Summary
At basketball practice, O attacks Mike and becomes increasingly aggressive. After the incident, Coach Goulding invites Hugo to his office for dinner, but Hugo is disappointed to learn that Coach only wants to talk about O. Later, at the state-wide slam dunk contest, O buys drugs from someone and confronts Hugo, telling him that he needs proof Desi is cheating on him.
During the contest, O breaks the hoop and shatters the glass. Everyone cheers, but then he destroys the hoop further and attacks the young ballboy. Everyone starts booing him and he storms out of the gym.
Later, Hugo and O are in Hugo's dorm room. Hugo gives O cocaine and tells O that Desi and Mike are definitely together. Mike shows up to talk to Hugo about Brandy, the girl he is dating, but O overhears the conversation and thinks Mike is talking about Desi. Then, Brandy arrives and angrily throws the scarf at Mike, saying she does not want something he got from another girl. Thinking Desi really gave Mike the scarf, O is convinced she is cheating on him.
Analysis
This section of the film represents a dramatic turning point for O, who up until this point has been listening to Hugo without taking explicit action himself. Now, however, audiences will notice O's "fall" begin to take shape. The first indicator that O's reputation will be tarnished is the fact that he purchases drugs, something he confirmed at the beginning of the film to have stopped using. More than that, though, is the violence and aggression that starts to define O's character: the crowd is initially impressed by the way he dunks the basketball and shatters the glass behind the hoop at the slam dunk competition. However, when O continues to destroy the hoop and then assaults the ballboy, the crowd turns on him. This combination of O's behavior and the crowd's reaction signifies the beginning of the end for O: once beloved by everyone, his violence causes a major shift in how people treat him, in only a matter of minutes. After this point, it becomes clear that there is no turning back for O's character.
This part of the film also lends viewers deeper insight into Hugo and his relationship with his father. The scene in which Hugo has dinner with his father in his office is significant largely because of Nelson's cinematic choices: Hugo enters the room, and though he and his dad are having a conversation, viewers can only see Hugo. This framing reflects how alone and isolated Hugo feels, especially regarding his father, who seems to long for someone like O as a son. At this moment, viewers become privy to Hugo's own insecurities and weaknesses, as he tries to impress his father by announcing that he is getting an A in English class, only to have his father bring the conversation back to O. While this moment might not inspire much sympathy in viewers, it does lend more depth to Hugo's character and provides a reason for his vindictive behavior in the rest of the film.
