Vegas And Pete's First Kiss At The Climax Of The Song: Unchained Melody

Vegas and Pete's First Kiss at the Climax of the Song: Unchained Melody

Vegas torturing a guy while Pete stands next to him helping him(?):

Pete: Do you need another pair of gloves?

Vegas: Yes, please.

*Vegas changes his blood-covered gloves and gives Pete a soft smile*

Vegas: I’m almost done here

Pete: It’s alright, take your time :) *smiles nonchalantly*

*Vegas gets lost in Pete’s smile for long seconds*

The guy being tortured: Can I…?

Vegas: Shut the fuck up! We’re having a moment here. Can’t you see it??!

porsche sure is trying to get there

Analyzing VegasPete as a Writer, Pt 2: Pete

Please check out the Part 1: Vegas post. I define some of the terms I’ll use here in that post. It also covers all the introductory stuff and usual disclaimers (my anxiety about sharing my opinions).

I’m excited and nervous to get to Pete. He doesn’t come out and say a lot of stuff the way that Vegas does. We don’t know as much about Pete. He’s also more self-aware than Vegas, which I discovered made his want and need a little more nuanced. So this took more interpretation and sometimes just speculation. A lot of room for different opinions. There are some things I’m less sure of here, but I’ve done my best to see how I can make the puzzle pieces fit.

Pete’s Character Arc

COMFORT ZONE

I want to talk about Pete’s character arc in general, first. I wanted to see if I could fit it into Dan Harmon’s Plot Embryo, which is a modified version of the Hero’s Journey that I really like. It doesn’t fit perfectly. It was never intended to. But I always find this exercise helpful in gaining insight into the characters. It has also helps me as a writer understand how to use a formulas as a tool, not as a strict, literal outline. The Plot Embryo is helpful because it’s a big picture template and different kinds of structures can fit within it, but has limitations since it was designed by someone who mostly writes formula-driven episodic tv shows.

At the start of a character’s arc, they’re in their comfort zone. They’re living with their False Belief and their Fear. The coping mechanisms they’ve developed are basically working for them. They can succeed in this environment with those coping mechanisms. It works for the character, but only up to a point, because they’ll never grapple with their False Belief or overcome their Fear if they stay here.

For the first 9 episodes, Pete is in his comfort zone as a bodyguard for the main family. It’s the status quo for his life. The status quo is also stagnancy, which is why characters need to be pushed out of it so they can change. Pete is fine here, but he’s not GOOD. It’s just comfortable. Unchallenging. Why? Because everything he knows how to do to get by works for him here without pushing him to grow. That’s what a character’s comfort zone is. They’ve learned to deal with life in this place.

Pete is well-liked, respected, he’s a good bodyguard for the main family. Nothing here, in and of itself, will force him to change. No one really wants to see deeper than surface level. Pete wears a mask with everyone, using his big smile and cheerful demeanor to hide other parts of himself. It’s beneficial to him in this context, where there is an air of professional distance even among friends, and Tankhun (bless him) isn’t interested in or capable of pushing Pete into showing more of his genuine self. They all clearly care about each other, but it’s not an environment that encourages digging any deeper.

This is one thing I look at when I’m trying to articulate a character’s False Belief. What is it that’s working for Pete? He doesn’t reveal a lot of himself to others. He covers up a lot with a smile. We see that in a lot of different contexts so we understand that it’s not quite 100% genuine even when it isn’t 100% fake. He is hiding a lot of his real thoughts and feelings from others. So his False Belief has to be connected to why he hides himself. It has created a fear related to showing his real thoughts and emotions.

Michael Hauge refers to this as a character living in their Identity. Their identity is the version of themselves that they use to protect themselves from getting hurt (as opposed to their Essence, which is who they really are). It’s “emotional armor.” Pete’s Identity has two aspects: first, that he is a bodyguard, and second the mask that he is always happy, optimistic, cheerful. To understand a character’s Fear and False Belief, we have to try to understand how their Identity is protecting them. It’s another clue for our analysis.

INCITING INCIDENT, TRANSITION INTO CONFLICT ZONE

In episode 10 we get the inciting incident that pushes Pete out of his comfort zone and forces him to enter the conflict zone. For the character’s emotional arc, the important thing is that their coping mechanisms, their Identity, don’t work here. They will fail to achieve their goal if they stay in their Identity. If they cling to their False Belief, if they don’t overcome their Fear, they will fail to change and they remain stagnant. They won’t get what they need. The conflict zone isn’t a physical place. In a romance arc this zone is usually their relationship with the romantic interest. The conflict zone for Pete is his relationship with Vegas. This is the context in which he will face his Fear and change so that this conflict zone will become part of his new comfort zone in the end.

For Pete, the torture scene is the transition into the conflict zone. Dan Harmon originally called these zones Order vs Chaos. Pete has a sense of order in his life as a bodyguard. But when he is at the safe house with Vegas, he’s no longer there as a bodyguard. Vegas forces him out of that role by going outside the accepted rules of engagement. A bodyguard can be tortured for information, can be killed. Pete knows this and is prepared.  When Vegas takes him to the safe house for his own personal gratification (disobeying his father’s orders), he’s going outside the system that Pete has felt secure in, where there is a sense of order. Where Pete knew how to survive and cope in his Identity.

THE STRUGGLE/SEARCH

The next phase of the character arc is the struggle or the search. The character is searching for the thing that they want (knowing this will help identify what Pete wants vs what he needs when I talk about that later). The character has to adapt to the conflict zone, but they will fail while they still fall back on their old false belief and give in to their fear. Or while they still live in their Identity. For Pete, this is in episode 11, when we see him struggling as Vegas’s prisoner. The inciting incident has given him the goal to either escape or die. That is what his Motive Goal, the thing he wants, the thing that drives him to act after his inciting incident. He tries different strategies to achieve this, but he will always fail as long as he is still in his Identity.

We see how Pete’s bodyguard skills don’t help him with Vegas. He tries to escape, but Vegas is just playing with him. He tries refusing to cooperate. He’s acting like a prisoner, the way a bodyguard should be acting. This gets him punished and severely injured but kept alive for Vegas to use to vent his anger.

The beauty of how Pete’s character arc works within the VegasPete romance arc, is that his Identity as a bodyguard, doesn’t work here because it’s exactly what will help keep Vegas in HIS emotional armor. Pete putting up the bodyguard front is exactly the excuse Vegas needs to keep taking out his pain on Pete. To use him for “emotional projection.” This is what I love about great romantic arcs. This is what I always loved about the romance genre. To show how two people are going to be perfect for each other, we also see that they are the worst for each other if they stay in their Identity. Their Identities complement each other, reinforce each other, and without change they could stay right here indefinitely.

ADAPTING

The character now has to start adapting to Chaos or the Conflict Zone. A couple things help this along for Pete. First, Gun keeps visiting to slap his son around and call him a failure. And Pete’s health deteriorates which prompts Vegas to make the choice to take care of him. Pete’s health prevents Vegas from using his usual level of physical violence for a while. This gives both of them some space to actually deal with one another. Pete learns more about Vegas, which allows him to adapt and start to have some success in the Conflict Zone (his relationship with Vegas).

Pete has obviously already dropped the pretense of being cheerful in the face of the abuse Vegas is inflicting on him. That’s one reason I know that particular mask isn’t the Identity he’s really hiding behind. It’s just one aspect of it. It’s one of the masks he wears. It’s the first he drops because it serves no purpose here. That’s part of why this conflict zone is so difficult and frightening.

The first real success is when Pete can also start to drop his Identity as a bodyguard. Vegas shows a little bit of his own vulnerability. In this scene, he connects with Vegas as a person and shares something personal about himself. He’s not The Bodyguard Prisoner or Smiling, Harmless Pete. It helps Vegas gain more insight into his own situation and starts to help him connect to Pete emotionally over their similar experiences. We see that this will also help Pete contextualize the way Vegas is treating him. I think most importantly for their relationship, Vegas is also receiving Pete’s empathy, the sort of understanding that he probably hasn’t experienced before.

CHANGE OF HEART

This isn’t enough, though. We know Pete has already been able to reach out to people this way because he does the same with Porsche a few times. This isn’t growth for Pete, though it is the start of his adapting to the Conflict Zone.  Throughout the rest of the time in the safe house, Pete continues to drop more of his mask. When he gives up the opportunity to escape and chooses to stay with Vegas, he is taking a huge step forward away from his Identity and into his Essence. He isn’t acting as a bodyguard here. His responsibility, his duty, is to return to the main family and tell them where to find Vegas. He’s starting to move away from what he wants and toward what he needs.

About halfway through a character arc, the character finds what they want and they either get it, or realize that they no longer want it. They have adapted to the Conflict Zone and learned how to survive there. They are still in the Conflict Zone, but this is when they transition from False Belief into a New Truth.  I’ve also seen this called a Change of Heart. In the Hero’s Journey this is called Meeting the Goddess. If we throw out the outdated gender stuff in the Hero’s Journey, the core of this is that the character finds the other half of themselves that give them something to make them whole. In the Plot Embryo, the Change of Heart is a moment when the character gives up their False Belief and comes to understand it was a lie. They’re able to embrace the truth. They can then start to have successes in the Conflict Zone. This is when the character stops losing to an antagonist, stops reacting to what the antagonist is doing, and starts being proactive. They win at least some of their battles now.

For Pete, this is when he chooses to stay with Vegas despite the opportunity to escape. They have a moment of connection and then they literally join together as two opposite energies, whether you want to call it dominant and submissive, or active and receptive, masculine and feminine, etc. In the Hero’s Journey terms, you could say that Pete is actually serving as the Goddess archetype for Vegas’s character arc, because he is the one providing a moment of nurturing and wisdom.  But since this is a romance story arc, it’s important that Vegas is doing something for Pete, too. Pete is joining with HIS opposite, the one who will help him see that his False Belief is a lie and will allow him to be his true self.

THE FALSE BELIEF AND THE FEAR

Now that we’re halfway through Pete’s character arc and over 2k words into this meta, what is Pete’s False Belief and his Fear?

Pete’s False Belief: My true self will not be accepted and loved by others.

Pete’s Fear: If I am useless, I won't have a place to belong because I won't be loved just for myself. What is it that Pete believes about himself that works for him with the main family but not with Vegas? It’s the way he guards himself from being known and understood with the main family. He drops the superficial part of that mask with Vegas. At first it’s not because he’s realized his False Belief is a lie, or because he’s gotten over his fear. That would be too quick. It’s because he has no need to be accepted and loved by Vegas (not yet). His goal changed when he entered the conflict zone. But he still relied on his Identity as a bodyguard to meet his goal.

The way Pete’s backstory contributes to his False Belief is more subtle than Vegas’s. We only get a hint at it.  Pete was never loved for who he was by his father. Whether Pete won or lost at boxing, his father took his anger and self-hatred out on him. We can guess that this violent childhood is what made Pete the way he is, that he probably had to be very cautious and observant to avoid his father’s anger to the extent that he could. We can speculate that he had to hide the abuse, too, behind a cheerful smile. And that he became afraid that if anyone saw what he was really like, what was really happening, they wouldn’t like what they saw. Maybe they wouldn’t be able to handle it. This eventually solidified into his False Belief.

FEAR

The False Belief leads to a specific fear. Pete gives us a hint about his fear when he tells Vegas that he feels useless. That he’s always been useless. If you have a character who doesn’t think his real self will be loved or accepted, being useful is one way for that character to secure a sense of belonging with others, especially if they are looking for the safety of a stable life. And it’s part of Pete’s nature to want to belong. Pete could never gain his father’s love and acceptance, even if he was useful, so at some point he became a bodyguard for the Theerapanyakul family. There, being useful was exactly what helped him succeed.

I think that with these deep fears, they are so frightening because part of us thinks that our fear is already reality. Pete is obviously not useless as a bodyguard, but he grew up feeling useless to his father. Some part of him will always feel useless, and it makes him afraid because that will lead to the loss of the relationships and stability he’s found in his life.  This is the problem a character has when they continue to believe in their False Belief. They live in this fear.

Pete’s change of heart is handled subtly. What indicates that he’s finally seeing his False Belief as a lie? I think it’s mostly symbolized in the actions he takes. First, he gives up his Identity to act in his Essence – his true self – when he stays to comfort Vegas instead of escaping. How does he show that he’s realizing the lie of “My true self will not be accepted and loved by others?” By giving his true self to Vegas. The side of him Vegas wants to see (“How do you like it?”). The self he presents to the world wouldn’t kiss Vegas, mafia’s most canceled problematic person. He definitely wouldn’t so enthusiastically give himself to Vegas, known bad person. But he does. He shows Vegas his real feelings in his desire for him. Symbolically, giving Vegas the rope to tie his wrists, letting Vegas bind his ankles with chains, his eager gripping of the chains, is Pete giving Vegas his real self, being completely vulnerable to the rejection he fears most. He trusts that Vegas, at least, will accept him.

Want & Need

At the start of his character arc, Pete wants to belong with the main family. At the start of the show, his want is actually being met, but it’s taken away when he leaves his comfort zone. Unlike Vegas, Pete had what he wanted and could have it again after he escapes. But what Pete wanted wasn’t what he needed. Think about the way food is used in Pete’s story – he breaks the rules to eat food from his Grandmother. Food that he loves. From someone he loves, who loves him. It’s food for him. Contrast with food provided by the main family to the bodyguards. Purely functional. Pete accepts it, but doesn’t enjoy it. Then Vegas is the one to give him food that he loves. Made for him, to care for him. Food as an expression of love is something that Pete values and something he lacks with the main family. He gets basic nourishment from the main family but he’s not really nourished.

What Pete actually needs is Vegas’s love, just like Vegas needs Pete’s love. (We know this partly because it’s a very good romance plot and that’s just how they do). Pete doesn’t have to be useful to have Vegas’s love (again, just like Vegas doesn’t have to earn Pete’s love). Pete can belong to Vegas, because Vegas needs someone to take care of. Each needs to have what the other is finally capable of giving once they’ve left behind their Identity.  Getting this need met is now in sight for Pete.

SACRIFICE

But Pete’s story isn’t over yet. The next section of the Plot Embryo is Sacrifice. Our character has had their revelation they have to pay a cost for their final victory. This is where the hero in the Hero’s Journey often has a symbolic (or literal) death. Think of every time the hero of a movie appears to die to achieve their final victory and then turns out to actually be alive. This is the symbolic death the journey requires for true growth.

This is where it gets really interesting for Pete. Pete has a sort of false sacrifice when he finally leaves Vegas and the safe house. He’s giving in to his fear of being useless (he has nothing to offer Vegas except himself, and Vegas’s emotional abuse is taking a toll on his ability to do even that). He fails to truly shed his bodyguard Identity. He tries to return to it. It’s a setback.

But it’s the right thing to do.

Because as I said in Part 1, Vegas isn’t ready to overcome his fear either. Vegas is panicked at the thought that Pete will leave him. And while he starts to take a step to allow Pete his freedom anyway, he’s obviously too fragile to allow Pete true choice. In a way, Pete goes through an emotional death here, as he sacrifices the self he can be with Vegas to try to return to his Identity. But he isn’t instantly reborn like Indiana Jones climbing back up from the cliff, alive after all. Pete spends enough time in this death to realize what he’s lost, and he isn’t reborn until he resigns as a bodyguard.

Resigning will be his true sacrifice. The cost of having Vegas will be giving up his life with the Theerapanyakul family.

NEW NORMAL

The Plot Embryo is a circle. A cycle. The hero returns to the comfort zone from the conflict zone. But once the hero has achieved their goal and gotten what they need, their comfort zone has changed. It now includes what used to be the conflict zone. Because a story like this is about a character learning how to adapt and succeed in the conflict zone. Think of it like learning to swim. A deep pool is a conflict zone for someone who can’t swim. Going into the water is going into this conflict zone. But once they learn how to swim, their comfort zone includes deep pools. It doesn’t mean they don’t have any more problems. But they have a higher quality of problem. Like: the ocean.

In the Hero’s Journey, this is often called The Road Back. It’s not an easy path. There are consequences of going through their ordeal in the conflict zone.

Pete is on this path when he escapes from the safe house.  He does know how to succeed in the conflict zone, in his relationship with Vegas. He knows that being himself, letting go of his Identity, and being real with Vegas is what will work with him. But there are external forces working against them as well as their emotional conflict. They just don’t have the opportunity to choose one another yet, but when they meet behind the bar I think Pete  moves into his new normal. They won’t kill each other. There is an acknowledgement of their feelings, their desire for one another. Only external forces (the man taking garbage out from the bar) can interfere. They might still have some things to sort out but they want to.

RESURRECTION (FINAL SACRIFICE)

The Plot Embryo simplifies and smooshes down some of this back half of the Hero’s Journey, but Pete doesn’t take any shortcuts so I had to go back to the original. Here there is one final test of the hero. They have to prove they learned what they needed to learn in their conflict zone. Pete proves that here by resigning his position and using what he learned to connect with Vegas as only he could. He gave up his Identity as a bodyguard because he learned it wasn’t what he needed. He overcame his fear when he asked Vegas to take care of him. He couldn’t truly connect with Vegas by being useful (“I’m here, Vegas”). Instead, he had to give up his reliance on being useful and ask Vegas to take care of him.

FLOURISH

The hospital scene. We get one final moment for Pete to officially tell Vegas he wants to stay with him. And we get a view of the way the story has all been worthwhile. Here the character is in a happy period. There will be new problems, but not yet. For now they get to enjoy the rewards they earned by overcoming their fears and letting go of their Identity.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS (MY SOAPBOX)

On first viewing, I understood that they had constructed an incredible romance plot but it wasn’t until fully diving into it that I saw just how beautiful the story is.

This is why calling a fictional relationship PROBLEMATIC, or toxic, or talking about it in terms that would apply to real life people fails to get at what a story is actually doing.

The torture and abuse Pete goes through symbolically represents the breaking down of his emotional armor to allow him to confront his False Belief. Yes, the story uses dark, violent imagery for this. But that’s often how it can feel when someone is pushing past the defense mechanisms we have in place. Changing ourselves, growth, letting others in to see us, all of that is absolutely terrifying. It can feel just as frightening as physical violence.

Stories are not real life. Characters are not real people. Even entertaining, “silly” stories can be vehicles for writers to share ideas about human nature, what it means to be challenged, to face our fears, to grow, to have relationships. We do learn from fiction, but not simple moral lessons. By experiencing what a character experiences, we are also, in a way, helping ourselves to deal with our own conflict zones. By seeing how a character faces their False Belief, we can get a glimpse of our own. Stories can help us learn a lot about ourselves and about other people. But not through surface-level declarations that something is problematic or has toxic relationships.

End of soapbox rant.

Finally, here is a picture of some horny VegasPete kissing as thank you for reading down to the end.

i don't know how my post about Pete got so fucked up and out of order but now I have to paste it all into Tumblr again and I want to die

So satisfying to see someone say "thank you for not romanticizing VegasPete" and then BLOCK THEM.