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Q&A Should the audience be immediately aware of the reason for a flashback?

In the pilot episode of "The Americans" Elizabeth has a flashback to something that happened twenty years earlier. Seeing her reflection triggers the flashback, but a reflection seems to have no e...

2 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Bob516‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T11:54:45Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/45225
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Bob516‭ · 2019-12-08T11:54:45Z (almost 5 years ago)
In the pilot episode of "The Americans" Elizabeth has a flashback to something that happened twenty years earlier. Seeing her reflection triggers the flashback, but a reflection seems to have no earlier reference in the plot line. The flashback makes sense once the scene is over, but that is after the fact.

Is it an accepted technique for the protagonist to have an internally logical flashback, even if the audience doesn't know the reason for the flashback?

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-05-17T12:47:12Z (over 5 years ago)
Original score: 5