Innocuously Important Episode: Difference between revisions
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The examples, naturally, contain ''major spoilers.''
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▲{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* ''[[Soukou no Strain]]'': The [[Fan Service]] episode redeems itself by setting up a major plot point that, later on, leads to many a [[Heroic BSOD]], the outing of Sara's identity, the cementing of the [[True Companions]], and the death of one unexpected major character.
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== Literature ==
* ''[[
* ''[[Bridge of Birds]]'': Every seeming [[Wacky Wayside Tribe]] turns out to be this by the end.
* [[Dirk Gently]]'s "holistic" philosophy isn't wrong in the context of the books—even the aside jokes are relevant later on.
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== Live Action TV ==
* ''[[Babylon 5]]''. Several episodes of the first season.
** The thirteenth episode "Signs and Portents". The episode's "A" plot is some fairly standard and unimportant thing involving Raiders [space pirates] and a Centauri artifact called The Eye. The "B" plot, involving the first appearance of the enigmatic Mr Morden and the question "What do you want?", turns out to be ''incredibly'' important and crucial to the rest of the series—but the episode's retrospective importance only kicks in at the first season finale. Its importance was lampshaded by the fact that the entire first season was also named "Signs and Portents" (though a casual viewer wouldn't know this - the season titles only appeared on fan sites.) "Portents", of course, are ''[[Foreshadowing|hints about future events.]]''
*** The A Plot does have one rather important thing happen in it; it's the first appearance of [[Big Bad|The Shadows]].
** "[[Babylon 5/Recap/S01/E01 Midnight on the Firing Line|
** "[[Babylon 5/Recap/S01/E04 Infection|Infection]]", the fourth episode of the show, managed to introduce several elements that would become ''very'' important later on, including Interplanetary Expeditions, ISN, Earth's desire for advanced biotechnology and the first mention of previous Shadow War a thousand years ago - and certain revelations about Sinclair's past and how it drives his behaviour in the present. Not bad for what is almost universally considered to be a lackluster [[Monster of the Week]] episode.
* ''[[Doctor Who]]''
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** 'Killed By Death'. Buffy is sick and ends up in hospital - a place she hates since her favourite cousin died in hospital when they were children. While the [[Monster of the Week]] in the episode (which was also responsible for her cousin's death) is dealt with, Sunnydale General ends up playing a ''big'' role in Season Five - not only does Buffy's mother Joyce end up with a brain tumour and spends a few episodes there, but we're also, at the same time, introduced to the character Ben Wilkinson, a young medical intern who serves as a possible [[Love Interest]] to Buffy {{spoiler|and who turns out to be the mortal, human shell of Glory, the [[Big Bad]] of Season Five - Glory's plans, in turn, result in Buffy's death in the Season Five finale}}.
* The ''[[Pushing Daisies]]'' episode "Circus Circus". No other episode sets up as many of the major arcs and themes in the second season: the corrosive effect of secrets; something new beginning as necessarily implying something else ending; stasis as the opposite of life/death/rebirth; the impossibility of simply picking up a relationship where it was left off; one's persona or public self versus one's [[True Self]]; a parent's inability to recognize his or her child.
* The
* The ''[[Mad Men]]'' third season episode "My Old Kentucky Home." On its face, the [[Four Lines, All Waiting]] story serves as a series of character vignettes bound by the "work disguised as fun" theme. However, this episode introduces us characters that become prominent in later episodes (Connie Hilton, Henry Francis); and story arcs that carry through the next couple of seasons (Peggy's introduction to the counterculture, Joan realizing that marrying her doctor is not going to give her the life she thought she wanted, Betty looking for a way out of her marriage, among others).
* ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'' had two:
** In the first series "The Gates of Avalon" was a fairly basic [[Monster of the Week]] story, in which Arthur is targeted by two murderous Sidhe, but it also introduces the fact that [[Dreaming of Things to Come|Morgana is a seer]] which marks out her entire [[Character Arc]] from then on.
** The third series had "Queen of Hearts", which seemed a one-off [[Filler]] which once more returned to [[Status Quo Is God|status quo]] by the end of the episode, but it also introduced the character of "Dragoon", Merlin's old-man disguise which he puts to even greater effect in series four.
== Video Games ==
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* A lot of seemingly comical or nonsensical things in ''[[Hatoful Boyfriend]]'' take on greater importance in the [[Cerebus Syndrome|Bad Boys Love route]].
* In the first ''[[Mass Effect]]'' game, there's a side mission that involves going to the Moon and helping shut down a rogue [[Artificial Intelligence|AI]]. The third game reveals that {{spoiler|this was an early form of EDI, the AI on the second Normandy, who was recovered by Cerberus and rebuilt}}.
* ''[[Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero]]'' is a game most fans of the franchise would just as soon forget; it's usually regarded as the worst game of the series, or at least a tie for that title with ''[[Mortal Kombat: Special Forces]]''. However, this game also introduced, Fujin, Quan-Chi, and Shinnok. Of course, few fans like ''them'' either, but they still play vital roles in the overall plot.
== Webcomics ==
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Action Adventure Tropes]]
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[[Category:Innocuously Important Episode]]
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