Here are the best TV episode of the decade, from 2010-2019. This has been a fascinating period of change for the small screen, moving from the Golden Age of Television to the era of Peak TV, with both bringing some of the biggest series ever made.
The past 10 years have born TV giants such as streaming wars.
Streaming - and the binge-watching the usually comes with it - has somewhat served to kill off the art of the TV episode as installments bleed from one to the next. Nonetheles, there have been an number of outstanding efforts that showcase the very best of what a single hour (or half-hour) of TV can do, whether it's a brilliant series finale, an exemplar of the episodic form, or something that breaks the mold completely. These are the episodes that did those things this decade.
15. Black Mirror - "San Junipero"
When San Junipero", which isn't just a brilliant episode in its own right, but so expertly plays on that presumed understanding of the show itself. Telling the story of an introvert, Yorkie (Mackenzie Davis), and the extroverted Kelly (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), the episode uses its lush 80s setting to create an emotional and ultimately uplifting story about two people who find a real connection in a computer-generated world. Led by the chemistry of its two leads, it's the best Black Mirror has ever been.
14. Inside No. 9 - "The 12 Days of Christine"
If you're not familiar with British anthology series Inside No. 9, then do what you can to find it. One of the most inventive series to come from the UK in decades, there's no bad episode, but "The 12 Days of Christine" is its crowning achievement thus far. Eschewing the series' more comedic elements, "The 12 Days of Christine" focuses on the life of the titular character across 12 years. It's a wonderfully told, elegiac tale, anchored by a superb Sheridan Smith performance, that will leave you surprised (as most Inside No. 9 episodes do) and devastated in equal measure.
13. Better Call Saul - "Chicanery"
The biggest compliment to pay season 3's "Chicanery", which ranks among some of Breaking Bad's great installments, but plays directly into the spin-off's strengths. A thrilling courtroom drama that highlights the power of great writing, dialogue, and acting, The increasingly stifling courtroom becomes the setting for heartwrenching reveals. Better Call Saul doesn't need action and shoot-outs when it can do character work this good.
12. Parks & Rec - "The Fight"
The Fight" showcases just how great it was when it allowed its cast to all together in one place, this time thanks to Tom's latest invention, Snake Juice. The alcohol allows each character to cut loose (even more so than usual), with a main plot, a ive aggressive spat between Leslie and Ann, that is pitch-perfect, but accompanied by an incredible amount of sublime subplots, from Bert Macklin & Janet Snakehole to the always great Jean Ralphio, and it's all topped off by the sight of Ron Swanson *dancing in a woman's small hat*.
11. HIMYM - "How Your Mother Met Me"
While Mother's backstory in "How Your Mother Met Me". The fun lies in the near misses Tracy has with Ted & Co., but the episode's even greater strength is how, in just 20 minutes, it makes us care so deeply for the Mother's journey, rolling in gut-punches, callbacks, laughs, and heartbreak, all superbly conveyed by Cristin Milioti. It ends with her singing "La Vie on Rose" as Ted listens from the next-door balcony, which is the show's most hauntingly beautiful moment.
10. Fleabag - "Season 2, Episode 3"
Like most of Episode 3" hilariously plays on the dynamic between Fleabag and sister Claire, this time with the former helping her sister out for a big work event (where she runs into Klare). It adds new layers to their relationship, mixing poignancy with humor in the way Fleabag does so well, but the episode keeps getting better. A run-in with a woman named Belinda (Kristen Scott Thomas) at a bar gives us a thrilling dialogue scene that is, again, moving and side-splitting, before attentions turn to The Priest. The already sizzling atmosphere turns up another few notches, and it's paired with one of the greatest uses of fourth-wall-breaking in memory.
9. True Detective - "Who Goes There?"
The highlight of Who Goes There?" is a pretty great episode even before its final six minutes. Building the relationship of Marty and Rust as they attempt to find some shared ground, it refuses to pull any punches in its examination of the lives they (and others around them) lead. "Who Goes There?" rather dispells the notion of the pair as anti-heroes, instead simply making clear they are deeply flawed individuals. But then those final six-minutes hit; an unbroken tracking shot that keeps the focus close in on Rust as he infiltrates the Iron Crusaders for their raid on a stash-house, which means six-minutes of heart-stopping tension where you're nervous to so much as breathe. It transforms the episode from good to unforgettable.
8. BoJack Horseman - "Time’s Arrow"
Episode 11s have become to BoJack and Beatrice, finding one last glimmer of light to grasp onto in the darkness, because what else can you do but ask: "Can you taste the ice cream, mom?"
7. Atlanta - "Teddy Perkins"
If you were to draw a Venn diagram featuring Michael Jackson, Get Out, and David Lynch, then in the middle you'd have "Teddy Perkins", the standout episode of Atlanta's genius second season. Almost entirely set in the creepy home of the titular Teddy, this is an astonishing half-hour from Hiro Murai, Donald Glover, and Lakeith Stanfield. "Teddy Perkins" is as captivating as it is weird; it's what feels like a groundbreaking episode of television, the kind that you'll always , or perhaps rather never quite escape from, serving up commentaries on race and art in ways both shocking and innovative.
6. Mad Men - "The Suitcase"
Sometimes it feels like The Suitcase", which is a lesson in constructing a 45-minute TV episode. Focused entirely on the relationship between Don (Jon Hamm) and Peggy (Elisabeth Olsen), "The Suitcase" allows Mad Men's two best performers, characters, and indeed its greatest relationship to flourish. It's an emotional, surprising, and intimate episode of television, with superb performances from the pair.