The Plot Thickens - TV Tropes

The plot "thickens," as they say. Why, by the way? Is it a soup metaphor?

— Gustave H., The Grand Budapest Hotel

Stock Phrase often said after a turning point in the plot.

It usually refers to things becoming overly complex or mysterious. Today this term is often Played for Laughs. Coined in the 17th century, it originally described the plot of a play that was overly intricate, and by the late 1800s it was used for increasingly complex mysteries in detective stories.

The phrase is sometimes parodied as "The plot sickens." You may also hear "the plot thins" - usually uttered after a major Anti-Climax.

Examples:

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Comic Strips

Garfield has said this a few times.
The Far Side: A police officer investigating a murder scene quotes this trope when he finds a closet full of ducks.

Films — Live-Action

In Face/Off, Castor Troy's response upon walking in on Jamie wearing just her panties and a cropped t-shirt.
Shadowlands
C.S. Lewis: He comes; he sleeps; he goes. So the plot thickens.
In Kill Bill, Bill proves himself to be a lover of tales. So of course he says this.
Discussed in The Grand Budapest Hotel.
M. Gustave: The plot "thickens," as they say. Why, by the way? Is it a soup metaphor?
Stingray Sam. After an Exposition scene (and the obligatory song about it) The Narrator says: "And so the plot begins to thicken... but not by much."

Literature

Roald Dahl used this to customary darkly comic effect in his retelling of Cinderella
Ah ha, you see, the plot grows thicker,
And Cindy's luck starts looking sicker.

Famously used in the Sherlock Holmes story A Study in Scarlet, as uttered by Holmes himself.
One of the chapters in The Phoenix Guards by Steven Brust is titled "In Which The Plot, Behaving In Much The Same Manner As A Soup To Which Cornstarch Has Been Added, Begins, At Last, To Thicken."
A chapter heading in Making Money refers to it, but is "the pot thickens". This makes sense in context because Moist believes temporarily that Gladys, his golem secretary, is cooking his dog in the pit she's stirring. It turns out to be the sheep's head Adora Belle ordered for dinner.
One of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles books has a chapter titled "In Which The Plot Thickens," which is followed shortly thereafter by one titled "In Which The Plot Positively Curdles."
Every book in The Incredible Worlds of Wally McDoogle has a chapter called "The Plot Sickens."

Live-Action TV

Hawaii Five-O (1968) pilot episode.
Wo Fat: As we clever Chinese say, "The plot thickens..."
Knight Rider episode "Mouth of the Snake"
Michael Knight: So, the plot thickens. I bet this guy David Dalton is not down in Mexico looking for the world's biggest burrito.
The League of Gentlemen
Pauline: It's about Mickey. He's getting married.
Ross: Oh-ho. The plot thickens.
M*A*S*H: Inverted as Hawkeye, Henry, Trapper, Klinger and Radar are watching home movies of Frank's wedding.
Hawkeye: The plot thins.

Radio & Podcast

One episode of I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again, had this exchange between the narrator and a character:
Narrator: The plot thickens
Other voice: And tho do the joketh

Video Games

Criminal Case: Used perhaps unironically as Ace's Catchphrase is an exclaimed "the plot thickens", which he utters whenever the current case becomes more convoluted.
Dragon Age: Origins: The Warden can say it during one of Leliana's tales.

Webcomics

Peter & Company (2005): Iggy says "The plot sickens" on this page. Skin tries to correct him but Iggy thinks that Skin said the same thing because Skin's lisp make "thickens" and "sickens" sound the same.

Western Animation

Justice League: When Luthor's soon-to-be Injustice Gang sees who's gathered them, the Shade quips, "Lex Luthor? Well, the plot thins."