John Wick Analysis: Part 1 - Genre and Controlling Idea

Hello and welcome to the StoryGrid podcast. My name is Tim Grohl. I'm the CEO of StoryGrid, and I'm a struggling writer trying to figure out how to tell a story that works. Joining me shortly is Rachel Arsenault. She's one of the Story Grid certified editors and she's an editor mentor inside of our Story Grid Guild program. So, as you may have picked up on, if you're a regular listener, we took a bit of a hiatus here at the Story Grid podcast. We've taken about three months off and we've worked on a lot of really important projects. Some of them are coming out over the next couple months. We have the new Story Grid editor certification program that you can see@storygrid.com certification. Sean is working on his next genre blueprint course. We've got a lot of other projects that we've been working on that I've been heads down working on along with my crew here at Story Grid. Looking at this podcast. We know we spent most of last year looking really, really deep at one short story and having me iterate on on that short story. So in this episode and in the episodes coming in the near future, we're going to be looking at things a little bit different. We're going to be approaching them a little bit different and going back to kind of the basics of Story Grid. And so in this next four episodes, you're going to hear Rachel and I dissect and analyze the movie John Wick. We're going to look at the genre Five Leaf Clover. We're going to look at the conventions and obligatory moments, the, the controlling idea, the quadrants, and a lot of other stuff. Looking at and analyzing this masterwork of an action movie, John Wick. So Rachel and I both love this movie. This was a lot of fun for both of us. We were actually talking about before we were recording how cool it is that part of our job is watching John Wick in the middle of the day. So we're going to start doing this format probably for the rest of the year, looking at movies that we love and, and dissecting them down and analyzing them using the Story Grid methodology. Again, this first one is John Wick. Even if you're not a big action movie fan, you're going to learn a lot looking at this analyzation along with this. I'll also say here, you should know this with Story Grid, but this episode is basically all spoilers. So if you haven't watched John Wick in the last nine years, since it's been out, I highly suggest you go out and watch it. But this is a really fun episode. I think you're going to like it. Really going to start looking at the genre Five leaf Clover. And then over the next four episodes we're going to dig deep into all of the different parts. So also, if you'd like to get a sneak peek into everything we're going to cover about John Wick and download the 5 page PDF of the full story grid analysis of the John Wick movie, you can go to storygrid.com wick that's w I C K. So go there, put in your email address. You'll be able to download the full PDF of the story grid analysis of John Wick right now. Thanks a lot for being a part and hanging in there during this hiatus. We're excited to be back, so let's jump in and get started. So Rachel, before we get into the actual analyzing and looking deep at John Wick, we picked this movie to go over first because you and I both love this movie. So why don't you just tell me a little bit about what it is about John Wick that you love and why is this movie in particular one you would get excited to spend some time analyzing?

Yeah, I think there are a couple reasons that I really, really love John Wick. Like, not purely because it is so fun to watch. It is a masterpiece in terms of, you know, this is all cinematic stuff, but it's, you know, Keanu Reeves and his skill as a stuntman. It was created by stunt like stunt men, stunt choreographers. Right. And so this was a really cool opportunity to take the action story and for people in, in stunts to get to utilize like their own kind of art form and bring that into the movie. So that's like just from a visual like enjoyment perspective, right? That is like thing number one for me is that it looks great. But from a storytelling perspective, I think that John Wick is such a great example of like knowing your genre and just leaning into it. And just like, I think sometimes we maybe feel a little bit of pressure to like, I want to make sure that it's profound. I want to make sure that it's this like sweeping, beautiful, like magnum opus, but that there's like, there's a real beauty and there's a real art form to knowing your genre and just nailing it and just doing it really well and bringing your expertise and your flavor to the genre that you've selected. And so I think those are just a couple of the things that make John Wick so phenomenal. And actually, from a storytelling perspective, it also does storytelling and the kind of story it's wanting to tell really, really well.

Yeah, I remember, you know, it had been out for a little bit. I didn't see the first one in the theater, and it had been out, and I just kind of kept hearing about it and. And I just had it written off as, like, okay, another. Another action movie. It's Keanu Reeves. I'll watch it eventually. And I remember watching it and being like, holy shit. That I think I just watched the best action movie I've ever seen, you know, And I know, like, there's going to be fans of Die Hard that are, like, screaming right now, but I like it better than Die Hard. It's my favorite action movie of all time. And, yeah, for me, I just love Keanu Reeves. I just think he's a good human being, so anything he does, I'm automatically on board. But then it's like, you know, I trained jiu jitsu, and so there's tons of jiu jitsu and judo in it. And then I started looking on YouTube and looked at, like, the training that he did that Keanu Reeves did. He takes. You know, he practices jiu jitsu. And the. The. The director would like, say, like, hey, do you know how to do this move in judo or jiu jitsu? And he'd say, no. And so they'd, like, send him in, send him into a jiu jitsu school to train so he could do it in the movie. So that was cool. And the other thing I love that I. It's. I think it just adds to the realism of the movie.

Is the fact that the gunplay is so realistic. So there's all these. You should go on YouTube and watch him. But whichever gun he uses, however many bullets are in a magazine, that's exactly how many bullets he fires before he changes magazines. Same thing with, like, the shotgun in the second movie. We just watched that last night. And. And any of the. Any of the machine guns or anything that's super realistic, where most action movies, you know, somebody stands there and just, like, sprays bullets, and they spray, like, you know, 100 bullets before they, like, change. Change guns or change magazines. And his is extremely accurate, and how he uses the gun is very accurate. And. And so I just. I just love all of that part. So. And then, you know, as I thought this was going to be, like, a super easy, like, hey, it's just like a really great action movie. I should be able to analyze this really easy. And then you and I were talking. I'm like, we could spend a year talking about this movie. Like, it's so deep, but we won't do that. But anyway, yeah, I love it. And so the idea, you know, having, you know, watching it, I watched it once all the way through and made some notes and then went back and rewatched several parts to get ready for this. And it was. It was just a joy. So. So let's start with the five leaf genre. Clover. So this is the innovation that Sean had early on. That genre actually has, is kind of like a five dimensional thing. And what we normally think of genre, we call content genre. It's story grid. And so what did you land on for the global and secondary genres for John Wick? And just so everybody knows, we have not shared notes. So I. I made my note, she made hers. So we don't even know if we're going to say the same thing.

Yeah, it's that fact that makes me super nervous because when we, I think, like the external genre, it's like, all right, we probably feel pretty good about, like, the external genre that's at work here, but it's the internal genre that I'm sort of like, sweating it a little bit of. Like, man, Tim might have something completely different.

So for the external. And I think that the global genre is our external genre. I have it as an action person versus person revenge story.

The same thing.

Awesome. Yeah. He's chasing down Yosef and then Vigo. Pretty straightforward. Like revenge for the dog, for the car.

And the internal genre. I had a status admiration, really.

So talk me through that. So I had morality testing, surrender.

Ooh, interesting. Okay. So I had status admiration because there were a couple of things that were happening in the movie as far as what I was seeing. So what I started paying attention to and this. So there are some. The episodes, I think, where you did the eyewitness, you talk about the double factor, problem space. Now, we're not going into that here, but I was using that as part of a lens to help me think about the genres. And so because what I'm looking for is like, what are all of the different characters in the story sort of navigating? And the way that I was thinking is that there are all these different ways of being in the world of Hitman, Right. So the context is sort of like, limited to. Rather than thinking about, like, John Wick is like, he's killing all those people in the world at large. We're really kind of zeroed in on this specific world. World. And there are people who. They abide the rules they follow, right? The codes, who value loyalty, and even people who, like John Wick, who sort of mitigate the damage that they do in the course of doing business. And so on the other hand, right, you have people who sort of do the opposite of that thing. You have Perkins, who's willing to do business on continental grounds, and she gets. Gets the just reward for what she did. You know, Josef is someone who has power because of his father, and he just takes what he wants. And Vigo, right, he gives someone more money, like, if they're willing to do business on continental grounds. And so when I'm thinking about what factor is being pitted against survival, which is sort of comes from our action genre, I think that maintaining, like, the values or the internal code is what is, like, what John Wick is sort of like having to decide between. So my thinking is, like, if I were to look at this movie, I feel like what John Wick says to me is like, in the world of Hitman, be this way. So that's how I came up with status, admiration.

So let me talk through why I came up with Morality Testing, Surrender. And then.

And then we'll see if we can agree on. On one. All right, so when I look at Morality Testing, Surrender, this is the quote from the website from StoryGrid. A formally strong protagonist suffers loss, can't recover, and finally resigns the self to weakness. So I don't think status. I think so as we're learning as. As Sean is teaching the bestseller blueprint, we're learning that a great masterwork is operating at at least six different genres. So there's going to be worldview, there's going to be status, there's going to be love. Like, there's going to be these things. But when I look at the. And we'll get into the five commandments in another episode. But when I look at the five commandments and where the story is turning, I think it's turning on. I don't think his status or the status of the world is ever actually in jeopardy. So, like, just because Perkins decides to go against it, or just because Vigo goes against it, that doesn't mean if they win, the whole thing's gonna die, right? Like, I don't think the whole system will fall apart if a couple people break the rules and get away with it. Where I see this, and I actually see it at this, on this internal, as a cautionary tale, because.

There'S this great line an hour and eight minutes in Vigo says, a lot of us are rewarded for our misdeeds, which. Which is why God took your wife and unleashed you upon me. This life follows you. It clings to you, infecting everyone who comes close to you. We are cursed, you and I. And John responds on that, we agree. So I feel like that's the thing that's in John's head driving him is, can he escape the curse or is he going to succumb to the curse? And so he sees himself as formerly strong. So he was strong before his wife died. He was strong before the dog died. When the dog died, he suffers that loss, and he never recovers. And I don't even think he recovers at the end because when he goes into that storeroom and there's all those dogs, he goes in wherever, you know, they're putting down all these dogs. He doesn't pick the cute dog. He picks the pit bull. He picks the fighting dog. And so I think. And then. And I think that's also.

The question that keeps coming up, right? So I. I made super detailed notes. So at 32, 20, Jimmy the Cop says, you working again? And John says, no, just sorting some stuff out. Then Winston says, about nine minutes later, I want to ask you this. Have you returned to the fold? And John says, just visiting. And like, two minutes later, John says, I'm retired. And Addie the bartender says, not if you're drinking here, you're not. And then at that 108 and then 109 moment is when John says, I'm back. So that's my. That's my. Why. I think it turns on the morality, because that's actually. You don't know which way that's going to go. Or I think the status is not actually ever pushed to the point where the status may fall. What do you think?

Yeah, I think so. I have. I have to, like, make sure that I, like, keep. Like, what? Like, I have two separate thoughts. I gotta, like, track them, like, one at a time. So I think that. So just thinking in terms of status, because I'm also thinking about the core value, which is about, like, selling out versus success. Now, again, I wasn't thinking of this in terms of a cautionary tale. So I'm thinking, oh, no, he didn't sell out because he is this overarching ethic that he follows. And you have this disciplined protagonist who is navigating the world according to their internal compass, which his is sort of. His is dictated by sort of his existing framework. And I don't think that that. And the. And so when. Because I'm also thinking about, like, what other protagonists, like, we've identified as status admiration. So, for examp. Hercule Poirot in Murder on the Orient Express, this is like, completely separate, but he is. We flagged him as a status admiration because he's someone who, like, whose example you want to follow.

And I think that.

So. So the question that I would ask is, so do you think that, like, John coming back to, like, coming back into business, do you think that we're meant to understand that that is the wrong choice or that that is, like, a bad choice to make?

So you're saying, looking at it through the status lens, we're learning to live by a code. Like, that's the thing is you don't break the rules, you live by the code. Yeah, that's so interesting because the way I was reading it is.

Can you, like, what John needs to do is break frame and forgive himself and realize that he can. He. He can do this without a third party holding him up. I don't know, maybe I was reading myself too much into the. Into the movie, but probably means they.

Did a great job.

Yeah, that's right. So where do you see, like. So you see. What moments in the movie do you see as, like, testing that status?

You know, I think that this is where so. And also, I just want to say, as an aside, the way I'm thinking about status too, is like, about him accepting. Accepting his role in the Underworld because he's the best of the best. And so, like, I'm thinking right, in terms of roles as well. But when I'm thinking about moments where that's tested, I'm thinking in terms of, like, him having to decide between selling out his code and surviving. Because if you sell out your codes, right, survival gets.

Has its pros and cons, to be sure, but it's also his sticking to the codes that, like, throughout the story, enables his survival as well. Right. Marcus is on his side. He kind of starts looking out for him. He gets the tip off from the manager at the Continental that Viggo, right, is about to leave in the helicopter. And so the way that I'm seeing that being tested is there are all these people who are willing to do all these things to sort of ensure their own survival or to, you know, kill the person that they're looking to kill. And John continues to come up against that and is sort of continually choosing to follow his own ethic. In even as he sort of is pursuing survival, even when it's not always advantageous. That's kind of the way that I was looking at that.

I can get on board with that. I'm trying. I want to fight it, but I can get on board with that. Yeah. It's funny because I see that now as you. As you step through. And that never even crossed my mind as I was looking at it. And.

So let's put a pin in that, because we can come back to it after we go through the Five Commandments and revisit it. Because now I'm guessing that when we get to the Five Commandments, we may have different moments in the Five Commandments as well. So that'll be interesting. So let's put up. We've. We're. We definitely agree on action. Man against man, revenge. That is so on the page. It's very clear.

So we've got that. And then we'll put a pin in secondary and come back to it. But you're swaying me. So. So. So let's look at structure genre. So I have arc plot because the story focuses on the change of a single active avatar.

Yep.

You agree? Okay.

Yeah.

All right. What about the reality genre? What do you think it is?

The reality genre is kind of interesting because it's sort of like it's. It's realism insofar as it's. It's contemporary. Like, it's. It's not in a. Like, it's sort of set on Earth, but there is this sort of.

This fantastical element that's introduced right by this underworld and by the way that this world sort of works.

So I would put, like a stretch of realism.

Yeah, I put realism because. And this. I really noticed this because, again, was. So two nights ago, we ended up as a family discussing John Wick at the table.

And. And so we were all talking about it, the four of us, and then Candace was like, well, now I want to watch John Wick, too. So that's why we watched it last night. And I noticed how.

In the first movie, you don't actually see that world too much. Right. You see the Continental. They've got some rules, but there's nothing that weird about it. But in the second one, it goes deep into that weird world because that's where you have the. The whole air, the whole operator division where they're taking hits. You learn about marks.

Yeah. So I think, especially in this first one, it's heavily in the realism, although there are some. I don't even know and this is, you know, we're trying to, I think, figure out the best way to even talk about the reality genre. Because what they show is possible. Right. It's. There's nobody, like, flying. There's nobody with, like, science. There's no science fiction. Right. It's actually. Actually throws back a little bit.

But. And again, that's more in the second one. But. So I would. I had realism too, and I think that's pretty good.

And for style genre, I just put cinematic. I felt like that was pretty straightforward.

Yeah.

All right, so what about the time genre? And we look at time genre through two.

Lenses. So one is how the consumer of the creativity. So we would normally say reader for talking about a book, but the person watching the movie and then the amount of time for the avatars in the story. So what do you have for the consumer side?

Yeah, on the consumer side, because we're in cinematic, because we're in movie, I would say that this is long because this is sort of like standard long form. It's like movie is like the novel equivalent in terms of, like, time, genre, and length. So I had that down as long form.

Yeah, me too. For the Avatars, it was funny because when I was. I watched it and the next day was like, just making notes off memory. I put two days, question mark, and then I actually went back and went through the movie and tracked, like, how many days. And it's five days that passes. So in the beginning, there's a little bit of like, you're seeing, like, quick cuts of his relationship and all of that, but really it's like he wakes up on the day of the funeral, goes to the funeral, come home, the dog is delivered, he goes to bed. Next day he does his driving at the airfield. That's where he meets Yosef. And then that night, Yosef attacks. Day three is when he goes to see Aurelio. Vigo sends. And then that night, Viggo sends his men to the house to try to kill John. Then day four, he goes to the Continental, then the Red Circle fight. And then that night is when Ms. Perkins attacks him in his hotel room. Day five, he goes to the church, burns that, kills Josef. Marcus dies. And then that night he kills Viggo. So it's. It's the characters experience five days throughout the movie. And that one I can say with confidence because I went back and checked.

Let's go into objects of desire next. This one I think we're going to agree and then disagree. So what I'll go first, since I Made you go first on the content genre. So his want. So his conscious want is to get revenge for the murder of his dog and the theft of his car. So he's trying to kill yosef. His need. And so this is where I'm tying this to the morality genre. So we're probably going to be different here. Is to let go of his belief that he is cursed and be able to forgive himself.

Yeah. So we're definitely in agreement on the one. And that's the nice thing about the way that objects of desire tie into, like, sort of one to one to the gen genres. But then it also means that we're set up for problems because we have a disagreement on the. On the internal genre. But yeah, the want is that. Right. He. He wants revenge. He wants to avenge himself on yosef for the murder of his dog and the theft of his car. And then the need I have. He needs to accept his role within the world.

And so talk some more about that. So you think he needs to accept his role as, like, he's an assassin. He's back. Stop trying to fight this.

Yeah. The way that I'm thinking about it, because I'm trying to keep it locked into, like, what is happening in the confines of the story. Like, what is the story saying? What are we meant to understand inside of this story? And I'm not sure that my. The way that I was seeing the movie was I wasn't seeing that John had a specific misunderstanding that he needed to rectify, which is why I wound up on that. That admiration side, because he is, like, following this code that he has and he's. You know, because it's sort of the way that I was seeing it. It's like since being married to, like, since like, leaving the business and being with his wife, John's life has been already, like, suffused with meaning. Like, he has attained a sense of meaning and purpose and like a higher. Almost like a higher code that he holds himself to now on principle. So when he loses his wife, I don't see that there's a misunderstood. Like, he's not. He doesn't seem to be handling it wrongly. Right. He doesn't go back into business because now he. Like, he lost his wife. Now he's mad. And he's like, I'm going back in the business because life stinks now. But instead, like, he goes like, it's not until yosef kills his dog. Right. Which was his last kind of. Right. It was that. That last semblance of hope, that opportunity to Grieve that he goes to sort of avenge this wrong.

And that. And even in doing that, he follows this. This code that he has. And one of the things that I noticed is a lot of the avatars also talk about, like, meaning. So, for example, in the beginning, Marcus is like.

This is going to be a rough quote, but it's something like.

There'S no rhyme or reason. It's just days like this mixed in with all the rest. Right. And John. John doesn't. John actually doesn't subscribe to that. He's already found meaning, and he knows that he's lost his wife, but that doesn't mean, like, he doesn't sort of subscribe to that idea. And so he is. Is driven by his own, again, that own internal sort of drive and compass and way of being in the world. And I didn't see that there was anything that he needed to change in that. It was just, you know, he's been pulled back into the world, and he's. He's good at what he does, and he's sort of following the. His. His ethic and it's driving him. So I'm also thinking about the fact that I. I wasn't flagging anything that John needed to think about differently. And that's part of also what sort of, like, led me to something more like status admiration rather than something that requires a specific frame break, if that makes sense.

So you don't think so? The way I read the movie was.

His plan was to kill yosef and then just go home, and then I'm done with this life. I'm not going back. And that, to me, is the question on the table, which is. And that's what people keep asking, are you back? And.

And so to me, that's the question on the table that we're trying to. We're kind of waiting to see as. As the viewer is like, is he back? Like, is he going to.

And I think that's what changes at the turning point, which is this realization. I can't just go back home. I'm not going to be able to just kill yosef and go home, and everything's going to be back to normal. Do you. I mean, do you. Do you agree with that assessment? Maybe I'm, like, categorizing it wrong, but that's the way I see it is like, he. Man, it's so interesting because part of me is like, why do you even go back? Like, why did. Why did he let this bring him back? And then that's starting to be like, well, they broke the code. You know, they broke. They broke what they're allowed to do. And so he's going to make them suffer for that. But he also, again, would you agree, like, his plan through most of the movie is, I'm going to kill this kid and then I'm going to go home and keep living my life?

Yeah, I think. I think so. And I think that where I'm, like, differing on that is.

I didn't get the sense that the movie was suggesting that his answer should be, no, I'm not coming back. That was not necessarily the. The, like, what was like, being telegraphed to me that, like, oh, John Wick should have said, no, I'm not coming back.

Oh, now I see what you're saying. So tell me again what you had is the need.

I.

This. This is a little weak. Like, it's. I probably could have made this language a little bit better, but just thinking in terms of, like, status admiration, I was thinking sort of, like, needs to, like, accept his role or accept his personal place within this world. And that comes out a little bit more clearly in the controlling idea that I came up with. But that's. That's my sort of poorly or weakly worded need that I have.

Okay, well, let's jump down to the controlling idea then, and let's talk about that. So what did you have for the controlling idea?

I have. Life prevails when principled hitman John Wick accepts his role in a complex world and uses his skills and. And unrivaled discipline to avenge himself on underworld superpower VGO Terasov and his son Yosef.

Okay, that's really good. So here is my question. This is. And I'm literally curious. I don't have a. I was. I really struggled with this because I realized. And this is part of, like, as soon as I got into doing the analyzation, I'm like, oh, this is going to be harder than I thought because this is not like a typical.

A vengeance plot is so much different than kind of like a typical action hero movie, like Die Hard. Right. There's a clear victim that he's trying to save in Die hard that John McClane is trying to save in Die Hard. I love that they're both named John. And where, like, I'm looking at the revenge.

The revenge plot, and I'm like, well, who's the victim? Because the victim's already dead. And. And so. Because we're going to go over that in the conventions, but I was like, thinking about the victim and then I was also thinking, like. And so when you said life prevails, I think you're right. But you got to talk to me about. So we looked up. We found this. This infographic of all the kills, and we'll share that in the notes for the episode. But in this particular movie, John kills 77 people. That's the body count. And. And so in a movie where 77 people have died.

And. And I had this thought. I'm like, you know.

They probably had people that love them. Like, why. Why does that not count? Like that John's. John's dog dies, so he has to kill 77 people. Like, I'm sure one had, like, a wife and kids somewhere that wanted them to come home. Anyway. I'm sure. I know that's not what the movie's about. Anyway.

Gonna bum us all out, Tim.

So. So talk to me about how life prevails in this movie.

Okay. All right, well, I'll just. I'll level with you, honestly. Right. I'm. I'm thinking about the languaging that we use generally for controlling ideas as they relate to our genre. So I'm kind of trying to use the formula and. And seeing if I. If I use. If I utilize the formula that we sort of have the, like. The formula. The. What is the word that I'm looking for? Like, you know, we sort of have, like, a stock answer, and you start filling in the details and seeing if it works. So life prevails, okay? So there's a whole lot of death that happens, but not to John Wick, right? And that's like the protagonist. So you can say John Wick's survives when.

Right, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Because it's. Yeah, life prevails. Like.

Not. Not 100% there, but it's. It's really about. Because the moment that John Wick is targeted by the antagonist, right? Like, he is, in a way, like, he's sort of positioned as the victim because he's the target of the antagonist. Now we have to talk about. Right. Victim. Because, you know, John Wick is not agency deprived necessarily, but he overcomes the antagonist who is threatening his survival. So his survival prevails, right? He is able to survive this world as he pursues vengeance. And as a. Something that I was thinking as you were talking about revenge plots. Revenge plots are kind of. They can be a bit weird or a bit tricky because one of the things that you're sort of wrestling with is like, okay, am I meant to feel that this person shouldn't be getting Revenge. Is there a revenge driven by a misunderstanding? And I think that. And that was something else that was factoring in when I was thinking about this. This plot of vengeance. It doesn't seem like John is. Is acting out of a misunderstanding or acting out of. Like, there's. I didn't see evidence for a frame that needs to be broken that. As though his. His vengeance were, like, unjustified or it was like John, like, right, he is dealing with problems in sort of the prescribed way for the world that kind of invaded his. His life, right, because he was minding his business. And then this. This underworld comes and invades his. His space by coming in and killing his dog and taking his car. And so now he's sort of been. He's been sort of sucked into it because of the way that it has come and invaded and taken from him and sort of imposed itself on him in a way.

Yeah. I was. This morning, I was going for another project I'm working on in Story Grid. I was going over the archetypes, the heroic journey archetypes, and I was specifically looking at the Threshold Guardian. And I was like, well, so then I got to thinking. I'm like, well, who is the Threshold Guardian in John Wick? And I'm like, oh, it was the assassin team that Vigo sent. Because, you know, that's what one. So one of the things I didn't catch on my first watch, that it's one of those. The more I watch it is the humor in this movie. Like, there are so many times I just laugh in the movie because in one of them is when Vigo calls John to basically try to find out how mad John is. You know, when his first contact with John. And John answers the phone and doesn't say anything. And then Viggo talks, talks, talks, and then John just hangs up the phone and never says anything. And then, oh, what's. What's the guy's name? I just think of him as the Vulture from. From Brooklyn. Nine. Nine.

His name's Avi. Avi. He says. He says, what do you say? And Vega just says, enough. Like, he's. He said enough. Which he didn't say anything. So anyway, Vigo sends this assassin team, and I feel like that's the test is like, is John Wick still the boogeyman? Right? Because he just sends these guys that he knows John the boogeyman can just chew through without any effort. But he wants to see, like, how bad is this? And by John easily wiping out the assassin team, that's his that's his crossing the threshold and Vigo acting as the Threshold Guardian. Do you agree with that?

Yeah, I would say that's true. And I think that's a significant.

That'S a significant moment that shifts us right into sort of a new. We're not, we're not talking about act structure yet, but I think that that moment is really significant and shifting us into sort of like the rest of the story, right? It's, it's showing us that, like, John Wick is entering this world, or again, like Vigo sends to his house. So this, this world is coming to John Wick and it feel, it starts to feel like whether he likes it or not, it's coming to him.

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