"For decades, it was relatively rare for TV shows to explore dark, twisted, and uncomfortable themes and subjects. Television was supposed to be light entertainment, and characters were supposed to have low-stakes, self-contained adventures for the most part, even on so-called dramas. With the arrival of the new millennium came the era of "Peak TV" — the influence of restriction-free cable television and the edgy independent film movement took episodic television to new heights in storytelling and new lows in the volume of happy endings for fictional characters.
Medical dramas, crime shows, period pieces, and even sitcoms all started to push out from their comfortable confines of yore and got a little twisted, putting their characters and loyal viewers through some unforgettable and highly controversial TV moments. Here are the most scandalous, unsettling, and just plain darkest episodes of TV from the 2000s."
-Brian Boone
