What does Carrie Bradshaw and Edward Morra of Limitless have in common?

 Well, this piece is about symbolism in the movie Limitless. Hopefully you have watched it. Otherwise, beware of the spoilers. If you have already watched it, reading this piece might give you a new perspective and with this new perspective you might want to rewatch it. Now, Eddie’s Carrie Bradshaw moment is just around the corner but let’s just start with the obvious.

The Clear Pill (aka NZT): The drug itself is clear. Transparent. It almost isn’t there like a placebo. Vernon, a brother, gave his first NZT to Eddie. When Eddie took it for the first time, another Eddie came and joined him. And his eyes got blue, or brighter. He said he hadn’t had a cigarette in 6 hours and hadn’t eaten. He wasn’t high, he was just clear. When he was without NZT, he said the dullness was coming and the pain started behind his eyes. In my opinion, everything he did with the NZT, he could have done without NZT. He just needed to focus which is what NZT symbolizes. Whenever he losts his stash or he is without NZT that means he is distracted. 

Gennady took NZT from Eddie by force. When Gennady took the drug he immediately felt good. He got smarter and his vocabulary improved. His eyes got brighter. Remember he is an instinctive man representing the animal nature of humans and animals don’t speak. 

Eddie told Lindy to take one of the pills when Lindy got the NZT in a life threatening situation. Just like Eddie, another Lindy joined her. Her eyes got brighter. And she said she did things she would never do and she felt invincible. However, she didn’t like it. It wasn’t her. Lindy refused being invincible, which means she refused power and chose love. 

Van Loon never got NZT. In the end he discovered everyone’s secret. He never wanted NZT. He only wanted to own people who have NZT which is a smart move. 

The Oven: When Eddie got Vernon’s apartment and found him murdered, he searched his home for more NZT. He found it in the oven. Carrie Bradshaw also keeps her precious shoes in the oven. What is this thing with ovens? Oven is a symbol for the mother archetype which hides treasure in its hollows. Both shoes and the pill are treasures for the characters. 

What about Vernon and Melissa? In the first part of the movie, Vernon told Eddie the pill is completely safe and it is FDA approved. Eddie ignored the fact that this might be a lie. The first part of the movie was all about the positive effects of the pill and it was only about Eddie. However after the skip, Melissa, Vernon’s female counterpart, Eddie’s ex-wife comes out and tells him about the negative effects of the pill. We learn about her experiences with the drug but Vernon had never told about his experiences. I also think that the pill doesn’t agree with women. Dark side of the pill is symbolized by a female and positive effects are symbolized by Vernon, his brother-in-law.  

The Skip: The skip happened after his first meeting with Van Loon. But before that it happened when the newspaper article about him came out telling the world that "he is God". And Lindy told him to eat something before his meeting with Van Loon. Later, he says if he remembers to eat, sleep and if he doesn't drink alcohol, the skip doesn't happen. These are basic human needs. This was a warning for Eddie. You might be a god, but don't forget that you are also a human.

The Conch Shell: When Eddie was out of NZT and had to ask Lindy to get him some, she found his stash in a conch shell at her place. This was Lindy's intorduction to NZT and her revelation. Conch Shell as the oven has a hollow form making it also a symbol for mother archetype but blowing a conch shell also represents ending of troubles and victory of good over evil.

The Merger: The Merger seems to be between Van Loon’s and Atwood’s companies but that’s the outside merger. With Van Loon, it is the merger of experience and talent, young and old. The real merger is happening inside Eddie. Eddie is merging with his other self that appeared when he took the pill. New Eddie and the old Eddie. Remember the time after Lindy brought him the NZT and at the hotel room she asked him which one was real Eddie. Also, at the beginning he was about to propose to Lindy. Marriage is a kind of merger. With Lindy it is a merging of love and power. And when he drank Gennady’s blood at the end of the movie, that was their merger. It was the merger of instinct and intellect.

The Number 4: When Eddie had to attend a police line-up as one of the suspects of Maria Windberg murder, he wore the number 4. He was just like other guys. 4 is the number of completion. To be complete means now he had learnt all the lessons he needed to learn from other characters in the movie. Lindy, Gennady, Van Loon plus himself equals four. After this scene he will get into a last fight with Gennady. 

The Celestial Building: When things got out of hand, Eddie moved into a building called Celestial which is basically a castle on its own. "Celestial" means heavenly. To be able to have an impact in the world, you have to come down to earth. Eddie and his four-digit IQ, was alone in this godly state in a building called Celestial when Gennady came to kill him. In this scene the last NZT Eddie had fell out of his hand just like the first time Gennady got NZT from him. Gennady took the the last NZT he had and Eddie had to fight for his life with his instincts.He had to fight for his life, without NZT, with his instincts. In the end, Gennady died because even he himself liked his smarter self better. But don't forget, all this happened in a celestial place.

The Senator: What happens at the end? Eddie is now the king of his land. He is the authority. He won over his old self and the Father Saturn who only wanted him to be a boy playing with toys. He also wasn't an addict anymore. Van Loon made one last move as he did not want to lose his authority. His dialog with Van Loon here is exactly the parallel of the one they had after the merger meeting. Edward moved on with his career, the merger didn’t happen and Van Loon may have lost Eddie but now he has a lab making NZT which is a suitable toy for him.

What is this thing with Eddie speaking waiters in their language?: It is super cool and he might be doing this to impress Lindy but other than that, every time Eddie speaks to a waiter in their language he is a new man with a new haircut and a new job. So, speaking in a different language also shows that he is a new man. Moreover, Eddie is the "man" even though he speaks different languages, he is the same "human" we all are.

Why Edward Morra looks like a drug addict even if he is not? Check out my perspective on Limitles movie here.