They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot/Western Animation: Difference between revisions

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* ''[[Kappa Mikey]]'' had the brilliant idea of mixing a [[Western Animation]] American in a [[Anime]] and [[Animesque]] Japanese setting to create a unique [[Fish Out of Water]] story. The only problem? The show ''barely'' if any utilized any real [[Japanese Media Tropes]] or Western [[Animation Tropes]] that would've made it a unique blending of the two mediums. Any Anime related things were mainly for the [[Gag Series]], that eventually turned into a [[Gross-Out Show]], certainly not the [[Genre Busting]] concept it could've become.

* ''[[Justice League (animation)|Justice League Unlimited]]'' had a full season of shows building to a climactic confrontation between the Justice League and a revitalized Legion of Doom, led by a Lex Luthor who, it appeared would regain Brainiac and ascend to near godhood with a full army equal in power and numbers to the expanded Justice League... then, at the literal last second Darkseid is resurrected by his efforts, and the League and Legion have to team up to beat him back. Gripping stuff to be sure, but wouldn't have the expected DCAU [[Battle Royale With Cheese]] been awesome?

** Likewise, the Cadmus story arc. For most the season, the tension between the Justice League and the United States Government (Cadmus) slowly but surely ramps up, threatening to explode into full scale war and raising serious ethical questions on whether an independent organization staffed by an army of superpowered individuals could be trusted in dictating world security. Turns out, it was all just one massive [[Xanatos Gambit]] by Brainiac. He rebuild himself by playing the League and Cadmus against each other. He would have succeeded to some degree no matter who won. The threat he posed prompted the Justice League and Cadmus to team up and defeat him.

** It gets worse when you stop to consider the little snippets of horror behind this "Brand New Cybertron", from the alleged corruption of the Maximal High Council to the secret schemes and origins of Tarantulas and the Tripredacus Council, are only glimpsed at and not elaborated on at any length, leaving a ''lot'' of intriguing history undiscovered.

* In ''[[Transformers Armada]]'', one particular episode comes to mind. The Autobots had just managed to eke out a victory over the Decepticons regarding a trio of Minicons that combined to form a particularly devastating weapon. They could easily end the Cybertron war by using them, they realize. The problem is that the Minicons want nothing to do with the war, and prefer to be left alone. As the Autobots argue the moral dilemma against each other, the human members of the cast reach their own decision. They side with the Minicons, abandon the Autobots, and help them escape from the base to safety. While this works at first, eventually they are tracked down by a Decepticon, and they realize the danger of not being protected by the Autobots. This could have become a great plotline. Unfortunately, it is considered one of the worst episodes of the series. Reasons are numerous, including the show's insistence that the Autobots must always be the good guys, the fandom's [[Creator's Pet|hatred of the kids]], a [[Paper-Thin Disguise]] scene that is considerably more painful than amusing, and the whole thing being resolved by a [[Big Damn Heroes]] moment from Optimus Prime that solidified the argument that the kids were morons for not having perfect faith in the heroes of the show.

* One of the more universally reviled episodes of ''[[Animaniacs]]'' is "One Flew Over the Cuckoo Clock", a full episode featuring Slappy and Skippy. The premise: Slappy goes insane, Skippy is eventually taken away to a foster home, Slappy needs to get back. Again, many figure Slappy was a little out of character here... but some fans felt that it had a lot of potential as a story, maybe more dramatic than most... until it all falls flat at the end, with the foster family (or the government agency that put Skippy there!) never even mentioned. Not even a token grenade tossed. Even if the plot was meant to justify large cartoon bombs... at least feature things getting bombed, OK?

* Parodied in the [[Shoo Out the New Guy]] episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]'': Poochie's premiere cartoon begins with Itchy and Scratchy driving to a fireworks factory. They then get stopped by Poochie, who launches into a [[Totally Radical]] rap song. Cut to Milhouse sobbing and asking, "When are they going to get to the fireworks factory?"

** In S2, a few eps were leading up to Cree trying to send the Moonbase flying into the sun. The season finale indeed, ''does'' see a plan to send the Moonbase flying into the sun... but it's being done by ''Chad''. Cree only shows up at the end to be told by Chad that her plan's already been tried and backfired. Still, it set up Chad joining the teens, so it's not that big of a deal.

** Also, the KND "Splinter Cell" arc foreshadowed an internal civil war in the KND between the extremist Splinter Cell that believes all adults must be destroyed vs. the more moderate faction that believes only the ''evil'' adults should be stopped. It is also revealed that the Splinter Cell had been kidnapping KND scientists for unknown reasons. However, near the end of the series, it turns out that the Splinter Cell is just an front for the KND scientists, who fake their kidnappings so they have more free time to watch their favorite science fiction shows as well as manage "the Galactic Kids Next Door", the workings of which were left very vague in the end.

'''Chuckie:''' The usual. High expectations met with crushing disappointment. }}

** Funny, sounds a whole lot like what Angelica/Chuckie shippers must have felt after having entertained themselves with the thought of the two kissing under the mistletoe when they heard about the special. (To add insult to injury: Episodes with Susie usually also have Angelica, and the main conflict of the ''[[Rugrats]]'' Christmas specials revolved around her as well.)

** The introduction of Jericho into the Titans had the potential for a fantastic storyline to tie into Slade's obsession to find the perfect apprentice. Instead, after "Titans Together", nothing comes of this.

*** This probably has more to do with the fact that the series was cancelled, with "Titans Together" being the penultimate episode for the entire show.

** Another good example: early in the show Trixie Tang had an episode called "The Boy That Would Be Queen" that hinted she was more than [[Alpha Bitch|an inconsiderate snob.]] It involved Timmy finding out she had "boy" interests, i.e. comic books, video games, etc. It looked like they were slowly going to give her [[Character Development]] and let her evolve into a decent character. Then the mass [[Flanderization]] of every character in the show set in, and her secretly being a [[Tomboy]] has never been explored again in favor of [[Character Exaggeration]] of her as a shallow [[Alpha Bitch]]. What could have been a good character [[They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character|went down the tubes]].

** Actually, Trixie had [[Hidden Depths]] hinted at in her ''FIRST appearance'', where she told Timmy that, while she can't afford to be seen hanging with him and his friends, she admires him giving up popularity so that he can stay with his own friends, thinking that decision to be "cool". That Trixie became such a ''bitch'' in later episodes is a truly staggering fact when one considers how she was early on.

** "Back to the Woods" wasted two perfectly good plots in one episode: An [[Adam Westing]] James Woods seeking revenge on Peter for the events of an earlier episode, and the [[Ripped from the Headlines]] but comedically unexplored topic of identify theft.

** "Not All Dogs Go To Heaven" suffered from this, considering that the promos focused on Stewie spending the day with the cast of ''Star Trek: The Next Generation''. Granted, that plot was still there, but most of the episode focused on the B-story where Meg finds religion after catching the mumps and Brian is chastised for his atheism (which Brian uses to get Meg to stop being religious). No wonder tropers and non-tropers alike have cited this episode as an [[Old Shame]].

** The one that takes the cake though was the one at the end of the movie ''Into The Wild Green Yonder'' where the entire group of protagonists were on the run from the law even though they were doing good. At the end of the movie, they came across a huge wormhole that could take them millions of light-years away without any way of knowing if they could ever return. Unanimously agreeing, the heroes went into the wormhole as it converted into a similar pattern of lights in the opening sequence of each episode. Originally, this was intended to be the series finale, but due to its popularity increasing due to sales of the four movies, it was granted two more seasons. Unfortunately, instead of continuing the plot of the heroes being on the run and making it an overall [[Stern Chase]] plotline or having the heroes have adventures in exotic new lands, a [[Snap Back]] is made and the heroes find themselves back at Earth. Even more so, a subtle [[Hand Wave]] is made and all the heroes' actions from "Into The Wild Green Yonder" are forgotten, allowing them to resume their normal lives, because of course, [[Status Quo Is God]].

*** It is worth noting that some elements remain, some things that were really long in coming, like oh I don't know, Leela & Fry finally establishing a (rocky) relationship?

** Actually, it [[What Could Have Been|WAS supposed to go from]] the idiosyncratic, self-contained episode system to a mature [[Myth Arc]] with much more continuity and less humor. Unfortunately, it got cancelled.

* ''[[Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends]]'':

** And it did give us the all powerful meme, "Batman does not eat nachos!"

* ''[[Winx Club]]'' season 3 had plenty of this, contributing to its overall [[Seasonal Rot]] (though other seasons had some of this trope as well):

** Another S3 mini-arc sees [[Big Bad]] Valtor give Sky's ex-fiancee Diaspro a potion, which she then administers to Sky, causing him to announcement his engagement to her instead of Bloom at his party. The next episode is dedicated to the Winx storming the palace trying to get an explanation for this, and finding out it was a result of a spell. Stella fixes him up with fairy dust, but has to leave quickly with Diaspro and her guards are closing in. Guards eventually capture Brandon instead, and Diaspro yells at the fairies, "This isn't over! Sky will be mine!" 4Kids edited that last line out, and with good reason: The next we hear of this plot, [[Offscreen Moment of Awesome|everything has been resolved off-screen]], and Diaspro has been banished.

** They Edited Out A Perfectly Wasted Plot: A S1 ep originally ends with Griselda announcing an upcoming parent-teacher meeting, which has Bloom worried (interestingly, they ''don't'' address the fact that the only parents she's known are kept out of Alfea by a barrier). All this achieves is to set up the girls having nightmares about their parents in the next ep, as the whole meeting issue is never followed up on otherwise. In the 4Kids dub, Griselda's announcement is edited out altogether, and whereas the next ep originally has a scene of the girls discussing the upcoming meeting, they're returning from a night at the movies in the dub.

* Played deliberately in the fifteenth season two parter ("You're Getting Old"/"Ass Burgers") of ''[[South Park]]'' which set itself up for some great potential storylines about divorce and how it's occasionally the best option, along with some major character development through life changes and epiphanies. Just as Stan accepts all the surprises his life awaits, the entire potential arc was wrapped up in a single [[Reset Button]], much to his exasperation.

* While the dream making concept of ''[[The Dreamstone]]'' is rather unique, it is actually rarely explored or developed in favor of the Urpneys' [[Road Runner vs. Coyote]] antics. The actual process for making dreams is depicted in a rather unclear and mundane manner due to the heroes being kept somewhat [[Out of Focus|underfocused]] and [[Flat Character|flat]], while the dreams themselves are shown once in a blue moon, largely in favor of making the minions of the [[They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character|equally underused Zordrak]] act as [[Villain Protagonist|Villain Protagonists]]. If it weren't for it's name, The Dreamstone could often be seen as any other generic [[MacGuffin]] stealing show (not to say it's a bad one however).

* ''[[Inspector Gadget]]'' is a pretty darn awesome superhero in concept, but he spends the entire series gleefully clutching the [[Idiot Ball]] and generally being useless (only a handful of episodes [[Let's Get Dangerous|showing his potential as a competant hero]]). Alot of people say that Penny's a lot better a protagonist, and wish that she was the series' primary focus.