"God" Aired 11-01-15

“God” originally aired 11-01-15

I just have one major miss this week:

MISS: Trainees would not have access to do criminal background checks.

I don’t think I am going to continue this blog.  I have gotten very little feedback although there have been quite a large number of people reading it.

But beyond that:

“Quantico” has jumped the shark so badly.  Anyone with half an ounce of common sense knows that the Keystone Cops don’t act the way the FBI is portrayed on this show, much less the top law enforcement agency in the world.  It seems a bit silly for me to point out technicalities of what they are getting wrong when the whole show is practically parity!

"Found" Aired 10/25/15

“Found” Originally aired  10/25/15

I don’t have a lot to say about this week’s episode, just a few general comments.

The undercover training scenario, while in no way realistic made for some pretty interesting TV.  Most agents never work undercover.  Those who do undercover work to any extent are required to take advanced training classes.

I wanted to revisit the way the new agent trainees are depicted as constantly competing against each other. Although, completion does occur among new agent trainees it is usually good natured completion. NATS do their best to work together to insure that everyone graduates from the academy. While it is true that there are some NATs who only care about themselves, those people are quickly identified and ostracized by their classmates. This usually leads to a change in attitude and is a self-correcting problem.

Analysts don’t work in the field. Their job is to analyze information.

Any feedback or comments would be appreciated.

How realistic was this week’s episode?

“Kill” originally aired October 18, 2015

Mixed: The way they were shooting the course was accurate. It was the new FBIHQC. One shoots 5 rounds, 3 rounds standing, 2 rounds kneeling in 15 seconds.  It is done 2 times from the 25 yard line. They would however be allowed to shoot from behind barricades.  They also shot it way too fact, 5 rounds in 3 seconds. They would not have had any accuracy shooting that rapidly.

Miss: That did not resemble Hogan’s Alley at all.

Miss: The tactics that they were shown using to enter the buildings were incredibly unsafe. They didn’t show them receiving any training prior to the exercise.  Analysts would never direct the activities of FBI agents and especially not during a SWAT operation. An analyst job is to deal with information.

Miss: The paintballs they were shown using don’t have that much accuracy. They’re only accurate to about 25 feet.

Miss: Shelby and Caleb on the shooting range would not be allowed. Trainees aren’t allowed on the range in their spare time unsupervised.

A few side notes…

It wasn’t clear if Shelby was still an agent or not. If she was she wouldn’t be allowed any outside employment.

There is no deviation from the rules regarding the use of force. There is not a shoot to kill order. Somebody tried this at Ruby Ridge and it didn’t turn out very well.

Shelby and Alex while playing the truth and lies game mention voting for Obama or not.  From purely observational evidence, most agents are fairly conservative and usually vote Republican.

Ryan was told that he only thought he was there because he was undercover. He was really on probation and there for retraining. Quantico is not Faber College (from Animal House) There is no “super-secret probation”!

How realistic was this weeks show? I welcome any comments.

“Cover” Originally aired 10-11-15

Miss: In the FBI academy trainees wouldn’t be spending time doing all the psychological assignments the show has them doing. They would be learning how to apply federal criminal code to violations they investigate, prepare for court, and assist in the prosecution and conviction of subjects in federal investigations.

Miss: As far as trainees voting other trainees out that never happens. It’s not Survivor! In cases of violations of rules, safety infractions, or general poor performance trainees have to appear before a new agent review board (NARB). The new agent review board can discipline a trainee and even terminate a trainee. When one is dismissed by the new agent review board it is referred to as being NARBed. This is a fairly rare occurrence.

Miss:  New agents who have only been out of the academy a few months wouldn’t be conducting interviews of primary witnesses in a major terrorist attack. New agents are on probation for 2 years.

Mixed: There is boxing in the academy but they would wear head gear and mouth pieces for safety. They would wear real boxing gloves not the MMA type.   Injured trainees are “recycled” into a later class after recovering from injuries.  Inserting a “recycle” into a later class causes the loss of a slot to another trainee, thus the need to keep trainees from being injured.  The high leg kicks they were shown doing would not be taught.  They are impractical in normal clothes and shoes.

Miss: Alex’s mother said that she sent her to India for 10 years but her family in India only knew where she was for 9 years. She was missing for one year. This would have been discovered during the background check before she was hired, unless the family lied also. The family would have been interviewed by the FBI legal attachés in India.

Hit: The picture that Miranda had of President Obama was accurate. It is the official government picture of him that is hung in FBI offices.

"Run" (pilot) Aired 9/27/15

ABC  says its new TV show Quantico is about a new group of FBI agent recruits. They are the best and the brightest. It would seem impossible that one of them is the mastermind of the biggest attack since 9/11.

The FBI is frequently the subject of movies, TV shows, and books. But it's not an organization most people really know much about. There are a lot of misconceptions based off of fictional portrayals of the bureau.

So how well does this new show do in depicting how the FBI really operates?

MISS:  Alex’s mom doesn’t know she’s been hired by the FBI and is headed to Quantico. This is extremely unlikely.  If she were living with her mother as it appeared, her mother would have been interviewed during the hiring process. Their neighbors also would have been interviewed. Background checks would have been run on all family members, and former spouses (if any).

HIT: They carry the guns with the red handles. Agents in training are given fake guns with red handles to carry the around the academy. This is to get them used to always carrying a gun, as they will have to after they graduate.

MISS:  Trainees investigate to find out what is missing about from a classmate’s file.  This is not an assignment they would be given. Additionally, personnel files are held closely. Only select people would have access to them. They wouldn’t be tossed around as they were on the show. They would contain not only personal information about the employee but also personal information about family, roommates, former employers etc.

MISS: The trainees were shown shooting the wrong type of gun. The guns they had at the range were 1911s. Special Agents who are also SWAT team members would be the only ones assigned those weapons. Agents at the academy would be using Glock 22s or 23s.

A FEW SIDE NOTES:  

No one is recruited into the FBI in the matter that they are suggesting. They don’t actually go out and recruit individuals to be agents. The closest thing might be if an agent knows someone who thinks he or she would make a good agent he might encourage them to apply.

A Mormon being in the FBI is nothing unusual.

The scruffy beards that some of the actors had wouldn’t be permitted at the academy.

Pull ups are no long a part of the PT test.

They were using the wrong type of target at the range. They would use a “Q” target not a “new standard police” target.

The only time a trainee has been shot at Quantico was in 1995. A black female and a white male were accidentally shot by an instructor in the gun cleaning room.  They were both hit by the same bullet. It went through the female and hit the male.They both survived and graduated    with a later class.