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• 24
  • In Season 3, Jack Bauer has been covertly working with fellow CTU agent Gael Ortega to enact a Fake Defector gambit that will see Jack planted in the Salazar crime family in order to gain hold of the only known sample of the Cordilla virus, an incredibly dangerous bio-weapon with the potential to wipe out a good chunk of humanity. Just as Jack has almost finished gaining the full confidence of the Salazars, his daughter Kim, who by this point is working as a CTU analyst, walks in on Gael as he carries out his part of the plan.
    You'd Expect: Gael to take Kim aside, explain that he and her father are working together — showing him the video that Jack made as proof for President Palmer if necessary — and that it's absolutely vital that she mention this to no-one.
    Instead: He ties Kim up and gags her. It's not long before Kim's immediate boss, Adam Kaufman notices she's missing, then finds her tied up. Gael is quickly detained, and still refuses to explain what's going on, resulting in his being tortured for information. Admittedly, the situation was complicated by the misfortune of CTU's director, Tony Almeida (who was also in on the plan), being incapacitated several hours earlier, but even so, Jack was already aboard a plane going to meet the Salazars by the time Kim walked in on Gael, so he had nothing to lose by coming clean at that point.
  • In Season 5 Jack finds himself on an airplane with a dictaphone recording which proves that President Logan supplied nerve gas to terrorists. Bauer finds out through a phone call to CTU that Logan has arranged for the plane to be shot down on the pretext that it's fallen under the control of terrorists.
    You'd Expect: Bauer to play the recording into his mobile phone, and CTU to use it to make their own recording, meaning that they'll still have the evidence even if Bauer's plane gets shot down.
    Instead: They don't do anything of the sort, and Bauer ends up having to force the plane into an emergency landing, then escape Logan's forces on the ground. Fortunately, he manages to do all this successfully and returns to CTU, where he hands the dictaphone to Chloe. We then find out that a conference call with the Attorney General has been scheduled for about a half hour or so later, and that the dictaphone uses a flash memory chip.
    You'd Then Expect: Chloe, being a computer expert, to make copies of the conversation in every medium humanly possible; one on her own computer, one on Buchanan's computer, one on CTU's network, and one on optical disc for good measure.
    Instead: She doesn't make a single copy, giving a corrupt DoD staffer time to call Logan (preventing him from committing suicide in the process), set up a deal involving a cushy job at the White House, then upload a virus which completely wrecks the dictaphone's memory chip, forever destroying the all-important conversation and forcing Bauer to find a means of extricating a confession from Logan.
• Two and a Half Men: Judith, who is an absolute bitch to Alan and an abusive harpy in general, kicks her husband, Herb, out of her house because he stood up against her abuse. Alan hears it from Charlie and is sadistically happy about his ex-wife's trouble. Then he goes to her house as soon as he heard about it.
  You'd Expect: Considering that Judith, up to this point, stole everything from Alan in the divorce, including his house, meddled in his relationship with Kandi out of petty vengeance, gave Kandi the divorce lawyer she used to screw him even further and uses the child support money that's supposed to pay Jake's expenses for herself, you'd expect Alan to finally put her in her place.
  Instead: It's a sitcom, so he doesn't. Instead, he starts comforting her, despite laughing at her suffering from the inside. However, it ends up with Alan getting back with her, as if he forgot all the crap she put him through for her own amusement. As expected, it ends with Judith deciding to break it up again, instead of Alan having the balls to reject her in the first place, and next time we know, she's back into abusing him and Herb again.
  • Judith always threatens Alan with going to the court if he doesn't pay everything unnecessary for her, not covered by the ridiculously high alimony.
    You'd expect: For him to say 'okay, let's go, let the judge see that even the amount of alimony I already pay isn't your rightful share'.
    Instead: He gives in and pays.

A

• The Adventures of Superman:
  • "Double Dose": Two villains get caught by Superman. One tries to shoot him, to no effect. Superman demands to know, "What have you done with Jim Olsen?"
    You'd Expect: The two cooperate, hoping that this scary invulnerable guy recommends their cooperation as grounds for leniency during sentencing.
    Instead: One tells the other to "give [Jim] the current." And the other listens.
  • Two crooks who have captured Perry and Lois (and who have previously said that they are going to kill all four members of the Planet staff) ask Perry how he'd describe the route if he were telling Jimmy how to get to that house.
    You'd Expect: Perry realizes that the only reason they'd ask this is to record his voice for a trick phone call to Jimmy.
    Instead: He describes the route. Jimmy is almost killed when his acid-eaten brakes give out. Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!
• After School Special:
  • "The Cheats":
    • In a prep high school, three friends — Holly, Lynnie, and Robin — steal final exam answers. Holly's best friend Beth refuses to look at the answers, while preparing to earn her grade honestly and get into her dream college Cornell. The trio's perfect A's wreck the curve, and overcome with guilt, Lynnie and Robin confess. Dr. Daniels, the principal, makes it clear that any person involved with the cheating will be suspended, even if they had merely taken a glance at the answers, and given a failing grade if they confess, but they will be expelled if they are caught and don't confess.
      You'd Expect: After they had taken the exam, that all the girls, having gone this far, that all the girls would have disposed of the answer papers, left them at home, or not left them lying around.
      Instead: Robin put her test answers in a library book. When she returns it, by some bad luck Beth checks it out.
      The Result: The librarian finds the copy of the test answers when Beth returns it and has to report it to the principal.
    • Due to the test answers being in Beth's library book, Dr. Daniels busts Beth for what she knew about the cheating, and asks her who else was involved.
      You'd Expect: Beth knows that Dr. Daniels isn't bluffing. She should turn in Holly and save herself. That's classic game theory with the Prisoner's Dilemma.
      Instead: Invoking Honor Before Reason, Beth says that she feels that telling on the person who did the cheating would be as bad as the cheating itself.
      The Result: Dr. Daniels likes Beth, and knows that Beth is telling the truth. She also knows that the school board and she will have to expel Beth unless there's some kind of leeway. Intuiting that Beth is trying to protect Holly, Dr. Daniels asks Beth to tell whoever cheated to confess, so that the school board would go easy on Beth.
    • Following this, Beth tells Holly about what happened and begs her to turn herself in, or Beth will be expelled. Holly, for all her shallow selfishness, values their friendship.
      You'd Expect: Holly would do the right thing and confess to Dr. Daniels, for Beth's sake.
      Instead: She tells Beth that nothing will happen and it will work out, despite the fact that Lynnie and Robin were suspended.
      The Result: Beth is expelled, and shoots a Death Glare at Holly as she leaves the school with her locker's contents. Dr. Daniels is forced out by the school board, and gives a "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Holly after graduation that she knows that Holly was the instigator of the cheating in the first place, despite there not being any proof, asking her Was It Really Worth It?. In addition, Holly and Beth's friendship is irreparably damaged; when they encounter each other two years later, Beth tearfully tells her that she had to go to state school for a year before Dr. Daniels, who got another administrative position, vouched for her at Cornell admissions; despite this, she can never forgive Holly for what she did, and didn't do. While Holly is a Karma Houdini, in that she got into her dream college, she truly regrets that she sacrificed her friendship with Beth for that perfect A.
• Ahsoka:
  • General Hera Syndulla has uncovered a plot by dark siders to rescue the Empire's feared military genius Admiral Thrawn, who has the potential to rally the Imperial remnants and bring war upon the New Republic. However, she is impeded by head-in-the-sand politicians like Senator Xiono, who insist Hera is imagining a conspiracy.
    You'd Expect: Hera to focus her requests for reinforcements on the hard evidence she has available. From Corellia, she has proof that Imperial sympathizers built a SSD-class hyperdrive, far too large for any Republic ship in the navy. From Seatos, she has Huyang's scan of the Eye of Sion, proof that the insurgents have built an enormous starship with extragalactic capability. Additionally, she has the New Republic fleet's eyewitness proof of purgill whales traveling into hyperspace, discrediting Xiono's claim that they sound like something out a fairy tale. All these are worthy of New Republic investigation on their own.
    Instead: Hera bases all her pleas on the possible threat of Thrawn's return, of whom she doesn't have any direct proof, which causes the politicians to dismiss her. What's more, her attempt to intercept the Imperials herself with an unauthorized squadron fails and paints her as a loose cannon, nearly costing Hera her rank.
  • A minor one at the end of the series. Ezra Bridger steals a stormtrooper's outfit in order to escape Remnant forces undetected. The individual in question makes their way to a New Republic base.
    You'd Expect: For said individual to get rid of the armor, or at least the helmet, before making direct contact with New Republic forces.
    Instead: The individual approaches them in full Imperial gear, and nearly gets their ass shot off for their trouble before they can do a Dramatic Unmask.
• In ALF finale "Consider Me Gone", ALF has been contacted by radio by two friends of his who survived the nuclear explosion of Melmac. As he arrives at the coordinates in a forest to depart, the government agency Alien Task Force (who tracked down the UFO) are also coming.
  You'd Expect: Just as Willie said, for Alf to run back to the Tanners so they can drive away.
  Instead: Alf just stands there begging his friends (who bailed because of the government agents' intervention) to pick him up. The ATF surrounds him and who knows what happens next, most likely it involves they torture and dissect him. ^note  Actually, a follow-up movie that aired years later revealed that ALF was taken in by the military, becoming essentially an alien Sgt. Bilko
• All in the Family: Archie offers a cab ride as a bribe to his auditor, and the auditor mentions that the last person who attempted to bribe him is scheduled for an extensive audit.
  You'd Expect: Archie would take the hint. After all, he already started on a bad foot by being rude while on the waiting room.
  Inspect: Archie repeats the offer.
  Result: The auditor makes good on his threat.
• All My Children: Adam Chandler disapproves of ex-wife Dixie's behavior—sleeping around, and her latest conquest is the 18-year-old Brian—and starts making plans to file for full custody of their son. Adam's daughter Haley—Brian's ex-girlfriend—tries to warn Dixie about this.
  You'd Expect: Dixie to cool it with Brian, especially since she knows full well how ruthless Adam can be (he once had her declared insane and committed to a mental hospital)
  Instead: The moron invites Brian to move in with her. The private detective Adam hired snaps photos of this, giving him the final evidence to prove that Dixie is an unfit mother. Dixie caps off her stupidity by evoking the Never My Fault trope and refusing to see where she bears any responsibility for the whole mess.
• All That: In a Superdude skit, a young girl (played by Amanda Bynes) impersonates Superdude in order to rob a bank.
  You'd Expect: The citizens to immediately recognize that she is an imposter, given that she is a little Caucasian girl while the real Superdude is a large African American teenage boy.
  Instead: They are completely fooled.

  • After this, the real Superdude comes back in after defeating some bullies.
    You'd Expect: The townspeople to immediately tell which is the real Superdude and which is the imposter.
    Instead: They can't tell them apart.
  • Superdude tries to prove that he's the real deal by bending an steel bar. The imposter does the same by ripping a piece of paper.
    You'd Expect: The townspeople to tell who is the real Superdude and who is the imposter.
    Instead: They still can't tell who is who. The real Superdude even lampshades how ridiculous it is that they can't tell them apart, pointing out that the imposter is a little girl and she doesn't have super strength.
    As a Result: The townspeople finally decide to splash the two Superdudes with milk, since the real Superdude is lactose intollerant, and it's only then that they are able to tell them apart. Not only does this allow them to Spot the Imposter, but the real Superdude is crippled due to being splashed with milk, and this enables the imposter to continue robbing the bank.
    Fortunately: The townspeople are able to uncripple Superdude by blow-drying the milk off of him, and he is able to stop the imposter from getting away.

• American Gods (2017): Tsk tsk tsk, Vulcan. You really screwed it up. So Vulcan sold Wednesday and Shadow out to the New Gods. He has just finished forging the Big Freaking Sword that Wednesday asked for while Shadow and Wednesday put two and two together.
  You'd Expect: Vulcan to remove the sword from the room in this case. Revealing that you've betrayed people to their sworn enemies is going to probably piss them off. Or he could just stand near it, to make sure that Wednesday doesn't use it in a betrayal-induced rage. Or, failing either of those, he could use the sword on Wednesday and Shadow. And the Old Gods would never have to know. After all, he could just pin the deaths on the New Gods.
  Instead: He walks away from the sword, and gloats about how Wednesday is to be the martyr of his religion. Meanwhile, Wednesday is walking towards the sword.
  You'd Never Guess What Happens Next: Wednesday decapitates Vulcan, takes the sword and Shadow and leaves.
• In American Horror Story: Asylum: Lana manages to escape from Bloody Face's shackle and inject him with his own paralyzing agent.
  You'd Expect: That knowing he'll be unconscious and helpless for a while, she either kill him or shackle him using the shackle she just opened and which was a foot from his body and call the police. She doesn't even have to be there when they arrive, all they need is to find his Torture Cellar and Wendy's body and he's cooked.
  Instead: She runs away on foot, failing to so much as steal his car or figure out where she is first. After nearly getting run down on the road, she winds up picking a ride with a suicidal misogynist, who kills himself, wrecks the car, and gets her caught and sent back to Briarcliff. Threadson awakes and destroys all the evidence in his house.
• American Ninja Warrior: In Seattle/Tacoma Qualifiers a woman named Megan Rowe was on pace to get into the Women's Top 5 and advance to city finals with about 30 seconds to pass the 4th obstacle, Broken Bridge.
  • You'd Expect: Her to not waste any time and book it across the 4th obstacle, which took most competitors less than 10 seconds to complete.
  • Instead: She wastes the entire 30 seconds not doing anything. She beats the 4th obstacle but falls on the 5th obstacle, the very difficult Lightning Bolts.
• America's Got Talent: In Season 8, The Greg Wilson appears in the preliminaries to perform a stand-up comic act.
  You'd Expect: Wilson to come up with his own material and check to make sure any bits he plans to do haven't been attempted by other comedians.
  Instead: In a segment that never makes it to air, Wilson performs a bit that is eventually revealed to be plagiarized from Frank Nicotero, the audience warm-up man, who happened to be right in the studio at the time. Howie Mandel picks up on this immediately, saying he previously heard Nicotero doing the exact same routine before the show started taping.
  To Make Matters Worse: Instead of disqualifying Wilson, the judges advance him to the next round, much to the disdain of Mandel. Thankfully, the producers review the case and disqualify Wilson under their own power.
• In The Andy Griffith Show episode "Guest of Honor", Andy and Barney accidentally elect pickpocket Sheldon Davis to be the Guest of Honor for Mayberry Founder's Day. Sheldon begins robbing the town blind while Andy and Barney have to wait for Founder's Day to end before they can run him out of town. In the meantime, Barney thinks he can get Sheldon to renounce his criminal ways by going to his hotel room and not-so-subtly guilt tripping him about his pickpocketing and how people should be able to trust each other. To see if his speech worked, he flashes his key ring containing the keys to every store in town to Sheldon and leaves his expensive watch on the table with his back turned. When he turns around, Sheldon's gone, but his watch is still on the table.
  You'd Expect: Barney would make sure he still has his keys before leaving, and when he finds out they're missing, immediately chase down Sheldon to get them back.
  Instead: Barney immediately assumes his plan worked and leaves with his watch, congratulating himself on a job well done. He doesn't notice his keys are gone until after he's already back at the station and Sheldon is who-knows-where in town robbing the stores while everyone is distracted by the festival.
• Angel
  • "Sanctuary": Following her disastrous attempt to steal Buffy's life and body, Faith has ended up in Los Angeles, and Wolfram & Hart hired her to kill Angel. She tries luring him into a trap by ambushing Cordelia and torturing Wesley, two of the most important people in Angel's life right now. Angel managed to talk her down because while he could beat her up easily and is mad at her after learning she did something terrible to Buffy, he recognized that she was in the same place that he once was as an angry killer unable to live with his conscience. He decides to rehabilitate her to the best of his ability. In the next episode, Wesley tells Angel that at the very least Faith should be locked up in the vampire's apartment slash office if they are going to be housing her since she tortured him the night before and Cordelia still has bruises. Angel disagrees because he was once in Faith's shoes.
    You'd Expect: Angel to at least consider that Wesley has a point or at least consider the And Then What? that Faith is a fugitive from the law and the Watcher's Council, which means that both will be gunning for him and he doesn't have an ally in either. (Kate doesn't count since she has to abide by the law and hasn't seen Angel's nonexistent PI license.) Faith is a Wild Card, and to his credit, in the previous series, he did have her shackled when trying to reason with her and actually made headway.
    Instead: Angel tells Wesley to trust him since he can protect himself, and gives Cordelia paid vacation time when she refuses to work in the office with an unrestrained Faith around a bunch of weapons. The issue isn't that Angel is vulnerable to Faith; the people he loves are.
    The Result: Buffy comes when she heard from Giles that Faith was in Los Angeles, and she's mad at seeing that Angel is hugging Faith to comfort her. If Cordelia had been there, she would have been a meditating force to at least keep Buffy from punching Angel in the face, let alone Angel retaliating in self-defense, and it's a sad day where Wesley and Buffy are on the same page in that Faith can't just be walking around Angel's apartment. Meanwhile, the Watcher's Council tries to use Wesley to execute Faith, while Wolfram & Hart go for the simple solution and tell Kate so she arrests Angel for harboring a fugitive when their demon assassin fails to complete the job. In the end, to save Angel and her own life, Faith turns herself in at the police station, so at least Kate can let Angel go and the Watcher's Council can't touch Faith or make an example of her. Buffy, however, legitimately points out when fighting with Angel that Faith is not paying for the crimes she committed against Buffy and Riley, and leaves in a huff when Angel exiles her for pushing his hot buttons.
  • The "Damage" episode of Angel has Spike act dumb even by his own standards. Going off on his own and revealing himself to Dana, a crazed Slayer, and dropping hints on who he is is pretty standard stuff. However it's revealed Spike oknows Slayers have visions, which would include Spike killing two of them, and Dana confuses herself with Nikki Wood.
    You'd Expect: Spike would at the very least keep his mouth shut.
    Instead: He mentions to Dana she's thinking about the Slayer he killed. Spike immediately goes Oh, Crap! as Dana flies into a Roaring Rampage of Revenge and cuts his hands off.
• Arrested Development: Gob is getting divorced, but hasn't consummated the marriage which is a good thing because his wife would be entitled to a larger settlement if they had. Just before the hearing, he encounters his soon-to-be ex-wife in the judge's chambers and they start to talk.
  You'd Expect: Gob to remember that having sex with her would be a bad thing in this case and abstain.
  Instead: They do it.
  Result: She takes a picture of them in the act and presents it at the hearing.
  However, You'd Expect: Her to take a picture in which they both can be identified.
  Instead: The picture shows Gob with a hood over his head.
  Result: The judge points out that the man in the photograph cannot be identified.
  Now, You'd Expect: Gob to say nothing or maybe accuse his wife of cheating.
  Instead: "Oh, that's me, your honor! I (bleep)ed my wife!"
  Result: His lawyer says it best: "I really lost this case."
• Arrow:
  • In Season 1, Oliver is under house arrest in suspicion of being The Hood. With Diggle's help, Oliver maintains an alibi by throwing a party and having Quentin Lance present, while Diggle shows up across town dressed up as The Hood.
    You'd Expect: For Lance to consider the possibility that The Hood could have an accomplice aiding him with his kills. Which would make sense due to the Hood's ability to show up anywhere, so more than one killer would make sense.
    Instead: After Diggle shows up across town wearing The Hood, Lance falls for it immediately even though Diggle didn't even shoot anyone.
    The Result: Lance lets Oliver off house arrest, drops all the charges, and Oliver continues his vigilante crusade.
  • On a related note, when an assassin comes after Oliver during his house arrest, Oliver fights him to a tee before Lance comes in and shoots the perp dead.
    You'd Expect: That Lance would notice Oliver's uncharacteristic fighting skills (or at least his lack of injuries) and become even more suspicious of Oliver.
    Instead: The professional detective doesn't notice either of these things and doesn't even bring them up in the next scene.
    The Result: Lance is reprimanded by Moira for putting a target on her son's back, he falls into depression, and doesn't catch The Hood.
  • In Season 3, it seems that the Arrow (Really Ra's Al Ghul) has started killing again, Quentin Lance (Who recently stopped working with the Arrow due to him not being told of Sara's death) orders a manhunt on the Arrow. Reasonable enough right now, right? So during this manhunt and killing spree, the Arrow repeatedly tells any and all of his lawful enemies that the killer is actually an impostor from a really evil group. Okay, so might want to think about that for a little while, considering what's been happening for the last few years, but the Arrow might be lying just to save his ass, so let's continue our nice little manhunt. But then, Quentin is kidnapped by a group of dark and cryptic individuals, who tell him that Oliver Queen is the Arrow, and that Sara was with him on Lian Yu.
    You'd Expect: That Quentin would realize that this group of dark and cryptic individuals are probably not just telling him all this out of their natural sense of justice, call off the manhunt, and talk to Oliver about all of this, in a calm, mature conversation.
    Or Maybe: If he truly cannot get over his anger, realize that A. He probably isn't all that rational right now, with the whole bomb of Sara being dead on him, and take a better look at all the evidence or B. See that he honestly has an incredibly flimsy case, previously tried to implicate Oliver and failed, and has no real testimony admissible in court ("I was told by a group of people in dark hooded gear with weapons that Oliver Queen, who has to have a large amount of enemies who are rich enough to hire mercenaries, and everyone knows Quentin hates is the Arrow which pretty much is the same, only a much larger group and enemies who have weapons of their own").
    Instead: Blinded by his hatred for Oliver, Quentin becomes a total dick who turns the manhunt up a notch and is responsible for Roy having to fake being the Arrow to get Oliver out, being thrown into prison and faked his death and pushing Oliver into becoming the next leader of the League of Assassins.
  • In Season 4, Team Arrow finally managed to arrest Damien Darhk after Vixen helped them destroy the Khushu idol, which is the source of Darhk's magic rendering him powerless.
    You'd Expect: They keep it destroyed. The Khushu idol is too dangerous to be kept and anyone could steal it.
    Instead: They, for no explained reason, not only rebuild the idol, but actually keep it in the Arrowcave with no security precautions or sufficient measures.
    The Result: Malcolm Merlyn, who is working for Darhk, breaks in and steals the idol while Oliver and Diggle were sent on a suspiciously easy mission by Diggle's brother, Andy.
  • Turns out Diggle secretly kept a piece of the idol in case it was stolen, and the idol is powerless without it.
    You'd Expect: That with the mission being an obvious Snipe Hunt, the idol being stolen, Oliver's suspicions and even his own advice about "having a blind spot to family", Diggle would at least suspect that Andy is The Mole for Darhk and might try to steal the last piece of the idol. They should lock him up and interrogate him to prove his guilt, or at least do a background check on him and keep him under surveillance.
    You'd Also Expect: Diggle either A) gets rid of the last piece somewhere it can never be found, or B) just destroys it into many pieces as they should have done with the idol.
    Instead: Despite Oliver's suspicions, Diggle completely trusts his brother, keeps the last piece in his apartment without any security, and even lets Andy on their next mission to prevent Darhk's escape from prison without even checking if he has the last piece of the idol.
    The Result: Andy betrays them and gives Darhk the last piece of the idol, letting Darhk have his powers back and making him a dangerous threat once more. This even leads to Darhk killing Laurel with one of Oliver's arrows and nearly dooming the world with Genesis.

B

• In the failed Pilot Movie Bates Motel (1987), Alex West is left the titular motel by the now-deceased Norman Bates, and goes to Morally Bankrupt Banker Tom Fuller for a loan, which Fuller agrees to, after it becomes clear that Alex has absolutely no clue how to properly run the motel, which is located on some highly valuable real estate.
  You'd Expect: Fuller to give Alex his loan, let him screw up running the motel, then foreclose on the land and get rich by selling it to a developer.
  Instead: He decides to dress up like Norman's mother and scare Alex away... despite the fact that Alex never saw either the real Mrs. Bates, or Norman when he was pretending to be her. As a result, all that he succeeds in doing is confusing and mildly unnerving Alex, before getting unmasked by Alex's handyman, Henry. Despite the failure of his plan, Fuller points out that Alex still won't be in a position to repay the loan... until someone else dressed as Mrs. Bates appears and starts threatening him.
  You'd Expect: That Fuller would realise someone else is trying to turn his own scam back on him, and high-tail it out of there. As he himself points out, no-one's likely to believe Alex, who spent 27 years in an insane asylum, or Henry, who is a hard-up handyman with a well-documented grudge against Fuller.
  Instead: Fuller freaks out and confesses to all his misdeeds. "Mrs. Bates" turns out to be Alex's friend and chef, Willie, who was hiding a tape recorder in her outfit, thus allowing her to blackmail him into agreeing to defer Alex's loan payments until he's in a better position to repay them.
• Battlestar Galactica (2003):
  • In the season 1 finale "Kobol's Last Gleaming," Kara asks Commander Adama about Earth, having been told by the President that his knowledge of Earth's location was just a Motivational Lie.
    You'd Expect: Adama would realize what's going on and reassure Kara that they won't need to find Earth anymore if they can take Kobol.
    Instead: He keeps up with cryptic hints about Earth, which confirms Kara's suspicions about him.
    The Result: Kara takes the captured Cylon Raider to Caprica, deserting the fleet. Even though this would later turn out okay, a lot of things went to hell while she was gone.
  • In the much-reviled episode "The Woman King," Helo meets this doctor working in the Galactica's refugee camp who's prejudiced against Sagittarons. His reason for this is almost understandable, in a way, since he's a doctor and all and the vast majority of Sagittarons apparently fear modern medicine, so the antagonism is mutual.
    You'd expect: He would have a hearty respect for the Sagittarons who go against their people's superstitions and seek his care, since that's clearly the only thing about the Sags that he finds objectionable. In time, word of mouth from the patients he's cured might start to bring other Sagittarons around on the idea.
    Instead: He develops a policy of murdering Sagittarons who seek treatment from him. Yes, that is correct: he hates Sagittarons, and his plan for correcting this is to kill all the ones that aren't suspicious of doctors, which coincidentally would give all the other Sagittarons a pretty damn good reason to be suspicious of doctors, wouldn't it? His fancy Colonial med school neglected to teach him anything about basic logic.
  • In the "Exodus" arc during the third season, the story culminates with Lee Adama swooping in with the Battlestar Pegasus to save the heavily-battered Galactica from being destroyed while the people on New Caprica evacuate. The Pegasus is a bigger, more heavily-armored and tactically superior Battlestar, and Lee (and his executive staff) stay behind to fend off the Cylons while the rest of the population escapes (which only takes minutes).
    You'd Expect: That Lee would jump the ship out after everyone escapes New Caprica. After all, the first time Lee took command, it was against three Cylon basestars who continually pummeled the ship with nuclear weapons - and they escaped. The Pegasus has also been able to outright destroy Basestars if it has the advantage of surprise (something that was shown twice in the series).
    Instead: Because the Status Quo Is God, Lee decides to evacuate the Pegasus and ram it straight into a Basestar for no discernible reason (he even thought up the plan several hours before!). Sure, it looked cool, but the Colonial Fleet sacrificed a very valuable tactical advantage (the ability to make new Vipers at will) and their most powerful ship for the sake of leaving the Cylons with a couple less Basestars. Great work, Lee.
  • In "The Plan", Cavil finds himself aboard Galactica with six other Cylons, after their attack falls short of exterminating the entire human race. While the Cylon fleet is initially able to track the Colonials, they lose this ability after the destruction of the Olympic Carrier. Cavil therefore takes it upon himself to wipe out the fleet.
    You'd Expect: That given the limited manpower available to him, Cavil would focus on carefully co-ordinated attacks to cripple Galactica and as many other ships in the fleet as possible.
    Instead: He almost immediately orders three of his six Cylons to commit suicide bombings, ordering Boomer to blow up the water tanks on Galactica, a Five to blow up the Cylon detector that Dr. Baltar is working on, and a Four to blow up the ship that he's serving on.
    The Result: The Five screws up his mission immediately, gets spotted by Tigh and Adama, and when cornered only succeeds in blowing up an unimportant corridor. The Four, due to being genuinely in love with his human wife, is Driven to Suicide and blows himself out of an airlock without damaging his ship. Boomer does carry out her mission, but fails to kill herself, leaving her alive to try taking out Adama... which she also screws up, leading to her being arrested and eventually shot dead herself by Cally. Combined with the Leoben getting caught and spaced by Roslin, and Cavil himself spacing Shelly Godfrey in a You Have Failed Me move, this leaves him with only another Six... who can't actually get anything accomplished due to the risk of being caught and spaced.
• Bewitched: Samantha's witch and warlock family do not like Darrin due to both a prejudice against mortals and the fact that Darrin wants Samantha to suppress her powers and live like a normal 1960s Housewife.
  You'd Expect: Darrin to do his best to not anger beings with supernatural powers.
  Instead: He insults them at every beck and call.
  As a result: They continually cast spells on him and transform him into various animals and objects as punishment, and were it not for Samantha intervening, Darrin would either be dead^note No exaggeration, Samantha's father magically obliterated Darrin during their first meeting; though that time Darrin didn't really do anything to deserve it or permanently transformed/disfigured, etc..
• Bibleman:
  • In the video "Divided We Fall", The Wacky Protestor's goal is to cause division by having a robotic spider infiltrate a childrens show (made up for the show) and control the show into saying what he wants it to say.
    You'd Expect: For him not to try anything against the Bible Trio. After all, the less they know about his plan, the more likely it is to succeed.
    Or: If he must keep the Bible team from interfering, he could give his robot spider the ability to turn invisible so noone can see it. If he can shoot energy shots from his hands and make a literal cloud of darkness, it shouldn't be that hard for a demon scientist like him to do.
    Instead: Not only does he go after the trio by creating false video footage to try and break up the team, he doesn't even bother with invisibility, so when the robot spider tries to leave the bible cave to the studio, the trio caught and destroyed it before it can, which foils both his plans in the video.
  • In the next video "Fight for the Faith" (the first Josh Carpenter episode), The Wacky Protestor has made an animated world with no God to trick christian children into entering it and tap them there forever. The first two children successfully entered the portal before the Bibleman team shows up and they too enter the animated world in order to get them out.
    You'd Expect: He would shut the portal down straight away. They're all trapped forever and he wins easily.
    Instead: He takes his sweet time to monologue to Bibleman and then later tries counting down slowly. This allows them all time to escape.
    As A Result: The Wacky Protestor's plan fails for the last time and it is him who is trapped in his own dimension.
• Big Little Lies:
  • Ms. Barnes knows that Amabella has bruises from being attacked.
    You'd Expect: She tells Renata privately about it so that Amabella doesn't feel pressured to be honest about who attacked her - and to keep the whole thing a secret from the town's Gossipy Hens.
    Instead: She announces it in front of all the other children and parents, telling Amabella to publicly name her attacker. She doesn't consider the possibility that the girl could be lying which turns out to be partially the case or the ramifications this could have afterwards.
  • Madeline and the other mothers learns that Perry is Ziggy's father at the end of Season 1.
    You'd Expect: This becomes a closely guarded secret among them all, especially as it gives them a motive for killing Perry.
    Instead: Madeline talks about this on the phone, so loudly that her six-year-old daughter, Chloe learns the truth, and tells Ziggy, Josh, and Max.
• The Boys:
  • Another backstory moment is that Vought actually has a history of covering up for Supes that kill civilians. Lady Liberty was the worst, who killed a black man driving a car for the crime of his skin color. His sister Valerie was paid off to buy her silence, only a couple thousand dollars. The amount has since increased to $45,000 per dead person in the 2020s. As far as we know, only a handful of people had rejected the money but lacked the power to take down Vought.
    You'd Expect: Vought would realize that one day generating Supes with no moral code or consequences is going to bite them, and a vengeful survivor will have the means to retaliate and expose their crimes to the world.
    Instead: They've followed the same M.O. for practically half a century.
    The Result: A group called the Boys emerges, founded by a CIA agent wanting to bring Supes to justice by any means possible. The Boys find that Vought's M.O. is so predictable that they can easily exploit the odd cogwheel that falls out of alignment. Butcher finds one of the latest victims, a man named Hughie Campbell. It turns out that Hughie wants to fight to avenge his fiancee Robin Ward, who A-Train ran over due to losing control over his powers, and he's hesitating on taking the money because Robin was not a blank check. While Hughie claims to not be brave or competent, he thinks about the future he would have had with Robin and agrees to at least plant a bug in Vought headquarters under the pretense of accepting the settlement. This starts a Disaster Dominoes for Vought.
  • The plan goes wrong when Hughie drops the bug in the bathroom and quickly installs it. Translucent, who has a habit of creeping out in bathrooms, notices the plant, and recognizes Butcher when he picks up Hughie.
    You'd Expect: Given Vought has a tight leash on the Supes, or at least the legal authority to protect them, that Translucent would notify the building security about the bug. They can arrest Hughie and interrogate him to get a lead on Butcher.
    Instead: He takes the bug with him, the evidence that Hughie committed espionage, and follows him to the electronics store. Then Translucent's idea of interrogation is beating a defenseless Hughie to a pulp before asking him questions.
    The Result: Hughie may be scared but he's not going to sell out the man who would help him avenge Robin. Translucent's luck runs out; Butcher was keeping an eye on Hughie and comes to rescue him. They manage to incapacitate Translucent and take him to a man that has been looking for a way to kill Supes. This sets off a chain of events that ends in Translucent's own death at Hughie's hands.
  • Towards the end of season two, Butcher's father Sam has terminal cancer. He was also an emotionally abusive "cunt" that turned Butcher into the crusty Blood Knight that he is in the present, and drove his little brother Lenny to suicide. Butcher is also currently on the run, wanted for Madelyn Stillwell's murder.
    You'd Expect: For a multitude of reasons, that at the least Mrs. Butcher aka Connie would realize that it would be very stupid to fly from the U.K. to the US to try and track down a violent son for a number of reasons. Vought wants Billy's head on a platter, as does the government. They could get arrested as well. Yes, it would suck if their son never got to see Sam before the cancer takes him, but life goes that way sometimes.
    Instead: When they find out that Butcher isn't dead, Connie thinks it's a good idea to fly over to the USA, call her son and lie that Sam died so as to force him to confront his father and make any sort of peace.
    Predictably: The visit goes wrong, as any child with an emotionally abusive parent could say. It's only by sheer incredulous luck that Vought doesn't find out or use the visit as a means to lure Billy into a trap. Billy gives his mother an incredulous look when seeing that she lied about Sam being dead, but makes it clear that he gives his dad five minutes and that's it. When Sam provokes him by mentioning Lenny, Billy puts his father in a stranglehold and threatens to kill him then and there, with Connie futilely hitting Billy to stop her son from trying to murder his father. Billy leaves in a rage and refuses to talk to either of them and he definitely shortened Sam's lifespan. When Connie asks him to come before they fly back, she has to reassure him that Sam is nowhere nearby as they talk in a bar. Butcher lampshades why she thought it was a good idea for him to see the man that turned his son into a monster.
  • In the same episode, it seems to be a Near-Villain Victory for Vought in the second-to-last episode. Black Noir captures Annie when she's meeting her mother, and arrests them both, with Stormfront and Homelander revealing Starlight's treachery in a Supes rally. Stormfront argues to keep Annie alive in custody to make her a figure of hate for the Seven's supporters. Homelander muses out loud that all they need now is to arrest Hughie Campbell to stick it to Annie's mole boyfriend and take out the Boys once for all.
    You'd Expect: They would use Annie as bait to lure Hughie into a trap. In fact, Hughie's subsequent rescue mission makes it seem like it will be a trap given how much Swiss-Cheese Security there is in Vought headquarters.
    Instead: They go to spend time with Ryan, at Stormfront's urging, and waste the day convincing the kid that his life is a lie.
    The Result: No one is at headquarters apart from Black Noir and Queen Maeve when Hughie asks for Lamplighter's help to infiltrate the Vought facilities. After they make it inside without encountering guards or security systems, Lamplighter's self-immolation allows Annie to free herself with the flashing lights, and Queen Maeve poisons Black Noir with an Almond Joy to save Annie from being killed. Hughie busts out Annie and her mother while Queen Maeve agrees to look the other way, and gets her mother into hiding. This means Annie is in a prime position to take on Stormfront in the next episode.
  • Speaking of which, there is the whole Ryan subplot. Stormfront's twisted sense of being a parent encourages Homelander to do one thing he's never done before and apologize. He apologizes to Ryan for pushing him off the roof to activate his superpowers, and asks if they can start fresh. Because Ryan is a sweet kid, he agrees with some trepidation. Becca is nervous as Stormfront introduces herself as Homelander's paramour.
    You'd Expect: Stormfront to realize that Becca is an ordinary human, but there is a reason that Vought imprisoned her in the compound. Becca is the only one who pragmatically can control Ryan from going berserk or turning into Homelander 2.0. Stormfront isn't afraid of Homelander, but she should be since he's a Psychopathic Manchild. Meanwhile, Becca's a mom, and moms do anything to protect their children.
    Instead: She and Homelander convince Ryan that his life is a lie and his mother was a part of it by showing him the neighborhood is a Stepford Suburbia. To do this, they turn against Vought openly by spiriting Vought's million-dollar Homelander successor out of the compound.
    The Result: This action motivates Becca to leave the compound, and it's shown that she could have evaded the guards easily at any time during her confinement. She finds Butcher with some detective work and begs him to help her save Ryan; his expression indicates that she didn't even have to ask and he insists that they go into hiding while he holds off Homelander, reconciling their marriage. Stan Edgar knows that Vought can't afford to lose Ryan and agrees to a deal with Butcher to exchange Ryan for Becca's freedom, which buys Butcher some time and equipment to evacuate his wife and stepson, in an attempt to get them into hiding. Meanwhile, Ryan starts suffering anxiety attacks because of the reality check: he may have been mad at Becca for lying to him, but she's his mom and a stable influence on him. He needs little persuasion to choose Butcher over Homelander in the climax after maiming Stormfront and accidentally killing Becca while losing control of his powers, because Butcher risked his life and happiness to ensure that Ryan was safe.
  • During the Season Three finale, Billy, Maeve, and Soldier Boy all team-up together to take down Homelander once and for all. Then, Ryan comes out to laser Soldier Boy in order to protect Homelander, to which Soldier Boy responds by attacking Ryan.
    You'd Expect: For Billy to take Ryan out of the fight and into safety, and for him and all of his allies that would later join in on the fight to keep in mind that Soldier Boy is their best shot at getting rid of Homelander, and while Soldier Boy has no known plans to continue his violent lifestyle, Homelander will continue his tyrannical behavior if he manages to live. Additionally, if anybody has any issue with Soldier Boy, they would at least wait until Homelander is taken down before they do anything with Soldier Boy.
    Instead: Billy decides to protect Ryan by betraying and fighting Soldier Boy, and ruining any chance he got at killing Homelander at that moment. The rest of Billy's allies (except for Maeve) all then help him take down Soldier Boy while leaving Homelander alone.
    The Result: Billy's actions that season end up being All for Nothing all because of Billy's decision to attack Soldier Boy, while Homelander manages to walk away from the fight scot-free with Ryan being by his side at that point.
• The Brady Bunch: Several times, alleged by Robert Reed in his negative critiques of various episodes. As published in "Growing Up Brady: I Was a Teenaged Greg" (which published three of those critiques):
  • "The Impractical Joker," wherein Reed suggests that the tag scene – Alice thinking that an ink stain on one of her uniforms is a gag stain placed there by Jan, and ends up tearing and ruining one of her uniforms by trying to pull the "gag stain" off – makes Alice out to be an idiot. Reed suggests that Alice, as reasonably intelligent, should have been able to tell whether the stain was real and that perhaps a pen (with its cap left off) would have been noticed before placing the uniform in the washing machine.
  • Various aspects of "And Now a Word From Our Sponsor," most notably:
    • In a scene after two competing laundry detergents are tested (to determine if the Bradys will accept an offer to star in a TV commercial for one of the soaps), Alice forgetting which pile is which (as she forgot to mark down which pile corresponded with which). Reed also takes the writers to task for having Mike and Carol turn their kids loose and damage their clothing (with paint, motor oil and so forth) before the washing the clothes to test the soaps, saying no level-headed parent would do such a thing.
    • Mike claiming to not be able "to make sense of this legal double-talk"; Reed says that, as Mike is an adult in business and therefore capable of understanding contracts. (Although it could be argued that even "an adult in business" who is "capable of understanding contracts" should consult an attorney, as the script suggests.)
    • Carol's "We'll have to wait until Mr. Brady gets home" comment after a delivery truck brings dozens of crates of laundry detergent, the thank you gift for starring in the commercial (Reed suggests she could have called a number printed on the delivery receipt).
  • In Reed's famous critique of the final episode "The Hair-Brained Scheme," he references an earlier episode, "Two Petes in a Pod," where Peter (Christopher Knight in a dual role) meets his exact double, Arthur, at school. Reed was irritated that the earlier episode's script suggested that even Mike and Carol are fooled by the "faux Peter," and that even with such an exact resemblance they would or should be able to tell who this boy was. (Note also that Mike and Carol never say anything as Arthur literally gropes Jan at the kitchen table as he helps her with a homework assignment, and Jan doesn't even speak up about why "Peter" seems so fond of her today.)
  • In the 1969 episode "Every Boy Does It Once", when Bobby wants to go to the movies with Marcia and Jan, they say, "Hi and bye, small fry", and "see ya later". Since he is wearing Greg's and Peter's hand-me-downs, they add, "Besides, we couldn't take you looking like that", and "Of course not. Who'd look at the screen?".
    You'd Expect: For Mike and Carol to tell Marcia and Jan that they couldn't go to the movies and/or make them apologize to Bobby.
    Instead: Marcia and Jan receive no consequences at all.
  • In the 1971 episode "The Winner", Bobby feels worthless because unlike everyone else in the household, he doesn't have a trophy. When Bobby's siblings beat him at games that they play with him, he gets angry about it. Greg and Marcia tell Mike and Carol that Bobby's been a real stinker, but Carol tells them she doesn't like that word. Greg and Marcia say that's what Bobby's been.
    You'd Expect: For Carol to tell them that the term "poor sport" is nicer and more mature, and make them say that's what Bobby's being.
    Instead: Carol soon finds the word "stinker" amusing, and agrees (as does Mike).

  • In the 1973 episode "Bobby's Hero", Bobby's class has an assignment for each student to write about her or his hero, and Bobby writes about Jesse James. He doesn't know that James was in reality a murderer and a thief, because he had been watching movies portraying him as "a very colorful Western character", as Mike puts it. As a result, Mr. Hillary, the principal of Bobby's school (Clinton Avenue Elementary), calls Mike and Carol in for a conference. Bobby also brought his toy pistol to school, and, with his friends, played Jesse James during recess. His teacher had noticed this, and taken the gun from Bobby. She gave it to Mr. Hillary, along with the essay.
    You'd Have Expected: Bobby's teacher, before giving the assignment, would have reminded her students to find reliable sources of information regarding the people about whom they decided to write, because the way that famous individuals are portrayed in popular entertainment is not always reliable.
    You'd Then Expect: Mr. Hillary would also speak to Bobby, and tell him where to find reliable sources of information regarding Jesse James and better choices for heroes (e. g. Martin Luther King, Jr., because of his civil rights leadership).
    You'd Also Expect: Mr. Hillary would arrange a meeting with the school's entire student body, about how it's not unknown for people who are famous for wrongdoing to be misleadingly portrayed as heroes (Christopher Columbus, for instance, not only didn't discover America and prove that the Earth is round, but he killed and enslaved the natives of Hispaniola). He even mentions to Mike and Carol that "the press write stories about gangsters and skyjackers; they make them seem very glamorous in the eyes of the children".
    Instead: He apparently talks only to Mike and Carol about this, after Bobby's teacher showed him Bobby's toy gun, and the essay about Jesse James.
    Fortunately: Mike, after reading a library book titled "The Real Jesse James" by Jethroe Collins, contacts the author (whose father was killed by James), and asks him to come over and discuss Jesse James with Bobby. The elderly biographer agrees to this, and when Mr. Collins arrives, he and Bobby have a discussion about James.
    Mr. Collins: I hear Jesse's a hero of yours.
    Bobby: I wrote a whole composition about him for school.
    Mr. Collins: I wrote a whole book about Jesse James...only he wasn't a hero to me.
    Bobby: He wasn't?
    Mr. Collins: Nope. Jesse James killed my father.
    Bobby: He did?
    Mr. Collins (nods): Shot him in the back. That's how he usually shot 'em. Too cowardly to face 'em, I guess.
    Bobby: I can't believe that, Mr. Collins.
    Carol: He's telling you the truth, Bobby.
    Mr. Collins: Son, you know the legends; I know the facts.
    Mike: Mr. Collins, why don't you tell Bob about how it was with your father?
    Mr. Collins: Well, I was just a little boy at the time, and my father was riding a train to California; Jesse James held it up.
    Bobby: Did they have a shootout?
    Mr. Collins: Well, it...wasn't much of a shootout...my father with his face to the wall, and his hands in the air...and not wearing a gun.
    Bobby: Then why did Jesse James shoot him?
    Mr. Collins: Because that's the kind of man Jesse James was...a mean, dirty killer. My mother used to cry about it in her sleep. And when I was old enough to understand, I used to have nightmares about it myself. Awful nightmares, about that...train robbery.

  After this, Bobby realizes his "hero's" true nature.

  • In the 1973 episode "Never Too Young", from the fifth and final season, Bobby's classmate Millicent gives him a kiss for defending her from a school bully. Cindy notices this, and she seems happy about it.
    You'd Expect: For her to thank Bobby for this as well, since she and Millicent are friends.
    Instead: She blackmails him.
    Fortunately: She decides to keep it a secret.
    • Later, Bobby visits Millicent and kisses her as well. She informs him that he shouldn't have done this, because her doctor thinks she may have the mumps.
      You'd Have Expected: For her to tell Bobby through her locked door that she might be contagious, and therefore can't have any visitors.
    • Afterwards, Bobby tells the rest of the family about this.
      You'd Expect: For Cindy to call her friend and tell Millicent that if she thought she was contagious, she shouldn't have opened the door to anybody.
      Instead: She tells everyone that if they catch the mumps, it will be all Bobby's fault (and she still doesn't thank Bobby for defending her friend against the bully). It's rather dysfunctional, even for a blended family.
      Fortunately: Millicent turns out to be fine.
  • In the episode "My Brother's Keeper", from the same season and year, Bobby saves Peter from being injured by a falling ladder. As a result, Peter vows to be Bobby's 'slave for life', which Bobby soon takes advantage of, which leads to him and Peter no longer speaking to each other.
    You'd Expect: For Mike and Carol to remind Peter about the time he saved a little girl named Tina Spencer from a falling wall in Driscoll's Toy Shop (in the 1970 episode, "The Hero", in the first season), and took advantage of her mother's gratitude when she was willing to buy him anything he wanted from the toy shop.
    You'd Also Expect: For Cindy to remind Peter of how he made Bobby take out the trash instead of him, when Bobby didn't even benefit from Peter's heroism.
    Instead: Mike and Carol go out for the evening, and Greg goes on a date, and Marcia, Jan, and Cindy go to spend the night at Marcia's friend Helen's house because of the smell of the wallpaper paste in their bedroom. Alice goes to bed early, because she apparently watched a monster movie called "The Demon That Devoured Detroit".
    The Result: Peter and Bobby continue bickering for a while, until Bobby gets locked in their bedroom closet, and Peter saves him. Only then do they consider themselves even.
• Bridgerton:
  • Daphne Bridgerton has passed her debutante rite of impressing the queen with flying colors. She's now the most eligible maiden in town...at least she is until her brother scares away all the suitors except for Nigel Berbrooke, who is a boor and apparently meets Anthony's standards due to his lineage and wealth. Lady Violet Bridgerton notes that this is not a good situation, and invites Anthony's old friend Simon, a duke and the most eligible bachelor in town, to dinner. Anthony confronts his mother about this and says that Simon is a "rake" and not worthy of Daphne's time. Violet doesn't snort, but she reveals she knows Anthony is not one to talk, given he's been unmarried for years so as to support his mistress.
    You'd Expect': Violet tells her son that instead of him micromanaging Daphne's choices, they should have a large number of suitors where she has the cream of the crop. They should start building their goodwill.
    Instead: She rebukes him for how his behavior of acting like a Knight Templar Big Brother has made Daphne scared that she will be no longer worthy. Daphne told Anthony the same thing, that he's been no help at all and has nor regard for what she feels, and he ignored her.
    The Result: Anthony takes this to mean that Daphne should marry Nigel Berbrooke immediately, without considering her feelings on the matter or Nigel's lack of etiquette whatsoever. Cue Daphne knocking Nigel out cold at the next social event when he attempts to fondle her in the gardens, and Simon attempting to rescue her when he hears her screaming. With Nigel on the ground, Simon proposes they pretend to court each other without falling in love or marrying.
    To Make Matters Worse: Everyone finds out that Nigel knocked up a maid and turned her out on the street with the baby, meaning he's got terrible honor. Anthony realizes belatedly that they dodged a bullet and Violet has a polite I Told You So manner about it.
  • It comes out eventually to the audience that Penelope Featherington is the gossip journalist Lady Whistledown. While it's established that due to her youth, Whistledown doesn't care about the ramifications of her printed words, Penelope is shown to be a Nice Girl holding a candle for Colin Bridgerton because he's always nice to her at social events. During season one, Penelope finds out that her new sister-ward Marina wants to marry Colin, and while Marina is a Jerkass about their attraction. to the same guy, she extracts a promise from Penelope to not tell Colin that she's pregnant with another man's child who didn't outright break up with her and needs a Shotgun Wedding or she'll be disgraced. Penelope realizes that Lady Whistledown isn't beholden to the same promise.
    You'd Expect: If she really wants to spare Colin from a deceitful marriage, she would use the printing presses to have Lady Whistledown send a letter to Colin, advising him to break off the engagement before she types up the scandal, hinting that it's blackmail if she wants to keep her identity. That way Marina isn't disgraced, nor are the Featheringtons by association, and Colin is still available.
    Instead: She prints this scandal.
    Predictably: Disaster Dominoes ensue. Per the Deliberate Values Dissonance, the Featheringtons are shunned more than usual. Colin does indeed break off the engagement, but Marina attempts an abortion with poisonous tea that nearly kills her and the baby, if not for Lady Featherington finding her in time. Her lover's brother proposes to her to restore Marina's honor and keep his future niece or nephew in the family, even though he and Marina don't love each other. Penelope has a My God, What Have I Done? face as Marina departs for this Shotgun Wedding, realizing that her gossip almost caused someone to die.
  • Penelope gets this again in season 2. Eloise is coming into her season and lamenting that Lady Whistledown is basically a tabloid newspaper for the time. She talks with Penelope that she feels Lady Whistledown could do so much more with the power that she has, like Mary Wollstonecraft is doing.
    You'd Expect: Penelope would listen quietly. She says that's what she likes doing best, listening. Plausible Deniability and being Beneath Suspicion is how Lady Whistledown has been getting her gossip. Also, any news on Eloise that needs to be damning must also have more than a few people knowing.
    Instead: Penelope defends Lady Whistledown, going …But He Sounds Handsome regarding the lady's writing and that she gets results even if they aren't the ones that Eloise wants. Then, in an attempt to save Eloise from being suspected of Lady Whistledown, the real lady publishes a scandal on Eloise that tanks her reputation: her meeting a printer named Theo on a regular basis.
    The Result: Eloise is no fool, and she knows only three people were privy to her meeting the printer Theo including Theo and herself. On a hunch, when Penelope is attempting to cheer her up with gossip at a ball, she investigates and finds evidence that her best friend is the gossip columnist. Cue a blistering What the Hell, Hero? and "The Reason You Suck" Speech at Penelope, telling her off for the harm that she has caused over two seasons, including to her brothers and sister as well as Marina. She asks Was It All a Lie?, that was her family just gossip fodder for the latest Lady Whistledown edition. Penelope tries to say she was trying to help, but Eloise understandably ends their friendship. 
• Britain's Got Talent:
  • Having already failed his attempt at breaking the "Most Ferrero Rochers eaten in a minute" record the previous year, James Boyd shows up to the 2010 auditions intending to beat the "Most After Eight mints eaten in a minute without using hands" record.
    You'd Expect: Seeing as the current record was 8, James to put out at least 9 or 10 mints.
    Instead: He only puts out 5 mints even though Simon Cowell actually asks whether or not he needs more time to get ready. This naturally dooms his attempt to failure from the word go. Adding insult to injury, co-host Declan Donnelly tries the same challenge at the same time, and actually equals the world record.
  • The 2014 auditions had stand-up comedian Paul Stark have an attempt.
    You'd Expect: Paul to come up with several original jokes and to rehearse them well, and know them off by heart.
    Instead: He simply read them off a piece of paper. To make matters worse, the three jokes he told were at best outdated and unfunny ("My nan took a shower the other day, I said I want it back") and at worst downright nonsensical ("Knock Knock." "Who's there?" "Funny." "Funny who?" "A funny joke!") that were told as if he expected the crowd to be dying of laughter.
    Even Worse: When the crowd started booing at the painfully awful jokes, instead of taking it with good humor and laughing it off, he began screaming that he was better than them and saying something was wrong with them. Unsurprisingly, he didn't make it through.
    • Then again: "Paul Stark" was actually a character act by a guy called Tom Pinks, who deliberately portrayed "Starks" as an unfunny, overconfident comedian.
• Brooklyn Nine-Nine
  • "Payback": Jake finds out that Terry and his wife are having a third child. Terry tells Jake to keep it quiet, since they haven't told anyone, and allows Jake to prove himself that he can be a potential godfather candidate if he pays back a debt to Jake and keep the secret. Jake doesn't have that much money in his bank account, but he knows this is important to Terry.
    You'd Expect: Jake has been pretty discreet thus far. He should give the "first installment" with little fanfare. After all, he owes money to everyone in the Nine-Nine, except for Captain Holt who has been too smart to let Jake bum money off him.
    Instead: He deposits a briefcase at Terry's desk, revealing it's all the money in his bank account, in singles. Jake proceeds to announce loudly that this is an "installment" and he will pay back the rest.
    Predictably: The other cops take notice, and note it's weird for Jake to be this honorable. They demand that he either pay back the loans, or they'll split the money that he gave to Terry. Jake has to make excuses and start doing embarrassing chores for everyone else, with Boyle trying to blackmail him with dog bathing to give up the secret. After all this, Jake ends up blabbing in a "Reply All" email anyway, angering Terry, and he sells his car to pay the rest of the debt.
  • "The Defense Rests":
  • Jake starts a relationship with a defense attorney named Sophia. She's worried about their relationship, due to cops and defense attorneys having bad blood between them on principle. At one point when they start to founder, Sophia asks Jake to not attend a ball where her boss Geoffrey Hoytsman will be. She does want her boss to like Jake, which is a feat due to the whole bad blood, but she thinks it would be awkward at such an important event.
    You'd Expect: Jake would respect Sophia's wishes and give her some space. Terry advises Jake to do such a thing because she's feeling awkward by how he loves her more than she loves him.
    Instead: Jake goes to the ball and does all he can to win over Sophia's boss. Who, unknown to him, is high on cocaine.
    The Result: He succeeds almost too well; he does win over Geoffrey by making increasingly ridiculous bets, at the risk of making Sophia very uncomfortable since he did the exact opposite of what she wanted. The Rage Breaking Point comes when Jake catches Geoffrey doing cocaine in the men's bathroom and has to arrest him; he tries to vouch for Geoffrey to get the lightest sentence possible, but it backfires when Geoffrey does his community service while high. While Terry tells Jake You Did the Right Thing about arresting Geoffrey, Sophia breaks up with Jake, and Geoffrey seeks revenge on Jake by sabotaging him as a cop, kidnapping him, and planning to kill him.
  • Jake has arrested Sophia's boss, and feels very guilty about having to do his job as a cop. He later talks with the DA out of pressing charges, and the DA's only request is that Geoffrey does a little bit of Community Service, and maybe a little bit of rehab to get clean.
    You'd Expect: He would do it discreetly, escorting the man out of a backdoor and then talking to Sophia in private. At least if she still breaks up with him, she could at least see that he made an effort to not humiliate Geoffrey or her. Not helping is that Geoffrey is on a cocaine high and shooting his mouth off loudly . You don't have to make the optics worse especially when the whole point of his Grand Romantic Gesture was to help Sophia get back the good cases at her firm so that her career wouldn't stall.
    Instead: In a case of Honor Before Reason, Jake marches Geoffrey to where Terry and Sophia are talking to announce what he's doing. Geoffrey proceeds to humiliate himself by saying Sophia's boyfriend is arresting him for doing drugs. As Sophia later lampshades, "There are fifty different ways you could have handled this better!"
    The Result: Sophia is shaking in anger when she confronts Jake at the precinct, announces she will serve as Geoffrey's defense lawyer, and breaks up with Jake. While she's more understanding when Jake runs down the stairs and begging Please, I Will Do Anything!, because he really loves her, Sophia apologetically tells him that he basically torpedoed her career chances by accident, that to maintain their relationship would require putting in work that she's not willing to put in because she doesn't love him, and that he wasn't able to respect her wishes for needing a pause in their loving meetings.
  • "The Boyle-Linetti Wedding": Gina has put Jake in charge of getting the rings for her mother and Boyle's father Lynn. She tells him he absolutely cannot screw this up because the titular wedding has to be absolutely perfect. Jake gets the ring, but Amy gets a tip that her archnemesis, a counterfeiter named Minsk, is nearby. She's driving so she says they have to get him.
    You'd Expect: Jake would lock the ring box in the car. They're chasing after a dangerous perp which means there will be some physical altercation going on if he fights.
    Instead: Jake tucks it into his rental tuxedo jacket pocket. He trudges after Amy to help her, more focused on the fact that they are acting out a James Bond movie than that Gina is counting on him.
    Predictably: During the altercation where they successfully catch Minsk, Jake loses the ring. Gina is beyond upset, and Jake and Amy have to go back to the dumpster area to locate it.
  • "Yippie Kayak"
  • In the Cold Open, Amy wants to give Holt a Christmas present. It's a Running Gag that he doesn't accept gifts, and he explained last year to Amy that he doesn't like syncophants. People who give gifts are trying to butter him up and don't actually give him meaningful feedback or relationships.
    You'd Expect: She would give it up this year, or give him a nonmonetary gift like a holiday card from the Nine Nine staff again.
    Instead: Amy decides to give him a gift, again and disguise it as not a gift. So she delivers it on a random Monday in an unmarked box, with the lettering scrawled in her non-dominant hand ordering him to open it up.
    The Result: Jake can't stop grinning when he summarizes how dumb this was: "So, just to recap, you left an unmarked package on a police captain's desk on a random Monday, with a suspicious message written on it that looked like it was scrawled by a crazy person." Cue Holt coming out of the office announcing that a bomb was delivered to him and they all need to evacuate. 
  • Later, Jake goes Convenience Store Gift Shopping with Gina because he forgot Charles's Christmas gift, and Charles tags along when Jake lies that he forgot to get a gift for Amy. They end up locked in the store when a group of criminals take the entire store hostage while barricading entrances and exits. Gina wants to get hairspray and make a flamethrower, but Jake and Charles try to dissuade her. They say that it's their job to protect her and also free the hostages.
    You'd Expect: Gina would listen to the two professional cops. As Terry tells Jake repeatedly, Gina is a civilian and not trained in tactics or firearms. Keeping her safe is their highest priority.
    Instead: As they hide in the Santa workshop area, Gina sneaks off to get hairspray from the aisle.
    The Result: The crooks grab her from behind and take her hostage as well. All Jake and Charles can do is start capturing the gang one by one, locate the hostages, and hope that Terry can stop the Vulture from ordering an armed raid that could get innocents injured in the crossfire.
  • ""Moo Moo": Sergeant Terry Jeffords, played by Terry Crews, asks his coworkers to babysit his twin girls while he works on a long application to be a city council liaison. Due to them accidentally losing Moo Moo, his girls' favorite toy, he ends up stopped and searched by a cop for walking around his neighborhood and looking for the toy. Terry is obviously upset about being racially profiled, but is willing to let it go if the cop apologizes.
    You'd Expect: At the dinner where they meet that the cop would just eat Humble Pie and not try to justify what he did.
    Instead: The cop apologizes and says if he had known Terry wasn't a cop, he wouldn't have stopped him. Terry points out that he shouldn't have been stopped even if he were a civilian, and that he was just walking. The cop says that Terry looked like he didn't belong in the neighborhood, where Terry lives.
    The Result: Terry files a complaint, despite Captain Ray Holt worrying that Terry will ruin his career trying to report an injustice.
  • A Running Gag is that Amy's ex Teddy is still pining after her, jealous that she ended up with Jake, and insulted that she called him boring as the reason for their breakup. He takes it as an incentive to make himself less boring, by training and eventually becoming part of a bomb squad.
    You'd Expect: Teddy at some point would get the memo that Amy is no longer interested in getting back together with him. We see that he has a slew of girlfriends, and he eventually gets married and starts expecting a child around the same time that she does. He even acknowledges at one point that he's being a jerk about it and apologizes by letting a bomb robot serve as the ring-bearer to their wedding.
    Instead: In practically every conversation they have, Teddy admits he's still obsessed with her.
    The Result: It gets to the point where Amy screams a Big "NO!" after he proposes for the umpteenth time.
  • "Balancing": Amy and Jake learn that their son's daycare is closed due to a headlice infestation, leaving them with no babysitter. They and Mac also get infested with headlice, and the only place that can remove them has a wait for several hours. Jake says that his mom got rid of headlice with maple syrup, but Amy isn't keen to try it.
    You'd Expect: They would go to the trusted Internet and find other remedies for headlice. Some people recommend rosemary oil, for example or specialized shampoos.
    Instead: Amy, the supposed smart one, reluctantly agrees with Jake to try the maple syrup remedy, dousing everyone's heads with the substance and covering it with a shower cap.
    The Result: While the remedy indeed works, it has the added side effect of ants invading Jake and Amy's bed, as well as Mac's crib.
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
  • Following the events of the season two finale, Buffy has been missing for several months. She finally returns to Sunnydale, to find the Scoobies are hard at work covering her Slayer duties and her mother remains in a state of denial about kicking Buffy out of the house. Tensions are growing, with how Xander and Willow resent Buffy leaving them in the lurch. Ironically enough, Cordelia is the only one who can understand Buffy's point of view with a few of her boyfriends having either died or gone evil since Buffy had to kill a re-ensouled Angel to stop the apocalypse.
    You'd Expect: That Giles and Cordelia would conduct a sitdown discussion and find out exactly what happened to motivate Buffy to leave.
    Instead: They try to host a welcome-back party for Buffy when she's clearly not comfortable about it. While Cordelia isn't nice about how she puts how Buffy must be feeling, she gets to the heart of the matter: Buffy was dating someone that ended up betraying her trust and threatening all of her friends, but she still loved him.
    The Result: Buffy nearly runs away again, and the whole group comes close to blows. Joyce goes Never My Fault when Buffy reminds her of the ultimatum, and Willow sarcastically suggests maybe violence is the solution. It takes a zombie invasion for everyone to work off the tension and call truce.
  • "Beauty and the Beasts": It's Xander's shift to watch Oz's cage while he's in werewolf form.
    You'd expect: Xander would at least try to stay awake.
    Instead: He falls asleep immediately after Willow leaves the room. Even worse, this was clearly deliberate as he brought a sleeping bag with him and made very little attempt to hide his intention to sleep through the night.
    The Result: A gruesome murder occurs overnight and the Scoobies have no way to tell if Oz was responsible. It turns out that he wasn't, but he could have been ruled out as a suspect much earlier if Xander had done his job properly.
  • Faith after her Face–Heel Turn has shot Angel and injected him with a slow-acting deadly poison. As the Scoobies prepare for the Mayor's plan on graduation, they find out the only cure for Angel's condition is if he drinks "the blood of a slayer". Cue the Mass "Oh, Crap!" as they look at Buffy. She and Faith are the only two candidates.
    You'd Expect: Someone would tell a raging Buffy that donating her blood via a transfusion is the best option to save Angel. They're on awkward territory given the two broke up, but a transfusion is safer than forcing Angel to actually drink since the amount of blood isn't specified. We also know that Giles and Cordelia are the only combat medics that know how to do basic patchwork.
    Instead: Realizing that Buffy means to go after Faith, the Scoobies only warn Buffy that Angel doesn't drain people. She says Angel won't have a problem if Faith is dead.
    The Result: All Buffy manages to do is put Faith in a coma, and before that the latter manages to make her getaway. She has a knife with Faith's blood, but doesn't think to gather that in a vial and hope it heals Angel. Instead, she punches Angel in the face to make him vamp count and places her neck to his teeth. This nearly kills Buffy, and Angel needs to take her to the hospital to treat her for blood loss. He has to save her from a vengeful Mayor that tries smothering an unconscious Buffy. To top it all off, Angel goes What Were You Thinking? towards Buffy and leaves quietly after they stop the Mayor's snake form.
  • When Faith wakes up from her coma, she realizes the Mayor's plan failed, and he left a video, as well as a device for her. She doesn't know what this device does, only that it's supposed to give her a second chance. The Scoobies are debating if they should hunt down Faith or let her go; now that Buffy has broken up with Angel and moved on with Riley, she feels really guilty about her attempt to stab Faith and make Angel drink blood from her corpse.
    You'd Expect: The Scoobies reasonably assume that Faith would have fled the moment she woke up from her coma and "gone to Mexico" in Buffy's words. That would be the most sensible course of action given she's a fugitive from the law and wanted for murdering the sheriff's deputy the previous season. The Watcher's Council also has painted a target on her back for breaking the rules and evading their initial capture of her. There is no reason to stay in Sunnydale at this juncture.
    Instead: She tries seeking revenge on Buffy for the aforementioned murder attempt by attacking her and later her mother. Yeah, she takes on the previous Slayer that nearly killed her in their last fight and attacks the one adult who has been consistently nice and polite to her even as she betrayed the Scoobies and tried to usher in another apocalypse. Faith's legitimate point is that she and Buffy were fighting over a guy, albeit not in the traditional sense, but she is outmatched and outnumbered. That's not even counting what Tara and Willow are able to do once they cut loose.
    The Result: While Faith successfully uses the device to switch bodies with Buffy, she realizes her mistake in that Buffy's body influences her to be a better person and she sleeps with Riley, who has only learned about Faith's attack on Joyce but is gentle with "Buffy" and asks if she's okay. Willow and Tara figure out the switch, as does Giles when Buffy-in-Faith's body convinces him that she's Buffy due to knowing some embarrassing details about his life including that he slept with her mother and he hasn't kept a job since they blew up the school. They go with a vengeance to confront Faith, and all she can do is beat her body senseless. When they switch back, Buffy is full of murderous rage (again) that she was raped-by-proxy as was Riley, and tracks down Faith in Los Angeles where Faith seriously thought she could convince Angel to kill her when taking a bounty on him in Wolfram & Hart. Faith even acknowledges that what she did was stupid and is perfectly willing to let Buffy strike her down. It's only because of Angel's interference that Faith decides to turn herself in when the police come instead and go to jail to atone for her crimes. To top it all off, Faith's actions indirectly lead to Buffy and Angel no longer being Amicable Exes because they have a nasty fight over the fact that Angel protected her.

C

• Cadfael: In "The Devil's Novice", Tristan, Janyn, and Rosanna secretly support Maude, so Janyn murders Stephen's diplomat, Clemence, and the other two help cover up the crime. Clemence, as a high-status diplomat, had a lot of jewelry that helps the investigators identify his body when it's found.
  You'd expect: The three conspirators to keep anything else hidden until the heat dies down and Stephen's official leaves the area.
  Instead: Janyn gives his sister Clemence's very large, very distinctive brooch and she wears it to her wedding at Shrewsbury Abbey, where everyone investigating the murder is in attendance. Stephan's man identifies it immediately, forcing two of them to acknowledge their role in the crime while the actual killer tries and fails to flee.
• Canada's Handyman Challenge: In the final challenge, building a deck, with the guest judge being Mike Holmes, Chris sacrifices building the structure to code (or any acceptable standard at all) in order to focus on his artistic vision.
  You'd Expect: Since anyone who has ever seen Mike Holmes knows his Berserk Button is not having something meet building codes, that Chris would say some excuse like the time and material constraints meant he couldn't get it to meet code and complete his ambitious design, but in real life he'd of course make sure it was done properly.
  Instead: Chris makes a comment that as he understands it building codes are merely suggestions and can be ignored. The other judges stare at him in disbelief, look at Mike, and then laughingly scramble back to make room for Mike to explode.
• Canada's Worst Driver:
  • In Season 2, Colin had already been acting like a jackass throughout his time on the show, and he capped it off by deliberately accelerating into a wall of boxes in a skid avoidance challenge, smashing the car's windshield.
    You'd Expect: Ideally, that he wouldn't have done something so recklessly stupid to begin with, but given the circumstances it'd be in his best interests to come up with a reasonable-sounding excuse, such as claiming that he panicked when he saw the wall and mistakenly hit the gas instead of the brakes.
    Instead: He makes up some story about how he constantly blacks out at the wheel, and did so during the challenge, only for the experts to tell him that if that's true, his driving licence should be taken away on medical grounds, causing him to hastily change his story. As if he wasn't already in enough trouble, he then brags about smashing up the car while on the phone to a friend, which the crew and other contestants overhear. This is the final straw for the experts, resulting in his car key being destroyed, his car towed back to his hometown, and Colin and his equally immature nominator being sent there via taxi.
  • Donna, one of the candidates from Season 4, had been diagnosed with the heart condition angina some time prior to being on the show.
    You'd Expect: She'd declare this on her medical form. Best case, the show's medical staff will know to be ready for any potential emergencies around her, and likely worst case is that the show just won't accept her as a candidate, since they probably wouldn't get insurance for her.
    Instead: She never once mentions it to the experts, the production team or any of the other contestants. This results in her having an angina attack during the water tank challenge, which in turn leads to her being thrown off the show for lying on her medical form. Not only that, but the experts take the unprecedented step of contacting her local licensing board over their concerns, while ultimately results in Donna having her driving licence revoked and getting a lifetime ban from driving.
  • Scott from Season 6 has done some very illegal things, like drinking and driving, driving on a suspended license, driving uninsured, etc. etc. By the way, Cam Woolley, one of the four judges on the show is a former Ontario cop, who has some obligations left, and he will fulfill them, as he did when Colin deliberately tried to fail every challenge on the show while bragging about his own criminal acts.
    You'd Expect: Scott to keep his mouth shut about his activities; at most, maybe give some vague hints that he's done some less-than-admirable stuff in the past, and that he wants to move forward and become a better driver.
    Instead: He brags his head off about them, even leaving his nominator in visible disbelief, and Cam duly contacts the police in Scott's hometown with this information. Fortunately for Scott, bragging about illegal activities on live television isn't considered acceptable legal evidence in Canada, meaning he'll almost certainly never be prosecuted for them, but it pretty much guarantees he'll be punished much more harshly if he ever does get charged with any more automotive offences. Which happened to him in 2015, resulting in his car being seized after he was caught driving over twice the speed limit.
  • In Season 9 (Canada's Worst Driver Ever), Kevin, the previous season's joint-worst driver, seems to be getting the experts on-side after doing well in the last few episodes, and sending a letter to the experts apologizing for his Never My Fault habits in the previous season. Partly because of this, Andrew allows him a forwards run in the Trans Am used for the reversing challenge, an honour he doesn't afford any of the other drivers.
    You'd Expect: Kevin to follow the very straightforward instructions that Andrew gives him, namely to stick to 30mph, and to stop at once should he even clip anything with the Trans Am.
    Instead: Kevin drives at 60mph, fails to stop after hitting and breaking a wing mirror, then ends up driving through a bunch of wheel rims, bursting one of the car's tires. And then, Kevin proudly (and inexplicably) declares that his performance was worthy of passing the challenge. This leaves the show's panel of experts completely speechless, leads to him getting a major What Were You Thinking? reaction from his nominator and Andrew, and utterly destroys any goodwill he had with the experts, beginning a downward spiral that would see him named the worst of the season — and by extension, of any of the show's seasons — and end up being forced to destroy his driving license.
  • In the final episode of Season 12, Krystal has angered just about everyone involved with the show — including Andrew, the host, the four experts, and the other contestants and their nominators — and even managed to provoke her brother (her own nominator) into quitting the show after dropping a Cluster Atomic F-Bomb at nearly all the aforementioned people after they called her out on her rudeness to fellow contestant Daniella. Despite this, she actually does quite well on the penultimate challenge, the Mega Challenge, doing only marginally worse than Tyler, the other remaining contestant.
    You'd Expect: That Krystal, who has shown herself to be competent driver when she keeps her attitude in check, would give it her all and try to get through the final Road Test as best she can. There's still a chance that either Tyler or Daniella will mess up in their own Road Tests, after all.
    Instead: She speeds and drives dangerously throughout the challenge, repeatedly insults and complaints to Andrew, and even winds up damaging the test car's wheel hubs via a badly executed U-turn. After Krystal tries to scare Andrew into being quiet by deliberately taking a corner at a dangerously unsafe speed, Andrew finally declares that he's seen enough and stops the test. Had Krystal not behaved like such an Adult Child then the title would almost certainly have gone to Daniella (who completely bombed in her Mega Challenge run and suffered a major attack of nerves in her own Road Test, forcing Andrew to make her decisions for her), but not only do the experts instantly agree that Krystal is obviously the worst, they decide that she doesn't even deserve the trophy usually awarded to the worst driver, instead turning it into a "Final Graduate" trophy and giving it to Tyler.
• Caprica 1x02 "Rebirth": Amanda has just found out about Zoe's involvement in the bombing that sets off the plot, at a memorial service for those who died in said bombing.
  You'd expect: Amanda to sit on this information, or talk to Daniel about it, or destroy it, or almost anything other than what she does.
  Instead: She tells the entire collected populace, all of whom are bereaved family members mourning the loss of their loved ones, what she has learned. And then is almost surprised when the mourners turn into a mob. This doubles up as a What An Idiot moment on the part of Daniel as well, for allowing Amanda (who was already behaving erratically even before she found out about Zoe's role) to walk around the memorial unsupervised, which led directly to the event described above.
• Castle: In one episode, an obsessed killer is stalking Beckett. After it seems the killer has killed himself and the danger has passed, Castle discovers that it wasn’t their killer that died and the real killer is still out there. In the scene immediately before this, it's revealed that the killer was planning on killing Beckett with a bomb that’s activated by her using her cellphone.
  You'd expect: That Castle would go there in person or use an alternative means of contacting her in order to warn her she's still in danger.
  Instead: He calls her on her cell phone.
  • In the episode Undead Again, a jealous boyfriend wants to resolve a Love Triangle situation through Murdering the Hypotenuse. He basically drugs an acquaintance, instructs him to attack the romantic rival at the rival's workplace, and then pretends to know nothing about the crime. He keeps insisting throughout the episode that there are no incriminating evidence against him, and his smugness keeps increasing. What errors he overlooked about his "perfect crime" makes him sound rather blind:

The suspect 1) is the only known person who had a motive for the murder, access to that specific drug, and a known connection to both the victim and the attacker 2) a strange eye-witness testimony and an even stranger photo of the killer turned this into a high-profile case 3) even the briefest examination of the man's finances indicated that his wealth far exceeded his known sources of income, and there were people willing to testify that he regularly sold them drugs 4) his supposedly solid alibi for the night of the murder did not cover the hours leading to the murder, and made him look more suspicious rather than less.

• Charmed:
  • The Charmed Ones are helping the half-demon Cole redeem himself by preparing a potion to remove his demon side and make him fully human. They complete the potion, but before he gets to drink it, Cole's former mentor shows up and uses magic to take control of his demonic side, forcing him to kill someone the sisters were protecting.
    You'd Expect: Them to give him the potion, to make sure this doesn't happen again.
    Instead: They destroy the potion in anger and end their friendship. Obviously, this does not end well.
  • In fact, let's consider this the general pattern. Cole's entire arc revolves around his relationship with Phoebe. Said arc lasting about two and a half years. Keep in mind she and the sisters have known he was half-demon since his eighth episode.
    You'd Expect: The Halliwells, or at least Phoebe, would understand that Cole, having been a trained assassin for about a hundred years who was once hand-selected into the elite group of his profession by the series equivalent of Satan himself, wouldn't become a boy scout overnight. Even that notwithstanding, you would also think they'd remember from their own experiences that anyone can go evil for a day with the right magical hit. Acting on this, they would treat Cole with healthy doses of both caution and empathy (not the power, the emotional quality) to allow him the chance to earn his way into the family while keeping him honest and guiding him into his new life as a good guy.
    Instead: They shun him anytime he even begins to take a moral step backwards. And out of fear, anger, and/or hurt, Phoebe, who otherwise throws herself at him when things are good, is usually first in line. She basically yanks his chain based on her feelings, with no one else ready to correct her if it's not to judge him in the process. This usually only makes the situation worse than it already is.
    The result: Naturally, after he's eventually infected by the power of the Source of All Evil, they vanquish him thinking he became the new Source of his own volition despite being just about told otherwise (although the vanquish may have been unavoidable in any case). He later comes back with a new mess of powers from the demonic wasteland. Between his return foiling Phoebe's attempt at a rush divorce and the Charmed Ones' run-in with a mermaid, Phoebe ends up going mermaid for awhile herself — not because she hates him, but because she loves him and yet she's scared of him at the same time. For these same reasons, he gains hope that he can regain her trust and her love while she's dead set that they can never be together again.
    You'd expect: that now she and the sisters would try to help Cole move on, keeping an eye on him in the meantime. If they're lucky, maybe he'll actually see that he can still be good as his own man without Phoebe's love as the measuring stick. At the very least find some way to contain those acidic powers of his while he's still coming to them, remembering what happened to Prue when she was given a power that was never meant for her to have.
    Instead: their response to his attempts to earn Phoebe's love back by playing superhero with these powers usually consists of telling him that it's a fancy concept to think he'll ever be anything but evil.
    The result: months of the woman he loved and the family he counted on as his foothold to good treating him almost like he isn't even a person combined with his powers messing with his brain finally sends him off the deep end into a Face–Heel Turn that lasts until they have to kill him again in an alternate reality. It takes being eternally tied to a cosmic void for him finally think for himself and come to peace. Meanwhile, Phoebe fast progresses into a jerk for a year and a half, which comes back to bite her all the way into the end of the series.
  • Season 8 introduces Billie, a witch who disguises her identity while demon-hunting with a black wig, sunglasses, and black leather outfit which is bound to draw attention (and makes her look like a bad Prue stand-in). She eventually meets with and becomes an understudy to the sisters.
    You'd expect: The sisters would express their concerns but instead suggest something else, like having Billie protect her identity with magical disguises — the same particular spell they were using at the time.
    Instead: The sisters simply make Billie stop wearing the wig and sunglasses and do not come up with a backup option. She ends up getting tailed straight to them by a Homeland Security agent, serving as the beginning of the end for their secret identities.
• Cheers: On the episode "What Is... Cliff Clavin?" Cliff ends up as a contestant on a special Boston edition of Jeopardy!, and thanks to an incredibly lucky set of categories, goes into the Final Jeopardy round with $22,000. His opponents, meanwhile, have just $3,300 and $750 respectively.
  You'd Expect: Cliff to wager no more than a couple of thousand dollars, seeing how he's already won an amount far beyond what he had hoped. At the absolute worst you'd expect him to wager no more than $15,399, the maximum amount he can afford to lose and still be guaranteed victory.
  Instead: He wagers "22,000 big ones," and promptly comes unstuck when the Final Jeopardy clue turns out to be an obscure one that none of the contestants are able to guess,^note ("Archibald Leach, Bernard Schwartz, and Lucille LeSueur"; the correct response being "Who are Cary Grant, Tony Curtis, and Joan Crawford?") with Cliff himself giving the particularly Face Palm-worthy response of "who are three people who've never been in my kitchen," and the second-place contestant winning purely because she stopped short of wagering everything. Alex Trebek gives Cliff a What Were You Thinking? reaction, and Cliff tries futilely to argue that his response was technically correct.^{Fun fact!}Cliff's stupidity in this episode spawned the phrase "Pulling a Cliff Clavin", and the rule against doing what he did bears his name on the J! Archive.
• Chilling Adventures of Sabrina sees a lot of terrible decisions, but the standout is the penultimate episode of Part 3. Sabrina is asked by Judas to let him hold his pieces of silver one last time.
  You'd Expect: Sabrina to remember any one of the following things: She already lost a piece of the infernal regalia by loaning it to someone else instead of claiming it immediately. She has half a dozen other things to do that threaten the lives of those she cares about and should act with haste. The silver is a powerful arcane artifact a damned soul might want to use to try to escape. When claiming the bowl of Pontius Pilate, multiple people were trying to protect it. Judas already gave her a False Reassurance the guardian of the silver, a vampire, was dead, is literally the most famous traitor in Hell, and should probably not be trusted. And on remembering any of those things, would not give them to him.
  Instead: Sabrina gives him the silver, and he reveals himself to actually be her rival Caliban under a glamor, then traps her in stone and becomes King of Hell. Given that casting a glamor to look like someone else is a basic trick that's been used half a dozen times including by Sabrina and Caliban when they went after the last piece of the regalia, she should probably have considered this possibility too, but it doesn't really detract from how stupid it would have been to give them to the real Judas anyway.
• Chuck: The titular character's sister and brother in law are kidnapped by evil CIA agents who demand a dangerous computer virus in exchange for them. Casey and Beckham agree to give them a fake one since giving them the real one is obviously too dangerous.
  You'd expect: Chuck to go along with the plan and hope to rescue them at the trade.
  Instead: Chuck steals the real virus from his team, and goes ALONE to the trade WITHOUT ANY BACKUP (keep in mind he doesn't have the intersect anymore). Because he can obviously trust these villains to not kill them once they get what they want. As a result, the bad CIA agents end up getting the virus (which is later unleashed to the general public) and Chuck nearly gets killed because of his carelessness. Nice Job Breaking It, Hero
  • What's worse is that Sarah actually agreed to hand over the real virus and he still went behind their back!
• Cold Case:
  • "Justice." Mike Delany, a Serial Rapist, is confronted by his victims, who consider shooting him dead but decide against it. Unfortunately for him, the kid brother of one of his victims shows up, grabs the gun, points it at him and reveals he knows Mike raped his sister.
    You'd expect: Mike to apologise, deny it, make up a Freudian Excuse on the spot or just stall for time while slowly backing away, acting meek as hell until he can hightail it out of there.
    Instead: Mike approaches him, asking him to pass him the gun. When he calls him out for raping his sister, he calls her "a hell of a lay". Really, at this point it is not so much a murder as it is assisted suicide.
  • "That Woman." After discovering the dirty secrets of the other members of a chastity club, high school girl Carrie Swett discovers they all wrote "Carrie must die." on the messages in the messenger jar. Sometime later, one of those members comes to her house and asks her to go the woods with him.
    You'd expect: Carrie would turn him down and call the police, since he mostly likely wants to kill her.
    Instead: She doesn't, and goes with him to the woods. You can guess the result.
  • "A Time to Crime": Young Darnell Odoms discovers that his mom is having an affair with an illegal arms dealer and decides to kill him, not wanting him to ruin his family. One night, he decides to buy a gun from the arms dealer.
    You'd expect: He would shoot him right then and there. It's a dark alley and they're the only two people in that spot.
    Instead: He chooses not to, instead trying to kill him in a crowded park. This backfires badly for not only does he miss his target, but hits and kills his own sister by mistake.
  • “The Promise”:
    • College freshman Laurie Dunn and her friends have just stormed out of a frat party where they humiliated her in a “pig pen.” Understandably furious, she proposes burning their house down. Later, her friend Dirk, who unknowingly led you to the party, comes out, begging her to come back in and talk to him.
      You’d expect: She'll take a rain check, offering to speak to him the next day, or speak to him outside the house.
      Instead: She follows him inside for a heartfelt talk, only for the frat bros to reappear, shove Dirk aside and take her back in the pig pen to torture her, and later leave her for dead when the house is burned down.
    • Dirk and Manny also get this. It's revealed that Dirk was already an idiot for luring Laurie to the party in the first place. She gave him a "The Reason You Suck" Speech about lying to her and becoming one of the bullies from their high school, which makes him apologize. Dirk tries to save her from Manny when the latter locks her in a room. Cue one of the humiliated girls starting a fire.
      You'd Expect: Manny to let Laurie escape.
      Instead: Manny locks the door, tosses the key and leaves Dirk to either choose to save himself or die with Laurie.
      The Result: Years later, Manny goes down for Laurie's murder.
    • Dirk tries to keep Laurie alive only to hear her die from smoke inhalation as he attempts to break down the door and window. He reveals he didn't tell anyone because a dying Laurie made him promise to take care of her father, who is a single parent.
      You'd Expect': He would have come clean to the police about what happened. Taking care of her father would mean getting justice for Laurie.
      Instead: He covers it up under the misguided belief that it's easier to say Laurie died happy than to admit she was humiliated, tortured, and left to suffocate.
      The Result: Laurie's father is not an idiot; he reveals that Laurie sent him a photo of her being force-fed tequila, which implies she was murdered, and brings it to the detectives' attention. Scotty and Lily investigate Dirk for murdering Laurie and force him to confess what happened. It also meant that Manny and Avery, a politician, had a Karma Houdini for years on end. When Dirk finally talks with Laurie's father and apologizes, it's revealed that he would have done more good if he had come clean in the first place.
  • "Revenge". Rudy Tanner is confronted by angry father of the boy that he kidnapped, molested and are suspected of killing a year.
    You'd expect: Rudy to be humble, apologetic or not do anything that would provoke him.
    Instead: Rudy brags about his exploits with the dead boy without a hint of remorse. He winds up being shot dead for his troubles and although his murder is solved, no one but his pathetic son gives a shit about his death.
• Community:
  • "Modern Warfare". A massive paintball game takes over the college campus with the grand prize being priority registration (meaning the winner gets first pick of classes the following semester). Leonard comes upon Jeff talking with Garrett (who's already been eliminated). They don't even notice him due to their conversation.
    You'd expect: Leonard to shoot Jeff and eliminate him.
    Instead: Leonard shoots Garrett and Jeff runs for it. As a result, Leonard gets eliminated by Abed while he's chasing Jeff, and Jeff goes on to win the prize.
  • "Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking": Pierce overdoses on his painkillers and lies to his study group that he's dying. To this end, he bequeaths gifts on the group. Annie is the only one who gets a crown with no strings attached, Abed gets nothing but the power to observe, and Pierce ensures that Troy, Britta, and Shirley have back-handed presents. Pierce in revenge for Jeff being an ass to him, decides to lie that his estranged father is coming back. Jeff agrees but warns Pierce that if this is a trick, he is going to beat the tar out of the old man, and "there will be nothing madcap or wacky about it." Pierce goes Oh, Crap! because he knows Jeff is not bluffing.
    You'd Expect: Pierce would abort the plan and choose something else. Even if he wants to hurt Jeff with a mind-game, he's also recovering from an overdose. This is not the time to bully someone who is in prime physical shape and has every reason to destroy you.
    Instead: He goes through with the prank, driving up in the limo and trying to pose as Mr. Winger with Bad "Bad Acting".
    Predictably: Jeff makes good on his threat, dragging Pierce out of the limo and engaging in a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown. Even after the other study group members pull Jeff off Pierce, they are forced to concede that Pierce deserved it for messing with a personal hot button. Pierce himself admits that he went too far when Jeff points out the reason he's excluded from their events is because he is a petty, selfish Jerkass with little to no regard for other's feelings. When Pierce dies for real in season 5, he seems to learn from this and leaves no mind-games in his will for Jeff, just a stream of insults.
  • "Chang Dynasty": The study group figures out that Chang took over the school and is using a Dean impersonator. They can't prove it, however, and Office Cacowski is sympathetic but tells them he'll be legally obligated to arrest them if they go back on campus; plus, as he puts it, the story is too ridiculous to be believed. Abed votes that they do an elaborate heist. Troy mentions he could enroll in the AC Repair School to solve this problem, but Jeff vetoes it because he's not sacrificing Troy to a group of ambitious-hungry cultists. This episode takes place after "Digital Estate Planning" where they met Gilbert, Pierce's half-brother.
    You'd Expect: They would call Gilbert for help. Gilbert owes them for forfeiting Cornelius's inheritance to them and it's revealed he and Pierce bonded. As a lawyer, he could challenge their expulsion and gain access to the grounds to find proof about the scheme while gathering information or serving subpoenas. He could prove to the cops that the group's story is true and get them to extract the innocent bystanders. Or, he could use the amount of money he has to achieve the same results.
    Instead: They do an elaborate heist to rescue the Dean.
    Predictably: They get caught, and are nearly killed if not for Troy agreeing to the AC guys watching them.
  • After the events of season three, Chang has gone on the lam after trying to blow up the school and replacing Dean Pelton with an impersonator — who didn't get paid and also is on the run — and the Dean resumes his spot, promising the school board members that he'll cover up their incompetence. After season four, Chang resurfaces and is forced to admit he was Faking Amnesia while serving as a Mole for City College.
    You'd Expect: As soon as Chang confesses, the Dean would press charges against him for kidnapping and terrorism. Technically there should be a manhunt out for him, with the number of witnesses, and that he used child labor to enact his plan. If anything, you'd think the parents would be notified to punish the children accordingly, considering they were using nightsticks and pepper spray.
    Instead: The Dean hires him as a math professor in season 5 after serving time in prison. It gets even lampshaded in-show that this is really dumb.
    The Result: The study group files a lawsuit against Greendale, decide to reenroll and save the school. Jeff makes no bare-bones about how angry and disappointed he is in the Dean. While Chang eventually reforms for real, he still would have gotten hundreds of adults and children killed.
• In Crime Scene Kitchen, teams have to investigate the titular kitchen to determine what to make. In the second episode, several teams, including Natasha and Anthony, find Marsala wine.
  You'd Expect: Given that Marsala wine is unique to Cannoli baking, Anthony would immediately realize that he's expected to make Cannoli. Barring that, he could easily use other clues (such as Ricotta cheese or the chocolate on the counter) to piece it together.
  Instead: He brushes off the presence of the wine as "someone who likes to drink," and, despite Natasha realizing the right answer, insists on making donuts, even saying it can't be Cannoli because there weren't any Cannoli shells present^note For those who don't know, the shell of a Cannoli holds the rest of it inside, like the shell of a taco. They're the only team to get it wrong.
  • In the fourth episode, several teams find sour cream in the trash, but only Cory and Dante find the cream cheese wrapper underneath the sour cream. Cory immediately points out that he's familiar with the ingredients because he makes cheesecakes for a living.
    You'd Expect: He'd make the obvious connection; There are cheesecake ingredients in the kitchen, so the target dish is probably cheesecake. At the least consider it while examining other clues.
    Instead: When he finds a circle of grease on a piece of parchment paper (roughly the size of a cheesecake), he decides it must be a galette. While none of the teams figured out that it was cheesecake, the other teams at least failed to find the cream cheese. Between finding enough of the ingredients and personal experience, Cory and Dante had no excuse.
• Criminal Minds:
  • In one episode, JJ and Reid go to talk to a witness. When they get there, the witness denies having called the cops and claims to know nothing. JJ and Reid realize that he's one of the UnSubs, and know they need to do something. The rest of their team knows where they are, but without cell phone coverage, they can't call for back-up, and the 'witness' knows that they know who he really is.
    You'd Expect them to go investigate together, or try departing from the scene and come back with a lot of backup.
    Instead they split up. JJ ends up in a barn with three ravenous dogs who have killed a woman, and Reid ends up knocked out and imprisoned by the UnSub. Brilliant.
  • Agent Elle Greenaway has rejoined the team after spending months away from work, recovering after being shot in her home. She has become distant and hypervigiliant, and has shown signs of PTSD. The team is working on a case where a man is raping women in their homes, and they get to the point where they need someone to go undercover.
    You'd Expect that as they are working with police, they'd get a female cop to go undercover, or maybe get JJ, since they have more than one female agent on their team.
    Instead they send Elle, and everything goes wrong, as anyone with a brain would have expected.
  • Frank Breitkopf, a serial killer, has been cornered at a train station. He has demanded the return of his girlfriend, Jane, whom the FBI have in custody. At the end of a long talk, he manages to talk Jane back into coming with him, despite the fact that they are surrounded by federal agents with guns.
    You'd Expect that the agents would do something, anything to stop Frank. Shoot him, cuff him, get Jane away from him, anything.
    Instead, all of them just stand around and watch as Frank and Jane leap in front of an incoming train. Because apparently that's what federal agents do.
  • Spencer's backstory is that his mother has schizophrenia. His father eventually suffered too much stress when a neighbor murdered a child pedophile and Spencer's mother was a witness to the crime.
    You'd Expect: He would take Spencer with him. Spencer had nothing to do with what happened.
    Instead: He leaves his prepubescent son to take care of his mentally ill mother.
    The Result: A very bitter and older Spencer, who is now an FBI agent, investigates his father when he recalls memories of seeing a dead man. Spencer bluntly tells off his father for what he did and suspects him of being the murderer in a cold case. It's very ironic that his mother exonerates her ex-husband and identifies the real killer.
  • Due to being captured and nearly killed by an old enemy, Prentiss faked her death and entered witness protection for a few months. Only Garcia and J.J. know, while Reid has been coming to her house to grieve on a regular basis.
    You'd Expect: J.J. would know that Reid takes betrayal seriously and tell him Prentiss is alive. The kid's a genius and knows how to keep a secret, even one as big as this.
    Instead: She keeps quiet.
    Predictably: Reid refuses to speak to her or Prentiss after the latter returns to the team. He also reveals to J.J. that he was thinking of taking Dilaudin again and facing the cravings. When J.J. tries to apologize, Reid says that's not good enough for letting him grieve senselessly. They do repair their bond but it takes a lot more work than a simple "I'm sorry".
• Crisis on Infinite Earths (2019):
  • The Argo City survivors had survived the destruction of their home planet.
    You'd expect: They could have foreseen another such incident and prepare ships for something like that.
    Instead: They don't, save for one single ship to send a baby.
    As a result: The Argo City inhabitants are almost totally wiped by the antimatter wave, and Clark and Lois only survive because Harbinger saved them in time.
• CSI:
  • CSI Sara Sidle is kidnapped and trapped under a car by the Miniature Killer, right before a thunder storm hits the Las Vegas area and causes flash flooding. Fortunately, Sara is able to free herself before the flood waters can drown her, but she is still stranded in the middle of the Nevada desert with a broken arm, a head wound, and the rearview mirror she used to escape the car with.
    You'd Expect: That Sara would set up camp by the car that her colleagues at the Las Vegas PD and Crime Lab will no doubt be looking for, and use the mirror to signal to them when they get close.
    Instead: She wanders off into the desert, and nearly dies of heat stroke and dehydration before she can be rescued.
• CSI: NY:
  • Stella breaks up with her boyfriend after finding a sex tape he’d put online. He confronts her about throwing out the sculpture he made. Later, she arrives home to find her apartment door open
    You’d Expect: Stella, as a trained detective, to draw her gun, possibly call for backup, and immediately arrest Frankie for breaking in.
    Instead: Stella goes in unarmed, gets overpowered and tied up by Frankie. She has to nearly wreck her fingers extracting a razor blade to escape after he shoves her in the bathtub to answer the door, and struggle with him to finally get her gun and shoot him. Luckily, Frankie forgot to empty the gun’s chamber when dumping out the bullets.
    The Result: She gets beaten senseless and Mac has to find the truth because she has little memory of what happened.
    

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