What happened to Abilene? An explanation of the series finale of Vengeance
It’s possible for established actors to get disastrous results while starring in their own passion projects, and examples of this abound. As BJ Novak’s first attempt at writing and directing, perhaps most importantly, he approaches the subject with a sense of humility. This is one of the ways he denies that notion. Ben Manalowitz, portrayed by Novak, is the archetype of the New Yorker. In the novel Vengeance, he goes to a small Texas town to attend the funeral of a girl he barely knew to uncover a story, but ends up discovering much more than that. Below is detailed information on how to complete the Vengeance show.
The outline of the revenge plan
If we look at Ben in the context of his life in the big metropolis, we find that he is in no way particularly remarkable. Humans have a plethora of options available in all facets of their existence, and this has inexorably led to a sense of disconnection – both from one another and from the larger world at large. Ben is a product of his surroundings, the culture of New York’s millennial generation, who generally have a negative view of most things that are outside of the city limits.
While critical of city life, “Vengeance” doesn’t belittle the importance of city life. And in any case, the main focus of the film is the way of life in this humble Texas hamlet, where the narrative begins with the death of Abilene Shaw (Lio Tipton). Ben, staying in New York, is overheard talking to his friend John (John Mayer) at a party about how content they are with the life of instant pleasure they have chosen for themselves. John deals with an inordinate number of women at once, while Ben has pretty much fully immersed himself in hookup culture. In fact, that’s how he originally came into contact with Abilene.
Ben, who appears to be a successful journalist and works for The New Yorker, has ambitions to be a podcaster. However, his producer buddy Eloise (played by Issa Rae) points out that his ideas, great as they are, are just ideas; There isn’t much substance behind it.
That night, after another sexual encounter with a woman he barely knows, Ben receives a call from Abilene’s brother, Ty (Boyd Holbrook), telling him that Abilene has died of complications from an accidental drug overdose. Ben believes that while he and Abilene have had a few sexual encounters, they have never officially been in a relationship. However, it appears that Abilene had a contrary opinion, which she shared with her family.
After Ty manages to persuade Ben to travel to Abilene (yes, the girl was named after the city where she was born and raised) and attend the funeral, Ben discovers that Ty believes his sister is murdering was, although the officer’s cause of death is an opioid overdose. Ty wants Ben’s help to get revenge on whoever was responsible for his sister’s death. Ben doesn’t believe this is real and doesn’t want revenge; Still, he believes there’s a narrative here worth telling on a podcast, so he turns to Eloise.
Eloise initially assumes Ben will be speaking about his own life and the breakup and selfishness that is undeniably a part of it. However, Ben explains to Eloise that he wants to make the podcast about the new American reality, where people refuse to acknowledge the truth and look for the craziest explanations possible. In his words, the loss of Abilene means the loss of American identity, and we must find someone to blame.
Ben breaks the news to Ty that he will be staying with his family for the next two weeks after getting permission from Eloise. The Shaw family, who believe Ben was Abilene’s boyfriend, are overjoyed at the possibility, and Ty shares their excitement. They embrace him with open arms and offer the typically southern warmth and friendliness that the southern United States is famous for. Ben discovers over the course of the film that there is an authenticity behind their stereotypical behavior that he sorely lacks in his own life. This revelation comes as the film progresses. In contrast, the final act of the film adds a layer of complication to this sentiment.
What will become of Abilene when the revenge story comes to an end?
The text “Vengeance” is satirical, but not an observational satire, but rather a self-reflective satire. This isn’t a story about a liberal man from a big metropolis who travels to a conservative community, where he finds the locals uninteresting and the experience bizarre. But while that seems to be the case for a while, this isn’t the story of a pompous, semi-intellectual city dweller who learns the most important lesson of his life in the country. As the film’s writer and director, Novak lets his character take center stage in the satire until the truth emerges.
Ben is overcome with an overwhelming sense of horrific sadness after hearing Abilene’s songs, which he acquires from a local music producer, the mysterious Quentin Sellers (Ashton Kutcher), and then actually listening to them. Additionally, he develops a close bond with the Shaw family, during which he comes to realize that the things he is doing to them are nothing short of exploitative. Furthermore, he hears it from enough people on enough occasions to assume that Abilene couldn’t possibly have overdosed.
But the truth eventually plowed into him like a freight train. Abilene’s grandmother casually mentions that her granddaughter used opioids while she was alive. It turns out that Ty suggested telling Ben an untruth to convince him to stay in town. Therefore, the Shaw family was also responsible for some form of exploitation in this situation. However, this does not invalidate what Ben did. He ends his podcast with an introspection, returning to Eloise’s first impression of what Ben’s presentation was about.
Ben finds out the password to Abilene’s phone while he’s about to spend his last night with the Shaw family. This leads him to realize that Abilene also took advantage of him in some way. She spoke to someone known to the family, but used Ben’s name when storing the contact information for the person’s phone number because she did not want the family to know that she was in a relationship with that person. It was successful and her relatives believed that “Ben” was her boyfriend’s name. Ben Manalowitz concludes that the Other Ben must have been earlier at the party where Abilene died and learns that the Other Ben is actually Quentin.
Ben discovers Quentin is involved in the illegal drug trade. After Abilene died in Quentin’s tent, he had her remains transported to a location that is at the geographic center of four different jurisdictions. As a direct result, no proper investigation was conducted and Abilene’s death was dismissed as just another case of an opiate overdose.
Why does Ben kill Quentin?
The overall message of the film is conveyed in the film’s climax discussion between Ben and Quentin. Quentin highlights the manner in which Ben exploited the Shaw family, but also notes that Ben exploited the community as a whole while maintaining the appearance of a donor acting in a charitable capacity. He has no qualms about Ben revealing him to the outside world as he is confident that eventually the outside world will start to doubt the truth.
The fatal mistake Quentin makes in this situation is that he doesn’t consider the extent to which Ben’s behavior has been shaped by the Shaws’ involvement in his life. He hasn’t even considered the possibility that Ben might pull out a gun and kill him, but he believes Ben will use social media to try to bring him to justice.
This is the action that Ben performs. After that, he deletes any recording he produced for the previously uploaded podcast. The story is about a tragedy that happened within a family and they are the only ones who can tell it. On the other hand, it is highly recommended that he explain the situation to Ty and Ty’s mother, including who is to blame and what he did to the perpetrator of the crime. He then returns to New York while authorities in his hometown conclude that Quentin’s murder is linked to the drug trade.
Pour
- BJ Novak as Ben Manalowitz
- Boyd Holbrook as Ty Shaw
- Lio Tipton as Abilene Shaw
- Ashton Kutcher as Quinten Sellers
- Isabella Amara as Paris Shaw
- Dove Cameron as Kansas City Shaw
- J. Smith-Cameron as Sharon Shaw
- Eli Abrams Bickel as Freemason “El Stupido” Shaw
- Issa Rae as Eloise
- Louanne Stephens as Grandma Carole Shaw
- John Mayer as John
- Clint Obenchain as Crawl
- Zach Villa as Sancholo
- Chevel Shepherd as a teenage singer
- Terry Gross as the voice of Natalie (uncredited)
