Sheldon Jeffrey Sands is a master at the art of manipulation. He is a bit of a psychopath in his spare time; he is a corrupt CIA agent; morally bankrupt and he has dreadful dress sense. And those are just his good points. Yet he is also naive, dangerously so, and it blinds him (no pun intended) to other people's machinations. He seems to get a kick out of manipulating people who are older, more experienced and stronger than he is. Never once believing that they could easily turn on him. Oh dear, he really didn't see that coming, did he?
Favourite Sands bits in OATIM? All of them really, but if I had to choose, I love the beginning of the movie, when all we see is Sands sitting with his back to the door. How daft is that? He expects there might be trouble, hence the third arm and the gun under the table, but he sits with his back to the door. There's the clue, right there. I also love his sunglasses in that scene and the shirt with the oversized collar. There was the t-shirt with "I'm with stupid" on it and the arrow pointing down. And the hats, dreadful, cheesy hats. And the fake cowboy shirt, hat and boots. Sands loves his disguises that completely fail to hide who he really is. I also loved the bit where he is getting ready to kill some bad guys. You see this in so many westerns, when the gunfighter puts on his guns etc. Poor blinded Sands put his glove on the wrong hand. That has to be my most favourite moment, when we see Sands the heroic. He cannot manipulate anyone any more, but he's not going to give up without a fight. I am not ashamed to admit that I tear up at that scene.
OATIM was a confusing movie where there were no good guys and everyone had their own hidden agendas. What exactly was Sands trying to do? He managed to do his job inasmuch as he got "El" to distract everyone. Would he really have run off with all the money and Ajedrez? I have the sneaking suspicion that that was a blind as well (sorry, no pun intended that time either). I think, and this is only my opinion, that he had too much fun being a CIA agent and being in charge. I don't think he would have given that up for a few million dollars and a pretty face. Oh, he would have kept the money, there is no question about that. He'd need it to feed his addiction to sunglasses and slow-roasted pork for starters. But I think he would have stashed it away somewhere and kept working for the CIA, just for fun.
Sheldon survives everything that is done to him through sheer, stubborn bloody mindedness. Remember, when he is thrown back onto the street after his eyes are destroyed? He clings to his own name and his job: his identity cannot be damaged. Anyone else would have walked in front of a 'bus and given up. But Sands' sense of self preservation is intact. There he stands, dressed in black, bloody but not bowed. And when Ajedrez cannot resist piling on a little more agony, Sands seems smaller and vulnerable. Then he gets the last laugh.
So, how would Sands cope without eyes? Pretty well, I'd guess. That skill in manipulation would come in handy but he'd have to get rid of lots of naivety and arrogance in order to survive in a world of sighted people. His hearing would probably sharpen, so there'd be no problems in detecting bad guys creeping up behind him. Life would be more difficult, but Sands seems to thrive on difficulties. He'd cope and I'll bet he'll soon be back, kicking Mexico into touch. Now wouldn't that be fun to see?