WinkLingo
Log in

The Mist · 2007 — Chapter 5 of 11 · 7'58" · B1

The Group Debates Seeking Rescue, Explained: tightly wound

The survivors are splitting into camps over what to do next. One voice argues that "the only way we're gonna help ourselves is to seek rescue," while others trade accusations. It looks like a debate about the plan; it is really a debate about who gets to be believed.

What happens

The mist has everyone trapped in the supermarket, and now they have to decide what to do. One group wants to stay put; another insists the only real hope is to go out and look for rescue. As they argue, an outsider is accused of psyching people out and of being too tightly wound, and the plan becomes a test of who can be trusted.

ArgumentsPersuasionPersuadingPromisingB1americanClean
IMDb ↗

Listen for

brass ballsat your leisuretightly woundpsych out

00:00 / 07:58
Space play · ← → lines · R repeat
Now
  68. ❝ MonologueDavid's case for going5 linesPractice page ↗
Tap a line to replay it

Phrase of the scene

tightly wound

tense and easily agitated

奥利评价大卫那位朋友太紧绷，担心他会害死大家。

He's a bit tightly wound for a job that needs patience.

Also in this scene

  • brass balls

    bold courage, often reckless

  • at your leisure

    when you have free time, without hurry

  • psych out

    to make someone nervous or lose focus

Everything marked in this scene

36 notes across 127 lines

Slang · B1Sup'Sup, little dude.
Phrase · A2come get someoneHow come your friends don't come get us?
Soundcome get us

liaison

How come your friends don't come get us?
Grammar · B2don t you got like a radio

nonstandard question form

But don't you got like a radio?
Phrase · B1could use a handGuys, we could use a hand over there.
Sounduse a hand

liaison

Guys, we could use a hand over there.
Phrase · A2sure thingYeah, sure thing.
Phrase · B2get off one's assTroop off your asses.
Phrase · A2scared tooMaybe she's scared too.
Phrase · B1do everything one canAnd I promise you, I'm gonna do everything I can to get us back to her.
Phrase · B1God knowsAnd we've got knives and stuff, God knows.
Phrase · B2happen to have somethingThis may be a silly question, Bud, but do you happen to have a gun in the store?
Phrase · B1be away on businessHe's away on business a lot.
Phrase · B1not much useAin't much use unloaded, ma'am.
Slang · B2Ain t much useAin't much use unloaded, ma'am.
Phrase · B2talk something throughLet's just talk this thing through.
Phrase · B1fall for somethingNo, I've been in far too many court rooms to fall for that.
Phrase · B2psych someone outYou've already psyched out half a dozen of my people already.
Phrase · B1some kind of somethingWe are experiencing some kind of disaster.
Phrase · B1the only way to do somethingAnd no offense, Mrs. Carmody, but the only way we're gonna help ourselves is to seek rescue.
Phrase · B2seek rescueAnd no offense, Mrs. Carmody, but the only way we're gonna help ourselves is to seek rescue.
Grammar · B2the only way we re gonna help ourselves is to seek rescue

the only way ... is to ...

And no offense, Mrs. Carmody, but the only way we're gonna help ourselves is to seek rescue.
Phrase · B1ask a favorI just want to ask a favor.
Phrase · B2throw in with someoneAre you throwing in with them? Me?
Phrase · B2be tightly wound

tense and easily agitated

I think your man there's a little too tightly wound.
Phrase · B2have brass balls

bold courage, often reckless

Son, you've got brass balls.
Phrase · B2the glove compartmentThe shells are in the glove compartment. Drive it back.
Phrase · B2talk someone out of somethingYou sure there's no way I can talk you out of this?
Grammar · B2there s no way I can talk you out of this

existential there with clause

You sure there's no way I can talk you out of this?
Phrase · B2the joke is on someoneThen I guess the joke would be on me after all.
Phrase · B2make someone out to be somethingI just don't think he's the bloodthirsty asshole you make him out to be.
Slang · C1assholeI just don't think he's the bloodthirsty asshole you make him out to be.
Phrase · B2take something up with someoneWell, you take that up with the devil when you run into him.
Phrase · B2at one's leisure

when you have free time, without hurry

Just chat it over at your leisure.
Phrase · B1nice and easyNice and easy.
SoundNice and easy

liaison

Nice and easy.

The Group Debates Seeking Rescue, explained

What's really going on

The surface argument is simple: stay in the store or go out and look for rescue. But nobody can prove what the mist really is, so the debate slides from facts to character. The people who want to act get shouted at, and anyone who speaks up for them is accused of being fooled. When the group finally commits, the man being second-guessed answers with "Then I guess the joke would be on me after all." It is not bravado, just a man admitting that if he is wrong, he alone pays for it. Around him the room runs on two kinds of faith: Mrs. Carmody warns, "You'll die out there, all of you," while others insist, "David, there's nothing out there." Both sides are frightened and neither can afford to say so, and the audience already knows the rope is about to teach them which one was right.

Theme

TrustThe debate is not about the plan but about who deserves belief when nobody can prove anything.
SurvivalEvery choice — stay inside or seek rescue — is a gamble with lives, and fear decides more than logic.

What you'll learn

  • Notice how "talk this thing through" changes the exchange.
  • Listen for the attitude carried by "talk this thing through".
  • Try the phrase in a comparable conversation.

Listen for

  • come get us — liaison
  • use a hand — liaison
  • Nice and easy — liaison
Then I guess the joke would be on me after all

If the person he is defending turns out to be as dangerous as everyone claims, then he will be the one made to look foolish.

And no offense Mrs Carmody but the only way we re gonna help ourselves is to seek rescue

He politely disagrees with the woman urging patience: in his view, sitting still saves no one, and going out for help is the only real option.

And I promise you I m gonna do everything I can to get us back to her

A promise to a frightened companion that he will do whatever it takes to return to the woman they left behind.

I just don t think he s the bloodthirsty asshole you make him out to be

He pushes back on the group's caricature of someone, insisting the man is not the monster they are painting him as.

Questions about this scene

Why does the group turn on the man who wants to go for rescue?

It is easier to attack the messenger than to answer the message. When no one knows what is outside, the person pushing hardest for action becomes the one everyone suspects.

Is Mrs. Carmody right that they should wait?

The film does not give her a clean win. She is right that stepping outside is deadly, but she is also building her own authority on fear, which is why the others resist her.

What does it mean to be psyched out by someone?

It means having your nerves worn down until you are too rattled to act. Here it is an accusation — that someone has talked people into paralyzing fear.

Why does the promise to get back to her land so hard?

Because it is the one line that offers something concrete in a room full of guesses. It turns a plan into a personal debt, and that is why people believe him.

The Mist · 11 chapters

All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 6for the bestAftermath at the Grocery Store
Chapter 1the end of daysThe Mist Reaches the StoreChapter 2sense of proportionDavid Argues With His NeighborChapter 3at stakeDavid Argues the Mist Is RealChapter 4meet one's makerMrs. Carmody Preaches the EndWatching · Chapter 5tightly woundThe Group Debates Seeking RescueChapter 6for the bestAftermath at the Grocery StoreChapter 7cut and runThe Crowd Turns on DavidChapter 8leave well enough aloneCarmody Blocks the Pharmacy RunChapter 9at bayDavid Plans His EscapeChapter 10point the fingerThe Arrowhead Project RevealedChapter 11wait and seeDavid Promises Billy He'll Never Leave
Chapter 5 of 11 · about 27 min to go