Arka Mukhopadhyay
Imagine ‘Titanic,’ but with sharks instead of icebergs. Helmed by Finnish director Renny Harlin, 1999 science fiction horror thriller venture ‘Deep Blue Sea’ presents a ghastly tale of a lab experiment gone wrong. A covert lab in the middle of the ocean is researching mako sharks to harvest a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. But when the test subjects take control of the premises, humans find themselves at the bottom of the food chain. Saffron Burrows, Thomas Jane, LL Cool J, and Samuel L. Jackson act in central roles in this sprawling and amply explosive horror thriller. The ending is well-rounded, but some questions require further probing. If these questions plague you, let us decipher the story. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Deep Blue Sea Plot Synopsis
A pair of couples are having fun on a boat, but a sudden shark attack spills water on their fun. Sharpshooter harpooner Carter Blake comes to the rescue. On the next day, the tale of test mako sharks running amok makes a newspaper headline. To give you a context, the shark that perpetrated the previous attack is part of a research project by Susan McAlester and Jim Whitlock. They are working on a cure for Alzheimer’s from the brain protein of the animal, a cure which they claim to obliterate brain degeneration.
The real story begins after mountaineer and corporate executive Russell Franklin comes to the research facility for a private tour. Marine biologist Janice Higgins shows him around the premises. There are three test sharks in the facility, two first-generation and a second-generation female. Most of the lab is submerged underwater and surrounded by titanium wires. The lab crew moreover comprises engineer Tom Scoggins and in-house cook Sherman “Preacher” Dudley.
A storm is coming, and a shortage of time compels the researchers to skip a few trials. When the researchers ask for samples to conduct the final trial, a shark needs to be retrieved from the water. Carter dives underwater to neutralize the sharks, but they seem intelligent enough to take out the security cameras and lights that light up the underwater corridor. However, Carter manages to bring one shark to the underwater lab, and Susan takes a protein sample from its brain.
They pass the trial with flying colors, but this is precisely when the horror begins. Jim loses his hand while congratulating the shark, and the others call for a rescue team. In the blinding storm, the rescue helicopter is already in a perilous situation, and when the sharks intervene, it crashes into the facility, blowing half of it. The others die one after another, while Carter, Preacher, and Susan live to take down the final shark.
Deep Blue Sea Ending: Is Susan Dead or Alive?
Susan McAlester is undoubtedly an accomplished biologist, but her methods are questionable. After the visceral episode of Jim Whitlock’s tragic death, the others sense that the sharks are intelligent. Susan divulges to the rest of the team that she violated the Harvard Compact by genetically modifying the sharks for her research. Susan does everything in her accord to save her test subjects, but she has to face harsh resentment in the process.
When the situation spirals out of control (and it does not take much for the research facility to turn into a diabolical firepit, other than a few intelligent sharks), Susan chooses to take the situation into her own hands. Susan kills a shark with her own hands. In the end, the two first-generation sharks are killed, but the second-generation female tries to escape the fenced facility. The night is over, but the aquatic monsters are yet to be contained.
When Susan tells Carter that they have to kill the female, Carter amusingly remarks that this is perhaps the most sensible thing Susan said in a while. Carter gets ready with the harpoon and comes up with an elaborate plan. When Carter would shoot down the shark, Susan would have to connect the other end of the harpoon with the positive side of the battery. Hopefully, this ordeal would generate enough shock to take the shark out.
But concluding that they are missing a bait to lure the shark into the trap, Susan risks her own life. She cuts her hand to shed some blood into the water and jumps into the water herself. The shark is an animal driven by the smell of blood, and the female shark deviates her attention from the fence to Susan. In the blink of an eye, we see Susan’s body getting torn apart. Therefore, it seems that Susan barters her own life to annihilate her own Frankenstein.
How Were the Sharks Killed?
There are three sharks in the story, but it becomes apparent that it only takes three intelligent sharks to demolish a high-security research lab. Despite their CGI appearance, the mako sharks bring out the horror element of the story. The whole story centers on a biological experiment on sharks gone wrong, and while they take quite a few lives in the course of the narrative, all of them die at the end of the story. Midway into the film, Preacher assails one of the ghastly creatures with a visceral explosion, thanks to the cook’s oven. Later still, Susan is cornered by one of the sharks, and she takes it down by combining her presence of mind with handy electric wires.
By the time the movie comes to an end, only the second-generation female shark remains to be slaughtered. The shark is on the verge of escaping into the seas, and it must be contained. Susan becomes a martyr in the process, while a wounded Preacher comes to the rescue. His aim is not unfaltering, and he ends up shooting the harpoon into the hand of Cater. But he also manages to hit the dorsal fin of the shark. In the meantime, the creature gets past the fence, but Preacher is fast to connect the other end of the harpoon to the battery, and the shark blows up. As the water turns crimson, we can be certain that the last shark is killed off as well.
Is The Parrot Dead or Alive?
Apart from the brilliant human cast ensemble, the cursing parrot of Preacher gives us some comic relief. Shortly before the flooding, the parrot flees from Preacher. Afterward, he is taken aback by the seawater flooding into the premises. Preacher goes looking for his parrot friend and comes into the kitchen. The sighting of a fin diverts Preacher’s attention. Preacher tries to climb up a storage shelf in an attempt to save his life, but unbeknownst to him, the parrot was resting above the shelf. When he hangs from the shelf, the parrot takes a flight and goes into the shark’s mouth. The shelf falls on Preacher, but he manages to take care of the situation in the end. However, the parrot, by then, is dead as a doornail.
Is Preacher Dead or Alive?
Preacher is a compelling character who ties the story together. LL Cool J acts in the role with a comic fervor, which balances out the otherwise horrific narrative to an extent. He is god-fearing, cooks a sumptuous meal, and explains Einstein’s relativity theory better than professors at Caltech. After things take a wrong turn, he is compelled to make his own journey through the flooded corridors of the research facility before meeting the rest of the team.
However, the audiences may wonder whether Preacher is dead or alive by the end of the movie. When the surviving members of the team decide to swim their way to higher grounds, Preacher is attacked by the female shark. However, he is rescued in the nick of time, and despite injuries, he seems to be alive till the end of the movie. Also, in a nearly impossible feat, Preacher takes down two of the sharks.
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