Tell Us Now: 20 Favorite TV Episodes That Use Flashbacks

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Tell Us Now: 20 Favorite TV Episodes That Use Flashbacks

If you're anything like us, you love flashback episodes–it's a chance to see our favorite characters in a new context and with a goofy, dated hairstyle. We went to Facebook to ask Cracked readers, “What's your favorite flashback TV episode and why?” Here are the top 20 responses (even though some include recaps, those are technically still flashbacks so we'll allow it.)

TELL US NOW. THE WEST WING S2EP 1: IN THE SHADOW OF TWO GUNMEN Chuck C. explains, It takes the characters you've grown to love over the first season, and simultaneously puts them in danger and tells the story of how they came together to get the President elected in
TELL US NOW. STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION S6EP 15: TAPESTRY Andy M. tells US, We get to see the brash, young version of Picard and explore the idea that our identities are shaped by our decisions, both bad and good. CRACKED.COM
TELL US NOW. SOUTH PARK S2EP7: CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER Sto PARRK ELEMENTARY R Stewart M. says, The kids are trapped in a bus by a shadow monster lurking outside, SO they tell stories of past episodes and all of them ended with everyone eating ice cream.
TELL US NOW. STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE S5 EP 6: TRIALS AND TRIBBLE-ATIONS Bradley G. explains, It's fun, it teases some tropes from the original show while still being reverential, it is sufficiently interesting its own right... AND, c'mon, Terry Farrell FTW!
TELL US NOW. THE SIMPSONS S9EP 3: LISA'S SAX Brandie P. says the episode is worth it for the All in The Family 'Those Were the Days' opening song parody. CRACKED.COM
TELL US NOW. SEINFELD S3EP 5: THE LIBRARY Jessica S. enjoys the episode where We are sent back in time to George and Jerry's high school days. In the locker room, Jerry, sporting a 70s mullet rather than his usual 90s mullet, lends his borrowed copy of Tropic of Cancer to
TELL US NOW. SCRUBS S3 EP 20: MY FAULT P ARENA PARKING Ethan C. likes the episode because It starts with Turk having an afro, and shows him screaming and pulling out his hair every time something goes wrong... until he's completely bald. CRACKED.COM
TELL US NOW. QUANTUM LEAP S3EP1: THE LEAP HOME Marisa R. shares, One of the most poignant and touching of the series. Who hasn't thought about what they would fix if they could go back into their OWn timeline knowing what they know now?
TELL US NOW. LOST S6EP15: ACROSS THE SEA Andrew A. explains, It showed the origins of Jacob and The Man in Black, or the Smoke Monster. I really dug the lore of this show, and this episode was kind of a pinnacle. The problem, however, is that the show never
TELL US NOW. HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER S4EP10: THE FIGHT Multiple readers pointed out HIMYM is technically all a flashback, but Lindsay B. likes this episode where they are in college getting stoned, but they replace the weed with sandwiches.
TELL US NOW. GREY'S ANATOMY S6EP 15: THE TIME WARP Kristina H. raves, It shows Ellis and Richard treating a patient who has GRID (what they later know to be AIDS) when no one else will treat him. It's an excellent episode for character development.
TELL US NOW. THE GOOD PLACE S4EP 9: THE ANSWER Shana C. appreciates the episode because it provides the best exposition for why Chidi is the best person to save all of humanity while giving US a chance to watch experiences unnfold that were spoken about off the cuff.
TELL US NOW. FIREFLY S1EP 8: OUT OF GAS Dot O. explains that the episode starts close to the end of the story, and flashes back between things that happened earlier in that run, and things that happened way back when they first got the crew together. CRACKED.COM
TELL US NOW. COMMUNITY S2EP 21: PARADIGMS OF HUMAN MEMORY Patrick P. raves, They took the recap flashback gag and turned it on its head, giving flashbacks to scenes that never happened before. CRACKED.COM
TELL US NOW. CLERKS: THE ANIMATED SERIES S1EP2: THE CLIP SHOW... Stewart M. says, They aired their flashback special as their second ever episode, with most of the flashbacks coming from the first episode and this episode.
TELL US NOW. CHARMED S6EP 11: WITCHSTOCK Kristina H. says, Seeing Leo as a free spirited hippie white lighter before it was all demon drama all the time was a fun change of pace. One of my favorite episodes of the series!
TELL US NOW. BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER S5 EP 7: FOOL FOR LOVE Brian F. likes this episode because it serves as the real start of humanizing Spike and setting him up to be both a complete bad ass and a vulnerable, self-loathing but compelling character.
TELL US NOW. BOJACK HORSEMAN S5 EP 8: MR. PEANUTBUTTER'S BOOS Chris S. says, It does a great job juggling the three flashbacks with the present, and it has some of the best character development in the whole series. The Halloween backdrop is just the icing on the cake.
TELL US NOW. BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES S1EP 18: BEWARE THE GRAY GHOST Cameron K. raves over the episode, saying. In-depth character development, a nod to Adam West, and also showed how badly some actors do after getting typecast as one character. CRACKED.COM
TELL US NOW. AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER S3 EP 17: THE EMBER ISLAND PLAYERS Benjamin H.'s favorite flashback episode is by far this one, saying, It was recap and character development.
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