First Fifteen Minutes

[tellytubby101]

 

I was watching Bones (a crime-scene investigation show), and realized something. All the bad guys--usually, anyway--are normally the first person seen right after the crime scene cuts from view. The sobbing wife, the inconsolable son, the best friend "who couldn't believe it".

Of course, there are exceptions to this rule, as there are exceptions to every rule, but I see a pattern. [Insert conspiracy ravings].

If not the first person, then it's at least the second person. 90% of the time it's within the first 15 minutes. Which has sort of ruined this genre for me. I still enjoy it, but when I find out it's the daughter-in-law, or whoever, I normally go, "Yeeeah, I noticed your sorry ass like, an hour before."

At the very least, it is never who you most expect, no matter how shifty that beard makes them look. They always do that, too. Point fingers at the most obvious, then the next most obvious, and then gasp in great surprise when it was the quietest one of all! Now, the one you should most expect is the one you have least reason to expect. Are you following me?

Case in point: Who shot Mr. Burns? Maggie Simpson. The one you never suspected.

Castle (another type of crime-solving show) has a similar script line in the episodes I've watched with this theory in mind. The Mentalist, too, seems to have no problem hashing out this plot line. Since I've never been a big fan of CSI or NCIS or those other shows with letters instead of a name, I cannot confirm whether this idea is an all-round thing or not.

Either way, I s'pose they can't do much more, because it'd piss watchers off if the crook was someone introduced last minute, because really, the fun is in the guessing process.

Even if it is a bit predictable.