Why did J shoot Pope, after helping him acquit the case? Why did Grandma welcome J back after he did so?????!!! This ending is so not clear!
shareHe had to make him pay for killing his girlfriend . The grandmother knew she had to accept J back , otherwise she'd be left with just one son
Annie Wilkes: You're just another lying ol' dirty birdy
The ending of the film remains mysterious to me too. I think Smurf and Darren (the younger, blond brother who is dominated by Pope) were both RELIEVED that Pope had been offed. He was utterly irrational and malignant and had basically caused all the trouble with his ill-considered actions. Both J and Darren no doubt felt that eventually he would kill them (J in the very near term). What J's actual and total motivation was remains unclear. Was it strictly as revenge, or was it self-preservation, or was it also the sense that some drastic action needed to be taken to take the family off of its evil course. Smurf backed her boys, but she did not seem intent on continuing the legacy of crime. The two remaining males, Darren and J, both wanted out of that life. J was never really in other than by bad timing of joining the family due to his mother's death (and the part he played, unaware, in the murder of the two police). It seems clear that Darren wants out desperately, but is himself too beaten down and/or cowardly to act.
shareJ shot Pope because:
1. He had decided where he fit in the animal kingdom, as one of the strong, not the weak.
2. He was avenging his girlfriend's murder.
3. Pope was a psycho, and could not be trusted. It was a preemptive strike, and a smart one.
I'm not sure why grandma welcomed him back. I could never get a good read on her.
Schrodinger's cat walks into a bar, and / or doesn't.
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