A series can be loved and praised greatly over the years, but when the ending isn’t right, something sticks. Damon Lindelof can sing a song of that with “Lost” (then made up for it with “The Leftovers”).
Now Vanity Fair has chosen the 25 best series episodes of the past 25 years and among them is Blackwater, the 9th episode of the second season of Game of Thrones. You remember: The attack on King’s Landing.
The episode was written by George RR Martin himself, which is why he has now commented on the magazine’s selection. Martin wraps himself up in the rather not so successful conclusion of the fantasy series, whose creators had to continue the story flying blindly, so to speak, because there was no longer a book template (which the author still owes us and has been announced for years). Be silent.
Everyone’s Waiting is perfect
But he was very specific with other favorites. That’s what Martin called the Sopranos episode The Pine Barrens and the Breaking Bad episode Ozymandias (which ranks high in many lists of the best TV episodes of recent years). But another episode of the series appealed to him even more.
Martin: “If I had to pick one episode that was even more perfect than any other on the list, it would have to be the final episode of ‘Six Feet Under.’ I really liked the series, although I can’t say I loved it as much as ‘Rome’ or ‘Deadwood’ or ‘Fargo’ or a few other series missing from the list, but that last installment was by far the best finale in the entire history of television and I can’t imagine how anyone could do it better.”
Anyone who has seen “Six Feet Under” will of course agree immediately and possibly wipe away a tear while reading these lines or hear “Breath Me” by Sia afterwards. For everyone else, a little guide to the HBO series is recommended. The episode, titled Everyone’s Waiting, is of course also on the unranked Vanity Fair list. Also included are episodes of Mad Men, Grey’s Anatomy, 30 Rock, BoJack Horeseman, This Is Us, and Black Mirror, among others.