The stupid mistakes of smart people (are not the same)

[mrissa]

I have talked in this space before about how I watch a bunch of cop shows, largely because I watch them while working out. This has advantages (pacing! hurrah pacing!). It also has disadvantages, because dang, are some of the things paced the way I need them to be…kind of obvious, honestly. It’s like you can see the places where they said, “[

Comments

[asakiyume]

I so agree with this. "But the character has flaws you see! He isn't always brilliant" doesn't work as an argument if we're talking specifically about a purported strength.

And I definitely agree about seeding the story with something to show the sort of weakness they're likely to have--although I find that this can seem blatant in shows (maybe because time is short, so you know that no thing that happens is random, so if a character forgets to pick up the laundry, you know it's being telegraphed that they're absent minded, for example).

[mrissa]

Or, cop shows being what they are, not just that they're absent-minded, but that they are NEGLECTING THEIR MARRIAGE AND ALL IS DOOM. Sigh.

[asakiyume]

I know that's definitely a Thing in cop show, but the two that I watch (Gotham--if you can call that a cop show... it's not really a cop show, is it--and Castle) aren't so bad on that score. I was glad in the most recent episode of Gotham when the love interest for the main dude (names. they are a problem for me. By main dude I mean Commissioner Gordon, except he's not Commissioner yet because this is In The Past) showed him his paradoxical behavior (wanting a woman who'd be interested and involved in his work...and then not wanting her to *actually* get involved), and he owned up to that and seemed willing to try to change.