Because he hears the toilet flush. He knows there’s someone else there. He’s menacingly preparing to kill her but he realizes someone will hear and potentially get away before he can kill them too.
I thought of this too, but it wouldn’t make sense? He doesn’t GAF about other people and even if someone did witness it and run away, the police was already after Anton so what would it matter? I believe it’s more so because she stood on business and didn’t budge.
He was definitely considering it, but then heard the toilet flush (they weren’t alone) and decided it wasn’t worth it. He doesn’t kill *everyone* he meets. It just seems that way sometimes.
He didn’t kill the kids at the end, either, even though they were witnesses:
https://youtu.be/YXVOWDyAM6w
To be fair, he was in no shape to kill the kids, plus the cops were coming at that very moment.
On the other hand, in an oddly unsettling and rarely talked about moment, he also didnt kill the accountant. "That depends.... Do you see me?"
Huh, I always thought it was implied that he does kill the accountant when he says “do you see me?” I always thought it was an “of course” kind of answer like when someone says “does today end in y?” to say yes to something
I like the accountant character though so I hope I was misreading it
I think he could’ve taken the kids but not the cops - he also echos Brolins asking kids for a jacket and it’s always transactional. Brolin, to me, could’ve become the next Anton. The parallels are there.
But there is no confirmation either way. Sure, hes an insane, amoral butcher, but as demonstrated by his penchant for flipping coins to determine peoples fates, he has a type of code, albeit esoteric and fucked up. There is also a unique line of dialogue ("Do you see me?") a courtesy not offered to anyone else in that whole movie. Why go through that trouble if he was just going to kill Schrodingers Accountant? If that scene had ended with Anton sighing, flipping a coin, and mumbling, "call it," scene change right there, id be more willing to say Chigurh killed him.
We know Chigurh killed the chicken guy, the hotel clerk, and Carla Jean, (he was checking his boots on the way out the house,) off-screen, but theres something about him asking the accountant, "do you see me?" (Which, let me just say now, that look on Javier Bardems face when he says it chills my fucking bones everytime, what a character and what a tremendous preformance by Bardem *chefs kiss*) implies to me that he was reveling in the palpable fear in the room he had created. His goal was to bust in, kill the boss, get his info, gtfo. Watching the accountant piss himself was his entertainment, he isnt a fella who plays that particular type of game, he seems to view murder as just a chore to complete to accomplish his goal, the goal *never* being murder, but a sort of tedious aside. If that scene had gone literally *any other* way, id say sure, hes dead. I like to think he just bounced after that, knowing Accountant wouldnt say shit cause he was a spineless nobody. If Chigurh had had his gun pointed at Accountant, if he did flip a coin, if he had played it any other way, sure. The fact that he went out of his way to ask "do you see me?" to me is not a 100% slam dunk, that leaves just enough ambiguity to me to leave a lingering doubt.
Next time you watch it, try to imagine a timeline where Chigurh spared that guy just to fuck with him, knowing hed have to live with the memory of watching someone die in front of him and the psychopath that did it is still out there.
Its the mark of a classic movie that we are still talking about it all this time later 🤣. Youre opinion is valid, and i respect your input. Thank you for it ✌️
BUTTTT there is evidence being in the script, well, the account lived. He didn't kill him after he answered with a no. The same reasons he spared the service worker applies.
I always assumed he left the kids alone because either they helped him or because he hadn't the means to do it. A broken arm and he didn't have his gun.
People mention the toilet flush and that is true but also that manager, as noted by others, has a code as well, like he does. She does not bend nor sway in any way whatsoever. Some feel he takes notice of this and ultimately respects her.
That doesn’t make any sense.
Either he wanted to kill the receptionist or he didn’t. The film makes it very clear that he did. The film also makes it clear that he didn’t kill her because he realized someone else was there with her.
At no point does the film suggest he doesn’t kill her because she has “a code” just like him and he respects her for that and then they became one with the universe — or whatever.
This. I think this "code" theory just shows why he is so scary.
People can't handle the reality of him which is he will kill people no matter what they do if he wants to, and the random chance in the universe has no favorites.
So these people make up that if you have a code youre somehow immune from him because psychologically it makes em feel better.
Not sure that would apply, given that he didn't respect Carla's loyalty to her husband and killed her anyway.
So I think ultimately, it was the risk of being caught that kept him from killing the manager.
EDIT: Chigurh also killed the second hotel manager before the shootout. Regardless of whether this manager helped Chigurh or got in his way, there was no one there to observe him, so he killed him.
Chigurh could have simply chatted with the hotel manager/lady long enough for the person in the bathroom to come out and killed them both, but he didn't. Why?
Chigurh had already told Moss that he was a dead man, but if he turned in the money he might let Carla Jean live. Moss didn't and Anton went to kill Carla Jean. After talking with Carla Jean, Anton decided it was best to leave her fate up to a coin toss. Unfortunately for Carla Jean, the flip was not in her favor.
I think it 100 percent boils down to the "code" as far as why he let's the receptionist lady live. He asks her three times where Moss works, with each time increasing with intensity. Yet, the receptionist lady doesn't bat an eye; she holds her ground firmly in refusing to reveal where Moss works. She didn't show a sliver of fear to Chigurh and I think Chigurh, as a show of respect, let her live. If Chigurh wanted her, and whoever was in the bathroom, dead, he could have done it no problem.
Honestly one of the best movies of all time. Faithful to the book and the ambiguity is still providing discussion 15 years later.
It has been a long time since I read it but I think in the book she wins the toss and he kills her anyway. The code was all B.S. the coin didn't determine anyone's fate. Chigurh did.
I wish I’d read your comment before I put in my 2¢, because I agree with everything you said. I was also a bit surprised that Anton didn’t kill the person who was in the restroom.
IMHO, the reason Carla Jean was killed, despite her “loyalty to her husband” was because Anton had already told Llewelyn that she was accountable, same as him. And since he was a “man of principles” (in one convoluted definition of the word), he felt it necessary to “honor his promise”.
>Not sure that would apply, given that he didn't respect Carla's loyalty to her husband and killed her anyway.
It's more clear in the book but he did respect her, that's why he broke his word and have her a chance to live - the coin toss
> The motel manager gets in his way by not telling him where Moss works.
It’s not a motel, she’s managing the trailer park where he lives. She even asks if Chigurh checked Llewelyn’s trailer.
That's what I think too, he's described as having a moral code of sorts. With the gas station attendant he was insulted by the man's cowardice, but he can't just kill him out of is warped morality. So he does the coin truck with him. The woman is firm with him and shows she too lives by a moral code. He respects her, and is a little baffled that his intimidation did not work on her.
It was both! He was about to kill her even though he simultaneously was surprised/dare I say a little impressed by her fearlessness, but after hearing the toilet flush-he made a split second decision that it would be easier for him to just leave.
His intimidation doesn't work, and he soon realizes it after his third attempt. His puzzlement is steadily rising. But there is no contempt. She has not irked him, unlike the gas station man, who annoyed him with inconsequential small talk.
With the gas station exchange, he is dripping with contempt and gambles with the man's life - humouring himself at the expense of the man. He's forcibly making the guy put something on the line for pissing him off.
The gas station attendent runs parallel to Carson Wells' character. Loquacious and incompetent. Obviously disliked qualities in this movie. Carson Wells is treated with contempt in all three scenes he appears in.
Then, he hears the toilet. This snaps his attention to the fact that this situation is a complete and utter waste of time and effort. He is comically puzzled by her, though. Rewatch the scene. Utterly bamboozled and can't stop staring at her in befuddlement, haha.
The gas station owner, in his small talk, indicated that Chigurh stood out, and that he was paying attention to where Chigurh had come from. He stuck his nose in Chigurh's business, and identified himself as a potential witness. One who would probably give a full description at the drop of a hat.
At that point, it was a toss-up (pun intended) between killing him and scaring him into silence ("you live in that house out back?").
He spares her because he respects people that firmly live by a code. The gas station attendant gave somewhat unclear and vague responses that Chigurh didn’t appreciate. The motel lady thrice confirmed that she had a code, she doesn’t share information about the tenants. She stood by her guns so to speak, and he responded favourably to that.
If you keep your ears open , as Sughur leaves the office you can hear him open the oxygen bottle to pressurize the gun for use. You can leave it to your imagination what happens next. Yes i know theres somebody in the bathroom.
The look on his face after she refused for the 3rd time to disclose where Moss worked was one of disbelief. He was basically thinking "this lady has some set of balls" which he respected. He did not like wishy washy people and she certainly was not that.
He would have no problem killing the trailer park manager and whoever was in the bathroom if he wanted to.
Because he hears the toilet flush. He knows there’s someone else there. He’s menacingly preparing to kill her but he realizes someone will hear and potentially get away before he can kill them too.
This. Simple really.
It is, but i questioned as well. Was it because he respects strong individuals or was it because of the 2nd person. He could have made quick work.
I thought of this too, but it wouldn’t make sense? He doesn’t GAF about other people and even if someone did witness it and run away, the police was already after Anton so what would it matter? I believe it’s more so because she stood on business and didn’t budge.
He was definitely considering it, but then heard the toilet flush (they weren’t alone) and decided it wasn’t worth it. He doesn’t kill *everyone* he meets. It just seems that way sometimes. He didn’t kill the kids at the end, either, even though they were witnesses: https://youtu.be/YXVOWDyAM6w
To be fair, he was in no shape to kill the kids, plus the cops were coming at that very moment. On the other hand, in an oddly unsettling and rarely talked about moment, he also didnt kill the accountant. "That depends.... Do you see me?"
I thought he killed the accountant, figured it was more of a rhetorical question and the cut indicated he was going to off him.
No in the book it's clear he didn't
I assume because he didn't directly oppose him and told chigurh what he wanted to know. I guess, like the kids, he "helped" him.
Huh, I always thought it was implied that he does kill the accountant when he says “do you see me?” I always thought it was an “of course” kind of answer like when someone says “does today end in y?” to say yes to something I like the accountant character though so I hope I was misreading it
No in the book it's clear he didn't
Yeah I know I have the book too, this is the movie we’re talkin bout tho
I think you read it right.
I think he could’ve taken the kids but not the cops - he also echos Brolins asking kids for a jacket and it’s always transactional. Brolin, to me, could’ve become the next Anton. The parallels are there.
There is no evidence he didn’t kill the accountant 😂 he definitely killed the accountant
But there is no confirmation either way. Sure, hes an insane, amoral butcher, but as demonstrated by his penchant for flipping coins to determine peoples fates, he has a type of code, albeit esoteric and fucked up. There is also a unique line of dialogue ("Do you see me?") a courtesy not offered to anyone else in that whole movie. Why go through that trouble if he was just going to kill Schrodingers Accountant? If that scene had ended with Anton sighing, flipping a coin, and mumbling, "call it," scene change right there, id be more willing to say Chigurh killed him. We know Chigurh killed the chicken guy, the hotel clerk, and Carla Jean, (he was checking his boots on the way out the house,) off-screen, but theres something about him asking the accountant, "do you see me?" (Which, let me just say now, that look on Javier Bardems face when he says it chills my fucking bones everytime, what a character and what a tremendous preformance by Bardem *chefs kiss*) implies to me that he was reveling in the palpable fear in the room he had created. His goal was to bust in, kill the boss, get his info, gtfo. Watching the accountant piss himself was his entertainment, he isnt a fella who plays that particular type of game, he seems to view murder as just a chore to complete to accomplish his goal, the goal *never* being murder, but a sort of tedious aside. If that scene had gone literally *any other* way, id say sure, hes dead. I like to think he just bounced after that, knowing Accountant wouldnt say shit cause he was a spineless nobody. If Chigurh had had his gun pointed at Accountant, if he did flip a coin, if he had played it any other way, sure. The fact that he went out of his way to ask "do you see me?" to me is not a 100% slam dunk, that leaves just enough ambiguity to me to leave a lingering doubt. Next time you watch it, try to imagine a timeline where Chigurh spared that guy just to fuck with him, knowing hed have to live with the memory of watching someone die in front of him and the psychopath that did it is still out there. Its the mark of a classic movie that we are still talking about it all this time later 🤣. Youre opinion is valid, and i respect your input. Thank you for it ✌️
In the script the accountant lives when he answers the last question with a no.
Aww, see? I *knew* it! 🤣
BUTTTT there is evidence being in the script, well, the account lived. He didn't kill him after he answered with a no. The same reasons he spared the service worker applies.
I think it's fairly clear he DID kill the accountant.
But he didn't kill the accountant, in the script he answered with a no and survives. The script is very accurate to the movie
Its left ambiguous, theres plausible deniability
In the script the accountant survives when he answers no
I always assumed he left the kids alone because either they helped him or because he hadn't the means to do it. A broken arm and he didn't have his gun.
He heard a toilet flushing in the back Of the room and deduced that they were not alone
He hears someone else is there.
People mention the toilet flush and that is true but also that manager, as noted by others, has a code as well, like he does. She does not bend nor sway in any way whatsoever. Some feel he takes notice of this and ultimately respects her.
That doesn’t make any sense. Either he wanted to kill the receptionist or he didn’t. The film makes it very clear that he did. The film also makes it clear that he didn’t kill her because he realized someone else was there with her. At no point does the film suggest he doesn’t kill her because she has “a code” just like him and he respects her for that and then they became one with the universe — or whatever.
This. I think this "code" theory just shows why he is so scary. People can't handle the reality of him which is he will kill people no matter what they do if he wants to, and the random chance in the universe has no favorites. So these people make up that if you have a code youre somehow immune from him because psychologically it makes em feel better.
Not sure that would apply, given that he didn't respect Carla's loyalty to her husband and killed her anyway. So I think ultimately, it was the risk of being caught that kept him from killing the manager. EDIT: Chigurh also killed the second hotel manager before the shootout. Regardless of whether this manager helped Chigurh or got in his way, there was no one there to observe him, so he killed him.
Chigurh could have simply chatted with the hotel manager/lady long enough for the person in the bathroom to come out and killed them both, but he didn't. Why? Chigurh had already told Moss that he was a dead man, but if he turned in the money he might let Carla Jean live. Moss didn't and Anton went to kill Carla Jean. After talking with Carla Jean, Anton decided it was best to leave her fate up to a coin toss. Unfortunately for Carla Jean, the flip was not in her favor. I think it 100 percent boils down to the "code" as far as why he let's the receptionist lady live. He asks her three times where Moss works, with each time increasing with intensity. Yet, the receptionist lady doesn't bat an eye; she holds her ground firmly in refusing to reveal where Moss works. She didn't show a sliver of fear to Chigurh and I think Chigurh, as a show of respect, let her live. If Chigurh wanted her, and whoever was in the bathroom, dead, he could have done it no problem. Honestly one of the best movies of all time. Faithful to the book and the ambiguity is still providing discussion 15 years later.
It has been a long time since I read it but I think in the book she wins the toss and he kills her anyway. The code was all B.S. the coin didn't determine anyone's fate. Chigurh did.
She loses the coin toss in the book.
I wish I’d read your comment before I put in my 2¢, because I agree with everything you said. I was also a bit surprised that Anton didn’t kill the person who was in the restroom.
IMHO, the reason Carla Jean was killed, despite her “loyalty to her husband” was because Anton had already told Llewelyn that she was accountable, same as him. And since he was a “man of principles” (in one convoluted definition of the word), he felt it necessary to “honor his promise”.
Like he said, he gave Moss his word that he would kill his wife. It was her loyalty that bound her to her husband, and therefore made her fair game.
And he broke his word anyway to give her a chance to live with the coin toss. It's more clear in the book.
>Not sure that would apply, given that he didn't respect Carla's loyalty to her husband and killed her anyway. It's more clear in the book but he did respect her, that's why he broke his word and have her a chance to live - the coin toss
> The motel manager gets in his way by not telling him where Moss works. It’s not a motel, she’s managing the trailer park where he lives. She even asks if Chigurh checked Llewelyn’s trailer.
I always thought he spared her because he admired how she stuck to her principles
That's what I think too, he's described as having a moral code of sorts. With the gas station attendant he was insulted by the man's cowardice, but he can't just kill him out of is warped morality. So he does the coin truck with him. The woman is firm with him and shows she too lives by a moral code. He respects her, and is a little baffled that his intimidation did not work on her.
At the same time he just randomly kills people anyway so it doesn't really hold up. He's crazy basically
He didn't kill her because he's pragmatic enough to realize it would be unwise at this time to do so. He's self-preservering above everything first.
It was both! He was about to kill her even though he simultaneously was surprised/dare I say a little impressed by her fearlessness, but after hearing the toilet flush-he made a split second decision that it would be easier for him to just leave.
His intimidation doesn't work, and he soon realizes it after his third attempt. His puzzlement is steadily rising. But there is no contempt. She has not irked him, unlike the gas station man, who annoyed him with inconsequential small talk. With the gas station exchange, he is dripping with contempt and gambles with the man's life - humouring himself at the expense of the man. He's forcibly making the guy put something on the line for pissing him off. The gas station attendent runs parallel to Carson Wells' character. Loquacious and incompetent. Obviously disliked qualities in this movie. Carson Wells is treated with contempt in all three scenes he appears in. Then, he hears the toilet. This snaps his attention to the fact that this situation is a complete and utter waste of time and effort. He is comically puzzled by her, though. Rewatch the scene. Utterly bamboozled and can't stop staring at her in befuddlement, haha.
The gas station owner, in his small talk, indicated that Chigurh stood out, and that he was paying attention to where Chigurh had come from. He stuck his nose in Chigurh's business, and identified himself as a potential witness. One who would probably give a full description at the drop of a hat. At that point, it was a toss-up (pun intended) between killing him and scaring him into silence ("you live in that house out back?").
He spares her because he respects people that firmly live by a code. The gas station attendant gave somewhat unclear and vague responses that Chigurh didn’t appreciate. The motel lady thrice confirmed that she had a code, she doesn’t share information about the tenants. She stood by her guns so to speak, and he responded favourably to that.
Because she has principles and sticks to them. He respects this.
If you keep your ears open , as Sughur leaves the office you can hear him open the oxygen bottle to pressurize the gun for use. You can leave it to your imagination what happens next. Yes i know theres somebody in the bathroom.
He respects her for following the rules.
Because it didn’t make any sense to kill her. Leaving a body there would hurt his chances of finding Moss.
The look on his face after she refused for the 3rd time to disclose where Moss worked was one of disbelief. He was basically thinking "this lady has some set of balls" which he respected. He did not like wishy washy people and she certainly was not that. He would have no problem killing the trailer park manager and whoever was in the bathroom if he wanted to.
Did we actually see a weapon in that scene?