75

I’ve watched shows, movies, read comics or listened to podcasts where there is a lot of build up around a mystery, only for the end to be lackluster. In these the journey itself was more riveting than where we ended up. What are some instances where the answer lived up to the hype?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world 30 points 1 month ago

Basically every episode of Columbo. The mystery isn't the crime, but how he's going to solve it.

[-] Vanth@reddthat.com 23 points 1 month ago

The subgenre Columbo falls under is a "howcatchem" or an inverted detective story, as opposed to the more typical "whodunnit".

Just in case OP likes that setup and wants to keyword search for more. One I like and has a second season in works is Poker Face starring Natasha Lyonne.

[-] bamboo@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 month ago

Not sure the genre or trope, but Poker Face (and 6 Feet Under), the additional subgenre for me is "who's gonna die in the first scene".

[-] Vanth@reddthat.com 1 points 1 month ago

Yeah, I would call that a "killer of the week" format. There is a new crime/murder every week. Sometimes there is a season-long story as well (Natasha Lyonne's character running away from the Vegas baddies) and sometimes it's just the killer of the week story. Murder, She Wrote is a good example of the latter; you can watch MSW episodes in pretty much any order, it doesn't matter because each episode is basically self-contained. Any story external to the killer of the week is just to service actors being replaced or setting Jessica Fletcher in different locations beyond her hometown so she can face a new killer of the week. MSW is a whodunnit and also a killer-of-the-week show.

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (3 replies)
this post was submitted on 06 Sep 2024
75 points (97.5% liked)

Asklemmy

43728 readers
1322 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy 🔍

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

  1. Open-ended question
  2. Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
  3. Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
  4. Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
  5. An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS