The Showdown: Chapter 8
When rivals face off across a table.
OK, I admit it. I stole this idea from Peaky Blinders.
And Heat. And The Godfather.
Well, also Tombstone (sort of), The Equalizer, and The Dark Knight
And The Office and Parks and Recreation.
And Inglourious Basterds (three times).
Let me explain.
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Final Battles
So many novels and films have an end-of-story face-off: Rivals meeting in a final battle.
Often, it’s an actual fight. Think of any of the Rocky films. Dumbledore vs. Voldemort. Revenge of the Sith ends with Yoda vs. Palpatine and Obi Wan vs. Anakin.
Sometimes it’s verbal combat, like Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men or Lady Catherine and Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice.
Sometimes, the battle is the culmination of a contest or tournament, like in Karate Kid, 8 Mile, or Pitch Perfect.
Even quirky comedies can have epic final battles: Billy Madison, Austin Powers, Kingpin.
Those are all well and good. But I’ve always liked a different type of showdown. A very particular type of showdown.
The Mid-Story, Table Face-Off
Sometimes, rivals meet face-to-face not at the end of the story but closer to the middle.
This is not the final battle to decide who wins it all. It’s a different kind of showdown. It’s designed to build the tension, reveal the characters’ intentions and mettle, and deepen our understanding of the conflict.
And, interestingly, this kind of showdown often has the rivals seated on opposite sides of a table.
Two classic examples are detective Pacino and criminal DeNiro at the diner table in Heat and rival mobsters Sollozzo and Michael at the Italian restaurant table in The Godfather.
There are three such table showdowns in Inglourious Basterds (the opening dairy-farm scene, the basement tavern scene, and when Aldo and Landa finally square up).
In Season 2 of Peaky Blinders, Tommy Shelby and Alfie Solomons face off across a desk in a brutal negotiation. In The Dark Knight, Batman and the Joker face off across an interrogation-room table. Maybe my favorite is in Tombstone when Doc Holiday faces down Johnny Ringo across the faro table (though both are standing).
There are even comedic examples. Twice in The Office Dwight and Jim face off across the conference-room table (once to go over Dwight’s grievances, once to practice a sales call). In Parks and Recreation, Ron and Ron also have a conference table showdown.
I knew I needed a mid-story table confrontation in COMMUNITY DAY.
Blowtorch vs. Barb
In COMMUNITY DAY, everything leads up to the final battles at the park. But I had to have some pre-confrontations to build the suspense, keep readers entertained, and reveal more about some key characters. At the end of Part 1, I wanted two characters to face off, and I wanted it to happen at the park (to foreshadow the novel’s final act).
So in Chapter 8, I pitted two of the most ridiculous characters against one another in a ridiculous showdown across a picnic table.
This is the bonkers battle between Blowtorch Len and Barb.
In my last column, I explained how Chapter 7 explores Barb’s outsized physical presence and outsized behavior. In the previous column, I explained how Chapter 6 explores Blowtorch Len’s mysteriousness. In Chapter 8, the two characters collide.
Here is how the confrontation begins.
Barb passed the time by allowing her two young children to dig in the sand while she discreetly indulged in her guilty pleasure: reading Amish erotica. As she turned a page, eager to see if the strapping farmhand would remove his broadbrimmed hat while painting the silo, she noticed that an older gentleman had seated himself across from her at the picnic table. Mortified, she threw the randy book into her purse. Realizing this betrayed guilt, she composed herself, flipped her hair (which was still shoulder-length at this point) and said sternly, “Hmmp! May I help you?”
The old man introduced himself with a cartoonish Russian accent, “I am top-syecret Soviet spy and karate yellow byelt.”
Before she could convey her many questions, which he could read on her face, he sought to explain: “My cover story is dat of plumber.” Barb’s questions multiplied.
She was worldly enough to know top-secret spies would be unlikely to introduce themselves as such. Moreover, the Soviet Union had collapsed more than a decade earlier. Her skepticism grew as she noticed this “plumber” was wearing capri pants, a raspberry beret, and a three-quarter sleeve t-shirt that read “Soviet Agent” on the front. Barb was speechless. She had always struggled to find the right words when confronted by elderly yellow belt-plumber-spies.
The Prequel
I like the confrontation-at-a-table setting so much that, if I write the prequel, I might have a table in the novel’s main bar/restaurant serve as the squared circle for several fights. I know I want it to be where the two main character ultimately triumph over the villain. And I have an idea for a verbally violent battle between the novel’s two alpha males. But now I’m also thinking that it could be where a priest confronts the female lead about her past and where a cocky young lawyer gets his last warning.
For previous installments of this explanation-and-exploration series:
Chapter 1: Introducing Key Characters
Chapter 2: Forest and Breadcrumbs
Chapter 4: Heisting from Hamlet: Chapter 4