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The Untwist: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|''"If you got a dead body and you think his brother did it, you're gonna find out you're right."''
|'''Verbal Kint'''|''[[The Usual Suspects]]''}}
An '''untwist''' is what happens when [[Chekhov's Gun]] looks like a [[Red Herring]].▼
▲{{quote|''"If you got a dead body and you think his brother did it, you're gonna find out you're right."''|'''Verbal Kint''', ''The Usual Suspects''}}
▲An untwist is what happens when [[Chekhov's Gun]] looks like a [[Red Herring]].
For example, suppose Alice has been murdered. The only other two people in the house at the time are Bob and Carol. Bob acts mean and surly to the detective, doesn't treat Carol well, and reveals he had both a motive and opportunity to kill Alice. Carol, by contrast, is very polite and helpful, and is visibly upset at Alice's death.
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In many cases, the above description is exactly how it happens (see: most episodes of ''[[CSI]]''). However, sometimes the author pulls a fast one - it turns out [[Devil in Plain Sight|Bob is guilty after all]]! All that evidence against him, which the reader dismissed on the grounds of being too obvious, is actually correct and valid. Furthermore, Carol cooperated with the detective because she's that sort of person, and she was genuinely sad that Alice died.
And thus is illustrated the essence of
This technique obviously carries with it the risk that if it is not very well done, or the audience isn't very [[Genre Savvy]], they will not anticipate that there will be a twist. If this happens, they will simply go along with what the writer is very obviously leading them to believe, and when the story unfolds that way, they will consider it very predictable and be unimpressed. For instance, in the example used above, they would assume that it was Bob who committed the murder due to the evidence presented against him, and it will turn out to be Bob who did it, which, without the expectation of a twist would be a very boring story.
In most cases,
Sometimes, though, the heavy foreshadowing leading to a [[Twist Ending]] was ''intentional'', but due to circumstances (usually [[Executive Meddling]]), the Twist is turned into an Untwist (see the 2007 version of ''[[I Am Legend]]'' for a good example).
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[[Truth in Television]], as in [[Real Life]], most homicide victims are killed by someone they knew, and, following [[Occam's Razor]], the most obvious suspect is usually right.
Not to be confused with the German indie/electronic band [
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Example Sectionectomy]]
▲[[Category:Home Page/YMMV]]
[[Category:YMMV Trope]]
[[Category:Plot Twist]]
[[Category:Unexpected Reactions to This Index]]
[[Category:
{{DEFAULTSORT:Untwist, The}}
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