Time frame off in some epsiodes?

[Myrtle Groggins]

This is something that has bugged me for ages, so I thought I'd ask others about it.

In some of the episodes, particularly Signed, Steeled, and Delivered, the time frame is off. Or is it just me?

On Saturday morning, when Laura and Sheldon are in the car while RS is phoning the CIA, they say it is 9AM and Sheldon says he should be getting married in 7 hours. When they are in the CIA office, they say it's after 1PM, and the Price says he has to take his kids out - go-carting, I think. Then Laura, RS, and Sheldon, go to the garage where the car blows up. Next we see RS and Laura with Price saying it's about 5PM. So heres my question:

Did it take the CIA guy FOUR hours to grab his keys and leave his office?

Could the other three have called the police to the garage after the explosion? Then Steele gets upset and goes back up to the CIA office where the guy is just leaving four hours later?

Am I making too much of this? It drives me crazy everytime I watch the episode.

[Yuliya]

I had to look up my own web page on that episode to recal what bugged me once. Sure enough, those 4 hours are duly noted; I wasn't as precise about other time intervals.

In general, they often weren't too exact about times, within an episode as well as between ones, after a while I just relaxed and enjoyed all those inconsistencies.

[sparklingblue]

Embarassingly enough, I never noticed, no matter how often I'd watched the episode.

Must have been distracted.

[Myrtle Groggins]

Thank you, Yuliya, for directing me to your site (again). I thought I had it bookmarked, but that must have been on my old computer.

I could understand those first four hours, maybe the CIA guy had another appointment and couldn't see them until later. But the most obvious and jarring time lapse was between the one o'clock visit and when they went back to see him after the car was bombed. It wouldn't have been noticable if they hadn't mentioned the time!

I really do try not to let this stuff bother me, and most of the time it doesn't, but the 1PM - 5PM timespan was just too much to ignore.

Not to worry, Sparklingblue. We can understand your distraction.

[Ace]

Jumping hours bug me but nearly as much as Laura's it doesn't add up years as a detective. In Steele in the Night she says she left Havenhurt 4 years ago -- and yet she apprenticed for years -- presumably after she went to college. Then in Dreams, late in the 2nd season, it's "Four years of college, two years of apprenticeship, three years of building up the agency" and that's after Steele has already been around for 2 years!

So is she not counting her time during her first failed agency? Did she have that for 3 years before she opened RS? If so how is she only 28? Tough I guess she could have graduated at 20/21. But then if she opened her own agency at age 22/23 why is she surprised no one would hire her as the head of her own agency?

It also begs the question -- if she was able to open her own agency after 2 years of apprenticeship, why couldn't Steele after being her "apprentice"? He also had considerably more life/criminal experience as a thief as oppossed to being say a Math major.

Ace

[curious george]

Okay, it's not the time frame goofs that get me; it's the incredibly frequent contamination of crime scenes and the criminals who don't even bother to wear gloves. Guess I've seen too many procedural series since this was on originally. ;D

cg

[sparklingblue]

cg said:

Okay, it's not the time frame goofs that get me; it's the incredibly frequent contamination of crime scenes and the criminals who don't even bother to wear gloves. Guess I've seen too many procedural series since this was on originally. ;D

cg

Now that was something I also picked up on, even though I don't read many mysteries and also don't watch these kinds of shows. I was watching Hearts of Steele the other day, and when the woman (we can't see who it is) delivers the bottle of poisoned wine to Marcall's house, she isn't wearing any gloves.

[Ace]

sparklingblue said:

cg said:

Okay, it's not the time frame goofs that get me; it's the incredibly frequent contamination of crime scenes and the criminals who don't even bother to wear gloves. Guess I've seen too many procedural series since this was on originally. ;D

cg

Now that was something I also picked up on, even though I don't read many mysteries and also don't watch these kinds of shows. I was watching Hearts of Steele the other day, and when the woman (we can't see who it is) delivers the bottle of poisoned wine to Marcall's house, she isn't wearing any gloves.

Well we know why she wasn't dont we? The question is why she had to go through that trouble.

Fingerprints only matter anyway if you're later caught and they match them up or if they're on file. Most people don't have fingerprints on file. (note professional thief Mr Steele uses them when breaking into place ) And then there has to be a good print left and non smudged. Of course many criminals still don't wear gloves. And of course DNA evidence then wasn't really part of police investigation.

Frankly a lot of the forensic stuff on TV is kind of overboard. How many cities actually have that much money and time to spend on every case? Not many. The reaction of the guy in the morgue in Tempered is probably more realistic -- they assume he died as a junkie and didn't bother to run a toxicology exam until pressed by Steele. And in cases like this it wouldn't be surprising if Steele had to pay for it when he made the request.

Ace

[curious george]

DNA evidence back then, no, but fingerprints - yes! Even so, they come upon a number of dead bodies and seem never to have heard "don't touch anything until the police get here." We won't even talk about the Wilson/Harry escapade.

But speaking of Harry...has anyone ever explained why his underwear (not to mention his skin) wasn't thoroughly dyed purple after his....er...overly long wine-tasting session?

cg

p.s. Yes, many of those shows (Crossing Jordan in particular comes to mind) make me wonder if the forensic technology they supposedly use even exists.

[lotsofluck]

"Next we see RS and Laura with Price saying it's about 5PM."
Price asks what time is it and I hear Steele answer 1:25. Listen again and see if you don't agree.

[Ace]

In Nancy's Steele transcript it does indeed say, when back in Prices office post explosion:

"What time is it?" asks Laura.

"One forty-five" answers Steele.

[Myrtle Groggins]

Well, looks like I'll have to rewatch that episode again. Must be correct with those times, mustn't we?

About Laura's time as a detective, I was trying to figure all that out myself. I think Laura must have graduated from high school at age 16, went to college fulltime year-round, graduating at age 19, spent four years apprenticing and working as a detective for Havenhurst (until age 23), opened her own agency for 6 months at least, then opened RSI.

Still doesn't fit, does it?

Another thing I noticed:
In In the Steele of the Night, Steele opens an invitation from Alan about the Havenhurst reunion, the address of RSI is:
Century City Plaza
2049 Century Park East
LA 90067

In Steele of Approval the RSI address is:
4000 Avenue of the Stars
LA 90067

I know it's the same geographical square, Century City Plaza, but I thought it a bit odd that they used two separate addresses.

Somebody's website mentioned it, I read it several years ago, but I don't know where it is now.

Also, wasn't there another address used for the offices, perhaps Pacific Coast Hwy.? Seems I recall that one too somewhere.

I think I've got too much RS on the brain.

[sparklingblue]

myrtlegroggins said:

Also, wasn't there another address used for the offices, perhaps Pacific Coast Hwy.? Seems I recall that one too somewhere.

I remember this address from Illustrated Steele as the address of "the Blaster".

[Myrtle Groggins]

Thanks, Sparkling. That must be where I got it from since I did recently watch Illustrated several times.