Headscratchers / Baby Driver

As a Headscratchers subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

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• The final scene of the movie implies that Baby is out on parole after 5 years of imprisonment, and can finally take Debora on that trip to "head west on the 20, in a car we can't afford, with a plan we don't have." However, parolees aren't allowed to leave the state without special permission from their parole officer, so that plan seems unlikely now.
  • That was a fantasy about how they wanted to escape their lives. Now he's free and she has something to stay for they don't need to drive off to search for something better.
• Also, when the witnesses are on stand, where are the guys that Baby and Deborah robbed for their Dodge? That is probably the only crime in which Baby was actually a criminal and not forced to commit, making his parole more complicated to achieve.
  • Although it's never stated that stealing the Dodge wasn't included in the sentence. Also, maybe after hearing that Baby was trying to outrun a madman, the guys dropped the charges.
  • Perhaps the final montage only showed Baby's character witnesses and not the victims?
• So why did Baby end up intentionally botching the job? Like intentionally killing Bats and putting Darling in a situation where she's killed? I get that it's one job too many for him, but I doubt outright killing your teammates is the right way to go about it.
  • It was clearly a spur-of-the-moment decision. Baby already had a strong dislike towards Bats and him murdering a security guard in cold blood pushed things too far.
  • Not to mention Bats had hit Baby in the face and pointing a shotgun at it, in addition to earlier threatening Debora. Also due to not being a experienced killer, Baby would never get as good a opportunity to kill Bats. And Darling was completely out of his control and largely her own fault.
• Why did Baby agree to the post office job the gun-buying shoot-out? He wants to leave with Deborah and Doc wants to cancel. Why not tell the truth about Bats shooting first and then vote against it?
  • I think the implication is that he is scared that Bats might take it out on him, certainly not out of character, or maybe even return to the diner out of spite. But if he can keep Bats at the hideout for a few hours, he might get a headstart with Deborah. Bats is clearly a liability, and Doc shouldn't have had him anywhere near the heist in the first place, but here he is and Buddy just sided with him, against all common sense, and he already has it in for Baby.
  • Moreover, Doc had already threatened Deborah if Baby didn't come through. While it was possible that Doc wouldn't take it out on her if Baby refused after Bats screwed the pooch, Baby couldn't be certain.
• Why was the Michael Myers/Mike Myers mix up such a big deal to the rest of the crew? It's a funny little mid-robbery aside, but at the end of the day a mask is a mask and either one would serve the same purpose.
  • Because A, they're frustrated with the guy's stupidity, even though it doesn't affect much, which happens plenty in real life, and B. it ruins the vibe; Michael Myers masks are cold and emotionless, so they scare people well. Mike Myers masks are at best ironic, and the "smiling heist mask," is cliche at this point.
    • The Austin Powers masks also have their vision obscured on the sides by the glasses, whereas Michael Myers wouldn't. It's not much, but it doesn't take much, either.
  • I imagine that almost every costume store in the country sells Micheal Myers masks. On the other hand, mike myers masks are a much more niche item. When the cops start investigating the robbery one of the things they can do is check local costume stores to see if they can find where the masks where purchased. One can imagine that only a few stores would have recently sold or even had Mike Myers masks. This is the same reason Doc told them to not buy them all in one place
• Even with its 4 wheel drive, could a 1985 Chevy Blazer really outpush a 2011 Dodge Charger?
  • Chevy Blazers were not sold with big-blocks. However, the truck does appear custom, and it is quite common for people to swap in bigger Chevy engines like a 454. The Blazer’s engine bay is the same size as a Suburban, which had big-blocks as an option. With some modifications, it would be very easy to make enough power, coupled with the increased traction of 4x4.
• I get that Doc had a fondness for Baby, but are we really supposed to believe he would risk his life and eventually get killed for some kid who already screwed him over once? Nobody that selfless would ever be able to rise to the top of the organized crime ladder.
  • With the number of times Doc stood up for Baby to people who were mocking him, plus the fact that he is clearly far more lenient with Baby than pretty much anyone else we see, and then there's the line he has when he sees Baby with Debora ("I was in love once"), I think we're meant to assume it's more than just a "fondness" - I think either Doc either feels a fatherly vibe towards Baby, or he even has a "reminds me of me" thing going on. Shooting the dirty cops was mostly self-preservation since they greeted him specifically with "bananas" which we were already told was a codeword between them (this troper assumed that they assumed Doc ordered the shootout and were just there for him), and Buddy was clearly far more off-the-rails and a potential liability at the point which he confronted them than Baby ever was.
    • Doc's also not the top of the organized crime ladder. He's good at planning, but bear in mind he also relied on people like Griff, Bats, and JD. At best, he's a competent niche man.
    • Also, it's a fun Meta Twist, just like the "final boss" being Buddy, not Bats like you'd expect. Turns out that the Affably Evil crime boss actually means it when he says he's fond of Baby.
• How is Baby able to get a sentence of just five years when in Georgia the minimum sentence for armed robbery is ten years without parole per offense (with no leniency for first offenders)? From the witnesses we see on the stand, he's being charged with the post office robbery and stealing that woman's car at gunpoint, so that's two charges of armed robbery. He would also be charged with the murder of the man Bats killed during the post office robbery under conspiracy laws and the felony murder rule, and that's a life sentence. While he could claim coercion, he has nothing or no one to corroborate that given that everyone else involved is dead. So how did he get a mere five year sentence?
  • Well, a general investigation would help Baby out. He wasn’t armed and didn’t return fire at the police from the heist, and the witnesses would corroborate he didn’t carry any money with him). I also imagine he could turn over his records of Doc’s heist plannings; even though Doc himself might be dead, the police investigation would love to have evidence to tie together his heists. Since Baby was brought along for every heist, he’d probably have evidence on all of them, and maybe something to track down the rest of the teams. With all that, I could see the prosecution willing to cut a deal, especially considering his character witnesses
    • That's not how it works. Under conspiracy laws, he would be charged with every crime his co-conspirators committed (i.e. murder and armed robbery) because he committed an act in furtherance to committing the crime by driving the getaway vehicle. If what your saying were true, anyone could get away with a crime simply by ordering someone else to do it for them. Assuming Baby's recordings weren't destroyed, none of them prove he was coerced. He couldn't point to any co-conspirators either, because they're either dead or he doesn't know their names. Even if any of this worked, that would only cover the Post Office robbery. He still stole a woman's car at gunpoint, so that's at least one charge of armed robbery he can't justify. He's still getting at least ten years and no parole.