# Secondary Characters/Plotlines That Are A Total Drag On The Show/Movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 6, 2014, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964 "2014-08-06T18:08:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ryan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@ryan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryan)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964/21 "2014-08-07T02:59:06Z")
The entire sub-plot regarding the acting troupe pretty much killed the third (and final) season of Deadwood. No idea what drugs David Milch was taking to think that was a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964/22 "2014-08-07T03:16:07Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > So, uh, why was Van Buren suing the police department? They promoted a white woman of the same rank, with less seniority or-time-in-grade over her. I nominate cousin Kyle and his medical career on _Judging Amy_. First, I could have done without cousin Kyle at all. Second, he was so whiny and self-righteous, I didn’t give a damn what happened to him. If I ever see that actor in another role, I reflexively don’t care what happens to him. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964/23 "2014-08-07T03:16:20Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > So, uh, why was Van Buren suing the police department? As I recall, she believed her race and/or gender were keeping her from being promoted. However, I _don’t_ recall how that subplot was resolved, if it ever was. Then she got cancer… yeah, whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964/24 "2014-08-07T03:38:37Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > They promoted a white woman of the same rank, with less seniority or-time-in-grade over her. Same score on the promotion exam too, I think. I don’t know how it was resolved, or even if it was. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964/25 "2014-08-07T03:43:22Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Rusty is Sharon’s kitty. They needed to make her caring, and thus likable after her being the “hatesink” on _The Closer_ for so many years. Actually, the first couple of Rusty episodes on _The Closer_ were pretty exciting. Rusty only showed up for the series finale of The Closer. His role has almost always been on Major Crimes. And you know what, I don’t hate him. He is partially involved with the police work and his storylines are usually mildly intersting (and occasionally awesome). ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964/26 "2014-08-07T03:43:29Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > The Khalessi storyline in Game of Thrones was really a drag on Season 4. > Her rise to power through the first 3 seasons was interesting but in S4 nothing really progressed her storyline towards getting back to Westeros. I’ll just say to stick with that storyline… it’ll get a LOT more interesting by the time the show catches up with the books. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964/27 "2014-08-07T05:08:32Z")
River fucking Song on Doctor Who. I know that she has her supporters, but watching her try to hijack the entire show was like eating tinfoil and chasing it with sticks of chalk. Awful, awful character who managed to drag entire seasons to a screeching halt whenever she featured. Didn’t help that Stephen Moffatt seemed to be infatuated with either the actress or the character. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964/28 "2014-08-07T06:01:38Z")
Liz, Barney Miller’s wife. I couldn’t stand her incessant nagging at Barney to quit his job. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964/29 "2014-08-07T06:07:34Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > The whole “Rusty” plotline in Major Crimes could be dropped for all I care. You beat me to it. And now we are getting a sibling rivalry storyline to go with him. ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964/30 "2014-08-07T07:52:47Z")
The scenes in **Mulholland Drive** of the hit man bungling what should have been a simple job. Other parts of the film are just as confusing (the job interview at Winky’s), so it’s probably something that Lynch was going for, but the hit-man scenes seem to be very much out of place. I read that he used for Mulholland Drive some sequences that he’d filmed for a TV-series project that didn’t pan out, so maybe that’s the reason. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964/31 "2014-08-07T15:06:45Z")
I’ve said it here before and I’ll repeat it in this thread meant for such things: Hancock could have been a great superhero movie if it wasn’t for the stupid romance between Hancock and whatever Charlize’s totally redundant and disposible character’s name was. My son disagrees only because he thinks the fight between them was the best fight ever-- who expects Charlize to get punched right in the face? ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964/32 "2014-08-07T15:07:53Z")
> [@ryan](#): > > The entire sub-plot regarding the acting troupe pretty much killed the third (and final) season of Deadwood. > No idea what drugs David Milch was taking to think that was a good idea. Absolutely my answer, particularly because the show is so extremely high quality in all other ways. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964/33 "2014-08-07T15:22:29Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > River fucking Song on Doctor Who. I know that she has her supporters, but watching her try to hijack the entire show was like eating tinfoil and chasing it with sticks of chalk. Awful, awful character who managed to drag entire seasons to a screeching halt whenever she featured. Didn’t help that Stephen Moffatt seemed to be infatuated with either the actress or the character. See and now I’m annoyed because I didn’t particularly care for the character but apparently she’s not going to be a thing in S8 which makes her even more weird and unexplained than before, at least in my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964/34 "2014-08-07T15:42:05Z")
Betty (Draper) Francis’s little world on Mad Men. She just keeps hanging onto the show like some sort of limpet but I don’t know anyone who actually gives a shit about her story. Every moment spent on the Francis household is a minute spent away from a plot that at least has a chance of being interesting. Yeah, I know she’s supposed to give some ‘caught housewife’ perspective for the changing times and she’s the conduit to putting Sally Draper into the stories but, Christ, no one cares about you Betty! ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964/35 "2014-08-07T15:49:54Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > I totally agree, but they ALL do that. I have to assume that among TV scriptwriters it’s considered the smart path to take. I’ve never understood why it was. Really, the cop’s role in most cop dramas is to be a straight man to the wacky criminals, suspects and regular folks that create drama for the show. Having him or her “humanized” fucks up the show almost every time. This certainly worked for Dragnet and Hawaii 5-0 (the original). We knew nothing about either Joe Friday or Jack Lord’s character, and it didn’t make the shows any less fun to watch. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964/36 "2014-08-07T16:17:19Z")
“Sam and Rebecca try to have a baby” was without a doubt the worst plotline from **Cheers**. ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964/37 "2014-08-07T16:53:01Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I always thought that a TV show’s stars were the ones demanding more character development and so the writers throw in some subplots to keep the stars happy. This. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964/38 "2014-08-07T18:05:06Z")
I would have been quite happy if the whole Connor storyline from _ **Angel** _ (which was the entire focus of Season 4) had been scrapped. And I have a visceral dislike for Vincent Kartheiser to this day. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964/39 "2014-08-07T18:24:37Z")
On _X-Files_, I really loved the episodes where they would investigate a crime, and the criminal would turn out to be a supernatural monster. I really, really, really hated the episodes about the Great Conspiracy. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964/40 "2014-08-07T18:42:39Z")
I hated the breathy-voiced Ethics Advisor on _The Good Wife_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964.md?page=3)