TV Tropes: Love 'em or Loathe 'em

[Dr.OO7]

With the Oscar nominations out. . .

(1) Award Category Fraud, (2) Award Snub, and (3) Consolation Prize.

This counts, because it happens on TV too.

(1) Someone in a lead role shouldn't have to submit themselves in the supporting category in order to have a better chance of winning--and pushing out someone who WAS in a supporting role.

(2) Because it just bites when someone who you were rooting for doesn't win.

(3) And I hate people getting rewarded for a "meh" performance when they should have won years ago, just because the Academy realizes that they deserve to finally win, once again pushing out whoever really does deserve it.

Edited January 26, 2019 by Camille

[magicdog]

The Oscars (and many other such awards) are often political and rarely go to who is deserving.  

I rarely bother with films that won an Oscar in recent years because the chasm between deserving talent and politicking is too wide  to take credibility.

[Wiendish Fitch]

17 hours ago, Camille said:

With the Oscar nominations out. . .

(1) Award Category Fraud, (2) Award Snub, and (3) Consolation Prize.

This counts, because it happens on TV too.

(1) Someone in a lead role shouldn't have to submit themselves in the supporting category in order to have a better chance of winning--and pushing out someone who WAS in a supporting role.

(2) Because it just bites when someone who you were rooting for doesn't win.

(3) And I hate people getting rewarded for a "meh" performance when they should have won years ago, just because the Academy realizes that deserve to finally win.

1. I always hated that, too. Something about stinks of dirty politics (for lack of a better word).

2. Or nominated! Seriously, Won't You Be My Neighbor? didn't even get nominated for Best Documentary? What is even the hell?!

3. Case in point? Alicia Vikander. She inexplicably did not get nominated for Ex Machina, a chillingly memorable performance in one of the best sci-fi films of the decade. Instead, she received the consolation Oscar for The Danish Girl, a fascinating true story rendered bland and forgettable by a gutless, overly conventional screenplay. Vikander is good (she always is), but she is given little more to do than to blubber or furrow her brow in concern. Gag. 

Edited January 24, 2019 by Wiendish Fitch

[Dr.OO7]

50 minutes ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

Case in point? Alicia Vikander. She inexplicably did not get nominated for Ex Machina, a chillingly memorable performance in one of the best sci-fi films of the decade. Instead, she received the consolation Oscar for The Danish Girl, a fascinating true story rendered bland and forgettable by a gutless, overly conventional screenplay. Vikander is good (she always is), but she is given little more to do than to blubber or furrow her brow in concern. Gag. 

Thank you for this. I like her just fine, but I really didn't see where her performance even warranted a nomination, much less a win.

[Spartan Girl]

One "rape on TV" trope that I really hate is how the writers wind up using it to emphasize the manpain of the victim's boyfriend or some other guy that was involved.  Kind of like the camera focusing on Theon/Reek's face as he's watching Sansa getting raped offscreen on Game of Thrones.

Even SVU, the so-called "victim's advocate show" has been guilty of using this in the episode "Betrayal's Climax."  A girl gets raped by her boyfriend's gang while her boyfriend is forced to watch at gunpoint, and pretty bunch the whole episode is her agonizing at how "betrayed" he felt that she had an orgasim during the rape to justify his blind loyalty to his gang.  Which is even more despicable when he later admits that he knew that the gang was going to attack her, and yet did nothing to stop it and clung to the old "she must have wanted it" excuse to absolve himself of his cowardice.  He winds up agreeing to testify against him only to get murdered in prison.  And even after everything he put her through, he's STILL portrayed as the martyr of the episode, and everybody, even the poor girl, feels sorry for him, completely overshadowing everything that she went through.

*vomits*

Edited January 25, 2019 by Spartan Girl

[Danny Franks]

8 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

One "rape on TV" trope that I really hate is how the writers wind up using it to emphasize the manpain of the victim's boyfriend or some other guy that was involved.  Kind of like the camera focusing on Theon/Reek's face as he's watching Sansa getting raped offscreen on Game of Thrones.

 

The thing with that is, I got the impression from the way it was shot, and the way the writers talked about the relevant scenes, that they were uncomfortable with the idea of showing Sansa being raped, particularly asking Sophie Turner to act it out. But my thought is... if you're so uncomfortable that you can't show it, then maybe you should think twice about writing it.

Edited January 26, 2019 by Danny Franks

[Wiendish Fitch]

11 minutes ago, Danny Franks said:

The thing with that is, I got the impression from the way it was shot, and the way the writers talked about the relevant scenes, that they were uncomfortable with the idea of showing Sansa being raped, particularly asking Sophie Turner to act it out. But my thought is... if you're so uncomfortable that you can't show it, then maybe you should think twice about writing it.

 

 Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

Edited January 26, 2019 by Wiendish Fitch

[AntiBeeSpray]

On 1/24/2019 at 1:12 PM, Wiendish Fitch said:

1. I always hated that, too. Something about stinks of dirty politics (for lack of a better word).

2. Or nominated! Seriously, Won't You Be My Neighbor? didn't even get nominated for Best Documentary? What is even the hell?!

3. Case in point? Alicia Vikander. She inexplicably did not get nominated for Ex Machina, a chillingly memorable performance in one of the best sci-fi films of the decade. Instead, she received the consolation Oscar for The Danish Girl, a fascinating true story rendered bland and forgettable by a gutless, overly conventional screenplay. Vikander is good (she always is), but she is given little more to do than to blubber or furrow her brow in concern. Gag. 

What the heck?! Are those who pick docs on something? That movie was excellent and deserved a chance.

[kiddo82]

On 1/24/2019 at 1:12 PM, Wiendish Fitch said:

Case in point? Alicia Vikander. She inexplicably did not get nominated for Ex Machina, a chillingly memorable performance in one of the best sci-fi films of the decade. Instead, she received the consolation Oscar for The Danish Girl, a fascinating true story rendered bland and forgettable by a gutless, overly conventional screenplay. Vikander is good (she always is), but she is given little more to do than to blubber or furrow her brow in concern. Gag. 

 

This is the one instance where something like that didn't bother me because both performances happened to be in the same year.  She should have been nominated/won for Ex Machina so her winning for the Danish Girl (which she was fine in) didn't necessarily take it away from someone.  She deserved to win that year, just for a different role.  I've always felt the voters voted for her Ex Machina performance anyway.  What I can't figure out for the life of me is why, if they really wanted to reward that performance, they didn't just nominate her for Ava/Ex Machina in the first place.*

 

*Ironically, I think she was nominated for Ex Machina at the Globes and she lost to Kate Winslet.

Edited January 28, 2019 by kiddo82

[Danny Franks]

I just saw this on (the otherwise excellent) Sex Education, and it reminded me: I hate the trope of people being too tongue-tied or flustered to explain a situation properly, and so a misunderstanding leads to a big, dramatic falling out (this nearly always happens with TV's quasi-romantic, 'will they, won't they?' relationships). In this day and age, writers really have no justification for relying on that, unless they're writing a period show. Because mobile phones and texting/IMing means that one party can always write a lengthy explanation, once they've got their thoughts together, so the other person isn't labouring under that misunderstanding.

[ratgirlagogo]

14 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

Because mobile phones and texting/IMing means that one party can always write a lengthy explanation, once they've got their thoughts together, so the other person isn't labouring under that misunderstanding.

I know what you're saying, but logically that means that people could also have done this the same way back in the age of letters in the mail.  Or old-fashioned phone calls, the kind you might make after you'd gotten your thoughts together.

Edited February 1, 2019 by ratgirlagogo

[Anela]

Watching a TV show now, where a woman is forced to defend herself against a man, she's scared and stabs in the hand (knife right through to the table she's struggling on), and then it ends up being some kind of twisted foreplay - they're both as fucked up as each other. If I have to stab a man to get him to stop hurting me - if we get as far as him physically attacking me in any way - there would be no sex happening. If it wasn't forced on me. 

[Haleth]

4 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

I know what you're saying, but logically that means that people could also have done this the same way back in the age of letters in the mail.  

It worked for Mr Darcy!

[ganesh]

6 hours ago, Anela said:

If I have to stab a man to get him to stop hurting me - if we get as far as him physically attacking me in any way - there would be no sex happening.

Well, I guess we're going to have to cancel your surprise birthday party!

TV told me that you have to get into a huge argument before sex. 

[Anela]

10 hours ago, ganesh said:

Well, I guess we're going to have to cancel your surprise birthday party!

TV told me that you have to get into a huge argument before sex. 

If it involves violence, then please go ahead and cancel it. ;)

TV also taught me that if there is a happy (or supposedly happy) couple in sight, one of four things will happen:

a) There will be a love triangle, one of them not being as in love as they appear

b) There will actually be cheating involved

c) One person is a sociopath/liar/serial killer and the other genuinely clueless or is their partner in crime

d) One of them will be murdered, or die in some way, to further the story. Or just to shock and depress the hell out of people.

[Jacqs]

Any media tropes about Jack the Ripper that practically romanticize Jack and ignore the humanity of the women he killed.

[slf]

The person who is being targeted by a person/group/conspiracy but doesn't know why. They/their family have some mysterious backstory they're totally unaware of. They spend the show shouting thing slike, "WHY ME?" and more often than not there's at least one person who knows all about what's going on but for some reason refuses to reveal the information. The Blacklist is currently the worst offender. There are some shows that don't even start out that way but the writers incorporate it over time.

[Jacqs]

The Trapped in TV Land trope.

They never go for drama and flesh out how bad it would be depending on the era the show is set in that the protagonist gets transported to.

To me, If i were writing a Trapped in TV Land story, I'd do a period TV show where there was more restrictions on, say, women or young people.

"Pleasantville" (the show within a movie) played it for laughs but boy would a modern little girl or adolescent female be pished off at not being able to wear trousers to school or church or a job if they arrived in a 1950s drama or sitcom.

[danderson400]

On 2/12/2015 at 10:30 AM, bmasters9 said:

Trope Co. Trope of the Week: usually seen on sports shows when a specific segment of a broadcast is named for a sponsor. One of the first examples I remember is The Prudential College Football Report with Jim Nantz (his first role at CBS, by the way, in what is soon to be a 30-year career there doing college football, college hoops, golf, the NFL-- practically everything).

 

In the good old days, soap operas had sponsor tags, at the start, at mid-break and sometimes before the end credits.

 

Edited February 5, 2019 by danderson400

[Dr.OO7]

"Reality Ensues"

I don't relish seeing horrible things happen to characters, especially those I like, but it's a relief to see real life consequences instead of TV's usual escapism.

Breaking the rules at work to get the job done?

Gets you FIRED or at the very least, severely reprimanded, not praised or promoted.

Punching out the man/woman your significant other is fooling around with?

Gets you arrested and charged with assault.

There's countless other examples, but those two leap to mind because of how frequently the opposite happens.

[bmasters9]

On 2/4/2019 at 9:58 PM, danderson400 said:

In the good old days, soap operas had sponsor tags, at the start, at mid-break and sometimes before the end credits.

And here's that Prudential College Football Report bumper from 1986 as I remember it:

[MaryMitch]

I always like watching the soon-to-be dad run around like an idiot when the woman in labor calmly gathers her things to go to the hospital.

[andromeda331]

3 hours ago, MaryMitch said:

I always like watching the soon-to-be dad run around like an idiot when the woman in labor calmly gathers her things to go to the hospital.

So do I. As a kid I always thought that was made up for TV since then I've seen so many soon to be dads acting just like that when their wife or girlfriend is labor just makes me laugh harder and wonder if their basing that off anyone in particular. It is so funny to watch and later tease them about.  

[meep.meep]

On 2/3/2019 at 4:41 PM, slf said:

The person who is being targeted by a person/group/conspiracy but doesn't know why. They/their family have some mysterious backstory they're totally unaware of. They spend the show shouting thing slike, "WHY ME?" and more often than not there's at least one person who knows all about what's going on but for some reason refuses to reveal the information. The Blacklist is currently the worst offender. There are some shows that don't even start out that way but the writers incorporate it over time.

The Jack in the Box commercials with Josh Duhamel that made fun of this were the best!

[Annber03]

11 hours ago, MaryMitch said:

I always like watching the soon-to-be dad run around like an idiot when the woman in labor calmly gathers her things to go to the hospital.

I liked it on "I Love Lucy" when Ricky had everything planned out all neatly and orderly for when Lucy said it was time to go to the hospital, then the day actually comes, Lucy comes out and says, "Ricky, this is it."

...and everyone is like, "...this is it...THIS IS IT!" and starts running around and flailing all over the place. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

12 hours ago, Annber03 said:

I liked it on "I Love Lucy" when Ricky had everything planned out all neatly and orderly for when Lucy said it was time to go to the hospital, then the day actually comes, Lucy comes out and says, "Ricky, this is it."

...and everyone is like, "...this is it...THIS IS IT!" and starts running around and flailing all over the place. 

The best part is Lucy going "Hey! Wait for me!" as Ricky, Fred, and Ethel all rush out of the apartment, leaving Lucy to waddle out by herself!🤣

[Haleth]

On February 20, 2019 at 10:45 AM, MaryMitch said:

I always like watching the soon-to-be dad run around like an idiot when the woman in labor calmly gathers her things to go to the hospital.

One of the all time funniest examples of this was on Murphy Brown.  Frank runs around throwing random crap into a bag, including a stapler and leopard panties.  When Murphy sees what's in the bag she glares at him and starts stapling the panties.

Edited February 22, 2019 by Haleth

[Bastet]

7 hours ago, Haleth said:

On of the all time funniest examples of this was on Murphy Brown.  Frank runs around throwing random crap into a bag, including a stapler and leopard panties.  When Murphy sees what's in the bag she glares at him and starts stapling the panties.

Him packing a bunch of underwear, bras & nylons, and the stapler (and nothing she actually needed), led to the fabulously-delivered line, "I was just thinking how I wanted to put on all my underwear and staple something!”

[BaggythePanther]

I like Time Loop, or Groundhog Day episodes (when they’re well done). My two recent favorites are Dark Matter’s “All the Time In the World” and Legends of Tomorrow’s “Here I Go Again”. I know there are others, including Star Trek’s “Cause and Effect” which is mentioned in the LoT episode.

[Brookside]

Not exactly a trope per se, but why do all female detectives wear cleavage revealing t-shirts?

[Jacqs]

tits and ass, my friend. Tits and ass,,,

[Moose135]

9 hours ago, Brookside said:

Not exactly a trope per se, but why do all female detectives wear cleavage revealing t-shirts?

You say that like it's a bad thing...

[meep.meep]

It's OK, as long as the hard-bodied young male detectives keep spilling coffee on themselves and have to take their shirts off.

[magicdog]

On 2/26/2019 at 4:07 PM, meep.meep said:

It's OK, as long as the hard-bodied young male detectives keep spilling coffee on themselves and have to take their shirts off.

I’m fine with that!

[Trini]

I haven't read through everything, so I don't know if this has been mentioned recently; but I saw this trope play out on two different shows last night (but it also happens a lot in movies):

::after receiving some information::
Bad Guy (or Secret Bad Guy): "Does anyone else know? / Did you say anything to anyone?"
Lower Rung Bad Guy (or Naive/Ignorant Agent/Co-worker): "No."
Bad Guy (or Secret Bad Guy): *stab* (or *shoots* or *chokes*)

I've seen this too many times. For once I'd like to see Naive Agent say something like, "Oh yeah, I immediately forwarded that info to the proper authorities, and a couple of media outlets, too. That whole situation is SUPER shady and illegal!"

[tennisgurl]

Not telling people important information that certainly affects them for no reason except to create drama, or stupid plot twists. Especially when it’s to “protect” them, even though them not knowing is actively endangering them, or making their life worse! 

Edited March 6, 2019 by tennisgurl

[paulvdb]

The misunderstanding where people are talking about two different things, but think they're talking about the same thing. Especially when it requires them to say things in a way that real people never do.

[Dr.OO7]

On 2/26/2019 at 5:16 AM, Brookside said:

Not exactly a trope per se, but why do all female detectives wear cleavage revealing t-shirts?

Why do all female medical professionals wear their hair loose where it can get soiled by body fluids, contaminate a sterile field or get grabbed by an agitated patient?*

* I learned that last one the hard way.

[Wiendish Fitch]

25 minutes ago, Camille said:

Why do all female medical professionals wear their hair loose where it can get soiled by body fluids, contaminate a sterile field or get grabbed by an agitated patient?*

* I learned that last one the hard way.

See, that's why I always gave it up for Olivia on Fringe: wore modest, professional clothing, flat comfortable shoes, and her was almost always tied back.

[topanga]

Medical students/residents who teach their attending doctors something critical that saves a dying patient. Sure, students and residents have a chance to brainstorm with their mentors about patients, but this usually occurs during rounds or in a designated meeting to discuss patients. 

In the middle of a high risk surgery with a patient crashing is not the time that a surgery resident would yell out, "Try clamping the aorta and moving the bowel. Then turn on the heart-lung machine and remove the tumor!" And most attendings wouldn't listen even if they did. 

I love you, The Good Doctor but you're famous for this. 

Same thing with imaging studies. The attending says the MRI shows nothing serious, but the resident says--"No! that's an aggressive tumor!"  And they're right. 

And why don't these shows ever have radiologists, the doctors who actually trained to read radiology studies? 

[Dr.OO7]

8 hours ago, topanga said:

And why don't these shows ever have radiologists, the doctors who actually trained to read radiology studies? 

Because Surgeons Can Do Autopsies If They Want.

That trope irritated the hell out of me even BEFORE I went to medical school, and it sure as hell does now.

As does the "rebellious underling teaches the stick-in-the-mud veteran something". Yeah, that gets you disciplined or FIRED in real life.

I think 90% of movies and TV shows need to come with disclaimers warning people that they'll lose their jobs if they mimic a character's behavior.

[andromeda331]

1 hour ago, Camille said:

Because Surgeons Can Do Autopsies If They Want.

That trope irritated the hell out of me even BEFORE I went to medical school, and it sure as hell does now.

As does the "rebellious underling teaches the stick-in-the-mud veteran something". Yeah, that gets you disciplined or FIRED in real life.

I think 90% of movies and TV shows need to come with disclaimers warning people that they'll lose their jobs if they mimic a character's behavior.

And apparently a doctor or residence can do all surgeries, diagnose all diseases, and do everything. Who needs a radiologist when the doctor can do it? Who needs a heart surgeon when any doctor can do it? And yet still only go to medical school for the regular amount of time. Same amount of time and learn 50 specialties.

[Jacqs]

and, of course, "doctor" has only recently, and informally, become a term for physician or healer. So all you anachronistic historical dramas...

[kiddo82]

On 3/9/2019 at 12:18 AM, Camille said:

As does the "rebellious underling teaches the stick-in-the-mud veteran something". Yeah, that gets you disciplined or FIRED in real life.

Ugh.  This one.   On par with the "street savvy rogue cowboy > polished protocol-abiding book smart one" trope.  You know, cause people who study their field are never as qualified as those who wing it.  At least ER showed that Dr. Malucci was an irresponsible ass.

How bout the doctor/cop who gets away with repeated unethical or illegal behavior because he (it's usually a he) "cares so much."?

Edited March 19, 2019 by kiddo82

[Spartan Girl]

How about the "running to your ex for a hookup after a breakup" trope?  It's just so demeaning, especially when the ex clearly uses the situation to their advantage (looking at you, Christopher from Gilmore Girls).  Like, seriously?  You really want this person who is clearly on the rebound and therefore might be using you just to make themselves feel better?  You're so desperate that you'll jump on any opportunity to hook up with them, even if they might regret it later?!

[legaleagle53]

On 3/19/2019 at 9:29 AM, Spartan Girl said:

How about the "running to your ex for a hookup after a breakup" trope?  It's just so demeaning, especially when the ex clearly uses the situation to their advantage (looking at you, Christopher from Gilmore Girls).  Like, seriously?  You really want this person who is clearly on the rebound and therefore might be using you just to make themselves feel better?  You're so desperate that you'll jump on any opportunity to hook up with them, even if they might regret it later?!

To say nothing of the fact that she's apparently forgotten that she made you an ex for a reason!

[DrSpaceman]

On ‎3‎/‎8‎/‎2019 at 4:01 PM, topanga said:

Medical students/residents who teach their attending doctors something critical that saves a dying patient. Sure, students and residents have a chance to brainstorm with their mentors about patients, but this usually occurs during rounds or in a designated meeting to discuss patients. 

In the middle of a high risk surgery with a patient crashing is not the time that a surgery resident would yell out, "Try clamping the aorta and moving the bowel. Then turn on the heart-lung machine and remove the tumor!" And most attendings wouldn't listen even if they did. 

I love you, The Good Doctor but you're famous for this. 

Same thing with imaging studies. The attending says the MRI shows nothing serious, but the resident says--"No! that's an aggressive tumor!"  And they're right. 

And why don't these shows ever have radiologists, the doctors who actually trained to read radiology studies? 

I agree that is annoying and most medical shows are ridiculous.

On the other hand, one of the biggest memories for me from medical school :

ER rotation.  Patients Xray after trauma to the hand.  Middle of the night.  Forget if it was the radiologist or the ED doctor says "Xray is OK".  I look at it, "Isn't that a fracture of the thumb?"  "Oh, well, yes it is, you're right".

But generally, yes, no one is listening to a med student. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

I think that the following falls under two tropes that annoy to me no end on criminal procedures:

1. When a cop/detective is involved in a shooting, and they have to be put on desk duty while the case is being investigated, said cop/detective turns into a petulant, whiny child, insisting they should be able to help with the investigation. And that sitting at a desk is BORING. They need to DO SOMETHING! And when told to sit their asses down, go off on their own to "solve" the case. It's particularly annoying because they've seen other cops/colleagues that have been involved in shootings having to do the same thing, and they themselves spout "let the system work." Except, of course, when it involves THEM.
    
2. When a cop/agent/detective is shot AND involved in a shooting and have to have the mandatory sessions with the department shrink, and again, act like whiny, petulant toddlers, insisting they don't need to talk to no stupid shrink, because they're OKAY. Or that they're sick of desk duty; they've recovered and are good to go; except it's proven they're not a 100%. And they trash talk the shrinks, and then threaten to quit, because obviously, the Department, or their CO doesn't think they can do their job anymore.

I swear, the only time I ever saw a cop okay with having to talk to the department shrink was Mike Logan in Season Two of Law & Order (Mothership) after his partner had been murdered. At first he told her he was okay with Max's death, but as the episode went on, he admitted other stages of grief.

[andromeda331]

3 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I think that the following falls under two tropes that annoy to me no end on criminal procedures:

1. When a cop/detective is involved in a shooting, and they have to be put on desk duty while the case is being investigated, said cop/detective turns into a petulant, whiny child, insisting they should be able to help with the investigation. And that sitting at a desk is BORING. They need to DO SOMETHING! And when told to sit their asses down, go off on their own to "solve" the case. It's particularly annoying because they've seen other cops/colleagues that have been involved in shootings having to do the same thing, and they themselves spout "let the system work." Except, of course, when it involves THEM.
    
2. When a cop/agent/detective is shot AND involved in a shooting and have to have the mandatory sessions with the department shrink, and again, act like whiny, petulant toddlers, insisting they don't need to talk to no stupid shrink, because they're OKAY. Or that they're sick of desk duty; they've recovered and are good to go; except it's proven they're not a 100%. And they trash talk the shrinks, and then threaten to quit, because obviously, the Department, or their CO doesn't think they can do their job anymore.

I swear, the only time I ever saw a cop okay with having to talk to the department shrink was Mike Logan in Season Two of Law & Order (Mothership) after his partner had been murdered. At first he told her he was okay with Max's death, but as the episode went on, he admitted other stages of grief.

I agreed both of those are annoying. The endless insisting on being on the investigation despite being told repeatedly that doing so would jeopardize the case and/or they are emotionally involved. Which is correct. But they still keep whining and then decide screw it their going to get involved anyways without letting anyone know and mess up.  Despite all the threats they never actual get in trouble for it. Nor does the case get thrown out despite it was clear the cop/detective disobeying and jeopardizing a case.

The trash talking of shrinks especially to their faces is really crappy. Blaming the shrink for not signing off or preventing them from doing their jobs. Despite it should be no surprise. Its standard practice. They end up waste the shrink's time, treat them like crap, whine forever despite as you pointed out all the signs they really do need to talk to a shrink. If they'd just shut up, talk about their problems, work them out they'd be cleared and back on duty sooner. 

Some are funny like Brenda insisting everything is fine on the Closer despite telling the shrink she's engaged, moving, possibly going through menopause in addition to being shot all in happy, cheerful voice hoping to get cleared. The shrink says nothing but emails Pope that Brenda's crazy Brenda insists that's nuts and Pope marks according to the shrink so is she. 

Logan's really was the best on Law & Order we got to see him go through all the stages of grief. In the end he reaches acceptance. 

Edited March 22, 2019 by andromeda331

[Raja]

4 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I think that the following falls under two tropes that annoy to me no end on criminal procedures:

1. When a cop/detective is involved in a shooting, and they have to be put on desk duty while the case is being investigated, said cop/detective turns into a petulant, whiny child, insisting they should be able to help with the investigation. And that sitting at a desk is BORING. They need to DO SOMETHING! And when told to sit their asses down, go off on their own to "solve" the case. It's particularly annoying because they've seen other cops/colleagues that have been involved in shootings having to do the same thing, and they themselves spout "let the system work." Except, of course, when it involves THEM.
    
2. When a cop/agent/detective is shot AND involved in a shooting and have to have the mandatory sessions with the department shrink, and again, act like whiny, petulant toddlers, insisting they don't need to talk to no stupid shrink, because they're OKAY. Or that they're sick of desk duty; they've recovered and are good to go; except it's proven they're not a 100%. And they trash talk the shrinks, and then threaten to quit, because obviously, the Department, or their CO doesn't think they can do their job anymore.

I swear, the only time I ever saw a cop okay with having to talk to the department shrink was Mike Logan in Season Two of Law & Order (Mothership) after his partner had been murdered. At first he told her he was okay with Max's death, but as the episode went on, he admitted other stages of grief.

Law & Order was the anomaly, until Bernard and Lupo, because it was not a cop show where the squad kills more people in a year than entire police departments kill in 10 years. And then maybe around the third season you get the very special episode with Internal Affairs investigation, limited duty and medical clearance to go back to unlimited duty.