Yes I agree that watchers/readers are not always focused on the main question. In any moment you feel drawn in to a story you might be drawn along by a secondary or tertiary question. Storytellers weave them together into a tapestry of compelling viewing/reading. Think of a single joke you might hear in a show, 'Why did the chicken cross the road?', we immediately think, 'How is he going to try to make this old joke funny now?'. Once a story loses its questions for you, you lose interest in the story.

It's true that the journey is often more important than the destination. You don't really watch HIMYM to find out how Ted met his wife (at least up until the last season). On the other hand, each episode needs to have some kind of plot to work as a narrative structure.