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Twitter Chooses the Best Television Episode of the Decade

Bojack Horseman's "Free Churro" is the best TV of the decade

Podcaster Gabriel Urbina asked Twitter users to name the single best TV episode of the decade. There were the usual suspects, and some surprises, and some deep cuts.

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Reading these replies—and the heartfelt enthusiasm behind the recommendations—made me want to curl up with a playlist of everything listed here and watch them all, even for shows where I haven’t seen any other episodes. TV is Good. If we’ve gotten one creative gift from this difficult decade, it’s the golden age of television that we live in right now.

As Urbina summarizes, this call returned a host of answers, many of which can be boiled down into Breaking Bad’s “Ozymandias” and Hannibal’s “Mizumono.” Of course, it was hard for most people to pick just one, though Urbina did try.

Urbina’s personal selection was the Peter Capaldi Doctor Who episode “Heaven Sent,” a sentiment several other users agreed with. (There was also a runner-up mention for Capaldi-Who’s “Listen.”) Here are some other brilliant episode choices I saw pop up in the thread again and again:

This would be The Good Place’s “Michael’s Gambit” and “Janet(s).” To which I can say, motherforking yes.

The third season of Twin Peaks’ Part 8, also known as “The Return,” was cited in the thread with great fervor.

This is a fantastic episode of The Magicians. I don’t know about best of the decade, but I could agree with best of The Magicians.

This Tweet pulled together a lot of the picks found in the myriad replies to Urbina. I have to say, from all of the content praised therein, I’ve been persuaded to watch The Leftovers, which got many shout-outs.

There was also a lot of admiration for Westworld’s “Kiksuya” alongside some of the episodes we’ve now seen taking the lead.

Not gonna argue with any of these.

PLEASE WATCH PENNY DREADFUL. PLEASE.

Our love for Bill Hader abounds, and this episode of Barry got the most love of all Barry(s).

While it would make for a strange succession of moods, this list right here could provide the perfect episodic playlist, or a masterclass on writing television across genres. In terms of the long-running Game of Thrones, there were also frequent hat-tips to “The Door,” “Hardhome,” and “The Winds of Winter.”

Breaking Bad fans were out in full force to remind us to look upon the works of “Ozymandias” whenever discussion strayed.

Black Mirror’s “San Junipero” was in many ways a game-changer for queer representation in science fiction and just a phenomenal episode of television.


Animated shows had an incredible decade, with lots of acclaim going to Rick & Morty, Bob’s Burgers, Steven Universe, Gravity Falls, Adventure Time, Attack on Titan, Over the Garden Wall, and many more.

What’s my pick? Thanks for asking. The correct answer is BoJack Horseman’s season five episode “Free Churro.” I’ve never seen anything like it, and I don’t think there will—or can—be anything quite like it again.

I will not be taking questions at this time.

Erm, I mean, I value your input and opinions too! What wasn’t mentioned here? Which episodes are your best of the decade? And if you had to name just one, what would it be?

Bojack Horseman free churro gif

(via Gabriel Urbina on Twitter, images: Netflix)

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Author
Kaila Hale-Stern
Kaila Hale-Stern (she/her) is a content director, editor, and writer who has been working in digital media for more than fifteen years. She started at TMS in 2016. She loves to write about TV—especially science fiction, fantasy, and mystery shows—and movies, with an emphasis on Marvel. Talk to her about fandom, queer representation, and Captain Kirk. Kaila has written for io9, Gizmodo, New York Magazine, The Awl, Wired, Cosmopolitan, and once published a Harlequin novel you'll never find.

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