The Weird Third Way in Screenwriting
Why the best scenes take a turn no one saw coming — and how to write them.
We're taught that a good scene advances the story and reveals something new about a character — someone walks in with a goal and either achieves it or gets knocked back. But great scenes do something more. They set up two obvious outcomes, then refuse both, sending the story in a surprising "third way" the audience never anticipated. Using pivotal scenes from The Silence of the Lambs and Black Swan, Luke Foster breaks down how this technique works, why the twist has to feel inevitable rather than random, and how you can start engineering it into your own scripts by rethinking what your audience assumes will happen.
It’s often stated that a good scene in a feature film or TV screenplay both advances the story and reveals something new about one of the characters.
A character enters the scene with a goal to accomplish. By the end of the scene, they’ve either achieved that goal or suffered a set back. Along the way, we discover something new about them or another character.
That’s in a good scene, though. I’d argue that in a great scene, something additional happens.
In a great scene, the audience anticipates two possible outcomes: a character either accomplishes their goal or they fail, but neither of these things actually happen. Instead, the scene goes a weird third way nobody expected.
Let’s look at a scene from TheSilence of the Lambs to demonstrate.
Early in the story, FBI trainee Clarice Starling is set a task by her boss Jack Crawford. She has to get the incarcerated Hannibal Lecter to fill out a questionnaire, as part of the FBI’s psycho-behavioural profiling of serial killers.
As a nervous Clarice visits Lecter in his cell, we anticipate the scene going one of two ways. Either Clarice will get Lecter to complete the questionnaire, bolstering her status as the FBI Academy’s star student, or he’ll refuse and she’ll return to Crawford having failed.
Lecter initially does send Clarice packing, but as she’s leaving, the scene takes an unexpected turn.
Lecter is so outraged about Miggs flinging semen at Clarice, he gives her a clue to help her catch the serial killer Buffalo Bill.
Clarice doesn’t accomplish her goal of getting Lecter to complete the questionnaire, but she doesn’t return to Crawford a failure either. Thanks to Miggs’ revolting behaviour, the scene goes in a weird third direction that gets Clarice involved in the hunt for Buffalo Bill.
Let’s look at another example from Black Swan.
In this scene, ballet performer Nina believes the lead role in her company’s upcoming production of Swan Lake is going to a rival. Applying makeup, she goes to see company director Thomas Leroy to try to change his mind.
It’s implied she’ll have to have sex with him to get the part, so we’re expecting two possible outcomes. Either she’ll sleep with Leroy and get the part or she won’t go through with it and the role will go to another performer.
Again, neither outcome happens. Instead, the scene goes a weird third way, as when Leroy tries to kiss Nina she bites him.
Leroy is so shocked, he gives Nina the part anyway, believing he’s glimpsed an ability to play the Black Swan. Nina accomplishes her goal, but in a way nobody expected.
MAKING A GOOD SCENE GREAT
What’s notable about these scenes is that although they both take a surprising turn, the changes in direction don’t feel arbitrary or random.
In TheSilence of the Lambs, we find out that Crawford sent Clarice to see Lecter hoping he’d give her information about Buffalo Bill. The questionnaire was just a ruse.
In Black Swan, Nina biting Leroy ties in with her character journey, as she embraces the darker, more impulsive sides of her personality and learns to be less inhibited and controlled.
So if you want to turn a good scene into a great scene, you might want to start by thinking about what the audience expects to happen at the start of the scene. Do we anticipate one of two likely outcomes?
Then think about what could happen instead that turns the scene on its head and takes it in an unexpected direction? How could a character achieve their goal for a scene but in a surprising or unusual way? Could the outcome of the scene even give them a new goal for the story?
You should also consider how this unexpected outcome fits in with your story’s themes and character arcs, so while surprising it doesn’t feel random. The scene going a weird third way should feel inevitable: a crucial part of your story and your character’s journey that had to happen.
LUKE FOSTER
Writer | CenterFrame Team
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