"One month earlier" is the most brilliant trope ever. Here are 11 more.

When “it was all just a dream” ended as an acceptable plot device, writers were left longing for a way to skip the burden of building a compelling story and interesting characters by replacing it with a jarring mindfuck that leaves everyone unsatisfied. 
 
That’s when someone came up with the idea to start every narrative “in media res” and then flash a title card saying: “One month earlier” before making the rest of the script the story of how the fuck we got to the whacko scene in the beginning. This method of storytelling is so brilliant and accessible even the Real Housewives franchise starting using it. We hope to as well.
 
But before we do, we just want to tell you, the writers, thank you. Even though the BEGINNING of your show is the only exciting part we will ever actually watch, we are now prepared to slog through the entire backstory leading up to the excitement. 
 
Thank you again. We can’t wait to find out why the character in the beginning scene is pissed off at that other character even though they were best friends a month ago. What? Huh? This is bonkers. Also, how did they get into a shootout? Some pretty fucked up stuff must happen in this story! We can’t wait to find out. 
 
One more thing. When we finally DO get to the beginning scene (at the end of the show/movie/episode) how the fuck are the characters going to get out of THAT mess? You’ve got us thinking at so many levels our shorts just fell off and yup, we have a hard-on. 
 
Some people may call it “hapless” or “inept” or even “fuck it, imma do this even though every other person does this every fucking time--there I did it" but we celebrate the consistent use of tropes till they grind our brains numb. Below we list a few of our other favorites (in case you’re not using them already):

1. The man whose wife cheats on him and he has to apologize to her because it’s really his fault because he “took his eyes off the prize” and deserved it.  

2. The degenerate gambler who inexplicably starts winning every hand, dice roll, and roulette spin till he only needs one more bet to win it all—and then he loses. Oh no. 

3. The degenerate gambler who owes money to some “really bad guys” and they want it back or some really bad things are gonna happen. Oh no to the no.   

4. Black Rabbit.   

5. The character who coughs and someone says, “Are you o.k.?” and she says, “Of course. I’m fine.” And then she dies.   

6. The scene where 90-pound women go out drinking and do twelve tequila shots in a row and don’t die.  

7. The hot chick who wears baseball jerseys and knows more about sports than any man.   
8. Chad Michael Murray eating a cheeseburger.  

9. Something really positive happens that’s going to solve everybody’s problems and then immediately afterwards everything goes to shit.  

10. People having mature relationships where they trust, understand, and genuinely appreciate each other and say things like, “You deserve this” and “Whatever you decide, I’m behind you 100%.”  

​11. Characters who live in New York City who find it impossible to come up with ten grand even though that’s what they pay in rent every month.  

Clichéd tees that will trope you out