Did The Whistler End With A Twist Or A Clear Resolution?

I really loved how “The Whistler” managed to create a sharp twist while also bringing closure to the story. After having the plot twisted around in a completely different way than I had expected, it really deepened the themes of justice and the cost of truth. The ending was bittersweet but not inconclusive.

I have the greatest respect for the twist – it doesn’t just exist to be shocking, it actually deepens the themes of the story and propounds questions about justice. The ending is bittersweet in that the world isn’t magically put to rights but the reader is not left lost and wondering what the point of it all was. It’s a thinking, sort-of-kept-me-awake-at-night sort-of-of-book.

'The Whistler' is a surprisingly twisty TV movie that ends well, but not perfectly. It clears up the central mystery to the TV movie’s endpoint, but leaves many of the plot’s emotional and moral questions to linger. Yes, there are plenty of surprises here, but that includes flipping one of the main assumptions of the plot to reveal a new villain / victim, and showing the consequences of that.

A good balance of closure on the mechanics of the story, and more of a nudge to think about the ethics of the actions of the characters. For those who want a strong moral to the story, it may leave them frustrated, but for me, it is what lingers long after the story has reached its conclusion and provided its last snapshot of the characters and their world. It was clever, a little cruel, and fair all at once – a great and thought-provoking ending that I am already thinking about the next day.

I just finished watching the movie ‘The Whistler’ and it was great. So great in fact that it made me smile whilst also making me feel rather uneasy. It’s a Gothic-Noir from the 40’s and follows a neat enough running plot for the sort of thing, a set-up which culminates in a great twist at the end which inevitably re-defines how we view the tale as it has been unfolding in front of us. Throughout the story we view the behavior of our lead character and are forced to weigh up the consequences of said behavior. And yet, all the time we have been positives in our perception of the protagonist, convinced of their plight and forthcoming travail – with the twist at the end revealing the true nature of things (and people) in the story and, effectively, overturning our former sympathies to reveal the true culprit of the tale’s main drama.

From a structural point of view, the story comes to a close with a consequence being fulfilled, ends are being tied up, and the main plot point of the story is revealed. However, this closure is of an ironic kind rather than being comforting. It feels more like a cosmic bookkeeping than a merciful forgiveness. And this is perfectly in line with the tone of the stories as they were originally broadcast on radio as part of The Whistler series, with irony being a hallmark of the best episodes. The ending is jagged and thus remembered long after the story is over. The answers are given, but the feelings of ambiguity with regard to the characters linger on.

This is what I mean by not being wrapped up with a bow. Finishing the story off gives us a conclusion and ties up all the loose ends but the emotional after-stories of the characters are left jagged and open to our interpretation. That has to be satisfying, because it leaves me thinking on the long ride home about all the choices that the protagonist made and the consequences that he was trying to avoid. And also whether he was culapable or not. And whether we the audience were fair to press for the secret of this person to be revealed in the last minute. If you like fairy-tale endings to your mystery, then 'The Whistler' is not for you. But if you enjoy great moral ambiguity in the best of plotting with a great snap of irony at the end, then this is a great ending to a story.