I just rewatched One Way Out (Andor) and was trying to rank that episode against my other favorite single episodes (not sitcoms / comedies). Andor has a slow build to it, but this single episode delivers such a strong payoff. Setting aside the prison break, you get this great Monologue at the end.

Quote:

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Calm. Kindness, kinship. Love. I've given up all chance at inner peace, I've made my mind a sunless space. I share my dreams with ghosts. I wake up every day to an equation I wrote 15 years ago from which there's only one conclusion: I'm damned for what I do. My anger, my ego, my unwillingness to yield, my eagerness to fight, they've set me on a path from which there is no escape. I yearned to be a savior against injustice without contemplating the cost, and by the time I looked down, there was no longer any ground beneath my feet.

What is... what is my sacrifice? I'm condemned to use the tools of my enemy to defeat them. I burn my decency for someone else's future. I burn my life, to make a sunrise that I know I'll never see. No, the ego that started this fight will never have a mirror, or an audience, or the light of gratitude. So what do I sacrifice?

Everything.

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So, what TV episodes are in your top 5? Any that stand out with deep emotional impact?

Mangum PI - The one with KGB colonel Ivan
Star Trek TNG - "All Good Things"
Stargate SG1 - "Threads"

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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The Constant, Lost

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The Constant and Through the Looking Glass, Part 2 are the two highest rated on IMDB. There are 27 episodes with a rating of 9 and higher, and 109 episodes with a rating of 8 and higher

A God walks into Abar - Watchmen

For GoT, The Rains of Castamere, The Door, and The Mountain and the Viper had emotional impact, but I might choose The Winds of Winter as the favorite episode (or maybe Hardhome)

True Detective S1E4 - Who Goes There/S1E8 - Form and Void

Game of Thrones S4E8 - The Mountain and The Viper (with a nod to the end of the previous episode, I think, where The Viper visits Tyrion in his jail cell - "I will be your champion". One of my favorite scenes of the entire show. Where if you didn't know any better you might think the Lannisters are finally going to see some justice)

AgfromHOU said:

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A God walks into Abar - Watchmen

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A man of taste.

brillag said:

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True Detective S1E4 - Who Goes There/S1E8 - Form and Void

Game of Thrones S4E8 - The Mountain and The Viper (with a nod to the end of the previous episode, I think, where The Viper visits Tyrion in his jail cell - "I will be your champion". One of my favorite scenes of the entire show. Where if you didn't know any better you might think the Lannisters are finally going to see some justice)

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Anytime Pedro Pascal wants a role, he probably just sends that scene in jail with Tyrion and waits for the phone to ring.

From The Shield

Dominoes Falling, which if you've seen the show, you'll remember this image forever.



Strays - Dutch kills a cat, catches the serial killer, wins the respect of the precinct, and has a nervous breakdown. The serial killer is a virtually unrecognizable young Agent Coulson from Avengers.

Pilot - Two cops kill another cop who is IA and trying to catch them. They get away with it for the entire series. And Vic Mackey announces his presence with authority when he finds the guy who has kidnapped the little girl.

From Battlestar Galactica (2004)

Kobol's Last Gleaming - Sharon saves the day, then shoots Adama in the chest because she's a sleeper agent.

Exodus, Part 2 - The Adama Maneuver on New Caprica.



From Game of Thrones

Hardhomme: I'd qualify this as the best episode that goes beyond the books. Edge of your seat action, the revelation that Valarian steel kills White Walkers, and the Night King's powers revealed.

From Stranger Things

Battle of Starcourt: I'm watching the whole series with one of my kids, and that episode is so incredibly put together and fantastic to watch. My girl cried thinking Hopper had died and applauded during Never-Ending Story.

From The Mandalorian
The Rescue- Luke.

Another Doug said:

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Final Grades , The Wire

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Agree on this. Best episode in tv history.

TXAG 05 said:

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The Breaking Point-Band of Brothers

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Mine may be "why we fight" from BoB. I was in tears watching on an airplane. It was more emotionally dramatic than action/tense dramatic.

JDUB08AG said:

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TXAG 05 said:

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The Breaking Point-Band of Brothers

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Mine may be "why we fight" from BoB. I was in tears watching on an airplane. It was more emotionally dramatic than action/tense dramatic.

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Agreed. You could pick either one of those episodes as the best and be right either way you go. Can't imagine what it was really like to come across the camps and see what had been done to those people.

TequilaMockingbird said:

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West Wing, Two Cathedrals

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Without a doubt for me

Friday Night Lights, The Son

Final for Season 1 of Homeland was pretty freaking intense for TV

Always liked "Aftershock", the finale from season 5 or 6 of Law & Order...it was much different in format (started with a lethal injection, then followed the cast through the rest of their day) and laid out some storylines going forward.

Hello Dexter Morgan

It doesn't compete with the great episodes of BB and GoT, but I submit:

"The hope that kills you" Ted Lasso. His speech after the loss and relegation was incredible. Onward, forward.

How have we made it this far into the thread with no mention of The Suitcase episode of Mad Ment? It gets my vote as the best episode of television.

Steve Austin vs. Big Foot ("Six Million Dollar Man").

Gotta be the RAW episode where Big Bossman stole the Big Show's dad's casket out of the graveside service.

CajunAg97 said:

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His house looked like ****