The show's theme is based on solitary confinement; accordingly, the contestants are placed in isolated pods, with only an artificial intelligence named Val to communicate with.

The AI and main antagonist GLaDOS from the video game Portal bears a slight resemblance in tone and voice to Val.

While players are given sufficient water, their meals are rationed, typically consisting of either a tasteless "nutrition bar" or a very small portion of a food item, e.g. a single grape or almond.

The "Treatment" phase is generally a more painful endurance exercise, such as sleeping on a bed of small rods, spinning quickly around in a chair, or "jumping" a heavy rope.

After a given amount of time or a number of rounds, Val will inform the remaining players the Treatment is over, allowing them to continue in the game.

Original airdate: May 29, 2006 "The Road to Solitary" episode shows behind the scene footage of cast auditions, setting up for the season, the crew, and other such things.

He made it onto the program after Chris decided that he didn't like how the crew handled getting him to the set; at which point Florin was picked over Ariel, the other backup cast member.

The episode also shows several challenges that didn't make it into the program because they were too much of a health risk, such as sitting in a tub of ice water as long as possible, as well as how the octagonal rooms were conceived.

[3] Original airdate: June 12, 2006 In the test, the contestants must solve a mind-bending math puzzle embedded in a horror film which goes for twenty minutes in which the answer is "168".

[4] Original airdate: June 19, 2006 The Test requires players to estimate when three hours elapsed, using a variety of items including a deck of cards, an hourglass timed for 12 seconds (dinner as a reward but also immune from taking part in the next treatment.

[5] Original airdate: June 26, 2006 As the treatment continues on, Number 6 (Cliff) vomited in which ended up becoming an argument with Val as he stated that he didn't quit.

While players prepared for a Treatment in this episode by applying facepaint as warriors, Number 6 (Cliff), who had refused to cooperate with the rules, he stepped outside his pod triggering the alarms and ended up eliminating himself from Solitary.

[6] Original airdate: July 3, 2006 For the treatment the guests are subjected to a barrage of loud noises which is to assault their sanity such as the sounds of flies buzzing, babies crying, dentists drill, even an air raid alarm.

[7] Original airdate: July 10, 2006 Prior to the Test, the lights in each pod are turned off, allowing each player to express their deepest fears.

Subsequent rounds requires the players to add weight in the backpacks they carried and decreased the amount of time to complete 50 circuits.

He and his wife decided to give some of the money to Autism Speaks to help Number 2, Michelle, whose daughter is autistic (this was her plan if she won).

[12] Original airdate: August 18, 2007 Prior to the Test, the players are allowed to draw on walls, and are given a pet mouse to help connect to their loneliness.

[14] Original Airdate: September 1, 2007 Prior to the Test, players are told to grate ten onions in order to earn fifty thousand "Val-lers" — the unit of currency within Solitary as claimed by Val.

The players are not initially given any means to track the math, relying on data presented by Val's screen, but are later given paint to make calculations on their pod walls.

Next, Val repeats the ball bouncing activity from an earlier episode, telling players to report their scores, with the winner receiving a pancake meal.

The three Tests include spinning around in a chair, sorting pictures from a montage film of horrific clips, and setting up one hundred dominoes.

After other questions were asked, the show ends with Number 8 being given the $50,000 check, saying he'd spend it on various stuff for his family (such as to finish car payments), and the group hugs.

These rounds included the concentrates such as (but not all of them) horseradish, spoiled fish, rancid cat food, rotten oysters and road kill.

The Test in this episode required the guests to construct a coffin within 20 minutes, after which they would have to lie in it for as close to 1 hour as possible, while Val distracted them by reciting numbers and math equations.

This episode's treatment made the two remaining guests lie on a web of twelve tightly wound ropes of varying sizes and knot patterns.

The remaining players are given a Test where they wear a specially-designed maze over their head and on their shoulders, which they use to roll gumballs from a marked start to the finish, where their mouth is located.

They had an assortment of items that they had to slap themselves with such as a toy hand, cookie sheet, baseball bat, & a spatula to make a sound meter go into the red zone.

For the next test the podmates had to open jars of beach balls with objects over their hands such as traffic cones or horse brushes.

These involved running laps around their pod, ground slaps, and cymbal crashes (unaware during the treatment, guests must also consume a banana in a round) within a time limit.

After the test, the guests are told to sit at one end of their pod, make paper airplanes, and throw them into a little hole in their meal slots.