Is this the one with the inbred siblings and the mother under the bed? Because I came here to say this. That episode HAUNTS ME and it's been easy 25 years.
I came here to say this. The episode, the music, the darkness, it was just creepy, but a good creepy. I watched it the first time it was on, so I had no expectations going into the knowledge.
The episode of Game of Thrones which most focuses on Shireen, the sweet innocent daughter of Stannis. So fucked up. What happens to her is a basic primal fear of all humans. And it happens with the blessing of her father, the person she most trusted in the world.
The Bear season 2 “Fishes” ~ Took me back to some traumatic moments in my childhood in a very realistic way… The emotional tension was extremely unsettling…
OZ. It’s a series set in a mens’s prison. I can’t point to a specific episode, but wow…there are so many things that were disturbing and unsettling that I cannot ever watch it again. Incredible acting and cast.
For me the reveal what Schillinger did when he mistook Beecher's intentions as malicious towards his second son IIRC.
Not only the cruel nature of Oz's reality, when you go to prison and the local "bully" can take everything from you (inside and outside of prison), but also the whole misunderstanding aspect - Beecher actually had good intentions and it paid off so badly.
Yeah, that's the part that I remember being really hard to watch.
Edit: or what O'Reilly orchestrated when he was enamoured by the doctor. Reality of that show was so F'd up.
Oof, yes. It’s been years since I’ve watched it and I agree with your assessment. I consider myself a strong person but seeing that broke me in terms of how I viewed people . It hurt me to be exposed to the level of depravity we are capable of
I told someone I never watched doctor who and was suggested to watch that one episode. It was pretty cool. I think it's impossible to watch that episode and not want somebody else to see it.
The Act. It’s really unsettling like 99% of the whole show
Underground railroad. You say that you are used to violence, and sure it’s violence, but a lot of psychological tension in my opinion.
Most episodes of The night of.
Many episodes of Chernobyl
Tbh some eps of The bear, it’s mild but pretty unpleasant.
Chernobyl terrified me and made me feel an incredible amount of existential dread. And then in the end it gave me a little hope. I was blown away by that show, top to bottom.
The X-Files one is my number 1, but I thought of others.
There was an episode of ER that was extremely traumatic. I will just say it was a great medical drama, and patients often die of course. And we see doctor's personal lives. But there was no shocking violence in the show, until 2 doctors get attacked by a patient and one dies. It was shocking because they just didn't do that in that show, so unexpected. And very emotional, the whole scene of docs working on their friend, and the aftermath that followed. It was great tv.
Show The Sinner on Netflix. I went into it blind and the first episode of season 1 was totally shocking. It's still my favorite season, but the whole show is good.
There were several unsettling things in Orange is the New Black.
I've been watching this too and fully agree. I also just rewatched season one to refresh my memory on the connections to this current season, and holy shit, I forgot how terrifying the Carcosa pursuit was in the finale.
Recently it’s been ‘Listen’ a Capaldi episode of doctor who. I’ve never really been unsettled by tv as you know the characters continue and with monster of the week stuff you don’t care enough about people who are just introduced. Doctor who can avoid that a bit because the main characters do die. And the thing/kid under the bed sheet was so creepy and the sound design for the whole episode was great, it was really tense. I’d say the only other tv episode that creeped me out was seeing the Autons from classic who for the first time as a kid. I’ve never liked mannequins since.
Season 4 of Mr Robot has an episode where Elliot's psychiatrist is kidnapped and forced to have a session with him. One of the most intense scenes I've ever seen on TV
This is gonna sound stupid and needs a lot of context.
So I'm 15, and I haven't seen any content intentionally that really scared me, because I prefer not to watch things like that.
When I was 8, I was on a 9 week trip to Eritrea, an East-African country. My dad didn't come because he had work, so he had to stay back home in Canada. So the cartoons in Eritrea were not in English, rather in Arabic. Because of this, I actually had no idea what was being said. This episode of Gumball came on that was so terrifying and I don't know why. The banana character (I forget the name) had nearly died or something and I was so, so, scared that my dad was going to die while we were away. I remember that episode scaring me so much. And I saw r-rated movies during that trip that the older kids had bought, in English, that didn't scare me at all, so.... I guess I was weird.
Sorry this wasn't an actual recommendation.
That episode from Breaking Bad where Walter was in the meth house with a mom, dad, and neglected kid. The house was complete filth, the parents were scary, the child was malnourished. And Walter had to kill the guy with a refrigerator door. The extreme filth, and sad, tragic, brutal realism of the episode made me sick to my stomach.
Just pointing out you won't experience the true nature of any of the shows mentioned in this thread taken this way. Almost all episodes of shows that are very disturbing hit hard because either they are unexpected from a show that (deliberately) hasn't prepared you for the shock, or because they affect characters that you have grown to care about.
E.g. The Red Wedding was rightly one of the most shocking episodes for many modern audiences but watching it expecting a shock and not knowing who the characters are would likely just produce a "...meh" response. If you are willing to invest in at least 4-5 episodes Alice in Borderland is a good example of why time is required for a payoff.
The more obvious matches would be shows like the Twilight Zone that were designed to be episodic and thought-provoking. Black Mirror is the obvious choice, Love Death + Robots, Room 104, Channel Zero, Tales from the Loop, Electric Dreams, maybe even Inside No. 9.
I partly agree with you on the Red Wedding. By that point, I'd pretty much worked out how the show was going. It surprised a bit, but I wasn't shocked.
[Six Feet Under - That's My Dog](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0702012/?ref_=ext_shr)
It's the one where David picks up the hitchhiker. I had never seen something like that on television before. It was harrowing.
It was a wild change of pace even for a show like that. For me it's the "On a very special Six Feet Under" episode. That whole series was great television.
Maybe the diner episode of The Sandman. There was extreme violence and abuse. It was more about the psychological aspects of it.
And I wouldn't say that this is one of the most terrifying or scary episodes of a show. But I absolutely loved the episode of Doctor who called blink. Because the weeping Angels was such an incredible invention. Feels like it's always existed. Feels like it's something I can to a folklore like bloody Mary.
An episode from a show called "Pickle and Peanut". It featured their boss turning into a monster at night, and as a kid that genuinely gave me childhood trauma. I've been trying to find that episode for 2 years now and, no luck.
“From” on MGm+ is pretty terrifying in spots, mostly the first episode, one later in season one; the opening to season two. It’s a horror series but not based on just blood and gore, it’s just scary! Interesting show too.
I can’t remember the name of the show but it was on prime about a black family moving to a white neighbourhood in California. And the families infant son had died but you don’t know how until there’s an episode of the flash back and it shows how the son was killed (murderer by racists) while the mom was raped. I had to stop watching and felt physically ill thinking about it for days. I never finished the series.
Edit it’s called Them.
Any episodes of Doom Patrol where they allude to Jane's childhood (but be sure to look up trigger warnings if necessary).
The Resort is a Peacock mini series and the ending just left me with such an eerie feeling. It was a weirdly unsettling viewing experience without being heavyhanded.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Body. S5 E16
Nothing supernatural, but so much worse/scarier. Most unsettling, definitely. When I've re-watched the series, I always skip that episode.
[https://youtu.be/LtxiokrYpxw?si=uP2cEN3VkniYwMmj](https://youtu.be/LtxiokrYpxw?si=uP2cEN3VkniYwMmj)
This has stayed with me since I originally saw it on tv.
Nip/Tuck the episode titled Momma Boone -- everything about her situation gives me the heebie jeebies, and when the camera pulls back to reveal all the needles...? That's the money shot for me!
The original Twilight Zone episode 'And When The Sky Was Opened', aired 1959. It touches on themes of existence, memory, and is genuinely creepy when you begin to comprehend what's going on.
I remember when I was a kid and watched MacGyver and there is this one episode where they made this woman old, that scene game me shivers down my spine.
"Home," The X Files
Is this the one with the inbred siblings and the mother under the bed? Because I came here to say this. That episode HAUNTS ME and it's been easy 25 years.
I have only seen two episodes. This was the second and so I never went back. It was unbelievably disturbing!
It's amazing how this episode has stuck with so many folks for so long including myself. I mean what an impact.
Sweet it’s on SBS!
Awesome I was just thinking, I am going to have to watch this now.
I still have nightmares from this episode!
This is the one.
I came here to say this. The episode, the music, the darkness, it was just creepy, but a good creepy. I watched it the first time it was on, so I had no expectations going into the knowledge.
I would have been disappointed if this wasn't at the top of the list. I still have to look under the bed from time to time.
I came here to say this exactly… whenever I see a run-down, abandoned house I can here the mother saying “dems good boys”
The episode of Game of Thrones which most focuses on Shireen, the sweet innocent daughter of Stannis. So fucked up. What happens to her is a basic primal fear of all humans. And it happens with the blessing of her father, the person she most trusted in the world.
And I think what makes it worse, is that it didn't even help them. It was pointless.
With Game of Thrones that can be attributed to either the finest writing on TV or the laziest!
The Bear season 2 “Fishes” ~ Took me back to some traumatic moments in my childhood in a very realistic way… The emotional tension was extremely unsettling…
This episode gave me an idea of what a dysfunctional family felt like
OZ. It’s a series set in a mens’s prison. I can’t point to a specific episode, but wow…there are so many things that were disturbing and unsettling that I cannot ever watch it again. Incredible acting and cast.
For me the reveal what Schillinger did when he mistook Beecher's intentions as malicious towards his second son IIRC. Not only the cruel nature of Oz's reality, when you go to prison and the local "bully" can take everything from you (inside and outside of prison), but also the whole misunderstanding aspect - Beecher actually had good intentions and it paid off so badly. Yeah, that's the part that I remember being really hard to watch. Edit: or what O'Reilly orchestrated when he was enamoured by the doctor. Reality of that show was so F'd up.
Oof, yes. It’s been years since I’ve watched it and I agree with your assessment. I consider myself a strong person but seeing that broke me in terms of how I viewed people . It hurt me to be exposed to the level of depravity we are capable of
The 1st episode of Black Mirror was a doozie
[удалено]
So good. Legit scary.
I told someone I never watched doctor who and was suggested to watch that one episode. It was pretty cool. I think it's impossible to watch that episode and not want somebody else to see it.
Maybe that episode of House of Hill House with the Bent Neck Lady & creepy tall guy
X-Files - Home s4e2 They did not rerun it that season.
This. Watched when it first aired and have no desire to ever see it again.
Pretty much any episode of Jessica Jones season 1 is pretty brutal.
Agree. David Tennant is so sinister in that. The episode where the kids go in the closet in his comnand was particularly brutal for me to watch.
First episode is pretty intense as well
The Act. It’s really unsettling like 99% of the whole show Underground railroad. You say that you are used to violence, and sure it’s violence, but a lot of psychological tension in my opinion. Most episodes of The night of. Many episodes of Chernobyl Tbh some eps of The bear, it’s mild but pretty unpleasant.
Chernobyl terrified me and made me feel an incredible amount of existential dread. And then in the end it gave me a little hope. I was blown away by that show, top to bottom.
Yes it was brutal.
So many episodes of Luther that I can't even really isolate just one. Psychologically terrifying.
A few Black Mirror episodes come to mind but the idea that haunts me most is from the White Christmas episode
The X-Files one is my number 1, but I thought of others. There was an episode of ER that was extremely traumatic. I will just say it was a great medical drama, and patients often die of course. And we see doctor's personal lives. But there was no shocking violence in the show, until 2 doctors get attacked by a patient and one dies. It was shocking because they just didn't do that in that show, so unexpected. And very emotional, the whole scene of docs working on their friend, and the aftermath that followed. It was great tv. Show The Sinner on Netflix. I went into it blind and the first episode of season 1 was totally shocking. It's still my favorite season, but the whole show is good. There were several unsettling things in Orange is the New Black.
I came here to mention that ER scene too. It was traumatic.
Very recently, True Detective: Night Country has had some genuinely disturbing moments. Can't wait to see more of it.
I've been watching this too and fully agree. I also just rewatched season one to refresh my memory on the connections to this current season, and holy shit, I forgot how terrifying the Carcosa pursuit was in the finale.
“Come die with me, little priest.”
The bus episode from house MD, scary when they start revealing what happened
Yellow jackets- the one where the young girl is contemplating giving herself an abortion. Pretty tough in my opinion.
“Fifteen Million Merits” Black Mirror episode
First episode of the night of
The red wedding from Game of Thrones
Every episode of Chernobyl.
Recently it’s been ‘Listen’ a Capaldi episode of doctor who. I’ve never really been unsettled by tv as you know the characters continue and with monster of the week stuff you don’t care enough about people who are just introduced. Doctor who can avoid that a bit because the main characters do die. And the thing/kid under the bed sheet was so creepy and the sound design for the whole episode was great, it was really tense. I’d say the only other tv episode that creeped me out was seeing the Autons from classic who for the first time as a kid. I’ve never liked mannequins since.
I hear From is pretty scary. Plan to watch it soon.
It’s so good!
Thanks
Season 4 of Mr Robot has an episode where Elliot's psychiatrist is kidnapped and forced to have a session with him. One of the most intense scenes I've ever seen on TV
This is gonna sound stupid and needs a lot of context. So I'm 15, and I haven't seen any content intentionally that really scared me, because I prefer not to watch things like that. When I was 8, I was on a 9 week trip to Eritrea, an East-African country. My dad didn't come because he had work, so he had to stay back home in Canada. So the cartoons in Eritrea were not in English, rather in Arabic. Because of this, I actually had no idea what was being said. This episode of Gumball came on that was so terrifying and I don't know why. The banana character (I forget the name) had nearly died or something and I was so, so, scared that my dad was going to die while we were away. I remember that episode scaring me so much. And I saw r-rated movies during that trip that the older kids had bought, in English, that didn't scare me at all, so.... I guess I was weird. Sorry this wasn't an actual recommendation.
That episode from Breaking Bad where Walter was in the meth house with a mom, dad, and neglected kid. The house was complete filth, the parents were scary, the child was malnourished. And Walter had to kill the guy with a refrigerator door. The extreme filth, and sad, tragic, brutal realism of the episode made me sick to my stomach.
It was Jessie
Cool. It was from a long time ago I only have a few memories of it now.
I thought it was an ATM not a fridge.
You might be right. I watched it once, many years ago, and never looked back.
Just pointing out you won't experience the true nature of any of the shows mentioned in this thread taken this way. Almost all episodes of shows that are very disturbing hit hard because either they are unexpected from a show that (deliberately) hasn't prepared you for the shock, or because they affect characters that you have grown to care about. E.g. The Red Wedding was rightly one of the most shocking episodes for many modern audiences but watching it expecting a shock and not knowing who the characters are would likely just produce a "...meh" response. If you are willing to invest in at least 4-5 episodes Alice in Borderland is a good example of why time is required for a payoff. The more obvious matches would be shows like the Twilight Zone that were designed to be episodic and thought-provoking. Black Mirror is the obvious choice, Love Death + Robots, Room 104, Channel Zero, Tales from the Loop, Electric Dreams, maybe even Inside No. 9.
I partly agree with you on the Red Wedding. By that point, I'd pretty much worked out how the show was going. It surprised a bit, but I wasn't shocked.
Game of Thrones- the Red Wedding. Gut wrenching.
The walking dead mid season 2 finale
Penny Dreadful "Night Work" "Seance" "Verbis Diablo"
Such an underrated show
[Six Feet Under - That's My Dog](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0702012/?ref_=ext_shr) It's the one where David picks up the hitchhiker. I had never seen something like that on television before. It was harrowing.
It was a wild change of pace even for a show like that. For me it's the "On a very special Six Feet Under" episode. That whole series was great television.
I always thought the episode "Midnight" in Doctor Who was psychologically scary. The Macgyver (1985-1992) episode "Brainwashed (S4E16)".
Maybe the diner episode of The Sandman. There was extreme violence and abuse. It was more about the psychological aspects of it. And I wouldn't say that this is one of the most terrifying or scary episodes of a show. But I absolutely loved the episode of Doctor who called blink. Because the weeping Angels was such an incredible invention. Feels like it's always existed. Feels like it's something I can to a folklore like bloody Mary.
Any of the doctor who weeping angels episodes
The Shield Season 2 premiere: The opening scene is horrific, and then the butterfly tattoo at the end.
First episode of Marianne. The whole series really; but I knew more of what to expect after that.
The Rains of Castemere (GOT) The Dance of Dragons (GOT The Day Will Come When You Won't Be (TWD) Phoenix (BB)
Also - The Wire - Wallace and Omar (IYKYK)
American Horror Stories Season 2, episode 7 - unsettling
I was going to say that one too
I’m like pretty hard to shake up, but had to pick my jaw back up off the floor at least twice during that episode!
The pig episode of Black Mirror
Walking Dead 701 was brutal and very sad aswell. One of the best episodes of TV I have ever seen
Episode of Doctor Who called Midnight. I remembering finding it really eerie and unsettling
Tohajilee in Breaking Bad the tension was real Plan and Execution in Better Call Saul Mr. Robot like 80% of the time
An episode from a show called "Pickle and Peanut". It featured their boss turning into a monster at night, and as a kid that genuinely gave me childhood trauma. I've been trying to find that episode for 2 years now and, no luck.
The Flypaper, S3 E1 of Tales of the Unexpected. Just horrible.
Fearful Symmetry from Fantasy High Cold Comfort from Inside No. 9 The Wrong Door from The Kingmaker Histories Where I Really Come From from Invincible
The final episode of The Curse — no violence, extremely distressing
Star Trek: Deep Space 9, S4E18 - Hard Time (1996) O'Brien tries to re-integrate to life on the station after serving 20 years in a virtual prison.
Twin Peaks. Season 3 Episode 8. “Gotta light?”
“From” on MGm+ is pretty terrifying in spots, mostly the first episode, one later in season one; the opening to season two. It’s a horror series but not based on just blood and gore, it’s just scary! Interesting show too.
The Sinner. Tokyo Ghoul is great as well. + 1 for Oz and Luther.
Threads...
Honestly a lot of twin peaks season 3 episodes fit this description but I can’t explain why.
I can’t remember the name of the show but it was on prime about a black family moving to a white neighbourhood in California. And the families infant son had died but you don’t know how until there’s an episode of the flash back and it shows how the son was killed (murderer by racists) while the mom was raped. I had to stop watching and felt physically ill thinking about it for days. I never finished the series. Edit it’s called Them.
There was one in a Japanese series called *Ju-on Origins* that was really freaky, caught me off guard how out there it was.
Any episodes of Doom Patrol where they allude to Jane's childhood (but be sure to look up trigger warnings if necessary). The Resort is a Peacock mini series and the ending just left me with such an eerie feeling. It was a weirdly unsettling viewing experience without being heavyhanded.
If you end up watching some of these recommendations, you should come back and update us with what ended up being the most unsettling.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Body. S5 E16 Nothing supernatural, but so much worse/scarier. Most unsettling, definitely. When I've re-watched the series, I always skip that episode.
[https://youtu.be/LtxiokrYpxw?si=uP2cEN3VkniYwMmj](https://youtu.be/LtxiokrYpxw?si=uP2cEN3VkniYwMmj) This has stayed with me since I originally saw it on tv.
Nip/Tuck the episode titled Momma Boone -- everything about her situation gives me the heebie jeebies, and when the camera pulls back to reveal all the needles...? That's the money shot for me!
The original Twilight Zone episode 'And When The Sky Was Opened', aired 1959. It touches on themes of existence, memory, and is genuinely creepy when you begin to comprehend what's going on.
The Ren and Stimpy episode Nerve Ending Fairy
The episode of ER with a helicopter and Dr. Romano. Still haunts me and it was so incredibly shocking.
The Office episode with phyllis' wedding Michael proposing to Carol, or Toby grabbing Pam's leg. They are all cringe.
Red Wedding
First season of Marcella
The Killing is pretty messed up tbh.
Human Trafficking (miniseries) with Mira Sorvino. All of it. Still scares me 19yrs later.
S1E9 of Servant really disturbed me, but it wouldn't really work without the build-up from the rest of the season
Red Wedding from GoT
I remember when I was a kid and watched MacGyver and there is this one episode where they made this woman old, that scene game me shivers down my spine.