So did PJ live or die
in the closing scene of episode 10?
He was breathing after being taken off life support, but there was the sound of flatlining just before the closing credits.
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MovieChat Forums > Hand of God (2014) Discussion > So did PJ live or die
I hope he dies, he didn't come off as likeable. The entire family is bad people.
shareIts obviously left ambiguous to work as an ending or give room for more, but I was thinking that after taking a person off of a breathing machine, there might be one or two death rattle breaths before the body gives out. That's what I thought was happening. The doctor didn't seem the least bit surprised, as if he expected that to occur, and then the quick flatline.
shareThey messed up the whole suicide line. Gunshots in the mouth are almost always fatal because of the containment of explosive gases which do as much or more damage than the projectile. Most survivors of self inflicted gunshot wounds to the cramium are those who end up blowing off a chunk of their frontal lobe as well as losing the eye on that side (hold hand to head to see where one would instinctively aim). That type of would could put someone into a coma from which they could recover, but as soon as they showed PJ with the gun in his mouth I had to write off that whole aspect of the show.
In general, breathing is controlled by impulses from the brainstem, and when there is trauma and the brain swells inside the cranium, those impulses are cut off and the person dies. But the person can be kept alive if artificial ventilation is instituted before the endogenous systems fail (and these systems can return to normal if the swelling only causes dormancy and not actual cell death) Christofer Reeves is a classic example, where the means for temporary artificial ventilation was available within minutes. Otherwise, he would have been DRT (dead right there).
As for PJ, lets say that 50% of his breathing center in his brainstem was damaged. When he is removed from the ventilator, he deosn't breathe on his own and his plasma CO2 levels will rapidly rise. Plasma C02 levels drive the respiratory system, so when his levels reach say, 50 as apposed to the normal 35, there will be enough of a force in him to initiate breathing on his own, but, that will only happen when plasma and tissue levels of CO2 are in the toxic acidotic range. Once he takes a few breaths, the C02 levels will drop, and he will stop breathing for a couple of minutes, and then it will kick in again. He might stay alive for an hour or two this way, but the other organs in his body which depend on a normal C02 level of 35 to function will soon fail. The ventilator is there to insure that his blood C02 levels stay in the normal physiological range. They really don't know how damaged the respiratory systems are until the ventilator is removed. He might breathe normally, or he might not at all. In most cases they will slowly back off the system and allow plasma C02 to rise in order to see if the body tries to regain control of the system on its own.
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Read about scientist Dr James McDonald who tried committing suicide. He recovered fairly quickly.
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And the doctor not telling the family to expect that (which he apparently didn't) would be borderline malpractice.
shareI somehow assume PJ dies, because Tessie is pregnant.
shareI somehow assume PJ dies, because Tessie is pregnant.
How is one connected to the other? Are you seriously assuming he really is hearing God and that God is punishing him or something? lol
For every lie I unlearn I learn something new - Ani Difranco share
I think the assumption is made because the trope usually goes where you lose one child through inevitable tragedy while gaining another via the happy accident route. Unless there's a financial angle to play, drama shows rarely go the route of people juggling multiple child issues. Eg, even Tessie loses the temporary son before having another.
How would it work if he has to deal with rehabilitation for PJ and a newborn. He'd have to neglect the kid and considering the already convoluted /sordid nature of his relationship with Tessie as is, making him a delinquent dad or adding in a soap opera angle where Tessie don't know who her baby daddy is might push the whole thing into comical melodrama.
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