Seriously where do I sign up? The guy does not seem to have any real job, Case load or responsibility to the FBI..... literally just says I need to take care of something then disappears for Days.... cruising around in his FBI vehicle.
I know why he has the job- for the story progression- but gee its poorly done.
Probably the show's one gaping flaw. It's one thing to put that stuff in the background, but we should at least see MacLaren working cases and reporting to someone. Breaking down some doors with his FBI team, making some arrests, etc. You can't just tell everyone you're working on stuff and cruise around town doing whatever. If he's a senior field agent he should be able to hand off some of the mundane stuff to more junior agents before he leaves to do a mission for the other Director. On the other hand, his freewheeling abuse of the position has just landed them all in serious trouble, as we saw at the end of Ep. 12.
shareSure that would work if he was on special assignment or something but he's not. He is literally just doing his iwn thing.
Also take for instance the Car park assault by the Druggie guy. Surely if your FBI car was involved in such an incident and caught on CCTV you would be hauled in pretty bloody quick smart.
I was thinking that the entire time I was watching. He has no other cases and takes the most personal time leaves ever. He will pop in for 5 minutes at his seat then he will get a call from Kat or his team and be out for an entire day. It is hilarious. However they had to give him a job with some law enforcement clout.
shareHe probably does a lot of cases not relevant to the missions but there is no reason for the them to go into them in any detail on the show.
shareYou'd expect the Director (the one from the future) to realize MacLaren is an asset they have to use with some care. Too many sudden, drop everything emergencies will make his behavior seem erratic and draw unwanted attention. The smart thing to do would be to use historical records to feed him info on various criminals so he could continue to produce for the FBI with a minimum of real investigation. He'd turn up with all the files and evidence he needed, courtesy of the future. A warrant would be issued and they'd go knocking down some doors. That whole "I'm working on stuff" thing can cover quite a bit - if you're delivering results on a regular basis.
shareI am not going to say that it is handled well. But as we saw in episode 8 they have many travelers in positions of authority and it would seem all too easy to cover for MacLearens lack of normal case load, also a lot of what he was looking into was related to the anonymous informant sending tips to the FBI and he did just close a few cases, one where he risked his life in a shootout to save a child. But I agree that we should see more of his real FBI situation and in a way we do.
shareMac spends less time at the FBI than Phillip Jennings spends at the travel agency.
My Chimp DNA seems to have lost its password temporarily. Sluggr-2
Mac spends less time at the FBI than Phillip Jennings spends at the travel agency.And Philip is his own boss and does not need to answer to anyone share
Yeah, they have travelers at DOJ which oversees FBI, so... the probably have travelers at all levels of the bureau too to ensure Maclaren can run his team.
shareThis assumes all we see is in real time. This is not 24; we see only the important events of the travelers - not the everyday activities in between.
I'm sure MacLaren's case load is much easier having a historian to check events and future activities of those persons of interest being investigated.
It would be nice to see him go on an actual raid or make a bust to keep the character grounded.
We see him sitting at his desk sometimes or something. They don't contact him all the time, and in the episode with the "runner traveller" (no spolers) he was officially tracking the guy. He did it originally for his own reasons, but he was on the clock, following "a different lead".
He busts that fellow traveler that wanted to take over his team. And he gets the terrorist he and his partner are tracking in the pilot. He saves the kid napped kid (as far as authorities are concerned). There are instances.
shareHow about Carly's ex-boyfriend? Drives around in a patrol car doing whatever in a metropolitan city of that size. Puh-lease. Peace officers would be going from call to call to call from the beginning of their shift to the end. A peace officer showing up and speaking to the wife of an FBI agent. How the hell did he even find his house? Only way he could have known that is to follow the agent home or run the tags on the agent's personal vehicle. Both of which is ILLEGAL and most likely an immediate indefinite suspension. If he used NCIC to get info on the tags DPS would most likely remove his right to use that system which again would be an indefinite suspension.
shareBoth of which is ILLEGAL and most likely an immediate indefinite suspension.In what alternate reality is this where police always follow the rules and always get caught when they don't.
You can say that about all jobs, but this peace officer's behavior wouldn't last very long.
shareIt's not that, it's that he's a cop conducting his own personal investigation into an FBI agent, including using his cruiser laptop to pull the agents FBI official credentials. That's going to get noticed. He even confronts MacLaren at the FBI office and threatens him, he's lucky he wasn't arrested and fired for that alone.
shareYeah. The lowjacked FBI vehicle with cameras facing the occupants and the exterior.
How is it the Historian/computer guru didn't take that into account?
How is it that Mac's partner doesn't just turn on those cameras every time Mac disappears for a couple of days and doesn't answer his phone?
As for his job performance, I think the show has to balance his missions with the team, and either his FBI life or his home life. His home life is more important for character development, so they spend more time each episode there dealing with Kat... but if you notice, a lot of her time is crossover time with his partner in order to kill two birds with one stone (his birthday party with work people, her going to the FBI/his partner, etc...)
All in all, it was a bit of a slow start, but I'm liking it more and more. I care less about the overall mission and more about the characters... and that is a sign of a great cast and well-written characters.
I've only watched the first 7 episodes so don't know how it ends, but has it been revealed how long these travelers gave been here? If many months or weeks, then it would look suspicious if the Fibbie was constantly taking off. If only several days then maybe he could get away with it.
shareI'm liking it more and more. I care less about the overall mission and more about the characters... and that is a sign of a great cast and well-written characters