The Countdown Breaks the Top 25

This week, we're slicing into the Top 25 Best Episodes of the Season in our summer-long countdown. Before we get to this week's entries, here's a look at the rules for this year's winners. LillyKat and I ended up with 36 incredible episodes that demonstrate the diversity and quality of the current television state. The shows and their episodes are from both NETWORK and CABLE television. All episodes aired between June 2007 and June 2008. Each episode that made the final list moved us in some way; either by making us laugh out loud, cry our eyes out or just left us with that "wow" feeling that stays with you for a few days. So basically, it's completely subjective! Since this is a summer-long countdown to the number 1 episode, we will reveal a few each week all summer. So, be sure to tune in every Thursday to find out which episodes are on the countdown! Today, we're going to take a closer look at numbers 27-25.

27: "Spoiler Alert" - How I Met Your Mother
Discovering this gem of a comedy was one of the good things to come out of the 3-month long Writers Strike this past winter. And this hilarious outing was my introduction to the series. You know how it is when you first meet someone -- you're so blinded by your attraction to him/her that you can't see their most obvious flaws even though all of your friends can. This is what happened to Ted when he introduced his latest girlfriend to the gang. Once they pointed out her flaw, he had a hard time seeing anything else. Multiply that by 5 different people and you get the hilarity that ensued as each member of the group pointed out another member's flaws and spoiled everyone's images of them. Whether it was Marshall's tendency to sing about things, Lily's really loud chewing or Robin's overuse of the word "literally," this episode had so many funny moments that it literally had you laughing out loud. Written by Stephen Lloyd and directed by Pamela Fryman.

26: "Shrink Wrap" - Dexter
When you can put Dexter Morgan in therapy, and he can actually exclaim out loud, "I'm a serial killer. God! That feels so good to finally tell to someone!", you know it's going to be an episode to remember. But when it also reveals the true identity of the Ice Truck Killer, it's even better. And did we mention the God-complex psychiatrist (who had a habit of taking advantage of powerful women in their weakest moment by convincing them to commit suicide)? In doing his homework to get rid of psycho Doc, Dex got to deal with some of his own stuff. And it helped him cross that all important intimacy bridge with Rita. There is a powerful and compelling connection between the two of them that, in actual fact, is not defined by an intimate relationship (at least it wasn’t until this ep). And through the damage, the wounds, the baggage, the fear, Dex and Rita make up one of the most endearing couples on the tube. Hands down. Dex’s dark side balanced out by his good-hearted devotion to Rita, her children, their life together – even when he can’t quite make heads or tails of it, even when he struggles to define it, even when it worries him into thinking it’ll be lost. And Rita’s pure ability to see only goodness in Dex. Just genius. Alas, "Shrink Wrap" covered a whole lotta ground, and put a serial killer in therapy – the oxymoronic phrase of the century. Written by Lauren Gussis and directed by Tony Goldwyn. - LillyKat, PTR Senior Staff Writer


25: "The Verdict in the Story" - Bones
As far as Bones episodes go, this was a pretty heavy one. It never truly hit Bones that her father was facing incredible odds. He was accused of murdering an FBI bigwig, and even though there was no smoking gun, the evidence clearly pointed in his direction. Even Sweets believed that her father was capable of anything if he thought his family was threatened. Things were not looking good for Max Keenan, so Brennan took a huge risk and presented herself as a viable suspect in order to cast that all-important reasonable doubt on her father. It worked. More importantly, though, it showed Brennan what it feels like when you let your heart take over. And that's exactly what she did thanks to Booth who explained how to put the brain "into neutral" and the heart "into overdrive." This being Bones, there was also plenty of humor thanks to several scenes with Sweets and one where Brennan and Booth had to be separated in the courtroom!! They were scolded like second graders! Why was I not surprised?? Written by Christopher Ambrose and directed by Jeannot Szwarc.

So, there's a look at the next set of episodes on the countdown. What do you think? Do you agree? Disagree? Leave us a comment with your thoughts. And be sure to tune in next Thursday for #24-22 on the list.