FAQ: WAS MAC OR CHILDS INFECTED IN THE END?
One human or both human?? "Why don't we wait here a little while...see what happens..."

I think Carpenter and Lancaster were setting us up to suspect Childs. The only thing he had to do was maintain his post inside, and he takes off into sub-zero temps because he thought he saw something? Also the very telling line :\"So you're the only one that made it?\"

I believe both men are human and die from exposure to the sub-zero Antarctic night...

If childs was a thing wouldn't he just infect Macready?

If childs was a thing wouldn't he just infect Macready?

as we see Mac finally sitting down, he's visited by Childs. He asked him if he killed it. Mac responds with the question where Childs was. As Childs explains himself, you can here Mac lauging it up! It is the kind of laughter of a man who just cannot belief his disluck. Mac is convinced that he killed the final thing, but is now not sure of Childs. However, the time of the destruction of the camp didn't give Blair enough time to assimilate Childs. Even so, the clothing of Childs hasn't been ripped apart (check former scenes). Finding a new parka in a time where things are blowing apart..... Mac just sits down, in peace with himself that all is done. The reaction of Childs is not hostile to mac, which indicates that both are human.

Late entry here. In that final scene, Childs is holding a fully operational flame thrower as he walks up, and MacReady, sitting wrapped in a thin blanket, has only a bottle of JB Scotch to defend himself. If Childs was a Thing, he could have roasted MacReady right then and right there. Instead, Childs responds to MacReady's questions, puts down the heater, and takes a seat. Had to be human...

Ah....one of the best endings to a film ever! Well...you could read the comics, or take the game's point of view...but you're supposed to find your own conclusion. I think they're both human still. Since Fuchs was burned along with the other things...I believe that only leaves Blair. Since Childs still had the same gear on and the Blair thing was busy offing the others, I don't think he was taken. Regardless, Mac does the ultimate at the end and with the sure bet of dying, maintains humanity. He offers Childs a drink. This is not only a threat, but a sign of trust. Since one particle could transmit, neither could safely drink from the bottle if the other was the thing. BOTH take a drink. They trust each other...because they are both humans who went through a terrible ordeal and triumphed in the name of humanity.

That's what I love about this movie - the ambiguity of the ending actually enhances it rather than leaving you feeling unfulfilled about what happened. There's a couple of things that could have happened here... Mac and Childs are both human, and knowing that they have defeated the Thing, settle down to meet their fate and die with dignity, knowing that they did what they could. Mac is human and Childs is The Thing...Childs doesn't attack Mac because the Thing knows Mac's a real smartass and probably has himself strapped with dynamite or something. All he has to do is wait for Mac to freeze and he's won anyway. Mac and Childs are both The Thing. Now, let me theorize here...say somehow they're both infected. The Thing is obviously intelligent - why is it not possible that two Things, having assimilated different people and faced different threats, would start to think differently? This would explain why Mac would blow up the Blair-Thing at the end. Blair-Thing wanted to build his spaceship and either get to civilisation or perhaps even escape earth entirely, and Mac-Thing, in human form, ruined those plansin order to maintain cover. Why? Who knows? It's all speculative. Of course if that were correct, then Mac would probably have failed the blood -*test*-('") - UNLESS Palmer's infected blood, which escaped from the dish, were to be absorbed into Mac-Thing's larger mass, teaching his blood to 'stay quiet' when burned. Sure, that's a long-shot, but I can't figure it any other way.

A nice theory, but I believe Mac is a human, definitely. People often talk about the ending and their theories are good and believable and thus possible within the limits of what we saw in the movie. Yes, there are ways how to infect Mac, I agree. But think about this issue from the moviemakers' point of view. The writer and the director need a hero for a story like this, the audience needs a chance to feel his emotions and to be on his side. Mac performs the blood-*test*-('") and he is clear of all the previous accusations - he does it not only for the other men, he does it for the people in the cinema. He is the hero even before and unlike of the beginning of the movie, he slowly takes a lead. We saw what he did all the time until the last minutes and we have all clues to believe he is a human. Unfortunately, Childs did not saw the movie (what a shame) and thus he has no evidence whether Mac is or isn't a human. From this point on, we should consider these basic facts: 1. The Thing never attacks first if it is too risky. If Childs is infected, why attack Mac and risk any possible trouble? He wins anyway. Of course, it is better to survive in two copies, but one copy will be enough too. Blair must attack because they are determined to kill him on sight, so does Palmer. Earlier in the movie the situation was different. The Thing attacks first because there is a chance to infect all living creatures without being noticed. Once this chance passes, it goes underground. 2. Blair learned how to attack in a very smart way without ripping of the clothes or covering the clothes with blood (Garry). If he met Childs outside in the snow and took him by surprise, it could be a very short fight and the new Childs had plenty of time to dress himself properly. Blair could even help him to keep the most important visible parts of his clothes clean and intact during the transformation. 3. Maybe Childs really got lost in the storm and tells us the truth. He did not meet Blair and he returns only after the fire shows him the way. Thus I think that there is no way how to prove either one of the two possibilities. No evidence. Childs can be a human as well as a Thing. And I also believe that the moviemakers did not decide themselves. This was their intention - do not accept any definitive answer, keep Childs' final 'status' unsolved forever even in their own minds.

Yup, I believe that down deep, two things can identify each other. Look at Palmer and Norris when they're debating whether or not to let Mac back in after Nauls cuts the line. There's a clear moment on some kind of communicative look between the two. And I agree, the mystery is really whether or not Childs was the thing. I'm pretty sure he's not, but the mystery keeps me wondering and kind of gives me the willy's until the very last moment of the film...serving it's purpose.

That's it. You are unable to leave your chair and turn the TV off, mindlessly staring at the rolling credits. That is what they wanted. It would be so easy to leave a couple of tiny clues, maybe out of Mac's sight. Imagine for example a short cut at Childs zipping up his clothes right before he enters Mac's final hideout. Or a detail of his pants with a small bloodstain when he returns the bottle to Mac. Or anything else like that. What would you do? Switch the TV off with a grin, immediately forgeting the tension of the last 2 hours. This was my reaction to the last shot in Basic Instinct when we see the ice-pick lying under the bed. No, there are no clues and no answer in the movie. And if there were any unintentional clues, the director cut them out to get us exactly where we are. Did Carpenter ever say that he knows the definitive answer?

\\"I say we dust off and nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.\\" <shrugs> (I'll probably be torched by flame thrower for quoting another movie)

Not that movie. That series is a close second to The Thing for me. Quote away.

I think Mac wasn't Thing and Childs wasn't either, if you are The Thing you don't ask what to do now. Although it's kinda strange that a Childs human just accepts to lay on the ground and to nothing at all. But what can you do in such way... The computer game says it all :p