Which Episodes of Your Favorite Shows Rate the Highest?
Graph TV takes the IMDB viewer ratings and charts them to determine which episodes of your favorite shows rank the highest. This is like Pinterest for TV junkies. You could spend hours pulling and analyzing the data. We thought it might be fun to plug in some of our favorite shows and see what, if any, trends emerged.
Game of Thrones
Everyone complains that George R.R. Martin kills off many characters, but perhaps he’s just giving the people what they want. Based on nearly 600,000 ratings on IMDB, the episodes in which a major character dies are the ones ranking the highest each season: Baelor = 9.5 (season 1), Blackwater = 9.7 (season 2 - though this is more overall carnage than it is a singular death), The Rains of Castamere = 9.9 (season 3), and The Lion and the Rose = 9.8 and tied with The Laws of Gods and Men (season 4). Since I’ve read the books, I expect the ratings for this season’s upcoming and final three episodes to be insane.
The Walking Dead
The data for The Walking Dead, based on nearly 400,000 ratings, is pretty interesting in that it mirrors the sentiment of many fans we’ve engaged with on Twitter, Facebook, and via our podcast. The show’s pilot remains one of the most well-regarded episodes, while the rest of the season (while still earning decent scores) didn’t quite live up to the premiere’s potential. Many consider season 2 boring and accused it of dragging with too much time spent at Hershel’s farm. For the record: I do not agree. It’s no surprise, though, that the highest rated episode (9.2) of the season, Pretty Much Dead Already, was the mid-season finale and featured a major reveal of what Hershel was keeping in that barn. Those are followed closely by the last two episodes of the season (Better Angels = 9.0 and Beside the Dying Fire = 9.1), which featured a major character death and a huge character reveal (Michonne), respectively.
Looking at season 3, it’s no surprise that the highest rated episode, Killer Within = 9.3, contained the deaths of two main cast members. And the general disappointment in the season’s finale, Welcome to the Tombs, is reflected in its 8.0 rating. The fourth, and most recent, season featured an outstanding episode (Internment = 9.0) focused on Hershel’s efforts to care for the dying while protecting the living. Scott Wilson turned in stellar work for that episode and it’s reflected in how the episode was rated. But the highest score of the season (9.7) goes to Too Far Gone, the mid-season finale which featured not just the death of a core cast member, but lots of action. The polarizing episode, The Grove, received a rating of 9.2. This is largely due to the performances of Melissa McBride (Carol) and Chad Coleman (Tyreese).
Breaking Bad
Not a whole lot of surprises when you chart the ratings for Breaking Bad, which were taken from nearly 500,000 reviews. The first season, while still better than most shows on TV at the time or since, suffered from the writer’s strike induced shortened season. Many didn’t have time to find the show. Breaking Bad found its legs through word-of-mouth and Netflix Instant Viewing.
Continuing the trend of Big Event Episodes receiving the most love, season 3 saw high marks for episodes One Minute = 9.6 (a major character is shot) and the finale, Full Measure = 9.7, where Walt commits an act that solidifies his transition into Heisenberg. The season 4 finale, Face Off, featured several deaths and could have been the series’ finale. It received an overall rating of 9.9.
The highest rating for the entire series goes to Ozymandias from season 5. It is, hands down, one of the finest hours of television I’ve ever seen. It deserves its perfect 10.0.
Dexter
I actually laughed out loud when the chart for Dexter was generated. Based off nearly 500,000 ratings, the Dexter chart tells us two things most already knew:
- Season 4, featuring John Lithgow as The Trinity Killer, was the series’ best. And the finale (which included a major character death that shocked everyone), The Getaway, was a huge fan favorite with a 9.7 rating.
- The show entered a steady decline after season 4 and it hit rock bottom with the series finale, Remember the Monsters?, which was universally hated. It received the show’s lowest rating ever at 4.9.
Go graph some of your favorite shows. Were you shocked by the results?
