Honestly, I didn’t want to write anything about the ending of There Will Be Blood until the film is in theaters. The holidays are tough enough–I really, really don’t need the spoiler brigade on my ass to add to it. But this post by Craig Kennedy reminded me of a conversation I had earlier today with Paul and Kevin, and I have to get the thought out before it goes away. Noting that P.T. Anderson’s film currently carries a 100% Fresh rating amongst Cream of the Crop critics on Rotten Tomatoes, Craig writes:

I’m only skimming reviews until I finish my own, but one theme keeps popping up in review after review: On the surface, There Will Be Blood is unlike anything Anderson has done before…It’s like watching a runner sprinting at the limit of his ability when, just before the finish line, he kicks into another gear you didn’t even know he had and he surges ahead of the pack. It’s exhilarating.

It’s true that Anderson’s previous films were essentially ensemble pieces, which There Will Be Blood is not. And as a director, Anderson seems to have matured, in that he seems less interested than ever in showing off. But “unlike anything Anderson has done before”? I don’t think that’s true at all.

Just on a thematic level, There Will Be Blood is full of ideas that have run consistently through each and every one of PTA’s films: male bonding/friendship, real vs. ad hoc families, power struggles between children and parents/brothers and sisters, faith, the material world vs. the spiritual/divine, etc. And in terms of execution, there’s a lot more to say that could give something away, but for the time being, I’ll leave it at this: the much-talked about final scene of There Will Be Blood? The one that more than a few people have characterized as going “off the rails”? In tone, subject, and narrative purpose, it’s just not all that different from a scene from Anderson’s second film, which I’ve embedded above. That one was simultaneously funny, tragic, and scary, too.