#70. Deadwood
Deadwood, Season 1, Episode 1 |
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We open in Montana where
Sheriff Bullock dispenses "justice," before setting off to open a
hardware bidness in Deadwood with Sol. Wild Bill Hickok, Charlie
Utter, and Calamity Jane are also on their way to Deadwood, and they
pass another family. Dealing with all these new arrivals is
cunning strategist Al Swearengen, conning recent arrival Brom Garret
into a worthless claim, getting Dan Dority to take out the Irishman, and
putting Bullock in his place. When word that Indians killed the
family Hickok passed spreads, lawlessness becomes a disadvantage for a
change. This episode is adept at introducing the first 20
characters, the major themes, and our first displays of the brilliant
and vulgar wordplay that would become its mark.
E.B.: Separate rooms--I'll arrange that by
tomorrow, but today I can't fix it. Unless you kill a guest. |
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#69. Bride of Chaotica
Star Trek: Voyager, Season 5, Episode 12 |
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Yes, the holodeck-gone-awry is
the oldest plot in the Star Trek book, but if for nothing more than
sheer entertainment, they are often some of my favorite episodes.
I start off my three-part Holodeck series with the Voyager entry.
The holo-program is Tom's Captain Proton series, a black/white '30s
sci-fi serial with everything up to a boxy robot. When aliens
inhabit the characters, it's up to Janeway to become Queen Arachnia and
seduce Dr. Chaotica. Meanwhile, we get the Doctor as President of
Earth, in addition to the regulars (Paris as Captain Proton, Harry as
Buster Kincaid). When Season 5 introduced the Captain Proton idea,
I thought I was in heaven, but then they made a whole episode out of it,
and it was even better.
Janeway: Now an armed conflict has broken
out between these aliens and Chaotica's holographic army? |
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#68. Badda-Bing Badda-Bang
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Season 7, Episode
15 |
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Deep Space Nine gets its fair
share of holo-programs, usually courtesy of Bashir and O'Brien, but we
didn't get to see many outside of Vic Fontaine's. And when Vic's
casino got bought out by the mob, the entire crew comes to the rescue in
one last light-hearted romp before the end of the Dominion War. I
particularly love the scenes of the crew practicing their heist, and
then the shot of them walking in costume down the Promenade. Of
course, Sisko's reticent due to Vegas' lack of diversity in the '60s,
but eventually comes through, and the plan is a beauty to behold.
This is low on the list of great Deep Space Nine episodes, but that's
only because of the high quality of the storytelling on the show.
Bashir: Miles, are you thinking what I'm
thinking?
O'Brien: That depends on what you're thinking. |
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#67. The Big Goodbye
Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 1, Episode
12 |
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Dixon Hill only made three
appearances, but they were all memorable, and the first, a fun little
side adventure, is one of the highlights of Season 1. There's an
actual plot here, with Picard learning a difficult language in order to
open diplomatic ties with a strategically important race but getting
trapped on a malfunctioning holodeck, but the fun is in the noir, the
'40s period touches, and the relationships between Picard, Dr. Crusher,
and Data as they accompany historian Whalen. A dame comes to Dix
because someone's trying to kill her, and sure enough, she winds up
dead. Like The Long Goodbye, the PI is interrogated by the police
for the murder, but they eventually let him go, and the four Starfleet
officers have an awesome time solving the case and making it out just in
time to save Whalen and greet the Jarada.
Data: It was raining in the City by the Bay,
a hard rain, hard enough to wash the slime-- |
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#66. The Monsters are Due
on Maple Street
The Twilight Zone, Season 1, Episode 22 |
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Not only does it have the
sci-fi, but it has the message, a story of Cold War paranoia with an
alien twist. The Maple Street residents experience startling power
outages, windows breaking, and cars mysteriously starting and as the
night wears on, they grow more and more suspicious of each other.
One guy still has his power; maybe he's the one responsible. A
stranger starts down the road toward them, and they all scream that it's
the monsters. The chaos really ensues when lights flicker on and
off at random, and they all split up, grab weapons, and fight to defend
themselves and protect what's theirs. But just a little ways away,
atop a hill overlooking Maple Street is the real reason, and we get yet
another excellent foray into the bizarre and grotesque of humanity.
Charlie: I know who the monster is!
I know who it is that doesn't belong among us! |
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#65. The Garage Door
Freaks and Geeks, Season 1, Episode 12 |
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One of the best dramatic
episodes of the series features an affair by Neal's dad from the
perspective of Sam. It's Sam who catches him, and it's Sam who has
the big emotional breakdown about it when his own parents respond
similar to Neal's dad by getting Sam an atari. The scenes where
Neal's dad tries to manipulate or pump Sam for info are disgusting to
me, and John Francis Daley is, as always, amazing. Neal gets his
turn to act out in The Dummy, but he is great here too, leading them on
a hunt for the floozy whose garage door they can open. Meanwhile,
Ken crushes on the tuba player he makes fun of, and Lindsay helps set
them up, while Kim and Daniel fight and reconcile, and Lindsay and Nick
begin to rekindle too. Neal: I'm
just going to have my coffee now.
Bill: Is that before or after you shave? |
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#64. The Cost
The Wire, Season 1, Episode 10 |
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I told myself I wouldn't pick
any more episodes of The Wire until I was done with the season and had a
better feel for the context, but this one was too powerful. To
refresh your memory, this is the one that ends with, "Officer down," and
as I write this, I still don't know the outcome of the situation.
We also get both Wallace and Orlando following Shardene's lead and
snitching against the Barksdales, McNulty's emergency custody trial, the
fabulous parlay (hosted by Proposition Joe, who I may be more afraid of
than Avon and Omar combined) between Stringer Bell and Omar, and Kima's
foreshadowy explanation as to why she became a cop. Every episode
of this show is packed with awesome scenes of the characters bouncing
off one another, but this has been one of the most powerful so far, and
it's all riding on Kima's survival.
Stringer Bell: I don't know nobody named Barksdale. |
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#63. The Telenovela
The O.C., Season 1, Episode
20 |
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The obvious highlight of Season
1 to that point is Seth standing on a coffee cart declaring his love for
Summer. "Acknowledge me now, or lose me forever," is the sentence
that sent Anna packing, whether she wants to admit it or not, and it led
to the development of Seth and Summer as an official couple (even though
it takes place after they have sex). Also, we visit that seedy
motel a lot, with Luke defragging Julie's harddrive during his off period
and Theresa causing problems for everyone by merely being in this
episode. I love the scene on the motel sidewalk where Luke walks
right by Theresa or where Marisa leaves Theresa's right as Julie enters
Luke's, and you can't not love the scene where Jimmy sees Luke and Julie
talking at school. But the best is always Seth, and the telenovela
conversation at the Cohens is awesome.
Seth: Eddie obviously still has feelings for Theresa which makes
this love triangle more of a love rhombus. |
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#62. War Stories
Firefly, Season 1, Episode 10 |
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The closest thing to a Wash
episode spotlights his marriage with Zoe and his relationship with Mal,
the three of them sharing love and war at various moments throughout.
We also get that awesome scene of River shooting blind, and as cool as
that is, I watch this episode for the other three. That final
conversation where Mal tells Zoe that they have to sleep together is
hilarious, and completely earned by all the tension that came before it.
I love that Wash is jealous of their wartime fraternity particularly
because he's so very not a soldier. And of course Mal and Zoe do
all the necessary things to keep the rest of them alive, up to that
final battle where Zoe thought Mal needed to do it on his own.
Like all the best of Firefly, this one's got loads of comedy and loads
of heart with a hint of intrigue, and I'm a sucker for this line of
Zoe's: Zoe: Him. I'm sorry.
You were going to ask me to choose, right? Do you wanna finish? |
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#61. The Chinese
Restaurant
Seinfeld, Season 2, Episode 11 |
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First, let me say that I wanted
to put this in the very first 10 episodes, but I couldn't get 2 decent
screencaps. This is one of my favorite episodes of Seinfeld (a
show for which it is impossible to pick an absolute favorite) and
appropriately features Jerry, George, and Elaine doing nothing more than
standing around and talking. But their growing fury at their
lengthy wait at the restaurant is the stuff of high comedy.
Betting Elaine to eat off someone else's table, the host calling George
Cartwright instead, leading to his breakup, Jerry seeing Uncle Leo's
receptionist, all great. But my favorite thing about this (and any
other) episode is Julia Louis-Dreyfuss' ability to play exasperation
hilariously. Jason Alexander comes close, but Dreyfuss will always
be my favorite.
George: For fifty bucks? I'd put my
face in their soup and blow. |
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