Movies News Talk
With characters, events, even fictional brands woven across his filmography, Quentin Tarantino's films are known for their linked universe. Although many relationships are clear-cut, one minute element that ties Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction together usually goes overlooked.
Complex and with a clear hierarchy is the Tarantinoverse ecosystem. Two levels comprise it: the fictional world of the movies the characters in the "real" world view, and the "real" world itself. This produces a web of complex relationships between his films, some more obvious than others.
Published in 1992, Reservoir Dogs exposed us to a group of color-coded code-named thieves whose meticulously thought out jewel heist turns out disastrous. Two years later, Pulp Fiction offers a non-linear narrative with linked sections featuring hitmen Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) and Vincent Vega (John Travolta). These two movies have a subtle, almost missed reference that accentuates their interdependence despite their different narratives.
Following the disorderly heist in Reservoir Dogs, the surviving criminals get together at a warehouse. Mr. Orange, the injured rat, is critically ill as they struggle with the circumstances and the disclosure of a traitor among their ranks. The son of their crime boss, Eddie Cabot (Chris Penn), advises phoning Bonnie, a nurse he know.
Bonnie is mentioned here briefly and apparently insignificantly. She never shows up on screen or makes reappearance in Reservoir Dogs. But Pulp Fiction brings back this apparently little detail.
After Vincent unintentionally kills Marvin in the backseat of their car, Jules and Vincent flee to Jimmie Dimmick's (T Tarantino) house in the "Bonnie Situation" section of Pulp Fiction. They call on Winston Wolfe (Harvey Keitel) to kill Marvin and dispose of the car when Jimmie tells them his wife Bonnie would be shortly returning home.
Jules tells Marsellus a story about Bonnie arriving while they are hiding Marvin's body and mentioning that she is a nurse during their conversation. The nurse Bonnie from Reservoir Dogs most certainly is the same Bonnie, wife of Jimmie Dimmick from Pulp Fiction.
Given another link between these movies, Bonnie from Reservoir Dogs becomes more likely to be Jimmie's wife. Confirmed to be brothers, Vincent Vega and Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen) from Reservoir Dogs are among the linked characters in the Tarantinoverse.
Though the nature of their relationship is yet unknown, Jimmie Dimmick and Mr. White (Harvey Keitel) have a similar relationship. Mr. White, real name Larry Dimmick, has a past relationship to Joe and Eddie having collaborated with them several times. Given Jimmie's criminal past as well, it is quite likely that Eddie would know Jimmie and his wife Bonnie, which would explain his mentioning of her as a nurse when Mr. Orange needed medical attention.
Both Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs are set in Los Angeles; a common belief holds that they happen on the same day driven by a shared day of violence and anarchy. The idea holds that the failed heist in Reservoir Dogs directly influences Pulp Fiction events.
For Vincent and Jules, the blood-soaked car from the accidental shooting of Marvin presents a major challenge since hiding such proof in a city like Los Angeles is no simple task. According to the theory, Vincent and Jules would have been more likely to go unnoticed since the police, focused on the jewel heist, would have been thinned out.
Moreover, some variants of the theory suggest that Marsellus's briefcase carried the diamonds taken by the Reservoir Dogs thieves—originally under Brett's custody. The concept of the movies happening on the same day would also help Jimmie Dimmick since Bonnie might have been occupied at the hospital following the heist, allowing Jimmie, Vincent, and Jules to get rid of Marvin and the car without running across Bonnie.
The Tarantinoverse gains still another level of complexity from the subtle link between Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction—through the reference to nurse Bonnie. This minute point invites viewers to investigate the complex relationships and hidden threads that entwine a captivating story across his filmography. It emphasizes the rich network of connections that exists throughout his movies.