I think at the very first she tried that rictus, bottom teeth bared "smile" that is intended to intimidate without screetching at someone and the attendant "I'm warning you" tone in her voice. He didn't smile, get nervous or back off. He just stared her back down, and she fell apart.
Borrowing a phrase from HRC, she was gasping for air. Rodguy, I thought of you because she reminded me of a fish flopping around (OK, that would be gasping for water...)
Her trunk stayed relatively stable, but her arms, hands, and head were going everywhere and she literally looked like she couldn't get her breath. She often cut off part of the last word in her sentences while her eyes were darting all over.
I've seen her use that initial tone and facial expression to intimidate interviewers before and it often used to work. They'd sort of laugh nervously and back way off. Didn't work with Stephy a couple weeks ago, didn't work with Brokaw.
He really put it to her about drilling off shore and she tried to make it a whole package* with maybe some drilling and it would be more helpful to drain the Strategic Reserve (didn't say what country it would be helpful to).
Brokaw even finished up with some kind of comment about we'll be drilling then or maybe he said we'll be voting on drilling then (which means we'll be drilling), and she tried to correct him but he just cut her off and the statement stood.
She was way past nervous IMO; she was a mess. *BTW when Brokaw asked her something about whether Biden's experience really made up for BHO's lack of same, she carried on as though BHO had all the experience in the world, "He's the complete package."
I guess what got me was, were I doing the interview, I would have had zillion followups and Brokaw didn't seem to.
I did sota wonder what that moronic almost robotic smile she was doing was all about and your take does make a lot of sense:
"I am the queen how dare you question my commands,no one else in the DBM would dare question my commands"
that would be a piglosi trait.
You are right Brokaw he did say at the end than "than we will have drilling" you could see she was dying for a response but they broke instead.
And the "he's the complete package was just more of the overall strategy of "tell em' anything and they will believe it BS" that she had been spewing the entire interview.
To even listen to a Piglosi interview you have to be aware that 90% of what she is says is all DNC chatting points and out and out lies poised to promote rat agendas.