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thatgirl4815 · 2 years

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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.

**For my take on Pete’s psychological state, see this post: The Vegas Effect

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 as 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 own 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).

There’s an element of loneliness to this too. As the VegasPete bandaging scene proves, Vegas has spent his whole life feeling alone in his suffering. But while Pete reveals a similar experience in his own childhood, his imprisonment is also an opportunity for Vegas to impart his emotional pain onto someone physically. Vegas gains a certain satisfaction from witnessing someone else’s pain precisely because it is not his own. It’s a reminder that his father isn’t the only one who can inflict pain. That’s, in part, why I believe Vegas is so satisfied when calling Pete’s grandmother—Kan abuses Vegas both physically and emotionally, so why wouldn’t Vegas want to do the same thing to others?

So…

What stanches Vegas’s desire to inflict pain?

Even before their bandage talk, Pete is making waves for Vegas. We knew from the moment he laughed in Vegas’s face in Ep10 that he wouldn’t be one of Vegas’s regular victims; he presents a challenge, something Vegas can focus on. He’s a distraction as well as an outlet. Because, from a much broader perspective, Vegas’s position is terrible. His plans failed, the major family wants him dead, and he’s locked in a safe house with only Pete and a hedgehog for company.

One of the common critiques of this episode has been that Vegas’s feelings for Pete developed too quickly. I think this moment is where these critiques stem from. But, while there seems to be genuine fear in Vegas’s eyes at the prospect of losing Pete, I think there are two big reasons why:

1) With Pete dead, Vegas loses his outlet. He loses his distraction. And, perhaps most importantly, he loses his rebellion against his father. So long as Pete is alive, Vegas has a place to direct all that internal pain that his father keeps heightening.

2) Vegas doesn’t acknowledge it outright, but I think he knows Pete is a good person. Yes he’s in the mafia. Yes he’s committed crimes for his boss. But at his core, Pete is loyal. He’s self-sacrificing. He’s sincere. He’s as good as someone in this life can be. “No legacy is so rich as honesty.” I’ve seen others point it out, but I want to reiterate it here: Pete is already showing Vegas what it means to be honest about what drives him. That’s what their whole bandaging conversation comes to. It’s a truth that Vegas must face if he ever wants to escape the hole of self-hatred that his father has shoved him into.

As I’ve said, I do think that this storyline could’ve been stretched into two episodes just to really sit in that moment of realization and fear that Vegas has over Pete. But while it did come on somewhat suddenly, I think it makes sense if you consider Vegas’s attachment to Pete in context. I don’t think Vegas fully understands his attachment to Pete much in the same way we aren’t meant to fully understand it.

This kiss. Another manipulation? Another part of the game to lure Pete in? I can see it. I think Pete can too. Pete is smart enough not to trust Vegas, no matter how gentle Vegas might be. But we, as an audience, are fortunate because we see Vegas in moments no one else can. We have reason to believe it’s genuine, because Vegas is gentle at times when he really has no reason to be. He freaks out over the prospect of Pete’s death, he bandages him oh so tenderly because he wants to. He needs to.

Does he need to kiss Pete to give him the pill? Absolutely not. And Pete could resist that kiss—and the pill—quite easily. Vegas knows what he's doing. Pete accepts the pill because the tenderness of the kiss catches him off guard. The way I see it, Vegas goes for the kiss as a way of addressing his newfound attachment to Pete. I’d relate it to KP’s first kiss at the end of Ep3, as Kinn/Vegas and Porsche/Pete are, remarkably, in similar situations. (The amount of parallels between VegasPete and KinnPorsche is honestly insane, and those could honestly be a post on their own.)

As I mentioned above, Pete tells Vegas that he isn’t alone. And it’s the thing Vegas needs to hear most from someone. The thing is, I don’t think he even knew he needed it. But it takes a weight off his shoulders, as we see when he says, “It still hurts. But not as bad as before.”

I want to note that I don’t think Vegas’s sadistic tendencies have miraculously disappeared by the end of Ep11. Pete is a lot of things, but he’s not a miracle worker. I think Vegas has become enlightened, but one therapeutic conversation isn’t going to set him on a path of goodness. Trapped in this little bubble, it’s easy to lose sight of just how cruel and sadistic Vegas really is. It’s almost peculiar how easily I found myself not only sympathizing with Vegas, but blissfully ignoring all the bad things he has done. I mean, he was literally bandaging the wounds that he inflicted on Pete this episode, yet I somehow managed to overlook all of it and see only a confused, miserable mess of a man. And yeah, I felt bad for him. I’ll credit that all to Bible’s acting. He added such a level of humanity to Vegas at the end of this episode. I mean look at this—

...compared to this—

The genuine sweetness in that last smile? The end of this episode is the first time we’re seeing him without the mask.

In conclusion...

Pete has unlocked a part of Vegas that’s been buried by years of abuse. At least in my opinion, he’s set Vegas on a path towards healing and a release of all the anger welling up inside.

I don’t think this means that Vegas will lose the mafia-persona. They are all still in the mafia, after all. Conceptions of good and evil are much less defined in this landscape. But, I don’t think Vegas will need to use torture as an outlet for the pain his father causes him. I imagine he’ll still have an interesting relationship with pain—what with the apparent BDSM content we’ll be getting—but it won’t be used in the same context as before. Meaning that it will be something both Vegas and Pete enjoy.

That’s all for now. As always, more KP meta can be found ➡️ here, and my thoughts on the use of color in Ep11 ➡️ here!

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