Aristotle believed in two basic plots: those of the body and those of the mind. Kipling claimed there are 39 plots, whilst Carlo Gozzi published a book entitled The 36 Dramatic Situations. Stephen King claims 6 (Success; Failure; Love and Loss; Revenge; Mistaken Identity; The search for a higher power) and 20 Master Plots by Ronald Tobias, unsurprisingly, opts for 20 as the number.
After you've watched a few series of science fiction you begin to spot the common plots used on TV. So much so, new episodes become predictably similar even in different series. Whilst some series attempt to break the mould (or should that be remove the mold?) such as Battlestar Galactica, most follow the same basic plot lines time after time.
Here are some of the plot lines used in TV sci-fi. Hopefully the list will make you smile if you are familair with TV series or help you to understand whats going on if you are new to the likes of Buffy, Star Gate, Star Trek and so on.
Body Swap or "If I'm you, who are you?"
Through various plot devices our heroes find they have either swapped bodies, joined into one body or one person has been split in two. Its usually played for comedy - the boys can be the girls - but occassionally the question of individual identity is raised. Oh and when one person splits into two, the evil one is always stronger than the good one but loses anyway.
The Time Paradox or "Dude, you just killed your own grandfather!"
Our hero travels in time and does something in the past that changes the future which is the heros present. Paradoxes abound. The hero invents something in the past that exists in the future and he read in a book. The hero becomes his own grandfather or his best friends grandfather (think Terminator). Essentially these episodes are meant to mess with your mind. Go with it and remember - never, ever kill your own grandfather.
Alternate Universe or "You look like me, you speak like me, but you aren't me."
There are a million billion alternate universes where people exist just like us but with slightly different hair cut and fashion choices. Obviously helping each other, fighting each other and swapping fashion tips all make for fun episodes. It usually ends with one or other character sacrificing themselves but our hero lives on. Phew!
The Betrayer or "I must be just so naive that I ate breakfast with you for four series"
Its a never ending source of amazement to our good guys when one of them turns out to be a killer robot. Imagine the sheer horror then, when one of them betrays the others and - shock - they did it because they are just plain old evil. Battlestar Galactica has as its central theme the idea of who are the betrayers and just how evil are they?
Romeo and Juliet or "Would Kirk shag something with tentacles?"
The vampire slayer and the vampire. The half klingon and the human. The thing with long tentacles and the thing with lots of holes. Though of course in sci-fi, you have many options for star crossed lovers, probably the wierdest so far was the hologram and the creature composed of other creatures body parts. It was the Romeo and Juliet equivalent of a car wreck.
Alien Technology or "Don't press that button AGAIN!"
The heroes find a charm or a sacred object or alien tech that when activated causes sheer havoc, panic, comic relief. Putting it right takes an entire episode, or even a whole series. Then there is the question of what to do with the offending object.
The Last One Alive or "Everybody else is mad!"
For various reasons only one of our heroes knows the world has changed and everything is wrong. Only one of our heroes can put everything right. Only one of our heroes had to work on set that week. Stargate once raised the issue that if everyone else is happy the way they are, why should the universe be put back the way it was. Star Trek: TNG once made the heroine the person who was wrong. In the main though its a hero vs. everyone else scenario; and the hero is always right.
Death is the next Step or "So, you couldn't get a role on another series, huh?"
In a hospital drama, people do not ascend, they do not become higher beings, they do not re-appear as clones or exist as minds in computers. Hospital dramas would lose credibility and just an itsy-bitsy bit of the dramatic need if patients just kept coming back after death for more pills. Sci-fi loves this though. Get used to it. By the end of the series, it must happen that all the characters died at least once. Some may really be dead but still quite useful and with unexpectedly large pieces of dialogue.
The Powerful Child or "If I shout really loud, maybe the kid will do what I want"
Its this simple. If you find a child and all the adults are dead: run away. If its not too late already of course. The question of immaturity linked to enormous power is a good one for Sci-fi. The only way to handle them is to show them authority, then, as that wears thin, dump them somewhere and run like hell.
The Unbeatable Enemy or "We have to find their kryptonite"
Don't worry. Every single alien race, demonic horde or swarm of killer robots has, fortunately for the human race, been designed by higher powers to have one fatal weakness. Sleep sound knowing that during the series someone will find a weapon, a disease, a frequency or simply a pipe sticking out the back of the neck that allows the enemy to be stopped. Dead.
The Unknown Language or "Do you speakee the Eeenglish?"
The heroes uncover an ancient language, a species that doesn't speak any known language or suddenly develop the inability to talk to each other. A second dire thing happens to them which they must escape whilst being unable to communicate. Its the sci-fi equivalent of the United Nations. In one brilliant interpretation, everyone in Buffy lost their voices. The episode became a silent movie.
The Super Intelligent Team Member or "You all seem like insects to me now"
One of the team suddenly gets smart enough to see how stupid everyone else is but not smart enough to see how bad the script is becoming. This leads them to develop value judgements, and make incredibly condescending speeches, that threaten others lives. The dumber heroes must outsmart the cleverer one and restore their previous level of stupidity, er..intelligence.
The Deadly Computer or "You ask it questions while I unplug it"
Some computer, anything from the fridge to the national defence supercomputer is damaged and logically deduces that humans are a threat to life (either its own, theirs or everything). In a battle of wits the heroes eventually ask the machine a question which cannot be answered logically and it ceases to function. It usually takes the heroes around 40 minutes to do this. About 40 times as long as the audience.
The Ancient Ones or "You are so young my little young, young, youthful little ones"
Our heroes discover their races are not the oldest in the universe. The older race is nearly always condescending but may be helpful or harmful. In either case the young ones will never, ever do anything useful with the knowledge they learn from this encounter. Ah the folly of youth. They will usually humbly admit to their failings for the time of a whole episode. It wears off though.
The Dream Episode or "We can write crazy shit as none of it is cannon!"
Virtual reality, the holodeck, drugs, torture and alien device or the blood of a lesser demon can all send our heroes into a dream world they cannot escape from. In order to do so they must realise their predicament, desire to wake up and face some obstacle in the dream world. The writers mean time get to do anything they want to the characters and only have to write a 2 minute "well that was embarressing" get out for the end of the episode.
The Musical or "Guess which of us is dubbed and which is really singing"
For reasons that are too preposterous to discuss the heroes find they must sing, dance or otherwise perform in ways they were barely trained to do. Some are so bad they are dubbed. Its a fan boy wet dream and the album is sure to sell like hot cakes whilst amateur performances of the musical episode will haunt us for years after the show is cancelled. Strangely this is usually limited to sci fantasy shows (eg Xena, Buffy) but there are those among us who long to see Tribbles the Musical.
What Does it Mean to be Human or "Even Pinnochio didn't ask this many annoying questions buddy"
The heroes encounter a robot, demon, or other creature that is fascinated with the human condition. Much hilarity ensues as the episode explores one of the basic themes of science fiction : what does it mean to be human. Some series stretch this for the whole length of the series, gradually imbuing the character with more and more humanity. Poor sod.
Rounding up
Sci-fi can also deal with ordinary plot lines, typical to more earth bound dramas. Death in the family, friendship, the love triangle and so on. Sci-fi can not only deal with normal hospital drama style plots but
also throw in Nuclear powered killer robots that have lost their memory
and are searching for their maker. By getting rid of what is physically possible and the ultimate barrier of death, sci-fi is free to explore grand ideas and create stories impossible in other genres. I could go on with my list but I've covered about 70% of the basic filler plots. Some episodes may be heavily disguised, others are combinations of the above ideas. The trick for the writers is not to make new ideas but to tell the stories in a new way, to have great dialogue and to fit the basic ideas into a story arc running through the series.
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