Towards the end of Looper, "old Joe" is captured by the young guy and brought back to the mob's HQ in the strip club. Joe escapes by first kicking Abe in the crotch then shooting the young guy and Abe. Joe shoots his way out then blows up the club.
I assumed Abe was killed, but the next scene showed him alive and hiding behind a table. But shortly after, there is a shot of him lying dead on the floor.
Did I miss something here? What actually happened to Abe?
As far as I remember from watching it this weekend you are thinking of two different guys as one. When Blue Kid (the young idiot) brings Old Joe to the club he doesn´t meet Abe before starting killing people. He meets another bearded man who is indeed killed. Then he works his way up to Abe to get him.
As I recall, we see a shot of Abe hiding behind his desk as Joe is about to kick the door in. We next see him with a bullet hole in his head. Keiju is correct when he mentions the first bearded fellow (not Abe).
Cynical answer - movie needed to be edited for time or an editing glitch.
Long answer - Old Joe had been shown to be a killing machine already, and it wasn't necessary to show the end of Abe and his heavies.
