Time Travel Episodes: 9 Favorites
time-travel-episodes-the-flash
The Flash, "Fast Enough"
We're not what sure what moved faster: Barry, as he went back to the night his mother was killed, or our tears, as the Scarlet Speedster was forced to helplessly relive her death. Good. Times.
Airdate: May 19, 2015
time-travel-episodes-the-simpsons
The Simpsons, "Treehouse of Horror V"
A full decade before The Butterfly Effect happened, this episode of The Simpsons taught Homer that one little action in the past, like squashing a prehistoric fish, can lead to some significant — and occasionally spectacular — changes to the present. (Mmm... Raining donuts...)
Airdate: Oct. 30, 1994
time-travel-episodes-charmed
Charmed, "That '70s Episode"
To undo a curse placed on them as children, the Halliwell sisters traveled back to the 1970s, at which point they were reduced to kidnapping their younger selves to form a new Power of Three. (Alternate title: "How We Met Our Mother.")
Airdate: April 7, 1999
time-travel-episodes-family-guy
Family Guy, "Back to the Pilot"
Brian and Stewie might not have stopped 9/11 — in fact, we're pretty sure they caused it — but the duo's time-traveling exploits in Family Guy's 10th season did (briefly) revive Lacey Chabert's voice-acting career, and that's something we can all celebrate.
Airdate: Nov. 13, 2011
Star-Trek-time-travel
Star Trek, "The City on the Edge of Forever"
With this Season 1 entry, the sci-fi series showed us the emotional punch it had the potential to pack. Following a delusional McCoy into a time portal, Kirk and Spock land in the Depression Era, where Kirk falls hard for Edith Keeler (Joan Collins). When Spock divines that Edith is fated to die, a crestfallen Kirk must let that happen, lest she alter the course of history in a way that allows Nazi Germany to win WWII. Airdate: April 6, 1967
time-travel-episodes-supernatural
Supernatural, "In the Beginning"
The CW series has had its fair share of time trips, but nothing beats the emotional poignancy and major mythology twists of this Season 4 outing, in which Dean encounters his mother in 1973 and learns that she was a hunter who made a deal with the Yellowed-Eyed Demon to save John Winchester's life. #OMG.
Airdate: Oct. 2, 2008
time-travel-episodes-ouat
Once Upon a Time, "Snow Drifts"/"There's No Place Like Home"
Emma's trip back in time during Once's third season finale had its share of consequences — the arrivals of Marian and Elsa, to name just a few — but she was able to squeeze in a few royal dances with her pirate, so it wasn't a total disaster.
Airdate: May 11, 2014
time-travel-episodes-boy-meets-world
Boy Meets World, "As Time Goes By"
Topanga finds a portal in her closet that reminds her of one of those "time continuum vortex things we're studying in physics" — sorry, what?! — and travels back to a 1940s film noir where's she nearly killed by Cory's alter-ego, "Rory." (TGIF got weird, you guys.)
Airdate: April 7, 2000
time-travel-episodes-family-matters
Family Matters, "A Pirate's Life for Me"
Maybe we should have saved the whole "TGIF got weird" diatribe for this episode, in which Carl and Urkel's time-traveling adventures land them aboard a dangerous pirate ship. (Yes, you read every word in that description correctly.)
Airdate: May 9, 1997