#150. The Debut
The OC, Season 1, Episode
4 |
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The first best episode of The
OC begins with the Cohens adopting Ryan ("Dude, you're a Cohen now.
Welcome to a life of insecurity and paralyzing self-doubt").
And then we move into the greatest cotillion the world has ever known.
Seth tricks Ryan into being a white knight, Marissa teaches Ryan to
dance, Luke gets jealous, Summer gets bitchy, Anna is awesome, Seth and
Anna bond, and that's not even counting the actual cotillion!
Meanwhile, Jimmy stole clients' money and at various points, Sandy,
Ryan, and Marissa are all not going to cotillion, but to appease
everyone, they all show up, perhaps so they can witness a glorious fight
not caused by Ryan for once! And Seth rejects Summer in order to
present Anna into Newport society, and you know we're all hooked.
Summer: Pittsburgh? Ew. |
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#149. Ariel
Firefly, Season 1, Episode 9 |
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Like the episode, I'll save the
best for last. Serenity's headed to Ariel so Inara can keep an
appointment she made, and rather than stay on-ship, Simon comes up with
an ingenious heist. All of the Ocean's 11 stuff in this episode is
even cooler than Ocean's 11 to me, Kaylee and Wash rebuilding an
ambulance, Mal, Zoe and Jayne working on their lines, and Simon
orchestrating everything awesomely. And of course, it all goes
wrong thanks to Jayne's desire for money (and lack of love for Simon),
and just as we learn a bit about what happened to River at the Academy,
they get captured by feds. Awesomely, they escape the blue-gloved
men, but like I said, the best is at the end, when Mal throws Jayne out
and threatens to let him die there for betraying them.
Mal: The next time you decide to stab me
in the back, have the guts to do it to my face. |
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#148. Pegasus
Battlestar Galactica, Season 2, Episode 10 |
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If we weren't sure Battlestar
Galactica was a serious show yet, Pegasus and the ensuing two-parter
Resurrection Ship put our minds at ease. The music is perfectly
eerie, and while the crew members are excited to find other survivors,
I'm as reticent as Roslin the whole time, especially once Admiral Cain
(fabulously played by Michelle Forbes) comes aboard. Tigh's
conversation with Fisk reveals (jokingly or not) the twisted nature of
the Pegasus crew, and then we experience it firsthand when Baltar
discovers the horribly abused Gina and Helo and Chief Tyrol get to
Sharon's cell just in time to prevent rape. Originally, the
producers wanted them to get there just too late, as if the scene
weren't heavy enough. It results in the midseason climax of
Galactica going to war with Pegasus in yet another amazing cliffhanger.
Adama: Call it whatever you like. I'm
getting my men. |
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#147. Cause and Effect
Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 5, Episode
17 |
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One of my all-time favorite
standalones is this, one of the many reasons fifth season is my
favorite. The Enterprise gets caught in a time-loop which always
opens at the senior staff poker game and ends with the destruction of
the ship! Each act of the show goes through one loop until Dr.
Crusher catches on, and then the other crew members realize it too.
Meanwhile there are weird whispers they can hear without distinguishing
them, and they awesomely figure out how to break the time loop.
Kelsey Grammer stars with like three lines or something, and forever
since it's the Kelsey Grammer episode, but what I love is the time loop
sequence, Dr. Crusher breaking a glass (a Twilight Zone homage perhaps),
the roses, Data vs. Riker, and the poker game.
Picard: All hands, abandon ship!
Repeat: all hands, abandon ship! |
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#146. Sold Under Sin
Deadwood, Season 1, Episode 12 |
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Ah the inevitable result of the
first season is as perfect as you'd expect. Seth deals with Alma's
evil father by pounding his face to a pulp, setting up his final scene
where he accepts the office of Sheriff of Deadwood, perfect timing too
since Silas Adams has joined Al's gang and helps strongarm the three
county commissioners. Trixie and Sol mount (teehee) their
relationship in the Hardware Store. But the best parts relate to
the Reverend HW Smith story. Even Al feels sympathy for the
plague-ridden reverend and Doc Cochran tries to arrange some whores for
him. As Doc prays for the Lord to take him, Al does the
Lord's work while Johnny looks on like he's going to be ill. And
then Jewel dances with Doc Cochran as Al looks on over the camp for his
last time this season, to Trixie and Dan, and to Jewel dancing.
Doc Cochran: I am as nimble as a forest
creature. |
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#145. Message in a Bottle
Star Trek: Voyager, Season 4, Episode 14 |
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The turning point of Voyager's
odyssey occurs at the midpoint of the show, halfway during Season 4 when
they finally make contact with the Alpha Quadrant. As the Doctor
travels through the satellite network to a Federation starship,
Voyager's crew prepares letters to send home. But, the Doctor's
new ship has been taken over by Romulans, so he and the EMH must retake
the ship, which by the way is an awesome prototype ship that can split
into three streamlined parts. Meanwhile, Message in a Bottle
begins the best era in Voyager with the opening of the six-part Hirogen
arc when the Hirogen demand Voyager stop using their satellite network,
and so begins the Federation's relationship with the hunters. And
at the end, Starfleet makes contact with the ship they presumed lost and
some crew members get letters from their families.
The Doctor: Let's just say I made an
addition to my programming... |
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#144. The Immaculate
Election
Arrested Development, Season 2, Episode 14 |
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George Sr. getting knocked out
during fumigation, Lindsay hiring Lupe to clean the model home, "Yours
or mister's?" they stopped tivoing the Christopher Lowell Show, "Excuse
me for liking the way they shape my junk," Tobias living on the set of
Wrench, "Tricks-let me finish-Around the Office," Qusay Hussein at the
omelet bar, George-Michael and Buster as Star Wars Kid, "If that one
gets pregnant, it stays pregnant. Believe me, I dated a chick like
that once in high school...no, I didn't," Michael's story about SBP,
Maeby using the Bluth company's copy machine and using "Marry me" on
Michael, "How do you know Steve Holt, are you in AA?" comparing apples
and some fruit no one's ever heard of, the arrival of Mrs. Featherbottom,
"I'm a MONSTER!" and of course "Steve Holt is a bastard!"
Mrs. Featherbottom: When you put a squirt of
frosting down your throat before we take our medications... |
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#143. Angel
Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, Season 1, Episode
7 |
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The only first season episode other than the
finale really worth watching, Buffy learns a lot more about Angel.
After he helps her fend off three vampires, she invites him in, cleans
his wounds, and gets him to stay over. They even convince her mom
he's her tutor. And then Buffy learns about Angel's past, and they
both reveal their crushes on each other, and Angel and Buffy fight off
Darla and other vampires leading Angel to stake the woman who made him a
vampire. It's funny, it drives the major story forward, and it
affects all the major characters, on top of having some pretty great
camerawork and drama.
Buffy: And "A" doesn't even stand for
Angel anyway; it stands for Achmed, a charming foreign exchange
student... |
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#142. The Library
Seinfeld, Season 3, Episode
5 |
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Philip Baker Hall as Bookman
the Library Cop is perfect. His monologues about Jerry are always
funny, and the concept behind a book-cop is as funny as its execution.
The story's about Jerry's overdue book Tropic of Cancer (or perhaps
Capricorn) which relates to an old girlfriend he's reconciling with,
George from high school, and their old gym teacher who George thinks is
now a bum living on the library steps. Can't Stand Ya! And
it leads to a great conversation with Elaine about wedgies: "Boys
are mean." "Well what do girls do?" "We just tease someone
until they develop an eating disorder." Meanwhile Kramer falls for
a timid librarian who dates him in the library after hours.
Kramer: The Dewey Decimal System...what a
scam that was. |
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#141. Duet
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Season 1, Episode 19 |
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The peak of the first season
shows what Deep Space Nine does best at a time when it was still finding
its place. It avoids all the Next Generation throwbacks (Emmisary,
Q-Less, Past Prologue, The Forsaken) and moves firmly into Deep Space
Nine territory. And despite the occasional scene with Sisko or
Bashir, the episode is a duet between Kira and their Cardassian prisoner
who she recognizes as Gul Darheel, a war criminal. What follows is
a series of interrogations that goes both ways exposing racism, guilt,
and betrayal with some excellent performances by the guest star and Nana
Visitor with a plot as convoluted and high drama as the best episodes of
this show.
Aamin Marritza: You've already
lost, Major! You can never undo what I've accomplished! |
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