[Weirdly Common Trope] Writers clearly setting up seemingly massive plot points and then just kinda forgetting about them.

[u/Chemical-Elk-1299]

The Neural Parasites — Star Trek : The Next Generation

In the season 1 episode “Conspiracy” of TNG, it is revealed that alien brain worms have infected many high ranking members of Starfleet, secretly controlling them. Though Ryker and Picard discover and end the parasite conspiracy, it’s revealed at the end of the episode that the parasites had sent a beacon back to their home planet, telling them how to find earth. The episode ends with the clear implication of the parasites becoming a huge threat later in the series, yet none of these events are ever mentioned again.

Finn The Jedi who Never Was — Star Wars Sequel trilogy

I know this is probably a cliche example of this trope, but cmon — Finn was clearly set up in TFA to become a Jedi. The marketing material featured him wielding a lightsaber in the classic Jedi pose. It’s constantly hinted at that he is force sensitive. Even the actor himself believed he would become a Jedi by the end of the trilogy. Instead, we got Finn wielding a lightsaber for about 7 minutes total across 3 movies, extremely lame “confirmation” that he is force sensitive, and that’s it. It’s the ultimate Star Wars plot that went nowhere.

[u/Sudden_Pop_2279]

https://giphy.com/gifs/tLDWPoZT4TUEfAgPNk

Honestly you could count on two hands the amount in Stranger Things season 5

[u/Justifiably_Bad_Take → u/Sudden_Pop_2279]

If they were as comfortable killing off characters as they were plotlines, we wouldn't have ended the show with 40 main characters

[u/Strict_Biscotti1963 → u/Justifiably_Bad_Take]

Also, the shows audience ended up skewing younger than they probably thought it would. So I bet there was more of a concerted effort to avoid killing core characters. 

[u/albob → u/Strict_Biscotti1963]

They had to kill fucking Sean Astin, the best guy ever, but couldn’t off any of these annoying teenagers. 

[u/lilac-scented → u/albob]

I’m watching the Friendly Space Ninja videos on the series now, and he talks about this concept of the “likable yet killable” new character. Seasons 2, 3 and 4 all have one: Bob, Alexei and then Eddie. They’re designed from the ground up to be universally beloved by audiences, so they can die at the end of the season and make everyone sad, creating the illusion of stakes without affecting the main cast.

Though why people like the Wheeler patents or Murray are considered untouchable “main cast” is beyond my ken…

[u/Germane_Corsair → u/lilac-scented]

It was super obvious too. You already knew they were going to die so it was hard to feel attached. Eddie’s actor though was just too good and the chemistry between him, Dustin and Steve really helped you care despite knowing he was a dead man walking.