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While TV is often a method of
getting away from real world struggles - never more necessary than in 2016 -
great television generally cuts a bit deeper.
The
best television is that which allows us to experience the highest of highs and
lowest of lows, with both making a genuine impact. The most memorable moments,
the ones that linger, are more often than not those that sting too.
When
Buffy's mother dies, or Marshall's dad (in HIMYM). When pretty much everyone is
killed at the Red Wedding, or when the Friends leave the apartment for the last
time. Usually sad, or at least bittersweet; always with us.
2016
wasn't shy of these such moments. There were some truly shocking deaths, sad
goodbyes, characters we care about suffering emotional turmoil, and even one surprisingly
happy ending. (Warning: contains spoilers.)
9. Marcia's Breakdown
- The People V O.J. Simpson
The People V O.J. Simpson was
many things: a detailed, dramatised retelling of one of the biggest stories of
the 1990s; a meticulously plotted courtroom drama; a scathing comment on
celebrity culture; an examination of institutionalised racism within America.
It was also a character study, or more character rebuilding, of Marcia Clark.
Brilliantly
played by Sarah Paulson, the series humanises Clark, a person who was turned
into a caricature by the media at the time.
After
some negative press, Clark decided to get a new haircut, and is genuinely
impressed with the results. She strides into the courtroom with newfound
confidence, only to find all eyes gawking and mouths sniggering.
She
tries to maintain composure, but gradually crumples, with Paulson showing us
every bit of pain and stress she's going through - which is only exemplified
when we soon learn of the toil the trial is taking on her ability to look after
her children.
8. Zoom Kills Barry's
Dad - The Flash
2016 wasn't the strongest of
years for The Flash. The show lost a lot of what made it so fun and fresh in
its first year, with convoluted time travel elements and lacklustre villains.
However,
the show - and in particular Grant Gustin - remained more than capable of
selling an emotional gut-punch, and none came bigger than the death of Barry's
father, Henry Allen.
Henry
wasn't a consistent presence in Barry's life, due to being in prison for most
of it, but the two had a touching bond (more than helped by the chemistry
between Gustin and John Wesley Shipp).
The
importance of Henry to Barry was repeatedly made clear, and we had a number of
heartwarming moments between them. There was also the fact that Barry had lost
his mother, something the series had repeatedly used as an emotional anchor
(and revisiting it the episode before this happened).
Trying
to drag Barry down to his level, then, Zoom does the one thing that'll work: he
kills Henry in front of him. It'd been telegraphed, but nothing quite prepared
us for the devasting loss.
7. Kimmy Finds Her
Mom - Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
As well as being one of the
outright funniest shows on TV, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt also manages to be
incredibly poignant.
The
show is centred around the oddball titular character, and wrings a lot of
comedy from her discovering the world after 15 years trapped in a bunker by a
crazed cult-leading Jon Hamm.
But it
also shows that darker side of that, with the PTSD Kimmy suffers, and the
emotional trauma of being separated from not just the world, but her family,
whom she hasn't reconnected with.
Season
2 all builds to its final moments, which sees Kimmy find her mother (played, in
a stroke of casting genius, by Lisa Kudrow). The entire scenario plays out in
emotional fashion, managing to be both funny and sad at the same time. The pair
each get to express some hard truths, and a lot of pain comes out on a literal
emotional rollercoaster.
The
moment that really pulls at the heartstrings, though, comes just before that.
Kimmy is in the ball-pit, when her mother gets worried they'll miss the ride
(she's a rollercoaster junkie). Kimmy has to put her shoes on first, but
realises she can't tie them, as her mother never taught her how. She falls,
scrapes her knee, and cries out for her mother
Out-of-context,
to someone not invested in the show, that sounds ridiculous. But when you know
the character, and care about her, it becomes incredibly emotional.
6. Laurel Says
Goodbye – Arrow
Much like its stablemate The
Flash, Arrow hasn't enjoyed the best run of form this year. Although it's
course-corrected a lot in Season 5, the back-end of Season 4 was a continuation
of the show's major decline.
Right
in the middle of that you had the big, supposedly shocking moment that was
Laurel's death.
The
issue was we knew someone was going to try at some point, because they'd said
so in the season premiere, and Laurel increasingly became the most likely
candidate.
However,
while Darhk stabbing her didn't carry the impact it otherwise might've, she
still got an emotional farewell scene. Katie Cassidy and Stephen Amell sold the
hell out of it, and made it hard to say goodbye even to a character who wasn't
always that well-liked (but had improved a lot in the past couple of years).
5. Yorkie And Kelly
Reunite - Black Mirror
Season 3 of Black Mirror saw
the show firing on all of its cylinders, a dark and twisted look five-minutes
into the future.
The
show painted a truly horrifying vision of the near-future, humanity
intersecting with technological advances to catastrophic results. And yet, its
best episode was one that veered away from that.
Yorkie
and Kelly meet in the titular town of San Junipero, and soon begin a tryst that
takes them through time. We watch as they fall in love, waiting for the
rug-pull.
Sure
enough, they're two elderly people not long for this world, and San Junipero is
a place you can live forever, uploading your consciousness to a machine. And
while Yorkie plans on a permanent stay, Kelly does not.
It's
all set up for a heart-wrenching end, with Yorkie left all alone, wondering if
she's made a huge mistake in eternal life. But then, in its last moments, San
Junipero pulls Black Mirror's most surprising twist yet: it gives us a happy
ending. The pair drive off into the sunset, and give us a beautiful conclusion
to one of the year's best episodes of television.
4. The Ending -
BoJack Horseman
BoJack Horseman is an
incredibly strange beast (the show, not the titular character, although he is
that too). An animated series about a washed-up sitcom actor, who also happens
to be an anthropomorphic horse, it follows his life, struggles, and friends
both human and animal.
That it
gets a whole load of comedy from this ridiculous setup is impressive enough.
But what truly makes BoJack Horseman stand out is how deftly it handles its
emotional beats. A series that, yes, is about a talking horse, but also deals
with depression, anxiety, fame, and grief in a way very few shows can manage.
No
moment better encapsulates that than the closing stages of the stellar Season
3. BoJack has lost Sarah Lynn, is distanced from everyone around him, and can't
let himself be happy.
He
drives down an empty road, picking up dangerous speed, and then closes his eyes
and takes his hands off the wheel. When the car eventually stops, BoJack stands
and watches a number of other horses running wild and free. But that's all he
can do, for now: stand and watch, not join in. It's an extremely powerful and
poignant end to a season that was every bit as sad as it was hilarious, and
thoughtful as it was weird.
3. Lorelai's
Phonecall - Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life
Gilmore Girls: A Year In The
Life is a rare thing: a television reboot that actually works, standing right
next to the original series, and giving the ending that creator Amy
Sherman-Palladino always planned.
While
there's still plenty comedy in the four-part miniseries, it also realises that
Gilmore Girls' bigger strength lies in its drama, in particular the family
kind.
The sad
passing of Edward Herrmann in 2014 meant that Richard Gilmore was no longer
around here, and his passing provides an emotional throughline for the four
year-spanning instalments.
The
heart-wrenching begins in Winter, with Lorelai's inability to think of a nice
story to tell about her father. It leads to an epic row with her mother, but
all comes full circle in Fall, when Lorelai does find a story to tell.
Out in
the wild, she places a call to her mother - who doesn't say a word until the
end - and details how she was being bullied at school, and her dad found her,
took her to the cinema, and really looked after her.
Lauren
Graham is always amazing on Gilmore Girls, but rarely gets to visit such
emotional depths. She lays it all out here, no quips to cover anything up, as
she deals with her father's passing and her relationship with both Richard and
Emily. She's in tears by the end and, frankly, so was everyone watching.
2. Hold The Door -
Game Of Thrones
Hodor is the big friendly giant
of Westeros; only able to speak his own name, he's nonetheless a kind-hearted
soul - indeed, one of the few truly good and purely innocent people existing
within the world of ice and fire.
So, of
course, the series had to give him a devastating exit.
Season
6's The Door was a fine episode anyway, but it'll be remembered for Hodor.
Bran's visions see him get touched by the Night King, which leads the White
Walkers and their undead army straight to the door of the Three-Eyed Raven.
What
ensues is a chaotic chase scene, as Bran, Meera, Summer, and Hodor attempt to
flee. At the same time, Bran is still in the past, this time with a vision of
young Hodor - aka Wylis - at Winterfell.
The two
scenes each build to one brutal crescendo, as Hodor becomes a human barrier to
allow Bran and Meera to escape. Bran wargs into him in the past as Meera shouts
hold the door, and we see how Wylis became Hodor, and then see him die.
Hold
the door. Holdoor. Hodor. Hold me.
1. Poussey's
Death - Orange Is The New Black
"This place crushes
anything good."
Those words are spoken in The Animals, the 12th episode of
OITNB's brilliant-but-harrowing fourth season, by chief Caputo to the young,
kind-hearted officer Bayley.
By the end of the episode, they'd be devastatingly literal.
Tensions between the inmates and he guards had been building all
season long, so it was only a matter of time before it escalated to the point
that something like this happened. But it still doesn't fully prepare you for
the trauma.
As riots break out, Poussey Washington - one of the nicest and
best characters on the show - is pinned down by Bayley, and begins to be
crushed. The scene goes on and on, as her situation becomes more perilous - and
invokes the Black Lives Matter movement - until eventually she is crushed to
death.
It's horrible to watch, shot in chaotic fashion by Mad Men's
Matthew Weiner, and is an almost unspeakable tragedy.
Agree with this list? Anything
we've missed? Share your thoughts down in the comments.
