The Twist You See Hides the Twist You Don't

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I have a friend who was let down by Mr. Robot because of its twist. I said to him, "I get it. It fooled you and you resent that."

I'm not going to spoil Mr. Robot's twist today, but let me add that its twist wasn't even that hard to spot. People were predicting the twist on the internet just from the pilot. My friend's shame is immense!

Also, let me call out another future, actual Mr. Robot post, which this post still isn't (Hence the Age of Ultron gif: I'm getting to it! Stop rushing me, Joss!), where I predict what I think the show is REALLY about, because that post will analyze a perfect demonstration of the the subject of this post, "The twist you see hides the twist you don't".

Some people, like my friend, want to feel smarter than the films and TV they watch. They only like a twist if they see it coming. We writers need to shame and humble these participation trophy polishers as much as possible.

Now, that's more difficult than it used to be. We're so much smarter nowadays about movies, as the Scriptnotes podcast of the movie Ghost points out: I remember LOVING that movie as a kid, but now the obviousness of its "secret bad guy" is more glaring. Of course HE'S the bad guy! There's no one else it can be! But back in the day, my jaw was on. The. Floor. I can see my friend as a kid hating it. I'm never letting him live down not seeing the Mr. Robot twist.

Oh, secret bad guy segue: Please, Hollywood, stop casting name actors as secret bad guys, where the part appears beneath them for the majority of the film, thereby making them obviously the secret bad guy, "Why is Cary Elwes slumming it in this role?--Oh, wait." I should make a future post listing all the obvious secret bad guys. That will be a fun comments section if I ever get comments.

So, how do you fool today's audience, and make those smug, self-important Economist subscribers roll their eyes when their au pair asks how the movie was? You show them a twist to hide the real twist. Every twist is constructed with a plant and a payoff, such that savvy moviegoers will try to deconstruct a plant the moment it hits the screen. Why is that plant in the movie? It must have a payoff. And then, pretty soon, boom, they know Cary Elwes is the killer. Unless you give them a reason to stop looking for the payoff, because you pay the plant off in a satisfying way.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Age of Ultron (Yay! --Joss).

Joss Whedon is my master now, of course. Here, let me Google gather an army of head-nodders: "Joss Whedon Star Wars rumor". There, if you have disagreements to share in the comments, be wary: I have gathered a mighty storm over a deep sea for you to sail through in your paper-mache canoe. Have fun!

Joss is a master of the twist-then-real-twist. He pays off plants so perfectly that you put them away like a sunday suit and continue to watch the movie until act three when he brings it back out and my friend cries out, "No fair!"

(Spoilers, obviously) Remember that gif scene above, where we're at a party in act one, and the audience is all ready to drink up and deconstruct Joss's plants and expositions? Then the bit comes where everyone tries to pick up Mjolnir. What's this doing in the movie? Why is Joss making such a big deal about the fact that only Thor can pick up Thor's hammer? Could this be a plant for something in act three?!

And then Joss hits us with the genius: Captain America gets Mjolnir to move. And Thor sees it. And he's jealous. Suddenly, the audience is hit with a rush of enjoyment. THAT'S why the plant is here! For a comedic payoff! Oh what fun!

And perhaps, some of us were wondering if a moment will come in act three where Captain America may need to find the strength to wield Mjolnir. And when I say "some of us", I don't really mean me, because I was one of those people laughing at Thor's reaction, and kissing this scene good night at the door, saying I had a great time, and I'll call.

But how many of us had the wits to look past the payoffs of the scene to see the REAL payoff coming:


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Joss Whedon is my master now. At just the moment where the Avengers question whether or not they can trust Vision, Vision demonstrates an answer without saying a word, in a payoff that no one saw coming (and my friend hated), because Joss hid his twist with an earlier reveal.

If you're writing a twist, this is how you hide it: Payoff the plant so that the audience won't keep looking for the actual payoff. My friend won't thank you for it.