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It could be the ridiculous proliferation of true crime podcasts without any satisfactory conclusion, or the numerous Netflix “docu-series” titles that tell you all about violent and dramatic mysteries only to neglect solving them, but the success of Rian Johnson’s Knives Out made me happy. Here, a classic mystery with multiple twists and turns concludes with a satisfactory — albeit surprising — end. And it made a lot of money.
Good mystery stories are solved. And while I was tossed about inside the waves of podcasts like Serial and S-Town, I think I’ve had enough of the stories that just shrug their shoulders at the end: “Well,” the host says in a pitiful imitation of NPR-speak, “that’s all we know about that.” At the end of so many “true crime stories” are no conclusions: we still don’t know who did it, or why—we sometimes don’t even know if a crime was actually committed. Is this even a story?
The second gospel in your New Testament — the gospel of Mark — is a bit of a mystery story. It is the shortest gospel and certainly has the quickest pace. Mark’s favorite word is “immediately.” This word moves Jesus and his companions to various places, scenes, and events with great speed and efficiency. Like a “who-done-it,” the stories in Mark are rapid and effective, leading us somewhere.
