We have been watching FBI, and one of the thing we noticed and laugh at is that the agents are terrible at containment, and practically every episode has to have an extended foot chase, usually with the person eluding them.
For a change, and a compare-and-contrast, we are watching 1965’s The FBI, which should be a completely different series in tone.
So what happens in episode 2? They have a foot chase, where the bad guy outruns them! Some things never change!
Sees the guy they are looking for 100 feet away:
“Hey we need to talk to you!”
Runs away.
“Maybe next time we wait until we are closer?”
Every. Damn. Week!
The worst containment is when they raided a house, using their whatchamacallit SWAT team, they all went inside, and the baddie escaped from inside the house by running past them! Someone needs more training.
We are surprised that the first two eps of THE FBI deal so much with Erskine’s personal life. I didn’t know it was such a soap opera in the beginning. Erskine fell in love (probably) in the first, then identified with the perp in the second, because they were both single parents that served in Korea. And for all we know, they both liked pizza. Yup, that’s enough to make a guy lose all his objectivity.
Coincidentally, I downloaded a digital library copy of a Bosch / Ballard novel the other day, and am currently reading it, then on the Today Show yesterday they had Maggie Q on to talk about this new series. We canceled our damn Prime probably about a year ago because we just didn’t order that much on Amazon, and we didn’t want to help support Bezos’ billionaire lifestyle any longer. But I do kinda miss Prime. And that trailer looks good!
The Bosch / Ballard novel I’m reading is pretty entertaining-- they (fictionally) solve the freakin’ real life Black Dahlia murder, and that’s just a subplot!
Before I even clicked, I knew what it had to be*. Most famous unsolved LA crime. I haven’t read that book yet. Did Bosch’s father do it?
*Either that or DB Cooper
I only read maybe one or two Bosch novels in my life, and never saw the series, so I don’t know the history of Bosch’s father. But it appears to be some rando named ‘Thawyer’ who had had a storage unit paid up from a trust fund, so the money didn’t run out until years after he died. Then pics of the Black Dahlia vic being tortured and killed along with other young women turn up in the storage unit, and the background details match up to the the basement of the house Thawyer used to live in. It could be a red herring, since I’m not done with the book yet, but it seems like they solved it.
And like I said, that’s just a ‘B’ or ‘C’ plot, along with a much more recent serial killer cold case their team is working on, and a possible domestic terrorist group planning an attack Ballard accidentally discovers. It’s a regular murder mystery three-ring circus!
Thanks for the snippet. (I assume this is The Waiting you’re reading?)
It was more of a joke, probably only funny if you had read all the books, and knew how Mickey Haller fits in to the universe. And a joke on how “all the important people are related” school of storytelling (Luke is that you? it’s me, daddy. How’s your sister?)
[Checking Kindle] Yep, confirmed.
Ah, I see 
Well, anyway, it’s an entertaining novel. I have read a fair amount of Connelly, but for whatever reason never really got into the Bosch series. Maybe I’ll go back and catch up on it now.
But, this isn’t ‘Novels you’ve recently read, are now reading or have given up on’, so, with apologies, I will now return us to our scheduled thread…
Actually, no. But do read the book!
We watched that and some of the reveals (which I won’t spoil) were absolutely stunning. It really was like an Ocean’s 11 movie, but with much less attractive people and a lot dumber. I kept thinking, “if they put as much effort into a job as they do this heist, they’d all be rich.”
I will, but I’m behind. I only have this, and the new series starting with Detective Stilwell called “Nightshade” to catch up on. I see there is a new Mickey Haller coming in October.
My wife likes to watch NCIS: New Orleans reruns and I see this All. The. Time.
“STOP! Federal agent!”
Guy takes off running. Might as well just fire your gun in the air like a starter’s pistol.
As I remember (it’s been a few years) the accents and characters were from a variety of social strata, and I actually don’t remember much cockney being used. Part of the overarching plot involved an attempt to take over the government (hence the alternate history I refereed to).
The 2010s version of Hawaii Five-O was big on foot chases too. But not just ordinary foot chases; every perp was highly skilled at elaborate parkour. Every week McGarrett chased someone across rooftops, over staircase railings, hotel balconies, parking garage levels, you name it. It became a running joke at our house. (No pun intended.)
We have axed Acorn and picked up Britbox, and our first new series was The Tower, which ran three seasons before being canceled. It features Gemma Whelan (Yara Greyjoy from Game of Thrones) and southeast London police investigations. It has a slight feel of The Wire (though nowhere near as good), with a fair amount of plot and character complexity, plotlines that don’t tidy themselves at season-end, and (occasionally) muddy sound. We’re disappointed it’s over, but we have plenty of other things to watch.
Last night we did also watch the first episode of a show that features a former cop turned cruise ship singer (that might be the actual name), and murders aboard. The writing was terrible, and there was no chemistry between the leads…in fact, the writing and casting was really reminiscent of bad 70s network TV (US). I can see fans of Murder, She Wrote loving it.
What I noticed watching The FBI series on CBS is that the agents will go to a house or a bar looking for someone, who will then run out the back door. So it never occurred to them to send someone to the back before announcing their presence?
Best friend who is a Bosch fan put me on to the books. When I emerge from the Only Plane in the Sky (MUST read ) fascination might give them a try.
Meanwhile the TV show is good.
We signed up for Brit Box to watch Ludwig, which was fun and now we’re watching Outrageous about the Mitford sisters, two of whom became prominent British fascists in the 1930s, another was an ardent communist, another a novelist who was active with the French resistance and another who became an expert on poultry farming.
Don’t forget little Deborah, duchess of Devonshire 
.
Or their brother, who was also a nazi sympathizer, like two of his sisters.