Ep 11. Blackout

In Portlandia season 3 episode 11, titled "Blackout," the city of Portland is hit with a blackout, causing chaos and unexpected encounters.

The episode begins with Fred and Carrie preparing for a dinner party with their friends. However, the power goes out, and they are left scrambling to salvage their plans. They resort to cooking food on a campfire in the backyard and drinking wine by candlelight.

Meanwhile, Candace, a resident of a retirement home, is left alone in the dark and is unable to reach her emergency alert button. She turns to her young neighbor, Kyle, for help, and they end up spending the entire blackout together, forming an unlikely bond.

Elsewhere in the city, two sketchy characters take advantage of the blackout to rob a convenience store, but their plans are foiled by a group of improv actors who are rehearsing in the same store.

The blackout also leads to some interesting situations for the employees of a local bookstore. With no power to run the cash register, they begin bartering with customers, trading books for goods such as chocolate and wine.

As the night wears on, the lack of electricity causes some residents to behave oddly, including a man who wanders the streets dressed as a superhero and a group of adults who gather in a park to play a childhood game of capture the flag.

Overall, the episode highlights the ways in which a sudden disruption of everyday life can bring out unexpected behaviors and connections among people. The blackout serves as a catalyst for characters to come together, form new relationships, and find creative solutions to unexpected situations.