If you think back on your all-time favourite television shows, odds are likely that you can pick one or two singular episodes that put them on a higher stratosphere for you.

With that in mind, we’ve taken the time to reel off as many as we can. Some made good shows great, and made great shows legendary — but they all are worth celebrating in their own way. As always, this list remains entirely subjective, and we’re not just sticking with the conventional answers. So you can expect some oddball entries here and there.

And hey, we’re also including animated shows as well as anime for this article. If you’re a big fan of the latter, you’ll definitely also want to check out our list of the all-time greatest anime moments (it’s a little bit different from this one, I swear).

Squid Game

Season 1, Episode 6

Gganbu

IMDb Rating: 9.2

Squid Game is one of those shows that is constantly shocking you with its barbarity. It hooks you into its sick little world, invests you wholly in its desperate players, and then delivers a flurry of gut punches that leave you breathless.

Never is this quite as apparent as it is in the first season’s sixth episode. By now, the hapless yet loveable lead Gi-hoon Seong has assembled a small group of allies who vow to help each other in each game. In the fourth event, they pair up in groups of two, only to discover that they are actually facing off against one another.

What follows is a brutal thinning of numbers where some of our favourite characters are killed off in shocking fashion. Whether it’s Gi-hoon’s exploitation of the elderly Il-nam, Sae-byeok’s quiet reflection with Ji-yeong, or Deok-su’s tense showdown against his sneering henchman, each individual contest is absolutely must-watch content.

For me personally, the main event was Sang-woo’s continued descent into nefarious villain as he betrayed Ali, who believed in his comrade up until the very end. The fact that you really felt something with each result is a testament to how powerfully written this show is, and how committed its actors are.

If you were to predict who would win, you’d probably be right, as they all were the logical conclusions to proceed the narrative. But still, it’s painful and devastating, elevating Squid Game to even higher territory.

ODDTAXI

season 1, episode 4

Tanaka’s Revolution

IMDb Rating: 9.0

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that an anime about a walrus who drives a taxi is rather odd — hell, it’s even in the title. But the jarring narrative choice that occurs in episode 4 of ODDTAXI is likely the oddest thing of all.

While rushing to meet a friend in danger, the cabbie Odokawa almost runs over a feline pedestrian in a darkened street. The hapless fellow had been shouting about something just before, and drops his phone while leaping out of the way.

You may assume it was meant to simply emphasise how much of a rush Odokawa was in. We’d never seen this cat before, after all, so how important could he be, really? Just some random crazy guy wandering the streets at night.

In the next episode, at the height of tension, we learn exactly how important he is. His name is Tanaka, and we are going to learn about his whole sad life story.

From his childhood of eraser collecting to his adult years in game design, Tanaka’s only defining trait has been how unspectacular he is. His whole story is fascinating, heartbreaking, and completely unexpected. It unveils how obsession had led to his world falling apart, and how the moment Odokawa nearly mowed him down was the breaking point that led him to insanity.

I really can’t think of another show that does something like this; it is risky and breaks every convention we understand of storytelling. But goddammit, it just works.

Jujutsu Kaisen

Season 1, Episode 21

Jujutsu Koshien

IMDb Rating: 7.4

If someone told you the most exciting fight in Jujutsu Kaisen would be followed up with a gag filler episode — one that would prove to be even better than what preceded it — they would probably scoff.

But that’s just how it is with the Sister School Exchange Event baseball game. This uproarious sequence isn’t a betrayal of the story’s momentum, it’s an amplification of it; serving as a palate cleanser in which we can catch our breath.

Thanks to the exchange event, and more broadly the season itself, we’ve got a pretty good idea of who these characters are, so seeing how they would fare in a completely unique environment is such a treat. The flavour text each batter receives as they step up to the plate is hilarious, and at its climax, we get to see the almighty Todo suffer his first defeat, coming at the hands of Maki who intentionally beans him.

Itadori is shocked, while everyone else is delighted, leading him to realise how much everyone actually dislikes Todo. It is exceptional, elevating every single participant to the point where the emotional damage we’ll suffer later on in this story feels more important. Using the humour as a means of building character attachment? This is how you tell a good fucking story.

Medium

Season 3, Episode 9

Better Off Dead

IMDb Rating: 7.8

Medium is a perfectly functional show, albeit one where you really have to suspend your disbelief. It is centred around the titular medium Allison Dubois, who uses her abilities to communicate with the deceased in order to assist the district attorney’s office.

The fact that she’s a mystery solving medium isn’t even the weird part, as much as the fact that Allison seems to act with impunity, routinely operating around active crime scenes and dangerous criminals in a manner I doubt even police officers are allowed. It’s fun, it’s stupid, it’s Patricia Arquette.

Typically, her prophecies come from spirits who are desperate for her aid, but in the season 3 episode Better Off Dead, she encounters the ghost of a murder victim who apparently doesn’t want her to catch the culprit. What unfolds is a curious case of love, obsession, and the desire for a life we could never have.

The change of pace is excellent as it is, but what really sells this episode for me is the performance of Jon Polito, who plays another ghost that becomes entangled in the proceedings post-mortem. Polito is one of those actors who I always enjoy, but never fully appreciate in the way I should (with credits including Seinfeld and The Big Lebowski). I finally sat up and took notice here.

The irony that it took a departed actor’s performance as a dead guy for me to finally give him his due isn’t lost on me. Please don’t haunt me Jon Polito, you don’t want to know what I get up to when I’m alone.

Blackadder

Season 3, episode 2

Ink and Incapability

IMDb Rating: 8.6

For a show as enduringly clever as Blackadder, in the second episode of its third season it was perhaps at its absolute cleverest.

Taking place at some point in the late 18th century, it sees the eponymous Blackadder living an inglorious life as a butler to the Prince Regent. When Dr. Samuel Johnson visits seeking patronage for his masterwork (the dictionary), disaster strikes as Baldrick burns the only existing copy. Sodoff, you fucking dipshit.

What follows is a frantic scramble while Blackadder, George and Baldrick attempt to rewrite the entirety of the dictionary over the course of a single weekend. Their progress, as you can appreciate, is less than inspiring, and their asses are only saved through a twist of fate that is equal parts fortuitous and painful.

Sausage? Sausaaaaaage?!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003)

Season 3, episode 21

Same As It NEver Was

IMDb Rating: 9.2

While many 80s kids will live and die by the adage that the 80s TMNT was the true animated pinnacle for the franchise, it is pretty clear that the 2003 version was much truer to its comic book roots. Episodes like Same As It Never Was really help to hit this point home.

During an arc where the Turtles are sent to alternate dimensions, Donatello finds himself in a dystopian future where his own disappearance led to the downfall of humanity. Not only does the Shredder have a stranglehold on the populace, but Splinter is dead and Donatello’s brothers have all grown jaded and weary.

He convinces them to join forces once more for a final showdown against Shredder, and in the course of battle, Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael are all killed. Yeah, the Turtles are just straight up killed in this episode, and though it’s not exactly a graphic depiction, it’s still a harrowing moment in what is ostensibly a show for kids.

What-if scenarios are always an interesting proposition, and Same As It Never Was absolutely nails the brief with its depiction of a dark and depressing future. Though it’s probably nice to learn that you were the one thing stopping a fascist regime, right? Silver linings and all.

The Walking Dead

Season 2, episode 7

Pretty Much Dead Already

IMDb Rating: 9.3

Season two of The Walking Dead is perhaps one of the most misunderstood experiences in television. After a raucous first season complete with blood, guts and explosions, the sophomore season slows down the pace by focusing the group on a more modest goal of tracking down Carol’s daughter Sophia, while trying to make a new home on Hershel’s farm.

The reason why it works so well is because the group are so deadset on settling down here, despite the landowner’s protestations. When finally the leader Rick convinces Hershel that he’ll play by his rules and treat the deadly walkers as if they are sick people, things fall apart in rapid fashion.

Resident hothead Shane takes to the barn, where he has learned of Hershel’s stash of captured zombies, and the group mows them down like a firing squad. It’s impactful enough, considering the immediate implications for their farm life, when one more walker comes lumbering out.

It’s Sophia, who has been dead this whole time and is now standing before them, snarling mindlessly while they all break down in stunned silence. Not even Shane has the gumption to put her down, leaving Rick to take the final shot. It’s a torturous twist, and nigh impossible to walk away from without feeling something.

Even all these years later, having seen this iconic sequence of events countless times, witnessing Melissa McBride collapse in agony still brings me to tears. This is what this show is all about, and I’d daresay it peaked right here.

My Hero Academia

Season 4, Episode 4

Fighting Fate

IMDb Rating: 8.3

The payoff to a major story arc is when we get to see all of the loose ends tied up, typically in a showdown that pits opposing forces against one another in spectacular fashion. It’s the moment that gets all the attention, but without the pieces being put in place, it would hardly matter at all.

Throughout season 4, we learn of the growing threat that is the Shie Hassaikai, and the morally corrupt Overhaul who is at the heart of it all. Deku and Lemillion are made aware of the operation taking place to infiltrate the Yakuza syndicate, knowing that a single error could jeopardise everything.

When they suddenly run into Overhaul and his captive, Eri, on patrol, the tension skyrockets. Deku knows in his heart that he should save her, right then and there, and yet, he is incapable of acting. The students plaster pleasant smiles on their faces as they stare pure evil in the face, ultimately having to let him leave with the innocent girl in his grasp.

Not only are they sickened by what they just experienced, but they learn later the full extent of the villain’s depravity; making their inaction that much more painful to bear. It’s a reminder that sometimes, even doing the right thing when faced with a dilemma can still feel more like losing when it’s all said and done.

Beep and Mort

Season 2, episode 15

Soggyvale

IMDb Rating: n/a

Beep and Mort is a children’s show about an extraterrestrial robot who befriends the local populace. It is about as low stakes as you can get, and yet somehow, one particular episode resonated with me on a personal level.

Every so often, the humble burgh of Mollyvale undergoes a period of heavy rainfall known as the Big Wet. During this time, the denizens prepare to stay indoors, collecting board games and whatnot, while installing a pulley system to keep themselves connected.

The robotic Beep had made plans to spend the upcoming Big Wet with her best friend Mort (who is effectively a plant monster… thing), however she was caught off guard when the deluge started early and she was stuck alone in her spaceship. While Mort is despondent at first to be separated from Beep, he soon resolves to install an additional pulley network so that they can stay in touch from afar.

Although Soggyvale premiered in 2023, this episode of Beep and Mort feels to me like the perfect parallel for the COVID-19 pandemic, where everyone had to stay connected despite our shared mandates of isolation. As a standalone episode, it’s very sweet and reassuring. As a potential allegory for a real life disaster, it is a masterclass of contextual trauma.

The Simpsons

Season 8, episode 2

You Only Move Twice

IMDb Rating: 9.2

For a series that sustained such a high level of quality for so many years, The Simpsons has an absolute wealth of episodes that could be considered the very best. And yet somehow, You Only Move Twice is likely the most common answer, embodying everything that was so damned hilarious during the show’s golden era.

When Homer moves the family to a picturesque town for a fancy new gig with the Globex Corporation, he thrives in ways he never had back in Springfield. There are only a few complications: the rest of the family struggle mightily with their new surroundings, and Homer’s new boss, Hank Scorpio, also happens to be a supervillain.

It’s a weird and wacky premise, but it is delivered flawlessly, with Hank’s villainy just being a background factor. As it so happens, he’s also a really likeable guy who treats Homer as a valued employee instead of just another corporate drone. Like the episode itself, Hank is a shoe-in (or moccasin-in, if you’d prefer) for the single best one-off character in the series’ history.

This episode is a goldmine of back-to-back-to-back content, eminently quotable and iconic to this day.