MovieChat Forums > Fallen (1998) Discussion > Why didn't Hobbes just leave?

Why didn't Hobbes just leave?


I found this question about the ending elsewhere on the forum but I didn't find the explanation very convincing.

As I understand it, Azazel can transfer to another body by touch while his host is alive, and through the air over a short distance (500 cubits) when his host is dead. So after Hobbes shoots Jonesy/Azazel, he can simply find his car keys and drive off to a safe distance. Jonesy will bleed to death because as Hobbes says, no one is around for miles. Problem solved, no suicide required.

Any reason I can think of why Hobbes wouldn't do this, is convoluted:
-He wanted to be sure Azazel's dead. To do this, he could come back the next day to check.
-He didn't want his buddy to die a slow and painful death. A valid point, but not really worth killing yourself over.
-Hobbes would rather die than spend the rest of his life in jail for the killings he did. That actually makes sense, but then why didn't the movie makes this point directly?

My guess is that it was simply a mistake in the movie.

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No matter what he does, there's always a cat. So, we're all doomed.

WARNING!
Objects under T-shirt are larger than they appear!

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I'm a fan of a combination of Hobbes wanting to be totally sure, so 'killing' himself before killing his partner, because he couldn't guarantee the demon wouldn't be able to outsmart/outrun him if he got away, and the idea that Hobbes had no reason to live any more.

I found your quote - "Hobbes would rather die than spend the rest of his life in jail for the killings he did. That actually makes sense, but then why didn't the movie makes this point directly?" amazing because, having see all that happened to him, I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to point to his having nothing to go back to or live for.

His wife had left him. His brother was dead. He was going probably get the chamber for all the deaths he was framed for and so he would never be able to care for his nephew. I don't see how the point could be any clearer without it being hammered home in a way that would have been patronizing and annoying.



Plot Hole - the most overused and least understood phrase at IMDb

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I agree with all of you. Hobbes remained present so he could stay long enough to see Azazel die. And he could have left; I'm sure he thought of that, but realized he had nothing left to go back for, to live for. His brother was dead, he was divorced, plus the many others killed by Azazel. He realized he would have no alibi for the murders which he was the suspect for. Remember Azazel (in Jonesy's body) indicated he was going to enter Hobbes and commit more murders to frame Hobbes for. All that would have remained for Hobbes, had he left was a long prison sentence, or the rest of his life as a fugitive, since there'd be no way to prove he didn't commit the murders. So instead he poisoned himself, to die in a slow, subtle way. He didn't kill himself instantly (by shooting himself), because he wanted to stay alive long enough to see Azazel die, plus he wanted to taunt Azazel too, so he'd know what the plan was, to see Azazel feel fear. Once Jonesy died, Azazel would need another host, and obviously only Hobbes would be available in such a lonely area. Plus, if he'd gotten in the car and drove off right then, there'd have still been the cat for Azazel to possess, once Jonesy died of his wound. (Hobbs leaving wouldn't have been nearly as dramatic.) And if Hobbes had drove off immediately upon shooting Jonesy in the head, Azazel probably could have caught up with the car, and entered it easily, and Hobbes. Remember in the beginning Azazel easily passed through the wall of a sealed gas chamber, and into the executioner. As for the cat, Hobbes simply didn't know a cat was present.

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If there's a cat, there's a bird, there's a bug, there's a hibernating toad, there's a bacterium. We're surrounded by life. So if a cat's an OK host, the spirit has no shortage of possible hosts within a meter at any time.

WARNING!
Objects under T-shirt are larger than they appear!

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Perhaps the spirit just needs a consciousness, also I doubt the spirit will just 'die', more likely just remain dormant until someone gets close enough.

So Hobbes realistically stood no chance of beating this evil angel.

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I agree with all of you. Hobbes remained present so he could stay long enough to see Azazel die. And he could have left; I'm sure he thought of that, but realized he had nothing left to go back for, to live for. His brother was dead, he was divorced, plus the many others killed by Azazel. He realized he would have no alibi for the murders which he was the suspect for. Remember Azazel (in Jonesy's body) indicated he was going to enter Hobbes and commit more murders to frame Hobbes for. All that would have remained for Hobbes, had he left was a long prison sentence, or the rest of his life as a fugitive, since there'd be no way to prove he didn't commit the murders. So instead he poisoned himself, to die in a slow, subtle way. He didn't kill himself instantly (by shooting himself), because he wanted to stay alive long enough to see Azazel die, plus he wanted to taunt Azazel too, so he'd know what the plan was, to see Azazel feel fear. Once Jonesy died, Azazel would need another host, and obviously only Hobbes would be available in such a lonely area. Plus, if he'd gotten in the car and drove off right then, there'd have still been the cat for Azazel to possess, once Jonesy died of his wound. (Hobbs leaving wouldn't have been nearly as dramatic.) And if Hobbes had drove off immediately upon shooting Jonesy in the head, Azazel probably could have caught up with the car, and entered it easily, and Hobbes. Remember in the beginning Azazel easily passed through the wall of a sealed gas chamber, and into the executioner. As for the cat, Hobbes simply didn't know a cat was present.


^^This. Exactly. 

"I'm the ultimate badass,you do NOT wanna f-ck wit me!"Hudson,Aliens😬

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There's a scene where Hobbes and Greta establish that if the host dies then Azazel will become powerful with desperation so driving off wouldn't do much anyway as he'd just transfer over when he got up to leave. And as many others have said, the cat makes none of that matter. :)

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What Hobbs should have done was taken several buses out to Vegas, the middle of nowhere.

Then tried to do the exact same plan, except this time there would be no cats in the desert.

Maybe Azazel would possess a crow or vulture.

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Time wasn't on his side.

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"See ya around!"

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[deleted]

(spoilers): Fair question. I'd say he wanted to "kill" Azazel for good, saving mankind from his shenanigans. Also, like you said, he probably didn't want to go to prison for crimes he didn't commit, crimes whose physical evidence undoubtedly pointed to him. If he had shot Jonesy and then just got his keys and drove away, eventually the police would find the bodies at the cabin and add them to Hobbes's tab as well. He would've probably lived his life on the run. He probably felt like he didn't have any other alternatives, and felt this was the best scenario, seeing as how if he didn't die, he wouldn't have much of a life anyways. You could say it was selfless and selfish of him. And the writer probably saw it unnecessary to point out directly that not wanting to go to prison was a motivator.

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The demon most likely wouldn't have just left it at that and tracked him down eventually... Plus it got personal once hes brother was killed.

I am the son of a man named Tom.

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Just shoot him in the stomach and the kneecaps and drive away, no need for poison cigarettes.

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I think Hobbes was already at the point of no return.

His brother is dead, in HIS house, with the syringe of the same poison used to commit the other murders.
He knows he is going to have to kill whoever shows up at the house, knowing it's Azazel (no one else would think to look for him there)... and not knowing if he'll be able to escape (like if he's wounded in the final battle) before Azazel get into him.
When the moment comes he's also just killed his friend and partner.
There's also just the awful knowledge of the whole chain of events.

All of this STUFF is just going to haunt him for the rest of his life, which will probably be spent in prison awaiting execution.
So death by 'sleeping poison' seems the better choice.

Too bad he didn't know Azazel could jump into animals.

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