‘I absolutely had to rest after that!’ The most intense TV episodes ever
Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003
The show kicks off with the MI5 agents restricted while undergoing a drill about a potential terror incident, supervised by two Home Office agents. As the situation develops, it appears that there really has been an attack and a chemical agent deployed. The tension ratchets up as messages indicate 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 allowing them to leave and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. Given it’s Spooks, it is unsurprising which one he chooses.
Threads from 1984
Threads had minimal funding yet among the scariest shows I’ve ever seen owing to its grim authenticity and grim official statistics. Watched it about a month ago following the initial broadcast; I often attended the bar in Sheffield from the programme which underscored the actuality and the casual, straightforward government details that were transmitted. Remaining completely frightening 35 years later.
Severance – The We We Are from 2022
The concluding episode of Severance’s debut season has to be right up there in terms of gripping installments. I remained for the whole show quite literally on the edge of my seat, exerting with Dylan to hold the switches that kept the Innies on overtime, while shouting to the Innies to reveal their realities. The final climactic moment – “she survives!” – resembled a outburst.
The 2024 Industry episode White Mischief
Episode five of the third series of Industry had my heart racing. I needed to stop and stand and depart the area multiple times due to the immense extent of the deliberate ruin I was witnessing. Rishi Ramdani is in major difficulty professionally and personally – up to his eyeballs in debt to illegal creditors owing to his uncontrollable gaming, engaging in dangerous ventures with a gamble on the pound which could lose his company millions. Inevitably, he starts a gaming binge, does tons of drugs and drink and alternates between success and failure, is brutally attacked. Every time you think things cannot decline more, it deteriorates. Redemption seems possible as the installment closes but he squanders the opportunity, with horrifying consequences in the concluding part of the season. Absolutely had to relax following that!
Peep Show – Holiday from 2007
The series Peep Show isn’t typically anxiety-inducing. However, the Holiday episode features such degrees of awkwardness that it’ll have you standing up the whole episode, riddled with anxiety. The tension escalates as Jeremy and Mark discover needing to deceive regarding the dog they by chance collide with and subsequent attempts to dispose of it. You then occupy the remainder of the episode wondering if it might be more awful than cremation, and it can be!
The 2001 The West Wing episode The Two Cathedrals
Nothing I have seen has been as tense compared to my initial viewing the concluding episode of The West Wing’s second season. The episode starts with the aftermath of the death (in a traffic accident) of the president’s confidential aide and reaches a crescendo with a crisis in Haiti, and the effects of the withheld information regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, coupled with verification of his aim to pursue re-election. Excellent TV. Never bettered.
Bodyguard – episode one (2018)
The opening of the British series Bodyguard, with the protagonist on a train accompanied by his small son, is for me one of the most intense episodes ever. He notices a Muslim female going into the loo and senses something is wrong. The explosive disposal specialists are summoned, board the train, and endeavor to coax the woman to take off her suicide vest. Suspense rises to a practically unendurable point, until yes, the vest is diffused.
The 2001 Buffy episode The Body
Buffy comes into her home to find her mum has passed away due to natural factors, which is the rarest form of demise in this paranormal series. The installment lacks any soundtrack, a sullen tone, and we witness the episode via the perspective of Buffy’s dismay upon uncovering her mother.
The Sopranos – Made in America from 2007
The ultimate sequence of the series finale of the show was pants-wettingly tense. And if you watched it when it originally aired, you – at first – weren’t sure why. Tony’s foes, genuine and fictional, had all been defeated. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Recall the minor details.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Almost Twin Peaks levels of terror. The clan sits in an eatery. Meadow parks. Tony sadly tells Carmela difficulties are arising with yet another of his crew cooperating with the officials. Meadow parks the vehicle. Odd persons arrive at the eatery. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony selects a song on the jukebox. Meadow parks her car. The bell rings, someone enters the restaurant. It isn’t Meadow, she remains parking. Tony glances upward. Continue. It ceases. My spirit fell around 20 minutes subsequently.
The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth (2016)
I kept late hours to see this show in the early morning. It was extremely gripping after the establishment of antagonist Negan locating the survivors, mercilessly mocking his targets then not knowing who he killed (finished with an unresolved situation). The first-person perspective of the victim and the muted audio – argh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season
