12. New Girl - "Injured"
As I pointed out in my Paste review of “Injured”, this is the first episode of New Girl where the show really started to show promise. The first season was merely ok, but “Injured” became the turning point from New Girl being a moderate success to becoming one of the best sitcoms today. “Injured” focused on these five friends and turned them into a de fact family.
11. 30 Rock - "Live From Studio 6H"
Live episodes of regularly taped shows can be hit-or-miss, but 30 Rock pulled it off brilliantly, even making the format part of the joke and the episode’s final joke. 30 Rock had done this before, and even better in their first go-around, but “Live from Studio 6H” still was last season’s more successful episodes. “Live from Studio 6H” also made sure everyone in the world knew that Jon Hamm is a comedic genius, earning him award nominations for his few cameos throughout the episode, and bringing some of the biggest laughs 30 Rock has ever heard.
10. Community - "Pillows and Blankets"
Community is always great at their themed episodes, but sometimes they come across as proof of concept, rather than furthering story or characters. “Pillows and Blankets” was able to do both, as a pillow and blanket fort war became a Ken Burns style documentary with important character dynamics. Clashing Troy and Abed against each other had been building for the entire season, but when it happened, it was both hilarious and touching. Paintball may be all fun and games, but “Pillows and Blankets” was much more than that.
9. Parks and Recreation - "Win, Lose Or Draw"
The entire fourth season of Parks and Recreation, and to some extent all of Leslie Knope’s life, had been leading to the moment where she stood in a voting booth with the option to vote for herself. She had done everything she could, given her all, and now all she could do was hope. What’s great about P&R’s fourth season finale was that the show could have easily gone in two separate ways, one where Leslie wins, the other where she loses. We get both conclusions, losing and then surprisingly winning in the end. “Win, Lose Or Draw” had all three and also showcased the incredible ensemble cast that makes the show more about an entire community than about one office.
8. Adventure Time - "I Remember You"
It’s rare when the animation schedule on Cartoon Network brings you close to tears, but Adventure Timehas never been normal. In this year’s latter episodes, the show has decided to confront what exactly happened to the world before it became a land of candy people and talking dogs. The most touching of these was “I Remember You,” which dealt with a previously unknown bond between the insane Ice King and Marceline. The final moments are heart wrenching and while Adventure Time can be wackier than any other show on TV, it can also be just as beautiful.
7. Saturday Night Live - "Mick Jagger"
Like most episodes of Saturday Night Live, “Mick Jagger” had some hits and misses, but it’s the finale, with one of the greatest SNL moments ever, that made this list. Jagger was a game host and the final Digital Short was a suiting end for Andy Samberg’s reign, but Kristen Wiig’s exit was one of the few times that SNL could bring tears. At Jagger and Arcade Fire played “She’s a Rainbow,” Wiig got to dance with each of her castmembers. Some were harder than others, as Wiig broke down while dancing with Bill Hader, but the suitable ending, with Wiig dancing with Lorne Michaels was as touching as SNL has ever gotten.
6. Awake - "Turtles All the Way Down"
It’s a shame that Awakedidn’t gain a larger audience. A fascinating story of a man living two separate lives was one of the best dramas NBC had put on the air in years. But maybe it’s better off this way, leaving the few episodes as a sort of mini-series. Awake’s pilot was one of the best pilots of the season, but the show’s finale “Turtles All the Way Down” took crazy chances that really question what the show could have become. “Turtles All the Way Down” was confusing, exciting, shocking and all together amazing, doing things that most shows in their right might wouldn’t even dare try.
5. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - "September 19, 2012"
I always find that The Daily Show is best when it transcends comedy or politics and becomes about journalistic criticism. Especially in the 2012 election, it was great to have Jon Stewart point out the inconsistencies and problems with the news, specifically in Fox News. On his September 19, 2012 episode, he debuted the segment ‘Chaos on Bullshit Mountain,’ a dissection of Fox News’ election coverage and ability to twist every negative aspect of Mitt Romney’s campaign into a positive win. Stewart was at his best and brilliant look at how screwed up Fox News can be was some of the most powerful material The Daily Show has ever delivered.
4. Mad Men - "Lady Lazarus"
The episode that always gets love from this past season is “The Other Woman,” which is a great hour of television, no doubt. But for me, the structure and storytelling in “Lady Lazarus” was Mad Men’s finest house in the fifth season. Mad Men broke up the story, each following one story in segments throughout the episode. “Lady Lazarus” might not have seemed to have as huge repercussions as something like “The Other Woman” to audience members, but “Lady Lazarus” had a staggering impact on each of the stories and characters followed.
3. Louie - "Late Show"
For much of Louie, the title character it stuck trying to do what is best, yet almost always have it blow up in his face. In the three-episode arc “Late Show,” Louie tried something that didn’t work out, but that’s where the brilliance came from. In the episodes, Louie was considered a potential replacement for David Letterman. In the end, Louie worked his hardest and did his best, but didn’t succeed. Instead of feeling sorry for himself, lying on his couch and eating ice cream, Louie took this failure as a victory. It had nothing to do with him. He did everything he possibly could, pushed himself and gave his all. So when he cheers in front of The Late Show, proud of his accomplishment that didn’t work out, it was progress for a character who sometimes has a hard time looking at the bright side of life.
2. Breaking Bad - "Fifty-One"
Every year Breaking Badgets increasingly brilliant, but it seemed to all be building to “Fifty-One.” Walter White isn’t afraid of drug dealers anymore, but what does scare him is losing his family. Hell, that’s how this whole meth operation started, to protect his family. Even though he may not respect Skyler, he still loves her, which brought around the greatest confrontation in the show’s history: Walter vs. Skyler. Skyler had been having a breakdown since discovering her husband might have murdered, in addition to selling meth. When Skyler told Walter that she was sending the kids away, Walter shot down every plan of attack Skyler threw at him. But Skyler ultimately won the battle, claiming that she’d just have to wait. Wait until Walter got cancer again. That moment took my breath away in a way no other episode was able to this year and Rian Johnson’s directing in the scene was claustrophobic, like watching a real couple having the biggest argument of their relationship. With only eight episodes left, the Skyler vs. Walter fight is one I am most interested in seeing the conclusion to.
1. Girls - "The Return"
If I were to create a list of the TV episodes that have touched me the most, “The Return” would almost certainly be on it. This is the episode that completely turned me around of Girls, a show I somewhat liked, but began to love after this great episode. While watching “The Return,” I felt so strongly like Hannah, an outsider in her own hometown. I lived outside of my hometown for a while, and when I returned, I felt exactly as she did. I made the same interactions, had the same discussions, the same reflections. It was eerily similar. “The Return” took the old adage that you can never return home and made a great episode of TV out of it. This might have been because the episode was co-written by Judd Apatow, whose best work has been on TV shows like Freaks & Geeks and Undeclared, where this was also a main theme. With “The Return,” Girls became personal, realistic, touching and instantly became one of my favorite shows.
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