Welcome to Today's Question of the Day. And please don;t forgot to submit your questions using the form below.
Today's Question of the day comes from Ricky Terry.
I'm curious what people here think about plot devices. For example: "Time Travel", "Deus Ex Machina", "The MacGuffin", "Shoulder Angel", "The Object", "Red Herring" "The Deathtrap" "Cliff Hangers" and "Plot Twists" As a huge fan of Lost, I've seen all of these used in the series' 6 year run at some point, and I liked it sometimes, and didn't at other times. I'm not familiar with many of the other shows that utilize some of these devices, so let me know what you guys think about your favorite shows using these or not, and what is your favorite plot device. Mine is "Time Travel" I love it.
Being a Lost/Sci-FI fan myself I have to admit that I'm a sucker for Time Travel plots/devices. Not many shows/films manage to do it well but here are a few from memory that I think do it well.
Terminator, Millennium, 12 Monkeys, Frequency,The Time Machine, Donnie Darko, Primer, Butterfly Effect, Time After Time.
I'm sure I've missed a bunch of good ones out.
So what about you? What plot devices do you enjoy and what are some good examples of them.
You can see previous Questions of the Day here.
I agree with Ricky in that my enjoyment of a specific device is often completely context based.
ReplyDeleteTime Travel is one of my favourites and can be awesome when executed well, like in Stark Trek IV, the new Star Trek, The Butterfly Effect, Quantum Leap, LOST, occasional episodes of ST Voyager, and many others. Unfortunately, it can also be the worst/campiest aspect of a show or a movie when executed poorly like in occasional episodes of ST Voyager, Star Trek Generations, and many more.
I think many of us hate of Deus Ex Machina in strange ways. People often don't complain when their favourite scientist character decides to reroute power to the deflector in order to emit specialised Tachyon pulses, but give them the BSG Celestials and they start to flip out. I've always found it confusing when people argue that they want more realism and yet they accept pseudo-scientific explanations that break the laws of physics. I'm still torn as to how I feel about it in specific situations.
Otherwise, I love Cliffhangers. They're VERY effective. They're frustrating, but awesome.
Time travel can be awesome for short spans of episodes, but it tends to get to bogged down if it carries on too long.
ReplyDeleteI tend to be a big fan of the "identity reveal" if it is handled well and not just thrown at you like in The Cape last week. Finding out who Management was in Carnivale, Rudy/Brian being Dexter's brother to name a couple.
The "power grab" can be fun too. Boardwalk Empire is setting that up for next year (and it some this year), Alias had one, BSG had a few, of course LOST had a handful of smaller ones and one huge one.
I think I can enjoy any plot device if it is executed well in the end. On the same token, every device can be a joke if it is done haphazardly.
Oh! I forgot about flashbacks as devices. Right, so my favourite device ever is the Flashforward. I love seeing events that lead up to something. Lost Season 4 was by far my favourite season.
ReplyDeleteYeah it was mostly.. .you're right, but I think they did go to other dimensions that paralleled our past so maybe it confused me. I only saw part of the series in reruns honestly.... it just popped into my mind as I was thinking of shows.
ReplyDeleteI like retconning...but mostly in certain ways, like something that is hinted to for a long time, but we don't quite get it until BAM! suddenly it's dropped on us.
ReplyDeleteThe best example I have (AND THIS IS A HUGE SPOILER FOR NON-SPN FANS Who have yet to make it to season 4!!!!!) The Curious Case of Mary Winchester/Azazel's "Endgame"
She dies in the first episode, and we take for granted that it was what started everything in the series...however, in season 2, Ruby hints something about their mother that Sam didn't know, people Mary knew...and it is shown that Mary recognized the demon for some reason...and we never get an explanation about that until season 4, when we are shown that actually, Mary Winchester was a hunter!!! From a long line of hunters!!! This changes the dynamic of her murder and we're led to wonder why their father never knew, as well as a few other things... We see how it ACTUALLY started when we see Mary make a deal with Azazel 10 years before Sammy's birth: Azazel had murdered John and she made a deal to bring him back... So we know why a demon was in Sam's room, we see why she knew the demon, etc. Later, it's even revealed that when John and Mary first met, they couldn't stand each other, but were manipulated by the angels of Heaven to fall in love in order to give birth to Sam and Dean... And to see Azazel, 30 years before any of this stuff happens, calling out to Lucifer from a convent of massacred nuns about how to free him, it all falls into place...I just love it. (I know it's all over the place but I had a lot to say)....
ACK! I was actually thinking of Voyagers (old 80s show) not Sliders before, but confused the two after you brought up Sliders plots for some reason. I watched some of Voyagers a few years ago when trying to find episodes for a relative that liked whoever the lead actor was. Cute show for its time I guess. Sliders had Jerry O' Connell right? That is the one I caught reruns of of when then SciFi Channel had a marathon on.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's Sliders! Sliders Seasons 1 and 2 were AWESOME! They explored all of these parallel worlds with awesome takes on how history could have happened. There was a world where the Soviets had conquered the States, one where women had become the "dominant" sex, one where the atomic bomb had never been invented, and lots of other great stuff. The show, unfortunately, underwent a creative overhaul that effectively destroyed the series. They got rid of fan favourite characters in favour of attractive women (I mean, fanbois want those, right?) and then the story just got away from itself. Season 5 was a complete joke.
ReplyDeleteI don't really have a favorite plot device but, regarding time travel, I can say that I'm not usually a fan except when used in Doctor Who.
ReplyDeleteI can't really say I have a favorite, but the macguffin is almost always frustrating. It has to be literally flawless for me to enjoy it. Off the top of my head, I can only think of it working well in Pulp Fiction.
ReplyDeleteI don't always think of MacGuffins in series I watch, but you are right! The Rambaldi device in Alias was better in theory than once it was revealed. I think most MacGuffin elements are better as unknown and unseen... and really lose their power when found or understood completely. The build up from the hunt can be good, but to pull off the reveal is an art you are right.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree, we're not quite talking about the same thing. When I think of MacGuffins, I think of things that propel the story but are never actually revealed. In Pulp Fiction, we never found out what was in the briefcase, for example.
ReplyDeleteYour point is still very much valid, but I think that's more akin to something like "What's in the Hatch?" from Lost than it is to the MacGuffin plot device.
Probably right. I only heard the term once a few years ago talking about Hitchcock with a director friend over coffee. My handle on the term is limited at best.... :)
ReplyDeleteAh. It originated from the Hitchcock movie "North by Northwest," where (I haven't seen it but I've read about it) the entire plot is driven by the contents of a suitcase, but you never actually see the contents. So a MacGuffin is something where the plot is driven by something that is neither relevant to the story nor ever really explained.
ReplyDeleteIt actually originated in the Hitchcock movie The 39 Steps. North by Northwest wasn't made for another 25 years, and although quite similar, neither were centered around unknown contents of a briefcase. That came from Hitchcock's explanation of what a MacGuffin is. Just a quick story in an interview to make the audience understand what he was talking about. It went something like this, if memory serves: Two men are riding in a train. One of them notices a strange looking package that the other is carrying. He inquires asks what is inside. The second man says that it's a MacGuffin.
ReplyDeleteA MacGuffin? What's that?
It's used to hunt tigers in the highlands of Scotland.
But there aren't any tigers in the highlands of Scotland.
Then its not a MAcGuffin
Ah, that's it. Thanks a lot!
ReplyDeleteNo problem man
ReplyDeleteAll very confusing! LOL. My friend told me that story I think as wel las saying that a MacGuffin could basically be anything or interchanged with anything without affecting the story. Like as McLaddie said, the contents of a case, or an item stolen by thieves... My friend's example was The Holy Grail or The Golden Fleece I think. It all seemed abstract to me and never quite made sense.
ReplyDeleteI know right! The best examples are in many Hitchcock films and the Indiana Jones series, so, like you said, the Holy Grail is a MacGuffin. Its basically something the main characters are after
ReplyDeleteI just read about it online some and I get it a little bit more but still seems like a silly term. LOL. Something of import being sought by a character, but what the item is actually is irrelevant to the plot. So its the item being quested for, when the quest is the plot of the story. Regardless, I am now in complete agreement with McLaddie.... I do not like them either! LOL
ReplyDelete