# Plot Holes Plot holes in [[Southland Tales Theatrical Cut]]. Given how complex the film and lore is, there are a lot of *false* plot holes (in addition to the real ones). My goal is to collect here only the ones I feel certain are actual holes in the officially released graphic novels and [[Southland Tales Theatrical Cut|Theatrical Cut]] of the film. With this in mind, I feel that most of the actual holes are minor, and on par with or even less than other complex franchises. Because everything is so intertwined, removing one subplot or line quickly creates dropped threads and I suspect most of these are due to that. ## Speed of Sound If you are close enough to see and hear a nuke going off, you are going to be vaporized. This is a common mistake in films, and is seen in the home video when the attack in Abilene occurs. ## Chronology Confusion The film is supposed to take place over the three days leading up to Independence Day on July 4th, but on the first day [[Boxer]]'s camera says the date is July 3rd already. ## Krysta Meets Cyndi Why do [[Krysta]] and [[Cyndi]] have a meeting introducing her show, which was already aired that day, and it is later shown that [[Cyndi]] is the one editing that episode? This scene was intended to be a flashback, as is made evident in the [[Southland Tales Undated Draft|Undated Draft]] and [[Southland Tales 2005 Draft]]. The scene where [[Cyndi]] and [[Teri]] talk while reviewing the footage from the [[Beach House]] is supposed to mention how they met and then flash back to it. Unfortunately, the dialogue that leads up to the flashback is not present in any of the filmed version. This is what creates the weird timeline issues. ## Zora Buys Blanks In the [[Ice Cream Truck]], [[Zora]] asks for blanks, but at the end of the scene [[Walter]] hands her a gun. This is due to an extended version of the scene (as seen in the [[Southland Tales Cannes Cut|Cannes Cut]]) where he says that he has a minimum price to sell, so she buys the gun too as a compromise. When [[Zora]] leaves the [[Ice Cream Truck]], the check that she threw at [[Walter]] is on the counter. In the [[Southland Tales 2005 Draft|2005 Draft]], she picks up the check and puts it in this pocket, but this never made it into the film. ## Shadow Over Innsmouth Actually a slight shadow from a boom mic in the reflection of the chrome light fixture over the painting of Santa Monica Pier in the [[Small World Books and the Mystery Annex]] when [[Inga]] tells [[Boxer]] the way the world ends. (C 00:41:46) / (T 00:43:34) ## Raid Coverup The Raid is a pivotal scene in the film. It shows how brutal USIDent and Nana Mae are. But they are also shown covering it up, despite conducting the raid in broad daylight. Later on, Zora is still living in the same loft that was raided and where Kenny was murdered. In the script, Zora was supposed to be staying with Bart. It looks like they ended up re-using the loft set for Zora, probably to cut down on the number of locations used. ## Krysta's Cluelessness This is primarily a contradiction between the [[Prequel Saga]] and the film. In the [[Prequel Saga]] she is shown to be quite savvy, but this doesn't come through in the film. In the [[Smallhouse Mansion]] confrontation, [[Bobby]] asks [[Krysta]] if she is "Deep Throat 2" and she says "I'm not in that one". This implies that she has no idea about what [[Cyndi]] is up to with her whole blackmail scheme. But she was there with [[Cyndi]] during multiple instances of discussion about it. This happens within the same scene (T 00:56:22) as well, where she says she doesn't know what [[Cyndi]] is up to, despite it all being said out loud. These scenes all exist in the [[Southland Tales 2005 Draft|2005 Draft]] nearly unaltered, but [[Cyndi]] *isn't* speaking out loud to Vaughn while [[Krysta]] is present, she's *typing* the blackmail conversation into a computer. This is what creates the problem. When Cyndi is declaring out loud her intentions and then [[Krysta]] still doesn't seem to understand what's happening, it makes her look stupid. ## Zora Lets Ronald Live Why didn't [[Zora]] kill [[Ronald]]? She clearly didn't care about killing [[Bing]] in the same scene. It could be explained by the twisted web of relationships. Ronald is the son of former mayor [[Tab Taverner]] - someone that she knew in the [[Prequel Saga]]. And as [[Roland]] is a cop, his death might attract unwanted attention. Bing was nobody, and there would be barriers for [[Ronald]] to report the death. In the [[Southland Tales 2005 Draft|2005 Draft]], she tries to frame [[Ronald]] in a murder-suicide here, which resolves the issue, but this was never filmed. ## Ronald's Magical Boomerang Radio When [[Ronald]] gets up from the pavement, after waking up from [[Zora]]'s sedative, his radio is prominently left on the ground behind him. But in later scenes, he still wears it. ## Cyndi's Conspiracy During the handoff for the [[Boxer]]/[[Krysta]] footage, [[Cyndi]] tells [[Vaughn]] about the double murder video. She's never shown to interact with any of the people involved with it up until this point, so how does she know about it? Later on, when [[Krysta]] filches the murder video, [[Zora]] calls [[Cyndi]] about it. This finally establishes some kind of connection. But from [[Cyndi]]'s reaction, it seems like she's fine with it. Was [[Cyndi]] in on getting [[Veronica|Dream]] and [[Dion]] killed? Did [[Cyndi]] just not know that it wasn't fake? There is a little more in the [[Southland Tales Cannes Cut|Cannes Cut]] around these characters, but nothing substantial enough to explain this. In the draft scripts it is made clear all along that the cells are talking. It seems that the switch to a real murder was orchestrated solely by [[Zora]] (seemingly out of pure pettiness, and who recruited [[Bart]]) and [[Cyndi]] attempts to take control of the situation when she realizes that [[Zora]] is getting out of hand. I will need to go over the scripts more closely to see if this is properly explained though. ## Walter Kidnaps Ronald Why does [[Walter]] kidnap [[Ronald]] in the first place? In the credits, [[Walter]] is credited as "Walter Mung", sharing the same surname as [[Veronica|Dream]]'s "Veronica Mung", but he doesn't comment on the news announcement of her death, except to bitterly chuckle. Some believe that the film version of Walter is supposed to be her ex-husband. This might explain his bitter chuckle, but it doesn't explain why he would kidnap Roland. Furthermore, where the hell is he taking him? In the [[Southland Tales 2005 Draft|2005 Draft]], Walter is Dream's father. He is extremely distraught after she is killed, and kidnaps [[Ronald]] because he recognized him as being part of [[The Lighthouse Gang]] and blames them for her death. He is also taking [[Ronald]] to meet [[Zora]], supposedly to collect money she owes him. He intends to use [[Ronald]] as a bargaining chip, and doesn't know that she is the one who put him into the position that made him fall into [[Walter]]'s lap in the first place. ## Anti-Lock Brakes When [[Ronald]] and [[Martin]] are stealing the ATM at the [[Rove Credit Union]], the tires spin inconsistently between shots. The cuts which show the tires spinning here are oddly chosen. Perhaps this one was misplaced here when it should have been swapped with an earlier shot. ## ATM Sparkler As Martin drags the ATM away behind his Hummer, sparks are shooting out of a random location and not from contact between the ATM and the ground. This seems to be due to a misplacement of the special effects equipment. ## Murder Tape Hot Potato [[Krysta]] steals the murder tape from [[Zora]], thinking it's the tape with her and [[Boxer]]. She talks to her [[Shoshana|sister]] about how to make it public and [[Shoshana]] suggests putting it into a [[Neo-Marxists|Neo-Marxist]] drop box. And [[Krysta]] agrees. This is curious, because [[Krysta]] has been dealing with [[Neo-Marxists]] for 3 graphic novels and 2 acts of a movie at this point, and been affiliated with [[Cyndi]] - a [[Neo-Marxists|Neo-Marxist]] that [[Krysta]] is implied to blame for the tape falling into the wrong hands - for at least months if not years. Why does Krysta still knowingly give the tape back to the [[Neo-Marxists]] that she just stole it from? Best assumption is that she still believes in the cause and knows about the different cells and decides to risk it. It is also possible that she just didn't know that [[Zora]] and [[Cyndi]] were [[Neo-Marxists]], even though she was there for some of the blackmail discussions, the specifics never come up. Shoshana leads by talking about USIDeath to Krysta, only mentioning the Neo-Marxists later. But... then [[Cyndi]] *does* still know about what is happening with the tape after the theft, because she calls [[Simon]] to talk about it later. So [[Cyndi]] seems to be returning to the original plan to publish the tape, only now it's not just staged but real and with people that the locals might know. This all makes her look pretty bad and potentially complicit, even though she is shown trying to talk [[Teri]] down from open civil war. In the [[Southland Tales Cannes Cut|Cannes Cut]],[^2] [[Simon]] receives the video from the [[Poop Deck]] directly, revealing his role in the [[Neo-Marxists]] more clearly. This makes [[Cyndi]] look a little less sinister. And in the [[Southland Tales 2005 Draft|2005 Draft]], as mentioned in [[#Cyndi's Conspiracy]], she is trying to wrangle [[Zora]] too. This keeps her character consistent for this version - certainly not a "moderate" but definitely opposed to murder. # Internal Contradictions There are some areas where the [[Prequel Saga]] and the [[Southland Tales Theatrical Cut|Theatrical Cut]] don't match up. - [[Fortunio]] is said to be a professional gambler in the [[Prequel Saga]] while he's a drug dealer and pimp according to [[Pilot]]'s narration. He could be all three, but the change in epithet is weird. Particularly since he never does anything like drug dealing or pimping in the film. - The [[Prequel Saga]] leans heavily on [[Krysta]]'s prophetic powers, but they are barely even alluded to in the film. # Theories ## The Fourth Dimension While traveling through the rift is implied to be time travel in the film the dual nature of so many characters and the massive differences between the past and future selves strongly indicates that it is more like two different universes colliding. Whatever model of time travel they're using, it doesn't seem to mind if the past self is killed. ## The Two Witnesses In the theatrical release [[Pilot]] draws parallels between the events of the film as the Book of Revelations through many quotes. > Revelation 11 tells the tale of two witnesses who appear in Jerusalem to speak out against the sins of mankind. They are eventually killed by those tormented by their prophecies. \- [[Pilot]]'s Narration (T 28:56), the [[Southland Tales Cannes Cut]] narration (C 30:27) is nearly identical While the above is said overlaid with [[Ronald]] and [[Boxer]] driving away, it doesn't seem to fit them. The whole reading from the bible narration was added late in production, with none of it being in any version of the script that I have access to. So there's no way to see if this originally was part of a different scene. Displayed on a [[USIDent#The Panopticon]] monitor (T 1:42:45) while everyone is arriving at the [[Jenny von Westphalen (Megazeppelin)|Jenny von Westphalen]] is a news segment. It displays a shot of [[Roland]] and [[Boxer]] in the squad car with the headline "Two murder witnesses emerge from Jerusalem" and then cuts to [[Bart]] shooting [[Dion]]. This confirms the intended interpretation. I'm not certain that Kelly understood the symbolism of the Two Witnesses in Revelations, but thinking about it now, those are the only two characters to be "resurrected", even if they were not killed for bearing witness, and arguably, [[Ronald]] is never killed at all. # Incorrectly Regarded as Errors ## Krysta and the Second Boxer Tape Why doesn't [[Krysta]] go to [[Cyndi]] with the second [[Boxer]] tape? This one is pretty clear, even ignoring the fact that [[Cyndi]] already knows about it. 1. [[Krysta]] thinks she already gave her that tape and from her perspective, it ended up somewhere it didn't belong. In other versions of the script(which?), she actually says something to this effect. 2. [[Krysta]] isn't interested in the money, she wants the tape to go public. [[Cyndi]] specifically says that she doesn't "work in distribution" (to [[Vaughn]]) and [[Krysta]] would know that too. ## Ronald vs Roland In Two Roads Diverge, the narrator states that "[[Ronald]] Taverner" is the son of [[Tab Taverner]]. This is factually true, but implies that [[Ronald]] is the real identity. In Fingerprints, the [[Neo-Marxists]] say to the amnesiac that his name is "[[Ronald]]" and his "brother" is named "[[Roland]]". In the narration of the film and the [[Prequel Saga]] in Fingerprints, it says "They called him Ronald Taverner". In the [[Prequel Saga]], [[Tab Taverner]] shows him his "twin brother", "Roland". In the film, they call the amnesiac Ronald and the "twin" Roland. At the very end, [[Pilot]]'s narration says that the new Messiah is "Officer [[Roland]] Taverner of Hermosa Beach California". This means that the first statement in the [[Prequel Saga]] is misleading. There is no Ronald. There is only Roland - past and future. This creates an apparent internal contradiction, but is not a plot hole, just an unreliable narrator. Which is pretty annoying, honestly, with everything else going on. [^1]: [^2]: (C 1:47:16)