A character on the show has been less than forthcoming about information that would have certainly helped the protagonist figure things out faster. Often, there's a good reason -- a Big Secret or an Awful Truth, for example. In reality, the writers just needed a way to protract the story or build the suspense. There are two ways this trope is generally employed: A stock response to You Never Did That for Me. Compare Why Didn't You Just Say So? and Didn't See That Coming. Often they Didn't Ask about something that could have prevented the whole mess. Examples of You Didn't Ask include: