The Mystery of the Fifty-Second Minute

Just past the 52nd minute....

The Mystery of the Fifty-second Minute

Sounds like a great title, doesn’t it?  Kinda like Hitchcock’s “The 39^th Step”, or “Sixth Sense”?  Throw a number in the title, and you create a question and a grabber.

Maui, Hawaii:  Hawaii 5-0

This is how one of my favorite TV shows always plays out.  The main characters have a close bond, would die to save the other.  During this mystery, the M/C decides to leave his close group, and go to a dangerous country to help a tertiary female character rescue her beloved.   


This poor beloved is in the clutches of a rebel group and will die, unless the female delivers bunches of money to purchase his freedom.

Oh, so delicious Alex O'Loughlin

But, not all is as it seems.  Clues are rife, and predictions can be made early on, that the female has another agenda: to deliver the M/C into the clutches of the evil master villain. 

The close friends discover this duplicity; they gather up all their paramilitary connections, and rush to rescue M/C.  The female discovers her betrayal when the body of the young man is shown to her.  She redeems herself by passing a lock-pick to the M/C, just before the villain kills her.  **

Equally delightful Daniel Oh Kim

Nummy delicious Scott Caan (son of James)

The cavalry rides in, shoots the bad guys, and rescues the M/C, but the villain melts into the night/jungle/city and lives to fight another day.

Villain "Wo Fat" actor, Mark Dacascos, also on "Iron Chef"

**This all happens before the TV show reaches the magic number 52 minutes.  When that number comes, the culminating action happens, and TUH-DUH!  All is well.  The hero looks back at his place of imprisonment with tortured eyes.

The amazing Grace Park

If I know the formula so well, then why do I watch these TV shows?  Eye candy.  The men are young, buff, handsome, and have piercing blue/green/brown eyes.  Grace Park?  Amazing, vulnerable, tough.  Every one of them are easy to appreciate.  Plus, HAWAII!!!  Lush, green, blue ocean--everything to love.

Knowing the 52^nd minute is coming lets me relax while I watch the tense parts where uncertainty should reign.  At “52”, I sigh and wait for the final credits.

I could write those scripts, couldn’t I?