Tim's TV Talk: Top Fifty TV Episodes of 2012

Monday, December 31, 2012

Top Fifty TV Episodes of 2012

Unlike my top fifty shows, which I found a very fun list to compile, picking my fifty favorite episodes of the year was agony. There were countless great hours and half-hours of television to choose from, and while I eventually whittled things down to about fifty (give or take a few pairings of back-to-back Mad Men and Game of Thrones and Legend of Korra episodes I lumped into single slots because I'm weak and cowardly), there were no less than twenty episodes of 2012 TV I adored and deleting from my rough draft list felt like chipping away pieces of my soul.
Also, I myself was surprised by what shows did and didn't find their way onto my final list. While all of my top ten shows are represented by at least one installment, a full seven of my #30-11 shows failed to make the cut (and, for the record, exactly one show of my #50-31 has an episode listed). All the same, both my fifty shows list and fifty episodes list are totally genuine and from the heart, so I guess it just goes to show that we're all bundles of contradictions. Or at least I am, anyway.

Final quick disclaimer: The bottom thirty or so of this list is all pretty arbitrary and could be mixed up in more or less any order and I'd still be ok with it, so don't take it too serious. Also, just for fun, I've placed asterisks next to episodes that are season finales (there are no series finales on the list, though there are three series premieres). Here goes:

50. Bob's Burgers, Season 2 Episode 8 - "Bad Tina"
49. Revenge, Season 1 Episode 22 - "Reckoning" *
48. Fringe, Season 5 Episode 4 - "The Bullet That Saved the World"
47. Louie, Season 3 Episode 12 - "Late Show Part 3"
46. American Dad!, Season 8 Episode 6 - "Adventures in Hayleysitting"
45. The Vampire Diaries, Season 4 Episode 9 - "O Come, All Ye Faithful"
44. Spartacus, Season 2 Episode 3 - "The Greater Good"
43. New Girl, Season 1 Episode 15 - "Injured"
42. 30 Rock, Season 6 Episode 8 - "The Tuxedo Begins"
41. Bob's Burgers, Season 3 Episode 2 - "Full Bars"
40. Community, Season 3 Episode 21 - "The First Chang Dynasty"
39. Awake, Season 1 Episode 1 - "Pilot"
38. Parenthood, Season 3 Episode 17 - "Remember Me, I'm the One Who Loves You"
37. Gravity Falls, Season 1 Episode 9 - "The Time Traveler's Pig"
36. Homeland, Season 2 Episode 12 - "The Choice" *
35. Archer, Season 3 Episode 8 - "Lo Scandalo"
34. Boardwalk Empire, Season 3 Episode 7 - "Sunday Best"
33. Breaking Bad, Season 5 Episode 1 - "Live Free or Die"
32. 30 Rock, Season 6 Episode 19 - "Live from Studio 6H"
31. Game of Thrones, Season 2 Episodes 3 & 4 - "What Is Dead May Never Die" & "Garden of Bones"
30. Louie, Season 3 Episode 5 - "Daddy's Girlfriend Part 2"
29. Justified, Season 3 Episode 5 - "Thick as Mud"
28. American Dad!, Season 7 Episode 17 - "Ricky Spanish"
27. Fringe, Season 5 Episode 10 - "Anomaly XB-6783746"
26. The Legend of Korra, Season 1 Episode 1 - "Welcome to Republic City"
25. Mad Men, Season 5 Episodes 5 & 6 - "Signal 30" & "Far Away Places"
24. Bob's Burgers, Season 3 Episode 7 - "Tina-Rannosaurus Wrecks"
23. Homeland, Season 2 Episode 5 - "Q&A"
22. The Walking Dead, Season 3 Episode 4 - "Killer Within"
21. Parenthood, Season 4 Episode 5 - "There's Something I Need to Tell You..."
20. The Vampire Diaries, Season 3 Episode 22 - "The Departed" *
19. Community, Season 3 Episode 22 - "Introduction to Finality" *
18. The Legend of Korra, Season 1 Episodes 11 & 12 - "Skeletons in the Closet" & "Endgame" *
17. Community, Season 3 Episode 17 - "Basic Lupine Urology"
16. Sherlock, Season 2 Episode 1 - "A Scandal in Belgravia"
15. Breaking Bad, Season 5 Episode 7 - "Say My Name"
14. Boardwalk Empire, Season 3 Episode 11 - "Two Imposters"
13. Parenthood, Season 4 Episode 8 - "One More Weekend With You"
12. Bunheads, Season 1 Episode 1 - "Pilot"
11. Fringe, Season 4 Episode 19 - "Letters of Transit"
10. Community, Season 3 Episode 19 - "Curriculum Unavailable"
9. Breaking Bad, Season 5 Episode 8 - "Gliding Over All" *