What would this character do in this situation do you think?

J

JimS2

Member
My script is a crime thriller, and a character has more than one choice in a situation but I'm not sure which one he would make.

So in the plot, a gang of criminals wants to recruit a corrupt police officer into their gang. But they want to give him a test in order for him to get in, where he has to commit a crime first. They also secretly video-record him doing this test. It turns out the corrupt cop cannot morally bring himself to go through with the test. The gang tells him that they recorded him attempting to go through with it, and that attempt alone, is enough to blackmail him to keep from talking, since he doesn't want that video to come out since it still shows him attempting the crime.

So out of fear that they may harm him, since he cannot be trusted now, he runs and the gang chases after him. During the chase, a cop on patrol spots these men chase after him. He doesn't see the corrupt cop's face during the chase, but manages to detain one of the gang members. The rest of the gang members turn around to go to their getaway cars and escape, while the patrol cop is detaining the one. The corrupt cop is now, not being chased anymore.

What does he do?

I thought of some options.

1. He just keeps on running, and doesn't do anything and stays quiet for now, hoping that the patrol cop, doesn't manage to catch the gang member that has the recording on the cop, or catch any further gang members at all.

2. The corrupt cop, acts like he was just nearby, while off duty, minding his own business, and tries to stage a diversion for them to escape, or to throw the back up cops who are coming off track somehow.

Thank you for any input! I really appreciate it!
 
If he lets them go, the pulse of the film comes down at this point. If he tries to intervene, you keep the tension going. (either way of course acceptable)

Is he rash? what's his character? it seems rash to me to intervene since they may not watch the video (without a warrant?) even if the captured gangster has it. plus he is committing a new crime and risking discovery in the moment. but he's stressed and bad decisions can be made.

he could always try to help and then unfortunately kill the gangster in custody by pretending he was trying to escape. but you said he's not that evil.

what is his character arc? where does the story go later? if he's smart, he probably hatches a more complicated plan to secure his safety from the video later on
 
Oh well it's just that if he pretends that he was just passing through as a cop off duty, then tries to intervene, in order to help them escape, he may make things worse by doing that? Would it also make him look more suspicious?

I guess the police might not watch a video without a warrant. If you are being chased by the police and you repetitively disobey their commands, that still means that they cannot watch the video, right? Or would they have probable cause to watch it, since they are likely running from a felony, if they are avoiding arrest, and thus can get a warrant to watch it, because if they are running from a crime likely, that means that the camera was likely used in the commission of that crime?

His character arc is that after he realizes that joining the gang is the wrong idea, he later tries to get out of this situation, but ends up getting himself killed while doing so later on in the plot. That's not a huge character arc, but he is a supporting character only.
 
Sounds like he's a guy who makes bad decisions and gets himself in progressively deeper trouble. I say he attempts to intervene. Maybe now. Maybe later. Maybe he almost makes things worse. Maybe there's a stressful close call and he almost gives himself away and almost gets caught. And it turns out the gangster doesn't have the video anyway.

If course it also depends on how much time this character gets of the whole story
 
Oh okay. Well the character is in the first half about before he is killed off. It's a feature length script. Also, another thing is, is that after he is running away and the cop on patrol spots them and manages to detain one of them, but the corrupt cop gets away, if he attempts to intervene in the chase, to help the others escape, so he won't be linked to them, he would have to change his appearance first before intervening so the cop on patrol will not recognize him as the same person that was being chased. Is this possible, or would he think this is possible to do, in order to intervene?
 
hmm depends on the specifics...what he was wearing, if it was a hoodie he can take off so he suddenly looks different, how much the cop saw of him

but that could be a reason for him not to intervene but to consider it and watch them from a safe distance while he grits his teeth and nearly makes a move
 
Oh okay. His car was parked nearby so he could wait till the chase goes past his car, then sneak up to his car, and throw his hoodie in the trunk for example, then get in his car, pretend to be driving for an unrelated reason, then intervene. I just wonder if he would since there are many pros and cons to this it seems.

I originally wrote it so that he does, because later when the arrested perp is in court at a hearing, the prosecutor calls all the cops that took part in the chase to testify, and he is then forced to testify against the arrested one, without revealing that he was the one being chased, and that he was there. So I wrote it that he intervenes in order to give him a reason to be in the courtroom later, since I wanted him to be in the courtroom to witness some other things.

But if he wouldn't intervene and it's too risky, then I can just have him find out those things, like at the police station instead if that's better, or more logical of him?
 
Sometimes people do illogical and stupid things. Does he always do the smart thing? He could just throw his hoodie in the garbage and run around the block to approach from the other side, for example
 
No he doesn't have to do the smartest thing, I was just wondering if him choosing to intervene is too stupid, because if he tries to identifies himself as an officer on duty, in an effort to throw the other police off and help them escape, the other police could very well ask him to help catch them, and then he would have to help catch them, which makes things worse for him very possibly. So I was wondering if it would be too stupid and risky.
 
You need to make a firm decision on whether you're developing plot from character or character from plot. Either one can work, but trying to do both, at best, ends up with you chasing your own tail, like you're doing here. And at worst, results in a work that's generic and/or cliché.

So either come up with a "killer" (pardon the pun) plot, and then create a character whose actions will serve that plot because of who s/he is. Or vice versa. But you shouldn't be able to arbitrarily make plot changes without it affecting (the believability/understandability of the actions of) the character. e.g. Beverly Hills Cop starring Sylvester Stallone is a very different movie. (i.e. Cobra)
 
Oh okay, well I didn't think this would be a huge plot change though, or nothing that cannot be worked around, depending on what the character would do. I just was wondering if option 2 was too risky for the character perhaps.
 
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