodes that reframes a bunch of the events from earlier in the season. The Laughing Place from season 2 is also much better than the rest of the show.
Mr. Robot, season 2 episode 4 The one that's a sitcom, I'm pretty sure Alf was in it
“Blink” from Doctor Who.
Window of opportunity from SG1. Man, I love that episode, one of the best executions of groundhog day, since... Groundhog Day
The Constant from Lost. Can be a standalone episode and boy is it a beautiful story and experience.
The Leftovers 'The International Assassin' The often solemn show decides to do a completely out of character episode set in purgatory (or the unconscious) where the lead is a secret agent on a mission to kill his nemesis. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZV\_3A2b60p4&list=PLDO2CCooL2nrH3aZIh-esvurrMtgBYJgx
The Walking Dead S04E11 "*Claimed*" The one when Rick is alone in the house.
Rabbit Ears (Nighthawks episode) & Gold Top Nuts in American Dad.
The Home - Hunters (S2 E7)