Downward Cycle

Downward Spiral but it gets worse than getting worse.

A series of events that progressively becomes more painful every time it repeats. The victims of the Downward Cycle may start off having fun, but the repetition inevitably smothers whatever level of enjoyment they can derive from it. Fail And Repeat can be a Downward Cycle for those with weaker resolves who give up easily. A second UnTrash with this potential is Good Thing Turns Bad, which can rob a person of their happiness in indulging in the same one activity, no matter how sure they are that it won't happen. It's That Time Of Year Again is a slower loop in which the usually unwilling participants dread what's to come next: boredom, monotony, and Unfiltered Agony.

Not all Downward Cycles consist of steps that repeat sequentially. A franchise can transform into a giant Downward Cycle if it becomes repetitive, predictable, uninteresting, or self-limiting. This can be done in a number of ways, all of which turn the audience off and drive them away. If creators focus on the same Kiddie Pool of topics or storylines, they give the impression they can't do anything beyond their short list of moves, even if they can. A franchise swirling into a Downward Cycle might be the product of the creators' fear of alienating their core fans with unexpected newness. However, the reverse situation is often true: introducing a new and experimental way of running things can rekindle interest in a franchise. It's especially in the case of franchises that have been around for a long time. A Downward Cycle of this kind can be identified by the repetitive usage of the same few words whose meanings never change. Even if these words originate from the core theme of the franchise, their overusage can get the audience to think it isn't about anything else. How some creators exacerbate this problem is by connecting too many parts of their story to its central theme. Sledgehammer Messages are an excellent example of doing just this. The audience only needs to be told something a few times at most that one or some concepts are at the heart of a franchise's events and the cast's motives and beliefs. However, ignoring this and forcefully shoving the same ideas at every possible point will drive the viewers off out of annoyance or boredom. Newcomers to the audience or knowledgeable outside observers might wonder how more into-it fans can take their favorite franchise seriously when all it knows is the same Kiddie Pool of concepts.