LogFAQs > #977171415

I think my favourite is the "unsuspecting good person" ala Snape or Itachi. Or Burt Hummel for this so inclined. You expect or are convinced these people are/would be awful, turns out they're mostly good people.

I actually have two least favorites:

First one is the "Action Prologue" It's largely just a cheap excuse to drum up excitement because the beginning of your story is boring as sin
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ActionPrologue

Think Supernatural

Secondly, and this one pretty much entirely inexcusable, and that's the "doing something innocuous and it accidentally solves the mystery.

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoonLogicPuzzle

This is the closest example I could find.

Imo, this is absolutely egregious. It is such a massive crutch for shows like Bones (and House sometimes) No one should be trying to solve a murder case, get stonewalled, and then find the answer eating a box of chicken wings. It's dumb, it's lazy, and it's absolutely fucking everywhere. It's one thing if someone is sitting in a room actively thinking about it, that's okay because I can buy someone trying the look at it differently if they're actually looking at it. But the answer falling out of the sky because you're mowing your lawn or deeding is and will always be awful writing.