Revisiting the Collective: More Great Works of Fiction with Giant Plot Holes

(CS: I really don't read or hear about people debating about plot holes much anymore, but they were all the rage when I wrote for Collective Publishing. I ended up writing a few pieces about them. I reposted the original a few weeks ago, and so, it felt appropriate to repost the follow-up.)

About a year ago, I got all nitpicky and geeky as I wrote a piece revealing some plot holes in beloved works of fiction. I’m feeling that itch again, and it’s time to tear off the band aid of some incredible stories to reveal their giant gaping plot holes. It’s so much fun finding plot holes that sometimes I think the writers and directors just do it to keep super fans engaged. (CS: Or they realize spending time to address them would slow down the story.)  Just like last time, this article contains some massive spoilers, so you’ve been warned. 

 

Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Indiana Jones series has always had its fair share of the supernatural with its Nazi-melting poltergeists, the knight who lives a few centuries, and of course, the crystal skull loving aliens. No one ever seems to mention the fact that Jones clearly is a resident of the lost empire of Atlantis or has an alter ego as Aquaman. Near the end of the picture, the Nazis escape with the Ark of the Covenant and Marion on their U-boat, but the ever heroic Jones jumps on top of the submarine to tag along for the two day journey. You can’t just pop open the hatch of a U-Boat and they have a habit of doing their traveling under water, yet Jones seems just as full of life as before (even if he is a little wet) when they arrive to their destination. I can accept the fact that Sallah packed him some sandwiches for the long trip to fight starvation, but where was Indiana hiding those gills? (CS: Kind of feel this was a purposeful move now by Steven Spielberg and especially George Lucas, who were basing this movie off the adventure serials they loved as kids that would have been full of odd inconsistencies like that.)

 

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: The Weasley twins give Harry Potter the very handy and very awesome Marauder’s Map that reveals all the secret passages in Hogwarts and also identifies specifically the location of everyone in the school. For guys that loved the map so much, they weren’t all that great at reading it. You’d think over the past two years that they’d have noticed at least once that a well-known figure thought to be dead, Peter Pettigrew, had apparently been bunking with their brother, Ron. (CS: For non-Harry Potter fans, Pettigrew had been disguising himself as Ron's pet rat, Scabbers. My best guess is that this was a twist that JK Rowling had not figured out when she wrote the first few books. Just like why Darth Vader never sensed that Leia was his daughter in the first Star Wars.)

Married. . . with Children: Kelly Bundy is a promiscuous and rebellious teen when the series starts, but she also appears to be an average student with some intelligence. It must have been a little shocking to her teachers when halfway through the second season she’d become a ditz that could barely read and could be outwitted by a door knob. She must have been far too close to Al when he kicked off his shoes one night and the odour permanently scrambled her brains and senses. (CS: Dumbing down of a sitcom character seems to be one of the rules of the genre.)

Spiderman 2: Doc Ock learns that the best way to find Spiderman is to consult Peter Parker who is believed to be good friends with him. There is absolutely no evidence that Ock has a clue that Spiderman is an alter ego of Parker, but does seem to believe the boy is the only way of finding the super hero. Ock doesn’t follow normal etiquette of opening up a conversation, by instead taking the unorthodox approach of throwing a car into the café that Parker and Mary Jane are sitting in. Everything turns out fine because Parker is super powered, but again Ock was unaware of that small fact, and he seems to think the best way to conduct a discussion is to have the informant splattered across the wall. I’ll be sure to never be in a spot where I need a job interview with Doc Ock. (CS: But it was necessary to look cool in the trailers.)

 

Cheers/Frasier: The first episode of Frasier, Marty Crane is a little peeved that his son told all his friends in Boston that he was a research scientist rather than a cop and was dead rather than alive, and then Frasier confesses he did it out of anger. That would seems to wrap up this plot hole, and make you wonder why I put this on the list. Well, because it seems that Frasier deep down didn’t want to be a psychiatrist but rather an actor. During his entire run on Cheers, he constantly brought up how his father’s profession shaped him and how being an orphan influenced who he was, and both were key parts of the character’s behaviour and actions. Either the show Frasier was secretly a science fiction picture about how one man went back in time to rescue his father (with all the action parts just implied rather than shown) or Frasier Crane was one incredible character actor that was in clearly in the wrong profession. (CS: Or he was just really good at lying.)

Star Wars series: Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda apparently thought the very best way to protect Luke Skywalker from his psychopathic father was to keep the same last name, ‘hide’ him on the planet his father grew up on, have him raised by his father’s only known living relatives, and make sure those relatives stay on the farm where Vader had last seen them. It seems to be the “so obvious no one would think we’re that stupid to use it” battle plan. With this kind of amazing strategic planning, it isn’t really surprising that the Empire took over and ruled the galaxy for so long, but more of a shocker the rebels eventually won. (CS: The now out of canon books has Uncle Owen actually be Ben's brother, which would have made far more sense.)

Oz series: At the end of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz novel, Glinda the good witch offers Scarecrow the position of ruler of the Emerald City. In the very next book, Scarecrow comes to Glinda to help him reclaim the crown but is informed that he was never the rightful ruler and the position belongs to Ozma. There is never any impression that Glinda was unaware of Ozma, and instead just offered a kingdom to Scarecrow that he would never be allowed to rule. The politics of Oz make the chaos with the Canadian senators look peaceful and organized. (CS: And now politics everywhere is more insane than a world with Munchkins and talking lions.)

 

Independence Day: Russell Casse is considered crazy by everyone in this motion picture, because he constantly goes on about how he once was abducted by aliens. Every time he rants about it people will roll their eyes and give a look knowing that it is just about time for the man to be fitted for a straightjacket. While we can all agree we probably aren’t ready for such a guy to start babysitting our kids, but things in the motion picture’s universe are very different. There are giant alien spaceships floating above the earth and the entire world is getting ready to declare war on the intergalactic invaders. You’d think Russell’s claims would seem a bit more realistic when a giant spaceship just blew up half of America. (CS: This is the same problem with the MCU where after everything that has happened in the world that there are people who doubt supernatural things or are surprised when someone has superpowers.)

 What are some other great works of fiction that have glaring plot holes?