The good and bad of Prestige TV bottle episodes

The Ringer

With Saturday marking the 10th anniversary of the Mad Men bottle episode "The Suitcase," Miles Surrey writes: "On the surface, a bottle episode feels like a shaky gambit: a series committing to confining its characters to a setting or two, often stripping a story down to its bare bones. Yet in practice, bottle episodes tend to have high success rates. The bottle episodes from Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and Seinfeld don’t just work—they are regarded as all-timers. Bottle episodes reward a TV creator’s faith in the strength of their characters and core relationships, and in their ability to stand on their own." But in referencing Stranger Things' "The Lost Sister" episode, Surrey adds that "bottle episodes aren’t invincible—if a series does one and misses the mark, it can disrupt its entire season and forever exist in ignominy." ALSO: Ranking the 10 best bottle episodes.