The 2000s marked a turning point in television, with some programs going to dark places they'd never gone to before. From police procedurals to iconic cartoons, these episodes of beloved shows weren't afraid to cover tough topics.
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00:00The 2000s marked a turning point in television, with some programs going to dark places they'd
00:05never gone to before.
00:06From police procedurals to iconic cartoons, these episodes of beloved shows weren't afraid
00:11to cover tough topics.
00:13The American version of The Office helped popularize cringe comedy, particularly through
00:17the embarrassing antics of Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch manager Michael Scott.
00:22Seemingly unaware of the damage and chaos he leaves in his wake, Michael has nothing
00:27to offer but is so desperate to be liked that he routinely makes promises that he
00:31can't keep.
00:32In what's become the most notorious episode of The Office by far, it's revealed that he
00:36once promised college tuition to an entire class of students.
00:40I've made some empty promises in my life, but hands down that was the most generous."
00:46Scott's T.O.D.S. sees Michael and Aaron visit the local high school, where the senior class
00:50has been anticipating a round of scholarships, courtesy of Mr. Scott.
00:54After sitting through a song-and-dance number honoring Michael for his generosity, he must
00:59admit to all of their faces that he never accrued the fortune that he anticipated having
01:03a decade ago.
01:05The kids are crushed, and Michael's hapless graduation gift of laptop batteries only makes
01:10it worse.
01:11Fewer television episodes are harder to sit through than Scott's T.O.D.S.
01:14Fans re-watching the series will sometimes skip the episode entirely while making their
01:18way through season six.
01:20The main arc of season three of the scientific police procedural Bones was the tracking and
01:25capture of a charismatic, persuasive, and brutal repeat cannibal killer, initially known
01:30only as Gormagon.
01:33Over time, the team of brilliant forensic anthropologists from the Jeffersonian, led
01:37by Dr. Temperance Brennan and FBI liaison Celie Booth, realize that Gormagon has an
01:43apprentice responsible for some of his most horrific acts.
01:46Much of the running time of the 2008 episode, The Pain in the Heart, is devoted to setting
01:50up nerdy and unlikely Dr. Hodgins as this apprentice.
01:55But it can't be that simple.
01:56The team discovers that the inside operative is the even more unlikely intern, Zack Addy,
02:01a sweet, sensitive genius who is exactly the kind of person Gormagon could manipulate.
02:07It's a particularly dark and sad episode of Bones, which is dark enough as it is considering
02:11its propensity to depict rotting human remains.
02:14It breaks the procedural format while writing actor Eric Milligan off the show, as Zack
02:19is convicted of murder and sentenced to live out his days in a mental health facility.
02:24Patients died all the time on the medical dramedy Scrubs.
02:28That's just part of life for hospital doctors.
02:30The show deftly weaved tragedy with comedy, particularly via fantasy sequence from the
02:34mind of young resident Dr. John Dorian.
02:37The 2004 episode My Screw-Up used that storytelling device to tell a devastating story of grief
02:43and give viewers a shocking twist ending.
02:45The usually unflappable physician in charge, Dr. Perry Cox, is busy planning his son's
02:51first birthday party and celebrating his brother-in-law Ben's newly cancer-free status.
02:56Before going out to run an errand, Dr. Cox tells J.D. to run some tests on Ben, but J.D.
03:01would rather tend to the elderly Mr. Taylor.
03:03I already looked at his EKG, Newby.
03:06And trust me, he's not gonna die in the next 30 minutes.
03:09Now!
03:10Go!
03:12It seems that Dr. Cox was wrong, as he returns to find out that Mr. Taylor actually did die
03:18while he was gone.
03:19This sends him into a rage, so he blames J.D., takes over his patients, and works for days
03:25straight.
03:26The episode ends with Dr. Cox and Ben having a conversation about the power of forgiveness.
03:31Dr. Cox admits he doesn't want to go to the party, because it isn't a party at all.
03:35It's Ben's funeral.
03:36Mr. Taylor hadn't been the one who died.
03:39Ben was.
03:40Physically tough and unemotional Dr. Cox crumbles, physically and emotionally.
03:45Comedians Trey Parker and Matt Stone struck Colorado mountain gold with South Park, gaining
03:49a reputation for having one of the raunchiest shows around.
03:53While elementary schooler Eric Cartman has engaged in all sorts of problematic antics,
03:57none of his exploits come close to his actions in the 2001 episode, Scott Tenorman Must Die.
04:03After local ninth-grader Scott Tenorman swindles Cartman out of $10, Cartman decides to take
04:09revenge.
04:10He invites Scott's favorite band, Radiohead, asking them to come to town, convincing them
04:14to make the trip by lying about Scott dying of cancer.
04:17Cartman tells his friends about the plan.
04:19He's going to train a starving pony to bite off Scott's genitals, and he'll embarrass
04:24himself by crying in front of Radiohead.
04:26The kids warn Scott, who sends his parents to deal with the pony.
04:29Cartman reveals all at the South Park Chili-Cun Carnival.
04:32He knew his friends would tell Scott, and that Scott would send his parents to the pony
04:36farm, where he knew Farmer Jenkins would shoot and kill the trespassers on sight.
04:40The chili that Scott's chowing down on?
04:43It's made out of his own parents, whose bodies Cartman chopped up.
04:47Scott is destroyed emotionally, with Radiohead watching as Cartman celebrates his victory.
04:52Oh, the tears of unfathomable sadness, mmm, yummy, yummy, you guys."
04:59CBS enjoyed 15 years of high ratings for Criminal Minds, as millions found it satisfying to
05:04watch genius detectives and profilers stop some of the most despicable and frightening
05:08killers and kidnappers on television.
05:11The good guys usually won on Criminal Minds, but the happy ending of catching serial murdering
05:15villains couldn't overcome the horrific imagery and story conjured by the two-part season
05:21four-ender in 2009, To Hell, Followed By, and Back.
05:25When numerous people living on the edge of society in Detroit begin to disappear, the
05:29Behavioral Analysis Unit takes the case.
05:31When they finally find their culprit, it's a sadder, more complex, and far more gruesome
05:36situation than the team could have imagined, or network TV viewers could have expected.
05:41Developmentally disabled adult Lucas Turner had paralyzed his brother Mason when he wanted
05:45to sell their family pig farm.
05:47Lucas wound up caring for his brother while also venturing out to steal medical supplies
05:52and kidnap people.
05:53The victims were used to perform deadly rudimentary stem cell removal procedures, all under Mason's
05:59orders.
06:00In order to spend bodies of the disappeared, Lucas fed those to the pigs.
06:04It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia has all the bones of a traditional sitcom, but there's
06:08nothing traditional about the gang.
06:10Dennis, Dee, Mac, Charlie, and Frank have become television legends thanks to their
06:14schemes, which usually involve deception, debasement, and even death.
06:18The 2007 episode, Mac is a Serial Killer, has all three of those things.
06:23When Mac shows up wearing the same clothes he wore the previous day with scratches on
06:26his neck, Frank thinks he might be the serial killer that's on the loose.
06:31Oh, if I prove that he is guilty, I am gonna torture the shit out of him.
06:37Mac is no killer, but he does have a secret.
06:40He's dating a trans woman, and he doesn't want to tell his friends yet.
06:43Dennis and Dee want to find the real killer, so to get into the proper mindset, they stalk
06:47the waitress with tools stolen from a hardware store manned by Dee's neighbor, Gary.
06:52Dennis and Dee meet back up with Frank to call Mac, luring him into Gary's apartment.
06:56When Frank threatens to kill Mac with a chainsaw, Mac finally reveals the truth.
07:01So if Mac isn't the killer, who is?
07:03That's quickly revealed when Charlie opens Gary's fridge looking for beer and finds multiple
07:08severed heads instead.
07:10Gary comes home, and Frank turns on the chainsaw as the episode concludes, implying that the
07:15gang murders the murderer.
07:18Doctors experiencing medical trauma frequently and heartbreakingly died on ER, with the series
07:23showing the profound impact of such experiences on medical professionals.
07:26The two-part saga from 2000, Be Still My Heart and All in the Family, are the best ER episodes
07:32ever, at least according to IMDb users.
07:35They offer some of the series' most harrowing medical drama while also making it personal
07:39for the doctors, overwhelmingly and tragically so.
07:42It's not a lovely Valentine's Day in the ER, as multiple doctors try and fail to save the
07:47lives of a couple involved in a car accident while the victim's kids look on.
07:51Another team treats a sick dog, while the sometimes romantically entangled physicians
07:55Carter and Knight both tend to Paul, a man with serious mental health issues.
08:00Dr. Carter lashes out at Knight and storms off after a disagreement, so he's not present
08:05when Paul suffers an episode, finds a knife, and uses it to stab Dr. Knight.
08:09Carter discovers his dying colleague on the floor of the exam room after Paul stabs him,
08:14and the pair stare at each other as they drift into unconsciousness.
08:18Despite the best efforts of the trauma response team, Dr. Knight dies from internal injuries
08:23suffered in the stabbing.
08:24Dr. Carter survives, a broken man after the death of his colleague and potential love.
08:29From episode one, it was clear that Breaking Bad was going to be a gloomy affair.
08:33The series tracked the descent of Walter White, a scientist-turned-chemistry teacher who becomes
08:38a cutthroat New Mexico methamphetamine dealer in order to fund his cancer treatments and
08:43provide for his family after his death.
08:45Season two's penultimate episode, Phoenix, represents a particularly bleak turning point
08:50in Walt's moral downfall.
08:51Walt is resentful over missing his daughter's birth because his partner Jessie was too high
08:56on heroin to handle a major meth sale.
08:58He refuses to hand over his accomplice's cut of the profits, so Jessie's girlfriend, Jane,
09:03concocts a blackmail scheme to get the money.
09:05"...Do right by Jessie tonight, or I will burn you to the ground."
09:14Walt decides to hand over the cash, but only to Jessie.
09:17When he decides to go back to Jessie's apartment later to talk to him, Walt finds him and Jane
09:22passed out from the effects of heroin.
09:24Walt tries to rouse his partner, which makes Jane shift onto her back.
09:28It's not long before she vomits and begins to choke.
09:31While Walt is more than capable of saving Jane's life, he chooses to watch her die instead.
09:36Dexter presented an audacious, gruesome, and psychologically taxing spin on the familiar
09:41TV genre of cop vs. killer.
09:43Dexter Morgan, a blood splatter analyst for the Miami Police Department, harbors an insatiable
09:48urge to kill, so he rationalizes his serial murdering by only targeting bad people, like
09:53other serial killers.
09:55While Dexter was never family viewing, some fans thought that the season four finale,
09:59The Getaway, still went a bit too far.
10:01Dexter spends most of the season getting close to Arthur Mitchell, a church-going family
10:05man who has a double life as the Trinity Killer.
10:08Arthur figures out Dexter is also a murderer, but Dexter manages to make his move and take
10:13out his rival with a hammer.
10:14Thinking his bloodlust is permanently satiated, Dexter looks forward to a quiet, murder-free
10:19life with his family.
10:20He returns home and finds his wife, Rita, dead for hours by Arthur's hand, in a bathtub
10:25full of her own blood.
10:26His young son, Harrison, sits traumatized on the bathroom floor covered in his mother's
10:31blood, mirroring Dexter's earliest memory of his mother's murder.
10:36Across its original 13-season run, King of the Hill consistently told low-key, amusing,
10:41realistic stories about Texan propane salesman Hank Hill's attempts to relate to his goofy
10:45son Bobby and make sense of the rapidly changing world.
10:49Writers deviated from the form very occasionally, never more dramatically, than with the surreal
10:54and macabre 2003 episode, Pygmalion.
10:58Luan attends a class at the Learning Annex and meets Trip Larson, a pork-processing tycoon.
11:03He offers Luan a job and instantly develops an unhealthy fixation with her.
11:07He dictates how Luan dresses and wears her hair, and moves her into his home with no
11:11warning.
11:12Peggy vocally opposes the relationship, and she receives a headless pig on her doorstep
11:16for doing so.
11:17Trip serves Luan drugged milk and dyes her hair red in an attempt to transform her into
11:22a woman from a Larson Pork Products poster that he idealized since childhood.
11:27Rejecting a marriage proposal from Trip while he's dressed in a pig costume at a Halloween
11:31party, Luan flees into a slaughterhouse and gets caught on a conveyor belt.
11:35As she's about to be turned into sausage, Trip joins her and welcomes death, only for
11:40Peggy to find them at the last minute.
11:42She saves Luan, while Trip gets impaled on a spike and killed.
11:46And now, he's in a better place.
11:48Honey, Trip had a mental breakdown and is now a sausage.
11:52That's not a better place.
11:54By the end of season 5, House had settled into a formula that made it a compelling,
11:58heavily-watched medical procedural trauma.
12:00Each episode, a couple of patients would check into the Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital
12:05with a mystery ailment, and Dr. House would crudely insult his assistant diagnosticians
12:10until they all identified and treated the disease.
12:13It all still happens in the 2009 episode, Simple Explanation.
12:16As the medical team copes with a patient who recovers from a terminal illness just as his
12:20wife and caretaker seem to be at death's door, a member of the staff unexpectedly dies.
12:26Dr. Lawrence Kutner, usually a cheery, optimistic, and kind individual, is discovered to have
12:31died by suicide.
12:32The other doctors grieve, totally unable to cope with the loss because it just doesn't
12:37make sense to them.
12:38House, deep in denial, thinks Dr. Kutner must have been murdered.
12:41Alas, there is no Simple Explanation for suicide.
12:45The episode is partly so dark because it unexpectedly delves into the personal life of one of its
12:50supporting characters, and doesn't offer up any easy answers in the wake of a devastating
12:55loss.