An excellent example of the phenomenon. Better than the FAM s2 finale, because Heroes was never as consistently good for a season as FAM was that year.
Isn't that the way with sketch comedy in general? If one is really honest about even one's favorite shows (or favorite eras of shows), lots of bits don't work or work for the first minute and last for three.
Not related to this newsletter but I just wanted to thank you for so strongly recommending Reservation Dogs... I started watching it a few weeks ago and am nearing the end of season 3. It's just wonderful television. Moving, heartfelt, human, a bit magical and strange in that Atlanta/Leftovers/Twin Peaks way.
I had no idea what the show was before going in and probably wouldn't have watched it had it not been praised as much as it was here.
Okay, I've got to throw one in here that was the first thing that popped in my head, though it may not exactly be a perfect fit, since it is more of a scene than a whole episode.
When I was a kid, we watched what we could and I watched every episode of "Gilligan's Island" multiple times. I'm not sure I laughed almost at all, but certainly smiled now and then. But the episode where they perform "Hamlet" to the score of "Carmen" will go with me to my grave.
Boardwalk Empire is the poster child: wildly uneven as a whole, but full of phenomenal scenes, episodes, or even just characters. There's a million examples but a couple top of mind:
- the episode where Nucky goes to Ireland to buy guns, and we get a whole sense of the world, with feuds and grudges getting solved in the background as Nucky drives away
- the episode where Nucky and Lansky watch the unflappable Rothstein unravel at a poker table
Westworld was only really good in season 1, with each season subsequently a little weaker than the last (I’m hesitant to ever call it bad), but “Kiksuya” from season 2 is the best episode they ever produced by a wide margin.
That's a great selection, completely agree. That episode almost felt like it came from an alternate version of the series. It's kind of wild that they finally figured out exactly what they had in Zahn McClarnon and then really failed to ever utilize him again in any meaningful way.
I disliked Westward even more than you, but I found "Parce Domine" the premiere of season 3 a really terrific piece of sci-fi (largely standalone), and completely deserving of this list.
Probably not but I’m also not the person to ask about this show because I watched the first seasons less because I enjoyed it (I didn’t) but for the potential within the story
For the record I thought the first season was a disaster of actual storytelling only wanting to service the mystery box at the expense of everything else
My feeling is the same as yours. I mistrust puzzle boxes (the revelation is never revelatory; the "myth" is always just some yadda-yadda), and considered Westworld a particularly poorly-constructed one.
It's been great at times, mid at other times, particularly the last two seasons. I don't think it's unfair to say that "The Gray" — and season two in general — is substantially better than anything else the show does.
Fair enough! I haven't seen the last two seasons for full transparency but agree about season two in general. I personally found Drops of God more enjoyable on the whole as far as AppleTV+ series go (wish more people watched it!).
David Cross' first episode as Donnie on Just Shoot Me. "Chicken pot, chicken pot, chicken pot pie!" and "My pants are tight!" are immortal lines in my book.
For the "great episodes from so-so shows" I'd say the season one finale of Homeland or the second season episode "Q&A" where Carrie interrogates Brody.
"Q&A" is one I've thought of. The funny thing is, pretty much up through that episode, people (myself included) thought of Homeland as a capital-G Great Show. It was just all downhill from there for a while, and then after Brody left, it stabilized itself as a slightly classier 24.
No, it definitely qualifies. It's just funny that at the time, it didn't seem like that big of an outlier, even though it was my favorite episode to that point.
The pilot episode of The Affair is amazing. So amazing that I watched, I think, two full seasons of that pretty dopey show. It is an excellent actor showcase, but as a plotted, character driven drama, it was quite a bit undercooked.
A couple things: First, nomination for good episode in bad series. While I enjoy Studio 60 more than others, even the hater Is think would like the Christmas episode. Sorkin has a way with Christmas episodes. (Still have the mp3 of the horn section playing in my Christmas music rotation.) Second,
always enjoy a Batman throwback. Vividly recall reading the "Giant" annuals published by DC in the summers back in the day when they would include stories from the 1940s. Enjoy Timm's cartoon aesthetic.
"Heaven Sent" episode of Doctor Who, with Peter Capaldi painfully punching through a feet-thick wall of diamond hardness for billions of years to honor his dead companion, Clara (honorable mention: "The Girl in the Fireplace" with David Tenant's doctor).
It premiered the same week as the "International Assassins" episode of The Leftovers. I watched both in the same night, and never quite recovered.
Come to think of it, while The Leftovers was a great series, "International Assassins" was at such an even higher level, with Kubrick-level craftsmanship never before seen on TV, that it qualifies for your list.
I think Leftovers is much too good to qualify, even if you consider "International Assassin" a cut above the rest. And I'm not even sure I'd say that's the show's best episode, since it doesn't feature Nora. (Similarly, I love "It's a Matt Matt Matt Matt World," but Nora's also absent from that one.)
I'm currently rewatching, and the biggest revelation is how good Carrie Coon was before she came to the forefront. In season 1, she drops her emotional burden not once but twice (once after Wayne's hug, after which she backtracks a bit, and then again after accepting Wayne's abandoned baby, followed by another backtrack), and with so much going on in season one and early season two - and with Nora an underwritten character - I hadn't recognized how deftly she handled those difficult arcs.
Supporting actress Carrie Coon is just as good as lead actress Carrie Coon.
But while I love lasagna to death, I don't downrate sushi dinners just 'cuz there's no lasagna.
That S2 Euphoria ep is absolutely bonkers but kept me watching the rest of S2 even when I knew that show had gone way off the rails. I'd suggest that all the origin story cold opens of S1 were the best parts of that show.
The pilot of The Walking Dead always comes to my mind first for a mediocre show that had a fantastic pilot.
Yup. Every now and then they'd come close, like "The Grove," but that's a show that absolutely peaked with its first episode.
Oh, yeah, Grove was great too. Gimple got that show like no one else.
I'll start on truly great episode of not-so-great show: "Company Man" episode of "Heroes"
An excellent example of the phenomenon. Better than the FAM s2 finale, because Heroes was never as consistently good for a season as FAM was that year.
There are probably 3 or 4 Walking Dead episodes one could reasonably put forth here, but mine would be Clear.
I was never a fan of Inside Amy Schumer, but the 12 Angry Men episode was excellent.
Great, great episode.
Isn't that the way with sketch comedy in general? If one is really honest about even one's favorite shows (or favorite eras of shows), lots of bits don't work or work for the first minute and last for three.
And the 12 Angry Men parody is also an episode-long sketch, whereas sketch shows tend to be uneven from sketch to sketch.
Not related to this newsletter but I just wanted to thank you for so strongly recommending Reservation Dogs... I started watching it a few weeks ago and am nearing the end of season 3. It's just wonderful television. Moving, heartfelt, human, a bit magical and strange in that Atlanta/Leftovers/Twin Peaks way.
I had no idea what the show was before going in and probably wouldn't have watched it had it not been praised as much as it was here.
Okay, I've got to throw one in here that was the first thing that popped in my head, though it may not exactly be a perfect fit, since it is more of a scene than a whole episode.
When I was a kid, we watched what we could and I watched every episode of "Gilligan's Island" multiple times. I'm not sure I laughed almost at all, but certainly smiled now and then. But the episode where they perform "Hamlet" to the score of "Carmen" will go with me to my grave.
When I hear "Carmen," I still sing the Hamlet lines to them.
Boardwalk Empire is the poster child: wildly uneven as a whole, but full of phenomenal scenes, episodes, or even just characters. There's a million examples but a couple top of mind:
- the episode where Nucky goes to Ireland to buy guns, and we get a whole sense of the world, with feuds and grudges getting solved in the background as Nucky drives away
- the episode where Nucky and Lansky watch the unflappable Rothstein unravel at a poker table
Westworld was only really good in season 1, with each season subsequently a little weaker than the last (I’m hesitant to ever call it bad), but “Kiksuya” from season 2 is the best episode they ever produced by a wide margin.
Westworld had a few great eps surrounded by the previously-discussed puzzle box nonsense, but “Kiksuya” is easily the best of the show.
That's a great selection, completely agree. That episode almost felt like it came from an alternate version of the series. It's kind of wild that they finally figured out exactly what they had in Zahn McClarnon and then really failed to ever utilize him again in any meaningful way.
I disliked Westward even more than you, but I found "Parce Domine" the premiere of season 3 a really terrific piece of sci-fi (largely standalone), and completely deserving of this list.
I feel like I’m in the minority for only really enjoying the final season of westworld
I gave up before then! Would I need to slog through Season 3 before watching Season 4?
Probably not but I’m also not the person to ask about this show because I watched the first seasons less because I enjoyed it (I didn’t) but for the potential within the story
For the record I thought the first season was a disaster of actual storytelling only wanting to service the mystery box at the expense of everything else
My feeling is the same as yours. I mistrust puzzle boxes (the revelation is never revelatory; the "myth" is always just some yadda-yadda), and considered Westworld a particularly poorly-constructed one.
So I guess I need to check out season four!
Damn, this feels harsh to essentially say For All Mankind is fine and has a few great episodes only.
It's been great at times, mid at other times, particularly the last two seasons. I don't think it's unfair to say that "The Gray" — and season two in general — is substantially better than anything else the show does.
Fair enough! I haven't seen the last two seasons for full transparency but agree about season two in general. I personally found Drops of God more enjoyable on the whole as far as AppleTV+ series go (wish more people watched it!).
Had to go back and watch “Hi, Bob” when Bob Newheart died. Much to love in the series.
The last two seasons were, at many times, draw-droopingly, stab-the-remote awful. But I'm in the minority.
David Cross' first episode as Donnie on Just Shoot Me. "Chicken pot, chicken pot, chicken pot pie!" and "My pants are tight!" are immortal lines in my book.
I would rate "Just Shoot Me" as uneven rather than bad, but . . .
How about the "A&E Biography: Nina Van Horn" episode? Oh man, that was a "call a friend and tell them to watch it" funny episode.
“Allergic to bananas”
For the "great episodes from so-so shows" I'd say the season one finale of Homeland or the second season episode "Q&A" where Carrie interrogates Brody.
"Q&A" is one I've thought of. The funny thing is, pretty much up through that episode, people (myself included) thought of Homeland as a capital-G Great Show. It was just all downhill from there for a while, and then after Brody left, it stabilized itself as a slightly classier 24.
Yeah for sure I did hesitate a touch for that reason. But if we're allowed to use hindsight, then I think overall it's a non-great show.
No, it definitely qualifies. It's just funny that at the time, it didn't seem like that big of an outlier, even though it was my favorite episode to that point.
The pilot episode of The Affair is amazing. So amazing that I watched, I think, two full seasons of that pretty dopey show. It is an excellent actor showcase, but as a plotted, character driven drama, it was quite a bit undercooked.
Not one I would have instantly thought of, but I did really like that show in the beginning before my interest gradually dwindled.
There was a couple episodes of the Newsroom that fit this mold. Pretty horrible show overall but a couple episodes are masterpieces
Out of curiosity, which ones? You don't have to look up the names, just tell me an identifying detail about them.
The first I think three episodes of S3 were really, really good in my recollection, and then it proceeded to shit the bed REAL hard to end things.
I remember being very moved by the Gabby Giffords episode…. Am i remembering poorly lol?
A couple things: First, nomination for good episode in bad series. While I enjoy Studio 60 more than others, even the hater Is think would like the Christmas episode. Sorkin has a way with Christmas episodes. (Still have the mp3 of the horn section playing in my Christmas music rotation.) Second,
always enjoy a Batman throwback. Vividly recall reading the "Giant" annuals published by DC in the summers back in the day when they would include stories from the 1940s. Enjoy Timm's cartoon aesthetic.
"Heaven Sent" episode of Doctor Who, with Peter Capaldi painfully punching through a feet-thick wall of diamond hardness for billions of years to honor his dead companion, Clara (honorable mention: "The Girl in the Fireplace" with David Tenant's doctor).
It premiered the same week as the "International Assassins" episode of The Leftovers. I watched both in the same night, and never quite recovered.
Come to think of it, while The Leftovers was a great series, "International Assassins" was at such an even higher level, with Kubrick-level craftsmanship never before seen on TV, that it qualifies for your list.
I think Leftovers is much too good to qualify, even if you consider "International Assassin" a cut above the rest. And I'm not even sure I'd say that's the show's best episode, since it doesn't feature Nora. (Similarly, I love "It's a Matt Matt Matt Matt World," but Nora's also absent from that one.)
I'm currently rewatching, and the biggest revelation is how good Carrie Coon was before she came to the forefront. In season 1, she drops her emotional burden not once but twice (once after Wayne's hug, after which she backtracks a bit, and then again after accepting Wayne's abandoned baby, followed by another backtrack), and with so much going on in season one and early season two - and with Nora an underwritten character - I hadn't recognized how deftly she handled those difficult arcs.
Supporting actress Carrie Coon is just as good as lead actress Carrie Coon.
But while I love lasagna to death, I don't downrate sushi dinners just 'cuz there's no lasagna.
"Heaven Sent" is amazing but I wouldn't ever call Doctor Who overall bad just very very uneven
Fine line, Eric! :)
Blink > Heaven Sent
Euphoria - Stand Still Like the Hummingbird
The prison riot episode of Mayor of Kingstown S1 has kept me watching three seasons.
That S2 Euphoria ep is absolutely bonkers but kept me watching the rest of S2 even when I knew that show had gone way off the rails. I'd suggest that all the origin story cold opens of S1 were the best parts of that show.