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Trapped by Mountain Lions: Difference between revisions
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A subplot (usually in a drama) that is so disjointed from the main plot that you can't figure out why anyone would care about it, when the fate of the world is being decided elsewhere.
There are several reasons why this might happen. Maybe the author has introduced [[Loads and Loads of Characters]] and doesn't want people asking [[What Happened to The Mouse?]]. Maybe he doesn't want a new character to come out of nowhere. Maybe a comic relief character keeps getting scenes during a dramatic or serious portion of the plot, causing [[Mood Whiplash]]. Maybe the principal character is just a [[
This trope is named for [[Damsel Scrappy|Kim Bauer]] and her escapades in season 2 of ''[[Twenty Four|24]]''. Whereas Kim was integral to the storyline of the first season, by season 2 the show had Elisha Cuthbert under contract and no way to work her character into the main plot. This resulted in a series of B-stories where Kim is chased by her employer's homicidal husband, briefly detained after said employer's corpse is found in the trunk of her stolen car, causes an auto crash that severs her boyfriend's legs, gets lost in the wilderness, is caught in a bear trap and surrounded by mountain lions (thus the trope name), held prisoner by a lonely mountain man who tricks her into thinking the world has ended, becomes a hostage in a liquor store holdup, and is menaced by the husband ''again'' when she goes to his house to get her stuff and he somehow manages to kill the [[Red Shirt|trained law enforcement professionals]] escorting her. In the meanwhile, her father tries to find and defuse a nuclear bomb. (It was a busy day.)
Compare [[Wacky Wayside Tribe]], where the entire cast is involved and there is no [[Two Lines, No Waiting|A-story]]. See also [[Deus Exit Machina]], [[Filler]], [[Padding]], and [[Big Lipped Alligator Moment]]. [[Romantic Plot Tumor]] is a subtrope of this, as is [[Wangst]]. Compare [[The Greatest Story Never Told]].
{{examples
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== [[Film]] ==
* Everything dealing with former reporter [[
* The lengthy "Broadway Ballet" sequence in ''[[Singin in The Rain (Film)|Singin in The Rain]]'' seems to divide fans on the question of whether it is entertaining enough to justify leaving the plot on hold for over ten minutes.
** Ditto the long ballet segment in the middle of (the uncut version of) Ken Russell's ''[[The Boy Friend]]''.
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*** It's actually worse than that. The police investigating ''hear a gunshot'', but still decide to leave because "sound carries a long way at night." Your taxpayer dollars at work!
**** Did we mention that their investigation consisted of walking to the front of their cruiser and looking off into the distance before deciding to leave?
* Parodied briefly in ''[[The
** Kuzco-as-narrator also tries to claim that spending plot-time with Pacha and his family is an example of this trope.
*** That movie has all sorts of "narration confusion" (is there a trope for that?) At the start, he's narrating events he couldn't possibly have witnessed, then his own narration gets sidetracked by the chimp and the bug as mentioned, then Kuzco-as-narrator briefly converses with Kuzco-as-character. Fortunately, there's very little fourth wall in this film.
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* Most scenes with Lana Lang in ''[[Smallville]]''.
* [[The Scrappy|Maya y Alejandro Herrera]] on ''[[Heroes (TV)|Heroes]]'' didn't even manage to be plot-relevant by hanging out with Sylar.
** Though that was due to the writer's strike, which caused a lot of planned storylines to be truncated and several plot threads to be cut and forgotten (e.g. [[What Happened to The Mouse?|Caitlin]]). Maya was apparently supposed to be instrumental to dealing with the virus, among other things.
** That season of Heroes is largely split into four completely un-interacting plotlines. Aside from the main, there's Maya y Alejandro; Bennet, Claire and West; and Monica and Micah. That season was so obviously unfinished that Tim Kring had to write a public apology. Then, [[It Got Worse]].
* ''[[Lost]]'' has this sometimes, from little-importance [[Flash Back|Flash Backs]] to stupid subplots just to give some characters screentime. (Sawyer crossing a jungle to kill a tree frog comes to mind.)
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{{quote| '''Kubota:''' My trial will last a few weeks, at most, and when it is over Hinjo will look like an out-of touch buffoon for even bringing up charges against me -- a beloved pillar of the community -- while his people waste away at sea. Now, come along. Bring me before your master so that we may begin the Trial of the Century.<br />
'''Elan:''' Yeah, well, we'll see what they believe. The Katos and I will testify against you and then--<br />
'''Vaarsuvius:''' [[One
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** They do, however, contribute to the overall weirditude of the game. Since this is [[Katamari Damacy]] we're talking about, that may actually count.
* Rose, the [[Stop Helping Me]] girlfriend from ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 2'', won't stop calling and insisting on talking about her relationship with Raiden. Even though he's, you know, in the middle of a highly-dangerous mission all by himself.
** {{spoiler|The entire plot of the game is an elaborate set-up to give Raiden irreperable psychological trauma [[Step Three: Profit|(and thus make him the ultimate killing machine?)]]. She's explicitly part of that...uhh, we think.}}
* Because the students got seperated when they were pulled into the evil Heavenly Host school in [[Corpse Party]], there were multiple sub-plots as each chapter focused on different characters. Most of these involved trying to find a way out, dodging sadistic ghosts, getting possessed, being brutually murdered ... and in the case of Satoshi and Yuka, trying to find a working toilet so she could go potty. It dragged on for a ridiculous amount of time, tracking down various toilets only to move on because they were damaged or {{spoiler|full of hanged girls}}, to the point that any normal person would have just peed in the corner and be done with it. It got worse when it tied into a 'Find Yuka' sub-plot, simply because they got seperated when she tried peeing outside (and she still didn't end up doing it).
* ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 (Video Game)|Sonic the Hedgehog 2006]]'' suffers from this, as Sonic is attempting to rescue Princess Elise, who ''[[Damsel Scrappy|never stays put]]'', Shadow and Silver are actually doing much more plot-critical activities, such as attempting to figure out the identity of Mephiles the Dark and save the future.
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