CAUTION: PROBABLY A LOT OF SPOILERS
I came away from watching THE FIFTH QUARTER with my expectations exceeded. I had my doubts as to whether I would like this hour long segment, simply because I am not a big horror fan. I do like some of Stephen King's works, but not all, and especially not some of the stories that ended up in this miniseries. I did not like CROUCH END or THE ROAD VIRUS HEADS NORTH, for example.
One of the reasons I enjoyed the segment so much is that THE FIFTH QUARTER was not some supernatural/horror tale, but rather a character study tucked neatly into a suspenseful action story. I just can't get over how intimate and intricate the character study elements were.
Willie (Jeremy Sisto) has just served his latest sentence in prison, and is being released to go home to his wife of ten years Karen (Samantha Mathis) and their son Jackson. They reside in a run down trailer park in Maine somewhere, and to look at them, their outlook on life is bleak and depressing. Karen slaves away as a cleaning lady for the local cruddy amusement park, and Willie has come home to the same hardship that probably tempted him time and time again in the past. It seems there just isn't enough money to do anything aside from barely scraping by, day after day. No extra money for a better home, a nicer life for Jackson. There isn't even anything extra to perhaps send Willie or Karen to trade school. There is just the same drudgery.
But depressing or not, Karen has had it with Willie's repeated mistakes. I'm sure he made those mistakes with his family's happiness in mind, but they only landed him in prison. Karen gives him an ultimatum, telling him that his latest stint was his last, or she will walk away. Poverty or no, she believes her son needs his father around on a stable basis.
Willie finally seems to honestly realize that he'll never get ahead by robbing banks. He resolves to try to get real work and get his wife and son out of the perpetual rut they're living in.
But the odds are against him. With his track record? McDonald's probably wouldn't hire him. I think he knows that early on. He knows other things too.
Willie is terrifically interesting, but not just on the obvious outside. Outside he projects someone who has been inside. He tries to come across as tough, but too many things go on in the eyes, especially when he interacts with Karen. No doubt she is the person with whom Willie is most vulnerable. I think as the story progressed, she proved herself able to bring out the best---and the worst---in her husband. After they have sex, Willie seems especially vulnerable, knowing how many times he has let Karen down, knowing that she could have up and left him several times. He seems to seep with shame, regret and relief that she didn't leave him. She has a certain invisible power over him.
They are only reunited for hours when Barney (Christopher Morris), Willie's friend and former cellmate, stumbles back into their lives, bleeding from a mortal gunshot wound and gasping and stammering his way through the story of a 3.5 million dollar treasure that he helped acquire, and a map, cut into 4 sections, that will tell where the leader of the group hid it. Now he's been double crossed, shot in the stomach by one of his cohorts.
Willie is aghast, angry at Barney for having gotten himself into such a predicament over money. But he understands the allure. 3.5 million dollars. Willie has to struggle to keep the same temptation from overcoming him.
Until he sees something in the way Karen and Barney talk, something he has suspected for a while. From this point, the driving force in Willie's life seems changed. Barney dies of his wound, and Willie, feeling a million things at once, anger, hurt, betrayal, sadness, hatred, love, ceases to care about being a law-abiding citizen. He wants that money, for Karen and for Jackson. Barney died a horrible death for that money. Now Willie believes the person or persons who killed Barney should pay in more ways than one.
In spite of what he's learned about his wife and best friend, Willie can't feel any hate towards either of them. He may feel anger, but it's the kind of anger that leaves him empty and numb rather than outraged and ready to file for divorce. Or maybe it is a strong anger, and was just saved for what Willie ends up doing with Barney's ex-partners in crime. Maybe, too, Willie is more angry at himself, for having been caught, and being in prison, when he should have been at home with Karen.
And then there is the question: Is Willie simply jealous? Of Barney? Perhaps of Karen? The revelation of Willie and Barney being far more than buddies and cellmates added even more to the layers of complexity. For all his tough ex-con exterior, Willie has a palpable frailty. After all he's done and been through, he seems to be holding on to his sanity with white knuckles, and that it won't take much to finally destroy him at this point. Perhaps it wasn't altogether accurate when I said that Karen is the one who could bring out the best and the worst in Willie. Because of their roles in Willie's life, Karen and Barney are probably equally powerful.
One by one, Willie takes on the other men involved in the robbery: Mr. Keenan (Peter O'Brien), the one whom Barney says fired the fatal shot. As you listen to Barney's version of the story, you can't help but wonder who the liar is, Barney or Mr. Keenan? There came a point in the story when I began to realize that money is definitely the root of all evil. Willie and Barney are not the good guys while these other men are the mean villains. Everyone is bad here. Willie becomes increasinly ruthless and brutal as he questions Sarge (Chris Kirby), his morals having given way to revenge and greed. But even Willie is no match for Jagger (Robert Mammone), who is so evil we're not even afforded a look at his face up close. Jagger is so bad he even goes to Willie's house to terrorize Karen for a while.
Willie manages to steal back the four quarters of the map from each of Barney's ex-partners, but not before he gets himself shot for his trouble. Luckily the wound is not fatal, but the police are already onto him about something. Did someone report hearing shooting somewhere? I wasn't clear on how the cops knew so fast. Their dreams of a good life together are over before they began, and Willie is sent back to the pen. For life this time, as he is now suspected of murdering Barney and will no doubt face more charges with Keenan, Sarge and Jagger.
Karen ends up with the huge jackpot, but for how long? I'd like to route for her and believe she made all her dreams come true. Left the state. Made a wonderful life for herself and Jackson. But in reality, nobody, especially people who live in the poorhouse, can wait several years before trying to spend any of it. She probably ended up having to give the money back, and facing a few charges herself. You gotta feel sorry for Jackson then.
THE FIFTH QUARTER was a rousing thriller with lots of action, but for me, it was all about the character studies. I give it an A+
Music: Crystal Voice by Tangerine Dream
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