‘I absolutely had to rest after that!’ The most intense episodes of TV you’ve seen
Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse (2003)
The show kicks off with the intelligence unit confined as part of a simulation relating to a hypothetical terrorist attack, overseen by two Home Office officials. As the situation develops, it appears that there really has been an attack with a chemical weapon released. The suspense builds as reports reveal a crisis unfolding beyond their walls, and gets worse as the boss appears to be infected, and the government agents endeavor to depart, forcing Matthew Macfadyen’s character to decide between shooting them or permitting their exit and endangering the sterile MI5 environment. Given it’s Spooks, the outcome is expected.
The 1984 production Threads
Threads was low budget but one of the most frightening programmes I have viewed owing to its grim authenticity and dismal official figures. Watched it about a month ago following the initial broadcast; I often attended the bar in Sheffield from the programme which emphasised the reality and the offhand factual official statements that aired. Remaining completely frightening 35 years later.
The 2022 Severance episode The We We Are
The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season ranks highly in terms of gripping installments. I spent the entire episode quite literally on the edge of my seat, exerting with Dylan to maintain his grip on the controls that allowed the Innies to remain active, while shouting to the Innies to reveal their realities. The concluding高潮 – “she is living!” – resembled a outburst.
Industry – White Mischief (2024)
Installment five in Industry’s third series had my heart racing. I needed to stop and stand and depart the area multiple times owing to the vast degree of the deliberate ruin I was witnessing. Rishi Ramdani is in deep shit in his job and domestic life – buried in financial obligations to illegal creditors because of his compulsive gambling, assuming hazardous chances on a wager involving sterling which could lose his company millions. Naturally, he embarks on a betting frenzy, uses copious drugs and alcohol and wins, loses, wins, is severely assaulted. Whenever you assume things cannot decline more, it does. There is a chance for salvation by the episode’s conclusion yet he wastes the chance, leading to terrible outcomes in the season finale. Absolutely had to relax following that!
The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday
The series Peep Show isn’t typically anxiety-inducing. Yet the installment Holiday includes such amounts of embarrassment that it’ll have you standing up the whole episode, riddled with anxiety. The situation intensifies once Jeremy and Mark find themselves having to lie about the dog they accidentally run over and subsequent attempts to dispose of it. You then spend the rest of the episode wondering if it might be more awful than cremation, and it can be!
The West Wing – The Two Cathedrals from 2001
Nothing I’ve watched has been more intense as when I first saw the concluding episode of The West Wing’s second season. The show opens with the fallout of the death (in a traffic accident) of the president’s private assistant 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 run for another term. Wonderful television. Never bettered.
The 2018 Bodyguard premiere episode
The start of the British program Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train accompanied by his small son, ranks among the most gripping episodes I’ve seen. He spots a Muslim woman going into the loo and senses something is wrong. The bomb squad is alerted, enter the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to take off her suicide vest. Suspense rises to a nearly intolerable level, until yes, the vest is diffused.
The 2001 Buffy episode The Body
Buffy enters her house to realize her mom has deceased of natural causes, which is the most unusual type of death in this paranormal series. The episode has no background music, a sullen tone, and we witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s shock of discovering her mother.
The Sopranos – Made in America (2007)
The ultimate sequence of the series finale of the program was incredibly anxious. And if you watched it when it originally aired, you – at first – weren’t sure why. Tony’s adversaries, actual and perceived, were all vanquished. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Remember the little things.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Approaching Twin Peaks-esque horror. The clan sits in an eatery. Meadow parks. Tony sadly tells Carmela there’s trouble afoot with another member of his team working with the government. Meadow parks the vehicle. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Look at Tony(?) Meadow parks. Tony selects a song on the jukebox. Meadow finds a spot. The door chimes, a person comes in. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony raises his gaze. Continue. It halts. My heart dropped from my mouth around 20 minutes subsequently.
The 2016 The Walking Dead episode The Last Day on Earth
I kept late hours to see this show at 2am. It was incredibly tense following the introduction of villain Negan discovering the characters, mercilessly mocking his targets then not knowing who he killed (finished with an unresolved situation). The point-of-view shot from the victim and the muffled sounds – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season