John and Craig debate and defend one of the most-maligned elements of screenwriting: Exposition. How do you tell an audience what they need to know without being labeled a hack? We offer tips for getting viewers up to speed without them realizing they’re getting fed exposition.

We also follow up on screenplay competitions, the psychology of toxic fandom, fridging as a trope, and the market for lesbian love stories.

Links:

* Michael Arndt’s thoughts on Endings (and Beginnings)
* Midnight blue typewriter Scriptnotes t-shirts are back on Cotton Bureau for a limited time!
* “Fridging” is the trope of violence against women motivating a male protagonist’s plot.
* These seven lesbian movies are coming out in 2018.
* This exposition scene in Aliens does it right.
* American Animals, written and directed by Bart Layton
* Isoland 2: Ashes of Time for iOS and Android
* The Scriptnotes Listeners’ Guide!
* The USB drives!
* John August on Twitter
* Craig Mazin on Twitter
* John on Instagram
* Find past episodes
* Outro by Timothy Vajda (send us yours!)

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You can download the episode here.