“Stories are inevitable if they’re good, but they’re not predictable” I've heard a variation of this regarding a story's finale; that it should be surprising yet inevitable. That sticks with me, and I can think of a lot of great films with 'surprising yet inevitable' endings. Everything from Jaws to Star Wars.

Michael, here's another variation on that same thing: I call the resolution of a story its Narrative Imperative. When we look at it -- after the fact -- it's simply the way the story HAD to turn out. But again, that's after the fact. When we are in the middle of a story, not knowing the end, we should feel a sense of uncertainty as to its resolution. Oh, sure, we will know most likely the Good Guy will win, the Gal will get the Guy, justice will prevail, all the common tropes of the proverbial Happy Ending. However HOW the ending plays out should not be predictable. Perfect example from Stanton's universe: Pixar. Consider the ending of Toy Story 3. We know going in everything will turn out all right. However as the toys are headed toward a fiery demise, actually holding hands and seemingly accepting their fate... Surprise! Claw swoops down and rescues them. That's not a case of deus ex machina as Claw has been established in the story. Rather it's a beautiful bit of business which works within the internal logic of the story, yet is something I didn't expect. So yes, surprising yet inevitable... Narrative Imperative... after the fact, we can see how a story HAD to turn out the way it did. But when we're experiencing a story's Final Struggle and Resolution, we want to aim for some surprises along the way.