Yeah, I think the author believes that if he recognizes the trick then it must be the case that pulling-off the trick was easy, and therefore cheap. I went th

Yeah, I think the author believes that if he recognizes the trick then it must be the case that pulling-off the trick was easy, and therefore cheap. I went through a phase like that after discovering the TV Tropes wiki and saw all the patterns of my beloved childhood media laid bare. Then I made peace with it, and started enjoying the craft of casually hiding a Chekov’s gun in plain sight, etc.