das Monkey

Finally. The "season" (line drawn at Jun 1, 2003) is now over two months behind us, and unfortunately I am just now finishing the list, barely in time for the Fall onslaught. In all honesty, had so many people not e-mailed me (or posted) about it, I may have never gotten around to it. (Skip ahead now if you care not about why it took so long.) Many of you are aware that I suffered some deaths in the family this year, which sucks enough on its own, and spending time with the family was clearly more important than watching TV; but thanks to TiVo, I was able to record over 100 hours of content with intentions to watch when my schedule permitted. Working 60-70 hours a week and trying to maintain a "life" made this a difficult proposition, but I slowly began to work through everything in the middle of June when the TV Gods felt it important to test my faith with a Job-style lesson manifest in a power-surging thunderstorm that would make Zeus himself crap his loincloth. And just like that, my TiVo was dead. Well, that's not fair to say. My TiVo was fine; in fact, I'm amazed at how well it's held up over the years. The primary drive, however, was dead, and after weeks of tinkering with the drive's control board, I concluded that it wasn't coming back. Those shows were simply gone.

Now, I may be a lot of things -- and I'm sure many forum members enjoy calling me some of those things when I'm not looking -- but none of them is hypocrite, especially when it comes to my own sig. How could I ever in good conscience make a list of the top episodes when I had not actually seen everything of consequence? I was already faced with the daunting task of watching all of these episodes just to catch up; now I had to find them. I utilized every resource I had, called in some favors, and with the help of abm, KaZaa, IRC, BitTorrent, VHS by mail, and the good folks at SD-6, shockingly I was able to track down everything. Meanwhile, I endeavored to make Steve Austin proud (no, not Stone Cold ... Lee Majors) as I rebuilt my TiVo. "We have the technology ..." Web server, ftp, telnet, serial bash, file extraction, and dual 160-gig drives with lba-48 hack to utilize every last bit for over 300 hours of recording with a redundant backup system to another PC ... and On*Star. "If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine." OK, so my TiVo isn't invisible and doesn't spend its evenings chillin' at campfires with Anakin and Yoda, but it is ready to kick some ass in case this ever happens again. Anyway, for those who were asking why it took me so long ... there's your answer. Weeks later, and on the heels of some serious marathon viewing, I'm finally prepared to make informed opinions about this season. I apologize for not getting it done sooner, but such is life.

I should note, as always, that I make this list for myself so I can look back and remember how I was feeling and how different shows impacted me at a certain period in my life and in television history. While the nominating committee consists of myself and a warehouse full of Moutain Dew Code Red, the final choices are ultimately just my opinions. As people have expressed interest in my list, I'm more than happy to share it with others, but different shows affect us all in different ways, and you may have your own opinions on these episodes. I would hope that you'd share those opinions as I have, since I think there's always great value in sharing informed but differing opinions. Last year, I restricted the candidates to only 2 episodes per series, but I find this year that some shows really aren't trying hard enough, and I'm not going to uphold that restriction this year on some of the more outstanding shows. In light of that, I am therefore extending the list to 50 episodes. No ... that's not a typo. There is some great television out there that a lot of people haven't found. I hope this thread helps you find something that makes you smile.

What does that mean? Well, for starters it means, the list is long ... REALLY long. Adding in my comments on why I selected them, the text alone is close to 150,000 characters (aka 150kB). For most of us, that's no big deal, but for the modem users, that's not very nice. So here's the plan (thanks to Mr. Cling for the suggestion). I will post 10 episodes at a time -- complete with pictures and my ramblings -- in this thread, starting with 41-50 and working up to the top. After a day or so (depending on the level of discussion or lack thereof), I will move all of that to another modem-unfriendly thread that will remain for the forum archives, and post the next group of 10 here. Repeat until done. This way, those who are interested now but don't have speedy connections can participate in any discussion without being overwhelmed, but the full list will remain on the server for anyone looking for it in the future. I did write this list from a top -> down perspective, so hopefully grouping them from the bottom -> up won't cause any confusion.

You should keep in mind that this list is made to honor great television, not to attach a specific ordered sequence of quality to each and every episode. So, while you can assume that the #1 episode is "better" than the #50, don't attach too much significance to the order of episodes that appear close to one another on the list.

Without further (long-winded) ado, the list ... as always, I am braced for criticism ... but as always, I won't shy away from defending my choices.

NB: Be aware that there will be unavoidable [size=large]SPOILERS[/size] in the descriptions of these episodes. The list is presented in such a way that you can read the list itself and still skip by any descriptions you don't want to know anything about. There are some pictures with the descriptions, but I've tried hard not to spoil anything with them. The pictures should only make sense if you have foreknowledge of the episode itself.

One final thought: for those of you having trouble wiping the off your face, in my defense I can only say this. Just remember ... you asked for it.

das

das Monkey

[size=large]2002 - 2003 TV Season: Top 50 Dramatic Episodes[/size]

#50 - #1 Full Details (Modem Unfriendly)

#50 - The Sopranos - 'Watching Too Much Television' (10.27.02)
#49 - Everwood - 'Till Death Do Us Part' (11.04.02)
#48 - Six Feet Under - 'Death Works Overtime' (05.11.03)
#47 - Odyssey 5 - 'Trouble with Harry' (09.06.02)
#46 - Ed - 'Captain Lucidity' (02.26.03)
#45 - Boomtown - 'Lost Child' (04.20.03)
#44 - American Dreams - 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' (01.05.03)
#43 - Smallville - 'Rosetta' (02.23.03)
#42 - Without a Trace - 'Suspect' (10.24.02)
#41 - Angel - 'Apocalypse, Nowish' (11.17.02)
#40 - The Dead Zone - 'Wheel of Fortune' (06.16.02)
#39 - 24 - 'Day 2, 10:00PM - 11:00PM' (03.04.03)
#38 - Mister Sterling - 'Final Passage' (03.14.03)
#37 - Buffy, the Vampire Slayer - 'Storyteller' (02.25.03)
#36 - NYPD Blue - 'Nude Awakening' (02.25.03)
#35 - Alias - 'The Telling' (05.04.03)
#34 - Boomtown - 'Blackout' (04.13.03)
#33 - The Shield - 'Scar Tissue' (02.25.03)
#32 - Six Feet Under - 'Timing & Space' (04.13.03)
#31 - Everwood - 'The Unveiling' (02.24.03)
#30 - Firefly - 'Ariel' (11.15.02)
#29 - American Dreams - 'City on Fire' (05.18.03)
#28 - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit - 'Fallacy' (04.18.03)
#27 - Six Feet Under - 'Twilight' (05.18.03)
#26 - Alias - 'The Abduction' (12.15.02) / 'A Higher Echelon' (01.05.03)
#25 - Everwood - 'Is There a Doctor in the House?' (11.18.02)
#24 - Angel - 'Home' (05.07.03)
#23 - The West Wing - 'Life on Mars' (04.30.03)
#22 - Without a Trace - 'Hang on to Me' (01.30.03)
#21 - The West Wing - 'The Long Goodbye' (01.15.03)
#20 - Everwood - 'The Doctor is In' (10.21.02)
#19 - Alias - 'Phase One' (01.26.03)
#18 - Angel - 'Awakening' (01.29.03)
#17 - The Sopranos - 'Whoever Did This' (11.10.02)
#16 - The Shield - 'Partners' (01.21.03)
#15 - Boomtown - 'Pilot' (09.29.02)
#14 - The Sopranos - 'Whitecaps' (12.08.02)
#13 - Six Feet Under - 'I'm Sorry, I'm Lost' (06.01.03)
#12 - The Wire - 'Cleaning Up' (09.01.02)
#11 - Buffy, the Vampire Slayer - 'Conversations with Dead People' (11.12.02)


[size=large]#10 - Farscape - 'Unrealized Reality'[/size]   (08.23.02)
Written by: David Kemper, Directed by: Andrew Prowse
"Time ... time ... 's up? Time ... flies? Time ... Bandits. Time ... wounds all heal. Time ... Rosemary and T(hy)ime. Time. Time is ... infinite ... relative? You are quite a simple organism to possess the knowledge you do. Time is meaningless and yet it is all that exists." - 'Einstein' and John Crichton

Farscape challenges its viewers intellectually, spiritually, and emotionally at a level unlike any other show on television today, and possibly ever. "Unskilled wanderings create unrealized realities." That is the basis of this daring episode. Farscape begins as many stories do ... John Crichton, astronaut from Earth (timeframe: not too distant future), testing a new ship, is suddenly snatched up by a wormhole and sent to a distant part of the galaxy. All he wants to do is return home, but the power to control wormholes is beyond the grasp of even the most advanced aliens he encounters ... until one day, beings from another connected realm -- for reasons unknown to him -- bury the information needed to control them deep within his mind in such a way that if he can figure it out, then he is worthy of possessing the knowledge ... the most powerful knowledge in the Universe ... and now everyone wants to control him. "Are you afraid of this knowledge?" "No." "There is still time."

Wormholes, time travel, parallel universes ... these are all common and popular concepts in science fiction, and more often than not -- particularly with the current Trek regime -- they are handled in an embarrassingly pedestrian manner and crumble under any intellectual scrutiny. 'Unrealized Realities' seeks to change that. Through a series of circumstances over the years, John has acquired the ability to predict the location of a wormhole opening but has no idea how to control the travel within it and consequently the destination. While observing a particularly interesting entrance, he is snatched up by a force within the wormhole (playfully referred to by John as "Einstein") and instructed -- through experience -- as to the true nature of these anomalies. "Space and time are fused," he says. You cannot travel through space without traveling through time. The same applies to wormholes. They may alter the path between two points in space, but this also means they alter the path between two points in time. The amount of wormhole entrances/exits is infinite (but at an aleph lower than that of total points), and each portal occupies a unique space and time. Returning to the same space prior to the time in which you left is like a pebble sending a rippling effect through the ocean. By design, the only space-time signatures that can be realized are ones familiar to the traveler, and the Ancients who implanted the knowledge in his head have given him the ability to recognize those portals. They are, however, surrounded by "unrealized realities" and the rippling effect of the pebble that arrives before it left brings them into being. One of the phrases used by fans trying to bring the show back to life after the insidious atrocities committed by Hammer is, "This isn't your father's science fiction." It most certainly is not. There's no standard linearly circular time paradox to be found with this concept.

"Traversing wormholes is an art, not a science," we are told, and this episode approaches the subject in this manner as well. Instead of charts and exposition detailing the logic behind this construct, John is subjected to increasingly absurd variations of these unrealized realities until ultimately he realizes how dangerous the circumstances really are (which incidentally was the point of his meeting with Einstein). The presentation of these unrealized realities shows just how remarkably talented the cast and crew for this show really are. Previous episodes play out before our eyes, first with only subtle differences in character traits all the way to the point where each actor is portraying another character entirely or even a hybrid of multiple characters. It's completely absurd and yet is presented brilliantly. Amazingly, this episode strives even higher as there isn't a single wasted moment. Countless questionable events from seasons past are answered to perfection, and the path for the future episodes is laid forth in incredibly subtle ways (even within the unrealized realities) to a point that repeated viewings serve to reveal more each time. It's mastery of script, direction, and acting to cram so much plot content juxtaposed with challenging science fiction ideas in a manner that makes sense to the thoughtful viewer. The opening scenes with Aeryn trying to learn English and practicing ironically with the word "existence," the Wizard of Oz theme slipped in when you're not looking ... all skillfully presented.

"The space-time signature will be familiar ... powerful." John can find his way back to Moya if he just concentrates, follows his instincts, and focuses on familiar signatures. He repeats to himself "Moya ... after. Moya ... after." Viewers would expect the king of pop culture references to say, "there's no place like home," but he doesn't have to ... we know that's what he's thinking. "What do you desire with wormholes?" "To go home ..." And shockingly, that's precisely where his instincts lead him ... home. Earth. But when? This episode stands incredibly strong on its own merits, but in the final scene it does something few shows have the guts to do. Instead of dangling the carrot in front of us in the spirit of dren like Voyager, we are abruptly dropped off the one place we didn't expect to be until ratings sagged or the show was preparing to end. With at least another season and a half to go and the highest praise of the network that would shortly stab them and television viewers everywhere in the back, they did the unthinkable and without any intention of a Trek-like "reset," setting up an incredible 13 episode run to an even bigger season finale (which at present is the series finale). The crime that took place when this series was yanked from television cannot be quantified and cannot be forgiven. People who know me know that I watch anything and everything, no matter what its content or where it airs, but never before in the decades I've been a television fanatic have I ever been so disgusted as to completely blacklist an entire network refusing to ever watch another thing they broadcast. Episodes like this are the reason why.


[size=large]#9 - Everwood - 'Home'[/size]   (05.19.03)
Written by: Michael Green & Rina Mimoun, Story by: Greg Berlanti & Vanessa Taylor, Directed by: Sandy Smolan
"This is the story of Colin Hart and Andy Brown. It's the story of a town that lost its center and strove to regain it. This is the story of Everwood." - Irv Harper

Who knew? Honestly ... who knew? I'm not kidding ... if you knew, go ahead and say so ... take full credit for it, because I had no idea. I had no idea that I would be so completely swept away by what appeared on the surface to be just another family drama. Part Northern Exposure, part Once & Again, part Six Feet Under, Everwood isn't for everyone, but for those of us looking for the perfect family drama, it's a heartwarmingly beautiful show that reminds us how precious and painful and wonderful life truly is. And maybe that's the best way to describe this series: alive. The town of Everwood is so alive we feel that we could hop on a plane to Denver and drive there ourselves. It's life ... everything that it is and everything that it can be. From its spectacular visuals to its richly drawn characters, this is a beautiful show, and it's the type of programming that could only find a home on the WB. On that note, I cannot say enough about how the WB has elevated the level of quality on network television in its short life. The way they've shown such confidence in this show by offering it an early pick-up before announcing its Fall schedule and renewing it so quickly is another sign that they not only recognize by also appreciate and stand by quality.

In this episode, everything comes full circle ... but the show has evolved from the story of a man who's lost his way to the story of a town. The opening narration to the premiere episode began, "I wasn't there the day Dr. Andrew Brown's life changed forever ..." In this season finale, we begin differently: "I wasn't there the day Colin Hart's life changed forever." Everwood has helped make this broken man whole again, and it's now time for him to return the favor. One wonders if the town can even bear it if he doesn't succeed. For many of the characters, this episode marks an understanding or a realization of things that have weighed heavily on them. Bright gets forgiveness from Colin. Colin (the Second) realizes that he really does love Amy, not because he used to or he's supposed to, but because he just does. Dr. Brown realizes that this may very well be why he was put on this Earth, and Ephram finally finds some peace with his life, knowing that whether he can have Amy or not, Everwood is his home. Everwood makes perfect use of contemporary music (and not in the gimmicky way other WB shows have done), and the sounds of Jump Little Children's "Cathedrals" playing over the final scenes leaves your heart just hanging, wondering how you'll make it until next season's premiere.

It's difficult to select the best episode of this show's first season, but I'm choosing this one for the way it represents how these characters have grown and affected each other over this year and because it captures the heart of the series as a whole. I'm reminded of something Patman said about this series after this episode aired: "This show does so many things right when it could easily and understandably get them wrong." I look through this list, at all the incredible television compiled here, and I find that there is no show whose return I look forward to more than Everwood. Knowing how much television I watch, I think that really means something. Who knew?


[size=large]#8 - The Shield - 'Dominoes Falling'[/size]   (04.01.03)
Written by: Shawn Ryan, Directed by: Scott Brazil
"You watch your back around these people, ok?" - Danny Sofer

What a great way to finish the season. Aceveda has recommended the Strike Team be fired as the election is around the corner, and it's time to hit the Money Train. Everything this season has been about is coming to a head, but Vic is distracted by trying to track down the death of Claudette's ex-husband as it leads to a potential shooting he can prevent. It's go time, and he's not there, but he shows faith in Shane (aka Cletus Van Damme) by telling him that he trusts him to go it alone. Things get ugly as the Armenians turn on themselves and leave dead bodies at the scene.

Meanwhile, Danny takes the fall for the Armadillo incident as she is fired from the Force along with the intolerant punks who have been harassing Julian, and somehow -- to the shock of everyone -- Acevedo actually wins the election for City Council (likely due to his speech about holding himself accountable for the failure of his team, when in truth, he's being forced out by his boss). Things are going to be changing, and it starts with Claudette, who will be taking his job. She knows what Vic's been up to and doesn't approve of any of it, and now she's his boss. Danny's gone, Julian gets the **** beat out of him in a blanket party arranged in his honor, and Dutch is charged with investigating the body at the site of the heist. In another piece of brilliant song selection, Live's "Overcome" plays over these scenes, and we are left watching the Strike Team staring at the ungodly sum of money they just acquired and completely overcome by the reality of what they've just done. Nothing's the same anymore for any of them.


[size=large]#7 - The West Wing - 'Commencement'[/size]   (05.07.03)
Written by: Aaron Sorkin, Directed by: Alex Graves
"Bookbag's been taken. We're black. Go to black." - Wes Davis

Brilliant. I try not to use the word too often, but it applies here. Much is made about the talent assembled in this cast, and it is all completely deserved, many times over in fact. However, the penultimate episode of the 4th season achieves a level of greatness through skill of direction, music selection, and editing in a manner we haven't seen before during the series' run. NBC's promotional department did everything they could to make this episode look like an eye-rollingly typical sweeps stunt, but once again The West Wing finds a way to transcend its manipulative network and present a incredibly powerful episode.

Little events that have been building this season all come to a head. Zoey is leaving with Jean-Paul, and Charlie's attempts to woo her away from him haven't fully worked. Andie's only days away from labor and still refuses to remarry Toby, and he finds out the full reason why after making a wonderfully romantic gesture on her behalf. Danny finally has a story on the death of Shareef, and the disappearance of Qumari radicals as well as an unaccounted shipping container places the President in the position of revealing to his staff that he did in fact have him assassinated.

All of this is setup for a mind-blowing final sequence set against a techno-style dance track ("Angel" by Massive Attack) that provides a powerfully foreboding atmosphere to the overlapping scenes that follow. It begins with Donna and Amy discussing whether or not Josh is angry with her for an offhand remark she made earlier that day, then folds into C.J. and Danny figuring out what he's going to be able to print in regard to the assassination, and ultimately settles on Zoey and Jean Paul as she realizes he's spiked her drink with Ecstasy. As the scenes weave through one another, each leaves us hanging -- we fade out from Donna unable to answer Amy's inquiry whether she's in love with Josh and a few moments later fade from C.J. unable to answer whether the White House expects retaliation for the assassination, until we're back at the nightclub ... where Zoey's gone, Molly's dead, and we close with Leo running across the grounds to inform the President. A typical kidnapping storyline is spun into a powerful presentation and a reminder that this series is still one of the best on TV.


[size=large]#6 - Boomtown - 'The David McNorris Show'[/size]   (12.01.02)
Written by: Laurie D. Arent, Directed by: Peter Werner
"David? David's dead." - David McNorris

One of the really cool things about Boomtown is its flexibility. The talent in front of and behind the camera is so strong that it can be a standard cop drama or a time-shifting detective story or a one-man character study and succeed immensely in each pursuit. This series really does seem to have limitless potential, but I do think the schizophrenic way it changes from week to week is disconcerting to the average viewer, and next season they should probably choose one method of storytelling and stick with it. If not, though, we can only hope they continue to produce quality like this episode.

There's an interesting crime story being told here ... in fact, considering that it's the B story, it's really quite amazing how good this story of a young girl's murder is told. For as horrible as the crime is, you can almost sympathize with the horrific past of the killer and the set of circumstances that led him to commit such an atrocity. As the title implies, though, this isn't about a young girl's murder but -- in the words of his wife -- the radiant glow of the David McNorris Show. He is such a commanding presence on screen with his bleached hair and piercing blue eyes, but he's also a commanding presence within the scope of his own life, and he's running from many demons, most notably his father. He maintains a forceful control of his life and his surroundings, walking a fine line of morality. He's an alcoholic and a womanizer and is disgusted with how he's become precisely the man he never wanted to be, but he is able to walk that line, until a wealthy movie producer offers to further his career in exchange for helping his son evade capture on a murder charge. Caught up in his desire to control events, he sells his soul to this lowlife, but the horror of what he's allowed himself to become eats away at him, and he sets himself on a drunken self-destructive path that's painful to watch.

The time-shifting perspectives work perfectly in this episode as we see most of the major story play out in the first 40 minutes, and through the eyes of the detectives, it all seems very plausible. We then relive the day through McNorris' eyes and see how ingeniously he manipulated everything to make it play out in just this manner. The murder is of little consequence, though, and it turns out the kid he's protecting didn't even do it. This is an intense character study played brilliantly by Neal McDonough. Who knew the new bridge officer (aka dead man walking or red shirt) from First Contact would shortly be one of television's best actors? Must be something in the water up in Dorcester, the hometown of both McDonough and Wahlberg, because who knew the goofy looking New Kid would be this good either?


[size=large]#5 - The Wire - 'Sentencing'[/size]   (09.08.02)
Written by: David Simon & Edward Burns (III), Directed by: Tim Van Patten
"Sometimes things just gotta play hard." - Kima Greggs

I'm sitting here trying to think of a way to describe this show. Is there a word that encapsulates its essence? Entertaining? Absolutely. The characters and stories are amazing. Entrancing? Yep. The way this crime saga plays out just sinks you deeper and deeper into its greatness. Brilliant? No doubt. I could say so many things about this series, and then it hit me ... one words that describes the show in a nutshell: perfection. The Wire is a perfect show. No filler. No bad episodes. Just an incredibly engrossing story that gets better with each week. And yet, what possible reason could we ever have to suspect otherwise?

Take the man behind Homicide: Life on the Street and The Corner, put him together with his writers and producers (and even some cast) from The Corner, and put it on the station that understands quality television unlike any other, and you're as close as you're going to get to guaranteed quality. It just boggles my mind that people didn't start watching this when it aired. What were they thinking? It's cool, though. They'll see. Slowly, the critics are starting to find this show, and while it doesn't exactly lend itself to episodic recognition, and for all the hype and love we have for The Sopranos and Six Feet Under, The Wire is quite possibly the best thing on all of television.

No more is that displayed than in the finale of its first season. The case is winding to a close, they've run Barksdale's group out of his club and for the time being out of the high-risers, and they're putting together as many arrests as they can. They didn't want to be in this position at this time, but politics win out over police work, so this is where they stand, trying to build a case with what they've got. This episode gives us so many powerful scenes, most notably D'Angelo's inner struggle as he discusses his deal with the prosecution. His impassioned plea to just get out of the game speaks volumes for what this show is about, a sense of inevitability and futility on all sides, from both the cops and the dealers. As Omar says at the end, "... all in the game." So much is brought to a close with this episode, and yet so many doors are left open, and many new threads are just beginning. We see the harsh reality of this situation as the convictions don't all go through as they want them to, and Stringer is able to maintain a lot of real estate. Familiar, but until now unimportant, faces step up to get things back up and running. New locations are found, new product is brought in, new guys are learning the system ... the game goes on. It's the painful reality that this series neither glorifies nor vilifies. It's just the way it is ... the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Actually, I must amend that earlier statement. Having now seen most of Season 2, there's no "quite possibly" to it. Let me say this as plainly and clearly as possible: The Wire is the best show on television.


[size=large]#4 - Buffy, the Vampire Slayer - 'Chosen'[/size]   (05.20.03)
Written by: Joss Whedon, Directed by: Joss Whedon
"I want to see how it ends." - Spike

When this finale aired, most everyone commented that this was a "fitting" end to the series, and I agreed, but I think it succeeds more than just on that level. Watching it again, months later and distanced from the emotional build-up and anticipation felt during its original airing, I find that it holds up incredibly well and gives me a warm feeling about the end of this wonderful chapter of television. After moving from the Frog to the Mountain for its 6th and 7th seasons, Buffy had pretty much done everything already. How many times can you die saving the world from an apocalypse before it gets tired ... how can the next Big Bad be bigger and badder than the last? What more can possibly done with this show and these characters?

The sixth season tried to take the show in a darker direction -- which I think on paper was a very good idea -- but for whatever reason (my guess, Joss was stretched too thin), the writing couldn't keep pace with the difficult line of story-telling, and though the 6th season finale was strong, the audience came into this final season a bit uneasy. I know I did. And as the season progressed, we were fed stories about not just the end of the world, but the end of "Good" and how the First Evil was going to end the balance forever and blah, blah, blah. It was a solid idea, and I was entertained enough, but I just felt as though we were stumbling through this final season with no real direction. In fact, in this episode, it is eloquently noted that the First Evil may just as well be known to all as The Taunter. Much of the season felt this way; while there were some stand-out episodes and moments, the audience felt a bit like we were just being taunted with the storyline.

And then something changed. Whether it was the plan from the beginning or Joss's personal reaction to the show ending its run is unknown, but the "fun" slowly crept into the closing episodes, and by the time this finale aired, the series was back to what could be referred to as its "old self." The world was about to end (again), everyone was going to die horrible deaths, Evil would reign triumphant, and ... and ... "what are you guys gonna to do tomorrow? I was thinking about shopping, as per usual. I'm having a wicked shoe craving." They've saved the world before. They (or someone else) will have to save it again. So it is in the Buffyverse and the constant struggle between Good and Evil. Sure, there was an epic battle and some grand speechifying, but this finale wasn't just a return to form ... it was a celebration of it. From start to finish, 'Chosen' focused on all the beautiful qualities that made this series so unique and wonderful, giving characters a chance to make peace with each other and pay homage to some of the great moments that brought us to this point. The writing was clever and on target, the music was grand in scope, and the performances were energetic and alive with an intensity that hadn't been so prevalent recently. It tapped into the very soul of the entire 7-year run and accomplished the overwhelming task of wrapping it up while still leaving a possible future.

I gave considerable thought to this (perhaps too much), and the "safe" choice in making this list would be to rank 'Conversations with Dead People' higher, but sometimes you have to go with your heart. After all, it is my list. There is a lot of great television out there, but there are few shows that I truly love; Buffy is one of them. This finale is not without its flaws, but watching it, I find that I feel content and at peace with the end of this series ... that's not an easy task, and in truth, I could ask for nothing more. In the end, we are treated to the best payoff we could ever desire: the weight of the world removed from Buffy's shoulders. For at the core of this show was always one lonely girl trying to find her place in a crazy world, and now she finally has the chance. Perhaps the girl who's returned from the dead twice may finally rest in peace. "Yeah, Buffy, what are we gonna do now?"


[size=large]#3 - Six Feet Under - 'Perfect Circles'[/size]   (03.02.03)
Written by: Alan Ball, Directed by: Rodrigo Garcia
"Go ahead ... open the box." - Nathaniel Fisher

Ignorance is bliss. The more we understand about the Universe, the more disturbing it becomes. In fact, many of the great minds who helped formulate what we now refer to as quantum physics spent a lifetime trying to disprove what was being theorized, as the reality of it all (or lack thereof) raised such undesirable questions about our very existence. I guess some background may be necessary here, so I'll give a brief overview for the unfamiliar, but by no means is this a complete representation of the state of quantum physics, and if I explain it poorly, I apologize ... it's been a long day. Those who want a lifetime of sleepless nights can research all these subjects further.

Anyway, most high school students are familiar with Heisenberg Uncertainty: the more precisely the position of a particle is determined, the less precisely its momentum is known. This isn't a big deal on a macroscopic scale, since the effect is negligible, but on a subatomic scale, it becomes quite the problem. Quite simply, the way we observe the Universe is with light, as photons bounce off objects and reflect information to the observer. On a subatomic scale, the act of bouncing a photon off a particle to find its position alters its momentum, and we can never know both with any certainty. That really sucks, and it's why the Enterprise crew is unhappy when the mythical Heisenberg Compensators are on the fritz ... but that's only the beginning.

The double-slit experiment (also hopefully performed in high school or early college courses) demonstrates that light is (for lack of better terminology) both a particle and a wave, and in conjunction with numerous other observations and experiments (namely Bohr's model of the atom), de Broglie put together what's often referred to as the "wave-particle duality" of matter. When taken to the next level, using single photons one after another, the double-slit experiment shows that independent particles interfere with one another in a most puzzling manner. Not to be outdone, Schroedinger developed a wave equation describing the behavior of atomic and subatomic particles and showed that wave and matrix mechanics were mathematically equivalent. Poor guy. Bohr came back into the picture, along with Heisenberg and many other great minds of the period, and built the Copenhagen Interpretation on Heisenberg's principle and Schroedinger's equation, opening the door to perhaps the biggest philosophical debate of all time: a particle exists as a wave form probability until it is "observed," at which point the wave form collapses and it "decides" its position and "exists." Until observed a particle can only be described as a probability of its potential existence; in fact, quantum mechanics dictates that it is a superposition of all potential outcomes until observed.

Schroedinger was not to keen on the fact that his equation was being used in this manner, so he set out to demonstrate the complete absurdity of the Copenhagen Interpretation in a "thought experiment" known as "Schroedinger's Cat." He sought to demonstrate that there is no "line" between the macroscopic world that is described through our own observation and the microscopic world that is supposedly affected by it. Take a radioactive isotope with a 50/50 chance of decaying within an hour and place it in range of a Geiger counter that is connected to a vial of poison such that if the isotope decays, the poison will be released. Enclose this toy with an unsuspecting kitty cat in a steel box and wait. According to quantum physics, the isotope is both decayed and non-decayed until it is "observed." Consequently, the cat is both alive and dead until someone opens the box to check on him.

This most certainly cannot be the case ... or can it? Detractors of the Copenhagen Interpretation have raised many valid questions, and I'm just giving background, not asserting how you should interpret this ... but the fact remains that every experiment performed in the last 70+ years intended to analyze this has done nothing but support the concluded results. An alternate view (which is also supported with results) is that each wave form collapse creates two parallel universes where each scenario occurs. This isn't science fiction; as crazy as it sounds, the model works in describing the behavior of subatomic particles. As Feynman says, "You’ll have to accept it ... because it is the way nature works. You don’t like it? Go somewhere else ... to another Universe, where the rules are simpler, philosophically more pleasing, more psychologically easy. I can’t help it, okay?" Why the model works is a subject of intense debate as it questions the very nature of our own existence. Have no fear, though ... Schroedinger's Cat is just a thought experiment, and you can rationalize it away with arguments over what constitutes "observation" of a particle. The related Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Paradox, however, will make your head spin.

Now, wait a minute ... isn't this a list of the Top 50 dramatic television episodes of the season? Don't blame me ... I didn't write the episode. In a stroke of what can only be referred to as genius, Alan Ball seamlessly merged quantum physics' most dazzling mystery with one of television's most impressive shows. Nate is dead ... and he's not. Observe the following discussion with his father:

Nathaniel, Sr.: Do you believe that your consciousness affects the behavior of subatomic particles?
Nate: Am I alive or am I dead?
Nathaniel, Sr.: Do you believe that particles move backwards and forwards in time and appear in all possible places at once?
Nate: And if I am dead, is this heaven or hell?
Nathaniel, Sr.: Do you believe that the Universe is constantly splitting into billions of parallel universes?
Nate: WHAT THE **** DO I CARE?!?
Nathaniel, Sr.: You only get one choice, so you may want to think about this.
Nate: Just tell me. Am I dead? Yes or no?
Nathaniel, Sr.: Yes ... and no. Some places you’re dead, some places you’re alive. Some places you never even existed. Possibly, theoretically ... or who knows, this could just be the anesthesia talking. Go ahead ... open the box.

It's been a while since I've been in such complete awe of a television episode, but when this first aired I just stared at the screen, completely mesmerized by what I was seeing, in large part because the episode works just as well for those who have no knowledge of Schroedinger and his dead-alive cat. We see many different possibilities of Nate's existence or non-existence. He could have returned a vegetable. He may have married Lisa ... or Brenda. Perhaps his father didn't die in the accident that Christmas eve a few years back ... or maybe he didn't even have Nate to begin with. We find out in this episode that Nate's existence wasn't planned by his parents, and this set in motion the chain of events that leads to the Fisher family as we know it. We see all these possibilities, and then his father says, "you only get one choice, so you may want to think about this." Does our consciousness affect the behavior of matter? Does the observer affect the observed simply through observation? Do particles only exist when observed, and as such, is existence just a function of our own consciousness?

On my first viewing, I thought some of the references were a bit much, but in retrospect, I think it works to perfection. Note in the vegetable reality that David is trying to get him to form the word CAT. Todd obsesses over his child's refusal to stop playing with a cat at his get-together. Observe the melodramatic soap opera playing in the background of the white trash reality:

Woman: That was Dr. Schroedinger. Kitty, didn’t make it.
Man: So ... the universe has split in two.
Woman: Two? Try two billion!!! What’s gonna happen to us?
Man: There, there. We always end up a Universe in which we exist. Remember Copenhagen?
Women: Ah, yes! The Eigenvalues in bloom!
Man: You just keep telling yourself everything that can happen, does ... somewhere.

The second half of the episode focuses on this reality in which Nate exists and sets up the threads for the rest of the season. In doing so, we see countless instances of "interference." As mentioned earlier, one of the theories on the wave-particle duality is that parallel universes or "shadow" potential outcomes affect interfere with particles, and we see this in Nate's life as events from the other realities manifest themselves in his current reality. At the time, I had hoped that we would see more such interference throughout the season and further travel down this path, but I cannot fault the direction they chose to go.

This season premiere was such a complete shock in so many ways. It flipped the series completely upside down and did so with brilliant reference to one of the great scientific questions of our time. As the episode draws to an end, David sings "Some Other Time" from On the Town over a montage of the current state in the lives of the Fisher family. We close on a final scene with Lisa and Nate (and one final interference) discussing the nature of our existence and how meaningful the choices we make are:

Nate: Surely we're more than just things that happen.
Lisa: Maybe we are ... maybe we're not.


[size=large]#2 - Farscape - 'Bad Timing'[/size]   (03.21.03)
Written by: David Kemper, Directed by: Andrew Prowse
"You're gonna find, when you have your own, you want 'em to pass you, be better, climb higher; because if that's the measure, I'm the greatest Dad on Earth." - Jack Crichton

"And finally ... on Farscape ..." How do you end the most visually stunning and possibly the most thematically ambitious series in the history of television? Pretty difficult, I would think. Now, how do you end it when you've already built a cliff-hanger around a guaranteed 5th season only to find out on the last day of shooting that the scumbags who made that guarantee are weaseling out of their contract? Simple ... you don't. Farscape isn't my favorite show of all time, nor is it even my favorite current show, but I find that I have a level of respect for this series unmatched by anything I have ever seen. Farscape is many different things to many people. At its core, it's a beautiful love story; on the surface, it's a thrilling science fiction adventure; and in between, it is consistently the most daring program on television, unafraid to try anything.

David Kemper made it clear to the fans in the weeks leading up to this episode that he had the opportunity to tweak this season finale and make it a series finale, but to avoid spoilage, he wouldn't reveal anything about what they did or did not do. He would only say that the inner circle of the series (behind and in front of the camera) got together, discussed it, and unanimously agreed on how they wanted this finale to play out. After it aired, the audience could see precisely what he meant. This episode could very easily have been tweaked to wrap everything up nicely, and probably without even adding any extra shots ... but that wouldn't be very Farscape, now would it? Still, we are treated to some great scenes fitting of a closing episode, with Rygel convincing Pilot to collapse the wormhole, Aeryn and John sorting out their issues, and a touching final conversation between John and his father.

The show could have ended this way, and I wouldn't have been unhappy. It would have been a solid end. However, my respect for this show stems from the fact that it has never cheated its audience, and this finale proved no different as we are dangled over the edge of oblivion, rescued in the nick of time, and just as we find comfort and safety on solid ground, we are shoved over the edge from behind in possibly the most gut-wrenching moment of the show's 4 year run, and the series fades out with the echoes of D'Argo's guttural roars. Those sounds still haunt my dreams, and as the episode closed, I had to consciously remind myself to breathe. And then ... like a giant middle finger to the frellniks who conspired to destroy science fiction television in this country ...




[size=large]#1 - The West Wing - 'Twenty Five'[/size]   (05.14.03)
Written by: Aaron Sorkin, Directed by: Christopher Misiano
"I think it's a fairly stunning act of patriotism ... and a fairly ordinary act of fatherhood." - Will Bailey

From the opening scene, the audience knew this was the episode to see, and if this is the last time Sorkin writes for this show, he was going out on top. Following the graduation of his daughter, the Bartlet family and friends have gathered around and are reminiscing her childhood while looking through old pictures. And then Leo shows up, out of breath, sickened by what he has to tell his best friend. No dialogue is heard as Leo pulls him away from the party and explains the situation. President Bartlet is holding a glass, and you fully expect it to fall from his hands and shatter on the floor in typical dramatic fashion, but instead he loses grip of the family photos, and they litter the floor. As the camera zooms in on a childhood picture that looks remarkably like the Zoey we're used to, the glass then falls from above (without shattering) spilling ice and liquid all over the photos. The look of horror on the President's face is all his wife needs to see to know precisely what has happened. No words ... just emotion.

As this season wound to a close, viewers of The West Wing had to be prepared for some sort of cliff-hanger. They've done it each season, and they've done it incredibly well. The resignation of the Vice President was a big blow and was topped the following week by the apparent kidnapping of Zoey Bartlet. This would be more than enough to keep viewers on the edge of their seats during the summer months, but the series showed an impressive amount of courage as they pushed the audience even further to the edge and did so with yet another in a long list of absolutely perfect casting decisions.

"We're in control. The government is functioning. This is the most important press conference of your life." How everyone reacts in the next few hours will not only control the fate of the President's daughter but the nation as a whole, and the question of who holds that control is on everyone's mind. Leo tries to reassure Bartlet that he's surrounded by good people who won't let him do anything stupid in his time of grief, but that's not good enough. Legally, they have to follow his orders, and in their hearts they know what has to happen next.

And yet 'Twenty Five' is more about parenthood than anything else as Toby's children are born in untimely contrast to Zoey's abduction, and Richard Schiff steals the show with a command performance. The terror he faces is one many of us face -- will he be a good father? -- but it's made worse by his fear that he won't love his children the way he's heard about. As his ex-wife pointed out earlier, he's a very "sad" person, and he fears he's just not capable of the kind of life-changing love everyone tells him follows the birth of children. The moments he shares with his newborn children are touching and beautiful and some of the best scenes of the entire television year. "This isn't going to mean anything to you, but Leo was right ... Leo was right." Moments later, seeing home videos of the Bartlets on the News, he realizes he has to return to the office and now: "the President's got to get out of the West Wing. I don't know what we've been thinking." "How are the babies? Are they OK?" Leo asks. "Yeah, they're great. And if someone was hurting them, I'd drop napalm on Yellowstone to make them stop. Letting some prisoners out of jail would be nothing, and I've known my kids for 45 minutes." With that statement, he sums up both situations perfectly as he finally understands what that fatherly love is, and he also understands why Bartlet cannot be in control of the country.

There are many great scenes packed among the action -- Charlie inches away from beating the crap out of Jean Paul, Toby informing his staff that his children were born while they're panicking over the abduction, Abby losing sanity and preparing to make a plea to the press, saying "I've just seen other mothers do it" and finally President Bartlet turning over the powers of the Presidency to the Speaker of the House. Throughout the episode, when asked what they'd do in the event of certain scenarios, each character would always reply, "Leo will know what to do." And so they gather in the Oval Office to transfer power, and they slowly start to debate how they announce this. C.J. suggests the first thing they do is make it clear to the rest of the country there's someone in charge. Josh notes that first they have to make it clear to the world, and Will points out they need to make it clear to the terrorists. The Speaker interrupts, detailing the sequence of events that led to World War I, following with "someone needs to make it clear to the people in this room that someone's in charge." Bartlet steps up to defend them pointing out that they haven't slept in a long time, and the Speaker curtly informs him that he is relieved of duty. Without fanfare Leo assumes the responsibility everyone's entrusted in him all episode: "you're relieved, Mr. President."

Even after an average season -- by its standards -- there isn't a doubt in my mind that The West Wing is the best series on network television, and they finished this season with 3 incredible episodes (each of which appears on this list). To have such a large cast and still be able to paint such wonderfully deep and diverse characters is a truly remarkable accomplishment. I can only hope that the departure of Sorkin and Schlamme from the series can be weathered. I debated this in my mind over and over, as the thought of choosing 'Perfect Circles' appealed to my sense of awe, and 'Bad Timing' is clearly the sentimental favorite, but I cannot deny a simple truth: 'Twenty Five' is a perfect hour of television. Acting, writing, direction, editing, and score ... it's the bar that all shows should strive to achieve. The last two seasons, I have rewarded daring and powerful uniqueness. This season, I choose to recognize execution ... flawless execution. It may not be a popular choice, but I believe it's the right one.

Chew

Thanks das!

A great list and I can't wait to see the top 10.

Sorry to hear about all the losses in your life, however.

lisadoris

Thanks for the hard work in spite of your personal losses. Slow a$$ modem or not, I'm really looking forward to the rest of the list.

Plus, I thought I only missed on episode of Boomtown last season but apparently I missed two - I don't remember "Lost Child." The episodes of Ed and SFU you listed were great so I can't wait to see the next 10 (whoo hoo!)

Venusian

can't believe you put this much work into it. good job!


sadly, I've only seen 1 episode on the list here. even worse, I haven't heard of some of these shows . I guess I don't have much to discuss. Like I said last time, I mainly watch comedies (sitcoms). But like you said, those are highly subjective.

conscience

Okay das....waiting IMPATIENTLY () for the next offering.

Rypro 525

can you also to the top 10 dumbest moments of the season year

apeyard

for American Dreams making the list. However, I think it WAS the best new drama series of the year.

Bring on the next 10

Chew

Whadda trying to do? Kill the man?

das Monkey

• Quoth Rypro 525 •<HR SIZE=1>can you also to the top 10 dumbest moments of the season year <HR SIZE=1>

10? But Will & Grace had 25 episodes.

das

P.S. I should note that when I saw this post many hours ago, I resisted the urge to make this comment. However, after reading a review on this very site claiming the show was as strong as ever, I could no longer resist.

JonTurner

All I've seen there are the ep's of The Sopranos and Six Feet Under (which is probably the way it'll go for your entire drama list). That said, WWWWWOOOOOOWWWWWWW! If you're interested in this sort of thing, you should submit the entire list to some sort of magazine (I'd say Entertainment Weekly, but I've just got a feeling that you don't think too highly of them). But I'm sure someone would be happy to post is as an external column if not offer you a job

Anyhoo... I look forward to seeing the rest! My only suggestion would be to reverse the order in which you're posting (i.e. go down from 50 - 41 instead of down from 41 - 50). But thanks! And bring 'em on!

Venusian

10 dumb moments?

wouldn't they all involve fox?

crap shows, and then stuff like letting Futurama die? and Family Guy (was that this season? I'm still bitter).


I guess much discussion isn't ensuing becuase I can't complain yet if my favorite eps aren't on the list because I don't have the full thing yet. I'd discuss the merit of the ones on the list so far, but like I said, I've only seen one.

das Monkey

• Quoth JonTurner •<HR SIZE=1>I'd say Entertainment Weekly, but I've just got a feeling that you don't think too highly of them<HR SIZE=1>

Well, it's not a list of the season's best hair-styles.

• Quoth JonTurner •<HR SIZE=1>My only suggestion would be to reverse the order in which you're posting (i.e. go down from 50 - 41 instead of down from 41 - 50). But thanks! And bring 'em on! <HR SIZE=1>

I considered this. If others feel the same way, I can certainly do that. The list was written with a 1 - 50 mentality as I hate "countdowns." I really had no intention to split it up like this until I saw how freakin' long it had become, so it's more a way to get the whole list out yet avoid clutter on the forum than a suspense thing. It really makes no difference to me. Anyone else want it that way?

das

Chew

Another "countdown" vote here!

Venusian

so you're saying that the numbers have no meaning, right? then the countdown doesnt really matter. but then again, VH1 has me trained to count down. hmmm... but as a computer engineer, your list goes from 0 to 49, right?

das Monkey

• Quoth Venusian •<HR SIZE=1>so you're saying that the numbers have no meaning, right? then the countdown doesnt really matter. but then again, VH1 has me trained to count down. hmmm... but as a computer engineer, your list goes from 0 to 49, right? <HR SIZE=1>

Oh, the numbers have meaning. I just didn't want people obsessing over why one show was #17 and another was #18. Think in terms of clusters. It's safe to say that if I picked one episode of a particular series #4 and another episode #17, then I think #4 is better. Episodes surrounding one another should have a fluid interpretation. Within one or two ordinals, there's likely not much difference (the percent error is larger than the difference in quality), and the episodes could easily be swapped. The further away you get, though, the difference in quality outwieghs the percent error, and ordered significance takes hold. I guess I didn't word that well in the above post. What I was getting at was simply not to obsesses over episodes that appear close to each other on the list.

I reworded it above. Hopefully it's a bit more clear.

das

Venusian

then i'd prefer the countdown as well if its not too much trouble. if it is, doesn't really matter then cuz i just read the titles anyway and think "never seen it".

das Monkey

No trouble at all. Countdown it is, then. The final list will remain top-down, though, unless people really want it the other way.

das

Groucho

Great list. I've only seen one of those, but I love reading it. I look forward to more.

My most dramatic episode in the 2002-2003 season was when the TAR4 premiere was about to begin and I couldn't find the remote.

Patman

Threads like these just scratch at the surface of the lovable insanity underneath that is das.

ProjectMayhem

das,

Great list. I love the mention of Everwood. Keep up the good work!

immortal_zeus

Anytime you want a hot carl, just holler.

BizRodian

Wow, I don't know how you can watch so much TV and still have time to make a list like this. It's pretty incredible. I have a hard enough to updating my website...

BoatDrinks

Don't you mean... everything das feels is of consequence?

Ah, if you'd only seen our episode called "The Frozen Zone."



Just busting your hump. You're a good man and a hard worker.

BizRodian

Since I feel I may one day want to do some screen writing, I should probably watch more then three TV shows... heh.. actually, one is a reality show, so not so much in the way of writers... and the other I don't even know if I like it anymore. The one remaining one isn't even american... not even in English *sigh*