‘I absolutely had to rest after that!’ The most gripping television episodes ever
Spooks – I Spy Apocalypse from 2003
The show kicks off with the MI5 agents locked down while undergoing a drill 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 and a chemical agent deployed. The tension ratchets up as messages indicate a disaster happening externally, and gets worse as the boss appears to be infected, and the two Home Office officials attempt to leave, pushing the protagonist portrayed by Matthew Macfadyen to choose between firing at them or permitting their exit and risking contaminating the sealed MI5 offices. As this is Spooks, his decision is predictable.
Threads (1984)
Threads was low budget yet among the scariest shows I have ever watched owing to its grim authenticity and grim official statistics. Viewed it recently after seeing the first airing; I often attended the bar in Sheffield shown in the series which underscored the actuality and the casual, straightforward government details that aired. Still absolutely terrifying 35 years later.
Severance – The We We Are from 2022
The first season finale of Severance deserves a top spot among intense episodes. I was throughout the episode literally perched nervously, exerting with Dylan to keep his hands on the levers that kept the Innies on overtime, while shouting to the Innies to disclose their facts. The ultimate peak – “she’s alive!” – was like an eruption.
Industry – White Mischief (2024)
The fifth episode of Industry’s third season made my pulse quicken. I needed to stop and stand and depart the area multiple times because of the sheer scale of the deliberate ruin I was witnessing. Rishi Ramdani faces serious trouble in his job and domestic life – up to his eyeballs in debt to loan sharks owing to his uncontrollable gaming, assuming hazardous chances with a gamble on the pound that might cost his firm millions. So of course, he goes on a gambling spree, does tons of drugs and drink and experiences wins and losses, is brutally attacked. Whenever you assume things cannot decline more, it worsens. Redemption seems possible at the end of the episode but he squanders the opportunity, with horrifying consequences during the season’s final episode. Absolutely had to relax following that!
The 2007 Peep Show episode Holiday
Peep Show itself isn’t necessarily a stressful show. Yet the installment Holiday contains such levels of cringe that it will make you rise the whole episode, filled with nervousness. The tension escalates when Jeremy and Mark realize needing to deceive regarding the dog they by chance collide with and later efforts to get rid of it. You then spend the rest of the episode wondering if it might be more awful than cremation, and it is possible!
The 2001 The West Wing episode The Two Cathedrals
Nothing I have seen has been as tense than the first time I watched the season two finale to The West Wing. The show opens with the fallout of the death (in a traffic accident) of the president’s personal secretary and builds to a peak involving a Haitian emergency, and the effects of the withheld information regarding the president’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis, with confirmation of his intention to run for another term. Superb programming. Never bettered.
The 2018 Bodyguard premiere episode
The opening of the British series Bodyguard, with the hero aboard a train with his young son, is personally a top tense installment. He spots a Muslim woman heading to the toilet and senses something is wrong. The bomb squad is alerted, get on the train, and attempt to convince the woman to remove her explosive vest. Tension escalates to an almost unbearable degree, 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 rarest form of demise 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 from 2007
The final scene of the final episode of the program was incredibly anxious. And if you watched it when it originally aired, you – initially – were uncertain of the reason. Tony’s enemies, real and imagined, had all been defeated. This seems similar to the first season’s finale, right? “Think about the small elements.” But the mood is bizarrely ominous. Nearly Twin Peaks-like fear. The family gathers in a diner. Meadow finds a parking spot. Tony gloomily informs Carmela difficulties are arising with another member of his team cooperating with the officials. Meadow secures a parking space. Unfamiliar individuals come into the diner. Stare at Tony(?) Meadow continues to park. Tony selects a song on the jukebox. Meadow parks. The door chimes, a person comes in. Can’t be Meadow, she’s still parking. Tony glances upward. Keep going. It stops. My heart sank about 20 minutes later.
The Walking Dead – The Last Day on Earth from 2016
I stayed up to watch this episode during the night. It was incredibly tense after the buildup of bad guy Negan locating the survivors, mercilessly mocking his targets and then keeping the death a mystery (finished with an unresolved situation). The victim’s POV shot and the muted audio – ugh! {We then had to wait for season seven|We then needed to await season
