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In Krzysztof Kieślowski’s The Decalogue, the "cameo" or character crossover in Decalogue V (the episode corresponding to "Thou shalt not kill") provides a silent but definitive resolution to the moral and domestic cliffhanger left at the end of Decalogue II ("Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain").
In Decalogue II, the protagonist Dorota is pregnant by her lover while her husband, Andrzej, is dying of cancer in the hospital. She faces a harrowing choice: if Andrzej survives, she will abort the baby to save her marriage; if he dies, she will keep the baby as her only hope for a child.
She pressures Andrzej’s doctor to tell her if there is any hope. The doctor, sensing her desperation, lies (or "takes the name of God in vain" by playing God) and tells her Andrzej will definitely die. This prompts her to keep the baby. However, the episode ends with a twist: Andrzej miraculously recovers. He visits the doctor, radiating health, and says, "We’re going to have a child." The episode ends there, leaving the viewer wondering if the marriage survived once the child was born and whether Andrzej ever discovered the child was not his.
The resolution occurs during a brief, wordless cameo in Decalogue V (the story of Jacek, the young murderer). As Jacek is wandering through the grim, sprawling apartment complex (Stawki), he enters the hallway/elevator area.
The Specific Detail:
In this scene, Dorota and Andrzej (the couple from Part II) appear in the background. They are seen together in the apartment block's hallway. Crucially:
This cameo resolves the tension of the second commandment by showing the "fruit" of the doctor's perjury. While the doctor technically sinned by lying and "taking the name of the Lord" to guarantee a life-or-death outcome, the cameo in Part V shows that his lie resulted in a stable, functioning family.
By placing this resolution in the background of Decalogue V—the series' most violent and nihilistic episode—Kieślowski creates a sharp contrast. Amidst Jacek’s descent into a senseless murder, the brief glimpse of Dorota and Andrzej offers a rare moment of continuity and "life" that resulted from the moral ambiguity of a previous episode.
The summary omits the specific action of the cameo (the taxi refusal), which is significant because it connects them to the taxi driver character in *Decalogue V*.
In Decalogue V, Dorota and Andrzej (the couple from Decalogue II) appear in a brief cameo at a taxi stand. The taxi driver, Waldemar, deliberately ignores them and refuses their fare, highlighting his unpleasant nature. The cameo confirms that Andrzej survived his illness (resolving the cliffhanger of Decalogue II) and that the couple remained together. However, contrary to the AI summary, they are not seen with a child or stroller in this scene. The visual evidence confirms the survival of the husband and the marriage, but it does not visually confirm the birth or presence of the child.