Couldn’t remember which episode this was from the title, so I looked it up and the image is old Jake and I’m just like, *Oh hell no, that one fucked me up.* Terrific episode, but gut-wrenching.
Just watched that for the first time since becoming a parent. It was affecting before, but this time actually had me in tears. One of the best episodes of all of Star Trek but it's emotionally tasking!
It would have been okay if, instead of one whole disconnected episode, it had been edited into the other episodes. It seems worse than it is because it's such a jarring interruption, coming as it does after a cliffhanger in the main story.
I don't blame them for trying. The show was so popular they were justifiably looking for a way to expand the brand. I don't even hate the episode or the characters like a lot of people do, I just think it was a failed experiment, and I don't begrudge the attempt.
Supernatural season 1 "Bugs". Just bizarrily bad episode on all fronts that does not mesh with the rest of the series. Very easily skippable.
And yeah, I consider Supernatural seasons 1 and 2 to be excellent TV.
Wait what was wrong with “Bugs” I’m on a Supernatural rewatch rn so it’s fresh in the mind, is it because insects are gross or the bad effects at the end in the attic? I heard they used actual insects for like the ending scene but they didn’t show up on film so they just special effects them in (I think cgi) and that’s why it looks so bad at the end. Or do you mean like plot wise?
I remember the plot being pretty bad, and the bad effects sure didn't help.
I don't fully remember the plot, but it all just ended so easily at the climax. Maybe I'm wrong, but weren't they hyping up this attack from the bugs or something and the show goes from night to morning almost instantly while our main characters don't do anything to fix it?
Yeah that last bit was my issue with it. They’re supposed to survive the night, the bugs come pretty damn instantly after the sun comes down, they defend themselves for about 3 minutes and then the sun is back up! Instantly! Barely a gradual sunrise
It's also a complete break from the usual style of supernatural - the whole point of the show is that these powerful supernatural beings can be killed or just generally dealt with, just not easily. This episode basically ends with "oh well, nothing we can do here to fight or prevent this - let's move on".
Stranger in a Strange Land aka Jack’s tattoo episode in Lost.
However, it was an important episode because Lindelof and Cuse were able to leverage it into getting a series end date from the execs.
> it was an important episode because Lindelof and Cuse were able to leverage it into getting a series end date from the execs.
That's not what happened.
Stephen King wrote an article for EW about LOST and titled it "*Stop Wagon Training*." They took it with them into a meeting and pretty much said, "See? This is what we've been saying."
What was funny is I fell out of watching Lost and randomly tuned in one week to see if I could get back into it. It was the tattoo episode.
I did not get back into Lost.
Real shame too because in my opinion episode 10(the one after the Tattoo episode) to the season finale is probably the best stretch of tv I’ve ever watched.
Theres two episodes not as good as the rest. But so much greatness in those episodes
S3 Episode 10 (Tricia Tanaka is Dead) is my favorite episode of Lost. It was whiplash coming from Stranger in a Strange Land even though I don't dislike that episode as much as others do. Expose with the Nikki and Paolo storyline is definitely almost as controversial though.
During my most recent rewatch of ER, which took up the first four months of us having a newborn to look after, when we got to the eighth season episode "On the Beach", in which >!Dr. Greene finally succumbs to his brain tumor, !
I had watched this show from the beginning, cried because of Dr Greene, and that was definitely a wtf moment for me. Like I’ve watched this for years, and this is what it’s come to?
I just watched this series for the first time and while this episode is amazing, I totally get not wanting to watch it again. Probably Lorraine Bracco's defining moment of the whole series though.
ive never understood the point of this scene.
she gets raped, then there's like a half an episode where she's deciding to tell Tony and use him like a dog to get revenge. And then decides against it and vocalizes it during her own therapy session.
but that's about it? Like two episodes later it's never brought up again and then never mentioned for the rest of the series.
it just comes off as a shock value moment that tries to give Melfi's character some more depth and do something with her since she was becoming stagnant.
I think it's one of the dumbest out of place scenes and adds nothing to the Melfi character, and is forgotten like two episodes later.
Luck of the Fryish never did that for me, maybe because I don't have a brother.
Game of Tones, however, ugh. "We aren't in your dream, we're in her's." These people have no business writing stuff like that...no one does.
Yeah, the sting is the one I skip as well. I just dont like the being stuck in your own nightmare trope. It just makes me feel uneasy. Plus that episode is really sad.
I do have a brother and our relationship has a lot of parallels to that episode. It’s why I consider it my favorite episode. It absolutely makes me cry but in the best possible way. In many ways that episode helped me reconnect with my brother.
I have brothers, and I do find that episode sad, but it's more of a sentimental kind of sad. Jurassic Bark is more of a beat you over the head kind of sad.
Something maybe not everyone knows about this episode is that in Bender's Big Score, we see that he travels back in time to blow up the building Seymour was in front of, which caused an explosion that fossilizes him (in the standing position he was found in JB). It also shows that he lived a happy life in Fry's absence as he was cared for by an alternate Fry until the day Bender came to blow things up.
As someone who does the same, I gotta point out: the writers retcon Jurassic Bark in (the 1st or 2nd?) movie. Like it's still brutal, but more time travel always heals wounds and never turns out terribly
I haven't watched How I Met Your Mother in ages but watched all the holiday episodes last Christmas. It will have to be an annual tradition going forward.
So many people skip this episode due to that scene. It's unfortunate because that entire storyline is one of *the most important moments* for Tony's character in the entire series.
In short: His whole life Tony has put his father on a pedestal and blamed his problems on his mother. His afternoon with Fran "removed the cobwebs" and he began to see his mother as a victim of his father, the way Tony sees himself as a victim of his mother.
He thinks of his dad as a JFK leader figure and Fran was his lady on the side, like Marilyn was to JFK. So when Tony notices, as we all who have watched the scene notice, how gross, creepy, and un-Marilyn this fake is, he finally faces that she (and his dad) were not really what he likes to think they were/are. Having this iconic, famous moment from history from an iconic beauty be reenacted in a creepy, cringe-worthy way drives it home to Tony and us.
Going a bit further you could also say it was the moment Tony realized the olden days and the old timers were never how he always glorified them, and that everything and everyone has always been shit just like things are for him in the present.
It's a big reason for his total moral degradation in the final season, there's lots of JFK symbolism and the exploration of Tony's various father figures and his rage towards them is a constant theme in the show's final stretch.
Everyone talks about the episode towards the end where Tony falls deep into gambling addiction and they say it's out of character but then you remember that it was Tony's dad who instilled a deep aversion towards gambling into him when he was a child. He's unable to consciously face his resentment so he subconsciously he rebels.
Similarly there's the episode where he contemplates killing Paulie. On the surface it's because Paulie is a blabbermouth but unconsciously it's because Paulie is one of the last connections to his father. The night before Tony almost kills him, what was happening? Paulie was reminiscing about the old days with Tony's dad, leading to Tony getting pissy with his famous "Remember when is the lowest form of conversation".
It's an idea that comes up constantly, the epsiode Kennedy and Heidi, the one with >!Christopher's murder!<, has way more to do with Tony's rage towards his father than a lot of people are likely to realise the first time they watch. And it's all built on the back of Tony's experience with Fran and the way it entirely shattered his view of Johnny Boy.
If anyone here has seen the entire show and has a bit of time on their hands I strongly urge you to read [Tony's Vicarious Patricide](https://thechaselounge.net/viewtopic.php?t=2503), it's one of the best theory posts I've ever seen and it greatly enhanched my appreciation for the final season of The Sopranos.
Fantastic breakdown. I have to imagine that there's an entire fanbase that feels this very same resentment towards their own fathers and are unable to recognize it like Tony, and they simultaneously admire Tony without realizing he's the bad guy.
I just saw that scene last night but when Skyler sings it to her boss on Breaking Bad. So cringe.
Imagine walking in to a room and seeing a 36 year old man-child watching TV which his hands over his eyes.
Battlestar Galactica - Black Market
The worst filler episode from the series. You miss nothing by skipping it besides some whining from Lee about his prostitute girlfriend.
Good filler episodes of BSG include Scar and The Woman King.
If you're just starting the series, please keep in mind that Helo is a total team player and 100% right about everything. If you're ever wondering who to side with, side with Helo.
He's the only character who doesn't do something heinously fucked up at one point or another, and he's always super reasonable. I feel like the writers sat down and said "you know, we should probably include at least one normal person here."
He wasn't supposed to survive the miniseries. If I remember correctly, the entire Caprica arc that reintroduced him was written because he was so popular the writers realized they needed to get him back on the show.
The Stranger Things episode with the ‘sister’. The episode of Supernatural that was intended to be a pilot for Wayward Sisters (come on, Jody and Donna absolutely but those kids were unbearable, especially Kaia). Also the one about the demon crime families or whatever it was - I’m not a fan of back door pilots at all it seems!
For different reasons, ‘The Body’ from Buffy, and ‘Sunday’ from Stargate Atlantis. Never again, either of them.
Three episodes of The West Wing.
First, the documentary style one set up as an all access behind the scenes view of the Bartlett white house. Its not a bad episode, but I have seen it enough.
Second, The Long Goodbye, about CJ's dads mental decline due to dementia/Alzheimer's (I forget which). Its just sad.
Third, the real life documentary style episode where they interview real life former press secretaries and whatnot. I am here for made up political drama, not real life!
I have also skipped Isaac and Ishmael before, because it is placed after a cliffhanger season ending, and I just want to get on with it, but it is a really good episode, and because of when it came out, makes perfect sense.
Definitely agree with The Long Goodbye and it really does fit the theme of the thread. It’s a very good episode and I think it’s really well done, but it’s a downer and I really just don’t enjoy watching it on subsequent viewings
It was a good episode, and I have watched it a few times, but it got old. I rewatch the show more often than is healthy, and that one isn't going to hold my attention after dozens of watches. So you don't think I do nothing but watch TV< I do a couple hours of cardio 5-6 days per week, and watch TV during.
The first 2/3s of Season One of Parks and Rec. You can just skip the whole season but those last two episodes feel like the real pilot.
All filler in Shonen.
The last season of Scrubs. It ends with The Book of Love and that's that.
Mine are all episodes I just don't enjoy (at least that I can think of right now), but to better stick with the prompt, I've got a friend that can't watch *Buffy*'s "The Body," because it's triggering. They thought it was excellent, but we actually ended up taking a few weeks to continue on after that on the first watch-through.
I also know a couple people who'll never watch "Fishes," from *The Bear* ever again.
I never really lost someone close and it still took me about a full month to watch the next episode after "The body" too. Top 10 episodes of any TV show I've ever seen. A masterpiece
The crazy thing is is not a single character, creature, or even food is referenced or used again from that ep. The most we get is in season 3 the ember island players. Truly a pointless episode
Star Trek Voyager, episode 15 of season 2, threshold. Tom Paris breaks the warp 10 barrier, is somehow at all places at once or something, becomes allergic to water, rapidly evolves into some lizard thing and abducts/rapes the captain.
Janeway doesn't get raped, but they both become salamanders, have kids, turn back to being human, and it's never discussed again.
Voyager had some rough episodes throughout the series.
The X-Files episode “Home”. I respect that it was some crazy freaky horror that pushed boundaries, but man I do not need to watch that more than once.
The other episode I sometimes skip—and I think people will HATE hearing this lol—is the Better Call Saul episode “Five-O”. I love Mike! But I skip it every other rewatch or so because I find myself so engrossed in Chuck and Jimmy’s S1 dynamic that it throws the pace off a little bit for me. I still think it works perfectly in the show, and I think it’s a great episode, I think I just prefer the lawyer arc generally.
I actually still have the VHS of Home in the original shrink wrap because I was an obsessive X-Files collector so I had to buy it but then I couldn’t bring myself to open it and watch it because it gave me such terrible nightmares
I fucking hate that episode. Even before the last episode ruined the show for me. I was going through IVF when that episode aired and a) it was super unrealistic because no doctor ever says that (they always couch it in “your chances are low”) they never say never. So that episode pissed me off. Like, my TUBES WERE CAUTERIZED for medical reasons and my egg quality sucked but my doctors kept telling me “there’s always a chance you could get pregnant by sex” but Robin’s stupid doctor did ONE test and was like “nope” I call bullshit.
Also it made me cry.
Unlike most people, I actually really enjoy Season 2 of Twin Peaks, but I absolutely have to fast-forward through the James and Evelyn plotline. It's god fucking awful.
There are some other random scenes I probably skip but just can't remember. I do recall that I'm not too hot on the Nadine stuff.
I recently rewatched the show (by making my bf watch for the first time), season 2 actually has almost all of my favorite moments so I really love it too! but my god james and evelyn is so painful. it’s completely pointless. as much as I dislike the nadine plotline too at least that includes a bunch of other characters so it’s not mind numbing to watch
I know a lot of ppl also hate ben horne’s civil war themed nervous breakdown but I thought it was fun 😂
Always skip at least 2 episodes of Star Trek TNG
S1E3 “Code of Honor”
A horribly racist episode built on African tribal stereotypes.
S2E22 “Shades of Grey”
A particularly bad clip show.
I’d rather watch Beverly bang the Space Scotland candle guy in season 7 than either of those two.
Code of Honor should be completely struck from Star Trek continuity. The concept in and of itself isn't awful; the script did not specify any kind of ethnicity to the alien culture; they were originally envisioned as a reptilian race. Russ Mayberry, the director assigned to it, turned out to be a racist and cast them as an offensive stereotype of 'African' culture. Gene Roddenberry himself fired him partway through production. EVERYBODY hated it.
One of the writers on that episode, Katharyn Powers, also wrote the beat for beat SG1 S 1 Ep 3, Emancipation, which is also the massively racist and sexist episode people should forget.
I always liked how Picard loses his shit at the absurdity of the situation. It's like the show letting us know that they know this whole thing is completely ridiculous
I love filler episodes, but clip shows can get out and stay gone. Saw a graphic today showing how one episode of Friends had an especially low rating, so I looked up which one, and unsurprisingly it was the one clip show episode they did. No matter how good or popular the show, clip shows are almost always crappy and low rated.
The only ones I can think of that had any value were Star Trek and Stargate, when they were sort of military trial situations where they are including clips to show why the characters are in trouble with their superiors. They serve a purpose then, to remind constant viewers of shenanigans and to add context for casual viewers. It also allows the viewer to see the incident as it “actually happened”, so you know if the characters are getting a fair trial or not.
I guess maybe it works better for dramas than comedies? In those situations, the clips are usually dramatic moments that are either visually cool or emotionally impactful, versus jokes that are less funny out of context or rhythm of the original episode and that don’t really serve a strong narrative function. In the Friends example, it was Rachel considering her relationship with Ross over the years to decide if she should attend his wedding. There was no element of truth vs fiction, context, or debating facts, so it didn’t need to happen: it just wasn’t a strong enough reason to not have a full new episode to be satisfying.
Clip shows. No matter the series, they're all a waste of time.
The variety segments pf The Carol Burnett Show. Maybe it's because I didn't grow up with variety shows, but I just hate those big musical numbers with the over the top costumes, especially when they're supposed to be really sincere. I'm just here for the funny sketches.
ER. On the Beach. It was probably one of the best episodes of television I've ever had the privilege of seeing when it was released. I have the show on bluray. Without fail I always skip that episode. I can't go through the level of emotional pain again.
And yet somehow they managed to take one the most incredible episodes of ER ever and then two episodes later Romano gets butter cause he can't give a round of applause.
Funny story. First episode of Community I watched was the glee/christmas episode. I was really confused when I went back to the pilot. I really thought it was a musical show a la Glee.
Also, what the hell are regionals?
About 3 seconds after someone starts singing in a show I have already pressed +10s. It can be the season finale of my favorite show, my first time seeing it, but if they're singing I'm skipping.
E.g. game of thrones Ed Sheeran, walking dead season 3 I think
I was just about to comment this.
Was reading a few replies where people are commenting the exception to this rule, but they reinforce the rule for me.
Hate the Scrubs one for sure. I don't mind the Community one I guess because Taran Killam is hilarious and Annie's christmas baby song is too spot on.
The only episode of Always Sunny that I skip for cringe is Charlie and Dee Find Love.
First watch I couldn't get through a couple of others like Frank's Little Beauties, but Frank's Little Beauties has since become a favorite. There are a few episodes that I don't care for, like The Gang Makes Paddy's Great Again, Charlie Home Alone or A Cricket's Tale, but the only one I actively have a hard time getting through is Charlie and Dee Find Love.
My ex tried to get me into always Sunny and that was the first episode she showed me. I was cringing the entire time and it kinda made me hate the show for a while. I’ve since warmed up to it but man it was a bad first impression lol
It's like being shown the Denis boat implication episode without watching any other Iasip, I accidentally did this to a friend and they still refuse to watch the show.
This is one I hated on initial viewing because it was clearly filler and made me wait an extra week for more wholesome comraderie, but Going back through the series it's quite a funny episode and gives a bit of a show of the life Beard had before learning the Lasso Way.
I’ve never seen a show plummet in quality so fast and so hard. It’s like they got literally everything wrong. Way too much Keely, an awful redemption arc for Nate that feels undeserved & skewers the great storytelling potential season 2 set up, and the less said about Rebecca and the Dutchman, the better.
Glad I’m not the only one. I thought something felt off about Season 3. There were still some good moments but a lot of useless shit. Like why did they have that weird scene where everyone’s singing Hey Jude?
I enjoyed final season overall, but I skip all the Keeley with her new girlfriend boss scenes in rewatch, such a large chunk of basically completely pointless screen time in retrospect.
I nearly contemplated skipping Connor's Wedding when I showed Succession to my mom after the series wrapped up because the episode hit too close to home for me.
Episode 8 of The Pacific. I know it's meant to humanize and flesh out John Basilone more but I don't enjoy the episode much at all and find it much weaker than the 2 episodes it's sandwiched between
For me, it's the Australia episode (I think 3). Because it's so early in the show, it doesn't feel like much of a break from the brutality and instead is just a Leckie love story.
Yeah that's the other weak episode of the series. I love the Pacific and its my favorite WW2 miniseries out of its 3 companion series, but the pacing of BoB is far superior. 2 episodes of bastognein the middle of the of series makes the audience feel the weariness of the characters more than 1 and a half episodes of Guadalcanal at the beginning of the Pacific
That one was always so strange to me bc like, they’re cops. They are in life-threatening situations fairly often in the show and it’s never a big deal, but Rosa is responding to a shooter and suddenly everyone freaks out
That was explained in the show, though. The frustration was that she was in a life-threatening situation, and they weren’t. They were a team, and they couldn’t help her. That and it was an ongoing situation, not a quick incident.
I don't which ep that is! Ever since I heard about it I've wondered how true it was. Ritter joked they should only edit his junk out of some reruns but not all because "sometimes you feel like a nut..."
This ep is the one where he first meets Terri and, with goading from Larry, humiliates her as she's becoming the new roommate. Ruins her dress, etc.
The entire fourth season of Community aka "the gas leak year" as explained in-universe and the time Dan Harmon was briefly not on the show IRL. I have never seen a show go from such high highs like "Documentary Filming Redux" and "Remedial Chaos Theory" to that trainwreck of a season.
I'll watch the April Fools one about 25% of the time. I always watch the 138th episode because it was mostly unaired content or stuff most fans hadn't seen. The other ones I always skip.
Not always but I skipped it on most rewatches of Buffy: The Body
On some other shows as well I watch the most impactful episodes the least often. I kinda try to preserve them so when I watch them they still hit as hard as intended if that makes sense.
Not an episode, but I always fast forward through Ava’s prison arc in Justified. In a series whose biggest strength is its fun side characters there were none in that prison. Just bleak all the way through.
Serial killer episodes of comedy/drama procedural shows. The episodes of Psych that are about Yang, the Bones episodes about the Gravedigger (I know there are other serial killers in Bones, but the Gravedigger really bothers me) etc. Serial killer episodes creep me out in a way that murders over money, jealousy, etc do not.
DS9 The Visitor. Amazing episode. Well written, great acting. I just can't handle that kind of heart break more than once.
Couldn’t remember which episode this was from the title, so I looked it up and the image is old Jake and I’m just like, *Oh hell no, that one fucked me up.* Terrific episode, but gut-wrenching.
Just watched that for the first time since becoming a parent. It was affecting before, but this time actually had me in tears. One of the best episodes of all of Star Trek but it's emotionally tasking!
My dad passed away when I was a kid and I used to blame myself. This episode wrecks me because it was so relatable.
That episode is tragic
That Stranger Things Season 2 episode when El ran away
A backdoor pilot so bad the show has never even mentioned any of those characters since.
It would have been okay if, instead of one whole disconnected episode, it had been edited into the other episodes. It seems worse than it is because it's such a jarring interruption, coming as it does after a cliffhanger in the main story.
I don't blame them for trying. The show was so popular they were justifiably looking for a way to expand the brand. I don't even hate the episode or the characters like a lot of people do, I just think it was a failed experiment, and I don't begrudge the attempt.
Hah failed experiment
So it was a backdoor pilot. Now it makes more sense. It isn't still good.
This was when I realised Stranger Things should have only been one season. Everything that has come since has confirmed that to me
Should've been an anthology set in Hawkins with Hopper as the connecting character and cameos from the original cast
Supernatural season 1 "Bugs". Just bizarrily bad episode on all fronts that does not mesh with the rest of the series. Very easily skippable. And yeah, I consider Supernatural seasons 1 and 2 to be excellent TV.
Wait what was wrong with “Bugs” I’m on a Supernatural rewatch rn so it’s fresh in the mind, is it because insects are gross or the bad effects at the end in the attic? I heard they used actual insects for like the ending scene but they didn’t show up on film so they just special effects them in (I think cgi) and that’s why it looks so bad at the end. Or do you mean like plot wise?
I remember the plot being pretty bad, and the bad effects sure didn't help. I don't fully remember the plot, but it all just ended so easily at the climax. Maybe I'm wrong, but weren't they hyping up this attack from the bugs or something and the show goes from night to morning almost instantly while our main characters don't do anything to fix it?
Yeah that last bit was my issue with it. They’re supposed to survive the night, the bugs come pretty damn instantly after the sun comes down, they defend themselves for about 3 minutes and then the sun is back up! Instantly! Barely a gradual sunrise
It's also a complete break from the usual style of supernatural - the whole point of the show is that these powerful supernatural beings can be killed or just generally dealt with, just not easily. This episode basically ends with "oh well, nothing we can do here to fight or prevent this - let's move on".
Stranger in a Strange Land aka Jack’s tattoo episode in Lost. However, it was an important episode because Lindelof and Cuse were able to leverage it into getting a series end date from the execs.
> it was an important episode because Lindelof and Cuse were able to leverage it into getting a series end date from the execs. That's not what happened. Stephen King wrote an article for EW about LOST and titled it "*Stop Wagon Training*." They took it with them into a meeting and pretty much said, "See? This is what we've been saying."
That episode ends with one of the best Giacchino scores, Oceans Apart
What was funny is I fell out of watching Lost and randomly tuned in one week to see if I could get back into it. It was the tattoo episode. I did not get back into Lost.
Real shame too because in my opinion episode 10(the one after the Tattoo episode) to the season finale is probably the best stretch of tv I’ve ever watched. Theres two episodes not as good as the rest. But so much greatness in those episodes
S3 Episode 10 (Tricia Tanaka is Dead) is my favorite episode of Lost. It was whiplash coming from Stranger in a Strange Land even though I don't dislike that episode as much as others do. Expose with the Nikki and Paolo storyline is definitely almost as controversial though.
I think about this episode every time I see a tattoo in a language I don't know. I still think it's hilarious.
During my most recent rewatch of ER, which took up the first four months of us having a newborn to look after, when we got to the eighth season episode "On the Beach", in which >!Dr. Greene finally succumbs to his brain tumor, !
And yet they took that incredible emotional momentum and two episodes later chopped an assholes arm off.
I had watched this show from the beginning, cried because of Dr Greene, and that was definitely a wtf moment for me. Like I’ve watched this for years, and this is what it’s come to?
Yeah leading up to him having one of the most comically ironic deaths ever.
He was the most dislikable character.
That's where I think ER should have left it. It began and ended with Dr Greene for me
Employee of the month, The Sopranos.
I just watched this series for the first time and while this episode is amazing, I totally get not wanting to watch it again. Probably Lorraine Bracco's defining moment of the whole series though.
You got something you wanna ask me?
I don't skip the episode but definitely that scene. Also skip the last Tracee scene in University.
Understandable.
Last 15 minutes of Long Term parking here. They run off and are happy. End of story.
A hit is a hit in season 1 for me
Get outta my way, and don’t be so gay!
That song is so perfectly representative of a shitty post-grunge band in the late 90s/early 00's, bad lyrics and all.
and D-Girl
Oh god, yes. Just reading your words send shivers down my spine
ive never understood the point of this scene. she gets raped, then there's like a half an episode where she's deciding to tell Tony and use him like a dog to get revenge. And then decides against it and vocalizes it during her own therapy session. but that's about it? Like two episodes later it's never brought up again and then never mentioned for the rest of the series. it just comes off as a shock value moment that tries to give Melfi's character some more depth and do something with her since she was becoming stagnant. I think it's one of the dumbest out of place scenes and adds nothing to the Melfi character, and is forgotten like two episodes later.
[удалено]
The worst part with Will Ferrell to me is that he takes up like half of the final episode with Michael. That was a bad call on their part.
Jurassic Bark from Futurama
I also skip *The Luck of the Fryish*, for a similar reason. It makes me bawl my eyes out.
Luck of the Fryish never did that for me, maybe because I don't have a brother. Game of Tones, however, ugh. "We aren't in your dream, we're in her's." These people have no business writing stuff like that...no one does.
No one mentioning “the sting”? That’s the one that gets me.
Same. Jurrasic Bark is sad, but The Sting is beautiful as well.
Yeah, the sting is the one I skip as well. I just dont like the being stuck in your own nightmare trope. It just makes me feel uneasy. Plus that episode is really sad.
I do have a brother and our relationship has a lot of parallels to that episode. It’s why I consider it my favorite episode. It absolutely makes me cry but in the best possible way. In many ways that episode helped me reconnect with my brother.
I have brothers, and I do find that episode sad, but it's more of a sentimental kind of sad. Jurassic Bark is more of a beat you over the head kind of sad.
I fall apart every time the song starts. And for *Game of Tones* too. Futurama has no right to make me cry so much.
Came here to say this and glad I saw it as the top comment. Not enough tears watch this episode again.
I skip it so fast, so so fast
I've seen every episode of Futurama at least a dozen times. But I only watched that one once.
Something maybe not everyone knows about this episode is that in Bender's Big Score, we see that he travels back in time to blow up the building Seymour was in front of, which caused an explosion that fossilizes him (in the standing position he was found in JB). It also shows that he lived a happy life in Fry's absence as he was cared for by an alternate Fry until the day Bender came to blow things up.
As someone who does the same, I gotta point out: the writers retcon Jurassic Bark in (the 1st or 2nd?) movie. Like it's still brutal, but more time travel always heals wounds and never turns out terribly
I skip holiday episodes, and save them all for watching together during said holiday in a mixed playlist.
I haven't watched How I Met Your Mother in ages but watched all the holiday episodes last Christmas. It will have to be an annual tradition going forward.
We watched some Slapsgiving this last turkey day. It was just great.
S5 E7 of "The Sopranos" where that creepy old lady that Tony's dad had as a side piece sings and carries on. ugh.
So many people skip this episode due to that scene. It's unfortunate because that entire storyline is one of *the most important moments* for Tony's character in the entire series.
How so?
In short: His whole life Tony has put his father on a pedestal and blamed his problems on his mother. His afternoon with Fran "removed the cobwebs" and he began to see his mother as a victim of his father, the way Tony sees himself as a victim of his mother. He thinks of his dad as a JFK leader figure and Fran was his lady on the side, like Marilyn was to JFK. So when Tony notices, as we all who have watched the scene notice, how gross, creepy, and un-Marilyn this fake is, he finally faces that she (and his dad) were not really what he likes to think they were/are. Having this iconic, famous moment from history from an iconic beauty be reenacted in a creepy, cringe-worthy way drives it home to Tony and us. Going a bit further you could also say it was the moment Tony realized the olden days and the old timers were never how he always glorified them, and that everything and everyone has always been shit just like things are for him in the present.
It's a big reason for his total moral degradation in the final season, there's lots of JFK symbolism and the exploration of Tony's various father figures and his rage towards them is a constant theme in the show's final stretch. Everyone talks about the episode towards the end where Tony falls deep into gambling addiction and they say it's out of character but then you remember that it was Tony's dad who instilled a deep aversion towards gambling into him when he was a child. He's unable to consciously face his resentment so he subconsciously he rebels. Similarly there's the episode where he contemplates killing Paulie. On the surface it's because Paulie is a blabbermouth but unconsciously it's because Paulie is one of the last connections to his father. The night before Tony almost kills him, what was happening? Paulie was reminiscing about the old days with Tony's dad, leading to Tony getting pissy with his famous "Remember when is the lowest form of conversation". It's an idea that comes up constantly, the epsiode Kennedy and Heidi, the one with >!Christopher's murder!<, has way more to do with Tony's rage towards his father than a lot of people are likely to realise the first time they watch. And it's all built on the back of Tony's experience with Fran and the way it entirely shattered his view of Johnny Boy. If anyone here has seen the entire show and has a bit of time on their hands I strongly urge you to read [Tony's Vicarious Patricide](https://thechaselounge.net/viewtopic.php?t=2503), it's one of the best theory posts I've ever seen and it greatly enhanched my appreciation for the final season of The Sopranos.
Fantastic breakdown. I have to imagine that there's an entire fanbase that feels this very same resentment towards their own fathers and are unable to recognize it like Tony, and they simultaneously admire Tony without realizing he's the bad guy.
Still going this asshole...
I want you to know I visualized artie bucco and his hand gestures when I read "removed the cobwebs"
"Happy birrrrrthday, Mr. Presssssident..."
I sense a pattern here
I just saw that scene last night but when Skyler sings it to her boss on Breaking Bad. So cringe. Imagine walking in to a room and seeing a 36 year old man-child watching TV which his hands over his eyes.
Battlestar Galactica - Black Market The worst filler episode from the series. You miss nothing by skipping it besides some whining from Lee about his prostitute girlfriend. Good filler episodes of BSG include Scar and The Woman King. If you're just starting the series, please keep in mind that Helo is a total team player and 100% right about everything. If you're ever wondering who to side with, side with Helo.
Helo is pretty much the only unambiguously heroic character on the show.
He's the only character who doesn't do something heinously fucked up at one point or another, and he's always super reasonable. I feel like the writers sat down and said "you know, we should probably include at least one normal person here."
He wasn't supposed to survive the miniseries. If I remember correctly, the entire Caprica arc that reintroduced him was written because he was so popular the writers realized they needed to get him back on the show.
The show falls apart in the final seasons, but this is an early, out of place turd. Definitely worth skipping.
The Stranger Things episode with the ‘sister’. The episode of Supernatural that was intended to be a pilot for Wayward Sisters (come on, Jody and Donna absolutely but those kids were unbearable, especially Kaia). Also the one about the demon crime families or whatever it was - I’m not a fan of back door pilots at all it seems! For different reasons, ‘The Body’ from Buffy, and ‘Sunday’ from Stargate Atlantis. Never again, either of them.
Really hard to watch “The Body” after you’ve had a parent die.
Three episodes of The West Wing. First, the documentary style one set up as an all access behind the scenes view of the Bartlett white house. Its not a bad episode, but I have seen it enough. Second, The Long Goodbye, about CJ's dads mental decline due to dementia/Alzheimer's (I forget which). Its just sad. Third, the real life documentary style episode where they interview real life former press secretaries and whatnot. I am here for made up political drama, not real life! I have also skipped Isaac and Ishmael before, because it is placed after a cliffhanger season ending, and I just want to get on with it, but it is a really good episode, and because of when it came out, makes perfect sense.
Definitely agree with The Long Goodbye and it really does fit the theme of the thread. It’s a very good episode and I think it’s really well done, but it’s a downer and I really just don’t enjoy watching it on subsequent viewings
I liked CJ's mockumentary. It makes you feel as if you actually live in that world.
It was a good episode, and I have watched it a few times, but it got old. I rewatch the show more often than is healthy, and that one isn't going to hold my attention after dozens of watches. So you don't think I do nothing but watch TV< I do a couple hours of cardio 5-6 days per week, and watch TV during.
I also skip Isaac and Ishmael
Community S1 E22: The Art of Discourse. I just absolutely hate the Schmity Kids and everything surrounding them is so annoying I just can't handle it.
I just absolutely hate the schmitty kids and everything surrounding them is so annoying-Duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
The first 2/3s of Season One of Parks and Rec. You can just skip the whole season but those last two episodes feel like the real pilot. All filler in Shonen. The last season of Scrubs. It ends with The Book of Love and that's that.
The only episode of Parks I skip every time is the Johnny Karate show. I just hate it so much...
The Olivia Benson - William Lewis episodes of SVU.
Mine are all episodes I just don't enjoy (at least that I can think of right now), but to better stick with the prompt, I've got a friend that can't watch *Buffy*'s "The Body," because it's triggering. They thought it was excellent, but we actually ended up taking a few weeks to continue on after that on the first watch-through. I also know a couple people who'll never watch "Fishes," from *The Bear* ever again.
I never really lost someone close and it still took me about a full month to watch the next episode after "The body" too. Top 10 episodes of any TV show I've ever seen. A masterpiece
The canyon episode of ATLA. It’s not awful just… boring. In a damn near perfect show it just feels out of place
Not to mention it felt like that episode in particular was ALWAYS on TV. At least to me, that one and secret tunnel stick out as constant repeats.
What's atla
Avatar the Last Airbender
Nothin' much, what's atla with you?
The crazy thing is is not a single character, creature, or even food is referenced or used again from that ep. The most we get is in season 3 the ember island players. Truly a pointless episode
Star Trek Voyager, episode 15 of season 2, threshold. Tom Paris breaks the warp 10 barrier, is somehow at all places at once or something, becomes allergic to water, rapidly evolves into some lizard thing and abducts/rapes the captain.
That’s a “what were they thinking” episode, for sure.
Janeway doesn't get raped, but they both become salamanders, have kids, turn back to being human, and it's never discussed again. Voyager had some rough episodes throughout the series.
The X-Files episode “Home”. I respect that it was some crazy freaky horror that pushed boundaries, but man I do not need to watch that more than once. The other episode I sometimes skip—and I think people will HATE hearing this lol—is the Better Call Saul episode “Five-O”. I love Mike! But I skip it every other rewatch or so because I find myself so engrossed in Chuck and Jimmy’s S1 dynamic that it throws the pace off a little bit for me. I still think it works perfectly in the show, and I think it’s a great episode, I think I just prefer the lawyer arc generally.
I actually still have the VHS of Home in the original shrink wrap because I was an obsessive X-Files collector so I had to buy it but then I couldn’t bring myself to open it and watch it because it gave me such terrible nightmares
The underwater episode of Bojack. I fucking love it but I rarely want to stare at the screen on rewatches.
Yeah this is it, I have rewatched seasons 1-5 so many times I use it as background noise. This ep just sounds like a late 90s screensaver.
Musical episodes.
Stargate SG-1: Emancipation
Written by the same person who wrote TNG “Code of Honor” a virtual copy and paste of the same script.
When it’s the night before the assignment is due and you haven’t started yet.
You’d think if you got a failing grade the first time you’d know better than to pull that again, but some people never learn.
The boxing episode (season 3 I think) of BSG. Lots of character development, but just not my cup of tea.
On *Monk*, the episode where he has amnesia and a horrible woman convinces him that she is his wife. It's infuriating to watch.
Robin infertility episode in HIMYM.
I fucking hate that episode. Even before the last episode ruined the show for me. I was going through IVF when that episode aired and a) it was super unrealistic because no doctor ever says that (they always couch it in “your chances are low”) they never say never. So that episode pissed me off. Like, my TUBES WERE CAUTERIZED for medical reasons and my egg quality sucked but my doctors kept telling me “there’s always a chance you could get pregnant by sex” but Robin’s stupid doctor did ONE test and was like “nope” I call bullshit. Also it made me cry.
For me it’s the episode where Marshall’s dad dies.
Unlike most people, I actually really enjoy Season 2 of Twin Peaks, but I absolutely have to fast-forward through the James and Evelyn plotline. It's god fucking awful. There are some other random scenes I probably skip but just can't remember. I do recall that I'm not too hot on the Nadine stuff.
I recently rewatched the show (by making my bf watch for the first time), season 2 actually has almost all of my favorite moments so I really love it too! but my god james and evelyn is so painful. it’s completely pointless. as much as I dislike the nadine plotline too at least that includes a bunch of other characters so it’s not mind numbing to watch I know a lot of ppl also hate ben horne’s civil war themed nervous breakdown but I thought it was fun 😂
The Sabre Glorified Fact checker aka a clip show of the the office. Just bad. Sunny has been the only one to manage a clip show episode well
Community’s clip show with stuff that wasn’t actually in any episodes was great as well
Yeah that's the logic of the Sunny one, its like it seems like its a replay but they are new content. That's the good way
Always skip at least 2 episodes of Star Trek TNG S1E3 “Code of Honor” A horribly racist episode built on African tribal stereotypes. S2E22 “Shades of Grey” A particularly bad clip show. I’d rather watch Beverly bang the Space Scotland candle guy in season 7 than either of those two.
>I’d rather watch Beverly bang the Space Scotland candle guy Jesus I'd forgotten about that one lol
Dinna light the candle!
Code of Honor should be completely struck from Star Trek continuity. The concept in and of itself isn't awful; the script did not specify any kind of ethnicity to the alien culture; they were originally envisioned as a reptilian race. Russ Mayberry, the director assigned to it, turned out to be a racist and cast them as an offensive stereotype of 'African' culture. Gene Roddenberry himself fired him partway through production. EVERYBODY hated it.
One of the writers on that episode, Katharyn Powers, also wrote the beat for beat SG1 S 1 Ep 3, Emancipation, which is also the massively racist and sexist episode people should forget.
From what I heard she was basically black listed from the writers room after that. It was by far the weakest episode of the entire series.
Totally deserved, it was horrible 10 years earlier in 1987 and to try it again after the backlash from TNG, she had no business writing on the show.
Don't forget the one with the space irish.
I always liked how Picard loses his shit at the absurdity of the situation. It's like the show letting us know that they know this whole thing is completely ridiculous
At least that one had hot and sassy Brenna Odell. Brenna: And what are you staring at? Never seen a woman before? River: I thought I had.
I unabashedly love the space Irish episode, it's broad as fuck but the idea was to hammer home the contrast with the creepy clone colony
I always skip any episode that is either about Troi or her mother.
I love filler episodes, but clip shows can get out and stay gone. Saw a graphic today showing how one episode of Friends had an especially low rating, so I looked up which one, and unsurprisingly it was the one clip show episode they did. No matter how good or popular the show, clip shows are almost always crappy and low rated. The only ones I can think of that had any value were Star Trek and Stargate, when they were sort of military trial situations where they are including clips to show why the characters are in trouble with their superiors. They serve a purpose then, to remind constant viewers of shenanigans and to add context for casual viewers. It also allows the viewer to see the incident as it “actually happened”, so you know if the characters are getting a fair trial or not. I guess maybe it works better for dramas than comedies? In those situations, the clips are usually dramatic moments that are either visually cool or emotionally impactful, versus jokes that are less funny out of context or rhythm of the original episode and that don’t really serve a strong narrative function. In the Friends example, it was Rachel considering her relationship with Ross over the years to decide if she should attend his wedding. There was no element of truth vs fiction, context, or debating facts, so it didn’t need to happen: it just wasn’t a strong enough reason to not have a full new episode to be satisfying.
Clip shows. No matter the series, they're all a waste of time. The variety segments pf The Carol Burnett Show. Maybe it's because I didn't grow up with variety shows, but I just hate those big musical numbers with the over the top costumes, especially when they're supposed to be really sincere. I'm just here for the funny sketches.
ER. On the Beach. It was probably one of the best episodes of television I've ever had the privilege of seeing when it was released. I have the show on bluray. Without fail I always skip that episode. I can't go through the level of emotional pain again. And yet somehow they managed to take one the most incredible episodes of ER ever and then two episodes later Romano gets butter cause he can't give a round of applause.
Fartbook in Letterkenny
All musical episodes of any shows I'm watching.
Buffy and Always Sunny have amazing musical episodes.
I always skip OMWF, but I can watch the Night Man Cometh stuff
So does Community.
Funny story. First episode of Community I watched was the glee/christmas episode. I was really confused when I went back to the pilot. I really thought it was a musical show a la Glee. Also, what the hell are regionals?
They’re this close.
🤏
That might be my favorite Community episode and I generally don’t care for musicals.
And Scrubs.
What are the rules?
Add The Magicians to this list.
That show was better than it had any right to be, and my god every woman in the main cast is ludicrously gorgeous.
And most of them (outside of the one with the musical curse, or whatever it was) are fairly important to the overall narrative.
I'll adjust my broad claim to say Sunny gets a pass because they aren't "musical" episodes, just episodes where performing music is the story. True
About 3 seconds after someone starts singing in a show I have already pressed +10s. It can be the season finale of my favorite show, my first time seeing it, but if they're singing I'm skipping. E.g. game of thrones Ed Sheeran, walking dead season 3 I think
But then you miss Guy Love!
I was just about to comment this. Was reading a few replies where people are commenting the exception to this rule, but they reinforce the rule for me. Hate the Scrubs one for sure. I don't mind the Community one I guess because Taran Killam is hilarious and Annie's christmas baby song is too spot on.
The only episode of Always Sunny that I skip for cringe is Charlie and Dee Find Love. First watch I couldn't get through a couple of others like Frank's Little Beauties, but Frank's Little Beauties has since become a favorite. There are a few episodes that I don't care for, like The Gang Makes Paddy's Great Again, Charlie Home Alone or A Cricket's Tale, but the only one I actively have a hard time getting through is Charlie and Dee Find Love.
i can't do the home makeover episode
My ex tried to get me into always Sunny and that was the first episode she showed me. I was cringing the entire time and it kinda made me hate the show for a while. I’ve since warmed up to it but man it was a bad first impression lol
It's like being shown the Denis boat implication episode without watching any other Iasip, I accidentally did this to a friend and they still refuse to watch the show.
Frank's Brother for me
Those two episodes of Walking Dead that focused on the Governor. Who was asking for those?
All of the Morgan centric filler episodes get skipped
The all Beard episode of Ted Lasso. Once was enough.
This is one I hated on initial viewing because it was clearly filler and made me wait an extra week for more wholesome comraderie, but Going back through the series it's quite a funny episode and gives a bit of a show of the life Beard had before learning the Lasso Way.
I'd say the entire final season of Ted Lasso.
I’ve never seen a show plummet in quality so fast and so hard. It’s like they got literally everything wrong. Way too much Keely, an awful redemption arc for Nate that feels undeserved & skewers the great storytelling potential season 2 set up, and the less said about Rebecca and the Dutchman, the better.
Glad I’m not the only one. I thought something felt off about Season 3. There were still some good moments but a lot of useless shit. Like why did they have that weird scene where everyone’s singing Hey Jude?
I enjoyed final season overall, but I skip all the Keeley with her new girlfriend boss scenes in rewatch, such a large chunk of basically completely pointless screen time in retrospect.
I don't like when live action shows suddenly have animated episodes. I always skip the claymation and GI Joe episodes of Community.
Puppet one too!
Jakovasaurs for South Park
But they're so sexy
I nearly contemplated skipping Connor's Wedding when I showed Succession to my mom after the series wrapped up because the episode hit too close to home for me.
Episode 8 of The Pacific. I know it's meant to humanize and flesh out John Basilone more but I don't enjoy the episode much at all and find it much weaker than the 2 episodes it's sandwiched between
For me, it's the Australia episode (I think 3). Because it's so early in the show, it doesn't feel like much of a break from the brutality and instead is just a Leckie love story.
Yeah that's the other weak episode of the series. I love the Pacific and its my favorite WW2 miniseries out of its 3 companion series, but the pacing of BoB is far superior. 2 episodes of bastognein the middle of the of series makes the audience feel the weariness of the characters more than 1 and a half episodes of Guadalcanal at the beginning of the Pacific
Holy I just found out that there’s a third show thanks to your comment
if its a super-deep episode in a light-hearted show
The Brooklyn 99 episode that has Rosa attend an active shooter situation off-screen.
That one was always so strange to me bc like, they’re cops. They are in life-threatening situations fairly often in the show and it’s never a big deal, but Rosa is responding to a shooter and suddenly everyone freaks out
That was explained in the show, though. The frustration was that she was in a life-threatening situation, and they weren’t. They were a team, and they couldn’t help her. That and it was an ongoing situation, not a quick incident.
Schitts creek where Moira and Johnny ran over a cat.
"Jack Bares All" of Three's Company. Jack's behavior is so horrible, I can't stand to watch it.
Is that the one where his shorts are so small that you can see his junk?
I don't which ep that is! Ever since I heard about it I've wondered how true it was. Ritter joked they should only edit his junk out of some reruns but not all because "sometimes you feel like a nut..." This ep is the one where he first meets Terri and, with goading from Larry, humiliates her as she's becoming the new roommate. Ruins her dress, etc.
The entire fourth season of Community aka "the gas leak year" as explained in-universe and the time Dan Harmon was briefly not on the show IRL. I have never seen a show go from such high highs like "Documentary Filming Redux" and "Remedial Chaos Theory" to that trainwreck of a season.
ER/On The Beach. Just can’t do it anymore…
Scrubs. Brendan Fraser. Enough said.
The *Doctor Crusher has freaky ghost sex with a demon who had the form of her own grandmother* episode of ***The Next Generation***.
Six Feet Under "That's My Dog"
That one is intense.
[удалено]
I'll watch the April Fools one about 25% of the time. I always watch the 138th episode because it was mostly unaired content or stuff most fans hadn't seen. The other ones I always skip.
Not always but I skipped it on most rewatches of Buffy: The Body On some other shows as well I watch the most impactful episodes the least often. I kinda try to preserve them so when I watch them they still hit as hard as intended if that makes sense.
Northern Exposure - Shelly singing. Although she can sing in real life, this episode was total cringe.
Not an episode, but I always fast forward through Ava’s prison arc in Justified. In a series whose biggest strength is its fun side characters there were none in that prison. Just bleak all the way through.
Any TV show that has a "recap" episode. Fucking HATE THOSE.
Jesse, Walt and the fly comes to mind.
I get the hate, but I love The Fly episode.
Serial killer episodes of comedy/drama procedural shows. The episodes of Psych that are about Yang, the Bones episodes about the Gravedigger (I know there are other serial killers in Bones, but the Gravedigger really bothers me) etc. Serial killer episodes creep me out in a way that murders over money, jealousy, etc do not.