The last segment of Left Behind was so much fun I fear this one can only disappoint by comparison. In fact, I had to go back to Slacktivist to remind me when the segment leaves off and the final one begins.
Back in Chicago, Chloe is worried about Buck and wishes there was something they could do for him. Her father suggests they pray. They pray in the church sanctuary. Incidentally, in the last segment Fred Clark complained that a church that had been empty days ago is now serving as a first aid station and crowded with injured people. I didn't think it was all that implausible. But now the sanctuary is empty again, so they can pray in private. No that's implausible.
Buck stumbles into the restroom, dazed, realizing now that it's all true. He sits down, uncertain and issues his uncertain prayer, "God, I've never prayed before. I don't know what to say. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. I just know I need you. And I believe. Just show me what to do." That is, as I understand it, the sort of prayer RTC's encourage new converts to make, except that it does not invoke Jesus Christ or taking him as your personal savior. Has Buck done that? They really haven't said much about Jesus at all, much less taking him as your personal savior. Either way, Buck has been crying. He gets up, looks in the mirror, dries away the tears, and goes to face what lies ahead.
Stepping out, he sees Carpathia, Hattie, Rosensweig, the sinister guard and other escorts. Carpathia says he has a private meeting before the press conference and wants Buck there when he confronts Stonagal and Cothran. Buck does not show any fear or revulsion, so he may still not suspect, despite Carpathia's bizarre remark about seven years of peace. Carpathia tells the guard to stay close to Mr. Williams, so I can only assume he does not fully trust Buck.
They go into a room of conspicuously international-looking delegates sitting around a table, along with Stonagal and Cothran. Carpathia takes a seat, along with Buck and Hattie, while the guards stand. The bankers are not happy about Buck's presence, but Carpathia tells them that Buck will be their new media liasion. Carpathia, pacing around the table, says we are going to turn the world into a paradise, with 10 oasis regions, where each delegate will have complete control and there will be true global peace and community. Buck is looking increasingly uneasy as he speaks, apparently beginning to suspect. But it is only when Carpathia yet again says, "This marks the beginning of our seven years of peace,"* what Buck's suspicions become clearly identified. We get a flashback to Bruce Barnes taking about the prophecies, and Buck sees how clearly Carpathia fits them. And, indeed, Carpathia is now telling the delegates that they will be kings and queens in their new regions (the 10 kings!). The prophecy also said that the Antichrist will declare himself God. We get to that when Stonagal protests -- he never agreed to that. Carpathia says the bankers are serpents in his garden of paradise, using unity and prosperity for their own gain. At this point, he drops the mask and makes clear he is a power-mad despot, ready to crush anyone who stands in his path.
What follows comes directl from the original. Carpathia asks a guard (not the sinister one, an innocent fellow) for his sidearm. The bankers begin to be alarmed. Rosensweig rises to protest. "Sit down, Chaim," Carpathia says, and Rosensweig sits down, holding his hand to his head in a way that suggests he is not in complete control of his actions. This is our first real indication that Carpathia has mind control powers.** "Ms. Durham," he says to Hattie, "would you please step back. I wouldn't want that suit to be soiled." I can't tell whether she steps back of her own volition, or under his mind control. Stonagal is apparently not under Carpathia's mind control; when ordered to kneel, he refuses. Cothran starts to stand, and Carpathia blows him away. (Off camera; it is apparently against RTC rules to show actual violence on camera, a reasonable rule in most cases, but a bit awkward when making a movie about the end of the world!)
Buck rises to his feet, "Someone has to stop this!" Carpathia makes the same gesture and command to him, and the sinister guard pushes him back into his seat. Presumably Carpathia believes he has Buck under his mind control, too. So now he prepares for the final showdown with Stonagal.
I think in this case the final segment begins in the same place for both Fred Clark's version and mine.
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*I'm sorry to keep coming back to this, but it is truly mind-boggling that anyone, even the Antichrist, could say such a thing, and that he would not expect it to raise suspicion.
**So why have I alluded to them before? Because the intended viewers of the movie presumably had read the book, and I read Fred Clark's review of the book, so we both know about them in advance.
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