The Dilemma of Mystery

The dilemma of mystery is the subtle but vital distinction between enigma and convulsion. Interestingly this is only an issue with high concept story lines. With drama we can accept this, for example 'Queer As Folk' has the issue of Stuart's unrequited love for Vince, yet it isn't explicitly stated until episode 5. This works perfectly well as more perceptive viewers can notice this relationship whilst those that don;t can have that line of dialogue as a revelation.

However with high concept stories we have to take every bit of detail as fact, because we are unused to the concepts. We can except a character lieing about what their car is capable of but if it is a character lieing about their spaceship then we have to take them at face value.

Steven Moffat (Head Writer behind 'Hyde and the upcoming series of 'Doctor Who') it's not just 'what you know' but 'knowing what you should know'. It's important to verify that the audience is allowed to know certain peices of information as they are revealed.

In the first series of True Blood whilst we have hints of who the murderer is, yet it is only with the CU of the photo of Drew Marshall that we know that information is now clarified and substantial.

We have taken these precautions as our story has mysteries that will be solved and mysteries that never will be. What is making our protagonist (and the character after him) carry out these actions are not to be questioned hence they have no on-screen presence. However how he plans to get rid of the body, is extremely emphasised with close ups of all his actions, and the typewriter sequences stating sections of the guide.

Timothy McNiven