History Main / ConfirmBeforeReveal

* ''ComicBook/AnyasGhost'': Anya and Dima are at the library looking through microfilms to find newspaper articles regarding the murder of the titular ghost, Emily. After they have spent a while looking, Dima asks, [[spoiler:"We're looking for a murder ''by'' a person named Emily Reilly, right?"]]. Anya dismisses it at first because it isn't what she's looking for until it clicks in her head when she realizes what Dima just said and she sees the article he found.

A character saw or remembers something important happening right now and wants to tell someone about it. But before they can do that, they need to make sure what they're about to reveal is accurate. They ask questions about it and make sure that it lines up with what they're revealing. The other character can't see what they're seeing so they have to rely on the other character's knowledge to confirm their answer. They can't take too long because they will miss the opportunity to reveal it and whatever is happening might be gone or too late to stop it. When they feel confident with the information they have, then they reveal it.

Sometimes, the character doesn't need to reveal it or have their question answered, the thing they're about to reveal will get the other character's attention and they'll eventually figure it out. This could potentially backfire on them because if they take too long to reveal it, then it'll be too late and it won't matter anymore. It's good that they want to make sure they have all facts, but it's meaningless if they don't reveal it soon.

[[folder:Comic Book]]
* ''ComicBook/AnyasGhost'': Anya and Dima are at the library looking through microfilms to find newspaper articles regarding the murder of the titular ghost, Emily. After they have spent a while looking, Dima asks, [[spoiler:"We're looking for a murder ''by'' a person named Emily Reilly, right?"]]. Anya dismisses it at first because it wasn't what she's looking for until it clicked in her head when she realized what Dima just said and she sees the article he found.

[[folder:Film - Animated]]

[[folder:Film - Live Action]]

** In "One Fish, Two Fish", in order to help Klaus get his U.S. citizenship, Harley decides to have a CitizenshipMarriage with him while transferring her mind into a goldfish body to make it more legit. While in the same fish bowl together, Harley asks Klaus a fish question: "I was napping in the treasure chest yesterday and all of these little pellets fell out of me. Is that normal?" Klaus immediately realized that Haley unknowingly laid eggs because he was milting inside the treasure chest and opened the chest to reveal baby fishes coming out of it.

[[folder: Live-Action TV]]

* In ''WesternAnmation/TaleSpin'' episode "From Here To Machinery", while talking to Rebecca, Baloo was prompted to ask why she was busying about the office, to which Rebecca replied she was preparing for a visit from an important client:

'''Josh:''' Not exactly.
(cue Buddy knocking his ball down the stairs hitting a paint can)

'''Josh''' Mom, do you remember when I had a hamster?
'''Jackie''' Do you want another hamster?
'''Josh''' Not exactly.

* ''ComicBook/AnyasGhost'': Anya and Dima are at the library looking through microfilms to find newspaper articles regarding the murder of the titular ghost, Emily. After they have spent a while looking, Dima asks, [[spoiler: "We're looking for a murder ''by'' a person named Emily Reilly, right?"]]. Anya dismisses it at first because it wasn't what she's looking for until it clicked in her head when she realized what Dima just said and she sees the article he found.

** In "One Fish, Two Fish", in order to help Klaus get his U.S. citizenship, Harley decides to have a CitizenshipMarriage with him while transferring her mind into a goldfish body to make it more legit. While in the same fish bowl together, Harley asks Klaus a fish question: "I was napping in the treasure chest yesterday and all of these little pellets fell out of me. Is that normal?" Klaus immediately realized that Haley unknowingly laid eggs because [[ADateWithRosiePalms he was milting inside the treasure chest]] and opened the chest to reveal baby fishes coming out of it.

'''Chuckie:''' What?!

* Late in the ''Series/SavedByTheBell'' episode "House Party", Screech manages to get enough money by hosting a party at his house while his parents are away so that Slater can use the money to buy a replica of Screech's mother's Elvis statue that was accidentally broken earlier in the episode. Things take a bad turn when his parents come back earlier than initially planned, as Kelly and Lisa, who are watching through the front window, inform everyone else.[[note]] Sure enough, Screech's mother comes inside within a minute before the party attendants can leave, though Zack manages to convince her the party is held in honor of Elvis.[[/note]]

* ''Series/{{Community}}'': Subverted in Season 3 "[[Recap/CommunityS3E04RemedialChaosTheory Remedial Chaos Theory]]" where Troy looks through Annie's purse when she goes to get the pizzas and finds an odd object. He asks Jeff to describe what a {{pregnancy test|Plot}} looks like. Once he realizes the object isn't a pregnancy test, he pulls it out of Annie's purse and reveals she has a gun.

* ''Series/{{Community}}'': In Season 3 "[[Recap/CommunityS3E04RemedialChaosTheory Remedial Chaos Theory]]", Troy looks through Annie's purse when she goes to get the pizzas and finds an odd object. He asks Jeff to describe what a {{pregnancy test|Plot}} looks like. Once he realizes the object isn't a pregnancy test, he pulls it out of Annie's purse and reveals she has a gun.

If they reveal it after it becomes irrelevant, it's NowYouTellMe. Compare BearerOfBadNews if the reveal is something bad.

'''Jeff:''' ''(not looking up from something he's reading)'' It's like a thin piece of plastic with a [[BuffySpeak thing]] on the end of it.\\

* ''Series/{{Community}}'': In Season 3 "[[Recap/CommunityS3E04RemedialChaosTheory Remedial Chaos Theory]]", Troy looks through Annie's purse when she goes to get the pizzas and finds an odd object. He asks Jeff to describe what a pregnancy test looks like. Once he realizes the object isn't a pregnancy test, he pulls it out of Annie's purse and reveals she has a gun.

* In ''WesternAnimation/BlessTheHarts'' Season 2 "[[Recap/BlessTheHartsS2E7MegaLoMemoriesPartDeux Mega-Lo-Memories: Part Deux]]", while waiting in line during Black Friday at Mega-Lo Mart, Jenny talks about the time she discovered she's pregnant with Violet while Wayne talks about the time he worked as delivery driver for dairy products. In Jenny's story, after everyone in the store discovered Jenny is pregnant, she ran to the back of the store to avoid confronting Betty and has a conversation with someone who was stocking up the eggnogs in the fridge on the other side and they can't see each other's face. When Wayne asks Jenny if the part of the store she ran to was the dairy section and Jenny confirms it and asks him why, everyone realizes that Wayne was the one who was stocking up the eggnogs and that this moment is the first time Wayne and Jenny met without realizing it, and it's when Wayne inadvertently gave Violet her name when he gave Jenny a violet flower to cheer her up.

* In ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'', Season 6 "[[Recap/BobsBurgersS6E11HouseOfA1000Bounces House of a 1000 Bounces]]", when Teddy is eating at Bob's restaurant for the last 20 minutes, he finally asks Bob and Linda if the pigeon sitting on their restaurant TV is real. When Bob and Linda are confused with Teddy's question, he reveals there's a pigeon inside their restaurant sitting on their TV, [[FailedASpotCheck which they now just notice]]. Teddy was worried he was seeing things because he got pretty drunk at the lodge before coming here.

* In ''Series/FearTheWalkingDead'' Season 4 "Blackjack", after Martha kills Quinn and steals Althea's SWAT truck, she warns Morgan on the radio to stop helping people or there will be consequences. After ignoring her warning, while riding in the trailer of Sarah's truck, Martha calls them again and reminds Morgan of her warning. Morgan puts his foot down and tells her he'll continue to help people and he'll gladly help her. Suddenly, Sarah interrupts them to ask Althea something:
-->'''Sarah:''' Hey, Al. That van you were talking about. What exactly does it look like?\\
'''Luciana:''' What the hell is going on?\\
'''Althea:''' Cat II MRAP. It's a... It's a tank. Why?\\
'''Sarah:''' ''(sees Martha in Althea's truck pursuing them in her mirror)'' I think we found it. It's at our back door, 5:00.\\
'''Jim:''' ''(sees Martha through the mirror)'' [[OhCrap Holy shit]].
* In ''Series/TheGeorgeLopezShow'', Season 4 "Friends Don't Let Friends Marry Drunks", George and Angie are watching Ricky because Ernie has a date with someone tonight. When George and Angie take Max and Ricky to a restaurant to eat, Angie notices Ernie with Ricky's [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]] mom, Tammy, at a table eating together. Angie confirms with George is they're watching Ricky because of Ernie's date today, but George assures her that date is already over because's it's [[HopelessSuitor Ernie]]. Then Angie reveals Ernie is with Tammy right now, much to George's shock and disgust.

* In ''Series/FamilyMatters'' Season 4 "Mama's Wedding", Eddie is planning to throw a flyer party at his house next week after Estelle gets married at their home and his parents go out of town. On the day of Estelle's wedding, Steve tells Eddie there's a problem with Estelle's wedding that involves Eddie's party.
-->'''Steve:''' You remember our flyer party, the one I am clearly on record as being totally against?\\
'''Eddie:''' Yeah, what about it, Steve?\\
'''Steve:''' Well tell me again, refresh my memory. When is that party supposed to be? ''(pulls out the party flyer)''\\
'''Eddie:''' Next Saturday.\\
'''Steve:''' Wrong, cummerbund breath! ''(shows Eddie the flyer)'' Waldo put ''today's'' date on the flyer. Right now, you have over 100 crazed teenagers in your backyard ready to boogie.\\
'''Eddie:''' What?! Steve!

* In ''Series/TheGeorgeLopezShow'', Season 4 "Friends Don't Let Friends Marry Drunks", George and Angie are watching Ricky because Ernie has a date with someone tonight. When George and Angie take Max and Ricky to a restaurant to eat, Angie notices Ernie with Ricky's [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]] mom, Tammy, at a table eating together.
-->'''Angie:''' George, I thought we were watching Ricky because Ernie had a date tonight.\\
'''George:''' It's probably over by now. She's probably in the ladies' room, standing on the sink, trying to figure out a way to squeeze through the window. ''(Angie hits him on the shoulder)'' Come on, Angie! You think she's skinny?\\
'''Angie:''' ''(pointing towards Ernie and Tammy)'' Isn't that Ricky's mom?\\
'''George:''' Don't tell me Ernie's dating Tammy. She's a mess.

A character saw or remembers something important happening right now and wants to tell someone about it. But before they can do that, they need to make sure what they're about to reveal is accurate. They ask questions about it and makes sure that it lines up with what they're revealing. The other character can't see what they're seeing so they have to rely on the other character's knowledge to confirm their answer. They can't take too long because they will miss the opportunity to reveal it and whatever is happening might be gone or too late to stop it. When they feel confident with the information they have, then they reveal it.

Confirm Before Reveal is when a character notices something important off-screen or in the background or they just remembered something important and instead of revealing it right away they ask questions about it first.

* In ''Series/TheGeorgeLopezShow'', Season 4 "Friends Don't Let Friends Marry Drunks", George and Angie are watching Ricky because Ernie has a date with someone tonight. When George and Angie takes Max and Ricky to a restaurant to eat, Angie notices Ernie with Ricky's [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]] mom, Tammy, at a table eating together.

** In "One Fish, Two Fish", in order to help Klaus get his U.S. citizenship , Harley decides to have a CitizenshipMarriage with him while transferring her mind into a goldfish body to make it more legit. While in the same fish bowl together, Harley asks Klaus a fish question: "I was napping in the treasure chest yesterday and all of these little pellets fell out of me. Is that normal?" Klaus immediately realized that Haley unknowingly laid eggs because [[ADateWithRosiePalms he was milting inside the treasure chest]] and opened the chest to reveal baby fishes coming out of it.
* In ''WesternAnimation/BlessTheHarts'' Season 2 "[[Recap/BlessTheHartsS2E7MegaLoMemoriesPartDeux Mega-Lo-Memories: Part Deux]]", while waiting in line during Black Friday at Mega-Lo Mart, Jenny talks about the time she discovered she's pregnant with Violet while Wayne talks about the time he worked as delivery driver for diary products. In Jenny's story, after everyone in the store discovered Jenny is pregnant, she ran to the back of the store to avoid confronting Betty and has a conversation with someone who was stocking up the eggnogs in the fridge on the other side and they can't see each other's face. When Wayne asks Jenny if the part of the store she ran to was the dairy section and Jenny confirms it and asks him why, everyone realize that Wayne was the one who was stocking up the eggnogs and that this moment is the first time Wayne and Jenny met without realizing it, and it's when Wayne inadvertently gave Violet her name when he gave Jenny a violet flower to cheer her up.
* In ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'', Season 6 "[[Recap/BobsBurgersS6E11HouseOfA1000Bounces House of a 1000 Bounces]]", when Teddy is eating at Bob's restaurant for the last 20 minutes, he finally ask Bob and Linda if the pigeon sitting on their restaurant TV is real. When Bob and Linda are confused with Teddy's question, he reveals there's a pigeon inside their restaurant sitting on their TV, [[FailedASpotCheck which they now just notice]]. Teddy was worried he was seeing things because he got pretty drunk at the lodge before coming here.
* In ''WesternAnimation/CentralPark'', Season 1 "[[WesternAnimation/CentralPark Garbage Ballet]], the garbage trucks for Central Park has been rerouted to a further location and Owen and his park staff can't keep up with the all trash and all the dumpsters are quickly filling up, resulting in the park being full of litter everywhere. And it's gets worse when people are taking picture of the trash.

* In ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' Season 11 "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS11E5JoesRevenge Joe's Revenge]]", Peter, Quagmire, and Joe enter a strip club in Atlantic City to find a stripper who knows the location of the man who crippled Joe. While in the club, Peter notices something off-screen and asks Quagmire if he's been in Atlantic City before. When Quagmire confirms he was in Altantic City once 20 years ago and he asks why, the camera cuts to a pair of twin strippers who resembles Quagmire while having a high-pitch voice, indicating they're his illegitimate daughters.

If they reveal it after it becomes irrelevant, it's NowYouTellMe.

->'''Troy:''' Uhhh guys, what does a ''pregnancy test'' look like?
->'''Jeff:''' ''(not looking up from something he's reading)'' It's like a thin piece of plastic with a [[BuffySpeak thing]] on the end of it.
->'''Troy:''' ''(pulls a revolver from Annie's purse)'' Okay, so this is definitely a ''gun.''
->'''Jeff:''' Whoa! Yeah, put that away.

-->'''Russell:''' I found the snipe!
-->'''Carl:''' Oh, did you?
-->'''Russell:''' Are they tall?
-->'''Carl:''' Oh, yes, they're very tall.
-->'''Russell:''' Do they have a lot of colors?
-->'''Carl:''' They do, indeed.
-->'''Russell:''' Do they like chocolate?
-->'''Carl:''' Oh, yea... Chocolate?
-->''(Carl turns around and sees a very tall, colorful bird)''
-->'''Carl:''' ''Yah! What is that thing?!''
-->'''Russell:''' That's the snipe.

-->'''Mike:''' Say, Dave.
-->'''Dave:''' Yes, Mike.
-->'''Mike:''' What day is it? Tuesday, right?
-->'''Dave:''' ''(checking his watch)'' Yep, Tuesday. Why?
-->'''Mike:''' The Prometheus 7 just took off. I thought that wasn't scheduled to happen until Thursday.
-->'''Dave:''' ''(checking a clipboard)'' Yep, Thursday.
-->''(beat)''
-->'''Mike and Dave:''' [[OhCrap Aaaaaaaaah!]]

-->'''Steve:''' You remember our flyer party, the one I am clearly on record as being totally against?
-->'''Eddie:''' Yeah, what about it, Steve?
-->'''Steve:''' Well tell me again, refresh my memory. When is that party supposed to be? ''(pulls out the party flyer)''
-->'''Eddie:''' Next Saturday.
-->'''Steve:''' Wrong, cummerbund breath! ''(shows Eddie the flyer)'' Waldo put ''today's'' date on the flyer. Right now, you have over 100 crazed teenagers in your backyard ready to boogie.
-->'''Eddie:''' What?! Steve!

-->'''Sarah:''' Hey, Al. That van you were talking about. What exactly does it look like?
-->'''Luciana:''' What the hell is going on?
-->'''Althea:''' Cat II MRAP. It's a... It's a tank. Why?
-->'''Sarah:''' ''(sees Martha in Althea's truck pursuing them in her mirror)'' I think we found it. It's at our back door, 5:00.
-->'''Jim:''' ''(sees Martha through the mirror)'' [[OhCrap Holy shit]].

-->'''Angie:''' George, I thought we were watching Ricky because Ernie had a date tonight.
-->'''George:''' It's probably over by now. She's probably in the ladies' room, standing on the sink, trying to figure out a way to squeeze through the window. ''(Angie hits him on the shoulder)'' Come on, Angie! You think she's skinny?
-->'''Angie:''' ''(pointing towards Ernie and Tammy)'' Isn't that Ricky's mom?
-->'''George:''' Don't tell me Ernie's dating Tammy. She's a mess.

-->'''Park Worker:''' ''(on the radio)'' Owen. Is it bad if a busload of tourists just pulled up and start taking pictures of the trash?
-->'''Owen:''' Yes.
-->'''Park Worker:''' So it's worse if ''three'' busloads just pulled up.
-->'''Owen:''' [[OhCrap Gah!]]

-->'''Tommy:''' Uh, Chuckie. Is that the crib with the wide bars on it?
-->'''Phil:''' And the tall sides?
-->'''Lil:''' And the picture of the pink and blue sheep?
-->'''Chuckie:''' Yep, that's the one. Why?
-->'''Tommy:''' Well, I think the grown-ups just carried it out of your room in pieces.
-->'''Chuckie:''' What?!
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Season 20 [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS20E8TheBurnsAndTheBees The Burns and the Bees]], in order to preserve the honeybees that are healthy, Lisa has the bees form a beard on her face. When Homer is about to reveal this to Marge:
-->'''Homer:''' Marge, remember when we were talking about our worst fears?
-->'''Marge:''' Mmm-hmm.
-->'''Homer:''' Mine was snakes, and yours was...
-->'''Marge:''' [[IWantGrandkids Never being a grandmother.]]
-->'''Homer:''' Really? I thought it was Lisa with a beard of bees. Well, whatever. Brace yourself.

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!!Index
* {{Dialogue}}
* PlotTwist
* RealizationIndex
* SurpriseTropes

!!Playing With
'''Basic Trope''': A character ask a question about the thing they're about to reveal before revealing.
* '''Straight''': Bob bought himself a CoolCar and tells Alice how great his new car is. When Alice notice someone breaking into a car behind Bob, she asks Bob to describe his car's appearance again. After Bob describes his car again and ask Alice why she would ask that, she reveals someone is trying to steal his car.
* '''Exaggerated''': Alice asks Bob specific details about his car: what color is the car, what type of car it is, where he parked it, did he have passenger in his car, is someone trying to fix his car, what year was his car made, etc. After Bob answers and confirms Alice's questions, she now reveals someone is trying to steal his car.
* '''Downplayed''': ???
* '''Justified''':
** Bob only described his car to Alice and she hasn't physically seen it yet.
** Alice isn't sure if the person who's breaking into Bob's car is a friend of Bob or a mechanic.
* '''Inverted''': ???
* '''Subverted''': Alice asks Bob if his new car is red, but he tells her it's blue and Alice moves on.
* '''Double Subverted''': After the car thief hardwires the red car and drives off, the thief crashes into Bob's blue car and Alice asks Bob to remind her what color his car was again and then tells him what happen.
* '''Parodied''': ???
* '''Zig Zagged''': ???
* '''Averted''': Alice straight up tells Bob that someone is trying to steal his car.
* '''Enforced''': ???
* '''Lampshaded''': "If you're asking me questions, I feel like something bad is happening right now."
* '''Invoked''': ???
* '''Exploited''': Alice and the car thief are actually working together to steal Bob's car. While the thief is trying to locate Bob's car, Alice asks Bob to describe his car again so she can signal the thief to the car he needs to steal. And once the thief does steal the car, she reveals it to Bob to [[KickTheDog mock him]].
* '''Defied''': Alice tries to ask Bob a quick question about his car, but Bob tells Alice to get to the point and asks her if something is happening to his car.
* '''Discussed''': ???
* '''Conversed''': ???
* '''Deconstructed''': Answering Alice's questions wastes valuable time Bob could have spent stopping the thief, resulting in his car being stolen.
* '''Reconstructed''': ???
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%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:
%%
%%* '''Implied:''': ???
%%* '''Untwisted:''': ???
%%* '''Plotted A Good Waste''': ???
%%* '''Played For Laughs''': ???
%%* '''Played For Drama''': ???