# Fascinating plot developments.....that are dropped. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 5, 2012, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-plot-developments-that-are-dropped/611836 "2012-02-05T06:42:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-plot-developments-that-are-dropped/611836/61 "2012-02-07T20:48:37Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > OK, I’m not an expert on the mob, but I’m _pretty_ sure that the Russian mob syndicate is significantly _more_ powerful than Italian organized crime families, which - in my understanding - are just barely holding on. La Cosa Nostra still outsizes any Russian syndicate in men and money in the United States (It’s a different story in Russia, obviously). Albanian syndicates are apparently the new rising power in organized crime in NYC. I actually think they get briefly mentioned as rivals in The Sopranos. Of course, questions like “which group is more powerful,” can be very complex in the world of organized crime, which is generally a lot less organized than movies make it appear. I agree that in the context of the show, you’re probably exactly right about what happened. Presumably if the Russian had lived, there would have been some sort of further problems with him and the other Russians. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-plot-developments-that-are-dropped/611836/62 "2012-02-08T12:18:13Z")
In the **Sookie Stackhouse** books, a fairly big deal is made about Claudine hoping to assend to a higher plane and become what we call an angel. Then she dies in a manor different from on the show. A lot of readers assumed she be back as an angel, but a few books post-death and that still hasn’t happened yet, nor does it seem likely at this point. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-plot-developments-that-are-dropped/611836/63 "2012-02-08T12:28:58Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Then she dies in a manor different from on the show. Um…manner. The house isn’t quite nice enough for a manor. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-plot-developments-that-are-dropped/611836/64 "2012-02-08T19:05:39Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Later we meet “good” goauld that only take volunteer human hosts(terminal disease patients mostly) and allow the host personality to control the body sometimes. However these guys are totally opposed to use of the healing bed, instead they simply change host when the human body wears out eventually. They believe the bed turns the Goauld evil! > > A human character on the show uses the bed excessively in one episode and TURNS EVIL! He gets better though. > > Now aside from the fact they should have kept that bed and strictly controlled its use(it can heal any injury and even a recently dead body! but only effects you psychologically with repeated use) did they just reveal the villains on the shiow are actually not acting under their own volition?:dubious: > > If one of the main characters could turn on the team, thats how severely the sarcophagus effects a person psychologically, what about the villains? Are they all basically victims of the bed’s mental changes? > > The show never answers this.:smack: Well, there are the scenes with primitive goa’uld living in the waters of their original home planet. They are pretty much born evil. Daniel Jackson wasn’t “evil” per se, just a bit, shall we say, confused (as in losing his mind). When O’Neill was in the sarcophagus over and over he hardly changed at all. (But then, I blame his acting skills; rather lack thereof.) Then there’s Lord Yu, who used the sarcophagus constantly (like for his nightly bedtime) and he was actually the nicest of the goa’uld. Until he went flat out bonkers and needed what I’d call hospice care. He was far gone. So I’d say it doesn’t make you evil, but it fraks with your mind to the point you can’t function anymore as a rational person. And moving on… One if Cosby’s first lines in Cosby Show to his wife is “Why did we have 4 kids?” “Because we did not want 5.” Well, they DO have 5. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-plot-developments-that-are-dropped/611836/65 "2012-02-12T05:02:19Z")
> [@Sister\_Vigilante](#): > > One if Cosby’s first lines in Cosby Show to his wife is “Why did we have 4 kids?” > > “Because we did not want 5.” Well, they DO have 5. Same thing happened in Doonsebury. Joan Caucus definitely had both a son and daughter when her character was first introduced. But while her daughter later became a regular character (and she had another son who also became a regular) her original son disappeared and was never mentioned again. And at one point, Joan even referred to herself as the mother of two children. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-plot-developments-that-are-dropped/611836/66 "2012-02-12T08:17:07Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > It makes far more sense to have an army of slayers, since you do have any army of vamps/demons. I got the impression from the 7th season that there was only one Slayer so that the men who created her could keep her effectively under control. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-plot-developments-that-are-dropped/611836/67 "2012-02-12T08:22:20Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I got the impression from the 7th season that there was only one Slayer so that the men who created her could keep her effectively under control. I got the impression that the only reason there is an army of slayers ready to activate in modern times is that there are all descendants of the original slayer. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-plot-developments-that-are-dropped/611836/68 "2012-02-12T19:40:45Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Happy Days. Chuck Cunningham’s sudden disappearance. At Joanie’s wedding, her father remarks he is proud of his “two kids.” Meaning he was so ashamed of Chuck he promised to kill anyone who mentioned him. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-plot-developments-that-are-dropped/611836/69 "2012-02-12T20:46:02Z")
_The Da Vinci Code_: damn near everything that made it seem worth reading. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-plot-developments-that-are-dropped/611836/70 "2012-02-14T03:03:56Z")
The first time I saw the rather disappointingly 1983 vampire movie _The Hunger_\*, I was puzzled by the lab monkey subplot that seems important – like it might lead Dr. Sarah Roberts (Susan Sarandon) to a cure for vampirism, or at least a way to treat some of the problems suffered by humans who become vampires – but is abruptly dropped just a few minutes into the movie. I figured this must have been something that got more time in the original Whitley Streiber novel but was chopped up for the screenplay. But I read the (not very good) book, only to find that the screenplay was actually completely faithful to the novel on that point. The lab monkey subplot is introduced, seems important, and is then completely dropped and never referred to again. \*It takes itself _waaaaay_ too seriously for a movie about bisexual vampires. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-plot-developments-that-are-dropped/611836/71 "2012-02-14T03:12:50Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > The first time I saw the rather disappointingly 1983 vampire movie _The Hunger_\*, I was puzzled by the lab monkey subplot that seems important – like it might lead Dr. Sarah Roberts (Susan Sarandon) to a cure for vampirism, or at least a way to treat some of the problems suffered by humans who become vampires – but is abruptly dropped just a few minutes into the movie. > > I figured this must have been something that got more time in the original Whitley Streiber novel but was chopped up for the screenplay. But I read the (not very good) book, only to find that the screenplay was actually completely faithful to the novel on that point. The lab monkey subplot is introduced, seems important, and is then completely dropped and never referred to again. > > \*It takes itself _waaaaay_ too seriously for a movie about bisexual vampires. Wasn’t Catherine’s research into blood diseases the reason Miriam contacted her? If so, it served its purpose of bringing the two main characters together and then it had no further purpose in the story. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-plot-developments-that-are-dropped/611836/72 "2012-02-14T16:01:11Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Wasn’t Catherine’s research into blood diseases the reason Miriam contacted her? If so, it served its purpose of bringing the two main characters together and then it had no further purpose in the story. Yeah that’s pretty much it. They are experimenting on a monkey who grows increasingly violent, eats his mate, then grows old and dies, very quickly. The same thing is happening to Bowie’s character (he needs more and more blood and gets careless) and he’s actually the one who goes to visit Sarah. But she just thinks he’s some “ridiculous old crack” and he ages 20 years in the patients’ lounge waiting for her while she ignores him, and when she sees him leaving it freaks her out and she then goes to see Miriam to apologize. She’s already grooming Bowie’s replacement (violin girl) but Bowie’s character f\*\*\*s that up so she decides Sarah can be next. I read the book because the end of the movie made no sense to me. But the ending isn’t the same, at all. So I’m still flummoxed. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-plot-developments-that-are-dropped/611836/73 "2012-02-15T00:26:53Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Wasn’t Catherine’s research into blood diseases the reason Miriam contacted her? If so, it served its purpose of bringing the two main characters together and then it had no further purpose in the story. > [@Sister\_Vigilante](#): > > Yeah that’s pretty much it. They are experimenting on a monkey who grows increasingly violent, eats his mate, then grows old and dies, very quickly. The same thing is happening to Bowie’s character (he needs more and more blood and gets careless) and he’s actually the one who goes to visit Sarah. But she just thinks he’s some “ridiculous old crack” and he ages 20 years in the patients’ lounge waiting for her while she ignores him, and when she sees him leaving it freaks her out and she then goes to see Miriam to apologize. **Sister Vigilante** ’s description of the monkey experiment is correct, but Miriam (Catherine Deneuve) doesn’t know anything about that experiment. She seeks out Dr. Roberts at a book signing after seeing her on television talking about sleep disorders and aging. Dr. Roberts doesn’t mention the monkey experiment at all while she’s on TV, she’s talking about human patients. So while Miriam knows Dr. Roberts specializes in medical research that may allow her to help Miriam’s husband John (David Bowie), she is unaware that Dr. Roberts is involved in a current study where a monkey displayed symptoms very similar to John’s. Dr. Roberts never brings up the connection to Miriam or anyone else, not even after realizing that John is rapidly aging. The plot of both the book and movie would have been exactly the same if the stuff about the lab monkeys had been cut altogether. ---
**Author:** ![Renifer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Renifer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renifer)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-plot-developments-that-are-dropped/611836/74 "2012-02-17T05:03:53Z")
The Nicholas Cage version of The Wicker Man begins with him stopping a mother for some minor infraction. The daughter throws her doll out the window. When Nick goes to get it, the car explodes and Nick watches the child burn to death. Later his former girlfriend comes to him and shows him a picture of her missing daughter, who looks exactly like the girl who burned in the car explosion. He goes to the island and there are proportionally many sets of twins there. I’m not sure how this could have ended, but I wondered of the possibility of Nick’s former girlfriend having twins. But that was not the direction the movie went with. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-plot-developments-that-are-dropped/611836/75 "2012-02-17T05:33:34Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > It makes far more sense to have an army of slayers, since you do have any army of vamps/demons. I don’t think the original Slayer was meant to protect the entire world from evil. I think she was meant to protect one particular tribe from monsters. Over the centuries, as the demonic horde was pushed back, the Watchers expanded their remit to farther and farther lands, until we get the international organization of the TV show. Presumably, Slayer potentials were also originally only born into that one tribe, and were not yet a global phenomenon. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-plot-developments-that-are-dropped/611836/76 "2012-02-17T11:22:10Z")
> [@EvilMinion](#): > > I guess my point is if that if humans can fight vampires and survive, what’s the point creating a superhero who can fight them? If she alone has the strength and skill to fight the vampires, etc..why do we see non-superpowered humans fighting vampires and surviving? It’s more of an inconsistency with the writing than with the mythology. Why _wouldn’t_ you make a superhero if you could? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-plot-developments-that-are-dropped/611836/77 "2012-02-17T22:22:27Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Why _wouldn’t_ you make a superhero if you could? Because what happens if your superhero not only rejects the call but actually turns on you? Heck, wasn’t one of the big fears at one point that a slayer might actually get turned, creating a supervamp that no one could stop? Giving out powers to someone you can’t completely control is always a risk. Heck, there’s my question: why does Spike (and assumedly other vampires) kill the slayers rather than turning them? Sure, it might not always be practical, but surely it would have come up at least once or twice. I also wonder why reensouling vampires isn’t used more often, at least with the worst cases. It doesn’t seem to matter whether the vamp is present for the actual ceremony. And while I assume it’s possible that the human soul would lose out to the demon soul, you’d think it would still slow the vampire down. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-plot-developments-that-are-dropped/611836/78 "2012-02-17T22:38:07Z")
> [@Bakhesh](#): > > (and Trek doesn’t appear to be doing very well on this thread) For that matter, The Original Series had a lot of interesting characters, but few of them (Harry Mudd, the Romulans, Klingons) were ever heard from again. They probably could have done a really good job exploring, let’s say, how well Khan did after he was exiled to Ceti Alpha V. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![audit1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@audit1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audit1)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-plot-developments-that-are-dropped/611836/79 "2012-02-18T04:32:39Z")
On NCIS , Tim McGee was a struggling novelist. It has been several seasons since that was mentioned, his writiing career, vanished without a trace. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-plot-developments-that-are-dropped/611836/80 "2012-02-18T05:53:32Z")
> [@audit1](#): > > On NCIS , Tim McGee was a struggling novelist. It has been several seasons since that was mentioned, his writiing career, vanished without a trace. I guess his struggles are over. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-plot-developments-that-are-dropped/611836.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-plot-developments-that-are-dropped/611836.md?page=5)