THIS IS THE END, MY ONLY FRIEND, THE END: Left-wing Twitter goes full Apocalypse Now.

In the film Apocalypse Now, Martin Sheen’s Captain Willard comes upon a remote outpost defending a bridge. Hoping to confer with the commander, he instead finds a delirious state of chaos. A machine gunner fires heavy caliber rounds into the night while trading taunts with an unseen member of the Viet Cong.

“Who’s the commanding officer here?” Willard asks. “Ain’t you?” returns the bewildered gunner. After being awakened by his compatriots, “The Roach,” an apparently stoned soldier with a tiger-striped grenade launcher, advises that the VC is close. He propels a grenade off into the distance and the taunts of the enemy are silenced. “Hey, soldier. Do you know who’s in command here?” asks Willard. “Yeah,” answers the Roach before walking away.

That scene typifies the vibe right now on Twitter, in the best possible way.

Following Twitter’s purchase by Elon Musk, there is a sense that anything can happen — and that it just might. On Thursday, the rumor was going around that it might be Twitter’s last day. Musk issued an ultimatum to Twitter’s apparently entitled staff — at least one worker was surprised to be let go for publicly insulting Musk — that the work going forward would be “hardcore.” Those who desired to stay would need to affirmatively respond to Musk’s email. When few employees took him up on the offer, Musk had everyone locked out of the building. This, along with a mass wave of resignations, contributed to the perception that Twitter lacked critical engineers in nearly every area of operation and could soon be gone. I exchanged half-joking goodbyes with some of my Twitter pals.

But when Friday morning came, Twitter was still there. “Really glad I didn’t freak out last night and post this one terrific picture I have of my boobs,” cracked one user I am friendly with. Another friend posted that if Twitter is nearing its end, at least we spent its final hours making fun of sanctimonious liberals.

Meanwhile, back on Planet Earth, a thread collated by the Thread Reader App explains what’s likely going inside Twitter: “Alright, I’m going to explain what Elon Musk is likely doing over there at Twitter. This is not a discussion on whether it’s RIGHT OR WRONG; just what’s happening. If I’m wrong, I’m sure he’ll pop up and say so. What Elon is engaged in is something called ‘Whaling and Culling.’”