As they are fond of saying in Russia these days: “The special military operation is proceeding according to plan. It’s just that it’s not our plan.” Actually, “fond” might have been the wrong word there…
But the villain, observing the match from his remote volcanic lair, feels a similar way. It’s all going as planned…but it could be going more planned. Could be more going as planned. Could be going as more planned. Arg. You know what I mean, or rather, what they mean.
Which is a good thing for the villain, since that gives them an opportunity to intervene. Which puts them back in front of the camera, so the audience doesn’t forget about them completely. And it gives them an opportunity to show off their remote volcanic lair, which is also worthwhile. It was extremely expensive to construct, after all, and is extremely diffcult to occupy, with all of the drawbacks of a remote and volcanic location. So for all of that expense and effort, at least the audience should get to see it.
Having established the need for intervention, they immediately delegate it to their right-hand man. Properly so, since that’s what a good behind-the-scenes-villain is supposed to do.
And since it’s urgent, they pick up the red phone. Which might seem outdated, but it has just so much more symbolic value than scrolling down some priority-numbers list on their mobile.
Symbolism is all it provides, anyway, since the Colonel is already kneeling behind them. That saves a lot of panels, and doesn’t really break the willing suspension of disbelief. It’s quite obvious that the Colonel would be easy to overlook.
What heinous scheme is being hatched here?
More on Monday.