Download The Silent Age Episode 2 Unlocked
Therese Cowden
A single episode of a show where characters are usually very talkative is done with everyone being silent, or at least "silent" in the sense that you wouldn't be able to understand them if you couldn't see them.
Professional Wrestling
- A segment on the February 21th 2011 episode of Raw, was done without a word of dialogue. The Undertaker made a return after a long absence. His music played. The crowd cheered loudly. Before he could do or say anything, Triple H made a surprise return after an even longer absence. The crowd went nuts. The two of them stared each other down, and then turned to look at the WrestleMania logo. The crowd exploded. More staredown, dueling chants, dueling taunts, not a word spoken.
- On the September 10th 2012 episode of Monday Night RAW, following Jerry Lawler's heart attack, segments that followed, including the matches, had no commentary, out of respect for Lawler. The only commentary was Michael Cole giving updates on Lawler's condition.
Web Original
- Justified in an episode of Alantutorial, where Alan doesn't want to be caught making a tutorial. Though his phone's audio is working due to the noise in the background, Alan stays silent and tries to convince his audience his mic is broken.
- Backwards Songs With Luke's "I Need Your Help To Find The Illuminati" features no talking, with Luke silently making hand-gestures and writing to the audience instead.
- hololive's "Holo no Graffiti" shorts are usually packed with very rapid dialogue (in part because they are showcasing the voice actors as much as the digital personas), but Episode 125: Danger: Do Not Wake has only one line at the end, with all the gags being expressed through careful animation.
- The Music Video Show has this in an episode where the host turns off the music at the beginning of the video and gives the music video the finger for 7 minutes without saying a word.
- The Nostalgia Critic's review of The Good Son is a variant where all of the Critic's lines are done through cue cards and subtitles accentuated by music and stock noise (including a stock Evil Laugh) because Doug lost his voice he spent too much time yelling at it before reviewing it proper. The film clips do keep their dialogue, though.
- RWBY: Ruby's Red trailer consists of her fighting monsters in a forest. The only sounds are the snarls of the Beowolves, the sound effects and the music score.
- SCP-2521 of the SCP Foundation is this out of necessity, as it is a weird Humanoid Abomination that steals anything written about it and kidnaps anyone who talks about it. However, drawing pictures that describe it is just fine, as it apparently can't comprehend pictorial representations of information.
- SuperMarioLogan uses the partial variation in the episode "Bowser Junior's Nerf War!", where most of the first half (mainly when the Nerf guns are shot) is thisnote We are treated to ominous music as a replacement for the dialogue. The rest of the episode has dialogue, though.
- Vietnamese web animation Wolfoo accidentally has uploads of an episode which is silent. Most of the official uploads of the series have voices, whereas the silent version was probably meant for dubbing in other languages.
"Joss resolved to write a 'Buffy' episode that would require him to up his directorial game," writes Amy Pascale in Joss Whedon: The Biography, which comes out on August 1. "His script for 'Hush' would forgo the snappy and innovative dialogue for which he and the show had always been heralded."
"Hush" started out like any other "Buffy" episode with the vampire-slaying gang squabbling over college life, dating, and being unable to express their feelings for one another despite talking ceaselessly.
"I wanted something scary and kind of dream like," Whedon said in a behind the scenes featurette on the episode. "The idea that something like that is floating at me and I can't scream is a creepy child story dream."
Despite their difficulties, the gang find it in some ways easier to communicate than they could when they were speaking without listening at the beginning of the episode. Notably, Buffy and romantic interest Riley find the wherewithal to share their first kiss.
Though "Hush" didn't have much dialogue, it was far from silent. The episode includes one of the series' most sinister soundtracks. Whedon and composer Christopher Beck used the episode's score (which can be heard below) to pay homage to the music of silent films and add another layer of dread.
"In addition to being one of the scariest episodes of TV ever produced, 'Hush' showcases everything that makes 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' one of the best shows of all time," wrote Screen Crush's Jacob Hall, who ranked it in the top ten episodes of the series.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) leaves his office at the U.S. Capitol July 27, 2023 in Washington, DC. The 81-year-old Senate minority leader had a pair of unusual episodes during news conferences in July and August when he froze up and was briefly unable to talk at the podium. Drew Angerer/Getty Images hide caption
There are several television series that are so effective, they can produce compelling episodes without any dialogue at all. Silent, or dialogue-free, episodes have been a television mainstay for decades, though, even when attempted by some of the best TV shows of all time, are often a difficult trope to deliver effectively. The best examples, however, often utilize the technique to enrich their narrative.
Many television series have silent episodes which have been critically lauded. They are often praised for incorporating appropriate stories that explore the potential of silent episodes. From Buffy the Vampire Slayer to The Twilight Zone, such masterful executions of silent episodes are frequently considered among the series' best and most memorable outings.
"Hush" is often cited as Buffy the Vampire Slayer's scariest episode. Season 4, episode 10 features the residents of Sunnydale having their voices stolen by a horrifying series of demons known as The Gentlemen. It fosters a nightmarish quality that permeates the entire episode, which prompted substiantial critical praise. "Hush" very cleverly used the episode to reveal plot points to characters, who could not then discuss them. It greatly enriched the sinister undercurrent of The Gentlemen, making viewers more susceptible to fear. It is an astute example of weaving a silent episode into a narrative and is one of numerous ways Buffy the Vampire Slayer manipulates sound.
BoJack Horseman season 3, episode 4, "Fish Out of Water," is also widely suggested as the series' best episode. It features minimal dialogue during the opening scenes to explain the story's premise: BoJack traveling underwater on a press tour. Using an animated format, the range of emotion conveyed in "Fish Out of Water" without dialogue is particularly impressive. Animations typically rely on vocal performances to effectively relay emotions, but "Fish Out of Water" manages to tell a heart-warming and poignant story using highly emotive expressions. The results crafted an uncharacteristically beautiful and touching episode, and is partly why season 3 is the best season of BoJack Horseman.
Evil season 2, episode 7, "S is for Silence," depicts the supernatural investigators traveling to a monastery where they are forced to observe a vow of silence. It is a tidy way of instigating a silent narrative, which then unfolds in an extremely surreal manner. "S is for Silence" is often dubbed a standout episode of Evil season 2, partly for exaggerating an already bizarre premise, but also for delivering it in such a captivating and aesthetically pleasing way. With Evil season 4 already confirmed, the show promises to offer even more original and disturbing stories.
Another silent episode often deemed the strongest from a television series is Inside No. 9 season 1, episode 2, "A Quiet Night In." The installment depicts two burglars attempting to steal a painting while avoiding the suspicion of the owners. Much of the episode's humor is derived from this silent premise, relying on highly expressive performances from the stars, Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton. The episode also infuses elements of slap-stick, recalling the historical silent comedy genre. There is only a single line of dialogue, delivered at the episode's climax, with expressions and song lyrics used to convey emotion and plot points.
Only Murders in the Building season 1, episode 7, "The Boy From 6B," is depicted entirely from the perspective of a deaf character, Theo (James Caverly). The spoken dialogue is muffled so much that it is inaudible, with the episode almost entirely silent except for the highly emotive soundtrack. As such, the dialogue is presented through subtitles, a neat way of representing Theo's interpretation of sign language and lipreading. "The Boy From 6B" won several Primetime Emmy Awards, and is arguably the series' most successful episode.
Mr. Robot season 4, episode 5, "405 Method Not Allowed," is presented with only little dialogue at the beginning and end of the episode. The episode revolves around the hackers' attempts to execute a heist at a server farm. Like Buffy the Vampire Slayer's "Hush," Mr. Robot's "405 Method not Allowed" was praised for using the silent trope as a necessary function in the narrative and allowing it to heighten the characters' emotions. It was also noted for intensifying the viewer's perception of danger and tension throughout.
The X-Files season 11, episode 7, "Rm9sbG93ZXJz" is not entirely silent, but uses very minimal dialogue throughout. It features Mulder and Scully becoming trapped in a fully automated, robotic restaurant. The narrative removes all ancillary characters for the protagonists to interact with verbally. It exploits the inability to communicate personally with machines and technology to create fear in the episode, playing on contemporary concerns of artificial intelligence. "Rm9sbG93ZXJz" is a particular highlight of The X-Files season 11, which many critics suggested was the closest to recapturing the essence of the earlier seasons.
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