[Randy]

What a great movie!  I watched it the other night for the third or fourth time and it's still riveting.  But a couple of mysteries for me.  Experts on the movie, see if you can help out.

1.  Shugar goes to the motel in Del Rio, breaks into Room 138 and murders several guys in there, who have apparently rented the room.  Earlier when Luellen had returned to the motel, he rented room 38 in back and told the clerk he wanted to keep both rooms rented, so he still was in theory the occupant of Room 138 and yet the Mexicans apparently rented it and moved in.  Did I miss something?  That room should have been empty since Luellen had it booked in addition to Room 38.

2. Was there any explanation as to how the cartel knew that Luwellen was at that motel in El Paso at the end? I know the old lady said they were going to El Paso, but that's a big town. How'd they find him so fast?

3.  I had another one but forgot what. Oh, now remember:
Bell the sheriff goes back to the motel in El Paso at night after the events of the day.   For some unknown reason, Shugar is waiting in one of the two adjacent rooms taped off by the local police.  The money is gone, Luellen is dead, it's apparently all finished.  So why is Shugar in the motel room? He must have gone under the tape to get in, and should have known the police had been there and that the money was gone.  Makes no sense to me.

[Markwatkiss]

Movie scenes don’t have to make sense nor do they have to be explained.That is what makes them thought provoking.

[Randy]

Movie scenes don’t have to make sense nor do they have to be explained.That is what makes them thought provoking.

I believe otherwise.

[newzooreview]

This has been discussed a good bit online. There don't seem to be any clear cut answers.

ChatGPT 4.0 summarizes:

"No Country for Old Men," is known for its complex narrative and ambiguous scenes, which have sparked much debate among viewers. Here are the answers to your questions based on the search results and the film's narrative:

1. The confusion about Room 138 at the Del Rio motel arises from the fact that Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) rents two rooms: Room 138 and Room 38, which is directly behind Room 138[7][10]. He does this to retrieve the briefcase of money from the air vent in Room 138 while staying in Room 38[1][9]. Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) tracks the briefcase to Room 138, but when he enters, he finds a group of Mexicans who he kills[9]. It's not explicitly explained how the Mexicans came to be in Room 138, but it's suggested that they also have some way of tracking the money briefcase[9].

2. The cartel finds Llewelyn Moss in El Paso because they talked to his mother-in-law at the bus station[3]. While it's not explicitly shown how they pinpointed his exact location in the city, it's implied that they used their resources and connections to track him down quickly.

3. The scene where Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) returns to the motel room in El Paso and finds evidence of Chigurh's presence is one of the most debated scenes in the film. There are several theories about why Chigurh is there. One theory suggests that Chigurh is in the room because he's a professional and would likely return to the scene[4]. Another theory posits that Chigurh is waiting in the room because he's a manifestation of the darkness and violence that Bell is grappling with[6]. Yet another theory suggests that Chigurh is not in the room at all, and Bell is imagining that he could be[6]. The Coen brothers intentionally left this scene ambiguous, allowing for multiple interpretations[3][4][6][7].

Citations:
[1] http://coolercinema.blogspot.com/2008/05/searching-for-chigurh.html
[2] https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/14u6e79/no_country_for_old_men_how_exactly_did_chigur/
[3] https://www.ericdsnider.com/blog/no-country-for-old-men-bell-and-chigurh-and-the-motel-room/
[4] https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/cz8xj4/in_no_country_for_old_men_i_cant_quite_tell_what/
[5] https://literature.stackexchange.com/questions/2292/how-did-they-track-llewelyn-moss-in-no-country-for-old-men
[6] https://www.andsoitbeginsfilms.com/2013/08/where-is-anton-chigurh.html
[7] https://www.rogerebert.com/scanners/autopsy-of-a-scene-the-act-ofseeing-with-ones-own-eyes
[8] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXDYCPI75Bo
[9] https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/movie/no-country-for-old-men/summary/scene-21
[10] https://www.fantrippers.com/en/fanspots/del-rios-regal-motel/
[11] https://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/92366/how-does-chigurh-know-where-to-go-to-find-moss-when-the-transponder-isnt-beepin
[12] http://capnhowdysblogorium.blogspot.com/2010/04/sequence-analysis-no-country-for-old.html
[13] https://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/10952/was-chigurh-in-the-hotel-room-when-sheriff-ed-tom-entered
[14] https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WMG/NoCountryForOldMen
[15] https://www.rogerebert.com/scanners/no-country-under-the-skin
[16] https://www.audioasylum.com/films/messages/10/107331.html
[17] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR_ndxT5QTM
[18] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnJ0-Ts6gh4
[19] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0477348/plotsummary/
[20] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Country_for_Old_Men"

[Randy]

This has been discussed a good bit online. There don't seem to be any clear cut answers.

ChatGPT 4.0 summarizes:

"No Country for Old Men," is known for its complex narrative and ambiguous scenes, which have sparked much debate among viewers. Here are the answers to your questions based on the search results and the film's narrative:

1. The confusion about Room 138 at the Del Rio motel arises from the fact that Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) rents two rooms: Room 138 and Room 38, which is directly behind Room 138[7][10]. He does this to retrieve the briefcase of money from the air vent in Room 138 while staying in Room 38[1][9]. Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) tracks the briefcase to Room 138, but when he enters, he finds a group of Mexicans who he kills[9]. It's not explicitly explained how the Mexicans came to be in Room 138, but it's suggested that they also have some way of tracking the money briefcase[9].

2. The cartel finds Llewelyn Moss in El Paso because they talked to his mother-in-law at the bus station[3]. While it's not explicitly shown how they pinpointed his exact location in the city, it's implied that they used their resources and connections to track him down quickly.

3. The scene where Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) returns to the motel room in El Paso and finds evidence of Chigurh's presence is one of the most debated scenes in the film. There are several theories about why Chigurh is there. One theory suggests that Chigurh is in the room because he's a professional and would likely return to the scene[4]. Another theory posits that Chigurh is waiting in the room because he's a manifestation of the darkness and violence that Bell is grappling with[6]. Yet another theory suggests that Chigurh is not in the room at all, and Bell is imagining that he could be[6]. The Coen brothers intentionally left this scene ambiguous, allowing for multiple interpretations[3][4][6][7].

Citations:
[1] http://coolercinema.blogspot.com/2008/05/searching-for-chigurh.html
[2] https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/14u6e79/no_country_for_old_men_how_exactly_did_chigur/
[3] https://www.ericdsnider.com/blog/no-country-for-old-men-bell-and-chigurh-and-the-motel-room/
[4] https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/cz8xj4/in_no_country_for_old_men_i_cant_quite_tell_what/
[5] https://literature.stackexchange.com/questions/2292/how-did-they-track-llewelyn-moss-in-no-country-for-old-men
[6] https://www.andsoitbeginsfilms.com/2013/08/where-is-anton-chigurh.html
[7] https://www.rogerebert.com/scanners/autopsy-of-a-scene-the-act-ofseeing-with-ones-own-eyes
[8] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXDYCPI75Bo
[9] https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/movie/no-country-for-old-men/summary/scene-21
[10] https://www.fantrippers.com/en/fanspots/del-rios-regal-motel/
[11] https://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/92366/how-does-chigurh-know-where-to-go-to-find-moss-when-the-transponder-isnt-beepin
[12] http://capnhowdysblogorium.blogspot.com/2010/04/sequence-analysis-no-country-for-old.html
[13] https://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/10952/was-chigurh-in-the-hotel-room-when-sheriff-ed-tom-entered
[14] https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WMG/NoCountryForOldMen
[15] https://www.rogerebert.com/scanners/no-country-under-the-skin
[16] https://www.audioasylum.com/films/messages/10/107331.html
[17] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR_ndxT5QTM
[18] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnJ0-Ts6gh4
[19] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0477348/plotsummary/
[20] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Country_for_Old_Men"

Thanks very much. I appreciate the effort.   That's me at #16 asking the same thing over at Audio Asylum.  No replies there.  Thanks again.

[S Clark]

It is rare that movies don't have inconsistencies.  I'm actually surprised that there aren't more.  A director has to tell a story that a writer has written.  There may be weakness in the story line, there may be material on the cutting room floor sacrificed for various constraints, or dozens or other reasons.  But it's rare that an issue or two makes a difference that undermines my enjoyment of an overall good movie.  Yeah, I noticed the Shugar behind the door scene as unexplained... but it didn't bother me.  So many of the other scenes are of such high quality- the coin flip at the filling station for example. 
Not every note of a Beethoven symphony is a masterpiece, but the sum of the whole can be masterpiece.   

[GeorgeAb]

Agreed, great movie!