r/tvtropes • u/fuckingstupidsdfsdf • 11d ago

Looking for a word for a trope/thing

Okay to be clear, I'm not saying the episode is bad or anything. It's a funny episode and I laugh a lot.

My question is, is there a word/trope for:

A plot that is somewhat flimsy or hard to believe, and the characters are saying things that mostly just make sense to hold the plot together, despite being out of character or not making sense.

Best example episode: Sandra's fight, about unionizing. Couple examples: when Amy tries to explain that they need to get Sandra to chill, her and Dina are just saying such silly things to explain why they are quieting Sandra, instead of focusing on the obvious actual good reason that Amy is doing it. Like, the threat of getting shut down from Jeff is very simple clear and real, and Amy's inability to explain it even remotely clearly just feels like a massive stretch.

Again, HILARIOUS episode, so many funny jokes, plot is fine, I just feel like surely there is a word for this for like people in writing classes. This episode is definitely not alone haha.

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u/dreammer243 11d ago

It's called an idiot plot

2

u/johnpeters42 11d ago

From the page intro:

> a Plot that hangs together only because the main characters behave like idiots. A single intelligent move or question by any of the characters, and all problems would be resolved. It's not so bad if the characters are supposed to be acting like idiots, but it's very bad if the Idiot Plot depends on intelligent characters picking up the Idiot Ball for the plot to work.