Plot Devices and Other Weird Stuff

KathyLu

KathyLu

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From another thread:
Poirot said:
Maybe Theresa did not look at the calendar??
Click to expand...
She's not "late" anymore, so that plot has served its purpose.

This got me to thinking about other weird/funny/ridiculous plot devices used by the show.

Isn’t it funny how a television is never seen in a home until there is something important for the character to see?

The same applies to a radio. It’s very coincidental that the news story the character wants to hear just happens to start as soon as the radio is turned on. Not only that, the announcer pauses while the characters talk to each other as they listen in astonishment.

Then, there are those “now you see them; now you don’t” answering machines. They must be retractable since they only appear when someone needs to check for a specific message.

This one takes the cake for me. Laura was sitting at Mickey’s bedside after his heart attack. She had her head down and her face was in her hands. The show/scene ended that way. When it picked up at that spot at the start of the next episode, Laura had gotten a short haircut. To this day, that one tickles my funny bone.

Anyone else?
 
It just amazes me how often people run into each other in Salem. Especially those who either long for each other, or hate each other, or both. Think Eric and Nicole for instance, in Friday's show. :sick: Eric being is judgmental self, Nicole trying to be nice. Really, really tiresome and boring.

Heck, I live in a relatively small town. I have friends here, many people I know. Some live no more than three kilometers away. And if we don't call each other, we just don't see each other, period. Oh, perhaps once a year, in a grocery store or a drug store, but no more.

Oh, and how about people just showing up at other's doors ? I mean, everyone seems to have everyone else's phone number (another freaky thing) but... nope, they don't call. They just... show up. :rolleyes:

When characters "eat", how often do they get up and leave before they touch the plate ?

They never, ever go to the bathroom. The kids apparently never get sick either (just plain colds or gastroenteritis... ewwww, been there, done that). No, when the kids do get sick, they're on the verge of dying (which I hate), need a transplant or a blood transfusion and BAM : biological parents are revealed.

Characters rarely work, can leave as they please, can talk personal business all over the place, they have all the money in the world, except when a plot asks for a loan for a poor character (for instance, Ben taking money from Clyde).

Again, except when the storyline focuses on it, characters never have college degrees but end up having high power jobs (Sami as CEO of a company, Jennifer, with her high school diploma, was a reporter, is now a PR person... when she works, that is)

Speaking of which, Lexie can be gone less than six months and come back as a doctor, after being a cop. Now, that one, takes the cake for me.

And don't get me started on Miracle Dan and his magic hands. :rolleyes::beat:
 
LOL, Sami goes from blonde to brown hair, no one says a word, and after a lot of months, back to blond, and not a mention/peep. Which is what is going on with Abby currently. She has natural brown hair, went blond for the part, is going dark again. Nope......same goes for those colored chunks of Kate's hair, that stay for months, get bigger, smaller, disappear. LOL

Salemites take up table space in Horton Square/the Pub, never order anything, but if they do, it is untouched. EXCEPT for the cut up fruit bowls. LOL Empty coffee cups, packed suitcases that are as light as a feather.
Eric leaves the Pub with a small pull along suitcase and duffle bag, but arrives at his furnished apartment and somehow has this huge cardboard box, that he opens, and contains barely anything. LOL
 
KathyLu: I still remember a Dallas cliffhanger where Sue Ellen went into the hospital to visit someone and she had long hair. When she came out at the beginning of the next season, she had a short pixie cut.

Back to Days, my favorite is when someone comes to town with 1 suitcase and decides to stay in Salem permanently. Suddenly they are in multiple coats and pairs of shoes. And the women have multiple purses. All from that 1 suitcase!

The newest plot device are these texting bubbles on the screen so characters don't have to speak out loud. Why not just show the phone over their shoulder?

Large purses and backpacks: a character only carries them when they need to hide a file. Otherwise, they are empty handed or have a small purse. The exception to this rule is Daniel Jonas.

Every character in Salem appears to be Catholic so that Christmas scenes are convenient.

A tablet device can function as a regular computer so characters can conveniently always have their "computer" on hand. Characters are editing videos, editing and storing files, etc. Tablets are good but not that good.

Characters only seem to have a home when it's time to start boinking someone regularly.

I'm sure I'll think of more later.
 
My pet peeve is how many conversations are interrupted by ringing phones. Also people who don't ordinarily interrupt or jump to conclusions suddenly do in order to stop someone from telling them something important.

Everyone goes to a park where their enemy is behind the bushes in order to discuss something private.

The magic phone directory also bothers me even when it makes sense. For example a few days after Theresa's OD it would have been nice to see Daniel and JJ exchange numbers or JJ sneak his number off Jen's phone.

Nobody working or going to school also really annoys me, yet they all have nice clothes and lots of money.

Inconsistent timing. For example Nicole mentions that Daniel has to get himself together before Parker returns tomorrow but the next episode is a new day and Daniel has to call Parker at Chloe's.
 
Speaking of the magical phone directory...I hate how everyone not only has everyone else's phone numbers but pictures of everyone to accompany those numbers.

All the doctors being able to perform every kind of surgery. No specialists necessary.

One character wearing a sleeveless dress standing next to another character wearing a sweater and a scarf.

Two pushes and here's your baby. I'm sure moms in the real world wish that would happen.

People walking alone at night in the wooded park and never being attacked.
 
Everybody's cell phone has the EXACT SAME RINGTONE!!!! Nobody's phone is on vibrate, or has a different tone, or even downloaded a song or something as a tone. And everybody always takes calls immediately instead of calling someone back later. In addition, when they take calls, they all say the exact same thing: "I'm sorry, I gotta take this". Nobody differentiates in what they say ("excuse me for a sec", "just a sec, I'm gonna take this quickly", etc)

People are inconsistently dressed. No matter the time of year, someone will be wearing a jacket, a suit (in the case of Maggie, Victor, etc) or something for warm weather and then others will be dressed as if it's July.

Salem is in the Midwest, but barely any mention of heavy snowfall, and you barely see snow. If you do see snow, it's just a light dusting on the ground.

Nobody goes to school or works, yet acts as if they are so busy, and they all have money to travel, buy nice clothes, have big homes, etc

Babies are all plot devices. Never just coming out of a loving family home. I know the divorce rate is bad these days and there are more babies out of wedlock, but c'mon. There are still so many babies born in normal, two-parent families. On the same note, almost everyone is just "half-siblings" instead of having the same parents.

Barely any mention of using protection during sex, nobody has STDs and barely anyone has an STD scare.
 
I totally agree about the babies. But that would require loving committed relationships...

Honestly instead of this stupid angst why not have Will and Sonny try for another via surrogacy? Lots of potential for drama and Deidre Hall (Marlena) could get some air time for the surrogacy cause that is so near and dear to her heart. If they had done the Eve story properly and had her take in Jill, Jill could have been used as the surrogate too. But there I go writing fan fiction plots again while we'll be lucky if the JJ/Eve fling doesn't result in an implausible pregnancy :sick:
 
Children; OH MY LORD! Sometimes I wished my boys were soap kids, who always napped long enough in the afternoon for some afternoon "cuddle" time with my hubby. Or were napping when my mother-in-law came by so she'd LEAVE. "Call me when they are awake." Or after their infant stage, had SO MANY FRIENDS they could have sleep-overs during the week, they were so dang popular.

Would be able to go to summer camp that would last into October and then NEVER, not even ONCE, ask about or complain about missing out on Halloween. Not to mention, rapid aging and de-aging as required so that I'd actually never age (now the me not aging part I could get on board with :wink:)
 
ImissTony said:
Hardly anyone off screen (not currently on the show) is mentioned until just before they return.
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I was thinking of this earlier. With the exception of Bo and Jack, nobody gets mentioned or has a photo pop up until right before they return to Salem. It's completely out of character for Hope to not mention her sons yet she talks about Ciara as if that was her only child.

Also, characters only seem to go to work when it suits the plot. For example, Jennifer and Daniel bumping into each other at the hospital.

DaysD: Abigail/JJ, Mike/Jennifer, Kim/Kayla/Roman, Andrew/Jeannie Theresa, and Sami/Eric are all full siblings.
 
Heather4CU said:
I was thinking of this earlier. With the exception of Bo and Jack, nobody gets mentioned or has a photo pop up until right before they return to Salem. It's completely out of character for Hope to not mention her sons yet she talks about Ciara as if that was her only child.

Also, characters only seem to go to work when it suits the plot. For example, Jennifer and Daniel bumping into each other at the hospital.

DaysD: Abigail/JJ, Mike/Jennifer, Kim/Kayla/Roman, Andrew/Jeannie Theresa, and Sami/Eric are all full siblings.
Click to expand...

True, but it also seems there are a lot of half/step siblings, or at least, in past years there were. A lot of stepparents and such. Not that I have a problem with that at all, since we have that in real life. I just think it'd be nice to see more families where the parents don't divorce and stay together, since we have lots of that in the real world as well.
 
LOL, but the camera sometimes catches it, that is how we know those cups are empty. Besides the fact, nothing ever splashes, is never too hot, and we never ever see anyone swallow. LOL

But honestly, I know whenever there IS food, it is fake, which is fine, hot lights, etc. etc. But I would rather we see an empty plate with a few fake scraps on it, then a plate of eggs & bacon or an omelet sitting on a plate getting cold, while the character blabs on and on and on.
 
:OT: When I worked for a professional theatre we would get wine glasses coat them with a glue like substance that prevent it from breaking should the actor accidentally drop it and we also put some colored liquid in and then "sealed" it with another clear substance. They looked good sitting on the table. I'm guessing you could create a path up to the lip and then stop, but then you'd have to rely on the actor to tilt it the correct direction and in my experience not all actors are capable of something that simple.:back:
 
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