“Closer than Sisters” | Penny Dreadful | Season 1, Episode 5
It's hard to explain what Penny Dreadful really is as a show. A gothic tale or a campy horror. I think that the beauty of the show is that it holds its cards so close to its chest that we're straining to know more. Well, this episode gave us more and it was rightfully dreadful. The entire episode tracked the history of Vanessa and this entity that has been tormenting her since the season's beginning, but the episode also reveals the horrors of Victorian medicine and how the “mad” were treated in the time period. While much of it shocked, it was this constant darkness that made the episode brilliant. Check out our review here!
“The Strategy” | Mad Men | Season 7, Episode 6
Mad Men is a show that so rarely offers sincerity. However, for the first time we see three characters battered by life come together to eat at a burger joint. Pete has been floating on a cloud since he moved to California, but with Trudy MIA when he visits and Bonnie leaving him to go back west, he realizes that life isn't just easy. The centerpiece of the episode saw the relationship that offered so much forward momentum on the show come to a head. Much of the episode focused on Peggy's shortcomings as a woman, but Don reassures her that she's doing just fine. Then, they danced. It solidified their relationship as friends, as a protege and her teacher, and as a father and his daughter. Check out our review here!
“Echo” | The Americans | Season 2, Episode 13
That is how you end a season. I can't go any further than that without giving too much away, but I will say that The Americans is one of the most underrated shows on TV right now. It's so stylishly done, masterfully acted, and allows you enough shock to keep watching. However, the real meat is in the lightly done character study that doesn't make you have to watch, it makes you want to watch.
“The Crocodile's Dilemma” | Fargo | Season 1, Episode 1
It was nearly impossible for me to pick one episode of this series to represent it on this list. Honestly, if I didn't enact the one episode per show rule most of this list would be Fargo. This episode so beautifully sets up the world that is so familiar, but at the same time so refreshing. If you did some slight editing on this episode and told me it was Fargo 2, I'd totally buy into it and say Oscars for everyone.
“Mizumono” | Hannibal | Season 2, Episode 13
I'm not even going to say why, because you should be watching Hannibal and this episode will make your viewing completely worth it.
“The Lord's Prayer” | Vikings | Season 2, Episode 10
Vikings is basically Game of Thrones for history buffs. It gives you the same gnawing action mixed with character drama and wonderful visuals that gives you a sense of wonder. However, it's also a series that will get down and dirty, and it got downright filthy in “The Lord's Prayer.” With exquisite battle sequences and heartbreaking decisions, this episode was one emotional blow after another. However, in the end we keep watching because the writers so brilliantly humanized what we would come to call barbarians.
Hey, I'm Karl, founder and film critic at Smash Cut. I started Smash Cut in 2014 to share my love of movies and give a perspective I haven't yet seen represented. I'm also an editor at The New York Times, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and a member of the Online Film Critics Society.