Spoiler Alert: This list contains spoilers for multiple TV shows.Over the course of the last 15 years, television has delivered some of the heaviest episodes that the small screen has seen at any point during the 21st century. What makes an episode of television heavy can vary greatly. Perhaps it’s deeply poignant, or overwhelmingly nerve-racking, or so dense that you need to take a few minutes to gather your thoughts after the credits roll. Whatever the case, these are some of the greatest pieces of television that the world has gotten since 2011.
Regardless of what it is that makes them feel so heavy, these episodes are so emotionally oppressive that they’re definitely not for the faint of heart. Those with the stomach to watch shows as heavy as The Leftovers or BoJack Horseman, however, will at some point be treated to episodes that are easily among the best of modern times—no matter how emotionally or intellectually hefty they are.
10
“International Assassin”
‘The Leftovers’ Season 2, Episode 8
Justin Theroux talking to a young girl in The Leftovers episode “International Assassin”.Image via HBO
Over the course of the last 15 years, HBO has been delivering several of the greatest shows of the 2010s and 2020s, and The Leftovers is undoubtedly one such masterpiece. Based on co-creator Tom Perrotta’s 2011 novel, this post-apocalyptic gem is imbued with subtle sci-fi and supernatural elements, but what really makes it stand out is just how emotionally riveting its character-driven drama is.
There are several episodes from the show that prove why it’s one of the most flawless three-season shows ever, but few are better than “International Assassin.” It’s one hour of perfect television that’s unlike anything else the medium, and certainly The Leftovers itself, had ever attempted before. Highly surreal and anchored by Justin Theroux at his best, the episode dives deep into the psyche of our protagonist through a dreamlike journey unlike any other. It’s thematically dense, emotionally weighty, and psychologically intense.
9
“Fishes”
‘The Bear’ Season 2, Episode 6
Donna (Jamie Lee Curtis) smiling in ‘The Bear’s Season 2 episode “Fishes”Image via FX on Hulu
With its final season having finally seen the light of day, The Bear hasn’t lost the title that it earned since day one: one of the greatest TV shows of the last decade. As phenomenal as it is, though, it’s also a series that constantly delights itself in being as anxiety-inducing as possible, and there’s no episode of The Bear more anxiety-inducing than “Fishes.”
With its impressive score of 9.6, it’s not only the third highest-rated episode of the show on IMDb, but also one of the highest-rated TV episodes of all time on the platform. It’s a flashback episode of pure emotional intensity and non-stop family drama. It’s loud, it’s frenetic, it’s full of masterful performances, and it’s the heaviest episode from a show that’s already full enough of heavy episodes.
8
“9:00 P.M.”
‘The Pitt’ Season 2, Episode 15
Sepideh Moafi, Noah Wyle in The Pitt Season 2 Episode 15Image via HBO Max
Medical dramas aren’t typically the kinds of pieces of prestige television that bring themselves to unprecedented acclaim, but then again, HBO Max’s The Pitt is no ordinary medical drama. The team behind the series set out to make the most accurate show the genre had ever seen, and the consensus seems to be that they succeeded. But as focused on realism as it is, The Pitt never forgets to spend time on incredibly intense character-driven drama.
But while the first season of the show felt more focused on intensity, the second felt more focused on heaviness, and that comes to a boiling point in the season finale. One of the heaviest TV episodes of the last 20 years, Season 2’s “9:00 P.M.” sees the arc of every character come to a realistic yet emotionally explosive breaking point. There’s poignancy, there’s bittersweetness, and there’s plenty of tears to be shed.
7
“The Train”
‘This Is Us’ Season 6, Episode 17
Older Kevin in ‘This Is Us’ – ‘The Train’Image via NBC
It’s technically not a soap opera, but This Is Us is such a deeply emotional and melodramatic tear-jerker masterpiece that it can pretty much be described as one of the highest-quality soap operas primetime television has ever seen. Throughout its final two seasons, too, it remained one of the saddest shows of the 2020s, a sadness that reached its pinnacle in the final stretch of the sixth and final season.
Though “The Train” is the penultimate episode of the season, it feels like nothing but the series finale in spirit. Episodes about a character’s death can often feel unnecessarily melodramatic and manipulative, but not this one. Its approach is gentle, loving, and gorgeously realistic—which arguably only makes it hit even harder.
Collider Exclusive · Universe Personality Quiz
Which Iconic Universe Do You Belong in the Most?
Star Wars · Lord of the Rings · Harry Potter · Game of Thrones · Star Trek
Five legendary universes. Five completely different visions of what the world could be — or already was. One of them is the world your instincts, your values, and your particular way of existing were built for. Eight questions will tell you which one.
🚀Star Wars
💍Lord of the Rings
🧙Harry Potter
👑Game of Thrones
🖖Star Trek
FIND YOUR UNIVERSE →
01
What gives your life its deepest sense of meaning?
Every universe is built around a different answer to this question.
ABeing part of something larger than myself — a cause, a rebellion, a fight for freedom that outlasts me.
BThe journey itself — the places I’ll go, the companions beside me, the world I’ll discover on the way.
CLearning — unlocking what I’m capable of, understanding the world’s hidden mechanics, growing into something more.
DLegacy — the name I leave behind, the power I build, the mark I make before the world moves on without me.
EUnderstanding — exploring what exists beyond the horizon and asking what it means to be alive in a universe this vast.
NEXT QUESTION →
02
Which kind of world do you most want to inhabit?
The environment shapes who you become. Choose carefully.
AA galaxy of planets, each with its own culture — connected by conflict, trade, and the Force.
BAncient lands of breathtaking beauty, deep history, and a creeping darkness at the edges.
CA world hidden inside our own — full of wonder, community, and magic waiting to be learned.
DA brutal, beautiful continent where power is everything and every alliance is a calculation.
EA future where humanity has reached the stars — and must decide what kind of species it wants to be.
NEXT QUESTION →
03
How do you prefer your conflicts resolved?
The shape of a world’s conflicts tells you everything about its soul.
AThrough sacrifice and courage — someone has to make the impossible choice so others don’t have to.
BThrough fellowship — the impossible becomes possible when the right people walk the same road.
CThrough growth — confronting what you fear, understanding what you lack, and becoming equal to the challenge.
DThrough strategy — outthinking, outmaneuvering, positioning yourself so the outcome was never in doubt.
EThrough dialogue — finding the third option, the peaceful resolution, the answer that doesn’t require a body count.
NEXT QUESTION →
04
Who do you want beside you when things get difficult?
Your ideal companions reveal the world you were made for.
AA small crew — a pilot, a rogue, a warrior — each broken in their own way, unbeatable together.
BA fellowship of different kinds of people, bound by purpose and deepened by the long road.
CFriends who grew up alongside me — who knew me before I knew myself, and stayed anyway.
DAllies whose loyalty I’ve earned — and tested — and whose ambitions align with mine, for now.
EA crew of brilliant, curious, principled people from every corner of known space.
NEXT QUESTION →
05
What is your relationship with power?
How you seek, wield, or resist power is the map of who you are.
AI want to use it to protect — and I’m terrified of what I might become if I’m not careful.
BI distrust it. The most important power in this story is the courage to give it up.
CI want to earn it — through knowledge, through effort, through becoming someone worthy of it.
DI want to wield it. Preferably before someone else decides to wield it against me.
EI want to understand it — its structures, its limits, its ethical dimensions. Power without accountability is the real threat.
NEXT QUESTION →
06
How does your universe treat good and evil?
A world’s moral architecture tells you more about it than any map.
AThere is a dark side and a light side — and the choice between them is always present, always personal.
BEvil is real and ancient and patient — and goodness, however small, is the only thing that can undo it.
CGood and evil are real, but they live inside people — and people are complicated, always capable of both.
DGood and evil are mostly a matter of perspective and proximity. Power is the only honest currency.
EEvil is usually the result of ignorance, fear, or broken systems — and understanding it is the first step to solving it.
NEXT QUESTION →
07
What role would you naturally fall into?
Every universe has archetypes. Which one fits you without trying?
AThe reluctant hero — ordinary origins, extraordinary moment, changed forever by the choice to act.
BThe unlikely carrier — the one nobody expected to matter most, quietly bearing the weight of everything.
CThe student — not yet who I’ll become, learning through every mistake, growing into something the world needs.
DThe player — sharp enough to see the game for what it is, ambitious enough to try to win it.
EThe explorer — drawn to the unknown, driven by curiosity, most alive when standing somewhere no one has stood before.
NEXT QUESTION →
08
What do you ultimately believe about the future?
The answer to this is the clearest window into which universe already lives inside you.
AThat hope is real — that even in the darkest galaxy, a new hope is always possible.
CThat even the smallest person can change the course of the future, if they have the courage to try.
CThat love and friendship and doing what’s right will matter in the end, even when everything says otherwise.
DThat the wheel keeps turning — that power shifts, winters end, and what endures is those willing to fight for it.
EThat humanity — or whatever we become — is capable of extraordinary things, if we choose to be.
REVEAL MY UNIVERSE →
Your Universe Has Been Chosen
You Belong In…
Your answers point to the iconic universe your values, your instincts, and your particular way of seeing the world were built for. This is where you would find your people — and your purpose.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
You believe in the cause — in the idea that freedom is worth fighting for even when the odds are impossible and the empire is vast.
You are drawn to the moral clarity of a universe where hope itself is a form of resistance.
You’d find your people in the Rebellion — a ragtag coalition of true believers held together by conviction more than resources.
Star Wars is fundamentally a story about ordinary people choosing to matter in an extraordinary conflict — and that is exactly your kind of story.
The Force may or may not be with you. But the will to use it for something larger than yourself certainly is.
Middle-earth
Lord of the Rings
You understand, in the deepest part of yourself, that the journey matters as much as the destination — and that the world’s beauty is worth protecting even at great cost.
Middle-earth is a world of ancient wonder, deep friendship, and a darkness that only retreats when enough small acts of courage accumulate.
You would thrive here because you value the fellowship more than the glory — the road more than the arrival.
Tolkien’s universe rewards patience, loyalty, and the willingness to carry something heavy across a very long distance.
Those are not burdens to you. They are simply how you move through the world.
The Wizarding World
Harry Potter
You believe that love, loyalty, and doing what’s right are not naive sentiments — they are the most powerful forces in any world, magical or otherwise.
The Wizarding World is a place of wonder hidden in plain sight, where learning is transformative and the bonds you form at school follow you into every battle.
You would flourish here because you take both the magic and the friendships seriously — and you understand that one without the other is incomplete.
Harry Potter’s universe ultimately rewards those who choose to stand for something even when standing is terrifying.
That choice — made quietly, without guarantee — is something you understand completely.
Westeros · The Known World
Game of Thrones
You see the world clearly — its power structures, its hypocrisies, its brutal arithmetic — and you are not paralysed by that clarity. You use it.
Westeros is a world that rewards intelligence, adaptability, and the willingness to understand that every alliance is also a negotiation.
You would survive here — possibly thrive here — because you don’t confuse the world as it is with the world as you’d like it to be.
Game of Thrones is a story about what happens when the idealists and the realists collide. You are sharp enough to know which one lasts longer.
Winter always comes. You are already prepared.
The United Federation of Planets
Star Trek
You believe the future is worth building — that curiosity, cooperation, and the expansion of understanding are not just ideals but the most practical path forward for any civilisation.
Star Trek is a universe where the questions matter as much as the answers, and where encountering something utterly alien is cause for wonder rather than fear.
You would belong here because you are fundamentally optimistic about what intelligence and decency can achieve — while being honest about how hard that achievement is.
The Federation is the universe’s most ambitious thought experiment: what if we actually got better?
You don’t just hope that’s possible. You think it’s the only thing worth working toward.
↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ
6
“Ozymandias”
‘Breaking Bad’ Season 5, Episode 14
Walt holding his baby daughter Holly in season 5 of Breaking Bad – Ozymandias (2013).Image via AMC
There’s a good reason why “Ozymandias” from the fifth and final season of Breaking Bad remained the only episode in television history to have a perfect rating of 10/10 on IMDb for the longest time. It truly is that masterful of an episode, the moment where the final season of one of the best American drama shows of all time reaches an explosive point of no return.
There are multiple ways in which “Ozymandias” can be described as heavy. Whether it’s because of its nail-biting suspense, its overwhelming emotional intensity, its gut-wrenching character moments, or its nigh-unbearable moments of tension, it’s definitely not an easy piece of television to get through. Those with the stomach for it, though, will be treated to what may just be the greatest episode in the history of television.
5
“Episode 3”
‘Adolescence’ Season 1, Episode 3
Owen Cooper as Jamie Miller standing over Erin Doherty as Briony Ariston as she sits in AdolescenceImage via Netflix
The miniseries format has been on a bit of a roll throughout the 2020s, and Adolescence is undoubtedly one of those new miniseries that are perfect from start to finish. Hugely dramatic but all too realistic, this crime drama may only be four episodes long, but those four episodes carry some of the heaviest intensity that anyone could possibly find in any miniseries from the decade thus far.
Adolescence’s “Episode 3,” like the rest of the series’ episodes, is shot in a single take. The difference here is that the episode isn’t sprawling like its two predecessors and successor are. Instead, it’s an uncomfortably intimate, entirely dialogue-driven piece mostly just between two characters. Largely thanks to Owen Cooper and Erin Doherty’s powerhouse performances, it’s quite an emotionally draining 52 minutes of television.
4
“Church and State”
‘Succession’ Season 4, Episode 9
The cast members looking somber in the pew of a church in Succession episode Church and State.Image via HBO
Though it’s infused with plenty of brilliant hints of comedy, Succession is undeniably a drama show—and one of the best of the last 15 years, for that matter. Full of twists, backstabbings, and deliciously ironic character moments, this Shakespearean tragedy for the modern age is an absolute masterclass in every respect, one of those being the creation of immensely heavy episodes of television.
Though the final season’s “Connor’s Wedding” is one of the greatest TV episodes of modern times, as well as Succession’s highest-rated, it’s actually that same season’s “Church and State” that’s the show’s heaviest episode, part of why it’s one of those perfect drama shows that get better with each rewatch. Anchored by its exceptional cast and its thematic weight, this episode that’s primarily about the funeral of a key character makes it shocking just how easy it is to shed a tear for these otherwise immensely unpleasant people.
3
“Vichnaya Pamyat”
‘Chernobyl’ Season 1, Episode 5
Valery Legasov (Jared Harris) giving a presentation in the ‘Chernobyl’ series finale.Image via HBO
Chernobyl is far and away one of the greatest miniseries not just of the 21st century, but of all time. The nuclear disaster of the titular power plant in 1986 is one of the most historic disasters in the modern history of humanity, and as such, making a television adaptation of such an event was never going to be an easy task. The team behind this show, however, managed to make the most perfect miniseries of the last 20 years.
The entire series is phenomenal, but the finale in particular, “Vichnaya Pamyat,” is one of the greatest episodes of television that the world has seen throughout the last 15 years. It’s also, however, an episode that takes a very strong stomach. Personal tragedy, historical injustice, and moral outrage are all thrown into a pot and allowed to reach their explosive boiling point in this episode, an absolutely brutal piece of television that’s nevertheless essential viewing for pretty much anyone and everyone who likes television.
2
“The View from Halfway Down”
‘BoJack Horseman’ Season 6, Episode 15
If you had told people back in 2014 that Netflix’s brand-new show about a talking horse who’s also a washed-up sitcom actor from the ’90s would end up being one of the saddest, most emotionally complex, and most philosophically profound animated shows ever made, they likely wouldn’t have believed you. Then again, there’s nothing that BoJack Horseman is if not that: absolutely unbelievable.
But aside from being one of the most universally beloved Netflix shows, BoJack also has what’s perhaps the heaviest penultimate episode in the history of television. “The View from Halfway Down” isn’t just a surreal trip through the titular character’s subconscious: It’s a riveting philosophical treatise on depression and an immensely powerful statement against suicide that somehow doesn’t break up the pacing or energy of the show’s final season. It’s immensely heavy, but a masterpiece nonetheless.
1
“The Rains of Castamere”
‘Game of Thrones’ Season 3, Episode 9
Richard Madden as Robb Stark looking serious in Game of Thrones Season 3, Episode 9 The Rains of Castamere.Image via HBO
Based on George R. R. Martin’s hugely acclaimed series of fantasy epic novels, Game of Thrones may have eventually come to a disappointing conclusion, but it’s still one of the best fantasy series ever made. Those who only expect whimsical magic and beautiful wonders from a fantasy show, however, are better off looking elsewhere. For all its merits, there’s no denying that Game of Thrones is such a dark, heavy, and frequently harrowing series that not just any kind fan of fantasy television would be able to get through it.
Even the strongest, toughest, most cold-hearted of Game of Thrones viewers, however, struggled their way through “The Rains of Castamere.” How could they not? Brutally bleak, violent, and nihilistic, this was the episode that really made it clear that absolutely no one in this show was ever fully safe. Impeccably paced and impossible not to be shocked by, “The Rains of Castamere” is the televisual version of an audience’s sense of hope being bulldozed and then burnt to ashes.