History PoorCommunicationKills / LiveActionTV

** It gets played with in ''Series/KamenRiderGaim''. Takatora, at least in [[TheHero Kouta]]'s eyes, is the BigBad he must defeat. When he confronts him for a second time, [[spoiler:Takatora [[SubvertedTrope decides to tell Kouta straight up what's going on instead of letting his hatred towards him fester]]. It gets DoubleSubverted though, as Takatora wanted to break Kouta with what he revealed]].

** In the first episode of Volume Four, Claire overhears her father, Nathan, explaining to her grandmother, Angela, that he is sending government agents out to get Peter and Matt and that he wants to keep Claire home and out of this entire situation [[spoiler:Claire gets a free pass]]. So Claire, giving her grandmother a nice DeathGlare, gets herself into the situation and calls Peter. Reasonable enough, right? She tells him government agents are after Matt ... then ''completely fails to mention they're after Peter too.''

** That's nothing. In the first episode of Volume Four, Claire gets word that Nathan is sending government agents out to get Peter and Matt. So she calls Peter. Reasonable enough, right? She tells him people are after Matt ... then ''completely fails to mention they're after Peter too.''

** About half of the Winchester family drama could have been avoided if Sam and Dean simply ''told'' each other about their problems rather than insisting they're fine. Also, Castiel's [[spoiler:slide into evil]] in Season 6 could have been avoided if he'd simply asked the Winchesters for help, and if the Winchesters hadn't blown off the ''civil war in heaven'' as [[BystanderSyndrome somebody else's problem]].

** ''Solitude'': [[spoiler:Brainiac]] infects Martha with a deadly kryptonian virus. Clark questions Jor-El, and all he says is that "I am sorry, my son. The wheel of fate has already been set in motion. Even you cannot alter destiny." ThisIsWrongOnSoManyLevels.
** ''Lazarus'': Jor-El warns Clark Kent that "a great darkness" is coming. Sure enough, Lex Luthor [[spoiler:(actually his clone)]] returns. Clark defeats him and reports his success. [[spoiler:Jor-El reveals that he doesn't really give a crap about Lex Luthor. The "great darkness" he was refering to was ''{{ComicBook/Darkseid}}'', who arrives on Earth safely and unnoticed. To make this situation even worse, Jor-El just tells off Clark for the mistakes he made during the episode and shuts himself and the fortress down, ''without telling Clark anything about the actual threat.'']]

* The ''HoratioHornblower'' TV-series starring Ion Gruffudd (maybe also the original books) had a group of deserting British sailors (their ship's crew was besieging the Spanish) [[MeleeATrois captured by Dominican rebel slaves]] (ItMakesSenseInContext), and so the rebel commander rows out to the sailors' original ship, to bargain with the captain to leave the island in peace (with one of their sailors at gunpoint). The ships' Royal Marines train their weapons on the rebels, and the Captain is asked whether they should open fire. He replies with "Fire?", the others understand it as "Fire!" and [[ShootTheDog shoot the rebels and their hostage]], [[NiceJobBreakingItHero declaring an outright war]] between the ship's crew and the rest of the rebels. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVo7OpOv__Y&feature=relmfu Seen here]].
* ''Series/{{Friends}}'' is built on this trope. You can actually watch the writers become more dependent on this trope as the series progresses. The best (worst?) example is when Chandler attempts to masturbate and Monica (his wife) interrupts him. He quickly changes the channel to a show about sharks, and Monica presumes this means he finds sharks sexually stimulating.

* In ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' episodes 2.09 and 2.10; Mohinder utterly failed to tell OverprotectiveDad Noah that he didn't need Claire, just a pint of blood to save a life and stop a plague rather than kidnap her. Instead he made it seem like he had done a FaceHeelTurn and was going after this OverprotectiveDad's daughter and bringing about the season's TearJerker episode.

*** The Writer's Strike is probably the reason they had to speed through that. If the season was allowed to take its natural course they might have done all that (well, maybe not the sipping tea in Tokyo part).
*** According to a behind the scenes look, that scene was going to end with the plague vial falling to the floor and shattering, leading into a massive 'plague containment' arc. Which the Writer's Strike truncated. So it was going to turn out even stupider.

* Fans (and detractors) of ''Series/{{Lost}}'' have commented on the characters' apparent inability to ask the right questions. In particular, they've had Juliet among them since her HeelFaceTurn, but have not asked her any questions about the intentions or nature of the Others. This tendency was [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in the season 4 episode "Cabin Fever," as [[spoiler:Christian]] says to Locke, "So why don't you ask the one question that does matter?"
** Not just the lack of asking "the right questions", But the lack of ''SHARING'' vital information as well, for whatever reason..
*** One (somewhat minor) example: Jack has been angsting over his deceased father since Day 1. Through a chance bit of conversation (Jack quotes a saying his father was fond of), Sawyer realized that he met Jack's father right before he died. He told Sawyer about how he wanted to patch things up with his son, but he was too much of a coward to pick up the phone. For no reason other than sheer cussedness, Sawyer decides to keep this to himself.
*** Although, oddly enough, Sawyer did bring it up by the end of the season, creating a rather emotional conversation. Presumably, Sawyer wanted to think about it before telling Jack. Their tense relationship at the time it was discovered probably didn't help.
** Actually played for laughs early on, when Michael is incredulous when the others talk about polar bears, and a confused Charlie says "You didn't hear about the polar bear?"

** Numerous situations like this seem to crop up in ''{{Series/Firefly}}'', particularly around Mal's tactics. Friends new and old are asked to implicitly trust him right at the point where he has given every indication that he's changeable as the wind and about to screw them (Simon and River frequently being the subjects here -- perhaps most notably in "Safe"). This generally complicates things further, as above, by making the ostensible rescuees filled with anger and suspicion.
*** To clarify, in ''Safe'' Mal orders Simon and River away from Serenity and into town - however, had he'd checked with the Sheriff's office, he'd have been told about gangs of kidnappers operating there. As a result, of course, Simon and River get kidnapped and (like Tracey) never blame Mal for this after he rescues them from being literally burned at a couple of stakes.

*** An example within an example is the fact that Delenn didn't bother to explain that little tradition ''before'' the Minbari ships arrived.

* In ''Series/TeenWolf'', the show's HypercompetentSidekick Stiles Stilinski [[LampshadeHanging hangs a lampshade]] on this trope and states that a complete lack of communication is the main reason why all of the characters are having so many problems in season two. He points out that nobody trusts anyone else and the inability to effectively communicate between werewolves and humans was eventually going to get someone killed.

* ''Franchise/KamenRider'', any series under the writing of Toshiki Inoue tends to suffer from this. ''[[Series/KamenRiderAgito Agito]]'', ''[[Series/KamenRiderFaiz Faiz]]'', and ''[[Series/KamenRiderKiva Kiva]]'' all had near-identical situations: a member of the secondary cast (Ryo Ashihara[=/=]Gills, Yuji Kiba[=/=]Horse Orphenoch, and Keisuke Nago[=/=]IXA, respectively) is friends with the main character while despising and seeking to destroy his Rider identity (Ashihara because he thinks Agito killed the woman he loved, Yuji because he thinks Faiz is a pawn for Smart Brain, and Nago because he thinks Kiva is an OmnicidalManiac). Shoichi, Takumi, and Wataru never think to reveal their identities in order to defuse the situation, which lets the tension build. In the end, [[spoiler:Ryo, Yuji, and Nago find out by accident, and they're all relieved; Ryo and Yuji because they know guys like Shoichi and Takumi could never be murderers, and Nago because he thinks the power of Kiva is in good hands with Wataru.]]

** There was an additional factor in the form of the [[spoiler:Russians threatening to launch a nuclear strike against the US if they don't aid them in attacking the aliens]].

*** Jor-El didn't do it...obviously.
*** Is it that hard to deny it? Given that Jor-El [[TheyWereHoldingYouBack tried to kill Chloe]] in ''Arrival'', probably would not be too easy to convince Clark, but it's worth a shot.
*** Clark ''can'' ScrewDestiny - as shown in ''Hereafter''.
*** After Chloe saves Clark, everything is sort of...unchanged.

* On ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'', Gwen tries to keep her actual job in Torchwood secret from her boyfriend in the least helpful way. Despite Torchwood's ability to set up dummy companies, create false identities and twist the truth when the need be Gwen never uses any of this to give her boyfriend any reason to calm down about her job. Instead she is openly ambiguous about why she works such long hours and gets called away so often. Even ''her boss'' says she shouldn't let her personal life drift, but never makes any good suggestions to Gwen as to ''how'' to do so. This can get frustrating for the viewer because obviously some people on the police force know Gwen does ''something'' working for Torchwood, and people out in the world know Torchwood does ''something'' (The woman in the first episode of series 2 mutters "Bloody Torchwood" as they pass by.)

* Series/{{Frasier}} often relied on the titular character, an eloquent, educated man who could often string together the most complicated of sentences, being rendered incoherent when a simple explanation could extricate him from a difficult situation.
** One episode played with this dynamic when Frasier's dad tried to return $40 that was mistakenly given to him by a bank's ATM. He patiently, articulately explains the situation in terms so clear even a child could understand...and the bank employees all misunderstand him and what he wants.

* About half of the Winchester family drama in ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' could have been avoided if Sam and Dean simply ''told'' each other about their problems rather than insisting they're fine. Also, Castiel's [[spoiler:slide into evil]] in Season 6 could have been avoided if he'd simply asked the Winchesters for help, and if the Winchesters hadn't blown off the ''civil war in heaven'' as [[BystanderSyndrome somebody else's problem]].

* So many problems on ''Series/{{Merlin}}'' could have been solved instantly if Merlin wasn't almost pathologically secretive - and not just on his magical abilities (which he is justified in keeping to himself) but things such as traitors in Camelot and other characters getting magically brainwashed.
** Sort of justified in his case. Said traitors are usually ''miles'' above him in social hierarchy and could easily make his life hell (or just get him off guard in an empty corridor, he isn't invincible). Also, said enchantments and such would have to not only be explained how he knew it was there but he would then forfeit the freedom to unobtrusively make it go away with magic.

** Made worse by the fact that the rescuers are attempting to drag Foster into their vehicle and he's fighting against them, apparently forgetting that once inside the vehicle he can remove his helmet and explain the situation to them at leisure.

* Several episodes of ''Series/{{House}}'' actually are this trope. Any kind of small detail about the patient or their family members not revealed, generally ends with the patient having at least one near death experience.

* This is how Joel got off the Satellite of Love in ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''. Gypsy had caught a transmission from Deep 13 with Dr. Forrester and TV's Frank plotting to kill Mike Nelson, utterly sick of how he's marching around like he owns the place. Gypsy misinterprets this as them wanting to kill ''Joel'' and sets off to "save" Joel from the Mads. While she does save Joel, she doesn't save the other robots or herself and leads to ''Mike'' being the one stuck up there.

* In ''HaveGunWillTravel'', Paladin's business card can cause some confusion over his profession that can occasionally lead to rather unfortunate mix-ups. More often than not the confusion is resolved without anyone dying, but every now and then... This is actually what gets him started as a hero in the pilot, he was tricked into fighting a "notorious killer" who was actually also a good guy and ended up taking on the dead man's quest after learning the truth.

* This happens twice in ''TheCosbyShow'' with disastrous results.

* In {{UFO}}, one episode has Foster being saved by an alien after he's injured. However, the explosion in which he was hurt also destroyed his communication device. He and the alien manage just fine, communicating with gestures, but once he's rescued, things don't work too well. Foster tries to tell his rescuers to save the alien, but they can't hear him. Finally, one of them gets the idea of pressing the faceplate of his spacesuit to Foster's. Foster tells him, "There's an alien. Help him - he's a friend." Unfortunately, the only word that gets through is "alien". They figure he's been attacked and shoot the alien, while Foster can't tell them to stop.

* Several episodes of {{House}} actually are this trope. Any kind of small detail about the patient or their family members not revealed, generally ends with the patient having at least one near death experience.

* ''{{Friends}}'' is built on this trope. You can actually watch the writers become more dependent on this trope as the series progresses. The best (worst?) example is when Chandler attempts to masturbate and Monica (his wife) interrupts him. He quickly changes the channel to a show about sharks, and Monica presumes this means he finds sharks sexually stimulating.

* The last episode of ''[[Series/BlakesSeven Blake’s 7]]'' has Tarrant fall for Blake’s bounty hunter act and tell Avon that Blake has betrayed them. Avon, who really should know Blake better than that, aims his gun at Blake, who, instead of explaining the truth coherently, just comes out with vague statements like "I set all this up!", all of which Avon misinterprets until he finally snaps and pumps Blake full of gunfire.
* If the Earth Administrator had just started his speech in ''[[Series/DoctorWho Doctor Who]]'''s "The Mutants" by saying he was granting Solos their independence, the whole plot would have been avoided and he'd have saved his own life.

* Jeff in ''{{Coupling}}'s'' entire personality comes from this trope. He's the page quotation provider for DiggingYourselfDeeper.

* {{Frasier}} often relied on the titular character, an eloquent, educated man who could often string together the most complicated of sentences, being rendered incoherent when a simple explanation could extricate him from a difficult situation.

* In the {{Dads Army}} episode ''Ring Dem Bells'', Wilson and Pike go into the Eight Bells pub with the platoon dressed as Nazis for a training video. Instead of just explaining to the barman what's going on, they cause widespread panic.

* An episode of ''{{Scrubs}}'' focused on the effects JD's insane hours at the hospital were having on his life. It manifested in particularly dramatic fashion on a date, where JD, upon looking at the incredibly gorgeous girl he was about to kiss, instead saw the hideous cancer patient he was treating earlier in the day. He mumbled something incoherent and walked away. The next day, when the girl asked him why he bailed, JD actually said ''nothing'' instead of explaining the situation. JD's narration even lampshaded the communication failure, and it was included in a trio of scenes where males proved utterly incapable of communication with their girlfriends.

** ''Lazarus'': Jor-El warns Clark Kent that "a great darkness" is coming. Sure enough, Lex Luthor [[spoiler:(actually his clone)]] returns. Clark defeats him and reports his success. [[spoiler:Jor-El reveals that he doesn't really give a crap about Lex Luthor. The "great darkness" he was refering to was ''{{Darkseid}} '', who arrives on Earth safely and unnoticed. To make this situation even worse, Jor-El just tells off Clark for the mistakes he made during the episode and shuts himself and the fortress down, ''without telling Clark anything about the actual threat.'']]

* Much of the latter half of ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|Reimagined}}'', if not the entire series, could have been avoided if the humans and cylons had ever just sat down and compared notes, but even after the humans have cylon allies, they still don't even seem to consider sharing information with each other, despite all the half-information and lingering questions they all have about prophecies, the backstory, etc.

*** Later, Sheridan is sent to meet a friend of Delenn's who wants to open a back-channel of communications between humans and Minbari hosted by G'Kar. Unfortunately, Londo assumes that the Narns are scheming against the Centauri and sends a warship to attack the meeting. Sheridan and G'Kar are the only survivors.

* In ''HaveGunWillTravel'', Paladin's business card can cause some confusion over his profession that can occasionally lead to rather unfortunate mix-ups. More often than not the confusion is resolved without anyone dying, but on every now and then... This is actually what gets him started as a hero in the pilot, he was tricked into fighting a "notorious killer" who was actually also a good guy and ended up taking on the dead man's quest after learning the truth.

* An episode of ''{{Scrubs}}'' focused on the effects JD's insane hours at the hospital were having on his life. It manifested in particularly dramatic fashion on a date, where JD, upon looking at the incredibly gorgeous gir0l he was about to kiss, instead saw the hideous cancer patient he was treating earlier in the day. He mumbled something incoherent and walked away. The next day, when the girl asked him why he bailed, JD actually said ''nothing'' instead of explaining the situation. JD's narration even lampshaded the communication failure, and it was included in a trio of scenes where males proved utterly incapable of communication with their girlfriends.

* Huge example in season 3 of {{Angel}}. Wesley translates a prophecy that Angel will kill his son, Connor. Instead of telling Angel (or Gunn, or Fred), Wesley kidnaps Connor and loses him to Angel's archenemy, which results in Connor being raised in a Hell dimension and growing up to hate Angel fiercely. While the urge to protect baby Connor is understandable, everyone gives Wesley a hard time about not just telling them what was going on in the first place so they could help him make a better decision.

* In ''Series/{{Gotham}}'', Bruce goes looking for Reggie Payne at gun ranges based on Alfred statement that he's probably holed up in "a shooting gallery". The more streetwise Selena explains the other meaning of the term (a place where people hole up to do drugs).

* In ''Series/TheMusketeers'', when Athos has been forcibly dragged back to the lands he owns to see how badly they're doing without a lord, he says to his sister-in-law that "I should have signed the land over to you" before he left, but he would do so now. She immediately starts wearing her finery again and talking about what a wonderful thing he's done for her. And somehow, he doesn't realise that she thinks the land is going to be gifted to her ''personally'', not a group "you" meaning "the tenants".