Top 10 Drama TV Episodes Of All Time

Hello, dear reader!

Last week, I posted my ranking of the greatest comedy TV episodes of all time, so now I'll follow up with a similar list for drama series. These episodes are truly the best of the best.

SPOILER ALERT: I usually don't do spoilers in my blog, but the merits of these episodes would be near-impossible to discuss without giving away major plot points, so there will be spoilers. I advise always looking at the title first, and skipping it if the series in question is something you haven't seen yet but might watch at some point.

Here are my honorable mentions: Go (Prison Break, Season 1 Episode 21), Made In America (The Sopranos, Season 6 Episode 21), Ozymandias (Breaking Bad, Season 5 Episode 14), The City On The Edge Of Forever (Star Trek: The Original Series, Season 1 Episode 28), What Comes After (The Walking Dead, Season 9 Episode 5)

10. Faith (Suits, Season 5 Episode 10)

What an emotional rollercoaster this midseason finale was. The most interesting narrative of Suits always was that of Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) not being a real lawyer, and him covering up when his past starts to catch up with him - and this is the episode where that really hit the fan. The turning point of said storyline happens abruptly, as a majority of Faith is spent on different storylines - Mike has a crisis of conscience, breaks down in tears, and decides to quit while he's ahead. He decides to leave the firm in what is a truly dramatic scene. And then, just as he's about to leave, the authorities show up claiming he's under arrest for fraud.

It's a Shakespearean instance of dramatic irony. The character came so painfully close to catching a clean break, getting away with it all and riding off into the sunset, only for it to fall apart at the last minute. His arrest would then lead to an incredible second half of season 5, as he is on trial and the whole law firm's future is at stake. All in all, this episode is the boldest and most dramatic hour of Suits, as the moment viewers had been dreading for five seasons finally came along in a shocking and poetic manner.

9. eps3.4_runtime-err0r.r00 (Mr. Robot, Season 3 Episode 5)

Much like the films Birdman (2014) and 1917 (2019), this breathtaking episode of Mr. Robot is filmed as if it were one long camera take. And much like with those movies, the reason for its critical acclaim is twofold: the technical expertise in shooting a long-take-episode deserves a lot of praise, but the end product goes beyond that to deliver an otherwise phenomenal episode as well. It's not just a long take for the sake of a long take, but rather the device is used to give the episode a unique atmosphere of panic and chaos.

The long-term storyline of Mr. Robot is at an explosive and climactic point, as the long-built "Stage 2" attack by the vigilante group Fscociety starts to go down, and the protagonist Elliot (Rami Malek) tries frantically to stop it. The stunning cinematography adds to the episode's astronomical dramatic stakes, making for a masterpiece of chaos and intensity.

8. Day 8: 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. (24, Season 8 Episode 24)

An absolute masterclass on how to do a series finale. After eight long seasons, 24 came to an explosive end befitting the series and its main narratives in a perfect fashion. Up to the very last minutes, the tension built throughout the final season remains astonishingly high, as time starts to run out yet everything is up in the air and you can't guess what's going to happen. When the resolution is finally reached, there is just enough time for an ultra-emotional final scene where Kiefer Sutherland does some of his best acting while the score is a powerful combination of all the main musical motifs in the 24 soundtrack. That final scene writes the series out in the best and most powerful way possible, giving a sense of closure while also leaving the door open for a reboot season.

I can't wait to watch this episode again in January 2035! (As you may recall, I recently marathoned the first season of 24 with a friend of mine, and the eighth season takes place 14 and a half years after the first one. And yes, we are planning to marathon all of the seasons in the correct timeline.)

7. In The Pale Moonlight (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Season 6 Episode 19)

The entire premise of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a bit risky: in a fictional universe built around themes of a utopian future where humanity has overcome its struggles with violence and people get along with one another, this spin-off series explored themes of war and violence within said universe. But, as I mentioned in my ranking of Star Trek shows, it works out surprisingly well: the major ideals of the Star Trek world are very much intact, but they are challenged due to new outside threats that force the Federation to face its worst inner demons. And nowhere is this balance of idealistic morals and hard realities as impressive as in In The Pale Moonlight - quite possibly the darkest episode of any Star Trek series.

Moral dilemmas have been a major part of the franchise ever since the Original Series in the 60's, and this episode brought with it some truly mind-boggling ethical questions. The idea of a moral slippery slope is thoroughly and boldly explored: in order to potentially save millions of lives by ending the deadly Dominion War, the Federation must get the Romulan Empire on their side, yet the only way to do that would be through sacrificing their own ideals. As the major characters Sisko (Avery Brooks) and Garak (Andrew Robinson) dive further and further into a web of murder, corruption and deception, the hard-hitting question of whether the ends justify the means and where the line is drawn becomes increasingly difficult to answer. The final monologue by Sisko at the end of the episode is one of the most heart-stopping moments in television history.

6. The Long Night (Game Of Thrones, Season 8 Episode 3)

First of all, let's get this out of the way: yes, I very much enjoyed the much-hated final season of Game Of Thrones. You can find a simplified version of my defense for it here. Anyways, here is why this episode in particular is my favorite from the entire series, and one of my favorite television episodes of all time:

I'm a big fan of long story archs in television, and a long-built narrative coming to its culmination is often the best part of the series (nearly all of this list's episodes are climactic by nature). And in The Long Night, the fourth-last episode of the entire series, many of the best narratives in Game Of Thrones reach their point of climax while still leaving some of it for the final three episodes. The storyline of the White Walkers had been fantastically built throughout the series, as they slowly escalated from a mysterious and unexplored threat into a terrifying major antagonist of epic proportions - and it all leads to this episode. After seasons of build-up, the White Walkers clash against our main characters, fittingly in the emotionally important location of Winterfell.

As is fitting for such a climactic battle, the scale of it all is off the charts. Filming took 55 nights and an unknown number of days, with roughly 750 cast and crew members bringing it all to life. The directing by Miguel Sapochnik is impeccable, as the battle feels so large, so intense and so real all at the same time. Major characters like Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen) and Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen) reach the poetic ends of their character archs, through some very emotional death scenes. And the final resolution is brilliant: while viewers had thought that Jon Snow (Kit Harington) would be the one to finally defeat the Night King (Vladimir Furdik), Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) was the right choice. Her journey to defeat the villain had been sneakily built all along, without viewers ever seeing it coming beforehand. What a spectacle.

5. Through The Looking Glass (Lost, Season 3 Episode 22)

This sensational season finale of Lost has accomplished some serious superlatives in my book. It features the saddest TV death scene of all time, as Charlie Pace (Dominic Monaghan) scrambles to save everyone with his final message while drowning in a truly heartbreaking sequence. It features the most glorious and uplifting moment of Lost's six-season run, as Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox) finally manages to get into contact with the outside world.

Additionally, the final scene of the episode makes for one of the greatest plot twists and one of the greatest cliffhanger endings in television history, as the episode's Jack-centric subplot is revealed to be a flash-forward instead of a flashback, thus revealing that he will eventually find his way back from the island but that the story doesn't end there. All of these rolled into one makes for quite a strong case for Through The Looking Glass being considered one of the greatest TV episodes ever made.

4. Beyond Life And Death (Twin Peaks, Season 2 Episode 22)

Choosing only one episode to represent my all-time favorite drama as its best offering was quite excruciating, as Twin Peaks has so many masterfully crafted hours in its ranks. However, I just had to got with the season 2 finale - thought to be the series finale for over two decades, until Twin Peaks: The Return (2017) came into our lives to resolve the show's open ending (only to create a new one). As a finale, the episode meets conventional expectations well enough: multiple subplots are actually resolved, emotional moments ensue and the final scene is a cliffhanger for the ages. I can only imagine what it was like to see this episode when it came out, and wait a full 25 years for a resolution. However, it is the episode's unconventional side that makes it into a formidable piece of art.

I'm referring to all that goes down in the Black Lodge, of course. A majority of the episode is spent there, as the episode goes full Lynch in the most trippy way possible. It's quite a payoff, too, as the Black Lodge and Red Room had been teased throughout the series - much like the White Walkers in Game Of Thrones, this narrative started as a looming mystery in the background, but it slowly transformed into the main event that everyone is looking forward to. After many short and psychedelic scenes set in the Red Room throughout the series, this episode dove straight into its intricacies, and it was more surreal than anyone could've imagined. David Lynch's unlimited creativity and artistic direction made for an episode that nears 2001: A Space Odyssey in how much it breaks all boundaries and goes beyond expectations to provide a larger-than-life viewing experience.

3. The Reichenbach Fall (Sherlock, Season 2 Episode 3)

The Reichenbach Fall is, simply put, perfect. Everything great about BBC's modern-day Sherlock Holmes adaptation is at its best in this magnificent season finale. While there are many elements contributing to the episode's success, the key one is how incredibly dramatic it is. I love dramatic stories, especially in cases like this where the viewer is invested in the characters of a TV series and suddenly the dramatic stakes are raised to the maximum, making the viewer worry and care about said characters. This episode is a masterclass in dramatic tension, starting from the very first scene - in a flash-forward, Watson (Martin Freeman) tells his psychiatrist that Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) is dead. From that dead-serious opening, it is clear that this is no ordinary episode.

The stakes rise throughout the episode, as Moriarty slowly turns everyone around Sherlock against him, and the situation starts to look more and more hopeless. The scene where Sherlock finds Moriarty's pre-recorded video message about "the fall of Sir Boasts-A-Lot" is phenomenal, as is the climactic rooftop sequence. David Arnold & Michael Price's soundtrack helps make the episode even more emotional and drastic, making for an all-in-all draining experience - until that final scene.

Sure, cold logic would've dictated all along that Sherlock isn't really dead, but the episode is so well-made that a first-time viewer doesn't really have the time to process all of that upon arriving at the final scene. As Watson stands at Sherlock's grave, the series creates one of the most smile-worthy moments in any television series or movie, as the camera slowly pans to show Sherlock standing (very much alive) in the distance, while a more majestic arrangement of the show's main theme rocks the soundtrack. Astonishing.

2. Blink (Doctor Who, Season 3 Episode 10)

I've read a lot of books, seen a whole bunch of movies, and watched way too many TV shows - and this Doctor Who episode is, in my earnest opinion, the most genius piece of fiction ever made. Not the best (although it's not far from that honor, either), but the most genius. It is noteworthy that while nearly all of the episodes on this list are all about climactic payoffs to long-term storylines, Blink is the complete opposite of that: it is a one-off story, not even following the show's main characters but rather featuring a protagonist who only ever appears in this one episode. It's a concept episode separated from the show's larger narratives, and it's absolutely ingenious.

Blink follows Sally Sparrow (Carey Mulligan), as she encounters strange cryptic messages about a mysterious threat known as the Weeping Angels. The idea of the Angels is frightening and engaging all at once: they take the form of stone statues, they send their victims so far back in time that they'll be dead in present day (thus draining their life energy), and here's the real kicker - they only approach you when you don't see them. Thus the episode's infamous "Don't blink, don't look away" monologue by the one and only David Tennant.

There are a million reasons to love this episode - its one-off-adventure nature, the spooky horror elements, the premise of the Weeping Angels and many more. But the best element out of them all is the way that Steven Moffat writes time travel throughout the episode. The ending resolution is absolutely brilliant. It will mess with your brain, but in the best way possible. I'm a big fan of time travel as a story device, and never before has it been as engaging as it is in Blink. No wonder that this episode has the highest IMDB rating from Doctor Who's entire 57-year history.

1. Return 0 (Person Of Interest, Season 5 Episode 13)

If you haven't watched Person Of Interest, please don't read this. Find the series somewhere and see it for yourself. Reading this will only spoil something that you should experience for yourself if you have the chance. If you have seen the series, here is a reminder of why its finale is a work of art:

Jonathan Nolan's severely underrated sci-fi crime drama Person Of Interest got better and better with each season, leading up to the final one - my favorite season of any television series. And it culminates with this series finale, a masterpiece that ties together everything that makes the series great, while also being the ultimate combination of elements that I most appreciate in television (or fiction in general). It's highly emotional and climactic, with the main characters being written off in a poetic manner and a larger theme unveiling itself.

The episode opens with a flash-forward of Harold Finch (Michael Emerson) entering a rooftop, seemingly fatally wounded, as CUTS's Bunsen Burner in the soundtrack creates the perfect dramatic flare. From there, it's one hell of a ride - the main characters embark on their final mission together, desperately trying to save the Machine and defeat Samaritan before it's too late. The stakes are higher than ever before, all main plotlines and remaining subplots lead to various payoffs, and it all goes down with perfection.

In between the action sequences there are interspersed moments of the Machine philosophically discussing the deeper issues embedded in the show's themes while looking at various moments in recent history, giving the episode a very large-scale feel. Those flashes keep featuring a mysterious scene of a young boy at a funeral, and very close to the episode's end, we find out what it's all about: the boy is main character Reese (Jim Caviezel) at a young age, attending his father's funeral. We learn how his father died, which suddenly explains so much about Reese as a character, adding emotional context to the finale's main events in a breathtaking manner.

Towards the end, things get very emotional as Reese sacrifices himself to save Finch, which is the best possible ending for his character - Reese had gone through so much trauma that he was past the point of returning to a happy life, and doing this for his closest friend was the happiest ending he could've gotten. I cried my eyes out at the point where Reese actually smiles, knowing that he's doing the right thing for both him and Finch, while Philip Glass's Metamorphosis One gives the scene additional emotional gravitas. Afterwards, we see Finch reuniting with his long-lost love Grace (Carrie Preston), which was the most amazing thing the finale could've done - their love story is one of television's greatest, and them ever getting safely back together had seemed like a hopeless impossibility for a long time. I'm so glad that they did it.

The other main characters, Fusco (Kevin Chapman) and Shaw (Sarah Shahi), also get the perfect ending: the Machine comes back online, and with Reese dead and Finch happily off in Paris with the love of his life, it's up to these two to keep using the Machine to save people. The final scene is similar to the ending of the show's pilot episode, giving a poetic full-circle feeling. This episode is a masterpiece.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week for a list of the top 10 Martin Scorsese films.