Uncomfortable Elevator Moment: Difference between revisions

''(the elevator arrives and Homer gets in; the door closes and he notices he's crammed in with [[Unresolved Sexual Tension|Mindy]])''<br />

'''Homer:''' HAAAAAH! [[Verbal Backspace|I mean, HAllo]]!<br />

* ''[[The Blues Brothers]]'', where Jake and Elwood stand silently in the lift whilst outside SWAT team and National Guard members are swarming the building.

* From ''[[Dogma]]'', as Bartleby and Loki enter an elevator:

''(no response from other elevator passengers, bar a silent, irritated look from a woman holding a coffee)''<br />

'''Loki:''' We can do the next best thing.<br />

* In ''[[Killers]]'', Jen is flustered because Spencer is shirtless.

* ''[[North by Northwest]]''. Roger and his mother are on a crowded elevator with two guys who are trying to kill him. Awkward...

* ''[[Mercury Rising]]'' takes the trope [[Up to Eleven]] with an [[Uncomfortable Elevator Moment|Uncomfortable Elevator]] [[Mexican Standoff]].

* Played for serious [[Nightmare Fuel]] in ''[[Blade]]''. Karen Jensen gets into a lift with two sinister-looking types. When she averts the protocol, turning to look directly at one of the two, his response is a chilling but polite "How ya doin'."

* {{spoiler|After the zombies get into the mall}} in the 2004 remake of ''[[Dawn of the Dead 2004]]'', the survivors are stuck in one of these on the way to the garage. Not helped by C.J.

* A threefer in ''[[True Lies]]''. Tasker (on a horse) chases a terrorist (on a dirtbike) into the lobby of a hotel. The terrorist rides right into a glass-walled elevator and takes a hostage. Tasker rides into the next elevator, with a well-to-do couple who wind up pressed against the glass with the horse's butt in their face. And the whole ride up, Tasker and the bad guy are glaring daggers at each other.

* ''Revenge Of [[The Pink Panther]]'' does this when Clouseau is under cover with The Mob and they're all sizing each other up in the lift. And then the director decided that somebody should break wind. [[Crowning Moment of Funny|It apparently took 58 takes to get it right.]]

** Slight variation in one episode: Londo and G'Kar, ambassadors of two warring alien powers, find themselves waiting for the same lift and begin trading insults in the meantime, to the great discomfort of the small, human extra caught in between them.

** In "Convictions", Londo and G'Kar decide not to share an elevator... untill a nearby explosion forces Londo to jump in. The elevator becomes disabled. G'Kar is firmly opposed to acting in any way that would get them rescued, as he wants to watch Londo die. Awkward.

'''G'Kar:''' As do I. }}

** ''Babylon 5'' loves this trope. Throughout the first season there were several between Talia and Garibaldi, and later one where Sheridan gets on the lift with Lennier after the latter had observed the pleasure ritual between the Captain and Delenn, in a purely religious capacity, of course.

*** The moments with Talia and Garibaldi get more ridiculous when halfway through the season Talia realizes that ''every single time'' she takes the elevator, Garibaldi is already in it. Sinclair thinks that this is just coincidence, until the elevator arrives and Garibaldi is inside. Talia takes the stairs.

* ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]''

** After an [[Aliens Made Them Do It]] episode (which [[Above the Influence|fortunately was not consummated]]), the officers concerned ([[Half-Human Hybrid]] B'Elanna Torres and [[Handsome Lech]] Tom Paris) run into each other in the turbolift. Awkward small talk ensues, until an annoyed Tom stops the lift to give a heartfelt speech on how they have to face up to what happened... plus he wasn't that scared by seeing her [[Destructo-Nookie|aggressive Klingon side]], and wouldn't mind seeing more of it some day. They go the rest of the way in silence, but as B'Elanna exits at her floor, she says, "Be careful what you wish for, Lieutenant."

** In "Waking Moments", all of the crew have had strange nightmares which end with a strange alien watching them. After waking up they all share their dreams, but Tuvok is notably reluctant to share as his dream, shown at the beginning of the episode, was that he went to the bridge, only to realize when the entire crew begin to laugh hysterically that he had neglected to put on any form of clothing. Janeway takes a turbolift with Tuvok and takes the opportunity to enquire further. Clearly uncomfortable, Tuvok admits he dreamt he was in the turbolift and the alien seemed to be "scrutinising his appearance" before following him back to his quarters. His short, evasive answers seem to pique Janeway's interest further.

''(there follows a very awkward silence and when they leave the turbolift, Janeway sneaks a glance at Tuvok with a barely smothered grin)'' }}

* ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' also has such a moment in "Trials and Tribble-ations". Time-travelers Bashir and O'Brien try to take a turbolift in [[Star Trek: The Original Series|TOS]]'s ''Enterprise'', but them being unused to 23rd century technology, it doesn't react to their verbal commands. They're about to tamper with the mechanism when a woman steps in and starts the turbolift properly, by holding one of the handles before giving her command. Bashir then whispers to O'Brien, "I won't tell anyone if you won't."

* Twice in a recent episode of ''[[Dexter]]'' had recently hooked up Angel and Laguerta about to use the elevator alone together when Masuka joins them.

* Hilariously played with on ''[[Angel]]'', as (the very drunk) Fred and Wesley need to catch an elevator quickly.

'''Wesley:''' Come on, come on, come on... }}

* ''[[Grey's Anatomy]]'' has several elevator scenes, but the one that deserves mention is when Addison, Mer and Derek are riding the elevator together and you could cut the sexual tension with a fucking ''knife''. It's so obvious that Addison later asks Meredith if she's still sleeping with Derek.

* ''[[Leverage]]'' manages to combine several elevator tropes into one incident, in which Nate, Nate's ex-wife Maggie, and her boyfriend are handcuffed to one wall of an elevator going down while a ticking bomb is just beyond their reach. While Maggie's boyfriend breaks down crying, Maggie and Nate have a [[Now or Never Kiss]] as he watches. Then, out of nowhere, Parker drops down from the ceiling, says hi, grabs the bomb, and climbs back up out of the elevator. Cue an Incredibly [[Uncomfortable Elevator Moment]].

* ''[[Veronica Mars]]'': In season two, in the episode best known for its ''Epic Love'' moment, Veronica, Mac, Vincent, Corny, Dick, Madison, Jackie, Wallace and others take a long uncomfortable ride up to the Alterna Prom thrown by Logan.

'''Mac:''' Still not as long as this one. }}

* These are sometimes used as office-sexism-scene-setting moments on ''[[Mad Men]]''.

* In ''[[Ghostbusters]]: The Video Game'', there is a scene where Ray and the Rookie are in an elevator with a couple of businessmen arguing about staying in for lunch, though rightfully so since the building is being attacked by the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

* ''[[Time Splitters]]: Future Perfect'' features an Uncomfortable ''Waiting for the'' Elevator Moment as Cortez and his partner from the time period involved in one of the missions have to wait for the elevator to a corporation's secret lab.

'''Cortez:''' That's good... }}

* The elevators in ''[[Halo]]'''s Library. "But I Don't Want to Ride the Elevator!"

* ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', where there is one elevator that NPCs know how to use. If the target they want to attack is on a different floor, they will wait for the elevator, step on it, wait for it to get to the top/bottom and then continue chasing their target. If another player, who they don't like, is also on the elevator they will simply ignore them unless their primary target leaves the dungeon, in which case they will punch your face in.

* ''[[LA Noire]]'' has one in "The Naked City" DLC, where you and your partner are riding up with a woman who's fiancee you just accused of burglary. Your partner [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] it:

* In ''[[The Spectacular Spider-Man]]'', the humongous supervillain Rhino steps into an elevator where a meek-looking man is already inside, and tells the man to take him to the top floor. After a moment of awkward silence, Rhino explains that his fingers are too big to push the buttons.

* The page quote is from an episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' where Homer is stuck in an elevator with Mindy Simmons, a co-worker he finds himself attracted to. He ends the awkwardness by stopping the elevator between floors and getting out... into thin air, sliding down one of the power plant's smokestacks.

* A rather inspired one in ''[[Jackie Chan Adventures]]'': Jackie and his [[Evil Twin]] get into an elevator, and [[The Elevator From Ipanema|the "Theme from A Summer Place" starts playing]]. Good!Jackie smiles and enjoys the music. Evil!Jackie scowls and waits. [[Better Than It Sounds]].

* ''[[Wakfu]]'' manages to have such a moment with a [[Magitek]] elevator in season 2 episode 4 -- complete with an elevator music remix [[Theme Tune Cameo|of the opening theme]].