Is there a TV Trope for this?

[sholio]

Why is it so common for so many series (TV shows, books, movies) to have a strong opening installment and then put their most dismal one as the second one? Whether it's merely bland and boring, or actively offputting in some specific way, I can think of so many that do this.

I expect some of it is narrative drop from the usually higher-budget and more action-filled opening installment, and some of it is the writers wanting to try something a little more daring after a crowd-pleasing opener. BUT STILL. Maybe you might want to wait a little while before dropping the book in which everyone dies gruesomely of yellow fever (Ben January) or the episode in which your only female character is sold into sex slavery (SG-1) or the episode that is every 80s mental hospital cliche ever (Iron Fist) or just the most comparatively generic and boring episode in the entire season (White Collar and so many others).

(This post brought to you by me getting so bored with the second episode of the show I'm watching as background-arting-TV on Hulu that I went and found an episode guide and skipped ahead to the next one that looked interesting. So far it's a lot better.)

Comments

[sovay]

(This post brought to you by me getting so bored with the second episode of the show I'm watching as background-arting-TV on Hulu that I went and found an episode guide and skipped ahead to the next one that looked interesting. So far it's a lot better.)

Yikes. A really weird manifestation of sophomore slump?

(I didn't mind it in the case of Benjamin January, since that book also introduces Rose and has Hannibal wandering around the house helping with the laundry, but it would definitely have put me off Iron Fist if I hadn't been warned about it.)

[sholio]

Oh, you know, it is sophomore slump, sort of - a particularly specific manifestation of it. And possibly for similar reasons, one part audience expectation, one part narrative choice.

It doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad installment of canon. I really like Fever Season; I think it's a very strong book. And in that specific case, too, I think putting the really dark books up front works very well with the series' general narrative momentum, where the overall arc of the series is all about rebuilding and growth and getting a chance to love and be loved. But I've also heard from several people that it came close to putting them off the series, or actually did put them off entirely, because it's so dark and gave them the impression the entire series would be that way.

but it would definitely have put me off Iron Fist if I hadn't been warned about it

Yeah. That episode was definitely ... an episode that happened, all right. The frustrating thing is that there's also some important character stuff in it -- it's the first episode in which we see Harold physically abusing Ward, and it's the episode in which Colleen and Ward meet for the first time, among other things. The mental hospital scenes are just so painfully bad on just about every level.

[kore]

I was okay with Fever Season, probably because I had been spoiled for it and knew about Delphine LaLaurie. I can see how that might really put someone off who hadn't known about it. The book that really put me off (until I just skipped over it and kept reading) was Sold Down the River. But that was more me and a real Thing I have about slavery and prisons, I think.

[madripoor_rose]

I think some of it might come from being in the honeymoon phase in the pilot episode...you're excited about the shiny new show, getting to know the premise, learning who the characters are....in the second episode you aren't as distracted by all of that.

[sholio]

Mmmm, I think that audience expectation is definitely a factor, but I don't think it's the only factor - take SG-1, for example, which has a number of weak episodes in the first season, but the second one tends to get just about everybody's vote as their least favorite because of the sexism/harem stuff. (I didn't personally mind it, but it's a fairly weak episode, comparatively.)

And the thing is, you don't have to! The other Stargate show, SGA, is actually a shining example of a show where it was actually the second and third episodes, not the pilot, that sold me on it. The second episode of that one is among my favorites from the first season. So it doesn't have to be that way. It just seems like it often is.

[magistrate]

[take SG-1, for example, which has a number of weak episodes in the first season, but the second one tends to get just about everybody's vote as their least favorite]

I was going to say, in fairness to SG-1, it was pretty much a pilot and then the entire rest of the first season barring, like, the last three episodes which was terrible. But now you've undercut that assessment and I have no more wit to offer. :P

(Actually, though, wasn't The Enemy Within the second episode? I thought it went Children of the Gods, which I found pretty meh, then The Enemy Within, which I think is actually one of the strongest episodes of S1 – though, you know, strongest is a comparative term – and then Emancipation, which was just Not Good on basically every level. ...but, I mean, at least it wasn't Hathor.)

[sholio]

... oh, huh, that's a good point re: Enemy Within. I guess I tend to think of it as basically the "part 2" of the pilot because plotwise it's a direct continuation, but you have a good point that it's also a standalone episode and technically the second one.

I actually do like a number of the episodes in season 1; those were the episodes that sold me on the characters and character dynamics, after all! There's a noticeable jump in quality towards the end of the season and into season 2, though ...

[magistrate]

Heh. I'm probably biased because I caught a lot of episodes in a scattered, desultory format at some point in my childhood, and then basically forgot about the series until my brother and I rediscovered it in college. So I had vague memories of it being a thing I'd enjoyed, and a bunch of vague memories from later in the series, and then I went back and started from the beginning again, and it was not a great experience. We'd almost decided not to go on to the second season, until we actually finished out the first and the series started finding its footing.

[aelfgyfu_mead]

Oh, I was so confused, because I thought "The Enemy Within" was the second episode too!

"Emancipation" was absolutely dreadful. So dreadful I had forgotten it and had to look it up. I will now forget it again.

[rachelmanija]

Which show is that?

The strong pilot and weak second episode is a relatively recent development, I think. In the 80/90s, it was often the pilot that sucked. I'm particularly thinking of Star Trek Next Gen but I know "it gets better after the pilot" is a common refrain.

[sholio]

Which show is that?

Whiskey Cavalier, a show I'm watching on Hulu that's about a joint-operations team of FBI/CIA/NSA agents blowing stuff up extra-judicially in other countries. It's a weird, frustrating show ... for a variety of reasons, some of which are implied by the premise, but especially because it's throwing all the teamy tropes at me, and yet I don't feel like it's done enough to sell me on the characters individually to make me enjoy this like I should be enjoying this. In the episode I was just watching, for example, the team is on the run in a rented RV with an accidentally acquired baby, in Bulgaria. They own a bar together as the front for their operations, so a chunk of every show is just the characters hanging out in the bar bantering with each other. I should be loving this! And yet, I don't care enough about them as characters to actually love it. They're all so terribly generic. There's the maverick agent who Feels Too Many Things, the frosty female agent who Feels Not Enough Things, the wisecracking hacker who flirts with every woman who comes his way (guess who is the only black character on the team, just guess), and so forth.

(Also, the plots are one long cavalcade of "That doesn't work like that! Nothing works like that!")

Still, it IS fun in a very mindless kind of way - it's basically a heist show with FBI/CIA agents; actually, I think this show would make a lot more sense if they were a team of thieves instead of government agents. The second episode is the only one I've just flat noped out on, because of an extended sequence in which the main dude, who is supposedly great at his job and very good with people, is trying to seduce a widow as part of the current job and is just being FLAT TERRIBLE at undercover work, in a massively embarrassment-squicky way.

[magistrate]

[but I know "it gets better after the pilot" is a common refrain.]

I received an extremely strong recommendation to watch Primeval, with the warning that the pilot was unbearable. So, I gave it a try. Watched for a while, and then after a bit I stopped and went "Okay, I've watched, like, half of the first season, and it hasn't gotten better. I don't think I can hang in there for any longer."

And then I looked at the playlist and realized I'd only actually watched the pilot.

The pilot was so bad that it warped time.

[ivyfic]

The TNG pilot apparently sucked because of the amount of infighting. I would argue the whole first season sucked. It was so bad behind the scenes there's a documentary about it.

[kore]

There are often changes between the pilot, used to sell the show, and the first ep of the first season? Might have something to do with it?

[amnisias]

With US TV I think a lot has to do with that'pilot season' thing - Pilots are developped like movies, they often have more resources for original locations, special FX and stunts, and are all about 'hooking the viewer in'. They are filmed up to 1 year before broadcasting and if the show gets picked up a lot of the staff is re-recruited for the show, they move to a sound stage and have time and financial constraints which means less FX/stunts/original locations. But as many viewers decide by episode 3 wheather they are in or out, the writer are looking for story lines that attention grabbing and generate discussion, but on the (relative) cheap. Something like 80's mental hospital makes total sense - contained indoor location easily build up on a sound stage but emotionally charged and memorable. Once the show has established it's run and viewership, things settle down into a proper rhythm, the writing team have more of a longitudinal view, the actors get to know the characters. But pilot and episode 2 will jar forever.

[ivyfic]

For book publishing at least, it's common for publishers to offer a multi-book contract on the strength of the initial book. This means that authors have often spent years working on the first book--on their own time, with no deadlines--and then suddenly have one year to turn in the second. I have over and over and over seen enormous quality problems in second books because of this (used to work in publishing, as an editor, then as a copyeditor), up to and including the second book's plot resolving on page 200 and then random stuff happening for another 100 pages to get the page count up. I don't know but would expect a similar thing happens with the effort that goes into crafting a TV pilot turning into oh shit we now need to start production on three episodes--who has a script.

[leesa_perrie]

In some shows, the pilot is still the weakest episode, but when you do get a great pilot that draws you in, having a second episode that's, well, pretty sucky is not a good idea! I know fan expectation is a part of it, but there does seem to be a trend developing along these lines. Though in some shows, they do at least wait until the third or fourth episode to thrown in a bad ep!

There also seems to be a few shows that suddenly get a whole lot better in season 2, but by then you've lost a lot of potential fans. SGU fell into that category for me, as did Arrow (though I ended up parting ways with that eventually anyway). I've been told by someone that Star Trek Discovery is better in the second season, though not having seen that yet, it could just be one person's opinion.

It's nice when you find a show that doesn't have a bad episode. 'FBI' and 'The Rookie' have not had bad episodes yet in their first season, though that is my own opinion. Others may disagree! (If you've been put off 'The Rookie' by the show's premise, please don't be. It's serious with just the right amount of light hearted moments, and not at all cringey - and oh so very, very good!)

[booksarelife]

You watch FBI? I haven't found anyone in my bits of fandom that does yet!

[leesa_perrie]

Yes, I do! I'm also planning to give the spin off, Most Wanted, a go too. I really like FBI, not in a fannish way, but in an 'excited when there's a new episode to watch' sort of way!!

I don't know why it's not more popular, it deserves to be.

[booksarelife]

I might also give Most Wanted a try, I haven't decided yet! I'm mostly on the "I love this show and am excited for new episodes" boat, with occasional fic writing/reading spurts. It should totally be more popular, I agree! I really hope they keep Maggie and OA as friends and don't try to make them a couple or have romantic tension or whatever (not that I think it's heading there, but still). What was your favorite episode so far? One of my many favorite moments has been Maggie and OA have to get the guy out of the fancy men's lunch club place in the bomber episode, and the staff are trying to protest them coming in

[leesa_perrie]

I really hope they don't go down the ship route, or if they do, they do it in a way that isn't annoying and contains no UST or relationships with other people that are doomed to failure and all that stuff I don't really like! FBI seems like a show that won't do that! And I like that they're partners and friends, not lovers.

I don't know if I have a fav episode, though the one you mentioned was very good! I wish more people could discover the show, though it might be too serious in nature for some people, but that's what I like about it.

[booksarelife]

Emphatically yes to your first paragraph!! I'm not sure why it's not more popular, since other serious shows like Criminal Minds or the multitudes of Law and Order/SVU/NCIS shows are massively popular (though I can only vouch for early seasons CM, which often does have outright funny moments amid everything else)

[mikeda]

One other thing is simply random variation. Basically there's something about the first episode/movie/book etc. that spoke to you, that meant you wanted to keep watching/reading. And if you think of a series as having an "average quality", episodes/movies/books that are "better than average" for the series are likely to be overrepresented in what you keep watching/reading. And if the first installment is "better than average" the next installment is likely to be "worse" than the first installment.

Basically, it's the "Sports Illustrated Cover Curse" applied to series.

The technical term being "regression to the mean".

[monanotlisa]

Hmm, this is a good question. I would imagine you've already come up with some answers -- budget, for sure! Also, after the first or perhaps the second ep, the writer team usually switche from the showrunner or high-profile writer to others. This should in theory not impact large plot points (slavery, wtf?) but in practice probably does, depending on how they're executed.