The Lie Detector Flatline

[balthazar]

I've always wondered what the flatline meant just before Preston kills everyone in the room except the man giving the test.

Did he shut his emotions off, or overload the machine instead?

[Aedh]

One of the things I enjoy about being a fan of this movie is that there's no 'official canon' of explanations for everything. We can all have our own theories.

I find it one of the best moments myself. To my mind, the machine would have been flat to the replies of anyone on Prozium. The pings would be consistent with someone off the dose. I like to think of this scene as meaning that Preston had transcended Prozium and become emotional--and that at this moment he further transcended emotion to a higher level at which Prozium was now irrelevant. He was now the same Cleric combat machine as he had been, but the mojo was as of that moment coming all from within, instead of needing the dose to unlock it.

[BlackDragon]

I wouldn't say it better!!!

[knytemare]

That is kinda what I thought. Not that he shut his emotions off, but rather he became the weapon mentally that he needed to be to complete his mission.

[masha]

I suppose he had to shut at least some emotions off to become the efficient killer again. Especially in the end when he ends up killing an unarmed person in cold blood.

Although I'd like to think there was some righteous anger involved that gave him extra killing power. When he and Brandt were sparring earlier, they were more or less evenly matched, but in the end it wasn't even a real fight. So my reading was that he didn't so much turn off his emotions as focused them strictly on the task at hand.

[aikidoal]

Jan 9, 2009 8:27:33 GMT -5 masha said:

Although I'd like to think there was some righteous anger involved that gave him extra killing power. When he and Brandt were sparring earlier, they were more or less evenly matched, but in the end it wasn't even a real fight. So my reading was that he didn't so much turn off his emotions as focused them strictly on the task at hand.

I will have to disagree about the ending fight with Brandt. The impression I had was that he was feeling out Brandt in the first training fight sequence and used just as much skill/force/whathaveyou as needed to stay ahead. Then at the end you saw just how really skilled he was and that Brandt wasn't the badass he thought he was.

[Aedh]

Well, Preston had to let Brandt have the confidence to try to betray him. He had to let Brandt think he could do the owning ... because that was his way to get to Father.

[Libby]

I've often thought that Brandt (and DuPont) seriously misjudged Preston because of the way the shinai session went down. I think Preston was trying to regain his 'equilibrium' after the puppy scene by focussing on his skills (and as Brandt said he was 'always practising' so he was following his routine) and was almost 'out of sorts' when Brandt first challenged him and goaded him.

There's no indication that the two had sparred before and Brandt was pretty much too full of himself to make an accurate assessment.

He was miffed with the outcome but didn't recognise that this was an indication of Preston's strength of mind and therefore erroneously concluded he could take him down in the inevitable stand-off.

And as Aedh said

Well, Preston had to let Brandt have the confidence to try to betray him. He had to let Brandt think he could do the owning ... because that was his way to get to Father.

Just my tuppence worth...

[Gothicgds]

Jan 9, 2009 19:48:31 GMT -5 Aedh said:

Well, Preston had to let Brandt have the confidence to try to betray him. He had to let Brandt think he could do the owning ... because that was his way to get to Father.

Well said. Being a Cleric isn't just about fighting in the moment- it's about planning ahead as well. Even if Preston couldn't predict exactly what would happen, it was pretty obvious that Brandt was an ambitious little #%#& who would backstab Preston in a moment to further his own plans.