HANNAH LONG

Hannah grew up in the foster care system, and like most kids with that background, she’s rough and not afraid to get scrappy. We see this when she gets in Carl Berkowitz’s face in his office and threatens to hurt him. Yet, she uses her physical appearance when it serves her, like enticing Carl at the Hollywood party where she first met him. In many ways, she’s like a chameleon because she can adapt to the needs of the environment. This is readily demonstrated throughout Long Play when she changes from an innocent and inexperienced screenwriter to a common street thug when she’s around Drake Grove and threatening Carl. Externally, she’s motivated to get revenge against Carl and his mother because she believes they were responsible for putting her father in jail – and the suicide that resulted from her father’s incarceration. However, deeper inside, she’s motivated by a need to punish the world for the wrongs it forced on her. The foster care system. Losing her family. All the pain and disappointment she faced growing up finds its way into her decision-making process resulting in a sinister need to hurt others. This is most vivid in her ongoing torment of Carl despite his pleas for mercy. Her comfort in a courtroom amongst highly-trained professionals
contrasted with her comfort in carrying out a criminal enterprise with Drake demonstrates that she’s a manipulative force to be reckoned with – she’s clearly both people. Her pursuit for destruction of Carl and his family culminates in a moment of truth when she is captured by Kate Lively, presumably under circumstances that seem far from “official,” and Carl confronts her with the news that she is Carl’s sister and he’s not sure whether he wants her to disappear forever, or face an unknown alternative. The audience is left wondering if Hannah will take responsibility for her past and current misdeeds, or double down and end up in a ditch somewhere.