A reversal is just anything that's a surprise. It's a way of keeping the audience interested.
“In the time of battle the hammocs, together with their bedding, are all firmly corded, and fixed in the nettings on the quarter-deck, or whereever the men are too much exposed to the view or fire of the enemy.”
“And the fact that I liked to show off and be the center of attention really lends itself to figure skating very well.”