# 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:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964/41 "2014-08-07T18:45:40Z")
> [@Poysyn](#): > > I hated the breathy-voiced Ethics Advisor on _The Good Wife_. I hate almost every episode of The Good Wife that involves her kids. I want to punch them in the throat. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964/42 "2014-08-07T18:48:43Z")
> [@jerez](#): > > 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. Yes, actually, the movie started as a TV pilot that wasn’t picked up, so he decided to continue and resolve the story as a film, which is why the language and nudity don’t pop up until over an hour in, and why you get the wonderful Robert Forster for 10 seconds. Lynch just didn’t bother trimming the other random threads out–which I actually kind of like, even if any retcon efforts to explain them are mostly beside the point. I used to be OK watching ROYAL PAINS, but at some point realized they were never going to subject the detestable brother Evan to an inopportune shark attack, so I gave up on the show. ---
**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, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964/43 "2014-08-07T18:55:59Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > I hate almost every episode of The Good Wife that involves her kids. I want to punch them in the throat. Did they ever resolve the plotline where the daughter wanted to join a dance troupe? I remember the parents absolutely losing their shit because the troupe had college kids in it and they posted videos of their routines ONLINE :eek:. For a show that normally does so well with tech stuff, that episode just made me go… “Huh?” ---
**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, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964/44 "2014-08-07T19:12:03Z")
> [@Poysyn](#): > > I hated the breathy-voiced Ethics Advisor on _The Good Wife_. > [@Enright3](#): > > I hate almost every episode of The Good Wife that involves her kids. I want to punch them in the throat. That’s how the ethics advisor’s voice got so breathy. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964/45 "2014-08-07T19:31:26Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > 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. Sure, and when Law & Order first started out, it didn’t have a lot of personal stuff going on either, and was a huge success. This leads me to support the theory that it’s actors flexing their muscles once they get established on a highly successful show. Playing the straight man or woman doesnt give them much of an opportunity to stretch as actors, I suppose, so they bitch about and the writers throw them a bone, unaware that they are fucking up the show (though you’d think they’d have figured that out by now). OTOH, maybe there are a lot of SpoilerVirgins out there who like character development in the leads in a series. I have no basis in fact for any theory, nor have I seen anyone advance any factually-backed ideas. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964/46 "2014-08-07T19:33:46Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > 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. Me, too. I stopped watching the series when the Great Conspiracy started taking up too many storylines. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964/47 "2014-08-07T19:37:42Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > I am female, but I can’t speak for all women – just that with few exceptions, a show with no focus at all on interpersonal relationships can’t hold my interest. OTOH, what is with violence, chases and explosions? They make my eyes glaze over, and if there are too many, I’ll tune out entirely. You’re creating a false dilemma here. I don’t care much for violence, chases and explosions, but I DO like twisty plotlines that surprise me and interesting characters among the suspects. Most crime TV shows rely on those more than chases and explosions, because they haven’t the budget for the chases and explosions. Much cheaper to write a plot that is interesting or a character that is interesting … but perhaps harder to do, after a point. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964/48 "2014-08-07T19:55:52Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > 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. I can same for Red John in **The Mentalist** and ‘Who shot Beckett’s Mom?’ in **Castle**. Those may have been more _dramatic_, but they just weren’t fun. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964/49 "2014-08-08T02:40:39Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > 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. Amen, brother! ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964/50 "2014-08-08T03:13:19Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > 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. Yep, once that started to take over I was out as well. Byron from the final season of _Babylon 5_ was awful (I know the history of the show and why things happened like they did - but _damn_ that was a boring character/plotline). Mind you, I found the whole Data/Pinocchio stuff in ST:TNG tedious and overused as well, so: YMMV [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-characters-plotlines-that-are-a-total-drag-on-the-show-movie/694964.md?page=2)