Breaking Bad's Fly and 4 Other Most Mind-Bending Episodes From Popular Series
These episodes break away from the overall narrative: dramas become sitcoms, and characters become mute.
Our favorite shows have Christmas episodes, anime have beach episodes, but sometimes some episodes just stand out from the usual style of the show.
1. Severance (2022-...) – Woe's Hollow
One of the biggest hits of recent years tells about the employees of the Lumon company, whose lives are divided into two parts: at work they do not know what is happening at home, and vice versa.
A significant part of the action takes place in the office, where the innies live. The rest of the time shows the lives of the outies – "home" versions of the characters. Gradually, these two worlds get closer.
The second season starts slowly, but in Episode 4 there is a sudden turn. The innies suddenly find themselves in a winter forest, where Mr. Milchick arranges a kind of team-building for them.
2. The Sopranos (1999-2007) – Join the Club
The Sopranos regularly appears on lists of the best TV series in history. The crime drama about a mafia clan is not limited to gangster showdowns. It is also a story about family relationships and the main character's reflections on life.
One day, Tony Soprano himself, and the viewers with him, get the chance to see what the character's life might have been like if he had not been a Mafia boss.
In the episode Join the Club, Tony is in a coma after being wounded. During this time, he has a dream in which he is not a mobster, but a businessman who came to a business conference and accidentally took someone else's suitcase.
3. BoJack Horseman (2014-2020) – Fish Out of Water
Much of the story in BoJack Horseman is conveyed through the characters' dialogue. Even more surprising is that in one episode, the writers don't let the characters talk at all.
In the episode Fish Out of Water, BoJack goes to an underwater festival. All the sea creatures communicate with an inarticulate babble. The land-dwellers wear helmets and cannot speak at all, so all of the characters' feelings in the episode are conveyed by their actions.
4. Breaking Bad (2008-2013) – Fly
In the TV show industry, there is a concept called a bottle episode. These are episodes that take place with a minimum of characters and scenery. Such stories are made for purely commercial reasons: when the creators run out of budget, they need the cheapest episode possible.
This is how the episode Fly from Breaking Bad came about. In this episode, Walter notices a fly in the lab and tries to kill it.
The episode was only filmed to save money for other episodes. But Fly ironically turned out to be one of the most recognizable of the season.