Episode of the Week: ‘NCIS,’ ‘Gotham,’ ‘Agents of SHIELD,’ and more

Now that we are right in the trenches of the May sweeps, one thing feels pretty assured to us: The competition for Episode of the Week here at CarterMatt is going to get so much more intense than it has even been to date! We have many finales battling it out for the honor, but even still, for this week’s voting period (May 3 – 9) the episodes that we found the most engaging were by and large normal late-season episodes … with at least one exception.

Now, let’s give a quick moment to celebrate the winner of the Episode of the Week voting for April 26 – May 2: “Blue Bloods”! The season 5 finale “The Art of War” scored an impressive 46.2% of the vote to take home the title.

“Agents of SHIELD” season 2, episode 20 – “Scars.” Once Again, proof that the show does not need to fully rely on the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe to craft a great episode. This episode gave us much more insight into the Inhumans, and paves the way for a great decision for Skye to make in the finale.

“Gotham” season 1, episode 22 – “All Happy Families Are Like.” The Penguin started his true rise to power, Bruce Wayne learned a thing or two about his parents, and the Riddler is beginning to showcase more of who he is. To us, this is the “Gotham” that we wanted to see all season.

“Mad Men” season 7, episode 12 – “Lost Horizon.” One of our favorite episodes of the past seven seasons, and that is saying something. We’d feel bad including the show almost every week, at least were it not for the fact that the stories have been pretty darn amazing.

“NCIS” season 12, episode 23 – “The Lost Boys.” Admittedly, this episode was probably a victim of over-hype when it came to a character’s death. Still, we are really engaged in this final arc, mostly because seeing Gibbs in a different environment working with kids is a welcome change, and you get the feeling here that there are real stakes and reason for concern.

“Once Upon a Time” season 4, episode 20 – “Mother.” Maybe there was a little filler at times, but in between Cora’s return and the Author’s true endgame here, this may be the first time since the Peter Pan arc that this show has genuinely surprised us with one of the risks that it has taken.