15 Best TV Episodes Of 2015

by James Hunt

1. Game Of Thrones - Hardhome

I€™m not going to stop the wheel. I€™m going to break the wheel.

Wow. What else is there to say about Game of Thrones' latest jaw-dropping, action-packed epic? Season 5 may not have been the show's best, but Hardhome stands as one of the most spectacular hours of television seen on any series in recent years. It starts with a slow build-up, although that itself is pretty exciting. Tyrion and Daenerys finally have a proper meeting, and it's every bit as entertainingly worded an encounter as you could hope for. Meanwhile, Sansa tries to break through Reek to get to Theon, there's a tease of Qyburn's experiment and the ongoing plight of Cersei, and Arya makes some progress with her Faceless Man training. What it's all building to, though, is one hell of a main event. Jon and various others travel North of the Wall, to Hardhome, on a mission to round-up the remaining wildlings and take them back to Castle Black. What follows is the best battle sequence the show has produced, no small feat when you consider it gave us both Blackwater and Watchers on the Wall. The wights descend, quickly followed by their White Walker masters, and all hell breaks loose. It's violent, it's tense, it's extremely frenetic and exciting, you want to look away but that's actually an impossible thing to do at this point. You merely sit in stunned silence, as countless numbers fall under the sheer weight of the wights, as Jon Snow kills a White Walker with his sword of Valyrian steel, as Wun-Wun stomps all over the place and everyone, and finally as they make their hasty retreat, and Jon is stared down by the Night's King, who raises all those men and women he's just lost. This was a reminder of just how incredible Game Of Thrones can be; at its best, it barely even constitutes television. Thankfully it does still count as TV for this list, and it's the best episode of the year. Agree with this list? What was your favourite episode of TV in 2015? Share your thoughts in the comments.Like this article? Follow us on Twitter: @WhatCultureTV
Contributor
Contributor

NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.