How could Officer Cole been so naive about his psycho partner?

P.O Cole got killed cause he thought he could handle Pete since cole is a big strong black guy plus cole was divorced so he could relate to pete's lonelyness too bad he wasn't wearing a vest, nah pete would have shot cole in da face. Well cole is going upstairs to talk to god I guess just not IAD, damn, he was a good strong black cop. It's dangerous for anyone to think they can handle a person who LOVES to set it off every minute of the day, even if they carry a gun.


Don't forget to pull out honey.
Um, already did that.
Did what, U didn't pull out?
No, I forgot to.

9 months later
Pull this F--king baby out, can U do that atleast?

The "blue line" that police work under, whatever it's called. Period. Excellent writing. This officer straddled the fence. He took Kurt Russell's character seriously, yet was not willing to turn his back on a fellow cop just because a citizen was complaining about the way this cop did things. In any other line of work, the guy turns Liotta's character in immediately. But these are cops. Look at what happens when Kurt Russell goes to file the complaint. The cop taking his complaint just mocks him, with the cop working as a clerk in the back ground throwing him hard looks. Well, the black officer would have dealt with the same blow back, and he knew it. He knew turning Liotta in had to be a last resort. Of course, this film is designed to be a thriller and is therefore escapist fare, and he winds up dying due to his procrastination. In real life, I imagine he does turn Liotta in, deals with some blow back from other officers for turning in a wing man who, from their point of view at least, was merely trying to get some tail from a west side snob's wife (common ritual of bachelor LAPD of that time, I'm sure...), but eventually works his way back to the clubhouse when Liotta's character returns as his partner after doing some type of mandatory psychological evaluation, or whatever.

I liken it to people always going "He was such a nice guy" when their neighbour/friend/colleague turns out to be a serial killer.

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending), Cole is humanE. As most humanE people go, we like to think that, in the end, humans are mostly humanE. Not the case unfortunately.




**Skin that Smokewagon and see what happens!** Tombstone

The thing is,we can speculate but we know very,very little about Pete when it comes to facts and him being psychotic. I think the point of view should be the opposite;Petes partner wasn´t naive and didn´t suspect anything during those years cause there was nothing extreme to suspect. Otherwise they would have had several chats and his partner would have reported him.

That during their exercise,Petes-"He can´t take protect her,she needs a real man." etc...that Pete suddenly would reveal his feelings to his partner and that Cole doesn´t tell the cheif is very weird...Cole might´ve thought he could talk him out of it cause there was nothing to fear since maybe before Karen,there wasn´t that much to fear but it´s still too much.

Pete buying sex can´t convince me of who he is pre-Karen. His"infactuation",obsession with her is likely the trigger for the somewhat extreme personalitychange,wouldn´t be the first time something creepy under the surface is brought out by attraction in a person.

Exactly,Cole would have said something to his superiors...IF this kinda behaviour and statements represented who Pete WAS. You don´t get half the point of the film? You think this mentality and actions were part of Pete´s day to day life? No! Of course not...he WAS somewhat unstable...but not a murderer,he BECAME a dangerous,obsessed lunatic. Cole tried to talk sense into Pete when he started to slip into insanity...

The fact Pete revealed these thoughts to Cole and the way Cole reacts tells us they are longtime partners and "buddies"....hence in this case,he wasn´t naive,he was caring and concerned,he now knew his partner had snapped,he did NOT know he would shoot him dead over info regarding Pete being obsessed and in need of therapy...Would You?Think Cole knew him a bit better then you before the film starts....

It was there but under the surface for all those years and finally,he snapped.You know the Jokers words-"Insanity is like gravity...All it needs is a little push."

WHAT exactly would the fun be in a cop who goes around killing women and men,deranged and unhinged...and then meets a couple where he can hang up his psychosis on the woman? If this is who he just is,since he would soooo be able to get away with such a crazy psychospree for years. A creepy face does not equal a red flag and just cause Pete is played by Liotta,the fictional characters around him can´t see through him as you can,who see the villains eyes through the blinds at the poster.


Sounds very boring cause then the antagonist has Zero arc and a baddie doesn´t always need one but the creepiness and danger in this kinda enjoyable trashy 90´s thriller film comes From a cop who has lost it,crossed the line and because of attraction and pussy has become delusional and VERY motivated....right?

I guess nothing really stuck out as him being homicidal. He probably did think he was a little creepy but no unusually so for a cop who's seen some messed up things.

I don't know.