Today, I want to know what you think is the all-time best “bottle episode” of a TV drama.
Pop Culture Theme Time is a feature where I put a question to you to see what you think about a particular theme. I might later revisit the theme for a future Drawing Crazy Patterns or Top Five.
Bottle episodes are episodes that, FOR THE MOST PART, take place in a confined space (exceptions are made for, like, driving to and from a place and stuff like that). The idea came about from the past of TV when, to save money, shows would do episodes with less sets and less extraneous cast members, so they could cut costs down.
These episodes have also been able to be used to be almost like mini-stage plays, since your set is essentially just a stage in this instance. LOTS of great episodes have been bottle episodes, as it often requires the writers to step up their game in a big way. Dramas and sitcoms tend to approach bottle episodes differently, so I’m going to specify just dramas this time out, and I’ll do sitcoms in the future.
My pick is “Three Men and Adena,” from Season 1 of Homicide: Life in the Street, where Pembleton (Andre Braugher) and Bayliss (Kyle Secor), who have only recently become partners in the Homicide detective division of the Baltimore police department, spent pretty much the entire episode just in the interrogation room trying to break Risley Tucker (Moses Gunn) and get him to confess to killing a young girl, Adena Watson. There’s not enough evidence to arrest him for the crime, and they’re going to have to release him if they can’t get a confession.
Gunn passed away soon after the episode aired. He had some amazing monologues, like “You got your dark side, and it terrifies you, and it frightens you. It scares you cause it’s powerful and it makes you capable of doing anything. Anything. Without it, you look in the mirror, and all you see is an amateur.”
In the end, they don’t get the confession. It’s so bleak, but so well-written by Tom Fontana.
Mad Men’s “The Suitcase” is a close second (it’s my wife’s pick). So that’s my pick, how about you?
And feel free to suggest future Pop Culture Theme Time topics to me at brian@popculturereferences.com!
I have to give a shoutout to Brooklyn 99’s “The Box” in which (and stay with me here), Holt (Andre Braugher) and Jake (Andy Sandburg), spend pretty much the entire episode just in the interrogration room trying to break Phillip Davidson (Sterling K. Brown) and get him to confess to killing a fellow dentist, Robert Rob Henry Tupper. There’s not enough evidence to arrest him for the crime, and they’re going to have to release him if they can’t get a confession.
Great episode, Neil, and one of the examples (plus some Seinfeld ones) that jumped out to me as good sitcom examples, which is why I decided to do a sitcom version of this in the future, ya know?
my number one choice would be “Once upon a time” from the Prisoner
An intense performance from Patrick McGoohan and Leo McKern (as a returning Number 2) locked together (along with the silent butler) in a room as Number 2 tries a form of regressive therapy known as Degree absolute to break Number 6
Runners-up include
U.F.O. Sub-Smash – despite his claustrophobia, Commander Straker takes direct command of SHADO’s submarine to investigate an underwater alien craft only be trapped underwater with a limited supply of Air.
Doctor Who – Midnight – The Doctor (without Donna) goes on a tour but there is something outside and the Doctor is trapped with people who do not trust him.
“The Box” is a great episode on it’s own, but I couldn’t help pointing out its similarities to “Three Men and Adena.”
For sitcoms, I also have to mention Community for “Cooperative Calligraphy” which, in true Community fashion plays with the format and addresses it head on.
Oh yeah, “The Box” really only exists as a counterpart to “Three Men and Adena.” An EXCELLENT counterpart, of course.
There was a DS9 episode that was entirely set on Empok Nor (sister station Terok Nor, aka DS9) titled, naturally, “Empok Nor.” I thought that was really clever, as it allowed them to completely reuse their standing sets while the action actually happened in a new location (the only external difference was that establishing shots of the station were rotated to signify the difference, though there’s really no up or down in space anyway).
Yes, “Three Men and Adena” is the best bottle episode ever.
A runner-up would be the Homicide: Life on the Street episode “Night of the Dead Living.” It was written specifically for the reason cited in the article, to try to avoid location shooting and save on the budget. But it did use the entire cast, to great effect.
The Baltimore Homicide cops are contending with the hottest day of the year. Munch comes in cranky because he was taking a shower and the water cut out on him AND his girlfriend called him to break up with him. There are two mini mysteries: a candle that stays lit although nobody knows who lights it, and a baby found in a cage inside the building.
Pembleton frustrates Giardello because he’s wearing a shirt and properly knotted tie and drinking coffee, despite the heat. Gee gets him for it in the end.
I loved that episode. It had a balance of drama and comedy few shows can pull off.
sadly Andre Bruagher died at 61 of unamed illness.