MovieChat Forums > Falling Down (1993) Discussion > Did Prendergast really retire?

Did Prendergast really retire?

posted 9 years ago by danny-mew
8 replies | jump to latest

Towards the end of the movie, when Sergeant Prendergast is sitting on the front step talking to Adele, he tells her that his name is "mud", and then Adele (as most young children would do), thinks it would be funny to have such a name and says that this isn't his real name. Then, Sergeant Prendergast says, "Well, it will be. Once my wife finds out that I'm still a cop."

This line suggests that Sergeant Prendergast decided that he was not ready to retire after all (much to the dismay of his nagging, worrywart of a wife).

[–] ShallowAl69 9 years ago

Just yet another one of those endings... I think that they want you to make your own mind up about whether or not he retires or rescinds his retirement request.

[–] Tombehrens270 9 years ago

I believe that he retired. I think that after chasing around d-fens and this one chaotic day was enough for him to believe that the world needs good man on the force, or maybe his department just needs him.

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] potiukd 9 years ago

I like to think that he changed his mind about retiring and went back to work as a street cop!

[–] planetmutty 9 years ago

I agree with this. He handed in his gun and resorted to desk duties (and copping derision from his co-workers) to satisfy his wife's fear about working on the street. But the events of the day reinforced that he really thrived on it. I thought it was pretty clear he wasn't going to retire and was going to start packing a gun again.

After all, his comments to Captain Yardley right at the end would have earned Yardley's respect no end.

When I said I wanted to be a comedian, they all laughed at me. Well, they're not laughing now!

[–] MoneyNeverSleeps 8 years ago

He teamed up with pacman and worked the Crash division where he eventually got killed by Rico suave

[–] Milkdoesabodygood 8 years ago

That's a good one.

Spoiler alert for them spoil sports out there! Y'all like spoiled milk, stop crying over it!

[–] stevekaczynski 8 years ago

I think he went back to being a street cop. He will probably face down his wife about that, just like he faced her down over leaving the skin on the chicken. His boss may not welcome him back, especially after Prendergast insulted him on live TV, and with the exception of his female colleague played by Rachel Ticotin (one of the most attractive characters in the movie) the other cops in his department seem to be jerks, but after the D-Fens episode his position might be a hard one to attack.

"Chicken soup - with a *beep* straw."