Cops: Noir

Officers Colten and Bernard in Cops: Noir

Dr. RC Cola

Chief Joe

### Link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY1H1VTwV74&list=PLRXcOp9cgpCIkTvG4EjvRSGIGOtdodFP7

## Chronology

### Followed by

Cops 1/2: The Gas Crisis

*Cops: Noir* is the third video produced of the *Cops* movie series, and is the first film canonically as it serves as the prequel to *Cops 1/2: The Gas Crisis*, prequel of *Cops 1: The Murder of Mr. Willshaw.*The film has a unique tone and aesthetic loosely fitting into the film noir genre. It also uniquely features the partnership of Officer Colten and Officer Bernard providing more depth to this briefly mentioned former partnership. As of its release as the latest entry into the universe, it is seen as the highest quality production made so far.

## Plot

The video begins as Dr. Richard Cornwallis Cola (Dr RC Cola) is seen mixing chemicals in his lab stating how his plan to create a competition with nonexistent prizes coupled with his addictive drink will make him the richest man in the United States. Focus is then shifted to the cops as Colten begins narrating the strange case he was about to encounter while he and his partner, Officer Bernard, were eating some burgers at their favorite diner one night. The two are then seen walking as they exit the diner, trading stories from their time on the force. While on patrol, the cops come across a dilapidated house, and see Dr. RC Cola performing some experiments in his lab. They decide that the situation is suspicious enough to warrant further investigation, and enter the building. As they do so, Dr. Cola runs away, prompting Bernard to chase him. While this occurred Colten walked back to the diner in order to use the payphone and inform the chief that they may have an unusual crime scene. Bernard's pursuit of Cola was short lived as he quickly ran out of breath due to the burger he ate at the diner saying it "really weighed him down". Upon returning to the scene, Colten and Bernard find a piece of paper which reads, *"KILL CHILDREN, PROFIT"*, and deduce that the drink, *RC Cola,*is poisoned. Colten and Bernard then search for further evidence as Colten narrates more questioning the motive behind this criminal. The Cops are unable to find anything else that is substantial and then agree to meet the Chief in the morning since it was quite late.

At the precinct the next morning, the Cops sit down with Police Chief Joe and tell him about what they found. The two see he is drinking RC Cola and yell out to him that it is poisoned causing him to spit all over the pair. Bernard then requests that a formal statement is made warning people not to drink the Cola, however Chief Joe denies the request due to the lack of evidence which would not be enough to sway the public had also fallen in love with the drink. He then demands that the officers find more evidence before they issued a warning to the public or else they may be in, "Deep Trouble". He then tells the officers to leave so he may sell his RC Cola stocks which is the illegal act of insider trading that for some reason the officers overlooked. He then waits for the officers to leave before sipping from his cola once more When they return to the lab however, the evidence has been all but destroyed, angering Colten as he further tries to piece things together in his narration. Bernard suggests that they take some time to look over their evidence at the local Soda Bar.

When they get there, Colten has a picture of his estranged wife fall out of his hat causing him to reminisce and ask Bernard if he could ever turn back the clock to which he said "nah". Colten then tries to elaborate further but is cut off by the bartender who asks what they want to drink (after unsuccessfully trying to get Coca Cola) they order some "local cola". The two find the drink to be very tasty and then become incredibly disturbed once they realize it is RC Cola. Colten demands the bartender stop serving the drink to which he says he'll start giving out Pepsi instead. Colten says don't do that either. The Cops then get the shipping box from the bartender causing another narration from Colten as he examines the box. Bernard interrupts this narration as he finds the address of the local grocery store printed on it. Bernard and Colten then leave without paying.

At the grocery store, the Cops encounter a worker and ask him about the shipment. Bernard is able to quickly sketch a clear image of Dr. Cola from the worker's description, and discover that Dr. Cola was on his way to delivering another shipment at Mike's Market. As the worker is speaking, he is shot from behind by Dr. Cola, who is then seen fleeing in the background. Colten goes to take Bernard's car, but Bernard reveals the car is in the shop (It is a Chrysler, and was purchased despite warnings from his mechanic Scotty Kilmer). Colten and Bernard then "borrow" the two bikes nearby and begin pursuit.

They chase Dr. Cola to his house, where Bernard spots a loose bike. Not wanting it to be stolen, Bernard puts his new lock on the bike and straps it to the drainpipe, before heading into the house. Once the Officers enter, they search the house and eventually enter a small workshop. Dr. Cola confronts them and reveals his plans to become the wealthiest man in America by making his drink addictive and launching a large yet fraudulent contest, which would lead people to buy the drink in the hopes of winning a nonexistent grand prize. Colten is confused along with Bernard, as the Cops had believed he was trying to poison children, however Dr. Cola quickly dismisses the idea as horrible. The Cops quickly talk and realize that Dr. Cola still committed a crime by distributing an addictive drink and shooting the grocery worker, and continue to attempt an arrest. Dr. Cola escapes however, and starts a bomb in the room to kill the detectives and end the investigation. Bernard finds the door to leave, and after Colten shoots the lock, they go back outside, where Dr. Cola is struggling to cut the lock off his bike. He does manage to free the bike and begins to cycle away, but Bernard and Colten take their "borrowed" bikes and chase him across town. Dr. Cola and the Cops trade gunshots, however nobody winds up getting hit, and Dr. Cola then flees into his lab.

Once in the lab Bernard follows behind Colten's lead as they venture further into the labyrinth. Bernard carefully scans the area and watches their rear when Colten is shot by Cola causing Bernard to run forward into action. Bernard stops for a moment to regain his composure before further exploring the lab remaining calm as Dr. Cola's tricks and illusions attempt to unnerve him. Bernard eventually encounters Cola dodging a few shots before demanding he "come out where he can see him". Cola reveals himself and the two exchange gunfire as Bernard struggles to see him as the lights grow dim once more leading to him changing cover to avoid getting hit. Bernard then decides to pretend to be injured in order to draw out Cola into the open. This plan worked allowing Bernard to disarm and incapacitate him following his boastful monologue. Bernard arrests Cola and then takes him back to the exit finding Colten after he revealed he merely was shot in his knee pad armor. Bernard then ends the video with his own narration as the duo return to the diner another night.

## Trivia

- Cops: Noir was thought of by Jack as soon as 1/2 was completed after he was pleased with it successful creation. He thought it would be interesting to have a more serious noir version of cops originally planning to be a detective before donning the checkered suit and bowler of RC Cola.

- Every scene in the basement had to be redone after the microphone malfunctioned on the first day of filming drowning out all sound with buzzing. This extended filming to a second day and later a third as additional scenes were deemed necessary to make the video flow smoother.

- In all the scenes involving the diner and one during the initial lab investigation, Jack actually played Colten since Eric had already gone back to college. Colten's trench coat and and hat belonged to Jack so he merely wore them and had his back turned to the camera. In order to accomplish the scene where the pair are speaking as they leave the diner, the audio from a previous shoot was placed over the new footage since the original scene was filmed during the daytime.

- The RC Cola bottles used were originally sparkling water bottles purchased from Walmart. Michael created stickers that would become the new labels to transform the bottles into the desire products. Jack was with Michael when they purchased the bottles and they went back to Jacks house to discover how poorly the water tasted. They then gave the drink to each of Jacks siblings to see how they would react to the drink. The best reaction was Benny who tried to spit it back into the bottle but ended up spitting it onto the desk.

## Gallery

It's all coming togetherStumbling on the sceneCold nightThe chiefAt the barSome good colaFound the placeNever seen a man quite like himFallen right into your demiseBike chaseTraversing the LabyrinthArrested