# Has this scene variation ever happened in the movies or on television? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 7, 2021, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-scene-variation-ever-happened-in-the-movies-or-on-television/941612 "2021-05-07T18:55:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2021, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-scene-variation-ever-happened-in-the-movies-or-on-television/941612/21 "2021-05-08T15:06:32Z")
Something like this happens in the Ben Affleck **Daredevil** movie. Instead of poison, Foggy dumps some hot pepper in Matt’s coffee, and Matt switches coffees. I can’t vouch for the details of what the spice and drink were, but it was in **Daredevil**. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2021, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-scene-variation-ever-happened-in-the-movies-or-on-television/941612/22 "2021-05-08T16:47:50Z")
The Babylon 5 one was a “binary poison”: Two substances, either one of which by itself was harmless, but if one ever consumed the second after having once consumed the first, it’d be lethal. This was explained as a way of getting the poison past a potential food taster, so as to give the poisoner leverage over the victim. > [@gdave](#): > > That may well have been what happened in the book, but the movie doesn’t establish anything about Vizzini’s ability to read other people. In fact, he seems to be quite bad at that. I think he manages to misread literally everyone we see him interacting with. And he _definitely_ misreads the Man in Black, and misunderstands the nature of the Battle of Wits. He only “misreads literally everyone we see him interacting with” in the sense that the Man in Black is the only person we really see him interacting with. But it is well-established in the movie that he is, in fact, good at that sort of thing, because everyone who knows him considers him to be good at it. And it’s also necessary for the story: “I outsmarted you because you’re a comedic buffoon” isn’t very interesting, but “I outsmarted you because even though you’re a genius who’s very good at the game you thought you were playing, I’m even smarter and was playing a different game” is. We already saw that the Man in Black outfenced the best swordsman in the world and outwrestled the best wrestler in the world-- He has to outwit the greatest genius in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2021, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-scene-variation-ever-happened-in-the-movies-or-on-television/941612/23 "2021-05-08T17:18:12Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Guys, I don’t know of any antidotes that work that way. All the ones I can think of counteract the effects of a poison already in the body. It is a _movie_ antidote. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2021, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-scene-variation-ever-happened-in-the-movies-or-on-television/941612/24 "2021-05-08T17:22:20Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > No, the OP has it that A put the antidote in B’s drink, and that B then switched the glasses. Exactly. This thread is about if this particular scenario has taken place in the movies or on television, not about all those other scenarios that are like it only in that for some reason a drink is doctored…like the one in _Princess Bride_. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2021, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-scene-variation-ever-happened-in-the-movies-or-on-television/941612/25 "2021-05-08T17:24:54Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > So, Alice offers Bob a drink, and she knows both drinks are poisoned, and she puts the antidote in Bob’s drink, keeping the poisoned drink for herself? What exactly is Alice’s motive here? Perhaps to let Bob know in his dying moments that he outsmarted himself when he switched the drinks. You know-standard villainy. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2021, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-scene-variation-ever-happened-in-the-movies-or-on-television/941612/26 "2021-05-08T18:10:14Z")
It is not, at least in a fictional context, a completely outlandish scenario: a good old poison duel, except both antagonists swallow the poison first—no chickening out after that. I cannot recall any examples, though [this page](https://www.strangehistory.net/2014/09/23/poison-duel-4-medical-origins-poison-duel/) mentions the interesting variation where each of two physicians gives the other a poison of his or her choice, and each has to use their skill to concoct himself an antidote. Cagliostro is mentioned by name. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2021, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-scene-variation-ever-happened-in-the-movies-or-on-television/941612/27 "2021-05-08T18:48:33Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Perhaps to let Bob know in his dying moments that he outsmarted himself when he switched the drinks. > You know-standard villainy. Hmm…I suppose it could work, but the author would have to be really careful not to make it seem absurd. The plan depends on Alice risking her life that Bob will not only notice her action, but will not notice that she’s trying to get him to notice it, and also that he’ll respond to her action by switching the drinks. That’s a lot of factors that have to work out just right. I’ve obviously never heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2021, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-scene-variation-ever-happened-in-the-movies-or-on-television/941612/28 "2021-05-09T00:04:08Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > He only “misreads literally everyone we see him interacting with” in the sense that the Man in Black is the only person we really see him interacting with. But it is well-established in the movie that he is, in fact, good at that sort of thing, because everyone who knows him considers him to be good at it. And it’s also necessary for the story: “I outsmarted you because you’re a comedic buffoon” isn’t very interesting, but “I outsmarted you because even though you’re a genius who’s very good at the game you thought you were playing, I’m even smarter and was playing a different game” is. We already saw that the Man in Black outfenced the best swordsman in the world and outwrestled the best wrestler in the world-- He has to outwit the greatest genius in the world. I think you’re wrong about much of that, but it’s not something I particularly want to argue with you about, especially in this thread where it would be a sidetrack, so I’ll leave it at that. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2021, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-scene-variation-ever-happened-in-the-movies-or-on-television/941612/29 "2021-05-09T00:34:55Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > The plan depends on Alice risking her life that Bob will not only notice her action, but will not notice that she’s trying to get him to notice it, and also that he’ll respond to her action by switching the drinks. That’s a lot of factors that have to work out just right. Right. It makes sense _only_ as something to fool the audience, not in context. It’s the kind of twist where the hope is it will shock the viewer enough not to think about it. Or is played solely for comic relief. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2021, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-scene-variation-ever-happened-in-the-movies-or-on-television/941612/30 "2021-05-09T00:53:11Z")
Since everyone else is going off on tangents, _Justified_ has something that’s a teeny bit close to this: In the season 2 finale, Mags serves herself and Raylen Givens glasses of her famous apple pie moonshine. And we know from previous episodes that she murders people by giving them a poisoned glass. This time, she puts the poisoned glass in front of herself. But it’s not because she’s expecting Raylen to switch them. It’s because she’s been caught, and wants to go out on her own terms. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-this-scene-variation-ever-happened-in-the-movies-or-on-television/941612.md?page=1)