Object

Vodka (Offered by Marco Arlens)

Marco Arlens casually offers vodka to C.J. amid pouring rain at Dayton airport's Terminal A, pairing it with a cracker as impromptu comfort during their reunion banter. The suggestion hangs unspoken—no bottle appears—but it punctuates Toby's interrupted briefing and C.J.'s divided attention, her wry deflection underscoring the pull between past familiarity and looming duty. Mr. Cregg and Ms. Lapham stand nearby as Marco probes her vulnerability about her father.

2 appearances

Purpose

Alcoholic beverage offered to provide comfort and ease social tension

Significance

Marco's gesture creates a brief humanizing respite for C.J., highlighting her craving for normalcy amid family fears and professional demands; it foreshadows her choice between private life and national obligation

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

2 moments

S4E13 · The Long Goodbye

Old Friend, Avoided Burden

The vodka is an offered comfort: Marco casually suggests vodka-and-a-cracker as a tonic for reunion fear. Though no bottle appears, the offer functions narratively as a small, humane salve and an invitation to companionship and avoidance.

Before: Only verbally proposed; no physical bottle present in the scene.

After: Remains unconsumed and hypothetical — a proposed ritual that signals camaraderie but not enacted comfort in this moment.

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S4E13 · The Long Goodbye

Old Punk Flames — Safety in Numbers

Marco's offered vodka operates as an imagined comfort: a symbolic, offhanded balm for reunion anxiety. The bottle itself is not shown, but the offer functions dramatically to propose intimacy, lower defenses, and create a 'safety in numbers' rationale.

Before: Not physically present; mentioned as a hypothetical/anticipated purchase or gesture.

After: Remains unconsumed/unrealized during the scene; functions as a social promise rather than an executed action.

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