TV's Best Bottle Episodes

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The coronavirus has forced many of us to hole up in our homes in an attempt to slow the illness' spread. So if you're engaging in a little social distancing for the greater good, thank you! You're part of the solution, and we applaud you.

But we also know how quickly those walls can start to feel like they're closing in. To combat that claustrophobic sensation, we thought we'd remind you of 20 times when staying in one place turned out kinda awesome.

ATLANTA, "Teddy Perkins"

This instant classic traps Darius inside a run-down Gothic mansion with a pale-faced creep — played by an unrecognizable Donald Glover — who's still haunted by memories of his abusive father. The suffocatingly claustrophobic one-off plays more like a horror movie than a comedy, but stands as a testament to Atlanta's unmatched versatility. (WATCH ON HULU.) 

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, "Unfinished Business"

While this flashback-heavy Season 3 installment of the Syfy reboot may lose a few points for clunkiness (Adama Sr. in the boxing ring, oof), the wrenching callbacks to Apollo and Starbuck's time on New Caprica more than make up for any plot weaknesses. In the space of an hour, we witness the pair's fraught, long-simmering love story peak (they have sex and declare their feelings for each other!) then immediately crash-and-burn (Lee wakes up the next morning to learn Kara has married Anders!). Katee Sackhoff and Jamie Bamber were never better. (WATCH ON AMAZON VIDEO or YOUTUBE)

BREAKING BAD, "Fly"

In this Season 3 episode — which went down as one of the show's most polarizing installments — a sleep-deprived Walt becomes obsessed with killing a fly that got into the meth lab, threatening to contaminate future batches. Critics of the hour found it dull and plodding. Counterpoint: The episode is a masterclass in creating narrative tension, particularly during the climactic scene in which it seems Walt might reveal that he let Jane die. Frankly, we feel some dread just thinking about it. (WATCH ON NETFLIX)

BROOKLYN NINE-NINE, "The Box"

Season 5 paid homage to Andre Braugher's former TV gig, the classic cop drama Homicide: Life on the Street, with this terrific sendup of the episode "Three Men and Adena." The installment takes place almost solely in the interrogation room, as Jake and Captain Holt grill suspected killer Philip Davidson, played by This Is Us' Sterling K. Brown. (The role earned Brown an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.) (WATCH ON HULU)

COMMUNITY, "Cooperative Calligraphy"

When Annie loses her pen, the group confines itself to the study room amid inner turmoil, obligatory nudity, and of course, Abed's meta-filled commentary. ("I hate bottle episodes. They're wall-to-wall facial expressions and emotional nuance. I might as well sit in the corner with a bucket on my head.") The episode never feels like filler; rather, it deconstructs the well-worn trope while playing to its (flawed) characters' strengths and the bonds they've built— proving that subverting TV's natural order was what Community did best. (WATCH ON HULU)

FIREFLY, "Out of Gas"

In Firefly's eighth episode, Captain Mal wanders Serenity while the oxygen inside plummets. As his crew attempts to restore power, Mal trips down memory lane, reminiscing about his team's origins. While he's "bottled" inside, the episode expands on the gang's interpersonal relationships via flashbacks, managing to be both funny and heartbreaking in the face of danger. The episode highlights everything we love about the series, from the deep bonds between Mal and his loyal crew, to the lengths they'll go to protect their home. (BUY ON AMAZON OR YOUTUBE)

FRASIER, "The Dinner Party"

What happens when TV's most fastidious, full-of-themselves brothers set out to plan an intimate soiree (dinner party for 10)? You get 22 minutes of Frasier and Niles barely ever leaving the living room as they fuss over date books, guest lists ("the drunken Duncans"? Blackballed!) and caterers who may or may not have criminal records. (WATCH ON HULU or CBS)

FRIENDS, "The One Where No One's Ready"

In this classic Season 3 outing, Ross needs everyone to get ready in time to leave for a black-tie event at the museum. Among the many holdups is a petty (and hilarious) squabble between Joey and Chandler over the sitting rights to Monica's armchair, which culminates in Joey's classic entrance dressed in all of Chandler's clothes. (BUY ON AMAZON or YOUTUBE)

GAME OF THRONES, "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms"

The characters on Game of Thrones know something bad is coming. In many cases, they've accepted that they may die in the imminent Battle of Winterfell. And yet, this episode — the second one of Thrones' eighth and final season — manages to feel warm, intimate and uplifting (if a tad bittersweet) as the men and women of Westeros prepare for battle against the undead. If nothing else, the hour delivers one of the series' most moving moments, as Jaime bestows upon Brienne the knighthood for which she's longed. (WATCH ON HBO GO or HBO NOW)

GIRLS, "American Bitch"

After Hannah writes an article about sexual allegations against a famous novelist, he invites her to his home to discuss them. By the end of the hour, his fly is unzipped and his schtick (and then some) is exposed. In between, we're treated to an exploration of sexual politics, society's expectations based on gender and a really top-notch performance from guest star Matthew Rhys (The Americans) as the offending — yet so charming! — author. (WATCH ON HBO GO or HBO NOW)

HOMICIDE, "Three Men and Adena"

This pre-Peak TV gem, with Pembleton and Bayliss interrogating the prime suspect in the murder of an 11-year-old girl, crackles with the intensity of a top-notch stage play. With just three men inside a police interrogation room, writer Tom Fontana crafted an unbearably tense, fiery hour of television — one good enough to earn an Emmy for writing (and, years later, a Brooklyn Nine-Nine parody).

MASTERS OF SEX, "Fight"

Masters and Johnson do some self-quarantining of their own in this Season 2 episode, which finds the researchers unpacking some serious emotional baggage in a hotel room. As Yvon Durelle and Archie Moore's iconic 1958 boxing match unfolds on television, Bill and Virginia navigate a tense, exhausting and, on more than one occasion, very naughty exploration of their own complicated pasts. With Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan's entrancing performances anchoring the episode, "Fight" is a total knockout. (BUY ON AMAZON or YOUTUBE)

SEINFELD, "The Chinese Restaurant"

It took a while for the "show about nothing" to find its legs, but this Season 2 installment, in which Jerry, Elaine and George (but not Kramer!) struggle to secure a table at a Chinese restaurant, was an early standout. While they wait for their name — or a name — to be called ("Cartwright, party of four!"), Jerry fears he is about to be caught in a lie with his uncle, and George is desperate to make use of the restaurant's payphone. (WATCH ON HULU)

STAR TREK, "The Enemy Within"

When a transporter malfunction beams up a dizzy Kirk... followed moments later, unbeknownst to anyone, by his "evil" doppelganger... what follows is a game of cat and mouse within the confines of the Enterprise's hallways and crew quarters —  all as a ticking clock threatens to strand the rest of the landing party on the bitter-cold planet below. Also: the first episode where Bones pronounces, "He's dead, Jim." (WATCH ON NETFLIX, HULU or CBS)

UNDERGROUND, "Minty"

Aisha Hinds was named TVLine's Performer of the Week for her masterful delivery of a 50-plus-minute monologue in which Harriet Tubman details for a barn full of fellow abolitionists how she "defied all the odds," "escaped hell" and  "came to be free" — and has ever since conspired to help others do same. (WATCH ON HULU)

THE WEST WING, "17 People"

"Why does Hoynes think the president isn't going to run again...?" With that weighty question, a long, dark night at the White House gets longer and darker, as Toby is pulled into a circle of trust that he feels he should have been a part of far sooner. While Sam and Josh work down the hall to punch up POTUS' Correspondents' Dinner speech, it's no laughing matter inside the Oval, where Bartlet, Toby and Leo share truths (about the president's multiple sclerosis) and feelings of betrayal. Big egos clashing inside small rooms make for one of the celebrated drama's finest hours. (WATCH ON NETFLIX)

PARKS AND RECREATION, "Leslie and Ron"

When the show time-jumped into its seventh and final season, skipping several years in the live of our Pawnee favorites, it also leaped straight into a fallout between former office buddies Leslie and Ron. This episode delves headfirst into the pair's estrangement, trapping them in the municipal building overnight (thanks, Ben!) to force them to confront the incident that pressed pause on their friendship. Funny and bittersweet, the ep is a gorgeous testament to Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman's versatility. (WATCH ON NETFLIX or HULU)

FALCON CREST, "Stormy Weather"

Long before bottle episodes became de rigueur in primetime, the woefully underrated CBS sudser trapped nearly every major character in Angela Channing's titular compound in an audacious, suspenseful and often riotous Season 7 outing that was equal parts Clue and Alfred Hitchcock's Rope. That the episode arrived in the midst of what would widely be viewed as show's creative peak (under innovative showrunner Jeff Freilich and crackerjack head writer Howard Lakin) was no coincidence.

FAMILY GUY, "Send in Stewie, Please"

This brilliant, twisted and undeniably polarizing episode — which earned Gary Janetti a Writer's Guild of America Award nomination — gives viewers a front-row seat to a painfully revealing therapy session between homicidal baby genius Stewie Griffin and child psychologist Dr. Cecil Pritchfield (voiced by special guest star Sir Ian McKellen). Not only does the well-crafted episode build to a dark and satisfying conclusion, but "Send in Stewie, Please" also has the honor of revealing what Peter and Lois' youngest child really sounds like. (WATCH ON HULU)

MASTER OF NONE, "Mornings"

Taking place entirely inside Dev's apartment, this intimate Season 1 installment charts the rise and fall of his romance with Noël Wells' Rachel, from the giddy highs of playful banter and frequent sex to the uncomfortable tension that creeps in, along with petty fights over nothing. It's a clear-eyed relationship snapshot that only gets sharper thanks to its limited location.  (WATCH ON NETFLIX)