Nothing is as disappointing as tuning in to your favorite show and realizing that something isn’t right. It’s as if the magic is gone and you can’t figure out what happened. Maybe you’ve changed but maybe it’s the show. After all, every show is susceptible to the following mistakes…
1. Gaping Plot Holes
Plot holes are inconsistencies or gaps in storylines. These could be caused by the remnants of storylines that have been forgotten, sloppy writing, or things no one seemed to consider. There are minor plot holes that irk us but are ultimately forgettable and then there are super massive plot holes that are impossible to get past.
Example: Downton Abbey is all about the preservation of the Downton estate and the lives of those living there. In Series 2, a man comes to the estate and claims to be the rightful heir who got amnesia after the sinking of the Titanic. One character believes him and the rest say he’s an imposter. Just as viewers are trying to wrap their heads around this plot twist his character suddenly leaves and is never heard from again…ever. The entire show is about maintaining the estate; you think the chance of the potential heir returning would at least be talked about for a little longer. Where’d he go? Was he an imposter or not?
2. Bad Pacing
Not every episode can be fast paced and action filled, but if half a season passes with no significant action then there’s no reason for audiences to continue watching. There’s a difference between the gradual build up required before bigger plot points and just using episodes as fillers. Some shows would be better off with shorter seasons.
Example: I may be one of the few people to have stuck with Dracula’s entire first season and I will say that the final two episodes did pick up and get interesting. The only problem is it took eight episodes of the most boring exposition, repressed glances, and convoluted plans for one of literature’s most notorious villains to actually act like the original vampire he is. Viewers were expecting some serious action and they had to wait a long time to get it.
3. Inconsistent Writing
TV shows have writing staffs and usually one person writes the episode’s script with the feedback and approval of the writers and the show runner. As expected though, there will be times when the writers don’t agree, see things differently, or lose track of the overall vision of the show. Sometimes this creates problems in the consistency of the show. There are so many variations of inconsistencies, but one is characters behaving out of character. A good character will change over the course of a season, but characters that change from one episode to the next are unrealistic and confusing.
Example: In Season 4 of the Walking Dead, the Governor is given his own episode. This is a man who kept zombie heads in a fish tank, strapped his former lover to a chair and locked her in a room with a zombie, and gunned down his entire group when they questioned his motives. So yes, he’s a bad guy. Then suddenly he has an entire episode of him wandering around sadly, finding a family, befriending the daughter, and saving their lives. While his “redemption” arc is ridiculously short lived, rather than showing another facet of the Governor (which I think was the intention) it just felt confusing and weird. That wasn’t a character I ever wanted to try and sympathize with.
4. Too Many Characters
How many characters should an ideal show have? How many new faces should be added each season? There’s no concrete number, but we’ve all probably watched a show with too many characters. Suddenly some characters are cut out, or everyone gets less screen time, or one character’s plot diverges from the others. It’s a TV mess.
Example: True Blood started with a core group of characters and then expanded…and expanded…and expanded until suddenly it seemed like no one knew what the main character, Sookie, was doing. With Tara, Jason, Lafayette, Sam, Terry, Arlene, Eric, Pam, Nora, Debbie, Willa, Andie, Steve, and Sarah all getting screen time with different plots how the heck are viewers supposed to keep track? Plus how do any of these plots get developed over the season if there are only a couple of minutes spent on each? True Blood reeled it in during the 6th season but not before viewers suffered through seasons 4 and 5.
5. No Answers
Cliffhangers and questions are good for TV shows. They build suspense and keep audiences watching, but at some point the show has to provide answers. If viewers only ever get more questions it’s not only frustrating, but it bogs down the pace of the show by creating plot holes.
Example: Pretty Little Liars is so guilty of this that I know dozens of people who have given up on the show. No one knows who or how many people are behind the text messages from “A,” or why, or why other characters act so suspicious, or how “A” finds out about everything, or…I can’t even go on. As soon as one small detail is answered, the writers throw more unanswered questions at the audience. I’ve never finished an episode and felt satisfied.
6. Love Triangles From Hell
Everyone has their favorite television couples. We laugh, we cry, we live through their relationship’s ups and downs. We watch anxiously as the heroine interacts with two choices. Will she choose A or B? But when fans become so divided over A and B it becomes incredibly difficult for the writers to stick with just one.
Example: In Vampire Diaries Elena is torn between Stefan and Damon. The writers are constantly trying to please both sets of fans. If Stefan and Elena bond over past memories then Damon and Elena later have an intense conversation with lots of longing glances. It becomes impossible to settle on either option, because to have Elena choose Stefan means alienating Damon fans and vice versa. Therefore shows with love triangles get stuck in a sort of romantic limbo and become bogged down with repetition. And help us all if they try to introduce a third choice.
So Collegiettes, did you recognize some of these problems in your favorite shows?