As we approach the 10th anniversary of Mad Men’s “The Suitcase” on Saturday, join us in celebrating the highs and lows of one of television’s greatest exercises/flexes/budget-saving tricks: the bottle episode.
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September 2, 2020
The 20 Best Bottle Episodes, Ranked
From "The Suitcase" to "Fly," some of TV’s most creative installments have come out of restrictive circumstances
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September 2, 2020
“The Suitcase” Was All the Greatness of ‘Mad Men,’ Bottled Up
Ten years ago on Saturday, the prestige drama reached its peak by shutting off its best two characters from the rest of the ensemble, and forcing them to come up with an ad for Samsonite
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September 2, 2020
When the Bottle Episode Goes Bad
The self-contained story is one of TV’s most highly regarded tricks—but as punked-out Eleven proves, it’s not always a winning exercise
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September 2, 2020
How the Bottle Episode Went From Frugal to Flex
Paring down a cast and limiting a TV installment to one location used to be a challenge initiated by budgets—now it’s one thrown down by the creators themselves