Winter is here, formally. Thank you, Juju, for more gifts today! Here's an old stand by.
Todd's just laying it on as thick as it comes! Wow. Rebecca falls for it, and that's what is supposed to happen, so that we can have the rest. Irony: Todd really thinks he is going to have Rebecca help him get out of prison, and, later, she actually DOES, when he's really ready to try. Love it.
Love Todd plotting and plodding along. He pretends his ear hurts, and reminds Jerry of the injury. He's assigned to work detail out of the jail and we know what he's got up his sleeve!!!!
FAIL: Eh...well, sorry to say this but DEFENSIVE LINE? Against PRISONERS? I know we all LOVE our man, but if you know football, and if you know prison, Todd's actually a little SMALL for that position. If he were quarterback, or wide receiver, ok....but Defensive Line against some of those weight lifting prisoners? A little "off." If you really look at his body type, he's not quite the one. LOL. But welove him anyway, because his personality as the alpha male is a lot bigger than he looks. Remember his own words, "skinny." I don't think he's "skinny" but defensive lineman? Uh, not quite. Suspension of disbelief I guess. But we love you, Roger, anyway.
This vid is vintage Todd ...He's got a plan and right now everything is working for him but Todd always refuses to listen to those little voices of reason he's got a one track mind and anyone who puts a damper on his plan is insignificant..To this day Todd is and always will be his worst enemy. For all of his intelligence, Todd/Pete only sees what he wants to see
ReplyDeleteThey couldn't make up their mind as to whether he was a defensive lineman or a defensive back. Someone on youtube theorized that he was just such a gifted athlete that he played multiple positions.
ReplyDeleteWe'll go with that. Certainly plausible, though unlikely in real life...but that's all that's needed considering it's just background info in the story.
Regarding Todd and athletics...something else that's intresting, though it doesn't have to do with this scene. We found out much later that Todd is a really good tennis player. If you go back to the rape trial stuff, you see Todd getting ready to play some tennis against Zach and Powell before Peter shows up to chew him out. It's nice to see that kind of consistency.
Back to the scene, though: I love the intentional metaphor Todd uses here. "When I 'play football,' man, I CAN'T LOSE." This is another layer and an EXTREMELY important aspect of the Todd character and really illustrates his mindset.
From the beginning, the rape trial and everything that went with it was a competition to him. Todd was extremely self-conscious and the only thing that made him feel better about himself (i.e. not a "loser") was WINNING. Todd actually RELISHED the chance to take on Marty and beat her. Not to mention Hank. You can sense some latent excitement from Todd as he's about to be cross-examined. When he "lost" the trial, the "Master of the End Game" didn't give up.
Now he's competing against Powell, against the prison, against Marty and Nora on the outside, against the system as a whole. He feels like it's basically him against the world...only gradually does he start to feel like Rebecca is an actual ally. Football always came naturally to him; it made him feel better about himself because he was great at it and it gave him a chance to WIN. Now he gets that thrill through competing against the system with brilliant manipulation. He's keeping score.
Todd's lack of respect for women is also brought up in this clip. This is another important aspect to the SL. Todd puts a LOT of responsibility on Rebecca...he really trusts her with critical things (critical to him, anyway). As she consistently comes through for him, he respects her. He almost, SORT OF follows her lead, in a way. This phenomenon is not lost on him...he's amazed by it.