So Tired of (fill in the blank) Plot Resolutions

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

This is the domain of purely Star Trek and other badly written sci-fi shows, but anything wherein you throw differing combinations of technobabble at a problem till it is fixed.

In a sci-fi story, the technology should either be HARD (which is almost impossible on a TV show) or it needs to be SOFT.

In soft sci-fi, the technology should be...invisible. You should not have your attention called to it constantly, with bogus sentences strung together with a vague understanding of grammar, let alone what the hell you're talking about.

Which is why the new Star Trek worked SO well. Everything in it was solved with, well, character ACTIONS. Actions that move beyond "spout line of technoboble, press buttons, repeat till problem vanishes."

There was no, "The red matter works through varying the quantum molecular substrata of quarks, forcing an enmylick choco-space time warp curving, stressing the fabric of time, tearing what we would call a singularity in space!"

No, it was just, "Sir, its forming a black hole!"

And the resolution didn't come from rerouting the Dilithium matrix. It came from Kirk and Spock and the rest of the crew being awesome and doing awesome things.


So yeah...technobabble: It draws your attention to the weakest and stupidest part of any soft sci-fi story: The science.

Which is why its called...soft sci-fi rather than HARD sci-fi.

The "something scary and evil and infectious plant/animal/monster" is claiming the lives of people trapped somewhere and then at the very end, the last person gets away, only to reveal they are carrying the "scary, evil infection/killer vine/monster" and now it's going to be free and loose in the world. It's been done to death already. Come up with a new ending. Seriously.

Oh!

The RESET BUTTON.

This is again, a TV show thing, but for gods sake! Don't set everything back to zero within five minuets of the ending credits!

You don't have to be Babylon 5, but at least have SOME evolution between episodes!

I know TV has gotten better at it, but the reset button still keeps rearing its heads...and it bugs me.

The "If all else fails, find a prophesy and say the hero's the chosen one". Even and especially on shows that had no prior supernatural elements to them.

On the cop shows they sometimes pulls out some impossible bit of techno that no police force on the frickin' planet could ever afford to use, or may not exist. They pull it out at the last minute and solve the crime and in reality, if they have that piece of machinery, it is never available until months later.

So that is my contribution to dgiharris's awesome thread idea. I must flutter off, now to spread my wisdom elsewhere.

dgrintalis said:

The "something scary and evil and infectious plant/animal/monster" is claiming the lives of people trapped somewhere and then at the very end, the last person gets away, only to reveal they are carrying the "scary, evil infection/killer vine/monster" and now it's going to be free and loose in the world. It's been done to death already. Come up with a new ending. Seriously.

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The flip-side to this one is where the sole survivor seems to be safe, then the OTHER monster leaps out and kills them.

Or how about the fingerprint searches that take only seconds and of course, they always result in a perfect match. Right.

The investigator actually committed the crime. I've seen this work, but it's been overused.

The good guy winning.

I want more stories where the good guys lose. That's one of the things I liked in Law and Order was that at least in the original series, I can recall episodes where the bad guy got away.

Well, if they don't catch the "perp" using the hidden wire, they can always make him confess by having one of the cops get tough in the interview room. Even hardened criminals, gang leaders, and terrorists immediately confess if confronted by a detective threatening to get angry if they don't talk.

At least they don't use séances much anymore to trick the killer into revealing himself.

In general, I don't like TV shows where status quo is god.

I'm also finding it increasingly difficult to swallow FTL and time travel.

FTL?

We might be being too hard on TV cops. Just think about the burdens the typical TV cop has to deal with.

Their former partner was killed execution style (the killer has never been caught).

They have a younger sibling who is into drugs and/or petty criminal activity.

They have to maintain unwavering high moral standards; however, they are allowed to sleep with anyone within the department, any old sweetheart that shows up out of the blue, and attractive suspects in their current case. They are also allowed to lie to grand juries and in open court if the situation involved a fellow police officer.

If married, they have a spouse who wants them to quit and a rebellious teenage daughter.

If single, they can't make a commitment (but they really, really want to).

They once shot a teenager while he was committing a felony. It has left an emotional scar which can only be healed if their partner shows up late at night (while they are sitting in front of the TV and drinking heavily) and insists on talking about it.

They have a close family member who was brutally murdered (the killer has never been caught).

They are estranged from their father; either that or the father abandoned them when they were six.

If female, they were raped when they were in college (the rapist has never been caught).

They (or their partner) have a drinking problem if the show has been on more than three seasons.

If black, they have to give holier-than-thou speeches every so often explaining what it's like being black and growing up in a tough neighborhood (even if they lived in Scarsdale or Pasadena) Dito women and other minorities.

Male cops have to be more sensitive than the Dalai Lama and will cry at the slightest provocation. Female cops have to carry the burden of proving themselves in a male dominated world; they know this because someone once told them they had nice legs (the person who said it has never been caught).

They have a deep, dark secret which they can only revealed after their partner asks them about it twice.

They have to buy Brooks Brothers suits, Allen Edmonds shoes, go out every night to bars and expensive restaurants, live in a nice apartment, drive either an old clunker that cost a fortune to keep running or an expensive sports car . . . all on a cop's salary.

My older sister's a med tech, so she loves the inaccuracies portrayed in the CSI shows.

I personally hate the "oh, YEAH!" solutions that most TV cops pull out of their butts. None of the evidence adds up to what they announce and I'm supposed to accept it. Well, I guess if it worked for Sherlock Holmes...

On those CSI shows the killer is sometimes caught by the lab finding one grain of pollen stuck on the suspect's clothes . . . and the pollen can only be from a rare species of ragweed that can be found only within a half-mile radius of some place (their computer can zoom right in to this area) . . . so they go and search and find the body, thereby proving their case!

So, if you ever kill anyone, be sure to wash your clothes and clean your shoes afterwards.

Cyia said:

FTL?

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Faster Than Light.

alleycat said:

Male cops have to be more sensitive than the Dalai Lama and will cry at the slightest provocation. Female cops have to carry the burden of proving themselves in a male dominated world; they know this because someone once told them they had nice legs (the person who said it has never been caught).

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alleycat said:

Female cops have to carry the burden of proving themselves in a male dominated world; they know this because someone once told them they had nice legs (the person who said it has never been caught.

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ditto

Awesome post, AC.

As far as resolutions, the patented Murder She Wrote / Matlock / Law & Order Criminal Intent ending where the killer somehow talked into into confessing, either by trickery (slightly more tolerable) or being coerced into a Tell-Tale-Heart-esque breakdown--"Yes, I did it! It was me! And I'd do it again! *collapses in tears/mad laughter/catatonic state*" (far more trite, except of course when Poe did it).

In the Murder She Wrote eps, the killer usually planned to off Jessica right after confessing, only to have the cop who was listening in the whole time appear from behind a curtain or something.

Dommo said:

The good guy winning.

I want more stories where the good guys lose. That's one of the things I liked in Law and Order was that at least in the original series, I can recall episodes where the bad guy got away.

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On the opposite end of that, being a horror junkie, I'm sort of tired of the the plot "resolution" that basically boils down to "The good guy(s) never had a chance, our killer / villain is entirely unbeatable." More so as it pertains to slasher killers than supernatural ones.

And on the opposite of that, any spec-fic story where the hero's victory can basically be attributed to "The Power of Love" (unless it's because you played the Huey Lewis song and the villain killed himself to escape the sound, which is wholly plausible).

The man/woman who is wrongfully shot (usually at their wedding) when the villain is actually aiming for his/her lover. This supposedly gives the survivor purpose in life.

Jcomp said:

As far as resolutions, the patented Murder She Wrote / Matlock / Law & Order Criminal Intent ending where the killer somehow talked into into confessing, either by trickery (slightly more tolerable) or being coerced into a Tell-Tale-Heart-esque breakdown--"Yes, I did it! It was me! And I'd do it again! *collapses in tears/mad laughter/catatonic state*" (far more trite, except of course when Poe did it).

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Yeah, the intentional confession is stupid. I was watching 'Castle' (a show which is very fond of the confession) the other day and I think they had a special name for the type of questioning that makes the killer confess. Where they say stupid stuff like, "She deserved it, didn't she? That's why you brought the knife to the Girl Scout meeting. You couldn't bear to let her steal your husband, amirite?" and the bad guy goes, "That b*tch didn't understand him like I did. She didn't deserve him!" Ummmm, no.

I love medical dramas but I'm starting to get a bit grossed out by conclusions that are basically Someone Died Horribly Leaving Many Traumatized Family Members, Which Was Neat Because I Learned A Life Lesson Which Helped Me Get Through My Trifling Personal Problem That Has Been Bugging Me For, Like, Three Hours Of Self-Centered Whining. This is seriously not endearing. Grey's Anatomy is the number one offender.