MovieChat Forums > John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017) Discussion > *Spoilers* The "Winston makes everyone s...

*Spoilers* The "Winston makes everyone stop" scene


In the scene where Winston tells John he is excommunicated, there is a part where he has a henchman make a call and everyone in the park just stops moving. I didn't get it at first, but after thinking about it my assumption is that this was to show John that if he tried to kill him, all these people were there under his order, so he wouldn't make it out alive if he tried anything.

But then I got to thinking that it seems as if John and Winston have a deeper relationship (which I hope is explored in part 3) by the way Winston talks to him. So John probably wouldn't attack him just for telling him he was no longer allowed at the Continental. Which makes my above theory wrong.

Does anyone else have an idea why this part took place?

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John is, obviously, a very respected member of the community. The park scene was a demonstration of power, to show John he has nowhere to hide. But, out of respect, Winston gave him a head start.

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He did mention he was giving him a headstart (along with a marker), but it seems odd that Winston would give him a chilling reminder like that (keeping in mind John's last line about telling everyone he'll kill them all and Winston seemed to agree that he could).

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I’ve been watching that last scene with Winston and I’m about 50/50 on wether or not Winston believes John can really kill everyone that comes after him. This is the widest contract ever put out on John. He has no Continental privileges, the entire High Table is after him. Maybe Winston thought John had a chance as long as he had company privileges. “Sure you will.” Could be interpreted as “yeah right lunatic.” Of course I do not think Winston wants anyone but John to win in the end, it’s just unlikely.

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Never did I get the feeling that Winston thought Wick would attempt to kill him. While we don't get scenes of them bonding or whatever, the way Winston talks to John (and knowing how the two go way back), gives me the impression they are indeed close to each other. So the way I see it, Winston tried to prove to Wick that if he really wanted to, he could give out the order in a second and have him easily taken out. Instead he shows he’s got his back and is willing to buy him some time.

Though perhaps all those people were also probably there to protect John in case any "outsiders" tried anything? It's likely the former but I like this idea too.

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I didn't really either, which is why I pretty much corrected my own post in the second part lol. It's definitely the most curious part of the movie. Glad to see you agree about their relationship being close. At times I even wondered if they would reveal that they are related, but I don't see it happening.

Loving the replies so far on my first thread/post. Just stumbled onto this site lately after the IMDb boards went down a few months ago (they were troll infested big time).

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It was to show that everyone in the entire universe was an assassin (which also explains why there's never ANY police presence). :)

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So many assassins! So many.

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yeah , at other point in the movie they were just crawling out of the woodwork , like agents in The Matrix

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I'm more confused over the fact that everyone just stopped, they had no phones. All that happened was Winston got that fellow to make a call and say "Now", that's all. It made no sense.

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My guess was Bluetooth ear pieces. But yeah, it was a piece of a scene that I don't truly understand.

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It reminded me of Anthony Hopkins in Westworld https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MhSG5ZFX8Mg

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Such a cool scene. Will have to start watching now especially with AH in it. Dang, don't have the time, but thanks for posting.

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Winston was basically telling John that if he had wanted him dead any one of these people could have done the job right there. But he gave him the head start because he doesn't want to kill him.

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Yeah, that's obvious about it. We were referring to how everyone stopped at the drop of a hat, not why they did.The henchman made a call, but no one had phones in their hands (that's why I guessed Bluetooth). Because they couldn't time it that well unless you really suspend disbelief. But maybe you meant to reply to someone else.
Funny enough I rewatched the first a couple nights ago, time to queue up the second one again.

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I've been watching the Wick trilogy recently and this scene confused me also, but I think it’s supposed to convey the idea that there’s an understanding that everyone in the underworld community intends to honor the one hour head start that Winston gave to Wick. And the fact that everyone stops and then resumes walking simultaneously is meant to convey that universal understanding to Wick that the community will honor the hour head start. And based on what happens in John Wick 3, even though assassins are everywhere, everyone honors the one hour head start except for Ernest, who jumps the gun at the library.

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