2014 Television: Best Episodes

I watch a lot of TV and yet I still feel like I'm doing really bad at TV. There are so many shows I want to watch but haven't yet: The Americans, Transparent, The Knick, etc. But alas, here are my favorite episodes of each TV show I'm actually caught up on. Spoilers, cause duh.

Top Five
Mad Men: "The Strategy"

As "The Suitcase" (season 4's boxing match between Don and Peggy) is probably my favorite episode of television ever, it's obvious why I love "The Strategy." I'm a sucker for great Don and Peggy moments. Their dance to Frank Sinatra's "My Way" could have easily been a series closer, but I'm so glad it wasn't. There was still the wonderful "family" meal at Burger Chef starring Don, Peggy and Pete. Surrounded by actual families, this little "work" family got the chance to have a meal together where for at least a moment, everyone is supporting each other. Obviously, it's a little on the nose that the strategy in question, which Peggy has been struggling with all season, ends up being about family coming together. But has on the nose ever been so beautiful as those three sitting in the brightly lit Burger Chef? It looks like a candy-coated Edward Hopper painting. The splitting of season 7 feels more offensive for Mad Men than when it was done for Breaking Bad. I think it's because the show feels like so much more of a slow burn than BB's breakneck binge pace. It felt really cruel to make us stop when not much had ultimately happened, but plenty still did. Is there anything Peggy could have longed to hear more than when Don tells Peggy, "I worry about a lot of things, but I don't worry about you?" Considering where they started the cruelly short season, Peggy and Don finally found their way back to understanding each other, and they did it, (yes, as cheesy as it sounds) their way.

Silicon Valley: “Optimal Tip-to-Tip Efficiency”
And we move from the high-brow brilliance of Mad Men to the low-brow genius of an epic dick joke. Not only the climax (sorry) of a truly great first season, this episode is a masterful example of what makes this show work. The cast's chemistry is undeniable as they work through the strokes (I know) of if Elrich could actually jerk off everyone in a presentation hall. Luckily, this incredible sequence pays off story-wise when it inspires Richard to somehow trim the fat on his app and achieve a record-breaking Weissman score and win the competition. Our lovable losers get a win to finish the season, while setting up all the ways this win will cause more problems in season two. I can't wait.

Game of Thrones: "The Lion & the Rose"
Game of Thrones really knows how to throw a wedding. Thing is, it usually waits until the end of the season to really punch us in the mouth, but not this time. The events of Joffrey and Margery's wedding set up the rest of the season, and non-book readers were no doubt caught off guard when the guy who was set up to be our big bad was so casually dispatched. The build-up is a lesson in creating tension, but that could be just because I knew what was coming. Did non-book readers have any idea something terrible/awesome was going to happen? I'm sure it didn't matter because the satisfaction of seeing this image, makes this episode one for the ages.

True Detective: "The Secret Fate of All Life"
This is the episode after the one with "the shot." That has gotten plenty of warranted praise, but I chose this one because of what it reveals about the aims of the series as a whole. It's in this episode where we realize this story isn't really about the case, per se. It's where we realize we're dealing with unreliable narrators and raises the question of why? It's also the episode with the T-shirt-worthy "Time is a Flat Circle" speech. Simply said, this is the episode where everything changes, and True detective declared that it was about so much more than a murder case.

Masters of Sex: "Fight"
I didn't think there was room in my TV-loving heart for two episodes that use the background of a boxing match as a way into a dance between two characters (see above mention of Mad Men's "The Suitcase"), but then here came Masters of Sex's take on what apparently is a convention. What made this episode so compelling was that the battle going on with our characters stems from their insistence that their connection is purely "based on the work." This is the first time where we really see evidence that that just isn't the case. Between sex sessions, Bill and Virginia's true selves are revealed whether through direct discussions or role play. They talk about their childhoods, past loves and the pros and cons of refusing to fight or throwing well-timed punches. They each do both during the course of this bottle episode, but at the end, both have more wounds than we originally thought. 

Honorable Mention
You're the Worst: "Sunday Funday"

This show was such a fun find. I watched the entire first season while traveling in Spain and loved every bit of it. The story of terrible people Gretchen and Jimmy who realize they might just be perfect for each other seems pretty standard. But their quick banter and cast of colorful sidekicks quickly made this a favorite of mine. This episode wins extra kudos for an appearance by a Silicon Valley crush, Thomas Middleditch, and the actual emotion it delivers when Gretchen and Jimmy finally come clean with what the want from each other. Plus, I love how Jimmy' outrage that Gretchen can't choose between Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel is jut a a cover up for his outrage about what he views as her choosing between staying with him and going off with Ty. Don't we all have those, "YOU MUST CHOOSE" arguments all the time? I loved how this one actually ended up meaning something.

Veep: "Crate"
Um, because this is everything: 

The Best of the Rest (in alphabetical order)
The Affair: "Pilot"
Boardwalk Empire: "Eldorado"
Brooklyn Nine-Nine: "The Jimmy Jab Games"
The Comeback: "Valerie Gets What she Really Wants"
Community: "App Development & Condiments"
Downton Abbey: "Christmas Special"
Fargo: "Buridan's Ass"
Girls: "Flo"
Homeland: "There's Something Else Going On"
House of Cards: "Chapter 14"
The Leftovers: "The Prodigal Son Returns"
Louie: "Pamela Part 3"
The Mindy Project: "I Slipped"
New Girl: "Thanksgiving IV"
Orange is the New Black: "A Whole Other Hole"
Parks & Recreation: "Moving Up"
Sherlock: "The Sign of Three"