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Binged a new thriller with my sister, now we can't agree if the big reveal was clever or cheap
We stayed up all night watching this mystery series everyone recommended. I thought the twist at the end was smart and made me want to rewatch, but she says it felt lazy and ruined the show. It got me thinking about what makes a plot twist work for a binge. Do you prefer shocks that change everything or steady buildup that pays off? Let me know where you stand.
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laura8411mo ago
Read an interview once where a writer said the best twists feel earned, not just surprising. Take that old show "The Good Place" where the big reveal changed how you saw every single episode before it. That worked because the clues were there all along. But when a show just springs something wild in the last five minutes with no setup, it feels like a cheat. For a binge, I want that steady buildup, something that makes the rewatch feel new.
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river9521mo ago
Remember that show @laura841 mentioned. Felt the same way about a book where the killer's identity seemed random. Then a friend pointed out the weird gardening details in early chapters. Made the whole thing click on a second read.
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blake79229d ago
That gardening detail @river952 mentioned is the perfect example. I watched a crime drama last month where the main suspect's alibi was he was at a 24-hour gym. The twist was he was the killer, and they showed a quick shot of him wiping down a machine in episode two. It felt cheap because it was just a random background scene. But in a show like "Broadchurch," you see the grief on the suspect's face from the very first scene, and it all makes sense later. The clues have to be part of the story, not just hidden props.
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anna49122h ago
Honestly that Broadchurch example is so spot on. Tbh I got the same feeling from that show Dark, where the tiny details in early episodes just wreck you when you rewatch. Ngl it makes the cheap twists in other shows even more annoying.
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