The Rule
If you describe potential tension only to immediately defuse it, you've just wasted the reader's time.
Even though I was using a fake name, I wondered if the contract might still be legally binding. I wasn't sure, and I didn't really care.
ā Conor's Dumb Sentence(s) of the Week
Commentary
Related to My bullet bill is gonna be huge!, in the sense that action with no stakes is boring, and Why Do We Need To Know This?, tension that's immediately defused is not enjoyable, it's just irritating.
In this particular case, it feels like the writer was heading off "Um, Actually" comments happening in his own head.