Top 5 TV Episodes of 2010

For the last few years, television has truly been going through a renaissance of sorts . Thanks to cable networks and a focus on making TV more cinematic, the medium has become more engrossing and stimulating. 2010 had some of the best writing, directing and acting of any year of television and with TV going in bolder and more unique directions, it will hopefully only get better. With that in mind, here are the top 5 TV episodes of the past year.

5. Community-"Modern Warfare"

NBC's Thursday night block of comedies has never been more solid then it is with The Office, 30 Rock and Parks and Recreation. But the one show that is rarely gets its due and it possibly better than all the rest is Community. In its first season, the show struggled to find its voice at the beginning but quickly with its parodies of entertainment cliches and original characters became one of the best comedies on TV, with its best episode being "Modern Warfare".

In the episode, Glendale Community College has a paintball war in which the winner gets to register for classes early. However, GCC takes it too far when the school turns into a wasteland of paint and students. The show becomes a phenomenal parody of every action film imaginable. If there's an action movie you can think of, Community parodies it within its 22 minutes. It even has time to poke fun at Glee and the romantic relationships that the show has avoided. But with the wit shown in this one episode, Community cements itself as one of 2010's best comedies.

4. The IT Crowd-"The Final Countdown"

I don't think anyone can argue that the British might to comedy better than anyone. Just look at anything Ricky Gervais has done in the past decade. Another case in point is the fantastic  comedy, The IT Crowd, about two computer technicians and their boss in a office building. The shows characters are original, yet instantly recognizable. In the shows' first three seasons, each character has gotten their share of the limelight, but in the fourth season, they all received an episode that played to all their strengths together.

In "The Final Countdown" (available on NetFlix Instant), uber-nerd Moss becomes a contestant on a word savvy game show and becomes a star. His friend and co-worker Roy follows Moss in his success, while also dealing with his own B plot of trying to convince a former classmate, now more successful than Roy, that he is not a window washer. Their boss Jen meanwhile, is trying to figure out what goes on during apparent secret meetings that she is not invited to. The episode's third act culminates in a satisfying and hilarious finale that makes for the series best. 

3. Mad Men-"The Suitcase"

In this fourth season of Mad Men, Don Draper realized that he needed a change in his life. Yet it was the seemingly innocent Peggy, with a past as dark as Don's, that helped him realize this. In one of Mad Men's finest episodes ever, the odd couple are paired together and forced to tear each other down, then build each other back up into something better than when they both entered. 

There are few television shows that will allow for two characters to sit and talk for an entire episode, but Mad Men has always been for experimentation and like Draper, finding a new way to look at things, and it's better for it. "The Suitcase" is as thrilling as TV gets thanks to the incredible dialogue. A conversation becomes a nail-biting disintegration of two of the shows most interesting characters who have only been able to confide in each other for four seasons. 

2. The Walking Dead-"Pilot"

At its beginning, The Walking Dead looked like it could become a mashup of great ideas from every possible zombie movie in existence. But instead, with the help of producer/director Frank Darabont ("The Green Mile", "Stand By Me"), the pilot of The Walking Dead ended up being surprisingly original and quite touching.

The shows premise seems like it comes directly from 28 Days Later: a man wakes up to find himself in the middle of a zombie outbreak that has ravished the world and begins his search for his loved ones. But The Walking Dead walks close to the line of where we have seen these types of programs go before, and quickly veers in the opposite direction. The pilot was very methodical in its pacing, letting the setting tell the story rather than sloppy exposition. The pilot also dealt in realism, introducing characters, telling their stories, then never seeing them again for the rest of the season. With its pilot, The Walking Dead came out of the gates with its best, and while the shows subsequent episodes did struggle more and more with each new one, the beginning it one of the most promising pilots in recent history.

1. Lost-"The End"

Lost was always a show that had to have as close to a perfect ending as possible. With a huge fan base, years of questions and a rich mythology, Lost had the most to lose with its final episode. Yet surprisingly, Lost pulled off a final episode that will go down as one of the great finales (also available on NetFlix Instant).

Lost never pretended like it would answer all of its questions. It only attempted to be a great character drama. Like life, not all of the answers would be given. Not every loose end would be tied up. But in the end, it would all make sense. Lost pulled that off. The final episode was for everyone. Not just fans of the show for all six seasons, but for people who may have stopped halfway through. The finale was fan service at its best, giving fans reunions, closure and yes, even some answers. It was one of the only episodes of any shows ever that had me laughing, yet also bawling like a baby. Lost had a lot to live up to, yet in its incredibly epic finale, it was able to eclipse even the greatest of expectations.