-->If I ever get out of here\\
Thought of giving it all away...\\
If I ever get out of here\\
If we ever get out of here\\
— Wings, "Band on the Run"

Two characters, usually two characters sharing a large amount of animosity, get locked in a room (safe, elevator, etc.) and must spend the episode alone together. During which time they learn a new appreciation for each other.

If being locked in the room also puts the characters in danger, then they are LockedInAFreezer. If their mates locked them there intentionally, to get them to resolve an issue or light a spark between them, it's also TenMinutesInTheCloset. If they must work together to accomplish something (such as [[ClosedCircle escaping from the room]]), it's also EnemyMine. If they're LockedInARoom and have no idea how they got there, then it's an OntologicalMystery. They're in trouble if one of them suffers from {{Claustrophobia}}. Sometimes takes the form of SubwaysSuck.

This trope is almost a requirement of any SitCom that's been on for more than a couple of years. It's almost a DeadHorseTrope, but the concept of SitComReinforcement keeps it in rotation.

See also ChainedHeat.
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!!Examples:

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[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* In ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'', Shinji and Asuka are forced to spend an episode locked in a room so they can learn how to work in perfect sync with each other, in order to defeat an Angel which split into two parts that also move in perfect sync. (Admitedly, half this and half 'chained together')
** They were never locked up anywhere, they just had to do it as part of their jobs. A better example would be Misato and Kaji getting stuck in an elevator, which increases the tension of their relationship.
**Subverted with the infamou 'elevator scene'. It's only a few minutes, but...yeah.
* An episode of ''MahouTsukaiTai'' has Sae and Ayanojyo locked in a closet, with Sae more and more unnerved as she realizes how long it might be before someone finds them. The audience thinks it's sexual tension between her and the attractive {{bishonen}}... and then, when she's finally freed, the true problem is discovered as she [[PottyEmergency races to the nearest bathroom]].
* In ''{{Hitohira}}'' Nono and Mirei wind up in the store room with each other, which gives them a chance to discuss their differences. Of course, the fact that Nono just lost her voice ([[spoiler:or fakes it]]) doesn't make things easier.
* Rito and Haruna find themselves in this situation, and in true ''ToLoveRu'' fashion, they're [[{{Fanservice}} naked]].
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[[folder:Comic Books]]
* After one of the fallings out (this troper forgets which and in order they occurred...or whether it was a real or imaginary one) of Katchoo and Francine, the main characters of the comic ''StrangersInParadise'', their mutual friends David and Casey trick them into a sound booth at a small record studio, then handcuff them together, lock them in, drop the key down Casey's front, and watch from the two-way mirror until the two reconcile. Again.
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[[folder:Film]]
* ''TheBreakfastClub'' revolves around a bunch of students serving a Saturday detention, locked inside their school's library. They eventually end up as close friends.
* ''{{Saw}}'' is primarily set inside a bathroom, with two people chained to exposed pipes. Much tension ensues.
** ''Saw II'' has the victims locked in a house, expecting to work together.
** ''Saw IV'' has three of the victims in a room, not necessarily locked in, but if they open the door, two of them die. [[spoiler: Rigg blows the trap and causes two of them to die, but not one of them who was necessarily implied to be a victim.]]
** ''Saw V'' provides an interesting example as well: each of the four traps is seemingly designed so that one person has to die for the others to move on, [[spoiler:while all five could have survived to the end if they had worked together]]. Cryptic message "Five must become one" works on so many levels.
* [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] in the remake of ''TheParentTrap'', when the camp counselors force Hallie and Annie to bunk together to work out their issues.
** This was actually taken from the original film, which also had the girls forced to room together.
* Referenced in one JohnWayne movie.
-->"Two men spend a long winter snowed-in in a shack. They either walk out good friends or..."
-->"One of them walks out alone."
* Lisa and Jackson from ''RedEye'' are [[LockedInARoom Locked In a Plane]]. By the end of the flight? [[TryingToCatchMeFightingDirty They definitely don't kiss and make up]].
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[[folder:Literature]]
* Done intentionally in DavidEddings' ''{{Belgariad}}''. When Polgara finds that the bickering heirs of two rival countries are male and female, her solution to the feud is to lock the two together in a room, wait until the shouting stops, and then officiate the resulting wedding. Implausibly enough, this plan works perfectly.
* Done to a couple of minor characters in a few different DavidEddings series. Usually at Polgara (or her {{Expy}}'s) behest.
* In ''The Hunting of the Snark'', the Butcher and Beaver both happen to choose the same spot to hide from boojums. The Butcher ends up teaching the Beaver some mathematics and natural philosophy, and they soon become good buddies.
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[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* The premise was repeatedly and relentlessly beaten to a pulp in the ''ThatsMyBush'' episode: [[http://www.comedycentral.com/tv_shows/tmb/episode_107.jhtml "Trapped In A Small Environment"]].
* ''[[BlakesSeven Blake's 7]]'' episode ''Sand'' has enemies Tarrant and Servalan stuck in a room together. Also ''Redemption'' has Avon and Jenna in a cell together. Technically, they're allies, but that doesn't mean they like each other!
* While the most famous example from ''BabylonFive'' is a subversion (see below), an episode by NeilGaiman had several people locked in different rooms with ghosts. Some were lost loves, some where friends they lost, at least one had a mortal foe giving snarky advice.
* A variation of this occurred in ''KenanAndKel'', where people arriving in said room ended up getting locked in by the closing door.
* The penultimate episode of ''ThePrisoner'' features the most byzantine of all the Village's plots to break the hero: "Let's lock you in a room for six days with TheDragon while he hypnotizes you and digs up your repressed memories like an evil Sigmund Freud."
* In the "Earthquake" episode of ''NightCourt'', Dan and Roz are trapped in an elevator with two sumo wrestlers.
* Done with multiple groups in the ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "Disaster", some more annoyed at their company than others. And again in the ''StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episodes "Starship Down" and "The Forsaken".
* The ''{{House}}'' episode ''One Day, One Room'''s main thrust was a patient refusing to speak to anybody other than House (he explicitly describes himself as "trapped in the room with her"), and the two of them forcing each other to confront their demons (being victims of [[spoiler:rape and paternal abuse, respectively]]).
* ''{{Eastenders}}'' has done about fifteen of these.
* In BurnNotice, Michael gets stuck in a hostage situation with Agent Bly, who up to this point had been a major pain in Michael's ass, and vice versa. They have to work together to get out of the situation (with Bly shot, no less) and end up with a mutual respect.
* ''{{Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip}}'' had one of these, only different: Jordan and Danny were trapped on the roof of a building.
* A tenth season episode of ''{{Murphy Brown}}'', "From the Terrace," has many characters trapped on the terrace of their new space.
* Daphne and Niles in ''{{Frasier}}'' spend an episode trapped on their roof, where they were supposed to be having a romantic date.
* In the ''DawsonsCreek'' episode ''The Tao of Dawson'', Joey gets locked in a storage closet with the hated Drue Valentine, and ends up softening towards him... only for it to turn out that he could have called for help whenever he wanted.
* ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' had the deliberate version of this - when Buffy fell out with one of the supporting cast, the rest of the cast conspired to lock the two in a limousine on the way to the prom with a note telling them to sort it out. Doubly subverted, because not only did they spend the entire journey arguing over who should have which corsage (very snidely), the journey then ended in the middle of nowhere, at which point bad guys appeared and started hunting them down like animals. Which actually ''did'' cause them to bond a little, in between running from gunmen and fighting demons.
** Played straight in "What's My Line". Xander and Cordelia were trapped in Buffy's basement, and ended up making out.
* ''FamilyTies'' had an episode where Mallory and Skippy were locked in a basement together.
* ''StargateSG1'' example from "Zero Hour," courtesy of the unique command style of General O'Neill. To force a pair of alien delegates to behave like adults and come to an agreement, he puts them in 'time out' together in a small room. With a fruit basket.
* ''TheWestWing'' episode ''No Exit'', which trapped four pairs of people in a White House lockdown, giving them time to argue and come to terms with each other. Ish.
** And of course, the title comes from the Jean-Paul Sartre play - famed for the quote "Hell is other people" - [[OldestOnesInTheBook making this...]]
* Done in a hilariously bad scene of the hilariously bad ''Birds of Prey'' live action series wherein Huntress and her wannabe boyfriend get locked into a sauna together. Naturally to avoid overheating they both have to strip down to their skivvies.
* ''AllInTheFamily'' - In "Two's a Crowd", Archie and Mike get locked in the storeroom of Archie's bar. (This, after Archie had locked himself in the basement of his house a few seasons earlier; you'd think he would have learned...)
** The first-season episode "The Elevator Story" had Archie get stuck in a stalled elevator with, among other people, a supercilious black businessman and a Puerto Rican man whose wife is going into labor.
* ''TheBobNewhartShow'' - Bob and Emily spend the 1976 Bicentennial locked in their apartment building's storage room.
*Played straight with a twist on the '80s Nell Carter sitcom ''Gimme a Break''. Nell is trapped in a basement after an earthquake with a Hispanic woman who only understands Spanish. To top it off, she's also deaf. I will never forget how to say "taco" or "cockroach" in sign language because of that episode....
* In an episode of ''OnlyFoolsAndHorses'', Del Boy deliberately stops an elevator in order to force Rodney to open up to him. As a nod to the frequency of the trope, Del then repairs the lift, revealing that it was never broken in the first place.
* ''{{Friends}}'' has done this at least three times, the first time early in the first season with Ross, Susan and Phoebe locked in a janitor's closet during Carol's labour. The second was when everyone else were trapped together in Monica's bedroom by Ross and Rachel breaking up outside. The third was later, with Ross and Joey locked out on the roof after trying to watch a meteor shower.
* [[DoubleSubversion Doubly Subverted]] in MyNameIsEarl. The heads of two rival prison gangs were locked in a solitary cell together by a GenreSavvy warden. Once they got out, the fighting was worse than ever, but Earl later discovers that[[spoiler: not only did the two leaders secretly make up, they became StarCrossedLovers]].
* Happened with nearly every main character in ''{{The 4400}}'' episode ''No Exit''. They had to work together to survive and escape a building that was trying to kill them (long story). In the end [[spoiler: it was revealed to be Marco's assistant PJ who was causing it, having taken promicin. Shawn died but recovered, having sorted out at least a few issues with Isabelle and Kyle. Meghan also died, got better, and got more UST with Tom. Maia and Diana had mother-daughter bonding time. Tom got a better understanding of Jordan, although they still seemed to hate each other.]]
* Masterfully subverted in the episode "Dawg Days" from {{The Shield}}. After an escalating feud between two gang members threatens to spiral out of control, a group of police officers lock them together in a storage container overnight, they jokingly assume that the normal course of events will occur and the two will settle their differences. However, when they return the next morning one of the gang members walks out and proclaims of his 'container-mate' "he ain't coming".
* ''[[BabylonFive Babylon 5]]'' did a nice subversion of this trope (as well as LockedInAFreezer), in an episode where G'Kar and Londo were trapped in an elevator and came out hating each other worse than ever. G'Kar was, in fact, deeply disappointed to be rescued, as he had hoped that they would both die, because that would mean he would get to see Londo's death without having to cause it himself (which would have triggered reprisals against the conquered Narn population).
* ''Hancock'' (i.e. ''HancocksHalfHour'', after it was shortened to 25 minutes) episode "The Lift", with nine people in a lift designed for eight (though at the end the lift breaks down ''again'' with only two people in it).
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[[folder:Radio]]
* An episode of ''Radio/AdventuresInOdyssey'' had Whit trapped in an elevator with a loud-mouthed radio personality...and a bomb. In the end the bomb turned out to be fake and it was all a mean-spirited practical joke.
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[[folder:Theater]]
* An extremely common trope for playwrights, particularly for short two-hander plays. In addition to being an easy way to force conflict, it makes set design much simpler.
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[[folder:Video Games]]
* In the first level of ''SecondSight,'' John Vattic has the opportunity to lock two security guards in the isolation cell he just escaped from; very quickly, the two of them discover that neither of them owns a working radio, and help will not be arriving for hours. Since the windows of the cell are large and shatterproof, the [[VideogameCrueltyPotential player has the luxury of watching the two guards slaughter each other]]. [[PassThePopcorn Bring some popcorn.]]
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[[folder:Web Original]]
* In the ''{{KateModern}}'' episode "Trait Positive", Charlie and Gavin get locked in the G&T IT office together over the course of a weekend, spanning seven episodes. Over that time, they bond. In the later episode "False Alarm", it is revealed that they also slept together that weekend.
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[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Used as the FramingDevice in the ''{{Rugrats}}'' Passover special: Tommy, Chuckie, and Angelica (and eventually the rest of their families) get locked in the attic with Grandpa Boris, and Boris passes the time by telling the story of Passover, FableRemake style.
-->"Don't close the--"
-->*SLAM!*
-->"[[RunningGag Door...]]"
* The same happened to most of the cast on ''{{Sealab 2021}}'', in the episode "Trapped In The Closet". One by one, over the course of the episode, they were locked into a storage closet by a malfunctioning hatch. In an ironic inversion of LockedInAFreezer, the ''outside'' of the closet turns out to be the dangerous area, with angry attack dogs running around.
* Thanks to Mike and Bryan being a little too aware of the {{Shipping}} that goes on in the fandom of ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'', the character Katara has found herself trapped inside a cave alone not once, but twice, with both the [[OfficialCouple main protagonist]] and [[ShipTease antagonist]] of the show.
* The second episode of ''ClerksTheAnimatedSeries'' revolved around this. The old friends locked in an industrial refrigerator together started to reminisce about their wacky adventures, turning the trope into the framework for a ClipShow...except, since this was the ''second episode'', there was only one episode to show clips from. This got even more surreal when the second episode was broadcast first, meaning viewers had never seen the clips it kept referencing.
* One memorable episode of ''{{Animaniacs}}'' had Dr. Scrathensniff stuck in an elevator with Wakko Warner. One of the show's finest moments in this editor's opinion, despite (or pehaps because of) the fact that not much occurs inside the elevator, other than Scratchensniff going crazy(er).
* [[YouSuck Ron Stoppable]] and Mr. Barkin spended an entire episode of ''KimPossible'' locked inside a truck. They hardly got to know each other, because Barkin got goofier and crazier.
* Used in the made-for-grade-school ''{{Arthur}}'': While the titular character and his little sister, DW, are locking in a refrigerator of a restaurant, they learn to use their imagination as they listen to an old radio show on the ancient radio in the fridge.
* [[HowDidWeMissThisOne How did we miss this obligatory]] ''TheSimpsons'' [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]]? When Mr. Burns and Homer wound up getting snowed in a log cabin, they both end up getting paranoid about the other's intentions.
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[[folder:In Real Life]]
* This troper had a boyfriend who used to make his own comedy show for student television. One day he and two friends were wandering around a university building and ended up stuck in an elevator, and had to be rescued by the security guys. On retelling, he took great pleasure in mocking one of the friends, who had been extremely anxious, and he and the other friend re-created the scene (him playing the anxious friend, the other friend playing himself) for the student comedy show. This troper later discovers that her then-boyfriend had been just as panicked during the experience, and also that the elevator had never broken in the first place... he'd pressed the emergency stop button to see what would happen, and was unable to get it started again.
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