# Pulp Fiction - plot nit I noticed (spoilers, I guess) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 27, 2012, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-plot-nit-i-noticed-spoilers-i-guess/632809 "2012-08-27T12:47:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-plot-nit-i-noticed-spoilers-i-guess/632809/21 "2012-08-27T16:51:06Z")
[Here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k7DWeR1hfY)’s a clip of the crash and most of the chase. Note that Marcellus chases Butch around at least two corners and down an alley. The civilians scattered as soon as Marcellus started shooting. Most people don’t follow people who are firing guns. The witnesses to the crash _would have absolutely no idea_ that M&B went into the pawn shop. It would be up to other people closer to the pawn shop to help out the police. In some neighborhoods, that’s just not done. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-plot-nit-i-noticed-spoilers-i-guess/632809/22 "2012-08-27T16:53:53Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > I saw a theory online somewhere that suggested that since Pulp Fiction takes place in the same timeline as “Inglourious Basterds” (apparently there is a character that is implied to be the father of another character, I forget who), the world of the movie is a more vicious, less law abiding place which also explains why Vincent and Jules have no problems arming themselves on the street in broad daylight in the beginning of the movie. Actually, the connection is Inglourious Basterds -\> True Romance -\> Reservoir Dogs -\> Pulp Fiction. Donnie Donowitz (the Bear Jew) from IG is the father of Lee Donowitz from TR. Alabama from TR is the former partner of Mr. White from RD. And Vic Vega from RD is the brother of Vincent Vega from PF. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-plot-nit-i-noticed-spoilers-i-guess/632809/23 "2012-08-27T17:08:57Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > [Here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k7DWeR1hfY)’s a clip of the crash and most of the chase. Note that Marcellus chases Butch around at least two corners and down an alley. The civilians scattered as soon as Marcellus started shooting. > > Most people don’t follow people who are firing guns. > > The witnesses to the crash _would have absolutely no idea_ that M&B went into the pawn shop. > > It would be up to other people closer to the pawn shop to help out the police. In some neighborhoods, that’s just not done. A ha! ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-plot-nit-i-noticed-spoilers-i-guess/632809/24 "2012-08-27T17:17:19Z")
> [@Coustralee](#): > > I couldn’t make any sense of it. I think im the only person who doesnt like this movie. You are not alone. I didn’t like it either. In fact, I have a hard time even understanding what people see in it. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-plot-nit-i-noticed-spoilers-i-guess/632809/25 "2012-08-27T17:28:17Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > So where are the cops? wouldn’t they come into the pawn shop after other citizens pointed out that the two guys with blood all over them ran in there? I’m just sayin’, here, if you find this kind of thing distracting, don’t ever see either of the ‘Kill Bill’ flicks. One of the scenes that sticks in my mind has Uma Thurman traveling to Japan. According to the visuals, the airline conveniently provides a receptacle for one’s Samurai sword next to each seat. Anyway, the Tarantinoverse clearly is a parallel reality. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-plot-nit-i-noticed-spoilers-i-guess/632809/26 "2012-08-27T17:31:18Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > - \*\*Morganstern \*\*- Vincent didn’t recover; he died. Tarantino wasn’t sure how to drop in the 3rd piece - the return to the diner robbery - given how the first two pieces worked together. He ultimately decided to just put it at the end and allow time to wrap around. So Jules and Vincent walked out, with Jules apparently giving up the life, and Vincent getting into a new suit and going on a new job for Marcellus, which turned out to be casing Butch’s apartment… There would have been at least a couple days between the diner and Butch’s apartment. After the diner, Jules & Vincent take the briefcase to the bar to deliver it to Marcellus.[sup]\*[/sup] That’s when Butch and Vincent have their first little confrontation. That night, Vincent takes Mia out, she ODs. Then there’s the night of the fight that Butch is supposed to throw; Vincent and Mia greet each other and she thanks him for the nice time. It’s the next day when Butch goes back for his watch. Which makes for an interesting morality-play angle to the whole thing. Jules, who recognized and accepted the Miracle of the Bullets presumably lives to a ripe old age. Vincent, a doubter, does not. Maybe God did come down and stop the bullets. - Do we see how J & V get to the bar? They catch a cab from Monster Joe’s Truck and Tow and go to the diner for breakfast. Do they take another cab to the bar? Later, Vincent complains about someone keying his car, and I’ve heard at least one person say it was Butch after Vincent called him “Punchy”. But Vincent’s ride would have probably been in a garage in Redondo Beach at the time. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-plot-nit-i-noticed-spoilers-i-guess/632809/27 "2012-08-27T17:38:20Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > There would have been at least a couple days between the diner and Butch’s apartment. Yep; I didn’t mean to imply that Vincent moved onto staking out Butch’s place the same day… And **El Kabong** : 😉 Got it. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-plot-nit-i-noticed-spoilers-i-guess/632809/28 "2012-08-27T17:48:18Z")
I was always bothered how there are no real life forces affecting the characters. The restaurant is being held up for 20 minutes and not on person walks by, glances in and sees three guns being pointed at various persons? For that matter, not one cook sneaks out the back and calls the cops? In Brads apartment no one calls the cops after hearing shots after they off the guy on the sofa? No one in the neighborhood calls tha cops after Vincent very loudly crashes his car into the front yard of Lances house? Not one person notices Vincent carrying a limp woman into the house? I always just figured QT just ignores this stuff because it would make the story less interesting if things evolved like they would in real life. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-plot-nit-i-noticed-spoilers-i-guess/632809/29 "2012-08-27T17:53:15Z")
Exactly. If I wanted to watch real life I’d look out the window. At a movie I want to be entertained, and PF did that in spades. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-plot-nit-i-noticed-spoilers-i-guess/632809/30 "2012-08-27T18:03:42Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > And where can you get a decent milkshake for only five dollars? Yeah, that line is really dated. The rest of the movie holds up well, though. At least Damon Wayons’ $600 leather pants in \*The Last Boyscout \*still sound outrageously expensive. With or without a television in them. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-plot-nit-i-noticed-spoilers-i-guess/632809/31 "2012-08-27T18:12:01Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Exactly. If I wanted to watch real life I’d look out the window. At a movie I want to be entertained, and PF did that in spades. I agree, but I also like some consistency. One entire (and hilarious) scene was devoted to J&V being pretty paranoid about getting caught by the cops. I thought that was a bit too much. You’d have to be pretty unfortunate to randomly have cops notice blood splattered inside your car. ---
**Author:** ![JMH125](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee59a6/32.png) [@JMH125](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JMH125)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-plot-nit-i-noticed-spoilers-i-guess/632809/32 "2012-08-27T18:20:01Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > You are not alone. I didn’t like it either. In fact, I have a hard time even understanding what people see in it. It is probably one of my top ten favorite movies. I think i was underwhelmed the first time i saw it, and only came to recognize its genius later in subsequent viewings. But…it’s a weird movie. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-plot-nit-i-noticed-spoilers-i-guess/632809/33 "2012-08-27T18:27:53Z")
I love this movie. It’s definitely one of my favorites. You have to realize that it’s not about plot. It’s about dialog and individual situations. And it’s certainly not about realism or even consistency. ---
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-plot-nit-i-noticed-spoilers-i-guess/632809/34 "2012-08-27T18:38:08Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > There are no police in _Pulp Fiction_. They would have been all over the place for a number of reasons yet never are seen, only mentioned. Sure there are. When Vincent Vega is taking Uma’s character to the drug dealer when she ODs, the drug dealer freaks out b/c he is worried the cops will overhear what Vega said on the cell phone. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-plot-nit-i-noticed-spoilers-i-guess/632809/35 "2012-08-27T19:25:37Z")
> [@D18](#): > > Sure there are. When Vincent Vega is taking Uma’s character to the drug dealer when she ODs, the drug dealer freaks out b/c he is worried the cops will overhear what Vega said on the cell phone. I didn’t mean that the police didn’t _exist_. I meant that they aren’t part of the movie plot, therefore they never show up. [QUOTE=Jackknifed Juggernaut] I agree, but I also like some consistency. One entire (and hilarious) scene was devoted to J&V being pretty paranoid about getting caught by the cops. I thought that was a bit too much. You’d have to be pretty unfortunate to randomly have cops notice blood splattered inside your car. [/QUOTE] Well, they were **already** unfortunate with Marvin, so I’d say they were right to be a bit spooked. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-plot-nit-i-noticed-spoilers-i-guess/632809/36 "2012-08-27T19:43:19Z")
The lack of police didn’t bother me at all. In fact it WAS realistic. (not they didn’t show up, but that they showed after the action had passed) Wallace chasing Butch? Until Wallace shot the civilian, it was just a car crash w\injuries. An ambulance and\or fire department would probably arrive before the cops. Even after shots are fired, we are looking at conservative estimate of 3 to 5 minutes before the first cruiser would arrive. Wallace and Butch were long gone by then. And IIRC, _and I could be wrong_, the restaurant robbery didn’t take nearly 20 minutes. It was closer to 10. And passers-by may not have looked in the window or have seen anything even if they did. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-plot-nit-i-noticed-spoilers-i-guess/632809/37 "2012-08-27T20:01:49Z")
I doubt it took that long. Someone could put a stopwatch on it, but from “I’ll execute every mother-fucking one of you” to the end couldn’t have lasted more than a couple of minutes, tops. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-plot-nit-i-noticed-spoilers-i-guess/632809/38 "2012-08-27T20:05:17Z")
I can’t watch it to verify, but the rip on YouTube that claims to be the restaurant scene is 9m41s according to the Google hit. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-plot-nit-i-noticed-spoilers-i-guess/632809/39 "2012-08-27T20:33:16Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > So where are the cops?. The cops are too busy investigating a trophy theft from Jack Rabbit Slim’s the night before. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-plot-nit-i-noticed-spoilers-i-guess/632809/40 "2012-08-27T20:42:28Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Aaargh! :smack: Now it all makes sense. I loved the nonlinear storyline but to put all the scenes in chronological order: [ol] [li]Vincent & Jules recover the briefcase[/li][li]The Bonnie Situation[/li][li]The Diner Part 1 [/li][li]The Diner Part 2 [/li][li]Vincent Vega & Marcellus Wallace’s Wife[/li][li]Butch’s pre-fight dream: Captain Koons’ gold watch speech[/li][li]The Gold Watch[/li][/ol] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-plot-nit-i-noticed-spoilers-i-guess/632809.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulp-fiction-plot-nit-i-noticed-spoilers-i-guess/632809.md?page=3)