I was thinking about tropes recently (because we keep being asked about them) and I realized one that I don't really like and thought would be an interesting discussion. So I'm starting this thread.

A trope I hate:

Magic Wand Limited by Plot - I would say that the sonic screwdriver from Doctor Who is the biggest offender, in my mind, of this trope. The sonic screwdriver can do anything at all, unless it is inconvenient to the plot. Then it just doesn't work. Basically, the Doctor has this device that is, for all intents and purposes, a magic wand, and the only weakness it has is a writer who needs it not to work to solve a problem.

another one, while I'm thinking of Doctor Who:

Obvious Trap Landscape - What put me in the mind of this was actually the second episode of the new series. When they're on the space station, they find a room full of giant, rotating fans with a catwalk passing right underneath them so that anyone walking on it has to walk through the fans. The moment you see it, you know they're going to have to walk through the fans at some point in the episode. I hate that. Who builds a maintenance room and then turns it into a meat grinder in the first place? It's something that brings disbelief crashing back to the fore. Like I said, the moment you see it, you know someone's going to have to go through it and risk their life, even die. That's the sole reason it's there in the first place. And it's stupid.