When the couple's marriage is about to shatter under the strain, their supposedly explosive argument feels like an obligatory scene.

Feeling that his play is incomplete, John looks to fill in with the "obligatory scenes": the revelations, the reconciliations.

And despite some obligatory scenes in which they munch on the arms or legs of the recently deceased, this is not a particularly bloody movie.

She fails, of course, and Sam provides the obligatory wrap-up scene with his girlfriend.

Ms. Moore falls victim to a sweatshop fire, apparently an obligatory scene in shows dealing with immigrants.

I used to think there were obligatory scenes in books to keep the story moving, but I found them hard to write.

Similarly, with other plausible occurrences in the story, one can't help being conscious of obligatory scenes being played out.

Today's movies often have an obligatory wet-sari scene.

By this tactic you'll free yourself from the burden of responsibility for the obligatory scenes, and you can photograph what really interests you.

Peripheral details and subsidiary events are often remembered much more vividly than the obligatory big scenes.