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I think they were looking for a change from Exmouth, which I can understand, at least in principle if not in their choice of destination.

Yeah, pretty much.  I'm just not sure how much I can wet my pants over LAWYERS WHO REPRESENTED TERRORIST!!!233""! in the Justice Dept.  Terrorists working for lawyers, now that....oh, no wait, still not scary.  Basically, terrorists and lawyers together are only scary if you're the sort of person who watches old episodes of Dr Who from behind the lounge.

Yeah, exactly, my friends are pansies.

Well, I was trying to ignore the "talk about your ancestry" blogging, to be perfectly honest.  Because I really don't care if someone is 1/16th's Luxembourgese.

Ah, Plymouth.  Famous for its ever present drunken sailors, its escape bridge into Cornwall and its Hoe.

And yes, beware the CNLA and their vast funding from the might Celtic nations (and the USA).

Yes, Union Street was the place to be for drunken violence between various branches of the armed services. Though now, it's more just drunken chavs and their underaged girlfriends.

The Hoe - where chavs like to race their stupid, stupid, stupid body modified cars.

The Tamar Bridge - my experience was that it was always an escape from rather than into Cornwall. Which is why it's free to drive across the river to Saltash but you have to pay to get back.

I never actually went across the bridge, in my defence.

Union street is apparently getting worse again, though I think its mostly people I know being pansies.

Also, I would answer this poll, but I'm boycotting it, and the other one, on the basis of them being obvious trollbait.

Oh yeah, the twist is telegraphed fairly far in advance.  And the Kabballah references are noticeable, if you know what to look for.  But still, there are some good ideas aside from that in it.

Anyway, gonna continue reviewing tomorrow.  Well, writeup, then analysis.

Apparently even representing terrorists in court means you might be a secret terrorist.  Liz Cheney, famed expert on terrorism, said so.  And the media were all like "well, yes, this is clearly a Serious and Important Question and its merits must be Weighed Carefully" instead of laughing and telling Liz she missed her stop at the HUAC.

Its clever, terrorism.  Like a close-contact virus, anyone who has anything to do with it might be a terrarist now.  If you sat near a terrarist on a train, YOU MIGHT BE INFECTED.  Clearly you see how dangerous this is, and how Liz Cheney only cares for the safety of Amurrica and isn't some paranoid bint with a sociopathic daddy who harbours evil overlord style ambitions.

And Fouche and Talleyrand, but Talleyrand was a Magnificent Bastard and expert survivour and Fouche was, well, just a bastard.  Sheer concentrated bastardry.

True.  But it made me revise my standards of what I considered a bad film.  Troll 2 is now on the cusp of watchability as a serious work, thanks to Twilight.

Um, thanks, but I've been well for over a week now.

I was staying away from this place because of all the shitting blog threads that were pissing me off, and making it more likely I was going to go into troll mode.

Green's brother phones to tell him to get out, that the people he is dealing with are people even Gold won't work with.  "No-one lives and displeases Gold, except them.  No-one sees Gold, but Gold sees everything."

Avi and Zach try to convince Green to shoot a man who owes them money.  Not kill him, just to injure.  Green refuses however, and when they threaten him, he turns the gun they gave him on them.  When he tries to fire it however, he discovers it isn't loaded.  Zach tells him again "wake up Mr Green", just before Avi knocks him unconscious.

Green awakes with a phone call from Avi, telling him he has survived past his third day and is risen again.  He then suggests he should get a check up, where he discovers the doctors "made a mistake" and he would be fine.  Green thinks back to Avi saying "we have to assess our clients very carefully", and to all the loans they made with his money.  He then narrates "there is something about yourself that you don't know.  Something that you will deny even exists until it is too late to do anything about it.  It's the only reason you get up in the morning, the only reason you suffer the shitty boss, the blood, the sweat and the tears.  It's because you want people to know how good, funny, attractive, generous, wild and clever you really are.  Fear or revere me, but please think I'm special.  We share an addiction, we're all approval junkies.  We're all in it for the slap on the back and the gold watch, the hip-hip hoo-fucking-rah.  Look at the clever boy with the badge, polishing his trophy.  Shine on you crazy diamond.  Because we're just monkeys in suits, begging for the approval of others.  If we knew this, we wouldn't do this.  Someone is hiding it from us.  If we had a second chance, you'd ask "Why?"

Sorter and Slim Bigguns are sent with a team of men to kill Green, Green's brother and his neice by Macha, since Green's name has been mentioned as involved in the cocaine heist.  Green escapes the hit team, and makes his way back to Zach and Avi, demanding to know what is really going on.

Avi says that Green lied about the eventual fate of the three Eddies, that Macha had them dropped in cement.  What really happened was they approached him the day he got out of prison, trying to kill him.  However, Green promised them money if they'd let him live.  They decided to let him go, and one of them took him up on the offer.  A month later, he got his money back, with 3% on top.  Green offers him 4% in coming months.  However, Green makes deals with all the three Eddies.  He'd just take the money off one Eddie, and give it to the other.  They borrowed money off Macha to get even greater returns, while protecting his identity. "Always protect your investment."  The Eddies got in further and deeper.  As Green got richer, he decided to take a long holiday, leaving the three Eddies high and dry.  Macha lost his investment of course, and so Macha killed them.  Avi and Zach congratulate on this and tell him he's smart, but not as smart as he thinks he is.

As Macha dines in an expensive restaurant, Lord John attempts to assassinate him, with the would-be killer disguised as a waitress.  Sorter shoots the waitress before she can kill Macha, then escapes through the kitchen while the restaurant explodes into chaos.  Sorter exists the kitchen and shoots at the get-away car, causing it to crash, and identifies the shooter as Lord John's man.  Macha comments " greed gets them all in the end".  After ordering his men to find Lord John and persuade him to give the powder back, the screen goes black and the quote from Julius Caesar is shown again, "the greatest enemy will hide in the last place you would ever look". 

Avi, Zach and Green are playing golf on a roof.  Zach asks him what the first rule of any game, to which Green replies "the only way to get any smarter is to play a smarter opponent."  Avi asks him the second rule, which is "the more sophisticated the game, the more sophisticated the opponent."  Avi asks "they're almost the same, but where does it stop Mr Green?  Where does this game stop?"  Green thinks to himself "it stops when you start to give me answers.  Don't play head games with you, Jake."

Avi then asks "is it me playing head games with you Mr Green?  You've heard that voice for so long, you believe it to be you.  You believe it to be your best friend."  Jake remembers saying to Avi "they should believe their opponent to be their best friend."  Avi asks "where is the best place an opponent should hide?"  Green remembers again, to telling Avi "the very last place you should ever look." 

Avi then asks "do you know who Sam Gold is, Mr Green?  You should, because he knows who you are.  He's all up here" Avi says, pointing to his head, "pretending to be you.  You're in a game Jake, you're in the game.  Everyone is in his game, and nobody knows it.  And all of this is his world, he owns.  He controls it."  Green starts to hear his own voice in his head, saying he is sick of this and he's had enough and to tell Avi to shut up.  Avi continues "he tells you what to do, and when to do it."  Green starts shouting at him.  Then he recalls what he told Avi, "eventually when the opponent is challenged or questioned, it means the victim's investment and thus his intelligence is questioned.  No-one can except that.  Not even to themselves."

Again, Avi continues.  "He's behind all the pain there ever was, behind every crime ever committed.  And right now, he's telling you that he doesn't even exist.  We just put you to war with the only enemy who ever existed.  And you, you think he's your best friend.  You're protecting him Mr Green.  But with what?  Where is the best place an opponent should hide?  He's hiding behind your pain, Mr Green.  Embrace the pain, and you will win this game.  If you change the rules on what controls you, you change the rules on what you control.  How radical are you prepared to be, Mr Green?  The more power you think you have in Gold's world, the less you have in the real world.  You are still in prison Jake.  In fact, you never left."

The voice in Jake's head argues "remember who they are, Jake.  Head tricksters, word-slicksters, you wanted answers and they gave you riddles.  You know the rules, the longer you listened, the sweeter the deal."

Avi goes on "he's got all the tricks, and all the right answers."  The voice in Jake's head argues back "don't let them do this to you Jake, don't let them turn you against you."  Avi then says "you don't give because its good, you give because it hurts him."

Ah, Plymouth.  Famous for its ever present drunken sailors, its escape bridge into Cornwall and its Hoe.

And yes, beware the CNLA and their vast funding from the might Celtic nations (and the USA).

You should watch Twilight some day.

Macha meanwhile is trying to meet with a "Mr Gold".  However he cannot.  Instead, he meets with a representative of his, Ms. Lily Walker, and her entourage of eight assistants.  It is very clear from their exchange that Mr Gold is the one in charge, the one laying down the ground rules.  Macha is undertaking a "commission" for Mr Gold, which is selling a shipment of cocaine.

Meanwhile, Avi asks Green about his prison experience, while sitting in front of a chess board.  Green recounts he had a choice in prison, 14 years of normal time, or 7 years solitary.  He chose the latter.  Green then moves a piece on the board.  He was inbetween two other cells, one containing a chess master, the other a master conman.  They communicated via the library-on-wheels that was used in the prison.  They used to write ideas on chess moves or how to plan the master con in the back of books on theoretical astrophysics and the mathematics of quantum mechanics.  Green read all of their notes.  While recounting this, the game between Green and Avi continues.  Green tells Avi their aim was to "create the ultimate con and win the ultimate game."  They believed they discovered a formula for this ultimate con.  They then decided they were going to leave, and take Green with them.  The next day they were gone without a trace, but Green remained.  He got out two years later, but by that point the two prisoners had cleaned him out of everything he had, every secret stash of money he had hidden before doing time.  All they left was a note, stating "you only get smarter by playing a smarter opponent."  Rule One.  But Green had their formula, and it worked.  Avi notes "it isn't doing you much good now" and then Green checkmates him.

That night, Green wonders why they are dragging this out and making him suffer, making him pay for his own pain.  A part of him dies every time he thinks about it.

Zach, Avi and Green then take part in a heist.  They steal the safe where the stash of Mr Gold's cocaine is being kept, from Macha.  Macha is understandably furious and afraid, and his second in command tells him they can only get more cocaine from Lord John, an Asian organised crime leader.  Macha is very unhappy with this, but has no choice.  John is willing to deal, at a substantially higher price than what they got the cocaine from Gold at.  Macha tells his man to deal, saying "this is Sam Gold I've found myself chained to, Mr Black Magic, Mr I-run-this-game Gold.  Not some plastic gangster with a pocket knife for backup.  Gold doesn't give second chances Paul, I want in and I want rewards."

Avi, Zach and Green also steal this consignment, from Lord John, as well as the money Macha intended to use to pay for the drugs.  Macha is now convinced John stiffed him, and John thinks Macha stole it. 

Avi and Green are playing another chess game.  Zach tells him "wake up Mister Green", just before he checkmates Avi.  Avi asks him "how do you keep winning?" and Green explains: "You do all the hard work, and I just help you along.  The art is for me to feed pieces to you and let you believe you took those pieces because you are smarter and I am dumber.  In every game and con there is always an opponent and a victim.  The more control a victim thinks he has, the less he actually has.  Gradually he will hang himself.  I as the opponent just help him along."

Avi asks "so is that the treasured formula?"

Green replies "the formula has infinite depth in its efficacy and application.  But it is staggeringly simple and completely consistent.  Rule one of any game or con, you can only get smarter by playing a smarter opponent.  The more sophisticated the game, the more sophisticated the opponent.  If the opponent is very good, he will place his victim inside an environment he can control.  The bigger the environment, the easier the control.  Toss the dog a bone, find their weakness, give them just a little of what they think they want.  So the opponent simply distracts the victim by getting them consumed with their own consumption.  The bigger the trick, and older the trick, the easier it is to pull.  They think it cant be that old, and it can't be that big, for so many people to have fallen for it.  Eventually, when the opponent is challenged or questioned, it means the victim investment and thus his intelligence is questioned.  No-one can accept that.  Not even to themselves.  You'll always find a very good opponent in the last place you would ever look."

While this is going on, Macha demands that Green be taken care of.  He tells his second in command to use "Sorter and Slim Bigguns" to do a proper job on him.

Jake is told at the hospital that it is unknown what caused his fall, but they're running tests and should have results within 24 hours.  Jake's brother leaves, and the other three members of his crew drive him home.  Just as Jake is about to open his door, he sees another card on the floor, like the one in the casino.  This one reads "pick me up".  As he does, a burst of gunfire hits his two crew members across the chest, killing one.  Jake fires in return but only to provide cover so he can get back to the car.  As they are about to go, the driver and the other member of the crew are hit, both killed.  The assassins proceed to shoot up the car, until the man from the casino arrives with a semi-automatic and tells him to get in the car. 

We then cut to Macha again, who expresses shock at Sorter missing, since Sorter never misses.  The hitman himself finds it hard to explain, and puts it down to "something being wrong."  Sorter believes someone told him they were coming, and that something is "very wrong" here.
The driver who saved Green's life takes him through a bar and into what appears to be a chess club, where he is introduced to a softly spoken black man going by the name of Avi.  Avi tries to get Green to play a chess game, but he refuses.  So Avi tells him he has his medical results from the hospital, and these results tell them he will die within three days from an ailment which will contaminate his blood and organs.  Green goes to leave, but Avi tells him if he gives him thirty seconds, he can then go.  Green thinks to himself "the longer you listen, the sweeter the pitch", but sits down regardless.  Avi tells him the next time they save his life it will not be for free.  Avi and Zach, the driver, inform him there are conditions to his help, and they are:

He will give them every penny he has got.

And,

He must do everything they tell him, including answering any questions they ask.

Green immediately suspects a con, but Zach tells him if he thought harder, he would realise this isn't a trick.  Avi also warns him Macha has unleashed his legions, and they can protect him.  Green thinks to himself that he wont part with his cash for some "home made test results."  However, when he gets a second opinion, he finds out they were not lying. 

Green then drops off the money to Zach and Avi, who it turns out are in the loan shark business.  People only come to them as a last option, when they have no other choices.  Avi notes, almost mockingly, that Green's money even "smells proud", as he takes it from him.  As they drive, Avi tells him that people hate and fear them, just as he will come to hate and fear them. Furthermore, they will be using his money to help fund their operations, by loaning it out. 

Avi asks Green for his history with Macha.  Green tells him about the three Eddies, "flash, loud, proud and stupid", who ran games for Macha all over the city.  The Eddies knew Green could play and they needed a card man for a game, but he refused.  The scene cuts briefly to show the two Eddies standing to the viewers left of Green, and one on the right.  The Eddies threatened the family of Green's brother, so he swallowed his pride and played.  He won, but one of the players insulted him, so Green shot him in the foot under the table, triggering a gun fight.  The money vanishes, and the Eddies threatened Green's niece.  His sister-in-law is killed, and Green spent seven years in prison because he refused to tell the police Macha organised the games.  Green concludes, after telling his story that "nothing hurts more than humiliation and a little money loss."

As Avi is meeting with some people who owe him money, Green thinks to himself "don't try to make sense out of it, not now, because it doesn't make sense. I just know if you start a job then finish it."