View source for En Route Sum-Up

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When the [[Five-Man Band]] (or similar team) has a new mission in store, the [[Mission Control]] or an equivalent character ([[The Hero]], [[The Smart Guy]]) will almost always explain the situation '''on the way''', not beforehand.

This '''En Route Sum-Up''' will often include the entire relevant [[Backstory]] of the location or characters that the team will encounter, as well as an outline of the planned course of action. Common statements that prompt it are "[[Let Me Get This Straight...]]", "Wait a minute", or a [[Postponed Question]]s. Just as often, though, the scene will simply open with the description.

Narrative reasons for this:
# Traveling in the [[Cool Car]], or [[Walk and Talk|simply walking]], makes for a more interesting background visual than standing around a table in the [[Home Base]]. Just as the crew is obligated to [[Never Give the Captain a Straight Answer]], so too must [[The Captain]] wait until a narrative-appropriate time to tell the crew what's going on.
# The mission may be so urgent that there's [[No Time to Explain]] beforehand.

During this talk, characters may be seen suiting up and otherwise preparing, despite their presumably not ''yet'' knowing the exact nature of the mission. This can lead to some [[Fridge Logic]]… what did [[The Hero]] say in order to get everyone to go? Also, [[Genre Blind|did she consider]] whether a member of her not-yet-informed team just might have, in storage, [[It May Help You on Your Quest|a handy tool for this particular job]] (which would be inconvenient to go back for)?

This can be outright perplexing if one of the in-the-dark characters is the vehicle's ''driver'' (or pilot), given that he presumably doesn't yet know the destination. (Does the team follow some traditional "pre-route", such as a circle around the block, before "really" embarking?).

This is a common practice for the duo at the center of a [[Crime and Punishment Series]] or [[Buddy Cop Show]].

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== [[Film]] ==
* ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen]]'' has Major Lennox explain NEST's [[Gas Leak Coverup|cover story]] in Shanghai moments before the team touches down. 

== [[Live-Action TV]] ==
* In ''[[Criminal Minds]]'', while the team are alerted beforehand where the next crime is, they almost always cover the backstory during the plane ride (unless its local).
* This has been done in ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' in various ways. On occasion, it is not noted what [[Fan Nickname|the MRI of Doom]] is being used for until it is already in use.
* This has been done on foot in ''[[The West Wing]]'' and ''[[Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip]]''. Characters frequently discuss sensitive situations in the hallways.

== [[Video Games]] ==
* In ''[[Call of Duty: Black Ops]]'', the beginning of the Khe Sanh mission is Woods explaining to Mason how MAC-V-SOG was formed.

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