The Best of the Best of the Best, Sir. With Honors. Part 2 | Page 2 of 2

#5: Nashville – “All or Nothing with Me” –

Scarlett’s freak out on stage was a pretty traumatic thing to watch. We finally got to know more about this mopey blonde, making her a little more interesting. But Scarlett’s spiral brought Avery rushing to her side and Juliette into a world of jealous panic, leading to the gross out event of the season: Juliette and Jeff Fordham getting it on. (So tempted to call it “doing the nasty” just because that is the most accurate description of the events I’d rather forget.) Leaving aside that I’m not convinced this would ever happen, drunk or not, it did lead to an interesting plot. Jeff tries to blackmail Juliette into rejoining Edgehill with the threat that he will out her. Instead, she and Rayna team up (I think I love them partnering up as much as I do trying to stomp each other down) and rub their success and his failure in their faces. We also got to know a little bit about Juliette’s dad (it was nice to see appreciated by the troops), see some great Deacon-Rayna moments (Deacon forgave her for not telling him that he was a father), and watch a proposal (Team Luke or Team Deacon?). The finale did have some great Will scenes, but otherwise, the second to last episode of the show’s sophomore season was its best.

#4: Game of Thrones – “The Lion and the Rose” –

Anyone who watches this show knows that the only thing you can really count on in this series is that nobody is safe. Main characters are killed left and right and even the happiest of occasions does not guarantee safety or happiness (as the Red Wedding proves). The one thing everyone watching the show can agree on is that King Joffrey needed to die. When it finally came time for it to happen, at his wedding to Margaery Tyrell, all anyone wanted to do was cheer for the snide expression to finally be wiped off his face as the young king finally got his due. What makes Game of Thrones so excellent, is that not even this moment, that should feel like such a triumph of justice, is so clean-cut. In that moment, when his smugness turns to fear, it is hard to forget that he is just a child. When Cersei, who has constantly shown herself to be cruel and indifferent to the suffering of others, cries for her child, it is all but impossible to think of her as anything but a grieving mother. Forget your expectations, this show will always make you rethink them. This episode evoked so many different emotions and really represents the series at its best.

[Honorable Mention: “First of His Name”]

#3: The Walking Dead – “The Grove” –

Perhaps one of the most tragic episodes in an already tragic-filled show, we find a few of our scattered survivors—adults Tyreese and Carol, young siblings Lizzie and Mika, and formerly presumed dead baby Judith—finding some semblance of peace in a house on a pecan grove. Only, their potentially happy future is shattered not by walkers, not by lawless adults, but rather by Lizzie. Everyone deals with tragedy in their own way and Lizzie’s way of dealing with the apocalypse is a denial so strong she cannot see the walkers for what they are. Instead of understanding that they are mindless, flesh-eating zombies, she thinks of them as people, a little different, but still her friends. She gets upset when they are killed, feeds them, plays tag with them, never understanding the danger she puts herself and those with her in. To finally prove her point, she kills her younger sister, convinced that Mika will still be alive and still herself after reanimating. Carol, who lost her daughter, Sophia, some seasons back (in what was one of the most heart-wrenching reveals after an otherwise slow season), has become something of a second mother to these girls, and this is a devastating blow. Not only because of Mika’s death, but because of what she must do next. Because Carol and Tyreese realize they cannot keep Judith safe if Lizzie is with them. In our world, Lizzie would get therapy and treatment, in their world, there is no way of doing this, no resources, no time, no professionals. They are left with one of two choices: abandon her, in which case she will probably sooner than later be turned, or kill her. Carol chooses the second option and puts a bullet in the brain of her adoptive daughter.

[Honorable Mentions: “Too Far Gone” and “Still”]

#2: The Originals – “The Battle of New Orleans” and “From a Cradle to a Grave” –

My initial thought was to list “Farewell to Storyville,” which was Rebekkah’s swan song as one of my top episodes because it meant a culmination of all of the Mikaelson family issues that had been building since the series began and back when The Original family was still inhabiting Mystic Falls on The Vampire Diaries. You know that whenever the Mikaelsons decide to turn their anger on the family, things are going to get crazy. While the series never felt like the spinoff had figured out exactly what to do with Rebekkah, she was still my favorite character and I was not happy to lose her. However, the penultimate episode and the finale of the series’ freshman season (I’m counting them as one because they were basically one long episode) brought together the fast paced twists and turns that made me love The Vampire Diaries in the first place. In these two episodes, the cast really stepped it up, the surprises kept coming, and some great storylines were set up for the next season. Plus there was an appearance from a certain blonde vamp. This was everything I hoped the show would be.

[Honorable Mention: “Farewell to Storyville”]

#1: The Good Wife – “Hitting the Fan” –

After watching Cary, Alicia, and the other fourth years quietly but understandably plot and scheme behind Will and Diane’s backs about starting a new firm, their secret is blown and there is a mad scramble for clients. The tension between Will and Alicia, and the frantic nature of everyone running around and vying for clients they both have dealt with regularly, are handled with such skill that I can’t imagine another show handling as well. Every episode of the series is solid, but this might be one of the series’ best to date, not something normally said about the fifth season of a show. Why aren’t more people watching this?! This was the sort of episode that on a lesser show might have served as a season finale, but on The Good Wife many episodes can serve as the finale and this one was close to the beginning of the season. Thankfully this series is coming back for a sixth season, so everyone has a little more time to check it out and see what they are missing.