March 2nd, 1995, the television series Friends aired one of its all-time classic episodes, “The One with All the Poker”. The 18th episode of the first season, this episode is commonly regarded as one of the finest from the NBC sitcom’s early run. Yet it sticks out from the other fan favorites. Avoiding revealing back stories and jaw-dropping character arcs, the episode simply follows the six friends as they play each other in a low stakes game of poker...
I’ve always been partial to this episode for several reasons. It has the 90s humor that I’ve always loved, it’s a classic “guys v girls” episode format that the show would continuously toy with, it has the unabashed sentimentality of the early seasons, but what draws me to the episode the most is its banality. In a show filled with sprawling, soapy character threads, "The One with All the Poker" could be completely removed, and nothing would change, but that’s what makes it so effective. It’s hanging out. Characters we know and love, doing things that don’t really matter, but we care about it anyways. Equal parts comforting and carefree, the hangout episode is a staple of television. “Roadside Attraction” in Gravity Falls, “Cooperative Calligraphy” in Community, “Fly” in Breaking Bad, these episodes aren’t plot relevant in the least but they’re essential to show regardless.
The hangout episode is what makes the show matter. While drama and romance are what the audience demands to see, it’s the characters that keep us coming back. Exploring the downtime in between the dramatic swings fleshes out the series and makes the world of the show feel alive. The punch of the drama is more potent when we feel and care for these characters outside of the plot. Ironically, lowering the stakes makes the stakes so much higher.
These types of episodes humanize the characters in ways that most of the series cannot. These episodes are less about events and more about what’s behind them. Not always the most finely tuned episodes nor the most memorable, but they serve as the bridge between set pieces. The connective tissue of the series that answers the biggest question any show asks its viewers, “why am I watching this?” and the answer that the hangout episode provides is “because I care”.
However, in the new world of streaming television, the hangout episode is dying. Hangout episodes used to be a result of filling dead airtime. A series will ink a deal for 24 episodes but only have enough story for 23, the result is an episode where the characters don’t get up to very much. But tv isn’t like it used to be. There are no schedules, no commercial breaks, no seasonal cycle. We are given what we want, when we want it. Waiting weeks for the next plot development is now a dying concept.
On one hand, series can be as streamlined as they want. They can get all they need for as long as they need, trimming the fat of cable. Yet these freedoms develop new expectations, expectations that don’t make room for hanging out. If we can get everything we want at once, why would we want episodes of characters doing nothing? Tv series now need to prove their importance out of the gate, and they can never lose steam.
The underside of this is that television no longer has the time to explore its worlds and characters. Hangouts are dead, alongside Christmas and Halloween episodes. The linearity of streaming demands theatrics for every second, television deals are no longer the sprawling multi-season promises where creators have years to build up a world.
This certainly cuts filler episodes from series, but maybe that filler is important. In many ways it’s these gaps that prove the merit of a series rather than the showstoppers. A strong series can fill downtime with rich characters and compelling stories, confined as they may be. While inconsequential to the overarching plot, the narrative is defined by the relationships of the characters seen in moments of silence and solitude. Filler episodes have no place in ten episode deals with Netflix. Television is about grabbing attention and fast, a moment of rest to explore character relationships means a dip in engagement and the looming threat of cancellation grows closer.
So, while it’s nice to have prestige television on our doorstep, we lose the sense of community that comes with cable. Set pieces don’t need to be bridged to one another, characters serve the story rather than standing on their own. I’ll miss tuning into an episode only to be greeted with nothing. The best television keeps you coming back not because you want to see how it ends, but because you get to spend time with your favorite characters. As media grows faster and more immediate, it’s important to remember the downtime, the moments where you forget about the imminent “to be continued” and focus on the beautiful and languid “now”.
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