A good plot twist leaves the audience reeling, yet satisfied. It blindsides them, yet reflecting back on the story, they feel they should have seen it coming. A bad plot twist just leaves, however, just leaves them feeling ripped off and betrayed. That's how it works in the movies, anyway: The real world doesn't give a single preheated shit about your suspension of disbelief. History is full of tales that would be considered examples of hack writing, if their author wasn't "reality."
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A Man Once Saved Alexander Hamilton From A Deadly Duel. His Name? Aaron Burr
We could sit here and recount the biography of Alexander Hamilton for you, but we all know what's playing in your head right now. You know how it ends: Hamilton eventually faced Vice President and long-time enemy Aaron Burr in a dramatic 1804 duel, where Hamilton missed on purpose, but Burr's bullet found its mark. Which is kind of ironic, seeing as only seven years earlier Burr had saved Hamilton from a different duel.
John Trumbull
Saved him for dessert.
Hamilton was a hot-tempered bastard who received and handed out around a dozen duel challenges over the years. The vast majority of these didn't amount to much. "I'ma duel your ass" was mostly just frontin' -- an opportunity for both parties to give each other shit for a while, and let things cool down.
But in 1797, Hamilton found himself in a serious dueling situation. He was entangled in a government-fund misuse investigation and an adultery scandal, and became convinced that the future President James Monroe had something to do with his antics leaking to the press. So Hamilton sent Monroe a terse "heard you've been talking shit" letter, mentioning that Monroe should "bring a friend" when they'd meet -- a common euphemism for dueling. The angry Monroe promptly accepted, and when they met in person, the two men were so close to trading blows that they had to be physically restrained. The duel was on. To facilitate negotiations, Monroe appointed an old friend to act as an intermediary: Aaron Burr.
John Vanderlyn
There were only around 20 people in those days, and they all knew each other.
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