Synaptic Snaps, Crackles & Pops

Door was open - sort of [Journalistic Intentions Rd 9]

Trespassing to Talk  

Door was open - sort of

The broadcast television airwaves and any number of feature films are replete with examples of someone breaking into someone else's home or office in order to discuss some matter or other. Sometimes, a lighter side surfaces. For example, 007 breaks into M's apartment in Casino Royale. They have a frank discussion about Bond's lack of respect for international relations, after which M asks how Bond found out where she lived. His reply of, "Same way I found out your name. I thought M was a randomly assigned letter. I had no idea it stood for–" and M's interruption of, "Utter one more syllable and I'll have you killed." make for a lovely bit of repartee (although, even if it were Mehipzibah, I think M's reaction is a little over the top).

Sometimes, it's just the character's way of getting things done. Take Raymond "Red" Reddington, James Spader's character in The Blacklist. It's fairly common for one of his associates to come home and find Red comfortably seated in a living or sitting room, a drink in one hand and a semiautomatic pistol in the other. Sometimes, they just talk. Sometimes, Red makes a point - and a bit of a mess.

Then, of course, there are those moments when the bad guys just come right out and threaten and intimidate. The South African toughs of Lethal Weapon 2 breaking into Roger Murtaugh's home are an excellent example of this. Complete surprise and domination achieved, threats and message delivered with complete clarity.

Alistair MacLean's When Eight Bells Toll also comes to mind, although it may not technically qualify as trespassing. The book's protagonist, Philip Calvert, stealthily enters the radio room on a hijacked ship—the Nantesville—and is immediately brought up short by the sight of a Peacemaker Colt aimed right at him. There is a little conversation, but it's all one-sided and is at the end of the nearly three pages MacLean takes to describe the situation and its eventual resolution. I've always thought it to be a very dramatic passage. You can check out the beginning for yourself here, if you like.

[When Eight Bells Toll  ]