1. they're not bottle episodes
2. i understand no one likes "standalone episode"
3. we're gonna try calling them departure episodes, everybody get on board
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my hope is that this is a sturdy but flexible term that feels relatively intuitive.
it also has the benefit of speaking to one of the points of discussion I've seen about "Long, Long Time" - is it effective to do a departure ep from a show without a well-established norm yet?
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I think the episode works (although I am less rapturous about it than some of the response I've seen). but by calling it a departure episode you can have a much more cogent conversation about the strengths and drawbacks of the form.
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This is correct, and is already pretty standard lingo. I remember hearing the term "departure episode" from Netflix execs when talking about season one of BoJack back in 2014.
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EXCELLENT. it's always easier when it's already in the ether, and I have heard it from some other tv writers. i am happy to just provide a helpful link for ease of pedantic discourse
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was the guy in Six Feet Under getting kidnapped and tormented a bottle episode
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ooooh i gotta go back and check that one in specific, kind of depends on whether the guy was a guest star? but maybe!
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I'm going to go against the grain and say I love standalone episodes. Some of the best X-Files episodes were the standalones.
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yes sorry, that tweet is a little misleading.
i LOVE these kinds of episodes! and bottle episodes! but try as i might to get people to fucking call them standalone episodes, it just does not take.
my issue is with the name, not the act
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