If part of these movies is about jerking fans around (which people on both sides seem to agree on)
What makes you think that’s true at all?
It is in the sense that there are plot twists…
- You think Snoke is going to be the next Palpatine (ie. big bad who dies at the end of the third film), but he’s not.
- You think Luke is going to mentor Rey but he doesn’t.
- You think Leia is dead but she’s not.
- You think someone or something on the Light Side is connecting Rey and Ren, but it’s Snoke, but it’s again not really.
- You think Finn is going to destroy the tracker but he doesn’t and gets caught. You think there’s no way out except then BB-8 shows up in a chicken walker after you forgot he was even there.
- You think Poe is going to save the cruiser but he doesn’t.
- You think it’s the Vice Admiral coming through the door but it isn’t.
- You think Luke is on the planet fighting Ren but he’s not.
- You think Ren is going to kill Rey but he doesn’t—he does exactly what Vader wanted to do in ESB but couldn’t.
BUT that is to say only if the use of the phrase “jerking fans around” means unexpected twists for the sake of interesting storytelling, rather than it being a nicer way of saying “dicking fans over.” If it means the latter, then no, there’s no reason to assume that’s true.
Twists and surprises are part of good story telling. That doesn’t mean every twist or surprise is good storytelling. And I wish I were saying that some twists just weren’t enjoyable. You have to look at the film holistically to understand.