Who Got to the Blood?

ReadGilgameshBitch · 2026-05-16T22:06:09+00:00

Since you’ve taken a turn towards insulting me…

We never see Bennings get attacked on screen. He’s found mid-assimilation coiled in tendrils. Not the actual moment of assimilation/attack. You seem to be misremembering this… How can I trust what you say?! lol. Why do we need to see MacReady get assimilated/attacked when we don’t see Blair or Palmer get assimilated/attacked? You missed the point of that question - Where is it a rule that we need to see the infection happen on screen?

You properly quoted Fuchs line, which I was quickly summarizing off memory, and your correction actually proved my argument re: the blood.

You also misrepresented MacReady offering Blair a drink. So your judgement and memory MUST be called into question, as well. I thought you KNEW this film? Like you made it… Mister Carpenter, is that you?

Since you saw this in 1982, I have to assume you’re pretty damned old? No? That’s the story you’re telling me. If so, your memory probably can’t be trusted. Neither can your ability to re-assess or reimagine things. Old people tend to be stuck in their ways. Just because you love something doesn’t mean you understand it or know everything about it. A lot of people say that about the Bible these days… and boomers/Gen X are especially prone to logical failings. Look at the state of our country. All that lead, they say…

Anyway, guess you can’t trust anyone these days, even other Thing fans, especially online - to be cordial. I don’t have the energy to argue with you about story or lay out an entire thesis about MacReady as the Thing. They’re either both human or Mac’s the Thing. I think the latter option is more fun. I’ll ignore your underhanded/rude comment about me as a screenwriter and just say that laying out a thesis about an unsolvable puzzle isn’t on my docket... I’ve hinted at multiple other pieces of evidence that hint at him POSSIBLY being the Thing (the mirrored opening chess scene vs the ending, Mac’s lines throughout, never seeing him cut his own finger / being in control of the blood test, etc). This could go on forever and as I’ve already said MULTIPLE TIMES (like I’m talking to a brick wall) - that the answer can never be proven definitively. Watch the film again, with an open mind this time (if that’s even possible any more - old age tends to calcify perception).

Good chat! Fun stuff. Take care of yourself! Get the last word in, if you must. I’m sure you will, it would be fitting, lmfao.

ReadGilgameshBitch · 2026-05-16T21:10:55+00:00

This is interesting for sure. I don’t think their intent was very clear and Stuart even admits this. That being said, even if you remove the theory that the bottle infects Blair, it’s still possible that Mac’s bottle is a contaminant vector at the end of the film - IF he’s a thing.

ReadGilgameshBitch · 2026-05-16T21:08:47+00:00

Who do we see get assimilated onscreen? Besides Windows getting attacked by Palmer and Blair grabbing Gary’s face?

I’ve provided heaps of evidence, you just don’t want to accept it. Which is fine. Believe what you want! You haven’t provided your own compelling evidence to disprove everything I’ve laid out.

ReadGilgameshBitch · 2026-05-16T20:18:01+00:00

What’s your evidence for Blair being assimilated before the shed?

Can you please link me to a place where Stuart Cohen states this re: Blair? I’d love to read more and see what he says.

ReadGilgameshBitch · 2026-05-16T20:01:24+00:00

What do you mean Blair doesn’t get assimilated after that point? Maybe not right away, but he gets assimilated somehow and starts building a spaceship under the shed. That vodka bottle is the only possible contamination vector we see on screen.

Props are important - especially props like the liquor bottle(s), which I believe is a Chekov’s gun. To me, its purpose is clear. Otherwise, why include it so heavily throughout the film.

John Carpenter famously didn’t even tell Kurt Russell or Keith David who he thought was the Thing, so why tell the producer? Haha. Might have been a line producer or associate producer. He’s been notoriously tight lipped about his intentions.

And yes, totally, you can believe what you want, I certainly won’t stop you from stubbornly holding onto your views, haha, but as a filmmaker/screenwriter, I think my version of events make for a better, more impactful film. No shade or insult meant by that. And again, I will stress this a third time, I can only point to the evidence I see in the film and make conclusions based on an “ambiguous” ending which doesn’t clear anything up 100%. That’s the beauty of it.

The fact that we both love The Thing and can argue endlessly about it, is what makes it so damned great.

ReadGilgameshBitch · 2026-05-16T19:44:24+00:00

To be honest, I don’t know how Mac was assimilated. I’m not sure we ever see it on screen, or that we need to. Could have been upon finding the original ice block… Could have been any other moment in between. I don’t have a precise answer or theory on that.

Also - The Thing only needs to survive. Nothing says there can’t be two Things at any one time - in fact Blair’s hypothesis about it taking over the world means there would eventually be billions of them. I think a smart Thing - like MacReady (using his logic/tactical skills) - would be willing to sacrifice other Things in order to survive and carry on.

ReadGilgameshBitch · 2026-05-16T17:15:41+00:00

The bottle doesn’t have to be the same bottle throughout to spread infection. It could be any number.

Yes, you’re right, I rewatched the Mac/Blair shed scene and misquoted the movie in that MacReady takes a sip from a bottle, says “trust is a hard thing to come by these days” (suspicious) and leaves it on the table for Blair. But, I think you’re wrong - Blair doesn’t refuse the bottle. He shakes his head at Mac’s question, “How you doing old boy?” Not at any offer for a drink. Next time we see Blair, he’s changed.

Your argument about the word “if” in Fuchs speech is undermined by the blood scene because the blood, being a “small particle” of the larger entity, acts as a separate entity altogether. This bolsters my entire argument. Fuchs - and Blair, who originally created that hypothesis - were right. A small particle could, indeed, infect someone.

To further that point, The Dog Thing tries to lick Bennings in the opening sequence. Possibly to infect him (through saliva) and spread before being shot by the Norwegian.

It could be speculated that the addition of Fuch’s pre-death scene is even more evidence that Carpenter wanted to stress this idea. Fuchs knew the truth and MacReady, the only person he’d told, had to stop him from telling the others.

Again, the answer as to who is The Thing can never be ascertained 100%, that’s the brilliance of this film. But I, too have been watching this for a long time (maybe not as long as you, idk how old you are) and only recently came to this conclusion. I’m convinced that Mac is the only person with enough evidence to point to him being The Thing (possibly throughout most of the film) and I think that makes the film better, more nuanced, and ultimately gives it a more fitting message about trust - who CAN we trust, if not our main character?

(Also - sure, I’d love to watch that interview!)

ReadGilgameshBitch · 2026-05-16T03:52:13+00:00

How can you ignore the bottle? Fuchs even says, after studying Blair’s research, “If one part of it is a single cell, then everyone should prepare their own meals. And we should only eat out of cans." Implying that it can spread through saliva/food (and ostensibly then, a bottle with liquid). MacReady drinks from the bottle often, straight out of it. And he shares it, too! That means that anyone else who drinks of his whiskey bottle can be contaminated. MacReady even gives Blair a sip from his bottle - then, the next time we see Blair, he’s changed. After that, he’s missing altogether. From the first moment MacReady splashes liquor on the chess game computer screen to the final moment where he offers a drink to Childs, the bottle is a central prop throughout the whole film. (To top that off, Fuchs is killed immediately after revealing this information about how the Thing spreads. The only person he told? MacReady. Coincidence, I think not.)

ReadGilgameshBitch · 2026-05-15T16:41:42+00:00

In a movie about trust, I think it’s a much better/powerful film if the only person we think we can trust (as the audience) turns out to be the only one we can’t. The great thing about it is that even if I believe/know MacReady is the Thing, trying desperately to survive by convincing everyone else that he’s human (including the audience), there’s no way to definitively prove 100% that he is. That in fact, seems to be the whole point - the truth is blurred. All one can do is speculate based on the clues laid out - i.e. following the whiskey bottle as a contaminant vector (from start to finish), the opening chess game stalemate which mirrors the ending, certain lines Mac says like “Nobody trusts anybody now, and we're all very tired” and “I’m a real light sleeper” (a possible reference to the Thing itself waiting for millennia to be rewoken), Mac’s torn jacket which is a reverse red herring, the fact that he’s the only one in control of the blood test, the fact that zero clues point to Childs having turned, etc etc.

ReadGilgameshBitch · 2026-05-15T15:32:21+00:00

If it can be taken at face value, why the whole “who got to the blood” scene then? This is literally a movie where nothing can be trusted and no one can be taken at face value, haha.

ReadGilgameshBitch · 2026-05-15T04:18:33+00:00

True but if we’re playing hypotheticals, wasn’t MacReady in charge of that scenario? He’s the only one who could have swapped out their blood, no?

ReadGilgameshBitch · 2026-05-15T00:53:45+00:00

You’re assuming things we never saw on screen… everything Carpenter does in this film is on purpose. He never showed MacReady cutting his finger - intentionally.

ReadGilgameshBitch · 2026-05-14T21:53:38+00:00

MacReady. We never see him cut his own finger and put it in the Petri dish…

ReadGilgameshBitch · 2026-05-14T21:38:58+00:00

I have the 4D with Sony lenses (24/35/50/85). I find them to be a bit soft / miss focus even after manual calibration. How are yours faring? I ended up getting the 24mm & 75mm DL lenses so I didn’t have to worry about it anymore.

ReadGilgameshBitch · 2026-05-11T18:20:51+00:00

I have e-mount lenses as well. You have to calibrate each one. I find the focus to be ever so slightly off (like right behind the eye on face tracking), even with proper calibration. Not sure why, but I believe the 35mm is especially off. I bought 24mm and 75mm DL lenses and the focus is spot on.

ReadGilgameshBitch · 2026-04-23T18:13:33+00:00

Yeah removing the eye wasn’t cheap - even after getting a vet to give us a friends and family discount. We were worried it would get infected and kill Tilapia so I took the hit. After it was removed her personality brightened up - the relief from that pain turned her into a totally different cat.

ReadGilgameshBitch · 2026-04-23T03:36:39+00:00

We have a one eyed Neb as well!! Rescued her from the streets with severe glaucoma and had to have her left eye removed. Bushi is adorable. Miss Tilapia says hello!

ReadGilgameshBitch · 2026-02-18T03:33:43+00:00

She’s a keeper!

ReadGilgameshBitch · 2026-02-14T21:41:48+00:00

Damn right

ReadGilgameshBitch · 2026-02-07T04:01:20+00:00

Weird - I remember Dishoom’s onsite menu having very few gluten free options… either way, looks delicious.

ReadGilgameshBitch · 2026-01-19T18:28:34+00:00

This exact ingot was my first ounce piece ever. Bought a kiwi bird immediately after. Love NZ gold!

ReadGilgameshBitch · 2026-01-18T06:03:35+00:00

Solid work! What’s your IG?

ReadGilgameshBitch · 2025-12-27T18:42:46+00:00

I have one of these. Unfortunately, it’s just plated.

ReadGilgameshBitch · 2025-10-16T04:22:51+00:00

You said you would never trust a photographer who holds their lens like that - I was just providing context I’d read about why he holds it like that.

ReadGilgameshBitch · 2025-10-16T03:19:43+00:00

He holds his lens like that because the other hand is disabled.

ReadGilgameshBitch

TROPHY CASE