Do Fan Theories Wreck Storytelling?

No bad writing wrecks Storytelling

Only when fans let their theories get in the way of the story, I think. If I wanted Davros to suddenly mend his ways, and had worked out a theory as to why he should do so - and then he doesn't, the the only person my theory has wrecked the story for, is me! I think, reading comments on Facebook and the like (and often wishing I hadn't!), there are fans who feel their ideas are more important than what's actually going on in the series. That's dangerous territory for the ego, and probably the time to stop watching.

I agree with the premise yet I think it's a result of pop-culture eating itself in general. New characters have to "be" someone else. Rey from Star Wars being a nobody was perfect - the force finds you, it's not in your blood - lovely idea. But no - people spat the collective dummy and a populist like JJ Abrams retcons it to make it "actually, you need to be the grandaughter of a Sith Lord to be this powerful...sorry". Clunky doesn't begin to cover it. We saw it recently with WandaVision where "Who is she gonna call??" became such a big deal only for it to be a generic Army friend. Fans were mighty peeved - but it's all the plot needed. What would a Rhodey cameo add there besides a cheap pop and a few hundred grand to the budget? Nothing. Though why the creatives felt the need to tease cameos that weren't happening is another matter.

We see it in Who. How many people have been hidden incarnations of The Master, Susan, The Rani or whomever by now? Never ends. And when people build up that so-and-so is secretly some big character then don't get the release of that tension, it can let them down. Instead of being happy we get new, original characters to expand the universe rather than keep it small.

I wouldn't add Game Of Thrones to this list as I think everything there would have worked if Benioff and Weiss didn't insist they could wrap everything up in two short seasons when they needed 4 at least to not only match the pacing of the entire show but to sew seeds, set up and pay off - with false steps along the way. No show ever will marathon as badly as GoT, taking forever to get anywhere for 6 seasons then everything happening instantly during it's last two runs. Feels like a highlights reel and totally killed the love that show had worldwide. Went from a phenomenon to a bad taste leftover.

So, yes, people set themselves up for a fall and confuse reveals with good storytelling. Surprises themselves aren't "good" but so much of modern storytelling, especially in geek culture, is built on the notion of cheap pops. The more audiences are conditioned to expect that...the more they'll be peeved not to get it.

I do think that this is often the case, two major recent examples I can call to mind that are similar to each other are the finale of WandaVision and Hell Bent. In both cases many fans had all sorts of elaborate lore heavy theories about where they wanted the finales to go and then faced disappointment when the finale focused more on interpersonal relationships, love, and grief. In my opinion, the direction both of these finales took are far more emotionally satisfying as is than if they focused on lore based reveals that would have lacked satisfying character beats. I think many fans missed the emotional impact in these episodes because they are too focused on the fact that they didn’t get their big deep lore based reveals, and decided that the episodes were crap simply because they didn’t do exactly what they wanted rather than appreciating them for what they are.

I respectfully disagree about Hell Bent, it’s not perfect but I think it has a lot of merit in regards to exploring 12 and Clara’s relationship. The lore aspect is more of a red herring.

I see your point but I still think both WandaVision’s finale as well as Hell Bent and Timeless Children have merit as character pieces even if they aren’t perfect.