Chapter 3 - Things Get Interesting

     Ludlow goes to a party, where his boss, Wander, tells him that Biggs has been talking to Ludlow's ex-partner, Washington, who has been telling Biggs all about Ludlow's dirty methods. Ludlow gets all pissed off and decides to beat the crap outta Washington in a convenience store, but these dudes have bigger plans.

Biggs in the Fridge!

     Biggs conveniently happens to be buying gum when the gangstas show up, so he jumps into a fridge - it's his favorite hiding place, after all.

A Quick Lesson In Biggsspotting

Lesson 2: Biggs In The Fridge
Only the coolest hiding place will do.

     It takes a cold attitude to work internal affairs. Biggs spends his whole career finding fault in his coworkers and busting them for their misdeeds. It's a thankless task, and he gets more cold shoulders than warm hellos when he shows up for work each day.
     It's no wonder, then, that his favorite place to hide should be the cold and unkind refrigerator. Throughout the movie, there will be more refrigerators seen on screen than can be explained by any other logic. If there's a fridge on screen, there's a good chance Biggs is in there.

     These guys mow down Washington with some machine guns. Messy stuff. In the gun fight, Ludlow accidentally shoots Washington. That's gonna cause problems later.

Biggs in the chopper?

     Biggs sneaks out the back while Ludlow's trying to talk a dead dude into staying alive. The director tries to mislead us here by throwing in this shot of the chopper, making us think Biggs is in it again.

A Quick Lesson In Biggsspotting

Lesson 3: Look Beyond the Obvious
Biggs is smart.
Probably smarter than you.

     Certainly, Biggs has his favorite places to hide, and he uses many proven locations again and again. Even so, we can't be caught expecting him to be in the same place all the time.
     Be on guard when you see something as obvious as this helicopter. Biggs wants you to think that's where he is, but at this particular crime scene he can learn much more by being closer to the action.

     Biggs, of course, has never left the scene. He is in fact in the blue dumpster, buried under a bit of trash.

Biggs in the dumpster

     Wander walks right past him on his way to yell at Ludlow for being stupid. Kind of like yelling at a dog for... well, being a dog. At Wander's request, Ludlow takes the security video so no-one can see how dumb he was.

     The next morning, it's business as usual down at the department.

Four down, seventeen across

     Wander shows Ludlow the newspaper, which declares that Ludlow the hero was first on scene but too late to save his comrade. That's not quite how things really happened, of course. Wander assigns Ludlow to complaints until things settle down. That's right... desk job! And who should turn up with a complaint of his own, but:

Biggs in plain view!

     Biggs knows exactly what really happened, but he's not giving it all away just yet. He likes playing games with Ludlow - and besides, he has bigger plans in the works. He invites Ludlow to an interrogation lunch, which Ludlow really doesn't want to accept...

Dammit...

      But he's already snubbed Biggs once, and that's what started this whole big mess in the first place.

If you'd taken the gum, none of this would be necessary...

     So Ludlow goes with Biggs to some outdoor cafe where Biggs offers him one more chance to come clean. He doesn't really expect him to, of course. This is all just part of the grand plan, and Ludlow doesn't even know he's being manipulated.

When I snap my fingers, you will bark like a chicken.

     After lunch, Ludlow runs off and whines to Wander that Biggs is picking on him, so Wander takes Ludlow to Biggs' office to yell at him. Biggs is unimpressed, but tries to be respectful.

This is my respectful face.

     Okay, so he wasn't trying very hard. Wander makes a rather unambiguous comment about Biggs washing his mouth out with buckshot, and while threats are nothing new to Biggs, he's only stayed alive this long by knowing when to take them seriously.

but my mouth is always minty fresh...

     When someone puts you and a shotgun in the same sentence, it's time to lay low for a while. It's all right, though. He's already set things in motion. We won't be seeing much of Biggs from now on, but he'll be right there through it all, so let's test our Biggsspotting skills as Ludlow tries to get smart.

Chapter 4: Let Ludlow Hang Himself

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