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The Top 10 TV Episodes of 2015


2015 has been a great year for Fantasy and Science Fiction television. So in the tradition of looking back as the final calendar pages drift away, I found myself thinking back to the greatest offerings of the year from the different shows we’ve been able to cover at Epicstream (we’d like to do more but currently time and resources are against us). So here are my top 10 TV episodes from those shows I have reviewed throughout the year. They might not necessarily have been the highest rated at the time but the ones that stand out as high points of the year it retrospect. The shows in consideration are Agent Carter, Agents of Shield, Arrow, Daredevil, Doctor Who, Fear the Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, The Flash, Gotham, Humans, Jessica Jones, Sense8, Supergirl, The Walking Dead and Vixen. Only one episode per show to keep things interesting and of course, if you’re still catching up on any of these shows, please consider this your all important SPOILER WARNING.

  1. A Sin to Err – S1E6 Agent Carter

    Peggy Carter’s MCU small screen debut was a painfully overlooked TV offering this year. This wasn’t helped by its lack of international pick upon it’s US January debut with fans in many countries having to wait until July for their first, “Crickey o’ riley”. Nevertheless, the show proved to be an excellent period offering with wonderful reflections on post-war sexism and Hayley Atwell shone through as a tough, hard-hitting and endearing female lead. Carter’s high point was episode 6 of 8 as Peggy’s triple life of being a spy, a double agent and a regular girl all comes tumbling down. It produced the show’s best action sequence in the epic diner fight. Bridget Regan’s Russian sleeper agent Dotti is an utter delight as she snaps between her humble “small town gal” routine and her vicious killer beast mode. If you passed on Carter the first time around, catching up is highly recommended and its second, 10 episode season begins on 19th January with a 2 hour premier.

  2. The Last Laugh – S2E3 Gotham

    If there was a Comeback King in 2015, it was undeniably Gotham. As its first season progressed in the spring, it produced to odd good episode but could muster no series momentum and really let itself down with a tacked on final episodes Ogre story (although some credit for delivering us crazy Barbara). Then in the autumn, it was like a whole new show, energized, organised, bold and risk-taking. Despite some good moments throughout, the high point was its opening trilogy of episodes culminating The Last Laugh. It pulls in all Gotham’s best features of creepy dark humour theatricality, great characters and excellent references to Batman lore. This all builds to a shocking twist after pledging to us the young Jerome as the show’s proto-Joker (which he played wonderfully), he’s suddenly betrayed and killed by the real string pulling villain, Theo Galavan, as part of his elaborate plan to gain public support and become mayor of Gotham. A genuinely well played dummy that reminded all viewers that nothing should on the show should be taken for granted. Gotham returns from its winter break on 29th February 2016.

  3. Many Heads One Tale – S3E8 Agents of Shield

    Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. had an up-and-down 2015. After its second season showed improvement in late 2014, its Spring return took a real down turn with a few poor episodes. It did recover into a great conclusion though and came back even stronger still in the Autumn with Season 3 in one recent offering delivered its best ever episode with Many Heads One Tale. An episode that simultaneously pulled together smaller plot arcs into one tight focus while completely blowing our minds with a ret-con of Hydra’s history, talking its origin back thousands of years beyond The Red Skull. It boasted some great action, Hunter’s hilarious hactivist disguise and some of Grant Ward’s best moments all season as he goes from opposing Gideon Mallick to joining him. It sees the show deliver on both spy drama and science fiction/superpowers elements to make for one hell of an entertaining result. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is on break while Agent Carter airs, look out for its return on Match 8, 2016.

  4. Uprising – S3E12 Arrow

    Arrow’s 3rd season was not its strongest and certainly didn’t satisfy all of its fans but it still delivered some outstanding episodes. The high point of the season was the aftermath of Oliver’s mortal wounding and absence at the hands of Ra’s al Ghul leading to some great episodes of the remaining cats members having to cope without him, Laurel Lance taking her first steps as the new Black Canary and Vinnie Jones delivery an stupendous recurring villain performance, as Danny Brickwell, over what the showrunners called the “Canary Trilogy” episodes. This all builds up to one hell of a climax in episode 12’s Uprising, taking inspiration from Batman’s No Man’s Land story run to see the remaining Team Arrow members lead the people of The Glades in a full blown pitched battle rebellion against Brick and his men. As well as the big action it offered a great story of Malcolm Merlyn being re-confronted with his wife’s killer and with Oliver’s help on choosing not to take his vengeance. It delivered Oliver’s return in a meaningful way and surprising way (many had pegged episode 14’s “The Return” as implying his comeback) while also beginning the great story development of his alliance with Merlyn to help him defeat Ra’s al Ghul, “Only the student has hope of defeating the master”. Arrow returns after Christmas on January 20.

  5. JSS – The Walking Dead S6E2

    The Walking Dead came back swinging this autumn with its sixth season after a more sedate climax to its fifth season in the spring. For all the mass walker herding of the season opener, it was its follow up, JSS, that proved the year’s best slice zombie action as Alexandria finds itself being overrun by maniac members of The Wolves gang. It gave us Carol ripping off her apron strings and switching into pure cold hearted Rambo mode is she infiltrates and slaughters many of the invaders. When many A-cast members absent it gave us genuine fears that anyone could be killed off along with countless thrills. It made great use of Morgan is a morale counter argument to all the mass killing gave many long standing Alexandria residents their moment to shine as they fight for their lives; none more so than Jessie with her horrific blood splattering kitchen kill. This episode the beginning of a recurring theme in taking the safety and security away from Alexandria and is set to continue when the show returns (with love) on February 14, 2016.

  6. AKA Sin Bin – S1E9 Jessica Jones

    Like its “all seeing” Netflix cousin, Jessica Jones was a major viewing highlight of 2015 giving us an entirely new kind of superhero show, a much more emotional-based character drama than the more action orientated shows we’ve grown accustomed to. It had stellar acting performances from its leads, including one of the best villains the MCU has ever produced in David Tennant’s Kilgarve (I’m still mentally fighting the Tennant Vs D’Onofrio battle for the top!). Although episode 7 came in a close second, the standout episode was the captured Kilgrave standoff of episode 9 delivering incredible examinations of power and control. Jessica has Kilgrave exactly where she wants but he still maintains complete power over her in his denial and refusal to supply any form of evidence they can legally use to prove his powers and acquit Hope of murdering her parents. It’s a powerful psychological battle as Jessica is stripped off her strength purely by Kilgrave’s refusal to fight her. Then it all culminates in an insane climax as Kilgrave eventually unleashes and escapes, including making his mother stab herself to death. At time of writing there has been no announcement regarding a second season, but her character will at least feature in The Defenders team up series expected in either 2017 or 2018.

  7. Cut Man – S1E2 Daredevil

    That’s right, the episode with that corridor fight sequence. While that’s the not only reason I’ve picked this as Daredevil’s standout episode, you can’t denying it doesn’t make a good argument, and even made no. 2 on our list of the greatest moments in the MCU. Yet there’s such a great story to this episode too as it begins with an already weak and defeated Matt Murdock, only see him limp and continue on out of nothing more than heroic necessity to eventually find the adducted child. This was the point where Daredevil stood out as such a refreshing take on the superhero genre as it showed its hero as being anything but invulnerable to harm which really endeared us to his character (he’d go on to take some epic beatings throughout the season). It introduced us to the now Marvel/Netflix series connecting character of Rosario Dawson’s Night Nurse, and the pair’s rooftop torture scene is yet another notch on the episode’s bedpost. While the debut episode impressed, Cut Man is when we all realized that Daredevil was going to be something truly special. Daredevil Season 2 is currently filming (being dubbed as “Daredevil Vs Punisher”) with no exact release date confirmed other than roughly April 2016, before the release of Captain America: Civil War.

  8. The Zygon Inversion - Doctor Who S9E8

    Despite some close competition from episode 11's Heaven Sent, this was not just the best episode of this season but Peter Capaldi’s finest outing as The Doctor to date. In one of the season’s many concluding episodes of a two part story the scene was set for the typical action based finale with the rogue Zygon faction having taken over London but the result was in every sense an inversion. Against all expectations, the episode didn’t throw special effects budget into a big show down but made a risky and gutsy call to climax is nothing but heavy and lengthy conversation, a feature that in hindsight has been the bets thing about the whole season. It magnificently boiled down the entire concept of war into a metaphoric standoff of two sides either end of a table with their hands over a button of mass destruction, with nothing but a 50/50 chance over winning or losing. Capaldi monologues for almost 10 minutes but we hang on his every word as he tries to make both sides stop being such idiots and just talk to each other. Then throw in some great scenes with Jenna Coleman’s Clara depicting her trying to resist the Zygon telepathic link (her “face-to-face” is stunning exchange of back and forth control), and the good overrunning morality other whether Zygons are right for not wanted to hide their true from and you have a phenomenal episode on your hands/suckers. After its Christmas special, Doctor Who will return for season 10 in September 2016.

  9. Hardhome – S5E8 Game of Thrones

    These last two places were tough to call but the runner-up prize narrowly goes to Game of Thrones for its most thrilling and action-packed episode to date. Not everyone was convinced by the first half of its 5th season, but this was the episode that put an icy fist down the throat of many a “Where is this going?” whiner. David Benioff and Dan Weiss showed their hand as to where the show was heading for its endgame, and the result was a good 20 minutes of wide-eyed mesmerized staring while accidentally drooling all over your own shoes. There have been $100 million budget movies that didn’t look half as good as this epic and frantic battle between the Free Folk and the armies of the dead. On top of that, it boasts some great performances both from regular and guest staring cast members. Kit Harrington’s Jon Snow and Kristofer Hivju’s Tormund are on top form as you’d expect, especially Tormund’s moment of Wildling politics with the Master of Bones. Yet it also gave us the season’s best small character in Birgitte Hjort Sørensen’s Wildling Chief Karsi to the extent that many were absolutely gutted when she didn’t survive. Not to mention that it gave us a foul mouthed giant. It was everything we want Game of Thrones to be in mass entertaining spectacle powered by outstanding characters. Game of Thrones has just finished filming its 6th season which will premier in early April 2016.

  10. Fast Enough – S1E23 The Flash

    There may be a few gasps and rather unflattering comments upon seeing this Flash season finale best the prior Game of Thrones mega event, but hear me out. In single episode isolation, Hardhome is superior in many ways, but Fast Enough sprints to the win because it was not just an outstanding episode but one of the best season finales any show on television has managed in a several years. It produced satisfying and immensely rewarding conclusions so its season long plotlines to Barry’s searching for his mother’s killer along with the mystery over Harrison Wells and The Reverse Flash while still managing to be a spectacle in itself. The episode is a full-blown emotional meat grinder! I know people that burst into tears a good 3 or 4 times through its duration. I must have watched it a good half dozen times, and I’m still welling up at the crucial moments, the father relationships with Henry & Joe, Barry choosing to let his mother still die for the sake of the future, Eddie making the sacrifice play out of nowhere; its more emotionally powerful than the elastic on Hulk’s shorts! It juggled the pitfalls of timer travel with ease. It dropped glorious teases for the next season like Jay Garrick’s helmet and our first glimpse at Killer Frost. It left us with a cliff-hanger ending so incredible it had fans screaming at the TV wanting to know what happened next. It was everything a season finale should be and more on top of being an already great episode itself, and for that reason no amount of shattering White Walkers can keep this lighting-sparking speedster from standing atop the podium. The Flash returns from its Christmas break on January 19, 2016.

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