How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Men in Black.
Quote #1
DEE: I'm sorry about back there.
KAY: It happens.
DEE: Didn't used to. The spirit's willing, Kay, but the rest of me…. They're beautiful, aren't they?
KAY: What?
DEE: The stars. We never just look anymore.
KAY: No.
DEE: I'll tell you, Kay. I will miss the chase.
KAY: No, Dee, you won't.
Part of growing up is knowing when to quit. At least, that's what we keep telling ourselves when it comes to Halo; those 13 year-olds are just crazy good. In this scene, Dee calls it quits by accepting the age he is. This scene also sets Kay on his own developmental story while foreshadowing his ultimate decision at the film's conclusion.
Quote #2
OFFICER: And why is it that none of the other officers saw either of these events?
JAY: Some of the other officers are soggy around the midsection. I guess that's why they weren't able to keep up.
BEAT COP: Edwards, if you were half the man I am—
JAY: What the hell you talking about? I am half the man you are.
BEAT COP: What is your problem?
BEAT COP: You know, I think he threw him off the roof.
JAY: Maybe you next.
As we've mentioned, Jay's already an adult, so his story won't entail what many consider a typical coming of age story where the protagonist transitions from childhood to adulthood. But he does have the qualities of a young guy, including a distaste for authority and a penchant for name-calling. Hey beat cop, don't feed the trolls.
Quote #3
JAY: All right, I'm in because, look, there's some next-level s*** going on around here, and I'm with that. But before y'all get to beaming me up, there's a couple of things I want you to understand. First off, you chose me, so you recognize the skills, so I don't want nobody calling me son or kid or sport or nothing like that, cool?
KAY: Cool. Whatever you say, slick. But I need to tell you something about all your skills. As of right now, they mean precisely dick.
Jay's introduction to the Men in Black headquarters is his first step into a larger world; or in this case, the world remains the same size but the galaxy sure seems a lot bigger. As Kay says, Jay's skills aren't up to competing in this galaxy, and he'll need to grow up to meet the challenge. Part of coming of age is knowing what you don't know, and Jay's still pretty cocky.
Quote #4
KAY: We do not discharge our weapons in view of the public.
JAY: Man, we ain't got time for this cover-up bulls***. I don't know whether or not you've forgotten, but there's an Arquillian Battle Cruiser that's about to...
KAY: There's always an alien battle cruiser or a Corellian death ray or an intergalactic plague that's about to wipe out life on this miserable little planet. The only way these people get on with their happy lives is they do not know about it. And don't worry about the bug. He's not leaving town. We got his ship.
Jay realizes a simple but sobering truth about being a Men in Black agent: It's not a job for the guns-blazing hero type. His real job is to keep humanity from the fearful truth. To Jay's credit, he learns his lesson quickly and tries to comfort the crowd gathered around Edgar's spaceship. If that were us, we'd probably have a few follow-up questions for Kay like, "What do you mean always about to wipe out life on this planet? Like always always?"
Quote #5
JAY: Look, Kay, why don't you let me handle this one?
KAY: What?
JAY: Look, come on, man, all we got to do is go in here and get a cat. It's not really that hard, but if you go in there, you're gonna lay your Jack Webb on her, start flashing your brain ray all in her face. She gonna wind up with leukemia or some s***. The woman's a doctor. She don't need you flashing away half her med-school classes. Five minutes.
KAY: Two minutes.
As Jay grows as an agent, he also starts trying to accomplish things on his own, free from his mentor. Kay recognizes that and lets him to take charge of the situation. Either that or maybe he just wanted some down time; we imagine two days of non- stop intergalactic bug hunting can wear on you. For those of you born after 1960, Jack Webb was an actor who played the role of Sgt. Joe Friday, a policeman on the TV classic Dragnet. Friday's terse demeanor makes Kay look positively ebullient by comparison. We wouldn't be surprised if Kay was modelled after the character.
Quote #6
(Bug jumps down to confront Jay.)
JAY: Well, well. Big bad bug got a bit of a soft spot, huh? See, what I can't understand is why you gotta come down here bringing all this ruckus, snatching up galaxies and everything. My attitude is, don't start nothing won't be nothing. You need to ease up out of my face before something bad happen to you.
(Sound of gun charging.)
JAY: Too late.
With Kay currently occupied in the Bug's belly, Jay has to deal with the situation on his own for the first time. Using his wits rather than reckless aggression, he's able to keep the Bug on the planet long enough for Kay to retrieve his gun and give the Bug a case of lethal indigestion. Must've been something he ate. Hahaha!… sorry.
Quote #7
KAY: I haven't been training a partner. I've been training a replacement.
JAY: Wait a minute, Kay. I cannot do this job by myself.
LAUREL: Hey, guys, my apartment isn't anywhere near here. It's not even on the same
island.KAY (Opens neuralyzer:) Days… months… years. Always face it forward.
JAY: Kay…
KAY: I've just been down the gullet of an interstellar cockroach. That's one of a hundred memories that I don't want.
(Jay puts on his glasses.)
KAY: See you around, Jay.
JAY: No, you won't.
Remember earlier in the film, Jay asked when he'd get his own neuralyzer, and Kay flippantly said when he grew up. He wasn't joking. The neuralyzer serves as a rite of passage and is Kay's way of recognizing that Jay's now a Man in Black. Like Dee, Kay's recognized his own coming of age and is done with the hunt. The writers show us Jay's new status by giving him a deadpan line that calls back to the conversation between Kay and Dee: Just before Kay neuralyzes him, Dee says he'll miss the chase; Kay says, "No, Dee, you won't."