Continuing on with the “Best” of the year, these are the best TV scenes of the year. Check back in the next few days for Best TV Episodes, Best Movie Scenes, and then—of course—Best TV Series.
20. Runner-Up Fight Scenes: Although we’ll get to much better fight scenes in the countdown, the first season of Daredevil had one truly memorable sequence: the much-touted hallway fight that closed out the second episode. Then Into the Badlands was mostly known for its amazing martial sequences, but the best of the bunch was in the pilot episode “The Fort” where the main character had a sword fight in the rain.
19. Best Monologue: SNL’s recent season has grown increasingly uninspired, and worst of all impersonal, but the Matthew McConaughey episode was a recent highlight. Especially his monologue which resisted the urge for a tired “let’s sing a song” bit, and just featured him telling the simple story of how he got started in show business. It was the kind of monologue SNL almost never features anymore: one that is actually specific to the host.
18. Best Musical Moment: In the middle of Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll’s second episode “Clean Rockin’ Daddy” Denis Leary’s hard-living rocker attempts to show why rockers can’t live sober by performing a hilarious impersonation of Morrissey.
17. Best Scenery: At the beginning of Hell On Wheels episode “Mei Mei” our railroad workers try to move a train engine through snowy mountains on a sled. It’s beautiful and thrilling, and I’m a sucker for outdoor scenes of snowy beauty.
16. Best Election Allegory: Our presidential election seems more messy and confusing than ever, so it made perfect sense that Veep would close out its season by having the presidential race between Selina Meyers (Julia Louis Dreyfus, earning all the rave reviews) and her crack-pot Tea Party opponent end in a tie. [The electorale college is an even number that hypothetically could end in a tie.] It was a “WTF?” moment that fits nicely into our own political confusion.
15. Sweetest Wedding: The series Welcome to Sweden never got the attention it should have, but the series ended on a high-note with a charming wedding, followed by the obligatory—-but still satisfying—-pregnancy reveal.
13./14. Best Feminist Meltdowns: The question of “What does it even mean for a woman to have it all?” has been asked by comedians and congresswomen alike, but two shows illustrated it better than words ever could. In Doll and Em episode 2.2 “Em” tries to conduct a phone interview, direct her scattershot best friend to her daughter’s school, and feed her son. The overwhelming mix of career, kids, and co-dependent single friends feels just as chaotic as real-life. While Getting On had Dr. Jenna James (the excellent Laurie Metcalf) getting several moments of rebuke—-like the painful one where she’s told she’s not a very nice person by her hypocritical boss—-and even a few of triumph like a hilarious rant about how women are treated around the world.
12. Best Reversal: I think The Walking Dead had their most exciting batch of episodes ever with the first half of the sixth season, but to me the single best moment was at the end of the aptly-titled “Heads Up” when Maggie sees the green balloons floating through the air—-letting her know Glenn is alive…unfortunately (for me, not for her)—-and that moment of uplift followed immediately by the “Oh no!” realization that the tower is falling through the barricade which will let all the zombies in. The green balloons soaring through the blue sky while the rickety tower barrels to the ground is the best looking shot this series has ever produced.
11. Best Cryptic Look: Mad Men didn’t have their strongest batch of episodes in the final season, but it was good for at least two final “Don moments.” Most people know about the very final shot which saw Jon Hamm’s perpetually conflicted ad man finally realizing who he really is (you guessed it, an ad man) but I also liked the shot of Don a few episodes earlier when he’s watching the plane through the window while stuck in a boring office meeting. His face seems to say “How many times can I do the same thing?” And that spirit of melancholy yearning inspires him to get up and walk out, finally hitting the open road for a while.
10. Best Hit-the-Refresh Moment: It’s amazing to think about how much better The Leftovers second season is compared to its first, and there are many stunning moments to choose from, but I’m going to single out the very first scene of the second season which follows a cave woman trying to keep her baby alive. It’s an immediately clear signal that we’re getting a rebooted, refreshed series.
9. Best Last-Stand Moment: The second season of True Detective became an unfair whipping-boy after the first few episodes sucked, but the last few episodes didn’t suck. And Vince Vaughn’s final walk through the desert as he’s harassed by all the people he’s had to face down in his lifetime (from an abusive father to rival tough kids) is near-perfect. It’s a poetic end to the character, who had been fighting like hell to make his way out of another kind of desert—-poverty and the suspicion that he can’t trust anyone—-all season long.
8. The Second Most Shocking Death: Justified let us know right off the bat that its final season wasn’t going to sleep through the end, as the season-six opener ended with Boyd Crowder killing longtime co-hort/competitor (and fan-favorite comedic relief) Dewey Crowe. Right before the end, the two commiserate about the bygone days, and you actually feel sorry for Dewey and Boyd, and it’s the rare scene that can inspire both sympathy and suspense as a reminder of just how dangerous Boyd is.
7. Best Allegory: At the end of the season premiere for Fargo there’s a scene where Brad Garrett’s Big Mafia middle-manager makes a slideshow presentation for his upper-level crime boss (a mostly unseen Alan Arkin). It’s 1979 and is a perfect allegory for when Big Business began swallowing up mom and pops. “And what if they refuse our buyout offer?” “We liquidate.” It’s a chillingly matter-of-fact way to describe the gang war that will consume the season and leave dozens dead.
6. Most Deserved Happy Ending: I didn’t really like the final season of Parks and Recreation but the episode before the season finale was nearly perfect from the Bill Murray cameo (as the newly departed mayor) to loooooooong-suffering Jerry Gergitch taking that mayor’s place. The series often thought it was hilarious to torment “Jerry” (they never bothered to get his real name right) almost to the expense of making Tom or April unlikable, but seeing him sore away in a hot air balloon as the new mayor of his beloved town was the most deserved happy ending of the year. If the series had ended right there, it would have been just fine with me.
5. Best Beginning: Although Better Call Saul had better individual episodes than its pilot, the series let us know right-off-the-bat that things were going to be good. The first scene of the series is shot in beautiful black-and-white and shows our fallen hero managing that fabled Cinnabun in Nebraska before popping in a videotape of his “Saul Goodman” glory days. The real kicker: we find out that his persona as “Saul the lawyer” isn’t much more authentic than the alias he’s taken in the future.
4. Best Actually Having It All Moment: The third season of Vikings was firing on all cylinders and had their best episodes ever when the title warriors set out to ransack Paris, but the individual best moment was towards the end of the season finale “The Dead” when Ragnar’s plan to finally enter Paris is successful. As he walks out of the city gates his men flood past him eager to loot the place, and it’s a shot of pure triumph for a character who had to fake his death (and very nearly die in actuality) to finally get his victory.
3. Best Fight…By a Mile: There were a lot of great fight scenes in 2015, but none of them topped the fight in the Banshee episode “A Fixer of Sorts.” The fatal confrontation between Nola and Burton—-and they’re of equal importance so either could die—-is almost giddy with action, and it’s a reminder of how satisfying a great fight scene is supposed to be even as the action is authentically driven by the characters. A kinetic masterwork that actually had real consequences, real characters, and real fun.
2. Best Battle: Every critic and their brother has talked about the excellent battle that closes out the Game of Thrones “Hardhome” episode between shocked human wildlings and an undead army commanded by genuinely terrifying creatures of ice. It all just comes together so well—-like the undead plunge or Jon Snow shattering one of the bastards—-that you almost hate to see it end, but then you get that note-perfect ending: the rising of all the humans who just died in battle. I imagine all the humans watching from that boat needed a fresh pair of pants after seeing that.
1. Most Shocking Death: This moment may actually be the worst moment of the year as it forever alters a truly great series but there’s a scene in the second-season finale of The Knick that made my jaw drop. When you watch as much TV and movies as I do, the one thing you really look for is something you haven’t seen before, and this scene contains that element of surprise in huge doses. I’ve never seen a TV show do this before, and that’s something that gets harder and harder to say throughout the years. For that reason alone, it deserves the top spot in a year loaded with great scenes.
After reading your reviews, I must admit, that I will have to go back and watch some episodes that just didn’t catch me at first. The Knick is one but I will give it a second chance, thanks to you.
I thought that this was very interesting to me.