The murder of John Taylor.
And The Big Clock.
I vaguely recall a story where the plot hinged on a plan to have Big Ben the Great Westminster Clock in London display the wrong time. Ring any bells? (pun only intended after the fact.)
Mary Poppins Returns?
Thunderball? Blofeld demands that Big Ben strike 7 times at 6 PM to signal that the government agree to his demands. They do.
Then there’s second episode of The Prisoner, “The Chimes of Big Ben” where the strike matching his borrowed watch’s time makes No. 6 twig he’s still in The Village.
The 1978 movie of John Buchan’s 39 Steps had a climactic scene where the hero has to stop the clock to prevent a terrorist explosion.
This is a long thread, so someone may have mentioned it already, but by far the most annoying trope I find in this category is: two people - usually a man and a woman - having a massive argument that escalates and escalates until - short pause - they launch at each other for furious kissing and (usually) sex, a.k.a Slap-Slap-Kiss.
I HATE this beyond any standard of reasonableness. It’s so lazy, so obvious, and maybe happened once in the history of mankind. I actually just saw this recently portrayed in a new play I saw (except it was between two women) and I almost groaned out loud in annoyance.
ShadowFacts, you forgot to mention that this all takes place while the couple is desperately trying to escape something (e.g., burning building, stalking killer, fast zombie) or when they need to get somewhere immediately to save a life. No time like when you really, really need to go fast to resolve a relationship.
Yeah, sometimes, but also sometimes it’s just the basic set-up of a rom-com, and/or the culmination of a “will they/won’t they” storyline. I hate it however it appears.
Agreed. I’ve never thought to ask my wife if we would have a stronger relationship if I had argued with her and slapped her a few times before we first kissed.
MASH had a take on that where Hawkeye and Hot Lips were hiding in an abandoned house being shelled by the North Koreans and in the midst of their yelling for the shelling to stop, they decided that it was a good time for sex.
A post was merged into an existing topic: Walker99 Sock Posts, rapid fired 5 posts and a long OP
People interrupt you in the middle of a sentence to demand you say what you’re already saying.
Character 1: “I was just trying to–”
Character 2: “What? You were just trying to what?”
Characters who have only seconds to explain something run out the clock saying “If you’d just let me explain,” or “But you don’t understand!” instead of just explaining.
I’ve been on the receiving end of that many times. The other person doesn’t want to hear it, refuses to discuss, and is deliberately stopping me speaking.
I suppose something like this may have happened, but one worn old trope that doesn’t really ring true is when the detective rounds off the plot by explaining the how and who dunnit, and someone (usually the nice-but-dim love interest) says “But there’s one thing I don’t understand - [as it might be] why did Aunt Maud need the wellington boots in the first place?”
In real life police detectives only explain things at length to a defendant if they’re trying to get them to incriminate themselves, or convincing them to incriminate accomplices. Narrative exposition isn’t part of the job description.
I don’t know whether it happens in real life or not but in American crime drama police and detectives are quick to flatly accuse people of crimes, almost rudely so. Does that ever actually work as an interrogation tactic?
At best it’s a last resort.
I love a good enemies-to-lovers romance, but I say, raise the stakes and have them trying to kill each other! (I admit when you start there it takes longer to get to the kissing part.)
Haha, well to each their own, it takes all kinds, etc. etc . 