Over the course of 10 episodes, FX's Shōgun established itself as one of the must-see television shows of the year. Not only did the series brilliantly adapt the famously dense 1975 novel by James Clavell, but it added in new elements, dialed up the cultural authenticity, and had production values and performances good enough to make stones weep. The show was a banger of a series from start to finish.
What's more, because the Shōgun novel covered the entirety of Clavell's novel, we've now seen the story in its entirety. It's extremely unlikely we'll ever see a season 2 for this show. That's bittersweet since Shōgun was so good, but I think it'll give it even more rewatch value as people return to this virtually perfect historical drama set in feudal Japan.
With the release of its restrained yet devastating finale, Shōgun has exited at the top of its game. But that doesn't mean we have to stop talking about it! Let's look back on this series. reminiscing about all the highs and lows as we rank the episodes.
10. Episode 1, "Anjin"
Just to be clear here at the top: there are no bad episodes of Shōgun. Hell, there aren't even any marginally disappointing episodes. But if we have to put one at the bottom of the list, it's going to be the series premiere, "Anjin." The fact that I'm writing that hurts my brain, but there are no easy decisions when it comes to ranking Shōgun episodes.
"Anjin" earns its spot at the bottom of the list primarily because all the best is yet to come. This episode is all about introducing the players, and while it has plenty of memorable moments — like Yabushige cooking one of Blackthorne's crew members alive, Fuji's husband condemning himself and their son to death, and Toranaga's machinations in Osaka — Shōgun simply gets even better once its core characters start crossing paths.
9. Episode 2, "Servants of Two Masters"
Fortunately, we don't have to wait long before Toranaga, Mariko and John Blackthorne are firmly entangled in each other's lives. "Servants of Two Masters" sees Blackthorne taken to Osaka, where Mariko is assigned to be his translator after he's presented to Lord Toranaga. This episode is critical in that it lays out the conflict clearly, putting all our major players in one place so that we can see how they stand in relation to one another.
It's also where things start to get very interesting between Blackthorne and Mariko; Shōgun has great action, but "Servants of Two Masters" shows that its quiet conversations are just as powerful. The scene where Mariko translates Blackthorne's statement that the Portuguese think Japan "belongs" to them is still one of my favorites from the entire series. It's a great hook that shows how the complicated political situation is about to heat up.
Throw in the fact that "Servants of Two Masters" also ends with the nail-biting assassination attempt on Blackthorne by deadly shinobi warriors, and this episode edges out "Anjin" on the list.
8. Episode 4, "The Eightfold Fence"
I swear, ranking episodes of Shōgun is like committing violence against yourself. This is hard. But in my opinion, the number eight spot goes to Episode 4, "The Eightfold Fence." This episode serves as something of a bridge between plotlines; following Toranaga's escape from Osaka, Blackthorne and Mariko are sent to Ajiro Village, where Blackthorne is expected to help train the lord's samurai to use cannons. That escape was pretty exciting, and this episode gives us a much needed breath of air before things get intense again.
"The Eightfold Fence" introduces some important new dynamics. It's the episode where Blackthorne first meets his new consort and platonic partner, Fuji, as well as when he has his first romantic encounter with Mariko. It also features an absolute shocker of an ending where Nagakado is manipulated by Yabushige's nephew Omi into murdering an envoy from Lord Ishido with a surprise cannon attack. All of these things have major ramifications on the story.
Again, every single thing in "The Eightfold Fence" is fantastic. But this is a calm before the storm, and it's hard to compete with the utter deluge of heartstopping episodes that follows.
7. Episode 7, "A Stick of Time"
"A Stick of Time" is a major turning point for Shōgun. This episode revolves around Toranaga's half-brother Saeki, who arrives in Ajiro under the pretense of helping with his kin's war effort. However, once he's there Saeki reveals that he's actually come to deliver the regents' order that Toranaga surrender. To the surprise of all his allies, Toranaga agrees to lay down his arms and ultimately surrender his life to the regents.
Those allies don't take it well. Blackthorne storms out on Lord Toranaga after accusing him of leading all his followers to their deaths. Tornaga's son Nagakado is even more brash, attacking Saeki later that night. The assassination attempt doesn't pan out, with Nagakado slipping and cracking open his skull on a rain-slicked rock. Brutal.
This episode explores the idea that often those who are most eager for warfare are those who haven't experienced it, deftly contrasting Nagakado's brazenness with that of a young Toranaga, who we see in a flashback won his first campaign at the age of 12. It's an effective but dark episode.
6. Episode 5, "Broken to the Fist"
In Episode 5, "Broken to the Fist," Toranaga returns to Ajiro Village after rallying his army, and he's none too happy about his son's impulsive move to murder Ishido's messenger at the end of "The Eightfold Fence." Actually, Toranaga isn't upset about the murder per say — only that his son was oblivious enough to get manipulated into doing the deed by someone else. Thus far in Shōgun, Toranaga has come off as a sympathetic character who is mainly trying to do the right thing. But in "Broken to the Fist" we start to see the steel beneath, and the lengths he'll go to in order to manipulate those around him for his own ends.
His return to Ajiro also thwarts Blackthorne and Mariko's budding romance, because he's accompanied by none other than Buntaro — Mariko's husband, who was presumed dead after the flight from Osaka. The tension in this episode is through the roof, as Buntaro is forced to live with Blackthorne, Mariko and Fuji, resulting in a terrible bout of domestic violence. And then there's Blackthorne's order to hang a pheasant in his home in a way which disgusts his Japanese neighbors, which leads to the death of his gardener after everyone takes seriously his unwitting order to leave the bird alone on pain of death.
It all culminates with an earthquake that nearly claims Toranaga's life. Shōgun doesn't make copious use of CGI special effects, but the earthquake may be one of the most visually breathtaking moments of the series.
5. Episode 3, "Tomorrow Is Tomorrow"
"Tomorrow Is Tomorrow" is perhaps one of Shōgun's most focused episodes; the entire thing deals with Toranaga, Blackthorne and Mariko's escape from Osaka. It's here that we start to discover just how clever Toranaga is compared to his foes, as he sneaks into one of the palanquins pretending to be a woman so his soldiers to unknowingly smuggle him out of the castle.
This episode is thrilling from the start to its big finish, as Toranaga's forces fight their way out of the city before making a daring shipbound escape from the bay. But it has something that some of Shōgun's other episodes don't: it's fun. This episode contains some of John Blackthorne's most downright hilarious moments, including his depraved rant to try and keep Ishido's men from discovering Toranaga's ruse. It's also the episode where it starts to feel like Mariko, Blackthorne and Toranaga could actually work well together as a team. When a series is as heavy as Shōgun, it just makes the lighter moments shine all the brighter.
4. Episode 8, "The Abyss of Life"
From one of Shōgun's lighter episodes, we launch directly into one of its most bleak. "The Abyss of Life" is the dark hour before the dawn for the series. Following Nagakado's death in "A Stick of Time," Toranaga and his retinue travel to Edo, where the lord grieves his son while remaining adamant that he still plans to surrender. It pushes everyone around him to the brink, with samurai wearing their armor at Nagakado's funeral in protest and Toranaga's closest advisor Hiromatsu ultimately committing seppuku.
That Hiromatsu's death is all part of Toranaga's plan to stall for more time just makes it even more heartbreaking. This is also a big episode for Mariko and Buntaro, who have their final, bittersweet conversation over tea where Mariko drives home that their marriage is far too broken to ever repair. And John Blackthorne is reunited with his crew from the Erasmus, only to find out that they now seem strange to him after his months spent among the Japanese. There's a lot going on in "The Abyss of Life," and all of it is crucial as well as compelling.
3. Episode 6, "Ladies of the Willow World"
"Ladies of the Willow World" is a fascinating episode, and thinking back on the season, it stands out for multiple reasons. The preceding episode, "Broken to the Fist," ends with Lady Ochiba's return to Osaka, where she immediately gets to work on manipulating the regents. "Ladies of the Willow World" picks up that thread, giving us a lot of important backstory for Ochiba to help us understand why this new player is so important.
This episode also centers the female cast members as a whole, much to its benefit. Mariko and Ochiba have a lot of parallels, and Shōgun does a wonderful job highlighting them. "Ladies of the Willow World" also includes one of the show's most memorable scenes for Blackthorne and Mariko's romance, where she accompanies him into the brothel from which the episode draws its title. I was thinking about the cinematography, editing and performances in that beautiful scene for weeks.
2. Episode 10, "A Dream of a Dream"
Not every show has a finale that stands out as one of its strongest episodes, but Shōgun most certainly does. All season, Shōgun built up the looming war between Lord Toranaga and Lord Ishido. I doubt I'm alone in saying that I expected to see some sort of clash in the series finale.
Instead, "A Dream of a Dream" gave us a somber, quiet hour of television that let its characters to grieve for the immense losses they'd suffered. Shōgun made such a point of death being a swift, unavoidable thing in feudal Japan that it felt like a powerful subversion to actually allow space for this emotional finish. Lady Mariko may not have been present for Shōgun's final hour, but she loomed over it nonetheless.
The finale had plenty of outstanding scenes, from Toranaga and Yabushige's final conversation on the cliffside before Yabushige commits seppuku to Blackthorne and Fuji's final goodbyes to their loved ones. Shōgun stuck the landing with a pitch-perfect finale...and even that wasn't its best episode.
1. Episode 9, "Crimson Sky"
Ranking episodes of a television show is highly subjective, but it's hard to debate that Shōgun's penultimate episode, "Crimson Sky," is its best. Late in the season, Toranaga's advisors reveal that he has a secret plan for storming Osaka, codenamed Crimson Sky. They assume it's a military action, but as Toranaga reveals in the series finale, his plan actually called for one woman to do what an army could not.
Mariko's stand in Osaka is peak television, full stop. It's a testament to how good this episode is that there are multiple showstopper moments: Mariko's speech to Ishido and the regents, her fight through the castle entryway, her near-seppuku experience, her last night spent with Blackthorne, and the fateful betrayal by Yabushige that leads to her death. Any of these scenes would have been spectacular on its own, but putting them all together made for an incredible hour of television. If Anna Sawai doesn't at least get nominated for an Emmy because of her work here, there is no justice.
"Crimson Sky" is the real climax of Shōgun. We didn't need a big battle in the finale, because it wouldn't have topped Toda Mariko's personal battle. Like the episode's titular scheme, Shōgun pulled a fast one on viewers and gave us not the Crimson Sky we expected, but the one that was needed for Lord Toranaga to one day win his war and usher in an era of peace for Japan.
All 10 episodes of Shōgun are streaming on Hulu.
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