Specialized channels like HBO and Showtime have brought strange and disturbing content to the small screen for decades, but even cable television has pushed the boundaries from time to time, creating some truly shocking TV show episodes that stick with audiences long after viewing. The weirdest shows on television have been confounding viewers with surrealist elements and off-the-wall storylines for quite a while. That being said, many of TV's strangest moments haven't come from series that set out to be offbeat or salacious. Sometimes an episode is so vastly different from the rest of the series that it sticks out like a sore thumb.

Each of these shocking TV episodes has created a stir, in some form or another, among critics and audiences. Just as television has the power to uplift and redeem, it equally has the ability to shock, disgust, confuse, and frustrate watchers. Repercussions for said episodes have varied. Cable TV has banned a few shocking installments from airing in reruns while other seemingly peculiar choices have been critically lauded for their daring. Regardless, each of these episodes has entered the annals of their respective series history and is easily recalled by viewers upon simple mentions of things like "the pig episode" or "Tracey Lambert."

10 Black Mirror Season 1, Episode 1, “The National Anthem”

While any number of Black Mirror episodes are deemed mind-blowing, Charlie Brooker's anthology series hit the ground with its most controversial installment being the first one. "The National Anthem," easily remembered as the "pig" episode, sees British prime minister Michael Callow (Rory Kinnear) forced to have relations with a pig while being broadcast live for over a billion people to meet a kidnapper's demands after a princess is seemingly taken. The moment is sickeningly no-holds-barred and made infinitely worse when it's revealed that Princess Susannah (Lydia Wilson) was released unharmed 30 minutes before the broadcast began. The installment effectively turned viewers off Black Mirror before its successful migration to Netflix.

9 Yellowjackets Season 2, Episode 2, “Edible Complex”

The Showtime series Yellowjackets promised cannibalism in its first episode, but when the act was finally shown from start to finish in season 2, viewers had a hard time stomaching it. "Edible Complex" saw the stranded soccer team attempt to cremate Jackie (Ella Purnell), who had been dead for two months. If Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) eating her ear in the previous installment and convening with her corpse in the meat shed wasn't enough, Jackie's body is accidentally slow-cooked, and when the girls discover her, she is nauseatingly consumed with the utmost veracity and fervor. Viewers witness every moment of it.

8 Game Of Thrones Season 5, Episode 9, “The Dance of Dragons”

Game of Thrones was chock-full of unmitigated violence and bloodshed, with the series being skewered for going too far just about every season. However, nothing was more heartbreaking and harrowing than Shireen Baratheon's death in Game of Thrones season 5, episode 9. Shireen Baratheon (Kerry Ingram) is only nine years old when her father burns her alive as a sacrifice to ensure a victory against Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon) at Winterfell, and her distressing screams fall on deaf ears as her father executes her seemingly without remorse. Shireen had a tragic arc leading up to her death too, locked away for Greyscale with Ser Davos (Liam Cunningham) serving as her only friend.

7 Criminal Minds Season 3, Episode 8, "Lucky"

Crime procedurals are guaranteed to cause at least one shocking display per episode, but something about Criminal Minds' "Lucky" stuck with audiences long after it was over. As the team investigates a string of gruesome murders in Florida, the BAU realizes that cannibalism is involved as the unsub has been force-feeding victims their own fingers. The unsub's crimes grow increasingly sickening until the final gut punch reveal, which left audiences in total shock. In a final, horrible act, murderer Floyd Feylinn Ferell (Jamie Kennedy) was a part of missing victim Tracey Lambert's search party and served stew to the volunteers — a stew that contained Tracey Lambert.

6 Hannibal Season 1, Episode 8, "Fromage"

Hannibal showcased some gory deaths with haunting richness. This dichotomy of brutality and elegance left more than one strange image in the back of viewers' minds, but the human body was twisted into its most visually eerie form in "Fromage." The installment saw Agent Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) investigating a murderer who was turning his victims into literal musical instruments, and audiences were struck dumb by the image of a human cello on a stage. What's worse is that while Graham went through his usual process of envisioning the killer's methods, he picked up a bow and actually played the human instrument.

5 The White Lotus Season 2, Episode 7, “Arrivederci”

The White Lotus has begun each season thus far with a mysterious death, but audiences were understandably torn over the avoidable nature of season 2's big demise. The beloved eccentric Tanya McQuoid-Hunt (Jennifer Coolidge) was built up for two seasons of the anthology series. Not only that, but her death was arguably avertable and viewers left The White Lotus season 2 finale frustrated by how and why she died. It at first seems like Tanya is going to escape her assailants who plan to kill her for money, but then she accidentally slips off of the yacht, hits her head on the railing, and drowns.

4 The Sopranos Season 5, Episode 11, “The Test Dream”

HBO's flagship series The Sopranos is made up of 85 near-perfect episodes — and one installment that left viewers scratching their heads. The series tried to get too cerebral with the installment "The Test Dream," which now stands as one of the worst episodes of The Sopranos. While Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) tries to get some rest at the Plaza Hotel, he is plagued by a series of David Lynchian dreams that only grow increasingly surreal as the runtime labors on. The entire installment is such a departure from the norm that side plots like Tony B.'s revenge hardly received any notice thanks to Tony's off-the-wall dream sequences, heavy-handed metaphors, and a horse.

3 Grey's Anatomy Season 5, Episode 9, "In The Midnight Hour"

Denny (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Izzie (Katherine Heigl) finally get to take their relationship to the next level in Grey's Anatomy season 5, episode 9, "In the Midnight Hour." However, the main problem is that Denny is dead, and Izzie is interacting with his ghost. Thanks to undiagnosed metastatic melanoma, Izzie begins hallucinating Denny despite being in a relationship with Alex (Justin Chambers). The doomed couple ends up having sex (which they didn't get to do while Denny was alive) during "In the Midnight Hour." While the entire encounter is a hallucination, seeing Izzie have relations with a ghost was still one of Grey's Anatomy's most confusing moments.

2 The X-Files Season 4, Episode 2, “Home”

The realm of the strange and unexplained was The X-Files' primary playground, but even the season 4 installment "Home" was considered too controversial and outright bizarre. "Home" saw a monster of the week that surprisingly had nothing to do with the supernatural. Its visuals were truly disturbing, as Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) encountered a disfigured inbred family who they believed were kidnapping and impregnating women. However, matriarch and quadruple amputee Mrs. Peacock (Karin Konoval) is revealed to be the mother of all children involved, and her horrifying debut earned the only TV-MA rating for the show.

1 Atlanta Season 2, Episode 6, “Teddy Perkins”

Donald Glover's comedy series Atlanta has a surprising amount of surreal moments, but the episode "Teddy Perkins" is famous for how weird it is and was lauded by critics. The installment sees Darius (LaKeith Stanfield) travel to a mansion to acquire a piano, but viewers are immediately taken aback by the strange appearance of the master of the house, Teddy Perkins (Donald Glover). A clear homage to Michael Jackson, the installment still has comedic moments but largely delves into the realm of psychological horror as Perkins becomes Atlanta's most distinctive character yet. The episode is marked by tragedy and takes one dark turn after another in a major deviation from the norm.