My First Thursday Thirteen

Yesterday was sucktastic. It started out bad, then got worse at every turn. I need a little R&R. And to step away from any and all serious topics on the blog. To that end:

1. Noel, The West Wing, Season 2. It’s Christmas Time at the White House, but Josh is feeling more PTSD than jolly. Adam Arkin guests.

2. Dopplegangland, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 3. Willow and a newly human Anya tear a hole through to a parallel universe and bring back vamp Willow, who proceeds to wreak havoc… deliciously. Contains one of my favorite Buffy moments: “Dude… check out your girlfriend.” “Get Buffy. Do it now.”

3. A Trip to the Dentist, Veronica Mars, Season 1. Veronica tells us she was raped in the pilot. In this episode, we find out what happened, and we do it Rashomonically. Also one of the coolest denounements I’ve ever seen to a season arc, and both the scene at the Kanes and the scene with Wallace, “So this is why I don’t talk about stuff,” is phenomenal.

4. Leave it to Beaver, Veronica Mars, Season 1. Wow. Wowowowowow. Except for the last scene. HATE how long I had to wait to find out who was at that door!

5. Fear Itself, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 4. My first Buffy episode, and still one of my favorites. Odd because part of the reason it works is because they’d spent three seasons building up these characters and their fears, but it also worked for me as an introduction to them. It’s Halloween on campus, which means scary fun in Buffy world.

6. Hush, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 4. Now this is good television. Who else can do a (mostly) silent episode? Brilliant!

7. Restless, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 4. Some people thought this an anticlimactic end to the season. I thought it was perfect, and a great example of how dreams can work in fiction. (Oddly, though I maintain that Season 3 was the best season, most of my favorite episodes are from season 4. I think 3 had the best arc, though.)

8. In This White House, The West Wing, Season 2. Leo hires Ainsley Hayes. Has one of the best openings and best closings of a television episode ever.

9. Eye of the Beholder, The Twilight Zone (season unknown). A disfigured woman gets plastic surgery to look like everyone else.

10. Squeeze, The X-Files, Season 1. Creep. Eeee.

11. Piper Maru/Apocrypha, The X-Files, Season 3. I don’t think this is cheating, as it’s really one big episode. A huge chunk of mytharc, too, for a starved audience! And plenty of Alex Krycek, who was always one of my favorite characters.

12. It May Look Like a Walnut, The Dick Van Dyke Show (season unknown). Man, I love this episode. Do you know it was written by Carl Reiner?

13. To Serve Man, The Twilight Zone (season unknown). Corny as all get out, but I love it anyway. Who doesn’t love this episode?

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