The Plot said so…

The topic of todays post comes out of the book I’m currently reading through, which I won’t name here. Mostly because I believe that if you pick up a book to read it’s because it interests you. Your opinion should not be swayed with other things. So go try out some ones you’ve been considering (after you finish reading this post of course) 😉

Thankfully I can use something else for descriptions of what I mean. What I will be talking about here is what I call ‘Plot Coincidence”.  Where something happens during the story, that seemingly comes out of nowhere. But always happens when the character needs it to just ‘be there’. I’m sure you’ve seen it, or read it. There’s lots of examples around. Before I start, this contains spoilers for the most recent episode to date of Once Upon a Time. So if you haven’t watched and you still care about spoilers, then maybe go watch it first. If you’re like me, and you’ve got to the point in the show where you don’t care that much. Then read on.

The first example of this plot coincidence from the episode is where Hook meets Tigerlily while he is trapped back in Neverland. (who is also not, and never has been a damn fairy, Adam Horowitz. But I digress). Before Hook manages to escape. He gives his shadow a weapon for Emma to use against the black fairy. Something extremely powerful, that was used to trap her previously in the realm she just escaped from.

Where did this weapon come from? There was no talk of it, anywhere, before. If it was so powerful. Then why was it not known about? Rumple is the dark one, he’s supposed to have the secrets, and he wanted to defeat the black fairy, who also turned out to be his mother, but that’s a different topic of ridiculousness entirely. Coincidence of plot, and where the writers decided to twist the story regardless of what has happened previously. Or was known previously.

This is just one part of this show where it lost the potential it once had. The stories became “too much” and some even contradicted what came before by introducing such plot coincidences. The flowers in the episode that Emma and Snow were after to try and break the sleeping curse between Snow and Charming are another. They supposedly (as mentioned in the episode) spring up around “great darkness”.

In which case, why is Storybrooke not overrun with them? The dark one (Rumple) WAS originally the greatest darkness they all knew.  Even back in the original seasons, Regina was almost to the same level–although not as powerful. The town should be covered in them. But no, we only saw it once the black fairy was brought in. Which, I might add, only happened when they needed a new villain for the season. No lead up, no fore-mention. Nothing. Coincidence of plot necessity.

This is generally the issue with Once Upon a Time. They use this, I guess you could call it a trope, repeatedly. In my own opinion, the current season airing is where they should end it. The show has dropped, drastically, in terms of quality and story telling. While I still like a couple of the writers on the show, and their work. They will find more work. But the show needs to end this season. Let it be done.

The examples I gave are similar in suggestion to the novel that prompted this examination of writing style. Things just happen out of nowhere. Characters meet up with people that just happen to be needed, or required, at the time. Part of the novel where this happens also has the protagonist seemingly appear to “strong” and “powerful” and more or less become a “mary sue” character that you can’t really care about.

It’s a shame, really. The core idea of the story is a good one. But this, along with tension issues, don’t move the story along with any reason to care about the characters. The protagonist has a bit of character to them. But the secondary characters are all kind of just drab, and lifeless. Shallow representations of what they could be.

Well, I think you get the point on what I’m saying from that. So I’ll end it there. Examine some of your own stories, and check for things that just jump out of nowhere. Watch for it in your shows, or novels you are reading.

and Happy writing\reading\whatever.