“We need more information.” – Chief Wiggum
“Very well. It’s buried at 4723 Maple Valley Road.
[Silence]
“[Theatrical Sigh] You take Highway 201 south for fifteen minutes. You take a left . . . a left!” – Malloy
I had a long day planned today and then I had to take my mom to the emergency room at 9:30 in the morning for an infected cat bite (she’s fine), which means I get to do much of what I had planned tomorrow instead, but I wanted to note the passing of the uniquely great Sam Neill. The above quote is his last lines in the episode and transcription can’t do justice to his delivery.
He has easily outsmarted the Springfieldians, let himself get caught, and even anticipated that they would need further instructions than just “a big T”. He has out thought them at every turn, counting on their stupidity and easily manipulating them.
When they come back for more directions, he is unfazed; he hasn’t even started his escape yet. He was expecting this. He’s still ahead. “Very well”, he says all cheerful and compliant, delivering the treasure’s address with the flourish one expects from a veteran actor playing a gentleman thief.
And then, here at the very end, their stupidity breaks him. He has revealed it all with grace and charm and they’re too fucking uncomprehending to give him his satisfaction. The sigh he makes, which I tried spelling out several ways before giving up, is outstanding, a sort of downward sigh that picks up into annoyance halfway through. He goes from enjoying himself, right at the cusp of yet another flawless plan, to beyond irritated in half a syllable.
As he gives them precise directions more or less normally, he catches himself, realizing there is a good chance these people cannot tell left from right. A final insult to his dignity from the most clueless hayseeds he has ever robbed.
Goodbye, Mr. Neill, a signature actor who leaves us with so very many great performances like this one.