How to Subvert Expectations in a Story

The best subversions in stories aren’t overbearing, or rely on jerking the viewer/reader around with cheap plot twists. Effective subversion—usually called one of the forms of irony—are more subtle and respectful of the audience’s intelligence.

In this clip from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs anthology, the subversion is simple and easy to spot:

The surface subversion is that the polite, clean-cut, eloquent, rather fake-looking cowboy doesn’t get tossed out or shot, but is a deadly gunman. A normal scene would have ended with him enjoying a nip of the whiskey for which he came to the bar. But there’s another subversion: he simply leaves. He wasn’t there for the booze, and not to justifiably defend himself from aggression, but to kill everyone. So not only this cheerful, noodle-physiqued nerd a sharpshooter, he’s actively assassinating folks. It makes one want to figure out what’s really going on with this guy.

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