The fact that absolutely no one aside from Randall seemed to notice baffles me. Was Sully just too much of a nice guy that everyone else became immune to his special and not-quite professional relationship with his boss? I mean, in real life terms, this type of buddy-buddy behavior between an employee and his superior would cause jealousy between co-workers, if not piss someone off. At least, that’s what I think. A co-worker can be as pleasant or outgoing as he/she wants to be; but if an employee is constantly being complimented for a job well done or, God forbid, gets a side hug from the boss, you can automatically assume that that’ll earn a couple of jealous co-workers to share a floor with. This kind of stuff is an open invitation for rumors and office gossip if an employee isn’t willing to keep the touchy-feely stuff with his boss off-limits and opt to keep it professional with a simple handshake. I don’t understand why it was only Randall who seemed to have a problem with this, whether he got treated badly by his boss or not. Is the jealous, bitter employee supposed to be the bad guy now?
The other employees have always struck me as being nice- too nice. I think Pixar has taken the ‘happy-go-lucky’ personality to the extreme and applied it to all of the Scarers at Monsters, Inc. They all seem so perfectly content with their lives, even those that are right down at the bottom of the Scareboard, and the only reason I can think for this is that it makes Randall’s jealousy seem even more extreme.
By the looks of things, nobody else cares about Sulley and Waternoose’s close relationship. But it does generally seem that all of the monsters, aside from Randall, are pretty impaired when it comes to any negative emotions- even when George’s scare assistant calls ‘2319’ for the third time, George doesn’t actually get angry with him; he just chucks him through the door, and that’s that dealt with. I’m sure they probably have a laugh about it afterwards- just so long as there’s no ill feeling!
The only examples we really see of anyone actually being angry with someone else is when Wazowski takes everything out on Sullivan, and also the minor argument between Wazowski and Celia. And both were caused by events in the film. If none of it had ever happened, and the film was just about everything that happened in a normal day at MI, it’d go perfectly for everyone but Randall.
Anyway, to cut this short, what I’m saying is that everyone is so in love with Sulley, and so happy with their own situations, that they’re just not bothered by Sulley and Waternoose’s relationship- I doubt anyone else other than Randall ever really thought negatively of it. And if they ever did, they certainly wouldn’t voice their concerns!
Yeah, I’ve noticed it and it seems unreal to me. I guess they wanted to show that Mike and Sulley were nice guys and everyone liked them … but that’s still unreal. The least they could’ve done, IMO, was to have someone joking to Sulley that they’d break the record or something. I mean, if having the top scare record is such a big deal, why isn’t everyone else competing to be top? Makes no sense. If they don’t care about having the top scare record, then why do they congratulate and applaud whoever does? 
If you ask me, the whole thing was a set up and everyone was bribed and threatened by Waternoose’s lackeys to act like that just to make Randall feel worse.
Well, it’s a theory! 
Exactly. It seemed no one else had any motivation to move up the chart and were okay with just watching from the sidelines as Randall and Sullivan went at it. The rest of the monsters were so far behind from those two they probably just shrugged off the whole competition and opted for the spectator sport. But I mean, no one was even trying anymore. The rest of the bunch settled for any mediocre score they got out of a scare. Maybe it was actually that half-assed job performance that caused the power shortage, and in reality, Sullivan and Randall were the two single Monsters who were powering the whole city. =P
LG - I know, right? It has that certain “the whole world is against me!” vibe to it…
Double Latte
Many reasons. One, Sullivan’s shown to be the dim-wit, “big-heart” guy. In some ways, think of him as a jock in school, actually not so far from the truth, with an army of minions heh heh. Simply some co-workers may not even care about the relationship. Others however might just ride Sullivan’s “friendship wing”, as seen with Ran pulling BACK TO HIS SPOT in the film, and then they flock back to Sullivan.
Lizard Girl
Interesting thought, bringing out a form of emphasis.
Well for one, they all live in the fast business of Scareing. Not to mention their all clearly oblivious to the world Randall, as of getting into Waternoose’s scheam, had entered.
FONY
Because it’s a form of accomplishment. Whenever you see a person winning an award, you give your congrats, wheather you WANT to, HAVE to, or PLAY to.
Lizard Girl
You’ve got an interesting theory. Na…Waternoose probably didn’t pay…though…manipluate…
What seperates Randall, Sullivan, and Wazowski from the rest of the bunch, is for two reasons.
One, they have each had experience.
Sullivan was highly popular to begin with. He’s just got that…thing that people figure makes him good around others.
Wazowski RIDES as the “Best friend of the most popular guy”.
Randall…well…we all know his.
Second. They’ve known each other.
Ranall trained Sullivan and Wazowski to get their job. In a sense, he was a mentor of theirs. So he knows what the two are like, and he knows he is the better scarer compared to them.
With the past experience and relationship, the three hone on being seperate from the regulars.
The other employees are basically that. Employees. They work to make a paycheck, go home, pay bills, and go in the next day. They ride the coattags of the most successful person in the industry to try an get themselves ahead. They also tend to talk, around the water cooler or such, behind their back.
Interesting really about that. Hardly many talk about Randall behind his back, as thanks to his gift he coul be right behind them while they blabbe heh.
But anyways. In regards to jealousy…Ranall wasn’t really jealous. In terms of Scarering, he WAS the better mon there. In terms of Waternoose, he KNEW who he was. Waternoose was a backstabber. And there he was being buddy/buddy with Sullivan. And since of that, the word “cheat” comes up.
I’m a bit unclear on the question asked here, so unsure if I answered correctly.
You are dead-on the money there! In a real work situation, I can assure you that Randall would NOT have been the only one to notice the closeness between Sulley and boss, and put two and two together and figure out that Sulley was just TOO successful at his job. And no, Randall would not have been the only one to get an attitude(and rightfully so) about it, either. I’ve said before that I’ve been in Randall’s proverbial shoes, or two of 'em at least, having seen first-hand how one employee can receive star treatment from the boss at the expense of other employees, and believe me, I wasn’t the only one noticing or talking. It seems that at Monsters, Inc., though, Randall was the only one HONEST enough to actually express his displeasure, but I would doubt that he was the only one FEELING that way. That, for some reason that is incomprehensible to me, a person who’s been in the workforce for a quarter of a century now at least, Randall is portrayed as “evil” because of that from the very start, long before he ever is seen to do anything bad.
pitbulllady
A few years ago, when our Good Principal(as opposed to one of the Evil Ones)showed this movie after school as a treat for us teachers, and something to contemplate with regards to intra-workplace relationships, several of the teachers commented that Randall was the only character in the whole movie who had a lick of good sense, and some even proposed electing him as School Board Superintendent! That goes to show that there are a lot of real-world workers who can sympathize with Randall, if they’ve been on the job for enough years.
pitbulllady
Sully is a likable guy, IMHO. Some reviews I read at the time were actually down on him for being “too likable,” (which I disagree with. I though he was just likable enough 
)
Regardless of his relationship with the boss, Sully’s record surpasses Randall’s. There is nothing in the film to suggest that this record is doctored in any way. Sully surpasses Randall’s scream intake right as we watch - (“Slumber party.”)
After Sully is banished and Waternoose has no more use for him, he still refers to him as his “top scarer.” I don’t think this was just to get Randall’s goat. It sounded sincere.
I think that Randall may have been depicted as the only employee who disliked Sully because they wanted us to concentrate on him as the antagonist. Sully’s our protagonist, we’re seeing things from his perspective. If we were in his position, I don’t think we’d like Randall very much. While Randall’s resentment of Waternoose’s favoritism (perceived or real) towards Sully may be understandable, Randall’s also the antagonist because he mistreats his co-worker, while Sully is kind to Mike.
Of course, part of this to set up Sully’s (and our) realization that while Sully may seem more “likable” than Randall, at the end of the day, both of them scare little children for a living. Also, we see through the revelation of Waternoose’s true nature, that a pleasant outward disposition does not necessarily make you a good guy. (Sully’s pleasant disposition, on the other hand, seems sincere to me.)
I don’t see how Sully is shown to be a “dim-wit” in the film. He seemed like a lot more of a dim-wit in some of the story pitches shown on the DVD extras.
I have to say that it scares me a little bit that resentment, bitterness and ruthlessness are considered so commonplace in our workplace that the absence of them is suspect, but that’s probably how it really is…
I really didn’t mean it like that nor did I want to imply it. Sullivan’s #1 position in Monsters, Inc. could have been due to a variety of reasons which I’d really rather not get into. I was just referring to the immunity of the other scarers and their assistants. The ones at the very bottom who root, clap, cheer, and demonstrate odd levels of joy for their co-workers when they succeed while they don’t, and then they witness Sulley being loved to pieces by their boss. That enthusiasm should wean after a while of seeing this for most normal people, even when they genuinely like their co-worker.
Edit:
That favoritism deal? Yeah, that wasn’t perceived. Hence, the purpose of this thread. =P However, I didn’t make this thread to bash on a particular character nor to favor one. Just so you know.
Ditto.
The absence of ill feeling from your co-workers towards favoritism, the brown-noser, and the overly successful guy is suspect. If anything, I find a perfectly passive and friendship-oriented workplace a little too odd. I mean, regularly the deal is that not everyone will always want to cooperate, give praise when someone snags the position you’ve had your eye on, or is a “team player”. People DO display and express negative feelings in the workplace and when there are none, you do feel the absence of it because it’s normal human nature to pursue something better and envy someone who already seems to have it (i.e, your boss’ shameless and constant admiration), be it luck or skill.
animagusurreal- I completely agree with you in that last paragraph there- it’s really sad that that’s how people think, but it’s true- if this were a real work situation, there’d be more than just one person in Randall’s situation. I can’t speak from personal experience, but I know a lot of people who can, and who all say the same thing- whoever’s at the top, no matter how nice or pleasant, almost always get talked about, even if it’s just behind their back. It’s sad that people can’t just be happy for them, but it’s just the way it is.
I don’t think Sulley appears as a dimwit- he just sometimes seems not to completely grasp the situation that he’s in, and I think that’s one of the elements of his personality that frustrates both Randall and Wazowski! He just isn’t a good judge of character, at all. For example, he went running to Waternoose when everything went pear-shaped. Sure, I guess a lot of people could say that no-one would have realised that Waternoose was the bad guy in all of this- that was the whole point, that it was a surprise both for the characters and the viewers- but Wazowski seems to have a gut instinct not to trust Waternoose. Sulley’s just a bit naive, sometimes.
Though, another point is that if all of the Scarers were female, we’d probably see a lot more backstabbing! Randall has his reasons for feeling so bitter, I’m sure- no-one feels like that towards someone without some kind of catalyst- but even out of just pure jealousy, the other co-workers would have something to say.
The thing is that we could say that Sulley’s co-workers did actually dislike him, and that they’re just very good at covering it up. Randall, on the other hand, has already got a bad reputation, so for him he’s got nothing to lose by going against not only all of the workers’ favourite, but the boss’ favourite. No-one else would dare do that.
The favoritism shown by Waternoose for Sulley is not “perceived”; it’s as obvious as the tires on a “monster” truck! Sulley actually SAYS to Waternoose, “You’ve been just like a father to me…”. Now I can tell you(and again, I’m no kid-I’ve been a professional in the work force for nearly a quarter century now) that for any worker to have such a familial relationship with their BOSS is odd, to say the least, and knowing that this is, in fact, the relationship they have, is reason enough to suspect that not all of Sullivan’s success was honestly earned. I’ve worked for bosses like Waternoose, and I know how they will manipulate things like absentee records to reflect positively on their favorite employee, so it’s no stretch to assume that the Scare Record might have been tampered with to always show Sullivan out in front. I don’t care HOW good an employee is at their job, the more workers at that same place of business, the greater the odds are AGAINST said employee always remaining the best. Sulley had been “Scarer of the Month” for what, a year? Out of HUNDREDS of Scarers at that one factory alone? The science of probability just does not jive with that. Sulley is not a “dim-wit”, but he’s just not the sort to concern himself with things like that, and he probably never once gave a thought to his success possibly not being 100% genuine.
Waternoose’s comment to Randall WAS intended as a mean-spirited jab, not so much the part about him whining that “thanks to you I had to ‘banish’ my best Scarer”, but that part where he tells Randall, “He was TWICE the Scarer YOU will EVER be!” It was clear at this point that Waternoose had no love lost for the scaly monster, and Randall was having a difficult time holding back on letting his boss know that the feeling was mutual. That is when it became obvious to me, having been in a similar situation, that this whole thing with the Scream Extractor was NOT Randall’s idea at all, and that he was having more than a few regrets about being involved at all, but he was in too deep, and there was no way out.
People make a lot of noise about how Randall treated Fungus, though quite honestly, if you’re ever stuck with someone like Fungus, it can really get on your last good nerve, trust me! I had to work with another teacher who is JUST like him, only not as smart, a couple of years ago, who would do things like balance her checkbook while the students were taking a MATH test on the computer, and she’d do it OUT LOUD, in between telling everyone about her sister’s colon cancer surgury. I also find it odd that no one comments at all on how MIKE treats Sulley, which is almost as bad as how Randall treats Fungus, with less reason to do so. Mike’s personality is actually very close to Randall’s; he just doesn’t have the courage or physical strength that Randall does, and he’s a master of the Bald-Faced Lie. But, it’s always Randall’s behavior towards Fungus that gets the attention.
Bitterness and envy are not part of every workplace, though human(or monster)nature being what it it, it would be a rare staff that can get along 100% of the time without some bad feelings. It’s when the person in charge shows obvious and clear favoritism for certain employees, or when employees are not treated equally, that problems arise.
pitbulllady
Pitbulllady
Good point. Several of us act on our negative emotions nearly instantly. But ones we have towards others, in the situation of other employees to Sullivan, might be quite different form their expression.
REALLY? Ha hah…never recalled the Superintendent bit heh…
animagusurreal
Substaintually because of his now-humbleness.
Interesting thought, but wrong. Randall does surpass Sullivan, he trained the furball afterall.
Sincere? Heh…interesting addition. “Get Randall’s goat?” Never heard that expression, but yes the comment WAS to strike a blow to Randall. Waternoose had no hold back to get rid of “the favorite”, though his reaction of doing it was morely that it was “something he shouldn’t have had to do”.
Emphasis to show his displeasement yes. Though Waternoose is the true antagonist here.
Good hit there. However, “banishing” a person without any trial or content for their lives doesn’t really show a “pleasent disposition”.
Well in terms that he is oblivious to the big picture.
Tahaha…I aplogize, your new here.
Double Latte
Like said, riding coattags. You see several assistants flocking between the high rollers.
Favoritism may have originated from a family oriented block. Such as the Sullivans being close to the Waternooses, or Sullivan’s impressions toward Waternoose…however, the late favoritism stems from another reason.
Like said.
Lizard Girl
I wouldn’t say Wazowski had a “gut instinct”. He just wanted to get the heck outta the factory an away from all that had been going on.
Pitbulllady
THANK YOU. Bringing up the point of manipulation.
Well the lines before that pretty much sealed the deal on Waternoose being the headed of course heh heh.
Interesting theory…comparing those two.
Not to mention a bit with Fungus…in a screenshot JUST as Fungus is entering during the bathroom scene…he’s SMILING. Take that in account.
The world’s not peaceful…high percentage it never will be. The workplace is it’s own sorta ecosystem. there will always be at least some sort of conflict.
In what part of the movie did he say this?
I was referring to Waternoose’s phony pleasant disposition up until Sully and Mike’s banishment revealed his true ruthless nature. It reminds me of “Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace” where Darth Maul is the really, really, really obviously evil guy, but the true evil, the titular “phantom menace,” is the outwardly pleasant Palpatine .
Also, I was wondering where you got the info that Randall trained Sully. Is that on the DVD or website somewhere? From the film, I always assumed that Waternoose himself had trained Sully.
Even if Randall did train Sully, I don’t see how that necessarily makes him permanently “better” than Sully at scaring. Sometimes, the pupil surpasses the master .
Despite what favoritism might mean in the real workplace, I still think the filmmakers intended us to believe that Sully was the best scarer, but that ultimately, in the “grand scheme of things”, that didn’t really matter.
Also, plotwise, I think the Sully-Waternoose relationship was probably mainly to set up why Sully eventually went to him with Boo.
I think Mike shows friendly affection for Sully throughout the film. I don’t see Randall showing any friendly feelings towards Fungus - not that he has to, but I think it makes he and Mike seem less “alike.”
Also, while Fungus is a typical follower/lackey type, which could get annoying, I don’t recall him doing anything particularly incompetent. If I recall correctly, he was the one who knew how to run the scream extractor.
I don’t see Randall as being in on the “scream extractor” plan against his will. He’s the one who says that once they have the scream extractor, they won’t need scarers anymore. He sounds like he thinks it’s a good thing.
Also, he tries to kill Sully at least twice - once by strangulation, stopped only by Mike’s snowball and Sully’s punch, and once by trying to make him fall, stopped only by Boo’s intervention. The line, “you have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to that, Sullivan,” makes me think he doesn’t regret any of this.
You don’t have to apologize because I’m new, I like discussions on discussion boards .
I agree, too, that Mike probably just wanted to get out of the factory. It’s Mike who explains the situation to Waternoose while Sully is trying to get Boo to like him again.
And the Sullivan-Waternoose family connection is an interesting theory .
Good comparision there with Palpatine, who, I think, is considered a classic “backstabber” who hides behind the scenes of his minions.
From research of course. Should be around here somewhere…though I assure you it is…blast what’s that lucid word…“canon” if I believev so. And a fact many people were unaware of till I presented it.
While Waternoose does have a handle in particular sessions, he is considered to be on the training board, though his participation varies since his CEO duties hold priority. Although his Waternoose Jump and Growl is a classic form, as well as his other tips and hints in the scarering profession.
True. But in a year. Randall was already Top Scarer before training Sullivan. So in the little time how could Sullivan have caught up and KEPT the Employee of the Month for a year without faultering.
Surpass the master? That’s what Randall had thought when Sullivan pulled ahead. But let me give you a question. How is it that Randall, who got himself a full tank, recieved A LOT less points thatn Sullivan’s own single full tank? There’s no sense in them not giving the same amount.
I assure you heh…Sullivan did not, although he unawaringly thought he did, do it all on his own heh.
Plotwise, maybe so.
Wazowski road on Sullivan’s coattags as well as others. Does Harry Hausen’s “impossible to get reservations” ring a bell? And Sullivan’s mentioning of “the reservation” of which he made, was for Wazowski?
Fungus knows technical aspects, but so does Randall. Fungus merely expresses in words while Randall keeps it much to himself.
Hahaha…this is a bit of what I meant by your new…
Randall was a scarer…Waternoose…was his BOSS. And I know a bit in the world that there is such a thing as “firing for no reason”. Randall, a minority in the world (I suspect your question on that, and me and Pitbulllady will recount it most likely), and being a scarer will next to never come up again.
He does think it’s good. To Randall, the machine will stop the scream shortage (forget that?), and will make, in what he thinks, himself a sort of hero in fixing the nation-wide problem. Of course this will, in what he thinks, give him a position above others, and proving again that he is above Sullivan.
Again sigh.
That was Angry Randall. When we’re angry, we act on instinct. A mother who is angry will do anything to protect her children. A father who is angry will act to protect his life.
There are several things surrounding this bit in the door vault of which I should not need to delve into. But I will say this…
Randall, at the start, did NOT have intention to kill Sullivan.
BEFORE that line near the end there was this one, “James P. Sullivan WILL BE WORKING FOR ME”. Remeber that? It was the first time in the Scream Extractor lab…when Randall wasn’t angry, but himself in most terms.
I’m glad you do. I hope that I, as well as Pitbulllady and Lizardgirl, will educate you on Monsters Inc.'s well known incident as well as my dear friend Ran. I’ll enjoy opening you eyes to some truths.
Of course I could be fair and agree that Wazowski didn’t want to involve “the boss” but yeah…
Not so much a theory. Their relationship hints at such a connection. Waternoose…has the aura of a off-family grandfather…of course one who would in the end sacrifice you for the good of his own business heh.
He says this during their conversation at the coffee machine, shortly after the CDA shut down the Scare floor following George’s situation. Waternoose was expressing his concerns of losing the company that had been in his family for 3 generations, and Sulley was trying to cheer him up.
pitbulllady
Just want to start off saying that I, too, think Randall is a great character And I don’t like the idea of an employee moving ahead because of favoritism instead of actual merit, either (though I still don’t think that was necessarily the case with Sully)
Thanks
I guess I didn’t pay that close attention to the points on the screen.
I’m not really up on my scream energy technology, but is it possible that Sullivan’s was a “purer” scream, like a more premium fuel?
Or that it was just a blooper on the part of the filmmakers?
It seems as if some monster - epsecially Randall - would have pointed that out.
Of course, later we find out that Randall didn’t really care about “that stupid scare record.” If there was a conspiracy to make Sully top scarer, perhaps he was in on it, or at least aware that it was happening.
Still, in the film there is no (dramatic music) bum-bum-bum “Sullivan wasn’t really top scarer!” revelation scene, and I don’t think a casual viewer would be expected to realize any of this - though I suppose it could be something that the filmmakers slipped in there as subtext, for those who were paying close attention.
What you seem to be saying with this is that Mike wasn’t really Sully’s friend, he was only using him. But they sang an Oscar-winning song about friendship together at the end! Not to mention the trouble that he must have gone through to reconstruct Boo’s door.
With that, I was referring to Pitbulllady’s comparison of Fungus to her co-worker.
I agree that Randall probably doesn’t see any “moral” problem with the scream extractor - and to be fair to him, the entire monster world - including Sully, until he scares Boo - sees no problem with scaring little human children.
Again, there is nothing in the film itself to suggest Randall is a minority, however, that is an interesting background tidbit to know.
The point I wanted to make was that I don’t think Waternoose was forcing Randall to work on the project, the way that, say, Ratigan in The Great Mouse Detective forces Mr. Flaversham to work for him. I don’t think he had to threaten Randall’s job. Randall seems to be a willing participant.
I don’t see a point in the film itself where he expresses this regret. He seems to both speak of the scream extractor and attack Sully with great relish.
Your “sigh” suggests to me that this is something you’ve discussed often before .
“My boss told me to do it” and “I was angry” are not widely accepted excuses for attempted murder, and I don’t recall his own life being in imminent danger from Sully in either case, which rules out a “self-defense” argument.
I agree that Randall didn’t set out to kill Sully, but during those incidents, I think he intended to (I suppose an argument could be made that when he was choking Sully, he merely intended to render him unconcious - but I think he was trying to kill him.)
I appreciate your sharing the interesting background facts .
IMHO, the only people who can speak inexonerable, final truths regarding the film are not you or me, but the filmmakers themselves . All we can do is feast upon the tidbits of information they give us, and speculate .
Just wanted to add one more thing regarding the original question -
To use Pixar as a metaphor - if John Lasseter is chummier with, say, Brad Bird than with some of the lower-rung animators - as I assume he is - would that be considered suspect? .
I guess not. But, then again, does John Lasseter treat his other employees badly? I think that the point is that Randall was jealous of Sulley not only because yes, Waternoose had a chummy relationsip with him, but also because Waternoose was very, very harsh towards Randall. With a probable history of rejection, I’m presuming that Randall’s main motivation in building the SE was to prove not only Waternoose, but everyone who has treated him badly in the past, wrong. The fact that Sulley recieves such respect from Waternoose without having to go to such extents probably fueled Randall’s dislike of him.
And, concerning all the bad stuff that Randall does in the film, well, yes, what he did was very, very wrong, and no-one here can really excuse it. Trying to kill someone is a very bad offence, and that isn’t deniable. But it is always worth asking why someone did what they did and, in this case, it seems that Randall was at breaking point. And, even though there isn’t really any proof, the way I see it is that Randall has finally realised that there’s no way out of all of this. It’s pretty obvious that Waternoose never intended on actually giving Randall what he promised him on completion of the SE, but Randall went ahead and built the thing anyway in the hope that he would. Therefore, Randall’s very naive. But by the time everything had happened involving Mike and Sulley, all Randall would’ve wanted is for everything to get back on track- for the SE to be working, for no-one else to be interfering, and for Waternoose to be giving him what he wants; a better position in the company, better wages and, ultimately, more respect.
He might’ve just thought, ‘well, screw it- either way I’m done for’ because on the one hand, if Sulley and Mike had captured him, which they did, well, we know what happens there. And let’s just say Randall did kill Mike and Sulley, or at least stopped them from interfering. Randall goes to Waternoose, tells him everything’s been sorted, and one way or the other, Waternoose ends up banishing or killing Randall so he himself can get all the glory for saving his family’s company with an ingenious plan.
A lose/lose situation for Randall, to say the least. Maybe he’d finally realised that, and just went for it. Still, what he did was inexcusable, and Randall definitely deserved some form of punishment. And maybe it’s almost better that he was banished instead of put into prison- not for him, maybe, but for us as viewers, since it’s still a pretty open-ended thing with Randall in banishment. If he’d gone to prison, that would’ve been that. Closure, sure, but pretty upsetting for that to happen to someone who has talents and who, unfortunately, did get muddled up in something that he should not have got involved in.
Drifted a bit there, but ah, well.