| “ | You're right. I am crazy. And you know what else? I don't give a fuck. I don't give a fuck about you. I don't give a fuck about Steel. I don't give a fuck about Raheem, either. I don't give a fuck about myself. | „ |
| ~ Bishop |
Roland Bishop is the main villain from Juice (1992). Bishop is part of a small crew with Raheem, Q, and Steel. In the beginning of the film, this crew partakes in minor crimes but eventually, Bishop pushes the crew into getting involved in more serious crimes. Bishop later turns against the other crew members.
He was portrayed by late rapper Tupac Shakur, who also portrayed Birdie in Above the Rim.
Plot
Bishop is first seen getting harassed by a Puerto Rican gang led by Radames. The gang approaches him because Bishop was previously talking behind Radames's back. When Bishop sees Raheem and Q arriving, Bishop becomes more aggressive towards the Puerto Rican gang and racially insults Radames. As the members of the Puerto Rican gang are about to attack Bishop, Raheem and Queue step in to stop them. After a heated argument between Bishop and Radames, they almost get into a fight only to be chased away by Fernando Quiles, the owner of a nearby store.
After being chased away, Bishop, Raheem, and Q meet up with Steel. Steel talks about having sexual intercourse with a girl, only for the rest of them to claim that she used to be male. After the conversation, the guys go to an arcade that they frequent.
At the arcade, Steel is in front of a video game, and Bishop approaches Steel and tells Steel to put in money in order for them to play the video game. Bishop is confident that he will win against Steel because he threatens to beat Steel up if Steel wins. Immediately after, the police storm into the place and everyone but Steel flee. Bishop and Q are fleeing together while Raheem takes another direction. Bishop and Q are tailed by two police officers. Bishop and Q climb over a fence, but Bishop gets stuck after climbing to the other side, so Q offers him quick assistance and Bishop manages to get down before the cops chasing them also climb over the fence. After that, Bishop and Q climb a floor of a building and take the stairs to get to a roof of that building. After getting to the top, they are forced to either give up or jump over a gap between the rooftop of the building they are on and the rooftop of another building, which is risky because they might fall to the ground. Bishop and Q decide to jump over the gap, and they successfully make it to the rooftop of the other building. The two cops chasing them decide not to take that kind of risk, and give up. Afterwards, Bishop and Q make an insulting gesture towards the cops.
Bishop, Q, and Raheem wait outside of their school for Steel to escape from school. Bishop thinks that Steel won't make it, but Raheem makes it clear that Steel has to come with them. Steel makes it out of school only to be chased by someone. Steel and the gang manage to outrun the person who's chasing Steel, and the person quickly gives up.
While they are walking, they pass by a stranger, and Bishop yells "Boo!" at the stranger to make the rest of the gang laugh. The stranger all of a sudden runs to the grass, and on his way back to the sidewalk, he nearly falls.
Q shows interest in a DJ contest, only for Bishop and Raheem to scoff that off. Steel analyzes the contest and claims that Q's chance of winning is small. Q criticizes them for not having enough confidence in him, despite being together in a crew. Steel mentions that Q is just local, and does not have much of chance against the competition in the DJ contest. Q decides that he wants to get some record tapes from a store.
When they are in the store, there is a female clerk who's currently watching over the store. Q distracts the clerk who has a gold tooth implant while the rest of the crew collect record tapes. Q pretends that he wants to go on a date with the clerk, and the clerk shows interest. After a while, Raheem, Bishop, and Steel leave and the clerk notices. The clerk tells that she doesn't want to pay for all of the tapes that they are taking, but that has no effect.
After they leave the store with record tapes, the crew members stop outside of a bar and Raheem wants Q to steal some cigarettes for the crew. When Q enters a bar, he approaches a girl who is using a public phone. He appears to be hitting on the girl, which makes the girl move away in disgust. It is revealed that this was a distraction in order for Q to steal a pack of cigarettes from her. After stealing a pack of cigarettes, Q sees a friend who goes by the name Blizzard (his real name is Barnett Jenkins). Q and Blizzard chat momentarily, and then Blizzard decides to rob the place. Blizzard asks Q if Q and the rest of the crew want to participate, but Q decides to pass. Q leaves the bar and tells the rest of the crew that Blizzard is robbing the place. Bishop is eager to participate in the robbery, but Raheem stops him because Raheem feels that Blizzard is crazy and that participating in the robbery will lead to bad results.
The crew stops when they see Raheem's ex-girlfriend, and Bishop comments "that was your woman" to Raheem. Raheem watches as his ex-girlfriend leaves with another man.
Later, the crew stop by at Steel's house. Steel is cooking for the crew. He drinks directly from a bottle of malt liquor, and then uses some of the liquor from that bottle to cook. The crew is watching a movie which involves crazy people getting into a fight, and Bishop shows a lot of interest. Steel takes a few plates to the living room, and Raheem asks Steel "the fuck is this mess?" Steel mentions that it's a mix of bacon, eggs, and hot sauce. The movie progresses and in the movie, there is a crazy man who is on shooting at the cops. The movie ends with the crazy man dying in a fire. Bishop is inspired by the movie, and claims that if he has to die, that's how he wants to die. Steel is critical at that idea, thinking that it's stupid because the man in the movie threw his life away for no good reason. Bishop states that it's about being in control, and questions Steel what he ever controlled. Steel says that he has control of his own life (which he does not feel the man in the movie did since the man in the movie died). Bishop counters and claims he has more control of Steel's life than Steel himself because he's letting Steel breathe.
All of a sudden, the crew members hear a news report about the death of Barnett Jenkins (Blizzard). Blizzard died in a shootout with the police while robbing people inside a bar. Bishop claims that the crew should have been around to help Blizzard out, and that he's tired of running away all the time. Bishop eventually gets into a fight with Q, and Raheem has to step in to stop the fight.
The crew meets again on basketball court, and the crew members decide that they will rob Fernando Quiles, a store owner who earlier chased the crew and Radames's gang away with a gun (it was likely Bishop who came up with the idea, or Raheem might have come up with the idea to appease Bishop). Q is skeptical of the idea, and is not happy that it conflicts with his DJ competition. Bishop calls Q out because Q wants the robbery to be planned another time. It is already decided that they will rob Quiles on the same day of the DJ competition. Q is also skeptical of Bishop holding the gun.
The crew meet up before the robbery. Steel is a little bit nervous, but Raheem assures him that it will be alright. Bishop enters the store with his hood facing the door (so Quiles does not see their masks), and then points a gun at Quiles. Quiles is compliant but keeps asking Bishop not to shoot, which irritates Bishop. The crew steal cash, and store products, and Bishop takes the Quiles's gun. When they are about to leave, Bishop shoots Quiles. The other crew members are horrified. A car passes by and the crew members hide. After the car is gone, they flee the store.
When the crew members flee to a safe area, Q, Steel, and Raheem reprimand Bishop for shooting Quiles. Bishop tries to justify his action by lying that Quiles was drawing out his gun, but everyone sees through the lie. Bishop then claims that Quiles knew who they were. Q and Raheem decide that they need to get rid of the gun, but Bishop is uncooperative. Raheem tries to take the gun away from Bishop, only to get shot by Bishop. When someone hears the shot, Q and Steel flee, but Bishop takes the money that Raheem is holding.
Q, Steel, and Bishop flee to another location. When they get to the new location, Bishop is counting the money while Steel is crying and Q is looking at Bishop in fear. Bishop yells at Steel and Q, and Q calls Bishop crazy, which triggers Bishop to threaten Q's life. Q backs down, and Bishop tells Steel that he needs to get himself together. Bishop seems to show no remorse fo shooting Raheem, and justifies that Raheem tried to take his gun. Bishop asks the rest of the crew if anyone has a problem with him, which Q and Steel respond with silent fear. Bishop decides that they should return to the club in which Q has his DJ competition, and forces them to go with him at gunpoint. Bishop ditches the murder weapon at their second hideout.
When they return to the club, it is Q's turn to perform but the police officers take Bishop, Q, and Steel in for questioniong. The police question each of them separately. Q and Steel are still struck in fear, but still manage to tell the police that they last saw Raheem at the club and that they were at the club the whole time. Bishop remains calm, and lies to the police claiming that Radames (the Puerto Rican gang leader) was the one who shot Raheem.
Later, Bishop is seen at Raheem’s funeral. Q and Steel are also at the funeral. Q and Steel discuss that they are scared of what Bishop will do to them, and are depressed about Raheem’s death. Bishop pretends to be saddened by Raheem’s death and offer fake condolences to Raheem’s loved ones while Q looks at Bishop with disgust.
After the funeral, Q starts avoiding Bishop, but Bishop is able to easily find Q when Q is at his locker. Q stands up to Bishop, which Bishop finds amusing. Bishop laughs and says “look at this, the brother finally decides to stand up like a man and throw down. Too bad Raheem had to die first huh.” This implies that Bishop has no remorse for killing his friend Raheem. Before leaving the school, Bishop threatens Q one more time.
Radames and the rest of the Puerto Rican gang confront Bishop in the arcade that Bishop frequents. The Puerto Rican gang takes Bishop outside. Radames realizes that Bishop was the one who told the police that Radames killed Raheem. Q and Steel arrive to see Bishop cornered by Radames. Bishop sees Q and Steel before they leave the area.
After Q and Steel leave the area, Radames mocks Bishop and tells him that Raheem is no longer around to protect him, but Bishop responds to this by insulting Radames. Radames threatens Bishop with a knife, but Bishop is not afraid because Bishop has a gun. Bishop pushes Radames back and tries to grab a gun from his ankle, but the other gang members manage to hold him down. Suddenly, the police arrive and everyone flees. Bishop follows Radames, and shoots Radames after they lose the cops. Meanwhile, Steel and Q are discussing whether or not Bishop saw them while he was cornered by the Puerto Rican gang. Q is certain that Bishop saw them, and believe that Bishop is infuriated even more. Shortly after, Q manages to get a gun to protect himself from Bishop.
Bishop shows up inside Steel’s house and forces Steel to go with him to the arcade that they frequent. Steel calls Q but is caught by Bishop. Bishop takes Steel down to a basement while Q is rushing to the arcade. Bishop shoots Steel before Q arrives, and then returns to the arcade to lie to the manager that Q has become crazy. Bishop, in effect, frames Q of all the murders that took place.
Q arrives to the scene where Steel is seriously wounded. One person at the scene recognizes Q, and points him out to everyone around. The cops chase Q, but Q manages to get away. Q then arrives to the arcade in which the manager tells Q that Q is a suspect in the murders that took place. Q denies this, but the arcade manager is still suspicious of Q. Q asks the arcade manager to pass a message to Bishop, which the arcade manager complies after receiving money. Meanwhile, Steel wakes up after being taken to the hospital and tells someone that Bishop is the one who committed all the murders and is trying to frame Q.
Q goes to a specific location to wait for Bishop’s arrival. Q decides that he doesn’t want to become a killer, and throws away his gun. Bishop then arrives and points a gun at Q. He asks Q where his gun is, which Q tells Bishop that he threw it away. Bishop mocks Q for such an action. Bishop reveals that he plans to kill Q and make it seem like self-defense. Q manages to knock Bishop’s gun away and they both struggle to get the gun, but Bishop pushes Q farther from the gun. Q runs away while Bishop retrieves his gun. After Bishop retrieves the gun, he chases Q. While Q is running away, he encounters a staircase (where Q has to slow down slightly) and Bishop is able to injure Q (the shot seems to only pierce off the skin of Q’s arm since Q only bleeds temporarily).
Q makes it to an elevator inside a building, but is still followed by Bishop. Bishop tries to shoot Q, even though Q is surrounded by other people. Everyone ducks and one person holds Bishop’s arm, only for Bishop to push that person away moments later. This gives Q enough time to sneak up on Bishop and wrestle the gun away from him. After Q wrestles the gun away from Bishop, another man takes the gun.
Bishop flees while Q chases Bishop to the roof of the building. Bishop and Q fight on the roof, and Q eventually gets the upper hand. Bishop nearly gets knocked off the building, but Q manages to grab Bishop before Bishop falls to the ground. Bishop begs Q to pull him up. Q tries to pull Bishop back up, but is unsuccessful. Bishop then falls to the ground and dies.