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- Stranger Things
- Netflix
The Worst Episodes Of Otherwise Great TV Shows
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How I Met Your Mother - 'Last Forever: Part Two'
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Over the course of nine seasons, How I Met Your Mother tells the story of five friends as they survive their late 20s and early 30s in New York City during the early 21st century. Of course, it's also framed by a father telling his kids the story of how he met their mother and it takes a long, long time getting to that plot point. The ninth and final season finally gets to Ted Mosby's whirlwind romance with the titular mother.
In a move many How I Met Your Mother fans would like to forget, the production team decided to off Cristin Milioti's character during the series finale "Last Forever: Part Two" so that Ted could end up with Cobie Smulders's character Robin. People were not happy about this. After nine years of buildup, Ted ends up with the woman he met in the series' very first episode, and ultimately viewers are left to question if any of the show is actually about Ted meeting his kids' mother.
A rare miss? - 2
Lost - 'Stranger in a Strange Land'
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Lost, the ABC mystery-drama that launched the careers of J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof into the stratosphere, is beloved by legions of fans and for good reason. At its best, the series hooks viewers with its addictive, "mystery box" style of storytelling, and the show has characters you can't help but care about.
"Stranger in a Strange Land," however, is widely considered to be the worst episode of the show as - instead of answering actual questions about what exactly is happening on the island - it manages to waste an entire episode focusing on the tattoos of one character, for some reason, without any payoff. Lindelof himself called it "the worst episode we ever produced" in a 2009 interview.
A rare miss? - 3
Stranger Things - 'The Lost Sister'
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- Stranger Things
- Netflix
Netflix's '80s-set sci-fi hit Stranger Things is strongest when it focuses on the interpersonal relationships of its lovable cast of characters. Fans love seeing the Hawkins, Indiana, group of youngsters play off each other in the fight against their enemies, whether they are of supernatural origin or otherwise. This is why Season 2, episode 7, "The Lost Sister," stands out like a sore thumb.
"The Lost Sister" follows Eleven as she heads to Chicago to join a clear X-Men knock-off group of rogue, edgy teens. The episode happens near the end of the season and takes the wind out of the show's sails. Vulture's Kathryn VanArendonk claims it has "little to no impact on later events, and Eleven feels like exactly the same person she was before except with a much cooler outfit." Even the Duffer Brothers, creators of the show, admitted the episode "annoyed some people."
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Dexter - 'Remember The Monsters?'
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- Dexter
- Showtime
When Dexter hit screens in 2006, it offered something unique in the realm of television prodecural dramas: a serial slayer protagonist and (courtesy of appearing on Showtime) a hyper-violent look into the world of police forensics. The life and times of Michael C. Hall's titular character proved to be an obsession for many viewers, which is what makes series finale "Remember the Monsters?" so disheartening.
With an abysmal 4.6/10 score on IMDb - with most episodes outside of the final season scoring in at about 8.2 or higher, with many in the 9.4 range - it is clear fans did not take kindly to the ending. Much of the criticism seems to stem from the episode leaving more questions than answering them. As Vulture put it, "the writers managed to tie up everything and nothing all at once." The A.V. Club's Joshua Alston gave the episode an "F" review score: "It’s a feat for a finale to make you regret having watched a single moment of the series, but 'Remember the Monsters?' made it look easy." Ouch.
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Alongside Friends, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and Full House, Seinfeld is surely one of the defining sitcoms of the 1990s. The show was monumentally popular at the time and has gone on to rake in an absolute fortune in syndication rights after its final episode in 1999. Of course, it's hard to say goodbye, and ending a show on a high note can prove to be difficult. Case in point: "The Finale."
Over 76 million people watched the last episode of the show and people weren't exactly thrilled with the ending. Seinfeld was described as a show about "the extreme something people pull out of nothing... but the finale does the reverse and pulls a whole lot of nothing out of a whole lot of something." Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker summed up the episode by saying, "Ultimately, Seinfeld and David’s kiss-off was a hearty, 'So long, suckers!'"
A rare miss?- 6
Friday Night Lights - 'Last Days of Summer'
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While Friday Night Lights struggled to maintain a steady audience during its initial run in the mid-2000s, it has gone on to become one of the most beloved dramas of the 21st century. And while the series features some outstanding acting and writing throughout its five seasons, there is one particular plotline that fans would like to forget ever happened.
Friday Night Lights is a realistic drama that tries to stay away from hokey, soap opera-like plot twists, but fan favorites Tyra and Landry end up slaying a man and dumping his body in a river during the Season 2 premiere "Last Days of Summer." Yes, in a fantastic show about real-life struggles, two characters dump a body and the show eventually just acts like it never happened. Scott Tobias of The A.V. Club wondered why the plot point was included at all, stating, "It doesn’t belong on Friday Night Lights, a show that excels at evoking the day-to-day drama of a football-obsessed town with the utmost verisimilitude."
A rare miss? - 7
Star Trek: The Next Generation - 'Code of Honor'
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The Star Trek franchise has spanned so many forms of media, from television shows and movies to comic books and video games. With so many installments, it comes as no great surprise to discover that there are some bad seeds in the bunch. While Star Trek: The Next Generation is a truly great sci-fi epic that is being continued, in a fashion, with Star Trek: Picard, the show is no exception to missteps, and the early Season 1 episode "Code of Honor" is just about as bad as they come.
With a storyline focused around the Ligonians, a severely racially insensitive characature of African peoples as a whole, "Code of Honor" seems to have little honor at all. Den of Geek's James Hunt said, "This isn't just bad television, it's openly offensive," while ScreenPrism's Jeff Saporito called the episode "pure trash." Aside from the overt insensitivity displayed, the plot seems to be a remake of an episode from the original Star Trek series, giving it even less credibility than it already had.
A rare miss? - 8
Battlestar Galactica - 'Black Market'
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The Sci-Fi Channel's space drama Battlestar Galactica, a reboot of the '70s show of the same name, is one of the defining series of the 2000s. The show made The New York Times' list of "The 20 Best TV Dramas Since The Sopranos" in 2019, and fans obsess over its lore to this very day. It is Battlestar Galactica's greatness that makes its Season 2 episode "Black Market" stick out so much with its '40s detective noir mystique.
An odd homage to 1940s detective noir, "Black Market" has been called "the shame of Battlestar Galactica" and is widely regarded as the worst episode of the show. In a review for Nerdist's Worst of the Best series, Kyle Anderson called the episode both "superfluous" and "boring," which are two words you never want associated with a television show.
A rare miss? - 9
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - 'Where the Wild Things Are'
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Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a true cult classic. The show has an impressively dedicated fanbase that has helped spawn an entire "Buffyverse" of spin-offs and tie-ins that continues almost two decades after its series finale. Buffy is memorable for its unique, supernatural aesthetic and ability to merge a campy sense of humor with serious character development, which is what makes "Where the Wild Things Are" so frustrating.
The Season 4 episode is basically just a forgettable sex romp. The premise - centering around Buffy and Riley's compulsion to get it on, fueled by ghosts - should be interesting, but it merely fizzles out. Talking about the episode, Nerdist's Kyle Anderson states, "It’s an episode that attempts some kind of message about college-age romance but does it SO ham-fistedly that the whole point of it is undercut." Anderson continues by explaining, "Buffy generally managed more hits than misses, given its tongue-in-cheek tone. When it missed, though, it was usually because of having the jokes first and the story second. 'Where the Wild Things Are' is all about jokes and premise and the actual script is very weak."
A rare miss? - 10
The Sopranos - 'Christopher'
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The Sopranos is widely considered one of the greatest television shows of all time and is the progenitor of the peak TV boom we are happily still in the middle of today. It kickstarted the careers of many then-unknown actors and made HBO the go-to place for serious dramas. In spite of this, it is important to note that even the best shows have flaws.
The Season 4 episode "Christopher" centers around a bumbling plotline involving a Columbus Day scuffle between the show's main cast of Italian Americans and a protesting group of Native Americans. The show wants to say something about modern-day race relations but it all gets muddled in an episode that doesn't feel well thought out. The A.V. Club's Emily Todd VanDerWerff said, "It’s the worst episode by SEVERAL DEGREES. The show had not been this bad before, and it would not get this bad again." She goes on to say, "This is a show where nobody really says what they're feeling, and that's a strength. Here's an episode where everybody says what they're feeling all of the time, and that's why it doesn't work."
A rare miss? - 11
The Simpsons - 'The Strong Arms of the Ma'
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Since its debut in late 1989, The Simpsons has been both a mainstay of American television and a cultural tour de force, as well. With over 600 episodes and counting, the animated sitcom has found millions of fans throughout its astonishing three decades of creativity. And while The Simpsons unquestionably is one of the greatest shows of all time, there was bound to be at least one rotten egg in the proverbial basket.
Season 14, episode 9, "The Strong Arms of the Ma," sees Marge develop agoraphobia after being mugged. She overcomes this fear through bodybuilding and hijinks ensue. Outside of the episode being a pretty forgettable, mediocre installment, there is the unfortunate scene where Marge sexually assaults Homer. It is hard to take anything that happens in The Simpsons all that seriously, but it feels pretty safe to that say such a situation should never be played for laughs.
A rare miss? - 12
The Office - 'Scott's Tots'
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As far as modern American sitcoms go, there are few as truly beloved as The Office. Running from 2005-2013, the workplace comedy made a bona fide star out of Steve Carell and inspired legions of loyal fans who adore the show to this day... no matter the streaming service it's on.
The Season 6 episode "Scott's Tots" is pretty infamous among fans of The Office. While the show clearly revels in its cringe-inducing style of comedy, "Scott's Tots" takes it to a whole new level. The episode follows Carell's Michael Scott as he has to confront a group of high schoolers after promising to pay for all of their college tuitions 10 years earlier. There is even a Subreddit called "CantWatchScottsTots" focusing on how hard of an episode it is to watch.
A rare miss? - 13
Game of Thrones - 'Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken'
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- Game of Thrones
- HBO
Game of Thrones is the most recent true, widespread television phenomenon the world has been blessed with. With more and more streaming services getting announced each year and the continuing fragmentation of cultural interests, the fantasy happenings of Westeros happened to strike a chord in a way that will be harder with each passing day.
Of course, Game of Thrones had its fair share of detractors - even before the disappointing final season - with a lot of conversation focusing on the show's predilection for unclothed omen and unnecessary, recurring sexual violence. The Season 5 episode "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken" brought everything to a head by showcasing Sansa Stark's horrendous mistreatment at the hands of Ramsay Bolton. Vanity Fair's Joanna Robinson stated, "I’d never advocate that Game of Thrones (or any work of fiction) shy away from edgy plots out of fear of pushback or controversy. But edgy plots should always accomplish something above pure titillation or shock value and what, exactly, was accomplished here?" The argument many have about this plot point is that it didn't seem entirely necessary because the audience had already seen how awful Bolton was. It also undercut Sansa's strength shown at the beginning of the episode.
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The West Wing - 'Issac and Ishmael'
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Running from 1999-2006, The West Wing garnered millions of fans while being nominated for an astonishing 95 Primetime Emmys, eventually winning 26 overall. The show is well-regarded to this day for its incredible cast, whiplash style of dialogue, and high production value. "Issac and Ishmael" was a special that ran outside of the third season's continuity on October 3, 2001, and it centers around the show's main characters talking to a group of high schoolers about terrorism.
Somehow, The West Wing's production team managed to throw together a post-9/11 episode in less than a month and it is hard to fault the show for an episode that came together so abruptly during such a tumultuous, confusing time, but the episode certainly isn't a keeper. Vanity Fair's Sonia Saraiya points out how "it is impossible to ignore the condescension in the episode, the bizarrely casual misogyny in Toby and Josh and Sam’s well-meaning banter to high school girls (and boys)."
A rare miss? - 15
Black Mirror - 'The Waldo Moment'
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Black Mirror is an absolutely beloved dark sci-fi anthology series - and for good reason. When the show is firing on all cylinders, its biting social commentary can be a breath of fresh air compared to the general, easy-going escapism offered by the majority of television offerings nowadays. Unfortunately, Season 2's "The Waldo Moment" falls short of the show's high standards.
The episode follows a comedian as he plays an animated blue bear known as Waldo who ends up nominated for political office. "The Waldo Moment" doesn't go too much deeper than that, really, which is disappointing for a show as inventive and biting as Black Mirror is. The A.V. Club's David Sims summed it up, saying, "It’s just not much fun to watch, and the episode is not nearly as clever as it thinks it is."
A rare miss?
