MovieChat Forums > Good Behavior (2016) Discussion > Javier returned to the motel to...

Javier returned to the motel to...


kill Shawn. Why else? He didn't know Letty was even there. Why would Letty be there? He left the note on her pillow...assumed she'd be home in her final days with Jacob. What other reason would he have for returning to the motel? Further, there's the note: You will always be his mother. Meaning..."I'll make sure of it."? How suspicious would that be, for Shawn to die the day before a custody hearing decision? Duh - Javier was right that the assassination was a bad idea from every angle...and yet, he allowed himself to be turned around in that surety, out of rejection from Letty, out of love for her.

But upon arrival, seeing his car informed him that Letty was there. Seeing Letty in there, with Shawn - he realized his mistake in returning at all. His mistake in trusting her, loving her, never mind almost killing for her.

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A really good take on it, and one I hadn't yet considered.

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Isn't it possible Javier had a gps tracker on his Range Rover?

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Awesome take, hit it on the nail!!

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I like your theory. I think it's great.

IMO, he went to that hotel because she admitted that she was about to do her drugs and was going to stop her from going even further down the road at a horrible time and he already knows she likes to do it in crappy motels (finding her in 1X01) and also that she wouldn't do it in front of Jacob. And considering this is somewhat a small town.. there is probably only one motel.

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I suppose the OP's take is the only one that can begin to plausibly explain Javier's return to the motel. But there remain several problems with the plot.

The first is quite obviously that Sean's death at such a time would raise considerable trouble for Letty. While we can presume that Javier would kill Sean in such a way that leaves no clue as to his involvement, him being the pro he is, that actually becomes problematic for Letty. The reason is that she has the clear motive to kill Sean, so the "fact" that Javier might make a clean kill of it will only cloud the short term for Letty. She is while not a convicted murderer, a convicted felon as well. Plus the other reasons why it would be a bad idea remain. Including how Jacob would react, and assume Letty had something to do with it.

A side to this consideration is the notion that what would motivate Javier to overcome his initial concerns was a concern that Letty would do drugs and/or alcohol. So? It's not like she'd never done them before. She did and survived. She was not in Javier's mind a suicidal candidate, and Javier could conclude certainly before the next court date Letty would at least wait to see what happened before doing anything drastic.

I also don't think the note Javier left meant he intended to kill Sean. It merely was meant to buck Letty up, and Letty did not take it as an indication Javier was actually going to kill Sean, either.

But what makes the notion even more absurd is what it was, assuming true, that turned him away from killing Sean, and that was seeing Letty in bed with Sean. Here's the real WTF in this plot. I thought it was TOTALLY UNCONVINCING that Letty would have sex with Sean. She hated him, and so half a bottle of vodka was going to overcome that? Plus how did Sean know she was in the room? No indication he would recognize the car, and he himself said he thought Javier was still in the motel. So he was going to confront what he thought was Javier and Letty??? Really?

It was just pure prurience taking over at that point, overwhelming the logic of the plot. I should say "logic", as this was a real jump the shark moment. How could Letty do that? (Now some might say of course she slept with Sean, they had a past and all that. I am sorry, there was no indication she would move that quickly from anger to acceptance, and again I don't think the self abasement angle works, either.)

And the fact that the encounter served to both turn Javier away from some possible killing of Sean and also to make him give up on Letty was just way too pat a turn. It literally took seeing her in the bed with him, understandably, to decide to give up on her. But I am sorry, it was implausible that the encounter would happen.

Sure ex's sometimes have sex with each other. But not ones who hate each other. Letty was not so far gone being high that she would have willingly gone along as she did.

I have several other problems with this ninth episode. Just too implausible for me. This show was one I initially liked quite a bit. But then the melodrama and soap opera aspects became more and more present, and troubling. Now the implausible plot turns are just too much.

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I agree Kenny! Some posters have been trying to imply that perhaps the encounter with Sean was "rape" of some sort. I don't think so. For one thing Letty was definitely not that inebriated and she did not have to open the hotel room door for him especially not in her underwear.

I think Javier did come back to town to find Letty and try to talk her out of getting wasted. It is a small town so he drove by the hotel and saw the car there, or he went by the house and didn't see the car so he assumed she would be in a hotel as you said.

I don't think he went back to kill Sean. He knew very well that Sean being killed would be a very bad thing for her relationship with Jacob. Of course I will watch the finale but this episode just had too many plot holes and implausible situations to ignore.

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Some posters have been trying to imply that perhaps the encounter with Sean was "rape" of some sort. I don't think so. For one thing Letty was definitely not that inebriated and she did not have to open the hotel room door for him especially not in her underwear.

Thank you. That's just excusing Letty of her own bad behavior and infantilizing her. Annoying.

Agree with everything else you said. Seems to be a small town and probably not a lot of hotels. She was manipulating him and blaming him for her premeditated bad behavior. He came running - to her. Not to do what he knew to be a stupid and selfish move.

I will watch the finale too but I fear they ruined both characters so unlikely to bother with another season.

"She hasn't even read the books..." - Elliot_Alderson

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free,

Since we generally agree here, I am a bit reluctant to argue the point about talking Letty out of getting wasted. Some here seem to suggest or have concluded that Javier thought Letty was in some great danger, which I think there's nothing to suggest he thought that or should have thought that. I think Javier thinks Letty likes to get high more than she should and in particular has/had a problem in that regard with her parole, and along with that gets into a sort of manic state where she does foolish things while high, to say the least. But to be clear I don't think he thinks Letty is suicidal or will overdose on drugs and alcohol.

So he might be concerned but only up to a point. I simply think it more a case of "he happened to drive by" which of course is rather convenient to the plot here. But again my main objection is not that his driving by and seeing her car was implausible, but that she would be in bed with Sean and Javier would see that - nope, not realistic. They jumped the shark right there.

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very good points again!

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I thought it was TOTALLY UNCONVINCING that Letty would have sex with Sean.


He must be very skilled at coitus.

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she was about to do her drugs and was going to stop her from going even further down the road at a horrible time and he already knows she likes to do it in crappy motels (finding her in 1X01) and also that she wouldn't do it in front of Jacob.


i would agree with this, but he seemed surprised to see his car there. and began frantically looking for where she might be. still, you could also be right, as to his reason for returning. i think either your theory OR mine must be the correct one.

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spastic,

I don't think there's any evidence that Javier was frantically looking for Letty. In fact as I have posted elsewhere I don't think he was all that concerned about her doing drugs. Yeah, concerned, but frantic? That was not shown or implied. Suggesting it was I think gives too much credit to the writers since it in turn suggests it was quite plausible Javier would turn up when he did and where he did.

But again the main problem here is it was just way too implausible that Letty would have sex with Sean. How convenient to the plot. Too bad it made no sense.

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I thought letty meant she was going to the motel to kill sean. I actually don't remember this exact scene or how she would know sean was at the motel, but I didn't think she meant she was going to the motel for a bender.

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Javier returned to the motel for Letty. He knew from their phone conversation that she was about to go on a bender and went to stop her. He was never going to kill Sean. He knew Sean's room number from the night before.

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He knew Sean's room number from the night before.


they weren't IN Sean's room. they were in letty's, which, ironically, had been javier's room the night before, but he'd checked out. giving him no reason to return at all. if letty was to go on a bender, most of javier's experience with her shows that she'd have gone to a bar. only once did she do a bunch of drugs in a motel room. no reason for him to search for her first in a motel, when she was staying with her mother and there were bars in town.

i agree with others who say that letty hooking up with sean is improbable, despite her chaotic state and general impulsiveness. i am fairly shocked that javier got over it.

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I think Javier assumed Letty was going to go down the rabbit hole again, destroy herself, probably not with intent to kill herself, but accidents can happen.

The accusing tone she uses saying "you know what" makes it clear that she considers, wrongly and in her current state of depression, that Javier has played a role in her ending up there, making it almost full circle from when he found her in the hotel the first time.

He demonstrated time and again during episode 9 that he wanted to be there for her, support her, stop her from being destructive, even to the point of coming separately, I presume and late to the hearing. Maybe he needed to show her her could be there for her, at her lowest moment, like she had been for him in the episode before.

What we know about Letty's personality is that she is very destructive. When she can't cope with things, honestly and straight forwardly, a way she doesn't seem to trust, as she'd rather do things her way (thus asking Javier to kill Sean without even seeing how the court case was going to go), she becomes destructive.

The drinking, the sleeping with Sean, I see all as just more of the same destructive behaviour. She doesn't want to feel better right then, doesn't want Javier's steady, unflinching support. She wants to feel bad about herself, she wants to punish herself and make herself suffer. I can see her sleeping with her ex, one she has hated a long time, and blamed everything that went wrong in her life on, because she is looking for someone to blame for how bad she feels.

There may be some truth to Sean saying Letty doesn't take responsibility for the things she has done. Like Javier, she is an adult, and she can make different choices, though they may be harder.

I think Javier came to the hotel, perhaps to stay himself, or looking for her, saw the only light in the window, as we see him looking around. I don't think he was horribly surprised to see the scene in the room, more resigned, maybe even relieved it was just sex and not an overdose. The phone call at the end proved he does care about what happens to her, even if he doesn't quite trust her not to hurt him in her destructive behaviour.

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