THE ONCE AND FUTURE REPETITION

 A qualification to my definition of repetition here: because as I said that repeated scenarios for this type of fictional sadism took place in separate time-frames, it's not strictly necessary to show more than one such scenario to establish that it either represents one in a series of past repetitions, or one that will continue in like wise in the future.

Regarding past repetitions, domestic thrillers are so replete with examples that I feel no need to provide any here. The moment a husband-character seems to wield disproportionate power over his better half, the viewer doesn't have to SEE anything; it's assumed that there have been any number of sadistic acts of one toward the other. Usually the wife-character is entirely reasonable, in order to underscore that the husband's desire for control is outside the bounds of matrimonial give-and-take. At the same time, some thrillers will confine themselves to one real-time act of sadism, which stands as a synecdoche for all past actions.

As a means of expressing a pattern of action for the future, the following "gag splash panel" should serve.

The mostly forgotten backup humor-series STELLA THE STARLET appeared in various issues of a teen-humor magazine from Ace Publications, HAP HAZARD. Except for this gag-splash from HH #18, there's not that much about STELLA worth remembering.

In truth, the gag-splash barely has anything to do with the main story. In the principal tale, Alonzo, the short-statured agent to glamorous actress Stella, seeks to overcome various pitfalls in order to propose to his client, with predictable comic results. The two characters never get to the altar in the main tale, but in the gag-splash the artist (said to be Sol Brodsky of later Marvel fame) added a clever reversal on a couple of marriage-tropes. In the background, all the female guests are smiling confidently, while all the male ones are openly weeping. And Alonzo is shocked to note that that his stautesque bride has brought not just a bridal bouquet, but a bridal rolling-pin. There's no overt suggestion that the "real" Stella of the series wants not to get laid but to lay into her boyfriend with repetitions of sadistic violence. But in the world of the gag-splash, it's not just the actress, but implicitly all women, who desire to lead guys to the altar in order to cudgel them into submission. So in a sense, the gag-splash represents both once and future sadisms.