Really interesting that you mention these two particular scenes because both movies feature scenes of horrific violence at the outset. Thereafter, any scenes involving the characters we saw commit the violence - and particularly the two scenes you highlight - are fraught with danger because the audience know exactly what these people are capable of. The "coin toss" scene is one of the best in film history - there's a lot going on there....

While watching (and for the first time as well), the biggest guess is why the hell he never finished that Proprietor fella. By the time of that scene Chigurh has already been introduced as universal kind of evil, uncompromised and whatever comes along with it. Basically we need just his hairdo to get us reminded someone’s gonna die, let along his methods. However, he has never done so in this particular scene. And it is impossible to miss its tension. In the scene with landlady (the woman, 50-ihs), the one where he forcefully asks “where does he [Moss] work?” –obviously he got frightened off by unknown party in the toilet. For some other of his reasons he leaves un-acted the last scene with Sheriff Bell and as far as it goes their only scene. He decides not to step in this line of narration. Although he is the major part of Bell’s Journey. And there’s this final scene with Moss’ wife, Carla Jean. It is not clear, but it has been hinted he does her, when it pointed that he checked his feet. In the scene with shopkeeper it’s quite interesting mentioning the ‘slowly unkinking packet’. I was surprised this brief and nonetheless impressive moment was in the script (saw movie first). Earlier in the script there’s one similar little thing that got my attention as well – the spent casing after the Moss’ first shot, he picks it up – and that one was scripted too. I think picking up that casing pointed to his some kind of professional chaser\military or whatever background where you had had to count on all such little things, and how long you’re gonna last depends on the fact whether or not you do those little things. And this unkinking packet is exactly the one for Chigurh. Something has appealed to curiosity of his conscious attention, this makes his mind reluctantly to react and tosses him some good reasons to spare life of this here fool. Chigurh was harshly provoked with Proprietor’s pointless curiosity and thus returned him «What business is it of yours where I'm from, friendo». He prefers to deal with that kind of friendliness in only one way. But the ‘married into’–line softened him a little, so he lets his coin to sort this out. Maybe Proprietor’s honesty about those things. Chigurh may admire such straightness. And it is unclear whether this kind of admiration can control his life – as in scene with Carla Jean. I think he killed her because unwittingly she trespassed his vital personality trait – which is the coin must be tossed, no matter how much you’re honest and dignified about your future. Because without it he’s the one who got married into it.

I thought I remembered reading somewhere that finding out that the Proprietor married into the store and home made Chigurh feel sorry for him, and that killing the man, in Chigurh's mind, would be an act of mercy -- to put the man out of his "misery." But in the end, he let the man and the coin decide. I like the script and the film because they don't work too hard to explain every character's decisions or M.O.'s. As long as it's consistent and drives the plot, you don't need a hundred flashbacks or expo monologues.

I find it fascinating that the gas station scene is seven pages long, filled with clipped dialogue, no revealing descriptions of character emotions, and no drastic turn of events -- yet it's one of the best in film history. This only reaffirms my belief that lengthy, one-on-one scenes that reveal raw character are sort of the holy grail of scriptwriting. When done right they're unbeatable, memorable, perhaps even the only thing we take away from a film; at the same time, you can only have about one or two in an entire film. This is where artists shine and separate themselves from the pack. Love both of these.