Friday, July 16, 2010

The Top 25 Episodes of 2009-2010: #5-1

As a forerunner to the 4th Annual AFT Television Awards, my choices for the best of the most recent TV season which begin next week, here is a reader-requested run-through of the top 25 episodes of the 2009-2010 television season. Click on episode titles to read my original reviews of the episodes. Beware spoilers.

#5: “Chuck Versus the Beard” (Chuck)

Having a spy’s best friend discover that he’s a spy is a risky move for any show, and this series pulled it off remarkably well. The dual plotlines of the Buy More employees combating what they thought were the buyers and Chuck, Morgan, Sarah, and Casey fending off the invasion of the ring made for an extraordinarily fun hour that resulted in a great half-season of the Beard being in the loop.

#4: “No More Good Days” (Flash Forward)

Before this show got all convoluted and then cancelled at the end of its freshman season, it started off extremely well with this thrilling and engaging pilot. The blackout sequence by itself deserves commendation, and this was easily the best drama pilot of the 2009-2010 season. It’s a pity it couldn’t live up to its potential.

#3: “Pilot” (Modern Family)

This heartwarming but more importantly hilarious comedy got off to a brilliant start with a pilot episode that saved its best surprise for last – these three families are all related. While all of the cast members ultimately became memorable, the standout from the pilot is Phil, whose efforts to be the cool dad failed so miserably. This was the beginning of something truly fantastic.

#2: “Getting Closer” (Dollhouse)

The third-to-last episode of this short-lived Joss Whedon venture was astonishing and delivered not one but two completely unpredictable and awesome twists. Gone was the lovely Bennett (Summer Glau) – at the hands of Whisky, no less – and Boyd turned out to be the super bad guy in charge! This is an indicator of how great the whole show might have been had it been given more time to address all of its plotlines.

#1: “Shut the Door, Have a Seat” (Mad Men)

There’s really no comparison to the best episode of one of the greatest shows on television right now. Sterling, Cooper, Draper, and Pryce pulled off the ultimate mutiny and jumped ship to start their own agency, and the way it all played out was simply magnificent. Seeing them all huddled in a small hotel room was a great way to reboot an already masterfully good show.

Come back on Monday for the first category of the 4th Annual AFT Television Awards!

8 comments:

Fabio Nascimento said...

Loved your #1 and #3 picks, Mad Men's finale was just brilliant and so was Modern Family's pilot. I didn't watch neither Dollhouse or Flashforward tho.

Interesting choice for Chuck! I loved the way they handled with Morgan knowing about Chuck's secret, definately a risky move. Gomez was great this season wth the right material.

thedemonhog said...

Oh yeah, you loved the FlashForward pilot for some reason. Sure, the blackout sequence was good, but didn't the episode turn halfway into what it would become for the next dozen episodes (a bore)?

And no Lost.

Greg Boyd said...

Just watched "Shut the Door, Have a Seat". Man, was it amazing (defintely worthy of #1). However, I'm a bit disappointed that you didn't have "The Gypsy and the Hobo" on this list. That one was great too.

Season 4: one week. Can't wait.

Greg Boyd said...

I may have a problem with regards to season 4, though: will the episodes be available on the AMC website? I'm hoping they will, because otherwise I won't be able to watch (since Comcast has taken away AMC from their basic package).

Anyone know?

Fabio Nascimento said...

I'm sure if you're american you won't have a problem finding it: they're available on hulu, netflix and itunes.

But if you're not interested in those, there's always uTorrent.

Greg Boyd said...

Hulu doesn't have it. I already checked. If I have to pay for it, I'll use either itunes or Amazon video. But I'd really rather not. Hopefully the AMC site will have them available. Otherwise I'll have to either wait of bite the bullet. It's not that much money. Still, it's annoying.

Greg Boyd said...

Thanks for the advice, though.

WritingInsomniac said...

some of your picks were good.. but there were some noticeable exceptions. community? lost?