MovieChat Forums > D.E.A. (2008) Discussion > Today's episode: The definite proof that...

Today's episode: The definite proof that this show is staged!



In this episode the team is supposed to investigate a powerful ecxtasy ring the head of which is upposed to be a highly paranoid kingpin.This is supposed to be a deep cover, HIGHLY DANGEROUS operation but there are so many goofs it's almost funny:


- The undervover agent meets his informantin a parking lot. The narrator stresses the danger this informant would be in if he was spotted with a cop but we see inside and OUTSIDE shots of the parking lot meaning there are at least 2 cameras! How conspicuous, and how commendable ( or foolish) of the CI to still meet the agent with a tv crew!


- they blur the informant and distort his voice but show us his right hand with a small birthmark! there shouldn't be many drug dealers with such a distinctive sign! Plus ,thanks to the outside camera, we know he's driving a van...


Now the BEST:

- They finally meet the source who, according to the undercover is nervous and has spotted an unmarked car . Besides this dealer also says that if anyone attempts to arrest him he would shoot cops in the face! Wisely the agents decide to call it off. but here goes:

- Instead of completely backing off and wait for another meeting, they decide to follow him and PULL HIM OVER on his way back from the meeting ( justifying themselves saying that they waited for a couple of hours to do so but still...the agent's cover would be blown.)

- They claim to have pulled him over as a routine traffic stop. Instead, they put that supposedly paranoid guy in handcuffs without probable cause ( or none they give us on TV ) . besides we see OUTSIDE SHOTS of him. Which means THERE WAS A TV CAMERA IN HIS FACE! How routine...


After all that they were still surprised that this guy didn't show up at the next meet and sent other guys in his place! I was surprised that ANYBODY SHOWED UP AT ALL! If that guy was that unstable the deal would have been off.




Either these cops are the most supid agents that ever lived , or this show is STAGED. It's certainly a series of reenactments of real cases. It makes sense when you think about it. The DEA can't have camera crews interfering with real life-threatening operations like that.




-You may have a coronary..
- A coronary? My heart wouldn't dare attack me!

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I agree that a large part of this show is staged, which is really disappointing. The fact that they show the "informants" making the phone calls and blatantly put what they are saying on the screen in subtitles is alarming in that it would be very easy for a dealer to see this show and know who the CI is.

Also, when they do raids on houses, the cameras are obviously taping after the fact, as there are never shots of the actual team going in to raid the house, rather POV shots edited in with facial shots from outside the house or pre-raid to make it look like the cameras are capturing the raid "real time".

I think that this show uses a combination of real life footage, footage taken after the fact, and staged footage to try to make it seem like it was all continuous. Its totally a show that just creates a ton of hype about itself but never really delivers what it says its going to. All the "action" is quick and chopped up so much in editing to make it seem more exciting that its really hard to see what actually is happening without the narrators help. The show, through previews and intense editing, builds up excitment in the audience, as they think something big or exciting is going to happen, then when it finally comes time for the excitement, it really fails to deliver anything. All the excitement is done through the editing. If you notice, they after every commercial break, they tediously explain what happened before the break over and over again, this is an attempt to cover up the fact that there really is no content to this show. All the footage and stories in this series could be summed up in a 1-2hour tv special rather than 8-10 1 hour episodes that really dont show much.

I like the concept and the characters of this show, and I will probably continue to watch it, but I think they should drop the fancy mtv-style editing and storytelling techniques and let the cops and drug dealers tell the story. I'd really like it to follow either a Cops format, or a First 48 format (if you havnt seen the first 48, check it out, its an awesome and compelling show).

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