‘I definitely needed a lie-down after that!’ Your most gripping television episodes ever
Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)
This installment starts with the intelligence unit locked down while undergoing a drill relating to a hypothetical terrorist attack, supervised by two Home Office agents. As things progress, it becomes clear a real incident has taken place and a chemical weapon has been unleashed. The suspense builds as messages indicate a catastrophe taking place outside, and gets worse as the boss appears to be infected, and the government agents endeavor to depart, compelling the character played by Matthew Macfadyen to decide between shooting them or permitting their exit and potentially infecting the secure MI5 headquarters. This being Spooks, his decision is predictable.
Threads from 1984
The production was inexpensive yet among the scariest shows I have ever watched owing to its grim authenticity and grim official statistics. Watched it about a month ago having watched the original; I often attended the bar in Sheffield shown in the series which underscored the actuality and the offhand factual official statements that aired. Continuing to be utterly horrifying decades on.
Severance – The We We Are from 2022
The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season ranks highly in terms of gripping installments. I spent the entire episode actually sitting tensely, pushing alongside Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that allowed the Innies to remain active, while shouting to the Innies to get their truths out there. The ultimate peak – “she’s alive!” – felt like an explosion.
The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief
Installment five in Industry’s third series had my heart racing. I was compelled to halt and rise and leave the room several times owing to the vast degree of the wanton self-destruction I was witnessing. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty at work and home – overwhelmed by debt from unscrupulous lenders owing to his uncontrollable gaming, engaging in dangerous ventures with a bet on sterling which may result in huge losses for his employer. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, does tons of drugs and drink and wins, loses, wins, is brutally attacked. Every time you think the situation cannot deteriorate further, it worsens. There is a chance for salvation at the end of the episode but he misses the opening, resulting in dreadful effects in the season finale. Definitely needed a lie-down after that!
The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday
Peep Show itself isn’t necessarily a stressful show. But the episode Holiday contains such levels of cringe that it will make you rise throughout the entire episode, riddled with anxiety. It all ramps up once Jeremy and Mark find themselves having to lie about the dog they by chance collide with and following tries to eliminate it. You then occupy the remainder of the episode questioning whether it truly can be worse than incineration, and it is possible!
The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals (2001)
No other viewing has been as gripping than the first time I watched the second season finale of The West Wing. The show opens with the fallout of the death (in a traffic accident) of the president’s personal secretary and reaches a crescendo with a situation in Haiti, and the effects of the withheld information of the president’s MS diagnosis, coupled with verification of his aim to seek re-election. Wonderful television. Never bettered.
Bodyguard – episode one from 2018
The start of the British program Bodyguard, with the protagonist on a train alongside his juvenile boy, is personally a top tense installment. He spots a Muslim woman entering the restroom and realizes something is amiss. The explosive disposal specialists are summoned, get on the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to remove her explosive vest. Suspense rises to a nearly intolerable level, until yes, the vest is diffused.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Body (2001)
Buffy enters her house to realize her mom has deceased due to natural factors, which is the least common kind of passing in this paranormal series. The installment lacks any soundtrack, a sullen tone, and we view the installment through the lens of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.
The 2007 The Sopranos finale Made in America
The concluding moment of the last installment of the program was incredibly anxious. And for those who saw it during its initial broadcast, you – at first – weren’t sure why. Tony’s enemies, real and imagined, were all overcome. Surely this has the feel of the season one ending? “Recall the minor details.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow finds a parking spot. Tony sorrowfully notifies Carmela there’s trouble afoot with an additional associate cooperating with the officials. Meadow parks the vehicle. Unfamiliar individuals come into the diner. Gaze at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony plays a track on the music machine. Meadow parks her car. The bell sounds, an individual enters. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony raises his gaze. Don’t stop. It stops. My spirit fell about 20 minutes later.
The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth
I stayed up to watch this episode at 2am. It was so intense after the establishment of antagonist Negan locating the survivors, cruelly taunting his victims and then keeping the death a mystery (ended on a cliffhanger). The victim’s POV shot and the muffled sounds – ugh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season