10 Best TV "Filler" Episodes Ranked

“Filler” TV episodes that halt the dramatic progression of a series can be frustrating, but the phenomenon has also resulted in some iconic works of television. A “filler” episode, not to be confused with the single-location “bottle episode” (although the two formats often overlap), is the name given to an episode of a long-form narrative TV show that seems to serve no overarching plot function. The episode seems to exist only to “fill” out the remaining space in the season, once all the “story” episodes have been written.