6. Endlessly-Growing Space Plants
MGMWhether its a mutual appreciation for Little Shop of Horrors or just terror at having to mow the lawn every week, sci-fi writers seem to share a particular affinity this story. Someone brings back seemingly-innocent plant spores that proceed to grow ridiculously quickly, clogging up all the passageways with vines and sucking the power and/or life out of the surroundings. Perhaps theres some shared Writers Guild trauma involving Harvard and an ill-attended spider plant? Whatever the reason, this plot crops up a lot, normally with minimal variation. On rare occasions the organism might be intelligent but mostly its just a big ol plant. Its quite common for episodic sci-fi to have a handful of problem solving stories where the threat is purely scientific Stargate SG-1 got a lot of mileage out of these. Theres normally a ticking clock to ramp up the tension, something like a self-destruct thatll prevent the plant from getting into the water supply, and it gives the science-types a chance to show off their smarts while the other characters are running around with flamethrowers and jumbo cartons of Roundup. Still its a plant. You are essentially watching 45 minutes of very aggressive gardening. The universe is full of amazing possibilities that sci-fi has barely begun to explore and were watching grumpy soldiers hacking away at asparagus. Lets try for something more imaginative if I want to see someone assaulting a salad, Ill watch Come Dine With Me instead.