One of the joys of watching Hamilton at home
is having the chance to discover little moments
of genius hidden away in the musical.
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers, I'm Jan and in
this video I'm going to reveal how one small
character plays a big part in tying the whole
show together and highlights the musical's
major themes.
Just before we begin, I want to thank the
sponsor of this video, Squarespace.
More on why they're a great place to build
a website at the end.
One of the ensemble characters, known as "The
Bullet", plays a secret role in foreshadowing
Alexander Hamilton's ultimate fate, and she
also heralds doom for many of the other characters
she interacts with.
The Bullet's first significant moment that
highlights her association with mortality
comes at the end of King George's song "You'll
Be Back".
Here, she appears as a spy who ends up being
killed by a British soldier.
And an interesting detail to note is that
Alexander Hamilton is there, watching in the
background when it happens.
But The Bullet's earliest interaction with
Hamilton actually happens in the show's first
song.
Now, to understand her significance, we need
to look at both how she moves and when because
the majority of the musical is tightly choreographed,
with each dancer's moves tied to specific
lyrics, and as choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler
has said, every movement on stage "furthers
the story in some way".
So, it's intriguing that after Burr raps about
Hamilton "plannin for the future",
Hamilton passes a book to the Bullet, a hint
she'll play an important role in his future;
then for a split second, the whole ensemble
point a finger towards the sky, in a move
that's repeated throughout the show and foreshadows
Hamilton with his gun at the end.
The Bullet also pops up significantly during
"Stay Alive" where she carries a bullet fired
by a redcoat towards Hamilton.
This time the bullet just misses him, though
it's a sinister nod to Hamilton's doomed encounter
with her during the show's final duel where
Aaron Burr's shot hits its target.
In the song "Yorktown", the Bullet teams up
with John Laurens to kill a redcoat, after
which they congratulate each other with a
handshake.
Unfortunately for Laurens, his interaction
with the Bullet signals his downfall and,
shortly before the end of the first act, Hamilton
receives news that his friend died in a gunfight
with retreating British soldiers.
Interestingly, "Yorktown" isn't the first
time the Bullet takes notice of Laurens though.
She actually already had her eye on him back
during the show's second song, "Aaron Burr,
Sir", when she stood watching him rap "I'm
John Laurens in the place to be!"
after which she took a seat at the table behind
him as he rapped about how he was going to
take down the redcoats.
In Act II, the Bullet's connection to death
and demise grows even stronger, as she begins
to speak directly to the main characters,
sometimes guiding them toward their fate.
In the song "Blow Us All Away", the Bullet
tells Philip Hamilton where he can find George
Eacker, who publicly disparaged his father
Alexander during a Fourth of July speech.
♪ I saw him just up Broadway
A couple of blocks ♪
♪ He was going to see a play ♪
That leads to Philip's ill-fated duel with
Eacker who ends up mortally wounding him.
There's a couple of intriguing things to note
about this scene.
Fittingly, just before Philip is shot, the
Bullet walks directly behind him.
And it's also a neat little irony that as
Philip flirts with the women early on in the
scene, he's unwittingly flirting with death.
The Bullet also sets in motion the events
that lead Burr to his deadly confrontation
with Hamilton.
During "The Election of 1800", she chimes
in with those supporting Burr.
"I like that Aaron Burr."
"I can't believe we're here with him."
Burr is convinced he will win, but when Hamilton
opposes him to support Jefferson instead,
Burr's election chances are dashed, setting
him on his path to finally confront Hamilton.
And in "Your Obedient Servant", not only does
the Bullet carry Burr's desk on stage, but
she also gives him the quill he uses to write
the letters to Hamilton that end in their
deadly duel.
The Bullet completes her arc by bringing death
to the musical's protagonist when she appears
just as Burr fires his gun during his final
face-off with Hamilton.
As Hamilton begins his soliloquy, she gradually
edges towards him, however, the ensemble prevent
her from fully reaching him.
Still, as they lift her up and Hamilton revolves
around the stage, she keeps the bullet pointed
at him, signalling that although the moment
is being temporarily delayed, he cannot avoid
his fate.
Or as Ariana DeBose, who plays the Bullet,
has said, "You can look at the final duel
in a couple different ways.
We're slowing the bullet down to give Hamilton
time to say everything he wants to say, or
we're saying,
'This is it.
It's inevitable.
It's happening, so you can stare it right
in the face.'"
Curiously, the Bullet is pulled away as Eliza
enters the scene, perhaps a nod to the fact
that Eliza keeps Hamilton figuratively alive
by doing everything she can to preserve his
legacy after he dies.
This fits nicely with the musical's major
themes, in other words, its mediation on death
and what's left behind, that is, legacy.
"What if this bullet is my legacy?
Legacy."
Indeed, the whole show is like a two-and-a-half-hour
memento mori, a reminder of the inevitability
of death and transience of life, something
Hamilton was obsessed with.
As Miranda's said of himself and Hamilton,
"the ticking clock of mortality is loud in
both our ears, and it sets us to work."
There are also several other important Bullet
moments worth looking out for in the show.
When the Ensemble form a line beside Hamilton
during "Ten Duel Commandments", ominously,
the Bullet is right next to him when they
sing "Pick a place to die".
♪ Pick a place to die
Where it's high and dry ♪
She then turns to face him and dances alongside
him as the song continues with several more
ominous lines, including "Leave a note for
your next of kin [...] Pray that hell or heaven
lets you in."
♪ Leave a note for your next of kin
Tell 'em where you been ♪
♪ Pray that hell or heaven lets you in ♪
And fittingly, she's also dancing close by
him when he sings the 9th rule
"Look 'em in the eye, aim no higher"
which foreshadows the plot perfectly because
Hamilton ignores that rule twice and each
time it ends in death: first his son's, and
then his own.
The fact characters are constantly dancing
around with death in the show makes me think
she fits within the medieval concept of the
Danse Macabre,
aka The Dance of Death, which was a reminder
of the power and universality of death.
The connection between the Bullet and Hamilton
during this song takes on even more meaning
as it's yet another way that "Ten Duel Commandments"
sets up the show's climactic combat between
Hamilton and Burr;
which it also does by having them act as seconds
for Laurens and Lee during this earlier duel,
thus creating a parallel between the two moments.
The Bullet's interaction with King George
is also interesting because she's the one
who tells him about John Adams becoming the
next president.
"What?
John Adams?"
And with Adams' rise to power comes the decline
of Hamilton's political reputation and career.
♪ Adams fires Hamilton ♪
♪ Hamilton publishes his response ♪
♪ Sit down, John, you fat mother!
♪
Much earlier in the musical, while Hamilton
is musing over when his death will come in
the song "My Shot",
significantly the Bullet is the last of the
ensemble to unfreeze:
♪ We roll like Moses
Claimin' our promised land ♪
Ariana DeBose, who plays the Bullet, has said
about her role that,
"It's really intense for me because I always
know I'm aiming for him—even if the rest
of the ensemble members don't.
So even if I'm just a lady in a ballgown at
a party, there's still a part of my character
that knows that that moment is going to come."
The genius of the Bullet is that, although
Hamilton frets over his legacy and when he'll
die,
both he and we don't fully take in the subtle
ways the Bullet has been foreshadowing his
fate until the very end when, of course, everyone
sees her clearly.
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So, what other characters or moments do you
most appreciate in Hamilton?
Let me know in the comments below!
By the way, a big shout-out to everyone who
mentioned The Bullet and requested this video
on my previous Hamilton videos.
And if you enjoyed this, don't forget to subscribe
and leave a thumbs-up.
To learn more about all the other amazing
details in the musical and how the show changed
history, tap left for my full Hamilton playlist.
Or tap right for something else you're sure
to like.
Thanks for watching and see ya next time.
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers!
