To behave contrary to an established belief or assumption for the purpose of being fresh and interesting. Usually used in the arts when analyzing the reaction of the audience to a performance or piece of writing. Sometimes mistakenly used as a positive when the result in neither fresh nor interesting.
A. Star Wars: The Last Jedi did a great job of subverting audience expectations!
B. No, it was just a narrative mess.
A. Your report written in crayon was very unprofessional.
B. Come on! I was just trying to subvert expectations!
{Dave; on telephone}: Hey Jenny, want to come over to my house today to watch the Superbowl? I'll have lots of hot wings, burriotos, Cheetos, and beer!
{Jenny; on telephone}: Sorry Dave...I've got plans to go to the mall with my girlfriends today, so you'll have to watch the Supertolietbowl by yourself.
To destroy a great TV show with out-of-character actions and inconsistent logic for the sake of unneeded twists. Usually associated with Game of Thrones, but can be applied to Lost, Dexter, and other TV series.
Did you watch the last episode of Game of Thrones? D&D love to subvert expectations. Yesterday, they transformed Jon Snow into a wolf and made him eat Sansa.
A term best described as adding 'out of character' behaviour and lines to the characters and unnecessary plot twists for the sake of drama and shock value. Exc. Game of Thrones S8.
"We kind of forgot about good writing and logic so we decided to subvert expectations this season because, you know, shock value."