MovieChat Forums > Storm of the Century (1999) Discussion > In his own way, Linoge wanted to give Mi...

In his own way, Linoge wanted to give Mike some peace

posted 11 years ago by jcreed01
13 replies | jump to latest

Most viewers thought Linoge was being a cruel bastard showing Mike the teenage Ralphie with the eyes and teeth- he "corrupted" Ralphie. I think Linoge- in the only brutal way he knew how- was giving Mike assurance that he didn't kill Ralphie or make him his slave, Ralphie is his protege' who will live a very long life with incredible power.

Linoge is a hard, thousands of years old wizard long devoid of any human sentimentality BUT I think he admired Mike Anderson for having integrity and the courage to stand up to him..."a good boy to the end." If Linoge's intent was to be cruel, he wouldn't have appeared suddenly in San Francisco and just let Mike agonize for the rest of his life about Ralphie's ultimate fate; when he turned and looked at Mike, Linoge wasn't smirking, he was showing Mike he was fulfilling his part of the bargain and it's time for Mike to move on- again, in a rather brutal way, he gave Mike closure.

The reason this makes sense to me is that in the trade paperback version of the screenplay, Mike doesn't walk back forlornly to his car alone after the alley; instead, he collapses in despair, when suddenly a pretty girl appears and asks him if he is okay, Mike replies with his Maine accent coming out, the girl makes a comment about it and asks where he is from, Mike replies from another life or something to that affect, the girl offers to help him with the groceries, Mike smiles at her and they walk back to his car. Mike finally has closure and will move on finding happiness with the girl. I wish the mini-series would have done this scene instead because it showed Mike's courage in refusing Linoge would be rewarded in the end, while his ex-wife Molly- who made the deal- will never really have peace.

[–] Godzilla1981 7 years ago

I disagree. If that had been me, while never knowing what happened to my son would eat me alive, I think briefly seeing him alive, and turning into a monster, would be even worse. Knowing that he was going to live a long life of incredible power? Yes, as a demonic-type entity, who prays on people, even killing them. Not exactly a soothing thought.

I don't see how any parent could have any sort of "peace" after the events of this film.

[–] fountainhead (318) 7 years ago

Yeah, aftering watching this again recently, I also get the impression that Linoge had some form of respect for Mike because he was the only person in the town with some integrity. Notice how Linoge enjoyed putting everyone's corruption on display. Mike had some too, but he was the only one willing to own up to it.