The Chris Carter Effect: Difference between revisions
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''If the fans decide that the writing team will never resolve its plots, then they will probably stop following the work.''
It's been said that [[Viewers are Morons|no one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the viewing public]], but sometimes a show comes along that promises stories so complex and subtle that they'll make ''[[War and Peace]]'' look like "[[Frog and Toad Are Friends]]". If it's [[The Producer Thinks of Everything|done right]], then this is catnip to [[Troper Demographics|a certain sector of the viewing public]], who will often give such a show a surprisingly long time to set up its plot arcs before getting antsy for a resolution. The catch for the creator is that, the longer an arc runs and the more complicated it gets, the more awesome its payoff must be for it to feel satisfying to the fans. It's much easier for a writer to [[Kudzu Plot|keep kicking the can]] -- piling mysteries on top of mysteries -- rather than finish storylines. This trope was invoked in the British TV serial ''[[The Singing Detective]]'', in which mystery novelist Philip Marlowe asserts that fiction, like life, should be "all clues and no solutions."
That said, most audiences are savvy enough to recognize a framing device when they see one. Plots resting on a single [[Driving Question]] (Where is [[Samurai Champloo|the Sunflower Samurai?]] Who the hell is [[How I Met Your Mother|Mrs. Mosby?]]) are allowed some leeway; otherwise, the production team would be out of work and the story would end. The Chris Carter Effect happens when a work is wholly focused on twists, not building up to a satisfactory resolution -- Or if the plotting becomes so bloated that there can no longer ''be'' a satisfactory resolution (see [[Ending Aversion]]). At this point, even the most ardent fans will start to feel jerked around, or at the very least, channel flip to a wrestling match.
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