Yeah, that is a good question – why do some scifi twist endings fail?
As a teenager obsessed with Rod Serling and the Twilight Zone, I bought every single one of Rod Serling’s guides to writing. I wanted to know what he knew.
The reason that Rod Serling’s twist endings work is because they “answer the question” that the story raised in the first place. They are connected to the very clear reason to even tell the story at all. Rod’s story structures were all about starting off with a question, the way he did in his script for Planet of the Apes (yes, Rod Serling wrote the script for Planet of the Apes, which makes sense, since it feels like a Twilight Zone episode): “is mankind inherently violent and self-destructive?” The plot of Planet of the Apes argues the point back and forth, and finally, we get an answer to the question: the Planet of the Apes was earth, after we destroyed ourselves. The reason the ending has “oomph” is because it answers the question that the story asked.
According to Rod Serling, every story has three parts: proposal, argument, and conclusion. Proposal is where you express the idea the story will go over, like, “are humans violent and self destructive?” Argument is where the characters go back and forth on this, and conclusion is where you answer the question the story raised in a definitive and clear fashion.
The reason that a lot of twist endings like those of M. Night Shyamalan’s and a lot of the 1950s horror comics fail is that they’re just a thing that happens instead of being connected to the theme of the story.
One of the most effective and memorable “final panels” in old scifi comics is EC Comics’ “Judgment Day,” where an astronaut from an enlightened earth visits a backward planet divided between orange and blue robots, where one group has more rights than the other. The point of the story is “is prejudice permanent, and will things ever get better?” And in the final panel, the astronaut from earth takes his helmet off and reveals he is a black man, answering the question the story raised.
IIRC “Judgment Day” was part of the inspiration for the excellent Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “Far Beyond the Stars.”
This whole post is liquid gold for writers.
Too much television and film writing today – not understanding the themes or questions they raise and failing to answer those questions (or, at least, give the viewers a choice).
Lost is a great example of this – so much happens that implies a bigger story – but it never really answers anything or leaves you much to work with to find your own answer. Just stringing along characters and scenarios without every really building into a bigger story.
So today I received my appointment letter for my PIP assessment (the thing that’s replacing disability living allowance) and I have been asked to be in the outskirts of York for 8:45am.on a week day.
This journey for me (a visually impaired person) to take at least two trains & a bus, along with a fair bit of walking, to get there.
This is what is being asked of disabled people if they want to receive this new payment.
My amazing partner called them up not too happy about it & we were told people are automatically sent out the earliest appointments in what they consider a reasonable distance & each persons disabilities are not taken in to consideration.
Thankfully because of this phone call, I now only have to walk about 200 yards for my assessment now. I was expecting to be told I’d have to wait several weeks longer for this appointment, but nope just two extra days.
This is what our current government expects of disabled people, they do not care about us & will do whatever they can to take away our support.
Doesn’t look like her blood will be used to save others, either, so, just another dropped plot point? Rather like killing off Lexa to reveal an AI that does…nothing.
If they’re going to “empty chair” Theresa May at TV debates, they need to go all out with it.
Like, have the other party leaders make their arguments, then the moderator goes “and your statement, Prime Minister?” Cut to an empty podium with her name on it for an agonising 30 seconds of awkward silence, then the moderator goes “I see, moving on” in a really snarky tone and carries on.
Like, have the other party leaders address the empty podium as if she’s standing at it, cut to the same silent shot of it, then cut back to them sarcastically retorting to an answer that nobody else can hear.
Just absolutely make a mockery of her cowardice the entire damn time.
And for those who think that’s slightly petty, I would argue that it is in fact incredibly petty. But so is calling a sudden general election just because you’re polling well, after saying repeatedly you wouldn’t call one and would wait for 2020.
Thank you for the kind words and hugs this is so nice to read – I do seem to keep taking downturns and it’s getting a little old! One of my sisters is here now looking after me and she’s quite scary, so maybe I’ll be up soon. Hugs to you too. 🙂
Everyone has their fantasies. They are just as capable of using their ‘fanon’ version of these characters and misinterpreting canon as anyone. If they’re pushing it on you, you have every right to tell them to be respectful and take it somewhere else – you can also ignore them, block, rise above and move on.
There is something wasteful and creepy about wanting a fantasy to ‘win’. If they’re not interested in anything but their fantasy, who and what they are is obvious to others and there’s no need to prolong your own agony by trying to educate them. They’re not interested. They may even have another agenda.
Block and focus on what is important to you and being safe and creative and as healthy as possible.
All that potential went to the trash the moment Jatan thought the AI plot was a brilliant idea. No wonder his new pilot flopped even harder. His ideas are really bad.
The AI ‘idea’ wasn’t even his – he’d been hired to write a script for a remake of the film Colossus: The Forbin Project – a story about an AI that takes over the world – he was kicked off that project and it looks like he just applied the AI to the Kass Morgan stories. There’s nothing original in any of it.
The Doctor Is Out 