7. Everyone Loses Their Inhibitions
Warner Bros. TelevisionOn paper, having your characters resort to their baser instincts or just act drunk and horny must seem like a fantastic idea. Youll be using your regular cast on regular sets, but youll get to see them playing off each other in a whole new way. Itll stretch the actors, itll provide a few laughs and youll get the comedy pay-off of everyone being socially awkward when it all wears off. Especially if two of the characters had sex, ha ha! Burn that paper. The theory may be sound, but this is one plot thats always so terribly executed itd probably be best if humanity just cut its losses and forgot the idea even existed. One of the most infamous examples is The Naked Now, the second episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation which decides to flat-out duplicate an Original Series plot. Recycling material from a show youre being unfavourably compared to is a daft enough idea at the best of times, but having your cast act out of character when youve barely established who they are on a normal Tuesday? Madness. More recently, writers have tried to put a darker spin on the notion by gradually stripping away the moral safeguards that characters place upon themselves. Whether its the Doctor declaring himself Time Lord Victorious or Walter Bishop battling his own psychosis, these moments are far more effective - theyre revealing genuine traits that the characters must struggle to suppress every day, and not just because the plot of the week demands it.