10. “Fly,” Breaking Bad
AMC
Rian Johnson is an excellent filmmaker. End of story. Do you want more proof besides The Last Jedi? Johnson’s “Fly” makes 47 compelling and deeply moving minutes of television out of Walt and Jesse’s frustration with a pesky insect. Though the episode was borne from production budget restrictions, it remains one of the series’ highlights. Flies, of course, can be many things from reminders of our mortality to the embodied encroachment of our conscience, to the catalysts of insanity. This episode’s titular insect inhabits all those roles, and then some. Stuck inside the lab with each other and a fly, Walt, and Jesse have no choice but to bounce off of each other in a dazzling dramatic tour de force.
But their bug hunt within the enclosed lab also creates a microcosm for the series itself. Over the course of an evening, we experience obsession, nihilism, introspection, and guilt. It’s a whirlwind cat-and-mouse chase and a twisted teacher-pupil dynamic. An explosive forced collision between Walt and Jesse, where both men skirt around opportunities for growth. The fly, more than anything, places a much-needed moral mirror in front of Walt: “It’s all contaminated,” he observes in defeat, as the fly roams freely around the lab.
9. “Cooperative Calligraphy,” Community
NBC
There’s a puppy parade happening right outside the library, full of adorable dogs that, with every passing moment, “grow older and less deserving of our attention.” But no one in Community’s lovable misfit-filled study group will be attending, because Annie can’t find her pen, and no one is leaving until she finds it. An internal pressure to stay in the study room? An external incentive to leave? A conflict that will turn our characters against each other? “Feels like a bottle episode.” And Abed is right – “Cooperative Calligraphy” isn’t just Community’s most explicit bottle episode, but an examination of the bottle format itself. “I hate bottle episodes,” Abed clarifies. And that’s understandable; bottle episodes were initially a way for sitcoms to save money in between more expensive episodes.
But “Cooperative Calligraphy” takes the format and milks it for all its worth: fierce arguments, compulsory nudity, a monkey in the vents, cutting open an old leg cast. And good God, is it hilarious. With no external stimuli for our study group members to interact with, they have to mine each other for conflict, complication, and resolution. It’s Community at its most meta and also at its purest.
8. “Out of Gas,” Firefly
FOX
In its tragically brief run, Firefly made a profound impression on many viewers. To better understand what made the short-lived series so special, you need only to watch its sole bottle episode, “Out of Gas.” A beautifully structured piece of television, “Out of Gas” finds Captain Malcom Reynolds wandering the interior of Serenity alone and on a dwindling supply of oxygen as his crew is off trying to restore the ship’s power. Under the imminent threat of death and a brain-alteringly low air supply, Mal looks back on the origins of his crew and his ship. It’s an organic opportunity to flesh out and add depth to the characters, who we’ve already grown to love over the course of the first five episodes. With three interwoven timelines, we learn how this motley crew was thrown together, and how their interpersonal relationships have formed over time.
“Out of Gas” is also a moving ode to Serenity herself, a chronicle of her birth and approaching death that sheds light on the deep bond between the captain and his ship. Amidst its stressfully high stakes, the episode manages to be funny, sweet, touching, and heartbreaking. Oh, and Flashback Wash has a mustache. “Out of Gas” is the amalgamation of everything that made Firefly special: the characters, the vision, the confidence, the complexity. And most of all, the love between captain, crew, and ship.
7. “Chardee MacDennis,” It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
FXX
There’s no better way to make a bottle episode than to trap characters in a single space and pit them against each other. And there’s no better way to trap characters in a single space and pit them against each other like a board game. When that board game is Chardee MacDennis – that’s when a bottle episode becomes more than a bottle episode. Charlie, Dee, Mac, and Dennis have played Chardee MacDennis some 18 times, but Charlie and Mac have never won. While we may feel compelled to blame their losses on their aggressive stupidity, Frank suspects something else is going on. As we traverse through all three levels – Mind, Body, and Spirit – Chardee MacDennis reveals itself to be an utterly nonsensical and purely subjective game. That is, of course, what makes it so entertaining to watch.
How can one pick the best moments of a bottle episode so brimming with comedic genius? “Chardee MacDennis” graces us with a ridiculous performance of the haka, Dennis’ numb composure when a dart impales his hand, Frank huddled in a dog crate. And above all, it gives us the gift of the game itself, which fans and scholars are still trying to bring to life. Until then, here’s a little rulebook you can use the next time you want to turn your party into an all-out “war.”
6. “Mornings,” Master of None
Netflix
Through Master of None’s elegant realism, Aziz Ansari delivers some of the most heartfelt and authentic depictions of romantic relationships. “Mornings” is perhaps his piece de resistance, a beautiful and poignant sampling of a partnership’s highs and lows. A self-contained romantic comedy, “Mornings” spans several months of Dev and Rachel’s cohabitation. With each passing season, their relationship shifts, and jovial banter gradually turns to petty bickering. The episode is unflinching in its depiction of real-life romantic love, with its eyes trained on what happens after happily ever after.
Much of the episode’s naturalism came from actual ad-libbing. In an interview with Variety, Noel Wells revealed she and Ansari improvised many of the best moments in “Mornings.” “There was lots of improv on set, specifically the sex stuff,” she divulged. “The part where we’re post-sex and [we say], ‘What if I came like this?’ We did that in the moment, and I’m really happy it made it in.” Ansari and Wells’ chemistry is rich and real, both of them boasting the comedic and dramatic chops to play out an authentic relationship. The bottled nature of “Mornings” conveys both the claustrophobia and intimacy of commitment with subtlety and honesty. It’s Master of None at its very best.
Related Topics: Atlanta, Battlestar Galactica, Breaking Bad, Girls, it's always sunny in philadelphia, Mad Men, Master of None, Star Trek, Update The Lists
