Warning! This post contains spoilers for Netflix’s Rebel Ridge.
While unfolding a tale of morality and justice, Rebel Ridge Introduces several acronyms, such as PACE and MCMAP, which play a critical role in driving the overarching story. Directed by Jeremy Saulnier, Rebel Ridge Focuses on a former Marine, Terry Richmond, who arrives in a small town to bail his cousin out of prison before he is transferred to a state facility. However, as he cycles his way to the city’s courthouse, a police vehicle rams his bicycle and sends him flying to the ground. Instead of apologizing, the police officers in the car take his bail money on the grounds of civil asset forfeiture.
With what follows, Terry Richmond initially tries to peacefully resolve the issue by learning more about the laws that led to the seizure of his money. However, when nothing seems to work out, he visits the city’s police station to directly confront the officer who wronged him. That’s when he spells out some acronyms for Chief Sandy Bourne, reflecting on how lessons from his time as a Marine are still deeply ingrained in his mind.
What MCMAP stands for in Rebel Ridge
Martial Arts Program for Marine Corps
When Chief Sandy learns that Terry has no ground duty during his time in the Marine Corps, he confidently steps out to confront him, believing that he can do him no harm. While he’s at it, officers Jessica Sims and Steve Lan wait for the Internet to connect to learn more about Terry’s military past. Sandy remains oblivious to what Terry is capable of, but Jessica and Steve soon learn this Terry was part of the MCMAP (Marine Corps Martial Arts Program) and taught Jiu-Jitsu to the 6th Marine Regiment. She even finds his name on MCMAP’s Wikipedia page.
Started in 2001, the MCMAP is a combat system created by the United States Marine Corps that trains Marines in everything from unarmed close-range combat to rifle and bayonet techniques, from the effective use of edged weapons to weapons of opportunity. Like most formal martial arts, the MCMAP also has a belt system that begins with a tan-colored belt and ends with a black one. Given how Rebel Ridge Hints that Terry was an MCMAP instructor, he is likely a black belt.
What PACE means in Rebel Ridge
Primary, Alternate, Contingency, & Emergency
to the final moments of Rebel RidgeThe first arc, Terry Richmond reaches the end of his wits and arrives at the police station to directly confront Chief Terry. He warns the police chief by telling him about an acronym that defined his plan of action to bail his cousin out of jail: PACE. As Terry explained, the “P” in PACE stands for primaryWhich refers to his primary plan to arrive in town and use his borrowed money to bail out his cousin. By the time the primary plan was completed, Terry should have received an Alternately, donated by the “A,” To reach his end goal.
But since the police did not give him alternatives, he could not come up with a second plan when his main plan failed. “C” in PACE represents contingencyAn unforeseen event that would force Terry to resort to another backup plan. Initially, Terry’s contingency plan was to ask his previous employer, Mr. Liu, for the bail amount. To his frustration, Chief Terry also blew it after speaking at Mr. Liu’s restaurant. This leaves Terry with “E,” which stands for emergency. It is the last resort line of action that involves critical and immediate measures to resolve the underlying issue.
The order of communication in the PACE planning system:
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Primary
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Alternative
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Contingency
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Emergency
As Terry burns through the letters of PACE, he seems ready to execute “E,” where he uses physical force against the police officer to get his money back. Although he later settled for tactical retrograde by agreeing to de-escalate the situation, he returned to his emergency plan to Rebel Ridge‘s endless arc as the police officers continue to test his patience. Simply put, the acronym PACE sums up Rebel Ridges overarching narrative structure.
EoF–NLE at Rebel Ridge explained
Escalation of force – non-lethal effects
While offering Terry the chance to de-escalate the situation, Chief Sandy tells him how they outsource non-lethal weapons to other police departments to earn profits. When he asks Terry if he knows about non-lethal weapons, such as dazzlers, multi-launchers and flashbangs, the former Marine reveals that they also have an acronym for this: (EoF–NLE) Escalation of Force–Non-Metal Effects. The objective of EoF–NLE is to resort to non-lethal capabilities to ensure that a situation is handled while significantly Minimizing the risk of injury and collateral damage.
Richmond’s non-lethal approach underscores his higher moral ground compared to the police officers in Rebel Ridge.
When things escalate to Rebel RidgeIn its final moments, Terry still avoids taking the lethal route and only uses the police department’s non-lethal weapons to implement EoF–NLE. This makes a clear distinction between the hero and the villains. While the police officers try to kill him before he reveals the systemic corruption that runs in their systems, Terry only tries to warn, suppress or disable them from attacking him. Richmond’s non-lethal approach underscores his higher moral ground compared to the police officers in Rebel Ridge.