4

There were problems with the cave-in-mechanism, which were solved in the last second by Gary Sitterson. During celebrating the fullfilment of the ritual, he talks to the staff responsible for it. They talk about someone higher up obstructing them, which leaves Gary shocked/wondering.

Who was the one sabotaging the ritual and why?

Improve this question
6
  • 4
    Similar question has been asked on scifi.se.
    – Gallifreyan
    Commented Apr 23, 2017 at 15:03
  • No, it doesn't.
    – cde
    Commented Apr 23, 2017 at 18:38
  • 4
    Actually, it does. "Upstairs" is not a reference to a higher authority in the organization conducting the ritual - "Upstairs" is literally somewhere above where the control room is. The cabin is above the lab facility, and whats-his-name ("the Fool") has been messing with the power conduits, and inadvertently prevented demolitions from collapsing the tunnel on schedule, as covered in the linked question's answer.
    – Steve-O
    Commented Apr 23, 2017 at 22:20
  • @Steve-O you think the power for demolitions miles away would be running through an elevator maintenance panel? Right....
    – cde
    Commented Apr 23, 2017 at 23:10
  • 3
    @cde Well, for starters, the cabin is on top of the facility and there's literally nothing else for miles around, so the power source for everything is most likely underneath the cabin somewhere. Hardly a surprise that there's only one main conduit to the surface, and that this is near the elevator which provides access to the facility. It may not be realistic for any real-world situation, but we are talking about a movie where the world's governments conspire to sacrifice their citizens to age-old gods to prevent global annihilation.
    – Steve-O
    Commented Apr 23, 2017 at 23:43

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
8

Who was the one sabotaging the ritual and why?

Marty was sabotaging it! Everyone else thought he was dead, but in fact he had discovered the elevator into the Facility and was futzing with the wiring, trying to give his friends time to escape.

He explains this to Jules very briefly as they are getting into the elevator. The concerned look on Sitterson's face is meant as foreshadowing of the surprise reveal that Marty is not quite dead.

(It took me several viewings to figure this out.)

Clarification:

Having checked online scripts, I realize now the sequence is much subtler than I remembered. Sitterson is discussing it with some guys from Demolition, one says, "That [the problem with the fuse] wasn't our fault. There was a glitch. Power re-route from upstairs."

Sitterson responds with "What do you mean, upstairs?" (Upstairs is the cabin and the subject of the ritual, not senior management.)

At that moment, the hot-line rings and we hear Sitterson fielding an unpleasant call from the Director: "That's impossible. Everything was done within the guidelines. The virgin's the only one.. No, I am not doubting you. Which one?"

Then there's a match-cut to Dana exclaiming "Marty." Marty is alive and the implication is, as Sitterson feared, he caused the glitch.

At the elevator, he tells her, "I've been playing around. I think I can make it go down."

I conclude from that that by "playing around", Marty deliberately or accidentally caused the glitch that almost allowed the other three to escape, but it's possible I am overthinking it.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .