History Main / CutleryEscapeAid

Cutlery Escape Aid is when a captive attempts to steal an eating utensil to use as a weapon or otherwise aid in their escape. This is one of the things a hero might attempt during a NoMrBondIExpectYouToDine scene.

* On the Creator/TexAvery cartoon ''WesternAnimation/{{Cellbound}}'', a prisoner uses a spoon to dig his way out, taking him twenty years to do so.

* ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl'': Elizabeth Swann sneaks a knife from the table while she's dining with [[BigBad Barbossa]] on the ''Black Pearl''. She does end up stabbing him with, but since he's [[FateWorseThanDeath undead]] this doesn't do anything to him and he even lampshades the FridgeLogic by asking what she intended on doing after killing him, seeing as how she's trapped on a pirate ship in the middle of the ocean.

* In ''Discworld/GoingPostal'', protagonist Moist von Lipwig manages to secrete a spoon in his cell, which he uses to gradually chip away at the ancient mortar around one of the blocks in the wall. He finishes on the night before he's due to be hanged, only to find a freshly mortared block right behind it, with a shiny new spoon in the gap. Lord Vetinari regards false hope as a healthy prisoner activity.

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* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E12TheGunganGeneral "The Gungan General"]]: For the first escape attempt Dooku uses the force to nab a knife next to an abandoned pirate meal and uses it to open the cell door.

* ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'': While Marion is drinking wine with Belloq, she grabs a table knife in order to escape. The attempt fails because of the arrival of Major Toht and the Nazi guards.
* In ''Film/SuckerPunch'' one of the things Babydoll and her friends steal when planning their escape is a kitchen knife from the chef. Though [[spoiler: Rocket gets stabbed to death in the attempt, or maybe she's still alive in the asylum, it's ambiguous.]]

* ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl'': Elizabeth Swann sneaks a knife from the table while she's dining with [[BigBad Barbossa]] on the ''Black Pearl''. She does end up stabbing him with, but since he's [[FateWorseThanDeath undead]] this doesn't do anything to him and he even lampshades the FridgeLogic by asking what she intended on doing after killing him, seeing as how she's trapped on a pirate ship in the middle of the ocean.

* ''Literature/JamesBond''
** In ''Literature/DrNo'', Bond attempts to steal a steak knife while [[NoMrBondIExpectYouToDine he is having Dinner with Dr No]]. Dr No, however, is wise to this trick and has Bond searched before he leaves the table.
** In ''Literature/TriggerMortis'', Bond manages to steal a knife during a dinner provided by Jason Sin, and later uses it help himself to dig out from being buried alive.
* In ''Discworld/GoingPostal'', protagonist Moist von Lipwig manages to secrete a spoon in his cell, which he uses to gradually chip away at the ancient mortar around one of the blocks in the wall. He finishes on the night before he's due to be hanged, only to find a freshly mortared block right behind it, with a shiny new spoon in the gap. Lord Vetinari regards false hope as a healthy prisoner activity.

* Mirtai's backstory in ''Literature/TheTamuli'' involves being captured by slavers as a child. She pulled the handle off the spoon they gave her, and sharpened the metal shank.

* ''Series/TheMuppetShow'': When the pigs take over the theatre, Kermit, Fozzie and Gonzo are locked in the basement. Gonzo, however, gloats that he has managed to smuggle in... ''a spoon!'' Which he then proceeds to use in an attempt to tunnel his way out.
* In ''Series/BreakingBad'', "... And The Bag's in the River", Walt has a violent drug dealer named Krazy-8 captive and considers releasing him. Then Walt collects the pieces of a plate Krazy-8 broke and finds one large piece missing, and realizes Krazy-8 is planning to murder him if he's let out.

* In the Australian mini-series ''Janus'' a criminal escapes from a prison van using a can opener to cut his way through the roof. When a viewer wrote in to complain that this was unrealistic, it was pointed out that this was based on a real incident.

* ''Series/TheMagician'': At the start of "Illusion of the Stainless Steel Lady", a reclusive movie star being held prisoner by her shady business manager has managed to use a spoon to prise the mortar loose from between several bricks and remove the bricks. After being caught, her jailer tells her that from now on she will be eating with a plastic spoon.

* Inmates in ''VideoGame/PrisonArchitect'' can steal cutlery from kitchens. Knives are weapons, and spoons can be used as digging tools.
* In ''VideoGame/TheEscapists'', plastic knives, forks and spoons can be stolen and all can be used to aid in escape: knives to cut through vents, forks to chip away at walls and spoons to dig tunnels.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars''[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS1E12TheGunganGeneral "The Gungan General"]]: For the first escape attempt Dooku uses the force to nab a knife next to an abandoned pirate meal and uses it to open the cell door.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In "Frontier in Space", Jo uses the spoon provided by the Ogrons with her meal to tunnel under the bars of her cell.

* ''VideoGame/{{Archeage}}'': To escape from Nuian Prison, layers must obtain five spoons by digging the piles outside of the main prison building. After this, they must go downstairs into the cell with the tattered allpaper, remove the wallpaper, and dig their way out with the spoons.

* ''Film/PiratesoftheCaribbeanTheCurseoftheBlackPearl'': Elizabeth Swann sneaks a knife from the table while she's dining with [[BigBad Barbossa]] on the ''Black Pearl''. She does end up stabbing him with, but since he's [[FateWorseThanDeath undead]] this doesn't do anything to him and he even lampshades the FridgeLogic by asking what she intended on doing after killing him, seeing as how she's trapped on a pirate ship in the middle of the ocean.

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* In an omake for ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12514982/6/A-Witch-and-an-Amazon-Walk-into-a-Bar A Witch and an Amazon Walk into a Bar]]'' Sally-Anne Perks uses a spoon to dig her way out of the Malfoys' dungeons.

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* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'', the penguins somehow manage to tunnel out of their habitat by using plastic spoons.
* Invoked on ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'', when Mike suggests using mostly spoons to dig a tunnel and use it to release Boo back into the wild. In this case it's not because they are prisoners, but because Mike is just out of ideas.

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* ''ComicStrip/ModestyBlaise'': In "The Special Orders", Sam is being held captive by a gang of slavers. She steals a knife from dinner and uses it to prise out the scrap of cloth she had jammed into the doorframe earlier to prevent the lock from closing.
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-->'''Tarvek:''' I've ''obviously'' been abducted. It's your uniform, you see, no Wulfenbach sigils to be seen—plus, Gil wouldn't leave me shackled... and if he ''did'' he'd never let me have a '''''fork'''''. So much more versatile than a knife.

* ''Series/TheMagician'': At the start of "Illusion of the Stainless Steel Lady", a reclusive movie star being held prisoner by her shady business manager has managed to uses a spoon to prise the mortar loose from between several bricks and remove the bricks. After being caught, her jailer tells her that from now on she will be eating with a plastic spoon.