What Are Your Top Five Favorite Episodes?

Oh that’s a good question! I’m not sure I can narrow it to five! I’ll have to think about this one!

I am surprised that so few people responded to this thread as this topic is usually a gimme in terms of provoking a discussion. If the reason is that people have difficulty limiting their favorites to just five, I will break the ice and list my top 88 episodes.

I very strongly believe that these are the 88 best episodes of the series so far, at least of the televised episodes (i.e., I do not count web-only episodes like Slingshot). The rankings are not exact, particularly for episodes in the middle.

88. 0-8-4 (1.02)
87. Repairs (1.09)
86. The Asset (1.03)
85. One of Us (2.13)
84. Yes Men (1.15)
83. The Well (1.08)
82. The Writing on the Wall (2.07)
81. The Inside Man (3.12)
80. The Ghost (4.01)
79. Eye Spy (1.04)
78. Heavy Is the Head (2.02)
77. Love in the Time of Hydra (2.14)
76. Who You Really Are (2.12)
75. The Bridge (1.10)
74. Shadows (2.01)
73. A Fractured House (2.06)
72. Nothing Personal (1.20)
71. Parting Shot (3.13)
70. Girl in the Flower Dress (1.05)
69. Wake Up (4.11)
68. A Wanted (In)Human (3.03)
67. Bouncing Back (3.11)
66. Pilot (1.01)
65. Meet the New Boss (4.02)
64. Watchdogs (3.14)
63. Failed Experiments (3.19)
62. Seeds (1.12)
61. Devils You Know (3.04)
60. Among Us Hide... (3.06)
59. Scars (2.20)
58. One Door Closes (2.15)
57. Lockup (4.05)
56. Providence (1.18)
55. T.A.H.I.T.I. (1.14)
54. The Things We Bury (2.08)
53. Making Friends and Influencing People (2.03)
52. End of the Beginning (1.16)
51. The Good Samaritan (4.06)
50. Frenemy of My Enemy (2.18)
49. Paradise Lost (3.16)
48. Laws of Nature (3.01)
47. BOOM (4.13)
46. The Team (3.17)
45. Face My Enemy (2.04)
44. Melinda (2.17)
43. Afterlife (2.16)
42. What They Become (2.10)
41. S.O.S. Part One (2.21)
40. ...Ye Who Enter Here (2.09)
39. Hot Potato Soup (4.12)
38. Ragtag (1.21)
37. Broken Promises (4.09)
36. The Magical Place (1.11)
35. Chaos Theory (3.07)
34. Closure (3.09)
33. Emancipation (3.20)
32. Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire (4.04)
31. Aftershocks (2.11)
30. World's End (4.22)
29. Farewell, Cruel World! (4.20)
28. Identity and Change (4.17)
27. Absolution (3.21)
26. The Law of Infernal Dynamics (4.08)
25. No Regrets (4.18)
24. The Singularity (3.18)
23. Spacetime (3.15)
22. A Hen in the Wolf House (2.05)
21. The Patriot (4.10)
20. The Only Light in the Darkness (1.19)
19. The Hub (1.07)
18. All the Madame's Men (4.19)
17. Purpose in the Machine (3.02)
16. Many Heads, One Tale (3.08)
15. What If... (4.16)
14. The Dirty Half Dozen (2.19)
13. Uprising (4.03)
12. Ascension (3.22)
11. The Man behind the Shield (4.14)
10. The Return (4.21)
9. Maveth (3.10)
8. S.O.S. Part Two (2.22)
7. Turn, Turn, Turn (1.17)
6. T.R.A.C.K.S. (1.13)
5. Deals with Our Devils (4.07)
4. F.Z.Z.T. (1.06)
3. Beginning of the End (1.22)
2. Self Control (4.15)
1. 4,722 Hours (3.05)

Technically, waiting for pies to bake. I know that you are not from the United States, but yesterday was Thanksgiving, which is probably the second most important holiday in the United States after Christmas. In other words, almost no American was at the office, although far too many people who work retail were forced to work in the evening.  As this is a time for big sales, this was definitely NOT a slow day for them.

For those of us who do not work retail or shop, the main point is for families to gather and consume enormous amounts of food. I traditionally contribute pies.

Actually, when episodes started airing in syndication, I kept notes on each episode and maintained a list in my preferred order, so this is not new.

It actually was the main present-day plot that I was not so fond of. By this time, I was getting a little sick of the crazy-writing arc, so I was not happy about an episode devoted to that. Second, A lot of screen time was devoted to characters who we have not seen before, will not see again, and do not care about, mostly Sebastian Derick and Hank Thompson. If an episode spends a lot of time with a character who fits the first two criteria, then it better make sure that I at least care about that character. Derik particularly bugged me in that the actor playing him overacted the part. I do not know whether that was the actor's fault or the director's fault.

Back to the time spent on minor characters, I have been looking at how much dialogue each character gets in each episode. In this episode, Derik, Thompson, and the other minor characters combined have almost exactly as much dialogue (one word more) as May, Fitz, Simmons, Mack, Hunter, and Morse combined.

As for the manhunt for Ward, the only part I minded was sending Trip on that mission when Ward would recognize him on sight. At most, Trip should have stayed completely out of sight and present only if something went really wrong and either Morse or Hunter needed backup. Side note: Why does S.H.I.E.L.D. not use disguises? If Trip had to be on that mission, could they at least have altered his features so that Ward would not recognize him?

I do not remember minding anything about the flashbacks other than that the actor portraying Derik overacted in those scenes as well.

I also want to emphasize that I list these as my 88 favorite episodes so far. There is not an episode on this list that lacks redeeming qualities. In fact, I could have answered this question by saying that I ranked "The Writing on the Wall" #82 because there were 81 episodes that I liked even more.

1. Rewind (5.05)

2. F.Z.Z.T. (1.06)

3. Deals with Our Devils (4.07)

4. Aftershocks (2.11)
5. The Devil Complex (5.14)