Yeah, very true. Although Buffy's plots were better than most and not nearly as convoluted as some shows that are written by fewer writers. And, Buffy isn't a plot driven show - it's a character driven series. So the plots tend to serve the characters. It's not meant to have great plots, unlike a mystery series that does.
Andor - is suffering from convoluted plot syndrome, it can kind of get away with it because of its genre. See if you have more writers to bounce ideas off of - you are less likely to get self-indulgent.
Another example is Dept Q, it had four writers, but it also got a bit self-indulgent, and convoluted. (I just finished discussing it with my mother, who has a crush on Mathew Goode, and whose issue with it was how convoluted and poorly plotted it was.) Unlike Buffy and Andor, Dept Q can't quite get away with a convoluted plot. Also it's plot doesn't quite work either (and it's been done one too many times by Criminal Minds - psychopath kidnaps you and tortures you for revenge) - it doesn't quite make sense that Merrit is held for four years in that container and survived. Why didn't she suffocate? Why didn't they just kill her? It's not in the best of conditions? I think it should have been two years, make more sense.
I figured it out - that it was associated with Mohr, (obviously it was - Finch would have just killed her not put her in a tank and tortured her), what confused me was the whole Sam Haig bit, I had to rewatch that episode, not helped by the characters looking too much alike in Merrit's story arc. I had to explain it all to my mother - who got lost in the whole Sam Haig bit as well. That's an example of bad plotting. The audience gets lost in the plot. The red herrings didn't mislead me - I knew pretty much from the get-go, it wasn't Finch. I got confused by the Kristy bit, and Haig. That's bad writing/plotting. I've seen it done well elsewhere - Prime Suspect, Ice House, Homicide Life on the Streets, and The Wire. [The only reason she and I stuck with it - was Mathew Goode, the cast, and wanting to know if Merrit got found. But the plot just about drove us out of the story. Too convoluted and didn't quite work.) But that's a show that needs to work on the plotting to hold a sizable audience, mainly because it's supposed to have better plotting, due to its genre. People go into it for the mystery. The Residence had the same problem - it drug, and it's plotting was too convoluted.
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Andor - is suffering from convoluted plot syndrome, it can kind of get away with it because of its genre. See if you have more writers to bounce ideas off of - you are less likely to get self-indulgent.
Another example is Dept Q, it had four writers, but it also got a bit self-indulgent, and convoluted. (I just finished discussing it with my mother, who has a crush on Mathew Goode, and whose issue with it was how convoluted and poorly plotted it was.) Unlike Buffy and Andor, Dept Q can't quite get away with a convoluted plot. Also it's plot doesn't quite work either (and it's been done one too many times by Criminal Minds - psychopath kidnaps you and tortures you for revenge) - it doesn't quite make sense that Merrit is held for four years in that container and survived. Why didn't she suffocate? Why didn't they just kill her? It's not in the best of conditions? I think it should have been two years, make more sense.
I figured it out - that it was associated with Mohr, (obviously it was - Finch would have just killed her not put her in a tank and tortured her), what confused me was the whole Sam Haig bit, I had to rewatch that episode, not helped by the characters looking too much alike in Merrit's story arc. I had to explain it all to my mother - who got lost in the whole Sam Haig bit as well. That's an example of bad plotting. The audience gets lost in the plot. The red herrings didn't mislead me - I knew pretty much from the get-go, it wasn't Finch. I got confused by the Kristy bit, and Haig. That's bad writing/plotting. I've seen it done well elsewhere - Prime Suspect, Ice House, Homicide Life on the Streets, and The Wire.
[The only reason she and I stuck with it - was Mathew Goode, the cast, and wanting to know if Merrit got found. But the plot just about drove us out of the story. Too convoluted and didn't quite work.) But that's a show that needs to work on the plotting to hold a sizable audience, mainly because it's supposed to have better plotting, due to its genre. People go into it for the mystery. The Residence had the same problem - it drug, and it's plotting was too convoluted.