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Day 16 Assignment
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TITLE: Chef’s Knife
WRITTEN BY: Eric Humble
What is Your Profound Truth?
One ordinary person can change the world.
What is the Transformational Journey?
Old Ways:
-Hyperfocused on success
-Refuses to take sides – only out for himself
-Won’t propose to his pregnant girlfriend
-Intimidated by the successful people he cooks for
-Powerless in the big things — you can’t change their minds. They’re
going to do what they’re going to do.
-Only looks out for himself.
-Backstabs, betrays, whatever it takes to get ahead
Journey:
Raf cooks dinner for the President and NATO Leaders as they negotiate
peace with the Russian President… only to discover someone in his kitchen staff is plotting to poison one of the world leaders in cahoots with the original chef for the event, who is missing. He has until dessert to figure out who it is and how they’re planning to administer the poison. In the midst of this, he works alongside an old flame, the politically-vocal Natalia, who is plotting something… is she the mastermind of the poisoning plot or is she running her own (possibly deadly) game?
New Ways:
-Stand up for your beliefs
-You have to take a side
-Success is empty if it only benefits yourself
-Anyone can change the world—even you
-Your voice counts
-Commit to his fiancée
-Powerful people are only people—they only have power if you give them
power
Transformational Logline: A five-star chef who regularly cooks for powerful people but refuses to interfere in their affairs is hired to cook for a summit of world leaders as they broker a peace deal, only to discover someone in his kitchen is plotting to poison one of the world leaders, and must choose a side in order to find and stop the assassin–and influence the direction of the peace talks.
Who are Your Lead Characters?
Change Agent (the one causing the change): Natalia
Transformable Character(s) (the one who makes the change): Raf
Betraying Character (if you have one): JosephOppression: The kitchen – locked down, under heavy security, with a relentless
schedule of courses for the meal
How Do You Connect With Your Audience in the Beginning of the Movie?
Raf:
A. Relatability – They Are Us!
-Feels pressure to succeed – both internal pressure he puts on himself and pressure from his business partner
-Hesitant to make a long-term commitment in his relationship for fear that comfortable stability will cause him to lose sight of pursuing his dreams
-Intimidated by the heavy security at Camp David, frustrated by all the checkpoints violating his privacy and treating him as if he’s guilty just for being there
-Still has feelings for his ex-lover Natalia, who represents a road not taken in his life
-Intimidated by the power players he’s cooking for
B. Intrigue
-Chef Victor is missing – mysteriously – and Raf has stepped into his role. What happened to him? Will the same fate befall Raf?
-Natalia has lied about her political past and her qualifications to get this job – no easy feat with this security. What is her scheme? Does it involve Raf?
-Someone has slipped poison into certain ingredients in the pantry. Which of the cooks did it? Which ingredients? Who is their target?
-Someone has called the IRS and FBI to look into Raf’s business. There are mysterious accounts filled with money from foreign sources that he didn’t create. Someone is setting him up. Who?
C. Empathy
-Raf is poisoned. He won’t last the evening.
-Raf has to cover for Natalia even though he knows she’s lying. His old feelings are still strong.
-Raf creates a dish using the same ingredients for the previous course, because he knows they’re not poisoned – but is sharply criticized by all the powerful people at the meal. He’s humiliated and has put the whole peace deal in jeopardy.
D. Likability
-Raf is a great chef. His style of cooking and meals are tantalizing to look at. He’s been awarded Michelin stars.
-Raf is charming, funny.
-Even though he’s a known back-stabber and social climber, he’s taking the time and effort to mentor Joseph. He’s complimentary to his staff, singling them out when they do a good job.
Natalia:
A. Relatability – They Are Us!
-World traveler – has had her eyes opened from being somewhere other than the US.
-Wants to make a change in the world – sees the political system as broken but is still idealistic for the present and the future.
-Frustrated and angry that no one’s doing anything to change the world.
B. Intrigue
-She’s up to something that has her worried – but she’s more concerned about where Victor disappeared off to. How will this affect her or her plans?
C. Empathy
-In love with Victor, doesn’t know he’s dead… but we know.
-In danger of having her fake credentials figured out. NATO security comes down to question her.
D. Likability
-She’s not the assassin. Her plan is to smuggle in protesters in hopes of getting the President to listen to their plight and make a better deal.
-She’s concerned about the refugees she smuggled in – they’ve been in there too long without food. She wants to save them.
-Natalia is poisoned, about to die.
What is the Gradient of the Change?
What steps do the Transformational Characters go through as they are changing?
The “Forced Change” Emotional Gradient
Denial: Sees the warning on the knife, decides to dismiss it – he’s just a chef,
none of his business.
Challenge: Natalia has found Victor’s chef’s knife – and wants answers as to why it’s here and what the cryptic warning on it means.
Weakness: Hyperfocused on success – on keeping this job so he can
secure the next one.
Anger: He cooks the second course using the same untainted ingredients in an
effort to avoid poisoning anyone… and is lambasted publicly by the entire panel of world leaders whose lives he just saved. Enraged, he sets up a lowly line cook to be “found out” by Leiber – and thus the burden of investigating will be removed from him.
Challenge: But the line cook is a hero in his country, revered by the Moldovan President.
Weakness: He manipulates, backstabs to get ahead and avoid confronting powerful people who could destroy him.
Bargaining: He calls off the witch hunt, and enlists Natalia to help him find out more about what Victor was up to from an aide of the Russian president. He sets up a chef’s table designed to give the man a Proustian response – putting him at ease so he’ll answer Raf’s questions about Victor… but the Russian President finds out about it and beats the man to death in front of Raf. Raf then discovers Victor’s body – he’s been dead the whole time – and was killed in a heroic effort to warn his successor to take action to ensure the assassination doesn’t take place.
Challenge: The Russian President is deadly – and Raf is standing in his way.
Weakness: Intimidated by powerful people, defers to them.
Challenge: Natalia is stirring all the old feelings from when they were together.
Weakness: Won’t propose or commit to his pregnant girlfriend.
Depression: Raf is framed and caught by Leiber, gives himself up for lost. It’s all
as he has always assumed – the powerful will do what they’re going to do and if you stand up to them you’ll just be destroyed in their path.
Challenge: He’s detained, with no chance of getting back in the kitchen.
Weakness: Self-destructive
Acceptance: But he knows he has to do something – so he takes Leiber hostage and gets back into the kitchen, where he cooks a dish based on a clue he’s found in an attempt to get Natalia to tell him what’s going on. He learns she’s Victor’s lover and they had a plan in place… but it doesn’t involve poison.
Challenge: NATO security will kill him unless he proves what’s really going on here.
Weakness: Vindictive – still wants to get back at Natalia for setting him up.
Natalia herself is poisoned. Raf finally discovers her plan: to smuggle in refugees who have been hidden in the kitchen this whole time, so they could protest at the press conference following the summit. The poisoner is Leiber… and he’s already poisoned everyone at the table. The plot is to administer the antidote to all but POTUS, thus throwing the deal into chaos right at the end so a cabal of NATO underlings can make their own peace deal, which will involve handing Moldova over to Russian control. Raf beats Leiber to the punch with his own twist on the cooking, saves the President, and uses his knowledge of the cabal to pressure the Russian President into honoring the initial peace deal… and a few added measures beneficial to NATO.
What is the Transformational Structure of Your Story?
Mini-Movie 1 Status Quo and Call to Adventure
Mini-Movie 2 Locked Into Conflict
Mini-Movie 3 — Hero Tries to Solve Problem But Fails.
Mini-Movie 4 Hero Forms a Plan
Mini-Movie 5 Hero Retreats & Antagonist Wins
Mini-Movie 6 Hero’s Bigger, Better Plan!
Mini-Movie 7 Crisis & Climax
Mini-Movie 8 New Status QuoHow are the “Old Ways” Challenged?
Old Way: Hyperfocused on success
Challenge: The cook he’s setting up is honored by the President of Moldova when he hears the cook is here. The man’s a hero in his home country, even though he’s just a working man. Monetary success and power isn’t everything.
Old Way: Refuses to take sides – only out for himself
Challenge: Russian President beats one of his aides to a pulp then demands Raf cook him something special
Natalia warns him that no matter what he says, the Russian president will take Moldova
Old Way: Won’t propose to his pregnant girlfriend
Challenge: POTUS claims the most important deal he made was marrying his wife. He was a law clerk who viewed this as a pipe dream before her. Never would have achieved his potential otherwise.
Old Way: Intimidated by the successful people he cooks for
Challenge: Leiber reveals that he studied cooking —started out the same as Raf.
Raf comments on the ordinary fears and hang ups of the people at the table…they’re just people. Petty, squabbling, insecure. You don’t make deals with policy. You make them by outplaying your opponent, chess or poker style.
Old Way: Powerless in the big things — you can’t change their minds. They’re going to do what they’re going to do.
Challenge: Natalia rallies the cooks to push back against Leiber’s schedule for one of the courses… and he concedes.
Old Way: Only looks out for himself.
Challenge: The Russian aide is bleeding and Raf is supposed to get back to the kitchen. Has to leave… even as the man is begging for help. He goes back him—to find him gone, just his blood remaining.
Old Way: Backstabs, betrays, whatever it takes to get ahead
Challenge: Joseph betrays him—let’s the NATO security chief in… it positions him well for these people to owe him. He feels what he’s done to others.
A. Challenge through Questioning
Old Way: Hyperfocused on success
Question Challenge: He questions the cook who is a hero in his homeland but a pauper here; the cook challenges him: The men who leveraged their valiant actions for fortune are the ones who threaten to overtake my country. They can’t help it. You can never be content when you have power. You never have enough. I have enough.
Old Way: Refuses to take sides – only out for himself
Question Challenge: Natalia learns that he saw the Russian President beat one of his aides and possibly kill him. Raf defends walking away: I wasn’t the one who hit him! Natalia: You weren’t the one who helped him, either. Because of that, maybe no one was.
Old Way: Won’t propose to his pregnant girlfriend
Question Challenge: She calls him out: I was always afraid my dad would walk out and never come back. I’d rather this child grow up without a father than live with the uncertainty that one day he might just up and decide there’s something better out there for him than her. Or me.
Old Way: Intimidated by the successful people he cooks for
Question Challenge: Natalia details all the underhanded things POTUS has probably done to get to where he is. This is someone to be envied? To be revered? To be feared? A person only has power if you give it to them.
Old Way: Powerless in the big things — you can’t change their minds. They’re going to do what they’re going to do.
Question Challenge: Natalia challenges him: What about Joseph? And the cooks and chefs who look up to him? Can they change your mind? Are you going to do what you’re going to do to them?
B. Challenge by Counterexample
Old Way:Hyperfocused on success
Counterexample:Joseph betrays him because he cowers to the powerful men. He can’t make the change that Raf is on the cusp of making.
He uses his cooking to get the NATO head of security at ease enough to start talking… and it works – his “interference” got him what he needed. The man is still just a man, after all.
Old Way: Refuses to take sides – only out for himself
Counterexample: He later sees the other Russian aides removing the dead body of the man he saw beaten. It’s too late for him to do anything to help him.
Old Way: Won’t propose to his pregnant girlfriend
Counterexample: Sees POTUS, the most powerful man in the world, weeping with stress and embracing his wife, who holds him tenderly. Delivers a drink to him… then sees him take an insulin shot before drinking it.
Old Way: Intimidated by the successful people he cooks for
Counterexample: Leiber is powerful – but acts like a friend, even an equal.
Old Way: Powerless in the big things — you can’t change their minds. They’re going to do what they’re going to do.
Counterexample: Natalia rallies the cookstaff to get an extra hour to prepare one of the dishes in order to avoid contamination. They stand up to Leiber… and get the extra time.
Old Way: Only looks out for himself.
Counterexample: NATO head of security is looking for Natalia to question her about the irregularities of her application… and Raf shields her. It works… and he finds himself questioning his outlook.
Old Way: Backstabs, betrays, whatever it takes to get ahead
Counterexample: He has backstabbed Natalia in the past… but she doesn’t throw him under the bus when Leiber presses them on the next course—instead, she rallies the cookstaff behind him and gets Leiber to back off. Proving that democracy can work on a small scale… and showing him a world where it isn’t so cut-throat.
C. Challenge by “Should Work, But Doesn’t”
Old Way: Backstabs, betrays, whatever it takes to get ahead
Should Work, But Doesn’t: Raf makes a deal with Leiber wherein he sells out Natalia as using fake credentials, expecting that Leiber will then reinstate him in the kitchen…. But Leiber keeps him detained – and goes after Natalia.
(Twist at the end of MM5 – leading him to take Leiber hostage)
Old Way: Refuses to take sides – only out for himself
Should Work, But Doesn’t: Russian President wants to have an appetizer he can share with his aide, whom Raf has gotten info out of. The guy is in trouble because of Raf. Raf does as he’s told rather than warn the aide. At the meeting, the Russian President savagely beats the aide. Raf doesn’t lift a finger to help him… but isn’t able to shake that he’s responsible. He goes back to help the guy after a little time has passed – only to discover that the aide has died from the beating.
Old Way: Won’t propose to his pregnant girlfriend
Should Work, But Doesn’t: Usually brushes off the question of whether he’ll propose by a catchphrase. He gets her on the phone and says it to her, clinging to some semblance of his old life to get him through this ordeal, but for the first time, she doesn’t reciprocate and simply hangs up.
Old Way: Powerless in the big things — you can’t change their minds. They’re going to do what they’re going to do.
Should Work, But Doesn’t: When Leiber and the President are faltering over sacrificing Moldova in the peace agreement, the President asks his opinion… but he declines to respond because he doesn’t think he can be influential… but then after the President leaves, Leiber comments that he would have listened. Raf missed his moment, a chance that thousands would have longed to have.
Old Way: Only looks out for himself
Should Work, But Doesn’t: When he discovers Victor’s body, he wipes his prints from the scene, but leaves Natalia’s… only to find that he’s the prime suspect because of his motive. The evidence at the scene isn’t considered – and Natalia is in the clear.
Old Way: Hyperfocused on success
Should Work, But Doesn’t: He creates a dish that is designed to impress the President of Moldova, which should position him to have an “in” to open new restaurants in that country… but the President ignores him in favor of personally greeting the lowly line cook who is considered a hero in Moldova for fighting in a Resistance movement against Russian forces.
D. Challenge through Living Metaphor
Old Way: Hyperfocused on success
Living Metaphor: His paycheck
Reduces the hold of the Old Way: Leiber gives it to him “for services rendered” after he has unwittingly abetted the Russian President is beating his aide to death… and Raf feels ashamed.
Old Way: Refuses to take sides – only out for himself
Living Metaphor: Neutral flavor – a sorbet. He’s the sorbet. But left for awhile, the sorbet melts and bleeds into one of the other dishes on the plate. “If you try to
remain neutral, eventually you’ll be overtaken by one of the forces – and you’ll be
powerless to choose which one.”
Reduces the hold of the Old Way: Natalia points out this phenomenon when Raf’s non-intervention enables the Russian President to get leverage at the table.
Old Way: Won’t propose to his pregnant girlfriend
Living Metaphor: A ring that he’s bought but hasn’t given her. His excuse is that he’s deliberating over which dish to cook that he’ll hide the ring in.
Reduces the hold of the Old Way: The First Lady sees it and, assuming he’s anxious to get married, comments that all good parts are ahead of him – his real life hasn’t started yet.
Old Way: Intimidated by the successful people he cooks for
Living Metaphor: Looking powerful people in the eye and meeting their stare without looking down or away first.
Reduces the hold of the Old Way: He meets the Russian President’s stare and
doesn’t turn away… and realizes he can be as strong or powerful as the most
powerful people in the world.
Old Way: Powerless in the big things — you can’t change their minds. They’re going to do what they’re going to do.
Living Metaphor: The President of Moldova, convinced his country will be sacrificed no matter what the accords say, no matter what the Russian president promises.
Reduces the hold of the Old Way: He sees the leaders of NATO rally around the
Moldovan president, effectively shutting down the Russian President’s line of
negotiation involving annexing Moldova to Russia.
How are You Presenting Insights through Profound Moments?
A. Action delivers insight
Insight: Stand up for your beliefs
Action: Instead of taking Leiber’s “out” – his paycheck and the ability to walk away clean, Raf takes Leiber hostage to gain access back into the kitchen… in order to prove that the President is being targeted.
Insight: You have to take a side
Action: He decides to help the refugees and complete Natalia and Victor’s mission.
Insight: Success is empty if it only benefits yourself
Action: He’s offered a lucrative deal to open some restaurants across Europe, but turns it down. His life is here and he’s got a daughter on the way… but he recommends Natalia.
Insight: Anyone can change the world—even you
Action: Raf himself makes the deal for peace without Moldova in the offering – he provides the leverage POTUS doesn’t have… he’ll tell the other NATO leaders exactly what the Russian President did to them as part of his scheme, and it’ll cause a world war they’re not prepared to win.
Insight: Your voice counts
Action: Raf threatens to use his voice to tell the NATO presidents what’s been going on here.
Action: Raf goes to the gun manufacturer protest with his girlfriend and lends his voice to the cause – and his food, allowing them to stay until the media arrives.
Insight: Commit to his fiancée
Action: He gives his girlfriend some food – no ring inside. He’s got it with him, proposes – then tells her not to answer yet. Let’s go save some lives first.
Insight: Powerful people are only people—they only have power if you give them power
Action: The Russian President refuses to engage, goes to get up – but Raf treats him as a customer, not a powerful figure. He slips him a hot pepper, then shows him there’s nothing to drink but the tainted water… or the bottle of fresh water Raf has in his pocket; which he’ll only give him if he engages in the conversation.
B. Conflict delivers insight
New Way/Insight: Stand up for your beliefs
Conflict: Plan goes wrong
Conflict Uncovers a Secret: Raf sets in motion a plan to get the Russian aide talking about what he was helping Victor with and whether Victor was a Russian agent… when he realizes Natalia is after different info – about a food shipment that never arrived. Raf takes her aside and demands to know what game she’s playing here… to which she admits that she’s not going to stand aside and let this murderous regime get away with invading innocent countries and if Raf stands in her way, she’ll take him down, too. But when he goes back to the aide, he finds that the Russian President is there too.
New Way/Insight: Powerful people are only people—they only have power if you give
them power
Conflict: Public Humiliation
Conflict Uncovers an Emotional Issue: Raf uses the same ingredients for the first course to improvise a second course, since they’re the only ingredients he can trust aren’t poisoned… but all the world leaders criticize him in front of his staff. Except POTUS, who spins them all a tale about a similar dish his grandmother used to make in the suburbs of Wisconsin. His life is similar to Raf’s… he may be powerful, but he’s just an ordinary man.
New Way/Insight: Your voice counts
Conflict: Dilemma
Conflict Uncovers a Secret: Raf interrogates Natalia with Leiber watching. If she’s truthful with him, she’ll have to reveal her secret which will get her arrested by Leiber. She chooses to run – and reaches the place of her secret, a hatch where she has hidden away twenty refugees set to protest during the press conference… except they’re starving to death because Victor was murdered before he could smuggle the food in. They’ve risked everything to make their voices heard.
New Way/Insight: Success is empty if it only benefits yourself
Conflict: Power struggle
Conflict Uncovers an Emotional Issue: Raf defends his betrayal of Natalia by citing his need to get ahead. She shows him what she’s accomplished for peace in Europe during her exile. He gets angry… then realizes it’s shame. The fulfilling work is found at the foot of the mountain, not at the top.
New Way/Insight: Betrayal is never the answer
Conflict: Falsely accused
Conflict Brings Out the True Nature: Raf calls the security forces to the attention of the cook who is a hero in Moldavia, hoping that once they arrest him they’ll uncover the poisoning plot and leave him out of it. But Natalia reveals her false credentials in an effort to distract the security forces away from the cook. Raf is gob-smacked that she would throw herself on her sword just to stop this from happening… and realizes that betraying the man is a shameful thing; that he’s got to find another way to bring this to the attention of security… but first, he has to intervene before the security team catches on to Natalia.
C. Irony delivers insight
New Way/Insight: Stand up for your beliefs
Irony: The Russian President goads Raf into calling security, because he’s not supposed to be in the kitchen area, but Raf believes that it wouldn’t do any good. The Russian President beats his aide to death. Turns out security was willing to stop him.
New Way/Insight: You have to take a side
Irony: Raf won’t take sides in an argument between Leiber and the Head of NATO Security in an effort to remain neutral and not rock the boat. His neutrality causes everyone to be locked down, even the cooks assigned to leave to obtain fresh ingredients. He would have been able to get fresh food instead of the potentially tainted food had he picked a side.
New Way/Insight: Success is empty if it only benefits yourself
Irony: Leiber pays him off – his huge paycheck plus a meeting with one of the NATO heavy-hitters to talk about bringing his restaurants into their country, as promised… but Raf now sees the paycheck as blood money, a pay off. He can’t accept it, has to see this through even if it ruins his career.
New Way/Insight: Anyone can change the world—even you
Irony: Raf sets up the ordinary cook to take the blame for Victor’s death and remove Raf from the situation… only to discover that the man is a hero when the President of Moldova stops down to shake his hand. Raf has been assuming the man was just a cook, and a low-rated one at that – in fact, he’s the highest-profile member of the kitchen, including Raf!
New Way/Insight: Commit to his fiancée
Irony: He gets his cell and manages to call his fiancee, needing to ask her for help – but she’s so angry at him for their fight and his unwillingness to commit that she won’t speak to him. His only method of escape is a dead end.
What are the Most Profound Lines of the Movie?
Pattern A: Height of the EmotionDiscovers Victor’s body
Essence of the deep meaning: Raf not only realizes his assumption that Victor is behind all this is wrong, but accepts that Victor was always the better man.
Height of the emotion: Raf rants, in denial… until the tragedy of it sinks in and he looks at his old rival’s corpse with tears streaking his face.
Line: I tip my hat to you, chef.
Confronts Natalia about her relationship with Victor, discovers Victor is her lover.
Essence of the deep meaning: She’s lost her lover and soul mate and can’t keep it hidden any longer.
Height of the emotion: Raf cooks the dish using the ingredients from the list, assuming they’re the tainted ones. He locks himself, Natalia, and Leiber (whom he has taken hostage at gunpoint) in the pantry and interrogates her about what the list means – what is she up to with Victor?! She resists until he brings out the dish he’s cooked, expecting her to admit it’s poisoned. Instead, she breaks down. He demands to know where Victor is. She retorts: he’s gone! Raf demands to know where. She doesn’t know. Then how does she know he’s gone? She points to the dish.
Line: You just told me. The aroma. To you, it’s rich, earthy, with an edge of tang. To me, it’s Morse code for “forget me.” It’s a Proustian moment. I smell this, and I’m back in upstate New York, four years ago, at a farmer’s market, alone in this country. Until I look up – and there’s Victor. He looks in my bag and sees these exact ingredients. I tell him I have no recipe, no plan for them. He invents the dish for me. It’s a marriage vow. Never to be cooked again unless it’s goodbye. (She takes a bite.) This is what losing your soul tastes like.
Raf sees that the Russian President has killed the aide when the other aides are carrying out the body
Essence of the deep meaning: Raf feels shame that he allowed the man to be killed.
Height of the emotion: Raf sees the bodyguards escorting the aide out and notices the aide’s feet dragging and head hanging limp. He’s dead. Raf calls out for the bodyguards to let him go – rushes toward them… when another bodyguard comes up from behind and drops Raf to his knees. He watches as the other guards hustle the body toward the door.
Line: Take him home. He misses the srliki.
Natalia stirs up the cookstaff to push back against Leiber’s rigid schedule
Essence of the deep meaning: Leiber is driving the kitchen to serve the next course in a wildly unreasonable timeframe in order to get the dessert (and antidote) served on time. Natalia stages an uprising despite Raf’s concern that they can’t push back against authority.
Height of the emotion: Natalia takes off her apron.
Line: I answer to the chef.
Raf sees that the cook he set up is a hero in his country when the Moldovan President stops into the kitchen to pay his respects.
Essence of the deep meaning: Raf realizes that greatness is in ordinary
people, not necessarily “important” people.
Height of the emotion: Leiber is about to find the false evidence Raf has
planted. Meanwhile, the President of Moldova is complimenting him.
Line: Heroes aren’t found at the apex. They’re at the foot of the mountain.
Pattern B: Build Meaning Over Multiple Scenes
Line 1: Compliments to the chef.
BEGINNING OF ARC: Raf tries one of Victor’s recipes, thinking it won’t be palatable. But he enjoys it—and says “Compliments to the chef.”
MIDDLE OF ARC: Raf uncovers the plot to poison someone during dinner. The plan is clever and all signs point to Victor as the culprit. Derisively: “Compliments to the chef.”
END OF ARC: Raf discovers Victor’s body, realizes he’s not only not the guilty party but has been a genuine hero. “My compliments, chef.”
Line 2: They’re VIPs. They’re untouchable.
BEGINNING OF ARC: Raf instructs Joseph not to stand up to the demands of the rich clientele. “They’re VIPs. VIPs are untouchable.”
MIDDLE OF ARC: Leiber demands the next course be served ahead of schedule—the talks have stalled. Raf knows it won’t be ready in time, but Natalia is pushing him to fight back. “They’re VIPs. They’re untouchable.”
END OF ARC: Raf petitions POTUS to give the refugees asylum before the NATO head of security arrests them. “They’re VIPs. They’re untouchable.”
Line 3: Use your voice.
BEGINNING OF ARC: Raf disparages his girlfriend as she’s organizing a protest outside a gun manufacturing plant. He changes the subject to the upcoming job–where he speaks passionately about world cuisine. She tells him: “You have a voice. It’d be nice to hear you use it once in awhile.”
MIDDLE OF ARC: Raf disparages Natalia for her political stance, wanting to change the world for the better. He doesn’t believe this can be done. Natalia tells him she understood why he did what he did to shove her out of a crucial job that advanced his career. She might have done the same if she were in his shoes. That’s not why she left him for Victor. She left him because “You cook, but not to express yourself. You make moves, but only to change your world, not the world. You have thoughts, but you keep them trapped in here (points to his head) and here (points to his heart). I can only be with someone who puts voice to his convictions.”
END OF ARC: The Russian President tries to order him out when Raf takes over negotiations, and Raf snaps at him: “Shut up. Since I’m the only one with anything worthwhile to say, the only voice that gets to speak right now is mine.”
How Do You Leave Us With A Profound Ending?
A. Deliver The Profound Truth Profoundly
Raf makes the deal for the President, honoring the original agreement and then some.
He and Natalia are invited to a ceremony at the White House – even though they’ve been sworn to secrecy. Raf is offered a network with the biggest NATO investors. He doesn’t take it – he knows now that he can make enough of a difference right where he is. Recommends Natalia.
B. Lead Characters Ending Represents The Change
Raf makes the deal with the Russian president. He puts the pressure on him – will tell the others – has, in fact, prepared an after-dinner cocktail that spells it out. Doesn’t allow the Russian president to intimidate him – right now, you’re just a customer and this is my kitchen.
Natalia is hesitant to do something beyond her charity because there is no worthy successor now that Victor is dead, but Raf jumps in and starts pitching her on ideas for distribution – has some connections, powerful people who are regulars there. Next time he’s in, I’ll talk to him. “And if he doesn’t go for it?” Raf: “I’ll keep asking until I find someone who will.”
She accepts the offer to open a restaurant in Paris, knowing that her organization is in good hands.
C. Payoff Key Setups
Ending: Raf makes the deal with the Russian president. Pressures him. Has POTUS in his corner. It will be just a retreat – no getting Moldova to save face.
-In doubt: By the time dessert rolls around, POTUS commits to the treaty – an end to hostilities, and Russia gets Moldova. This crushes the Moldovan president to see his NATO colleagues throw him under the bus.
-In doubt: MM4 – he uses food to get information out of the NATO head of security – and it doesn’t work. These are important things with important people, and he’s just the cook. You can’t stand up to power. He should have kept his head down and known his place.
-In doubt: he finds the refugees – they prepared a robust protest, a pitch to the president. But they’re weak from a month without food. They can’t present themselves like this.
-In doubt: Joseph turns him in – lets the NATO head of security into the kitchen. Because you can’t stand up to people in power. They threatened his family, his career, and threw jail time at him.
D. Surprising, But Inevitable
SETUPS FOR TWISTS:
MM1: It’s billed as a G7 Energy Summit to address to the oil crisis, a result of Russia’s war with Ukraine and NATO boycotting Russian oil.
But when he gets there, the security is stricter than he imagined – because, secretly, the Russian president has arrived to negotiate peace, with POTUS as NATO’s lead negotiator. This is a much higher-stakes gathering than anyone knew… and the locked-down security isn’t playing around.
Leiber is POTUS’s advisor, constantly pushing that POTUS cannot let Russia invade Moldova or position itself to invade as part of the peace deal. But in actuality, Leiber is plotting to kill POTUS just before the treaty is signed so he and a cabal of NATO officials can renegotiate – and hand Moldova to Russia in exchange for Russia’s oil.
SETUPS FOR REAL ENDING:
Raf’s business partner talks about how Raf got up the courage to pitch him once when he was a line cook – and it led to this four-star restaurant. But Raf hasn’t had to sell himself since.
POTUS is conflicted about the deal, but his advisors – Leiber chief among them – advises that not letting Russia invade Moldova is what’s best for the world.
The drunken president of Moldova rails against the NATO leaders, accusing them of publicly pledging support but privately sharpening their knives to throw his country at Russia as a pawn to save their own economies.
The ultimate peace deal is the arrangement stated at the outset – that the world leaders won’t allow the Russian president to invade the country of Moldova… but we throw that into jeopardy when the plan becomes evident that POTUS will be killed and a separate accord signed allowing the opposite. It’s up to Raf, an ordinary person, to thwart the whole plan and back the Russian president down. But his journey is to go from someone who believes an ordinary person can’t change anything when it comes to rich and powerful people to someone who believes an ordinary person can change the world, so the journey is indicating that it’s possible.
E. Leave Us with a Profound Parting Image/Line
SETUP: In MM1, he disparages his girlfriend for organizing a protest outside a local NRA office in the wake of a recent shooting. Nothing’s going to change, and the rally’s going to disperse when people finally get too cold and go home, just like it always does – because the bigwigs inside use their influence to hold up the media until the crowd is gone.
PAYOFF: His girlfriend and a group of people huddle in the cold outside the office building, with a bullhorn and signs. From inside, the CEO dismisses them – they’ll disperse soon; look at them. Everyone’s cold, tired, and hungry… Orders his TV network contact to wait until there’s only a few of them, then send the news crew they were promised…
…but Raf shows up with a fleet of vans bringing hot coffee and food. Media will be here soon – get ready to give ‘em hell.
We see he has a ring case in his hand, which he pockets. His girlfriend wants to know what he wanted to talk about. Raf: It can wait. Go change the world first.
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