Moira Urges Cormac to Reclaim the Don’s Position

Moira’s appeal to Cormac MacKay to become Don turns a private conversation into a choice between family power and the possibility of escape. With Mickey MacFarland in control after killing Cormac’s father, Moira urges Cormac to fight for the family’s leadership; Scarlet O’Bannon challenges them to imagine a life outside crime. Cormac can picture that life, but concludes that he has no alternative to pursuing the position.

Setting and Immediate Context

The appeal comes after Moira brings food and wine to the group in hiding. The meal is an unusually generous one compared with what Cormac and Scarlet have eaten over the preceding days. For a short while, they concentrate on eating and drinking; once that reprieve ends, the gathering settles into a more serious conversation. Cormac sits in a chair while Moira and Scarlet sit on the couch, placing the three together around the table as the discussion turns to the future of the family.

Moira’s fidgeting signals that she has something difficult to say. Cormac recognizes the habit from her childhood and from other occasions when she has been eager to share an idea. Here the gesture precedes a blunt announcement: their father is dead. Moira tries to present the fact as though it does not affect her, but her voice betrays the effort. Her grief and anger are not separate from her appeal; they give it urgency.

Moira's Appeal for the Don's Position

Moira identifies the immediate political consequence of her father’s death: the family needs a new Don, and Mickey has taken control. She describes Mickey’s rise as illegitimate and insists that Cormac must do whatever is necessary to regain the position for the family. Her appeal explicitly includes fighting and killing, making clear that she understands the succession struggle as a violent contest rather than a title that can be claimed peacefully.

Her case is personal as well as political. Moira recalls that Mickey, their cousin, had made unwanted advances toward her when they were children. She also says she witnessed him kill her father. Those disclosures place her hostility to Mickey alongside the recent loss of her father and her fear of his rule. She invokes what her father would have wanted, presenting Cormac’s pursuit of the Don’s position as a duty to both the family and the dead man’s wishes. Cormac immediately agrees with her, affirming that he shares the goal she has laid out.

Scarlet's Alternative

Scarlet responds by naming the conflict plainly: Cormac and Moira are discussing violence and crime in front of an FBI agent. Her posture has become that of an interviewer questioning a suspect; she leans forward, and her tightly clasped hands show the strain behind her challenge. She reminds Cormac that she had tried to warn him earlier, at the supermarket, and now argues that the situation offers both of them a chance to leave their criminal lives.

Scarlet’s appeal to Moira is especially direct. Though the two women have known one another for less than a week, Scarlet urges her to imagine a life free of violence and hiding. She speaks of freedom as a genuine possibility, not merely a rebuke to Cormac’s ambition. After the group calms down, Scarlet softens her tone and admits that she likes Cormac and would want to date him in another life. She suggests ordinary shared activities, including going to the movies, as an alternative to the life they are leading. Her words expose the personal cost of Cormac’s choice: leaving is not only a hypothetical escape from danger but also a possible future with Scarlet.

Cormac's Decision and the Scene's Turn

Cormac closes his eyes and imagines that ordinary future. He pictures walking beside Scarlet near a river, dressed for a conventional date, and sharing an apartment where they watch television. He even imagines going to work as a mechanic. These details make the alternative concrete: it has a setting, routines, and a kind of work, rather than existing as an abstract promise to abandon crime.

But the imagined life cannot displace the image of Mickey occupying their father’s desk and giving orders to his men. The contrast returns Cormac to the succession struggle. He tells Scarlet that he has to become Don and that there is no other option. Moira’s appeal has thus received his explicit assent, while Scarlet’s offer has made the rejected alternative visible. Scarlet responds by getting to her feet and asking Moira about the bedrooms; Moira quietly directs her down the hall. The practical exchange ends the argument without resolving its emotional division. In the scene, Cormac’s ability to imagine escape is real, but his decision to pursue power takes precedence over it.