Aphelion

I think what you're talking about is something I see done all over the place in TV and movies -- a deliberate plot hole used as an excuse to introduce tension and action.

Reminds me of someone's rant on Star Trek, that the transporter was always failing (or getting destroyed) just when they needed it. Obviously the Federation doesn't know how to run a fleet; for something that important, they'd certainly have multiple sets of replacement parts stored about the ship. Nope, not a one. I saw an old TOS episode recently wherein the transporter got "completely fused" in Scotty's words, and there was NO reason at all why they couldn't have used the shuttle. I did a lot of yelling at the TV during that one. And of course, Scotty managed to fix the thing anyway. I have no idea how he does it; I've never once seen him with either a roll of duct tape or a ball-peen hammer in his hands.

The Jon Pertwee Doctor was adept at "Venusian karate"... And David Tennant's Doctor (I think) was a pretty good shot with a handgun. But for the most part, the whole series promotes the idea that brains beats brawn every time (at least when it's a Time Lord brain).

And as to brains beating brawn, there's Dark City. Once you get over the bad guys all looking like Lurch from the old Addams Family -- and their illogical fondness for knives -- it had one of the coolest mind-fight scenes I've ever seen. Inception stole a lot from that movie.

TaoPhoenix wrote:(And sorry for posting this in "May" - it probably should have been in Writer's Workshop!)

You can move it, you know . . .