That’s exactly why they hired the young and fit Ed Green–Lt. Van Buren knew very well that Lenny couldn’t run more than ten feet without doubling over and wheezing in pain!
I mean, I love me some Jerry Orbach, but at that age, sprinting was just not his thing!
The converse is just as annoying: uber-badass flicks lit cigarette onto the gasoline he’s poured around the crime scene he’s created, igniting a huge explosion and conflagration. And as he trudges away menacingly, he doesn’t even glance back to make sure a piece of falling debris isn’t about to brain him. Because, he’s so bad-ass, the debris is afraid of him.
For your viewing pleasure.Double-click for rude gestures.
A story book my first grader was reading just now reminded me of this one, but the same trope exists in shows, movies, and books for adults.
One of the heroes comes up with a plan to overcome the problem or defeat the bad guy. The audience is told that there is a plan, but not what the plan is. This plan is hidden from the audience through unheard whispers, unseen documents, or a quick cut away from the exposition. The final act then consists of the heroes carrying out the clever plan, often with a surprise twist that would have been spoiled if the audience had heard it up front.
Quoted from an old thread:
I may have missed this one from earlier in the thread…
Newcomer/plucky underdogs lose to a more dominant, and almost always portrayed as the “bad guy,” opponent in something, only to win a rematch where more is at stake (usually a championship of some sort). The thing about this is, it isn’t always fictional; see Miracle for an example of this, complete with fluke goal followed by boneheaded coaching decision that you would shake your head at as unbelieveable if it wasn’t a true story.
“Captain, you’d better come down here.”
“What is it, Commander?”
“Uh… it’s easier if you just come down and see, sir.”
“No. If you can’t tell me, in just a sentence or two, what it is that you want to show me, however extraordinary or dramatic, then you are so inarticulate that you probably shouldn’t be an officer on this ship.”
Damn straight.
A Christmas Carol. You don’t have a unique take on it. I’m certain you believe you do, but I assure you, you do not.
Making friends with the principal character in Murder She Wrote. You’ll either get murdered, framed for murder, or put on trial for murder.
It’s rough on the mean streets of Cabot Cove. If you’re not friends with Jessica, when you’re framed, you go to prison, and if you’re murdered, the killer is never found. Being friends with her at least cuts your losses. If you can’t face that, move somewhere safer, like Derry, Maine.
This one is probably more common in fantasy/scifi/comics, but: Everybody of any importance to the whole plot line, no matter how galaxy-spanning, turns out to be closely related. Childhood buddies, first cousins, parent/child, brother/sister, mentor/student, whatever. Small Small Universe, ain’t it?
I know, it’s an adaptation from East Asian chopsocky movies, but am I really supposed to think that doing backflips is a highly threatening martial arts move?
I know your response is in fun; but, what did Humpty Dumpty actually use to pay every Saturday night – in cash or in kind – the words that he’d used during the week? This stuff isn’t supposed to make sense…
In the original Ocean’s 11 they pretty much pull off the caper exactly as planned. Except one of the 11 died of a heart attack, but that had already been foreshadowed. Which comes in handy, it would seem, as it gives the rest a perfect way to get away with the money…
Eh, I don’t really see any of those examples as being “allowed” to do bad shit because they claim it’s for their family. All three of those characters are either anti-heroes or villains, they do bad things and eventually bad things happen to them. There is no “get-outta-shit card.” None of them were absolved of their actions or viewed as moral characters.
nm, what’s wrong with the smilies? that didn’t work
Worth watching, anyway.
Ehhhhh… maybe not absolved, but far too readily seen as having their actions at least mitigated by their expressed loved of family. Because Cersei absolutely was a monster, even if Tyrion (as written for the series) was too dumb to see it.
“So, Commander, what is it? What’s happened? Have you beamed aboard some alien we’ve never seen before? Has the warp drive been transformed into a giant bowl of egg salad? Has Jesus Christ Himself appeared and said it’s Judgment Day?”
Long pause. “We beamed aboard a very unusual alien, sir. It’s a really bright green and has five arms and some kind of weird corona all around it.”
“There, that wasn’t so hard, was it? OK. Welcome it, scan it, and make sure it doesn’t hurt anyone. I’ll be down… in a little while.”
In one episode of TNG Worf describes creatures he encounters as “animal things” - they looked like this Animal things | Star Trek Expanded Universe | Fandom - “Animal things” is a really bad description of “humanoids with primitive guns and odd uniforms”
