The Pete Effect

The Pete Effect

~ A Deep Dive into Vegas’s Mind ~

When it comes to Vegas and Pete in Ep11, I think they contained a pretty massive story arc within the 50 minutes. And while I do think this story could’ve been spread out over the course of a few episodes, I do think they managed to offer a view of Vegas that humanizes him but does not necessarily erase or lessen the severity of his crimes. If anything, it puts the cycle of generational violence/trauma in perspective. If the purpose of this episode is to show why Vegas desires hurting people and where this destructiveness comes from, then I think they’ve accomplished that.

Recycled History

We don’t need to see Vegas’s history of abuse play out onscreen to get the full context of what he’s going through. From a storytelling perspective, it’s pretty standard: abusive father projects own self-hatred onto child. It’s a never-ending cycle of needing dominance to fill the void of never being good enough. We don’t know much about Korn and Kan’s father, but what little we do know indicates that Kan’s relationship with his father is similar to Vegas’s relationship with Kan. At the same time, this line from Korn in Ep10 is interesting:

We haven’t seen Kan directly “taking advantage” of anyone, mostly due to a lack of screen time, but the act of abusing Vegas is ironically upholding this very notion. This line is also notable in that it seems to apply to Vegas in particular, and Kan is reinforcing it by constantly reminding Vegas that he will never be good enough. Korn, master manipulator, likely knows that due to their rivalry, Kan suffers from the same self-hatred that Vegas suffers from. He exploits that with this line, and I have no doubt that Kan was reminded of this very conversation when confronting Vegas.

In this shot, Vegas is experiencing a build up of all these negative emotions: bitter resentment for his father, hate for himself, shame, guilt, rage. Kan tells him he’s failed not only as the heir of the minor family, but as a son—that’s the key point. It’s never about the business, it’s about Vegas a person. Kan will always find flaws in Vegas because that’s easier than facing his own.

Vegas’s Psyche

What does Vegas do? He takes the gun from Kan, he points it at Pete as if to kill him, but he doesn’t follow through. Why is that? Because, as will become even more appparent later, Pete is a form of rebellion for Vegas. Keeping him—tormenting him—defies his father’s orders, but it also offers Vegas an opportunity to assuage his feelings of inferiority. Pete is a prisoner, so Vegas’s dominance over him is a certainty. Vegas craves the chance to rip Pete apart piece by piece the same way his father has always ripped him apart (not to mention it also comes with minimal risk).

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