Dumb Decisions

[J.Mac3]

Plot was never the point of an Avengers episode but there were times when our beloved characters' decisions bordered on the oblivious–-the dope-slapping, what-were-they-thinking-of kind of decision. Here's one my favorites. Anyone else care to contribute?

In The Bird Who Knew Too Much, when Emma is tied to the chair with the gun pointed at her ( a booby trap), Steed enters and carefully moves the stand holding the gun, which could have triggered it and killed Emma, as evidenced by the care with which he gently pushed it aside. Why didn’t he leave the gun alone and simply move the chair holding Emma? There would have been no chance of setting off the gun! Duh, as my kids would say.

[Frankymole]

I can never get past the stupidity displayed in that scene in Murdersville, when Emma is being pursued by men in a helicopter, and she is under the cover of a copse of trees, and invisible to her pursuers. She then, for no good reason, runs out in the open where they can have a good go at killing her. That just devalues the intelligence of her character. It's poor writing and I have no idea why they did it.

The Sell-Out has some stinkers, though dumb decisions by the villains, not Our Heroes, so they serve to make our heroes look like it's a walkover to win the day: one assassin poses as a workman, but doesn't know what his target looks like, and decides shooting Steed from a distance is better than when (earlier) he is just three feet away, only to get jumped by King. D'oh! The chief assassin apparently thinks it's a good idea to try to carry out his task from the centre of a packed press room, in the middle of security at 'London Airport'. Did he expect to get away with it? And, politely, he waits whilst his target completes a twenty-minute speech, allowing Steed to catch up with him. One-Twelve looks on approvingly... or more like he's forgotten his lines. However, I've warmed to this story over the years. I must be cracking up.

In Man in the Mirror, Venus lives in Manchester apparently. So, how come she's always helping Steed in London? They're a long way apart. That's a dumb decision! Or a helluva commute.

[frank]

That moment in Murdersville always drives me crazy. In fact the whole time that Emma wanders around the village KNOWING the town is full of murderers is aggravating. It's a classic case of lazy writing where she ultimately has to be captured and Clemens wanting a scene with a helicopter.

Town of No Return: It was very foolish of Emma to assume the minister was a newbie just because he said so. Why didn't she confer with Steed first?

Superlative Seven: The rest of the party guests were stupid to completely split up in their search. They should have broken up in 2 groups of 3. That way they are protected from the killer since they would be watching each other's back.

[mousemeat]

murdersville..does has some illogical scenes..i.e. the helicopter....but overall, would you consider this episode, to be the most badly written, in regards to certain scenes ? or ??

[J.Mac3]

Another scene that has always bothered me takes place in Mission . . Highly Improbable.

Knowing that the villains are outside with the machine and about to demonstrate its powers on a gazebo, Mrs. Peel slips a shrunken Steed inside. The instant the gazebo and Steed are restored to original size, she stands up looking for it - as if she doesn't know where it is – in full view of the villains. And as if to prove that the male of the species can be as oblivious as the female, Steed then saunters out of the gazebo as if he's looking for a taxi to hail, once again in full view of the baddies.

The plot needed Steed to be restored yet captured and Emma to be shrunken but remain free, but surely the writers could have come up with a more plausible way for that to happen. Frankymole is right - it's was just laziness on the part of the writer(s) not to be more creative and an insult to the intelligence of the characters.

[J.Mac3]

Superlative Seven: The rest of the party guests were stupid to completely split up in their search. They should have broken up in 2 groups of 3. That way they are protected from the killer since they would be watching each other's back.

That, too, has always left me shaking my head. Splitting up completely to look for a killer in dense woods in the dark. Jeesh, let's make it as easy as possible for him to pick us off one by one. . .

[mousemeat]

some scripts are poorly written..and / or / unrealistic....

[Frankymole]

But still fun! When you're in the right mood for it.

[frank]

murdersville..does has some illogical scenes..i.e. the helicopter....but overall, would you consider this episode, to be the most badly written, in regards to certain scenes ? or ??

I don't feel it's the worst written script but it does really strain credibility and demands a lot of suspension of disbelief. Unlike with the more sci-fi leaning stories where you can sort of just go with it as long as there's an internal logic.

It's not just Emma having to act foolish. We have story where a village of what, 50 people, are willing to be accomplices to murder and assassination. The body count would start to attract attention. They are also written inconsistently about who they, themselves, are willing to kill. And how can they keep the local police constable locked up without rousing suspicion?

[mousemeat]

in regards to averting suspicion, You're pretty much right...with the potential body count..as for the local law enforcement, they might as well been on the take as well..or they were locked up..and out of sight