Television's Golden Age might be coming to an end, but that doesn't mean viewers aren't still getting some pretty high quality stuff on their sets these days. Sure, the greats like Tony Soprano and Walter White are gone, Don Draper will follow them pretty soon, and our visits to settings-turned-stars like Baltimore and Deadwood are long behind us. Great television shows tend to produce more great television episodes (a point seen in this list). That's kind of a no-brainer, otherwise they wouldn't be great shows. The best shows know what they are, what they need to be, and how they need to get there, and they rarely miss a beat in navigating the path. On that path, they often give us great individual episodes. Great television episodes do a few things: they entertain us in the moment, they get us talking and engaged on social media, and they have us circled around the proverbial water cooler the next day. They come at us with a certain cinematic flair, but are executed with the precision to fit into an overarching story seamlessly, pressing a larger narrative forward. As easy as it looks while we consume them in sweatpants and shoveling popcorn in our faceholes, a great television episode is difficult to execute and a work of art when it's done right. Let's take a look at the ten best of 2013.
Freelance writer situated on the east coast of Canada. Ten years writing pop culture, sports, news, and anything else that people will read. Follow me on Twitter @matthewjryder!
