History Main / UnspokenPlanGuarantee

* ''Series/BetterCallSaul'': The first half of season 6 is dedicated to Jimmy and Kim meticulously planning a scam to bring about Howard Hamlin's downfall, with tiny bits of information being meted out episode by episode but the full plan never being explained. The plan finally goes off exactly as planned in the seventh episode, though it leads to something they had never expected. Series creator Peter Gould even [[https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/better-call-saul-peter-gould-lalo-kim-future-final-episodes-walter-white-1235278060/?fbclid=IwAR0VgI9jfsJQmb5KgLYjcTv7l41zgoSaAgltpuBfMJDkiTC7OBvNoK4-BJo mentioned]] having this trope and the ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'' example above in mind when developing the season's arc.
** [[BadassGrandpa Mike Ermentraut]] usually works alone, and as such, has no-one to lay out his schemes to. We do get to see his preparations, often rather bizzare and with heavy use of NoodleImplements, and then - the plan itself unfolding perfectly.

* ''BurnNotice:'' In a later episode, the gang finds themselves trapped with a smuggler who's being targeted by his enemies. Said enemies promise to let Michael, Fi and Sam go if they turn the smuggler over to be killed. Michael distracts Sam and Fi, then marches the smuggler out. At the last moment, he shoots an electric substation, causing an explosion that allows them to escape. Michael claims that everything went according to plan and insists that he couldn't explain in advance because everyone's reactions needed to look real. In a subversion, the smuggler points out that Michael couldn't have known the substation was there until they were already outside, suggesting that things hadn't actually gone according to plan.

* Played straight in an episode of ''Series/{{Castle}}'': Castle appears to be captured by the villain while trying to plant a bomb as part of [[spoiler:his father's plan, not spoken, to break Alexis free from said villain's hideout]]. The kidnapper announces that [[spoiler:his father]] has 10 seconds to come out as well, or he'll shoot both Castle and Alexis. [[spoiler:His father]] responds, that's not going to happen, because the kidnapper will be dead. The kidnapper looks confused, and then the real bomb, which had actually been planted exactly according to plan, explodes and kills him. [[spoiler:His father]] was actually just waiting for the kidnapper to stand in the right spot. As for Castle, he grabs Alexis the second the real bomb goes off and makes a beeline for the US embassy.

* Happens a lot in ''Manga/Eyeshield21'' when the Devil Bats use a trick play. Interestingly, the memorable onside kick against Shinryuji was ''literally'' an unspoken plan -- Hiruma never spoke the plan to the rest of the team, but they picked up on it anyway. The plan succeeds ''despite'' being revealed to the audience directly before its execution.

* In "Brain Drain" on ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes'', Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl both announce their plans to capture Brainiac 5's wayward [[LosingYourHead headless body]], and both plans fail. Lightning Lad then asks Saturn Girl to [[PsychicPowers read his next plan from his mind]] for no apparent reason, and that plan is the one that succeeds.

** And again in Season 7. You always know what the BigBad is going to try to do, but it's not until almost the very end, when the action is well under way, that you find out Buffy is having Willow use the [[spoiler:scythe to activate all the potential Slayers]] into full ones.

* In Season 7, we also have a literal unspoken plan, made via telepathy.

* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': A villainous case when the Many [[spoiler:successfully divert Godzilla]] and cut off Castle Bravo, preventing them from [[spoiler:warning [[AdaptationalHeroism Monster X]] of an impending DynamicEntry]].

* ''Film/BackToTheFuture'':
** Zigzagged in all three ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' movies. In the climax of all three films, Doc creates an elaborate plan to get Marty and himself out of whatever time travel trouble they find themselves in, which the audience is [[MrExposition told in great detail by Doc]]. All three times, something goes wrong, [[DespiteThePlan but the plan ultimately works out]].

* ''Series/BetterCallSaul'': The first half of season 6 is dedicated to Jimmy and Kim meticulously planning a scam to bring about Howard Hamlin's downfall, with tiny bits of information being meted out episode by episode but the full plan never being explained. The plan finally goes off exactly as planned in the seventh episode, though it leads to something they had never expected. Series creator Peter Gould even [[https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/better-call-saul-peter-gould-lalo-kim-future-final-episodes-walter-white-1235278060/?fbclid=IwAR0VgI9jfsJQmb5KgLYjcTv7l41zgoSaAgltpuBfMJDkiTC7OBvNoK4-BJo mentioned]] having this trope and the ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' example above in mind when developing the season's arc.

* Tohsaka refuses to elaborate on her plan to defeat Caster in ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight''. Shirou assumes it's because it's some sort of plan that won't work as well if he knows about it. While this may be true, the real reason is obviously so that [[spoiler:Tohsaka can surprise us with her hand to hand combat skills and utterly floor Caster]]. The plan actually [[spoiler:works]] because [[spoiler:Caster didn't know Magi had picked up martial arts skills, but it's not enough to win. It was only enough to distract her until [[VillainousRescue Archer]] showed up]].

** Surprisingly averted earlier in the movie. The Corleones' plan to kill Sollozzo and McCluskey works almost exactly as intended, the only suspense coming from Michael's hesitating a bit longer than he was advised to before pulling the trigger.

** In Season 7, we also have a literal unspoken plan, made via telepathy.

** In Episode 3, Kirito, Sachi and their two {{NPC}} "guildmates" fall into an ambush, and Sachi tries to come up with an escape plan on the fly.

* A "plan" (actually a course on proper dining etiquette, ItMakesSenseInContext) is only explained to the reader once in ''Literature/GirlsKingdom'', and in that case, a competing scheme by two other characters to mess with a third [[ItAmusedMe for lulz]] screws it up. The rest of the time, the story cuts away before we hear a word of the plan and it always goes off without a hitch.

See also ObstacleExposition, GambitRoulette, IKnowWhatWeCanDoCut, DespiteThePlan, ImpossibleMissionCollapse, ThisIsNoTimeForKnitting. This rule is sometimes violated as a form of {{Padding}}. If you want the plan to succeed the way it's explained, consider the UnfoldingPlanMontage. Contrast MillionToOneChance, where a plan is spoken of, expected by others to fail, yet succeeds. A MischiefFace may make it clear they have a plan, even if we don't hear it.

* In ''[[LightNovel/{{Bakemonogatari}} Koimonogatari]]'', Kaiki tells Senjougahara in advance the lie he plans to use to con Sengoku. Sure enough, when he finally pulls the trigger on his plan, Sengoku doesn't believe him for a second.

** The plot of the sixth series episode "In the Pale Moonlight" rests on this trope. The episode unfolds as Sisko tells the "computer" (i.e., the audience) what happened when he tried to engage in underhand and quite illegal methods to bring the Romulans into the war on the Federation's side. As it unfolds it seems like a ZanyScheme gone horribly wrong that brought the Romulans into the war on the Dominion's side. Actually, it turns out Garak pulled this trope on Sisko (who then pulls it on the audience) by hiding his real plan from Sisko from the outset. What Sisko thought of as their plan going horribly wrong actually goes (from Sisko's point-of-view) horribly right. Justified in that Garak knew all along just what it would take to bring the Romulans into the war on the Federation's side and he also knew Sisko would never have had the stomach to go through with it had he known from the start what it would take. When Sisko realises the truth, he also ends up accepting Garak was right all along... and is deeply troubled by the fact he ''can'' accept it.
** Similarly, the ''[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]'' episode "Dark Frontier" involves a raid on a Borg cube, which we see the characters rehearse on the holodeck first. They actually fail, but not by much, and something very different goes wrong when they try it for real.

** The ''[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]'' cliffhanger "Unimatrix Zero" involves an unspoken plan which several characters think is nuts, and indeed, it seems to go spectacularly wrong. But then Chakotay says "So far, so good", letting us know the plan isn't actually over yet. We get to see the rest in part two.
* An example of the telepathic enemy example can be found in ''Series/{{Star Trek|The Original Series}}'' episode "Return to Tomorrow". A good alien makes Kirk think that Spock's mind has been destroyed and [=McCoy=] think that a hypo contains a deadly poison so a telepathic BigBad will read their minds and be tricked into leaving Spock's body when in reality [[spoiler: the hypo was harmless and Spock's being was installed into Nurse Chapel]].

* ''Series/{{Jeremiah}}'': Zigzagged in the two-parter "Letters from the Other Side". The scene cuts away before Lee Chen reveals his plan to end the war between Thunder Mountain and the Valhalla Sector to Kurdy and Meghan. But Kurdy's horrified expression as he leaves the room? and part 1 ending with [[spoiler:Lee Chen telling the Valhalla Sector that Meghan (who is really a carrier) is immune to the Big Death and that they will trade her for Markus and the other prisoners,]] make it obvious what the plan is even though no one says it out loud until near the end of the next episode. Half of the plan, [[spoiler:exposing the Valhalla Sector to the Big Death through Meghan]] works flawlessly, but [[spoiler:getting all of the prisoners out beforehand fails after the Valhalla Sector decide to keep Jeremiah and Devon as hostages]] as the part 1 cliffhanger. The last minute plan on how to [[spoiler:keep them safe from the virus is also discussed offscreen, has very few clues to its workings, and goes off perfectly]].

* PlayedWith in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie''. As Emmet explains his plan to sneak into the Ocean tower to the rest of the group, we see them enact the plan. Despite everything going off more or less as planned, the heroes end up getting captured at the last minute.

* In the Glowfic Mad Investor Chaos and the Woman of Asmodeus, the Queen finally understands the nature of the universe, when she proclaims:
--> "A thought, then. Suppose we are to - Wait! I believe, on reflection, that I should say no more. I should not speak any of my plans or thoughts on the subject aloud. I have not already lost Hell's victory thereby, I think, but I cannot speak out loud of how victory is to be achieved and especially not while speaking with the Most High in a tower overlooking my city's sunset."

* In the Glowfic Mad Investor Chaos and the Woman of Asmodeus, the Queen finally understands the nature of the universe, when she proclaims:"A thought, then. Suppose we are to -"

"Wait! I believe, on reflection, that I should say no more. I should not speak any of my plans or thoughts on the subject aloud. I have not already lost Hell's victory thereby, I think, but I cannot speak out loud of how victory is to be achieved and especially not while speaking with the Most High in a tower overlooking my city's sunset."

-->'''Emily:''' Although next time you tell me your plan, you don't say tiny parts of it or the whole thing out loud.
-->'''Jason:''' Why not?
-->'''Emily:''' Anytime you do, the plan tends to backfire. If those movies I watched on my cable box were of any indication...

---> '''George:''' It's my secret, private, plan.
---> '''Julian:''' I really think you might tell us your plan, we are your best friends.
---> '''George:''' You might try to stop me.
---> '''Julian:''' Then you'd certainly better tell us.

-->'''Reznov / Prisoners''': "Step One! ''Secure the keys!'' Step Two! ''Ascend from darkness!'' Step Three! ''Rain Fire!'' Step Four! ''Unleash the Horde!'' Step Five! ''Skewer the winged beast!'' Step Six! ''Wield a Fist of Iron!''...Ah-hahaha! You know what to do! Step Seven! ''Raise Hell!''"

--> '''Gaea:''' Quick, everyone do what I just wrote on the discussion board!

--> '''Gumball''': Hey, where is everyone?\\

*** Subversion as the plan was foreshadowed, but in Part II, rather than Part III. Right as Marty confronts Biff about the Sports Almanac, Biff is seen watching AFistfulOFDollars, specifically the scene where Clint Eastwood's character does the same exact name. In Part III, Marty identifies himself as "Clint Eastwood" early on, and before Marty pulls the stunt, he's reminded of this when one of the saloon patrons asks if he's really going to let people say Clint Eastwood was the biggest coward in the West.