MovieChat Forums > Cracker (1993) Discussion > Top 10 cracker eps

Top 10 cracker eps

posted 18 years ago by rickyallen
9 replies | jump to latest

First, and by far the best, were the McGovern episodes...

1. To Be a Somebody
2. Men Should Weep
3. To Say I Love You
4. Brotherly Love
5. One Day a Lemming Will Fly
6. The Mad Woman in the Attic

There was a drop in quality in the ones he didn't write, although still good, the characters and situations lost an edge of believability...

7. True Romance
8. The Big Crunch
9. Best Boys

And the 1996 special was really sub Cracker, a definate disappointment...

10. White Ghost

Hope that the new episode is right up there at the top with the rest of the McGoverns...

"On the outside, I was an honest man...I had to come to prison to be a crook."

[–] Sabrejetp 18 years ago

Brotherly Love has got to be the best one. It has a few implausible 'soap' moments but that doesn't matter, (its fiction it doesn't have to stack up)

[–] jarrodfactor 18 years ago

I'd say Men Should Weep as the best episode. Not the easiest to watch, but when you think of the number of dark psychological truths that are packed into its 3 episodes, it's hard to top.

[–] Dlp07 18 years ago

I nearly agree. Although by no means great, White Ghost's not all bad, not much in the way of originality though. Personally I find True Romance the weakest because it's the most silly and far- fetched. In places anyway- Mark's abduction springs to mind- somehow Floyd attacking Judith in Men Should Weep was much more plausible. Although the killer character and her motivation were actually quite interesting I just don't think it worked. The Big Crunch I think is superior to all three of the episodes written by the other, other writer. Like Men Should Weep it's not an easy watch and the villains are so hypocritical they are are probably among the hardest to emphathise with / understand. The story of Best Boys is pretty much To Say I love You again but I think the two actors playing the killers are both outstanding. Also the homophobia / foster family storylines were quite poignant.

Anyway, my order:

1. To Be A Somebody
2. Brotherly Love
3. To Say I Love You
4. Men Should Weep
5. The Mad Woman in the Attic
6. One Day A Lemming Will Fly
7. The New One
8. The Big Crunch
9. Best Boys
10. White Ghost
11. True Romance

[–] dannysays 18 years ago

The whole premise of 'True Romance' with Janice obsessing over Fitz is quite implausible and so the crime element does come across as far-fetched, I agree. But it works in that episode because of the reasoning behind it. 'True Romance' was the finale of the third series. It HAD to focus on Fitz - it needed someone to show up Fitz's faults and problems in all their glory, and hammer home one of the main points of the whole series - that whilst Fitz can figure out and analyse everyone else, when it comes to his own life, he's completly incapable of sorting himself out. Janice does that in a way - because by having someone who knows so much about Fitz means that in the all important interview scenes - she can turn it all on him. 'True Romance' is meant to be all about Fitz (it in particular goes in very heavy on his emotional side, whether it be Mark's kidnap, his perpetually troubled marriage or his relationship with Penhaligon). It's not really meant to be about Janice and the crime story - that's just there to trigger everything else, and you have to remember that when you watch it. I still think for that reason alone it's a much better story than 'Best Boys' or 'White Ghost', but that's just a personal view.

Anyway, my top ten:

1. To Be A Somebody
2. Brotherly Love
3. Men Should Weep
4. One Day A Lemming Will Fly
5. To Say I Love You
6. The Mad Woman In The Attic
7. The Big Crunch
8. True Romance
9. Nine Eleven
10. Best Boys
11. White Ghost

[–] pphree 18 years ago

I completely disagree that True Romance was far fetched. It was very clever - it didn't go for the usual cliche of the killer having been abused, instead the killer was the only one of three girls who wasn't abused, and her psychosis came from being "left out".

Brilliant, morally ambiguous and a brilliant twist on the old "they kill because they were abused" cliche, so beloved of writers with less imagination.

[–] Dlp07 18 years ago

I actually found the killer quite interesting. I just thought what happened in the actual episode far- fetched. And surely witnessing her father abusing her sisters counts as it's own form of abuse too.

[–] panaboydean 18 years ago

Altho "Cracker" is so obviously Jimmy McGovern's tv show, I think "True Romance", written by Paul Abbott, is the best episode. I count it as the last, "Lucky White Ghost" was an add-on, and it is interesting that the American version of "Cracker" began with "True Romance", as tho the creators/writers began with the best, and strongest.

"Mad Woman in the Attic" would be my 2nd favorite, "Cracker" is one of those rare tv shows that began strong, and stayed strong, everything was there from the beginning. And 3 cheers to Jimmy McGovern for accomplishing that!

What a great series! And nary a bad episode, except maybe "Lucky White Ghost".

"columnated ruins domino"--"surf's up".

[–] elemental2k 17 years ago

To be a somebody has to be the most memorable and best cracker episode for me. I remember the death of billsborough and it was very sad. I was sick to see a cop just killed like that and it was even worse because he was a good guy. the whole scene was well done, i remember feeling becks pain because he believed he was responsible in a way and the way penhaligan was crying...very heart breaking.

The next most memorable is one day, a lemming will fly. I remember that and it was very...controversial. Due to the fact it was around the time of james bulger, I think it brought up a stir, i remember my family were affected by that episode emotionally.

my last and 3rd memorable one is men should weep. That entire episode made me cringe. Floyd was a right bastard. I thought the episode was a little far fetched which is why its my 3rd, but its still one of the best out of the lot.

[–] icaredor 17 years ago

I like Brotherly Love best. I thought McGovern did a fabulous job in pulling together all of the story lines (and associated emotions) running through the first six episodes and tying them in a bow. It was Art.