Lacan's controversial clinical innovation of the unfixed analytic hour is evaluated within the context of Lacan's own theoretical and metaclinical views and against the classic, developmentally oriented concept of the fixed temporal analytic framework. Two clinical illustrations featuring disturbed reactions to the temporal framework of the analytic hour elucidate Lacan's proposed master/slave analogy for the treatment relationship, bringing to the fore, ironically, the basic contradictoriness of Lacan's clinical recommendation.