Everyone, no matter what, has that one show or episode they do not want to go back to for whatever reason, as in directly avoiding the episode however possible, like you've seen enough to get the gist of it, it is exactly how you remembered it, maybe even worse, and sometimes the episode is just so effective that if you seek to criticize it then you'd come off as petty, but you need some outlet to discuss it.
These are three episodes of three different shows that I do not want to revisit, knowing what's in them and what made me uncomfortable. Episodes would be ranked by the likelihood of me going back to them.
Honorable Mention
I won't include Helga's Makeover because I discussed that in my top 5 list of the worst Hey Arnold episodes, even though this is also one I want to avoid for the fact that it's exactly how I remember it, its off nature and all. However, people would often claim the first season is more of an experimental period and thus the writing was not entirely on the wall, the episode can be forgiven for that, I just don't find it enjoyable. I can watch the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy episode Who Killed Who? In spite of sharing a similar off premise, that one was just kinda stale and thus the message suffocates what the show was known for.
Speaking of Billy and Mandy, Get out of My Head is another honorable mention. Let me tell you, a majority of the Grim and Evil era was much darker than I remembered, okay not that dark, just in certain areas. I avoided this at first, but I kinda grew to accept it, realizing Billy had faced far worse or similar punishments Hell, one of them, Spider's Little Daddy, became one of my favorite episodes. But I think the reason this episode ranks lower is because Billy's stupidity wasn't firmly established, but nevertheless I'm not ready to write the episode off just yet.
Okay here we go.
#3: The Simpsons: War of the Simpsons
I needed a filler spot, and this was it. This placed number one on my worst episodes of The Simpsons list, and I did a full review of it not too long ago. This came out in the show's second season, when things were starting to gel, so no season 1 quirkiness. How bad is this episode for me, I couldn't even make it through a short clip on YouTube, my fight or flight kicked in and that was it.
Even compared to older and some later episodes, this felt off. It was the first episode to focus on the dysfunction between Homer and Marge's marriage, but previous episodes implied Marge at best settled, it just felt wrong, and that is the one term I can use to sum up the entire episode. This was long before we got the flashbacks to Homer and Marge's younger years, as if the writers wanted to make sure this didn't take any further prominence.
If you want my full thoughts, check out my review of the episode.
#2: Hey Arnold!: Mugged
Hey Arnold is a show I have a very mixed opinion on, I love the episodes I do, but there're a lot of faults I need to hold it up to, when Hey Arnold fucks up, it tends to fuck up hard, though my choice for the worst episode is not the usual one, and Mugged is not a bad episode, if it was it would've landed on my old list.
This episode didn't land on here because it's bad, far from it. This is an instance where an episode managed to get it right, maybe too right. The episode basically dealt with a power trip Arnold went on after learning how to fight from Gertie, right down to the Taxi Driver reference and him attacking an innocent bystander. The one thing that set me off was the confrontation after the latter, not that Arnold didn't deserve it, it was actually an effective way to knock him off his high horse. It just worked a bit too well, and the fact that this was released during the show's first season, which is when a show is at its most experimental, they pull out whatever stops they saw fit, hell even Caesar got in on it. For me, it perfectly represents a blow to one's ego, their idealized reality shattering when they see the true extent of what they have done, and it's far from pleasent.
It's funny how the five people that confront Arnold would be seen again in later episodes, old guy with a moustache and Martha (short haired lady) would be seen in Das Subway, the latter being seen more prevalently in later episodes. I guess the blue baseball cap kid got his design tweaked in Harold's Bar Mitzvah or I misremembered? Of course this was long before Caesar started answering the phone, and if you're a Hey Arnold fan you'd know what I'm talking about.
Long story short, the first season was weird, and this is an instance of something working far too well.
#1: Rugrats: Pickles vs. Pickles
I probably talked about this long ago, probably not I dunno, lol. Rugrats is no stranger to dark moments, especially with its pre-Dil seasons. Rugrats featured some pretty interesting nightmare sequences, it was certainly distinct, that along with its humor. Ironically, Angelica's Worst Nightmare isn't that scary to me, even as a kid all the way to now. But what would I consider my most disturbing episode? Well, you can see the title. Pickles Vs. Pickles has never placed on any list regarding creepiest nightmares, which I kinda get as people tend to gravitate more toward the more fantastical ones.
One edge Pickles Vs. Pickles has toward other episodes in my opinion is its realism. As a kid this would not bother anyone, but as an adult, it hits differently. The episode basically cemented Angelica as the brat she is, though to her credit she does have some fans, and represented Drew's inability to lay the hammer down, which ironically he did in earlier in the series, and he managed to be fine, hell, he was far more stern there.
Basically, this basically represents Drew's inability to truly control his daughter and how she practically has free reign under his roof. The fact that this was all a manipulation ploy that has been done multiple times before suggests Drew had this nightmare multiple times, or Angelica had better luck nixing the other foods previously, who knows?
More complicated answer, it's a psychological thriller that basically says a parent sucks at it because they bend to the will of their children and that it is something that can happen in real life, the lack of being able to curb bad behavior so to speak. More simple answer, the judge makes me uncomfortable, how easily he is able to be swayed to let Angelica rep herself and his insistence that she is entirely innocent. It's funny that he is made to resemble Thurgood Marshall, it's almost as if someone got paid some hefty hush money. Now sure, this could've been a sign something was wrong, but... eh screw it, I'm not freaking out over a monster, I'm freaking out over something that can possibly happen, possibly. If it were to happen the judge would have to be a huge pedophile, which is arguably more creepy. If the Rugrats reboot ever remade episodes from the original, how much do you wanna bet that the judge would be modeled after Clarence Thomas?
Also this is one of the few Rugrats episodes to make use of an alternative end credits theme, they obviously went for a more sinister approach here. By that point, after my revisitation of it, I had my fill and I never wanted to see it again.
And that's about it.
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