If there's a principle in storytelling that is pretty sacrosanct, it's the Rule of Three. Whether you're talking about jokes or an important dramatic development over the course of an episode (or season), you want to try and hit it three times. The first time is the set up, which lays out the idea. The second time offers a new wrinkle or development (which could be as simple as just repeating the beat in a new context). And the third is the payoff, the resolution that fills you with delight/wonder/horror.
Once you know this idea, you'll see variations of it everywhere. Feature screenwriting is often conceived in three acts. Film previews often have three sections. The five paragraph essay format we were all taught to use as kids involved three arguments in favor of our thesis. It's somehow satisfying deep in our animal brains.
In WHITE LOTUS 204, Mike White gives us a fantastic take on the rule of threes. Three times Harper asks Ethan what happened the previous night with Cameron: the first when she first gets back from being with Daphne and knows nothing. The second, after they get back from the club and she's found a used condom package in their room—new wrinkle! And the final time before they go to bed, at which point Ethan tries to sidetrack the whole thing by changing the topic to Cameron trying to work them. And it resolves with Harper, who knows this is bullshit, leaving the condom package in view in the bathroom. In other words, Ethan, ya blew it.
It's a great version of the Rule of Three to study, because it builds so naturally. Each time that Ethan lies, the tension builds, our attention more and more focused on what is Harper going to do. And the choice she makes is unexpected; we're thinking she's going to confront him, but no, she just leaves the condom and goes to bed.
It's wonderful to see a character do something you don't expect. But it's also a genius move for a serialized story. How do you keep people obsessed with where you're going? Delay giving them the catharsis that you've taught them to want.
I once took improv lessons. I was pretty bad, but one thing I learned is that if you say something once and it makes no sense (because you're bad), instead of being embarrassed, try saying it again. In a sense you teach the audience what to do with it, teach them it's a joke. And then you may find you're golden. (Or you may just be bad.)
In your scripts, are there places where people are saying This seems unmotivated or doesn't land? It could be that you need to cut it. But if you think it's important, see what happens if you pepper that idea in a couple times more.
