Batman Gambit/Live-Action TV: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

* In the ''[[Firefly]]'' episode "Objects in Space," River pulls one of these on [[Psycho for Hire|Jubal Early]], using both his insecurities and the rest of the crew to maneuver him into position to be ambushed by Mal. The only thing she didn't factor in was [[Spanner in the Works|her brother's]] rather suicidal devotion to her.

{{quote|'''Mal:''' C'mon, you can yell at your brother for ruining your perfect plan.

* A standard of many spy stories. There was a top quote from an episode of ''[[Burn Notice]]'' that featured Michael Westen on the unfortunate receiving end of a gambit by a rival spy. This required him to formulate his own gambit to counter how effective the first gambit was. As for Michael himself, despite not having personally killed anyone since the first episode, he's indirectly responsible for 90% of the deaths on the show. Another quote from the show:

{{quote|'''Michael:''' ''(voice-over)'' In the spy game you spend a lot of time getting people to betray their own. Most do it for money, some do it for spite. But the greatest achievement is to get a guy to turn on his own people because he thinks he's being loyal.}}

* Barney Stinson's Scuba Diver play in The Playbook episode of ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]''. The Scuba Diver, Barney tells a meddlesome female friend, in this case Lily, about the Playbook, a book of schemes he's invented to pick up women. He then uses a scheme from the playbook to hit on her coworker, making Lily angry enough to steal the Playbook and tell her friend all about the scams he pulled. Barney then puts on a scuba suit and tells Lily that he's going to pull one more scam called the Scuba Suit on a hot girl standing at the bar. This causes Lily to go and tell the girl about the Playbook and incensed they both come back to Barney and demand to know what the scheme is. Barney then makes up a spiel about his deep insecurities, causing Lily to feel bad for Barney and eventually convince the girl to go out with him.

** Barney plans another one in {{spoiler|"The Broath" alongside Quinn to freak his friends out and teach them not to meddle in his affairs.}}

* ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'' episode "The Creepy Candy Coating Corollary" has [[Wil Wheaton]] pull off one of these, to win a card game against Sheldon.

** Later Wil returns as a member of a rival bowling team. He talks Penny into dumping Leonard during a vital tournament. Leonard leaves in tears, Sheldon's team is disqualified and [[Wil Wheaton]] is cemented as the [[Magnificent Bastard]] of the series.

* Walt does this throughout ''[[Breaking Bad]]'' and he continually gets better at stringing together assassination plans and manipulating those around him as the show progresses. Eventually, he pulls off a huge gambit in the season 4 finale where he manipulates an elaborate set of events and people in order to {{spoiler|arrange for the ''[[Big Bad]]'' of the season, Gus, to be blown up in a retirement home.}}.

* Happens quite frequently on ''[[Corner Gas]]'', occasionally resulting in a [[Gambit Pileup]], although they are probably for the most mundane things on this list, like not owing someone a favor, and most of the humor comes from how well (or not) the characters are able to pull off the gambit, but that shouldn't be surprising given the sitcom's premise.

* Mr. Gold's plan to help Emma win a municipal election in ''[[Once Upon a Time (TV series)|Once Upon a Time]]''. While Emma is in the Mayor's office arguing with Regina, he sets fire to City Hall, giving Emma a chance to rescue Regina and be shown to be a hero. When Emma finds out about this, she is furious, but Gold points out that if she denounces him, she loses the election and disappoints everyone. {{spoiler|She does denounce him and wins anyway, which Gold then reveals was [[All According to Plan]]. Saving the rather unpopular Regina wouldn't have been enough to win Emma the election. Showing everyone that she was tough enough to stand up to Gold, the most feared man in town, however, was a different story.}}

** The finale reveals (though doesn't outright state) that {{spoiler|the ''entire Dark Curse'' was caused by him so that he could get to the real world, and once he did he manipulated everything so that he would get his True Love potion and use it to bring magic to Storybrooke so that he could find his son. (Who had been transported to the real world long before the curse).}}