MovieChat Forums > Take the Money & Run (2011) Discussion > Is the 9/6 ep the first or last episode ...

Is the 9/6 ep the first or last episode filmed?

posted 13 years ago by c152atn67
21 replies | jump to latest

Not sure if this was originally filmed before or after the other episodes - the giveaway for me is the lack of seeing the GPS route. I think it was the first as they quickly realized how tough it would be for the police to find the case without knowing the route, but it could also have been filmed after the others, to ensure more than one of the eps have the couple winning.

[–] wearyourlove 13 years ago

It seems so ridiculously clear it was the first, which is so damn confounding as to why they would show it last. I mean, they have the interrogators tellings us all the rules, straight to the camera, in this episode, the first time they've actually done so. And this after what, 7 other episodes? Really silly.

[–] c152atn67 13 years ago

It's definitely obvious after watching the whole episode that it was the first one filmed. Surprisingly, I thought it was probably my favorite of the series, and hope that they get a season 2 next summer (wouldn't be surprised if it is cancelled though).

[–] narnia4 13 years ago

Its pretty obvious why they saved this episode until last, because this was easily the episode with the closest finish and one of the stronger episodes in general. It would have made sense if they showed this episode first as well, but ah well.

[–] taz765 13 years ago

This was indeed the first episode taped since the production code was 101. I also think this was the best episode of the series.

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] wearyourlove 13 years ago

How were they smarter than the couple in the second episode? I really don't see it.

[–] The_Great_Pantubo 13 years ago

>101

Is that true? If so, great catch. And also, I'd be glad.

I actually thought this was the weakest episode of the series so far. I didn't think the players were very good and yet they still won. The investigators were given far too little to go on.

I was afraid that they had changed the rules to make it harder for the investigators, because they were victorious so often in the other shows. But this was too hard. I'd feel much better if this were Episode 1 and they went the other way with it.

Also I was puzzled why they were finally explaining the rules. I thought maybe they were responding to criticism from the other shows. But if this were the pilot that would make a lot more sense.

On the other hand, you have to worry about a show getting re-ordered on the fly like this. It does not bode well for the show's longevity (see: Firefly). I hope it survives; it's the only reality show I've ever cared about enough to watch.

[–] bsdsooner 13 years ago

It's the strangest thing. It sure seems like the first episode. To me, it was by far the best episode as well. If this had been shown first, I think it would have made for a much better show. Even if they had found the case in this one, it was believable. They didn't "break" the contestant. They used actual interrogation techniques to decipher what they thought was the answer.

[–] bing-57 13 years ago

> the giveaway for me is the lack of seeing the GPS route.

Plus the fact that the investigators got to see where they started and stopped, which should have been a huge advantage. They only stopped at a couple of places and the detectives should have torn apart those places.

This was by far the best episode. The investigators actually talked through what they were doing and why. That made it interesting to the home audience to play along.

I hate to say it, but I actually wanted the investigators to win this one since they put in a lot of serious effort.

But I do see the problem and understand why this pilot episode was shown last. If the investigators have to rely solely on breaking down the players, they will fail most of the time (except for the pussies that break themselves down because they can't take a jail cell for 48 hours).

Anyone with a small amount of stamina will able to to just lie and misdirect the investigators all day.

So the producers had to change the rules a bit to even the playing field. Unfortunately that makes the game seem like they were changing the rules on the fly, which, I guess, they were.

--
What Would Jesus Do For A Klondike Bar (WWJDFAKB)?

[–] sonyab1974 13 years ago

So the producers had to change the rules a bit to even the playing field.
========================================================
Well the one thing I didn't like, was that the investigator's were allowed to call the couple's friend and trick him in a text!! What the hell?!!?! That's not fair! I hope that never happens again!

[–] SBL84 13 years ago

Plus the fact that the investigators got to see where they started and stopped, which should have been a huge advantage. They only stopped at a couple of places and the detectives should have torn apart those places.

Are you sure about that? I thought it only showed the Start point and the Stop point. (Where they were handed the briefcase, and where they were arrested. Not everywhere they started/stopped)

I hate to say it, but I actually wanted the investigators to win this one since they put in a lot of serious effort.

That one cop getting the receipt at the bar was smart. Since the receipt they got was before the time they started, they were able to match the time on the cop's receipt with the actual time to see how far off the machine was.

So the producers had to change the rules a bit to even the playing field. Unfortunately that makes the game seem like they were changing the rules on the fly, which, I guess, they were.

Yeah, giving them the route map evens it out a whole lot. Just given the Start and Stop points, you could get in your car, drive 30 minutes in one direction, hide it, and then drive back to the start location.

They could have gone in literally any direction, made however many turns or did anything and there'd be no way for them to find out where they went unless the people break and give it up.

[–] bing-57 13 years ago

> Are you sure about that?

Yes. Watch the "instruction" screen. In the other five episodes it said that the investigators would be given the GPS route. But in this episode it said that they would be given all "stop" and "start" locations.

> there'd be no way for them to find out where they went unless the people break and give it up.

I think that must have been the original idea for the show. People would hide the case and then we'd watch the investigators break them.

But I suspect that it quickly became obvious that innocent players could just keep their traps shut for 48 hours and win. So they had to keep giving advantages to the detectives, such as demanding receipts and GPS routes.

I think the game is still heavily in favor of the players. Only once so far has the investigative team actually used good detective skills to find the case.

--
What Would Jesus Do For A Klondike Bar (WWJDFAKB)?

[–] SBL84 13 years ago

Yes. Watch the "instruction" screen. In the other five episodes it said that the investigators would be given the GPS route. But in this episode it said that they would be given all "stop" and "start" locations.

I just watched it again, and it didn't say anything about them being given ALL stop and start locations. "The investigators will have access to all cell phone activity, receipts, and their start and stop locations." Which could very well mean literally the two locations where they start the hiding process and stop the hiding process.

In fact, on the instruction screen during that it says "Cellphone Activity" "All Receipts" "Start Point" and "Stop Point."

So if it was all start/stop locations, it would have likely said "Start points" and "Stop points" or "All start and stop points."

I think they were just given two locations, where the car was when they got in, and where they were arrested. Which is why they weren't immediately searching the places they stopped.

I think the game is still heavily in favor of the players. Only once so far has the investigative team actually used good detective skills to find the case.

Definitely. It's just up to the players to not be idiots, like breaking down and telling them where the location is or just flat out telling them everything they did 5 hours into it.

The couple that hid it in their friend's house were the smartest ones because the wife had the interrogators wrapped around her finger so well that they were searching the area miles away from hide location for the full 48 hours. And I loved the way the husband kept messing with the interrogators, making sudden loud noises and movements to rattle them.

The sisters were decent as well, but they made some serious mistakes like when they got lost that brought the attention of the investigators/interrogators right to that location, and then the investigators just did a great job putting in the effort searching that huge area.

The couple on the episode last night did pretty well, even though the woman was breaking down during the end and started to give away the location. I doubt they would have won if they had the full GPS route, though like the later-filmed episodes. That would have saved them a lot of time, and they may have been able to close in on the general area closer and make the woman more nervous.

[–] bing-57 13 years ago

> Which could very well mean literally the two locations where they start the hiding process and stop the hiding process.

That would hardly be additional information to the detectives since they already know exactly where the SUV started and they searched the SUV where it stopped.

> Which is why they weren't immediately searching the places they stopped.

Yet, near the end, with time running out, the detectives did go right to the place where the couple first stopped. So they knew that the couple had stopped there.

The detectives spent way too much time worrying about what they did at the bar. I don't really blame they since the rules at that point apparently allowed them to give the case to a friend to take it away and hide it (I base that on the observation that when they texted Vinny they asked him to bring the case).

So it seems perfectly logical that they could have given the case to any one of their friends at the bar to hide.

And really, who would just pitch the case with $100,000 into some bushes and leave it in plain sight?

> The couple that hid it in their friend's house were the smartest ones because the wife had the interrogators wrapped around her finger so well that they were searching the area miles away from hide location for the full 48 hours.

Yes and no. That's like shooting fish in a barrel to hide it at a friend of a friend's house, especially if the house is locked and the owner is not home. I'm guessing that was the second episode before the producers created the rule that the home/business owner had to remain on the site and allow detectives to search the place (like we saw in last week's episode when Eddie was just sitting at his desk in the middle of the night).

> The sisters were decent as well, but they made some serious mistakes like when they got lost that brought the attention of the investigators/interrogators right to that location,

But why would it? It's pretty easy to get lost when you are creating a diversion or driving to the location you want to hide it.

Plus, they just needed to put it back more than two feet from the road. At least fifteen feet would have kept the case hidden forever.

--
What Would Jesus Do For A Klondike Bar (WWJDFAKB)?

[–] SBL84 13 years ago

That would hardly be additional information to the detectives since they already know exactly where the SUV started and they searched the SUV where it stopped.

They didn't say anything about that being "additional" information. Just the only information that they would get relating to the 1 hour the couple get to hide it. And how would the detectives have known where the SUV started without being told by the show? They don't come into the picture until after the 1 hour hiding period is over.

Yet, near the end, with time running out, the detectives did go right to the place where the couple first stopped. So they knew that the couple had stopped there.

After the woman slipped up and started telling the interrogators about the park, and they kept grilling her about it, and they relayed that information to the investigators in the car.

That wasn't a "Hey, why don't we look at the start/stop information we were given 47 1/2 hours ago" thing. It was new information the interrogators got out of the woman.

And really, who would just pitch the case with $100,000 into some bushes and leave it in plain sight?

The guy tried to cover it a bit. And without the investigators/interrogators getting a full GPS route, it wouldn't matter if they left it on the sidewalk out in the open if the woman didn't slip up.

Yes and no. That's like shooting fish in a barrel to hide it at a friend of a friend's house, especially if the house is locked and the owner is not home. I'm guessing that was the second episode before the producers created the rule that the home/business owner had to remain on the site and allow detectives to search the place (like we saw in last week's episode when Eddie was just sitting at his desk in the middle of the night).

Unless there was someone that would have provided them 24/7 access, but it never came up because the detectives never even came close. You don't know that they didn't have direct access to it. Even if the house was locked, they could have kept it in a bush, because the detectives didn't even come close to it, the closest they got was 6 blocks away when they were following the GPS route.

But why would it? It's pretty easy to get lost when you are creating a diversion or driving to the location you want to hide it.

Plus, they just needed to put it back more than two feet from the road. At least fifteen feet would have kept the case hidden forever.

Because that made them think that the sisters got careless and were probably pumped up from finding their secret hiding spot. That also seemed to be a HUGE chunk of their distance, going all the way to the end and then turning around. So it was very likely that they would have hidden it somewhere down there.

And I definitely think they should have gone back at least 20 feet. Because when they're looking along that long stretch of road, there's no way they're going that far deep into the sides of the road. Only putting it a few feet in just means they have to be thorough poking around along the sides of the road (which they did) putting it a considerable deepness means they would have to cover the whole area beyond the trees all over that road.

[–] bing-57 13 years ago

> After the woman slipped up and started telling the interrogators about the park, and they kept grilling her about it, and they relayed that information to the investigators in the car.

It wasn't exactly a park, it was just some off-ramp. And it did seem odd that out of nowhere the investigators started asking her intently about some random little off-ramp that they just happened to stop at.

> That wasn't a "Hey, why don't we look at the start/stop information we were given 47 1/2 hours ago" thing.

It pretty much was exactly that. They were so focused on that bar that they just never got around to looking at all of their clues until time was running out.

> Unless there was someone that would have provided them 24/7 access, but it never came up because the detectives never even came close.

But when the game was up and the couple went to the house to show the detectives where the case was, the home owner was not shown. In the two other episodes where it was hidden on private property the owner was shown to be standing there watching.

> Even if the house was locked, they could have kept it in a bush, because the detectives didn't even come close to it, the closest they got was 6 blocks away when they were following the GPS route.

Technically that's true. But cheating is cheating, whether the detectives were 2 inches away or 2 miles away. If there wasn't 24 hour access, then it was an illegal hiding space.

Personally, I have been self-justifying that episode by thinking that the home owner must have given the producers (and detectives) permission to look for the spare key on the property and, if found, enter the home and search for the case. Thus, it would sort of count as 24 hour access.

--
What Would Jesus Do For A Klondike Bar (WWJDFAKB)?

[–] SBL84 13 years ago

It wasn't exactly a park, it was just some off-ramp. And it did seem odd that out of nowhere the investigators started asking her intently about some random little off-ramp that they just happened to stop at.

They focused on the Lincoln Park area because they caught her in a lie in the interrogation room earlier, so they think it's in that general area. They mention the off-ramp because SHE brings it up. When Paul is interrogating her in her cell, and she says they made the U-turn, he says "Where is the next place you stop?" and she says "The exit, off of Lakeshore" Then he says "tell me about the off-ramp." Because on the map, that exit is an off-ramp, and she just said they stopped there.

So with the information of "The exit, off of Lakeshore" and the info from their earlier interrogation that she was nervous about Lincoln Park, it's logical that the place they stopped was the off-ramp to Lincoln Park. And that's what they told the detectives, and why the detectives went there.

It's not like they came into the cell and Paul said "Tell me about the off-ramp you two stopped at as your first stop."

Watch the episode again, the interrogators get all of this information out of her. Then they call up the detectives and tell them to start looking on Lakeshore in that general area near the zoo.

I don't think it was even hidden at the off-ramp anyway, it's hard to tell exactly what they did, but it looks like they got off on the other side of the road and hid it up the side street to the west of Lakeshore. I think the cops actually STOPPED on the off-ramp and started looking in the bushes east of Lakeshore. So the cops weren't even stopping in the same place that the couple stopped in. It didn't show exactly where the cops parked and where they were parking in relation to the couple. And then it just shows them looking through bushes, with the case in bushes, but I don't know if that was necessarily in the same place or just for dramatic effect.

It pretty much was exactly that. They were so focused on that bar that they just never got around to looking at all of their clues until time was running out.

They were not given all of the locations where the car stopped. If they were, how would you explain "Start point" and "Stop point" on the instruction screen? That clearly shows they were given TWO points. Where the car was when they got in, and where the car was when they were arrested.

What direct evidence do you have that they were given every single location where they started/stopped? Because the phrase "the investigators will have access to all cell phone activity, receipts, and their start and stop locations" does not definitively mean ALL start/stop locations, and could very well mean their (two) start and stop locations.

They went to the bar because of the receipt, and they went to the parking garage because of the ticket, (which, if they had start/stop locations, they would have ruled out the parking garage because it didn't seem like they actually parked at all. They just seemed to drive in, get the ticket, turn around and leave) So unless they thought the couple tossed the case out of the window in the parking garage, they shouldn't have wasted any time checking it out. But without ALL stop/start locations, they would have no way of knowing how long they were in the parking lot or if they even stopped to get out at all.

The couple even decided not to go to the park because they realized they would have had to pay for parking, and a receipt for it would give up that location, that's why they pull off the road and hide it in bushes, because they don't want the investigators/interrogators to know where they were. Them getting all start/stop points would make that decision meaningless, since they would already know where they were anyway.

I just don't think the investigators/interrogators were stupid enough to ignore a key piece of evidence like that until there was 30 minutes left. The one cop bought something and got a receipt in the bar to figure out how far off the machine was to compare it to the time on the receipt to find out when they were actually there. The interrogators were getting the woman to slip up and give away information she didn't want to. They're not morons. They had plenty of time to check out "stop point 1" if they were given it.

Also, the investigators/interrogators figured out that the bar was a waste of their time with like... 20 hours left or something like that. It didn't show the investigators doing much for the next 19 1/2 hours or so, but when they got the call about the park, they said they were glad to finally get another lead because they were all out of leads for a while. So if they knew about Stop Point #1, why weren't they already checking that out? Since they ruled out the parking garage and the bar, it was the only other "stop point" you believe they were given, so for 20 hours they just ignored that piece of evidence for no apparent reason?

But when the game was up and the couple went to the house to show the detectives where the case was, the home owner was not shown. In the two other episodes where it was hidden on private property the owner was shown to be standing there watching.

Maybe a production team in a van behind the detectives calls up the person when they start talking about checking out that area again. (More specifically finding out that they have a friend around there, since they wouldn't have simply stumbled upon the right house.) And when the detectives make it clear that they are going to so-and-so's house where the production team knows the case is hidden, they make sure that someone will be there to open the door. Even if someone with the show is told to "play the part" of the couple's friend if they really are unavailable, to open the door for the detectives, having previously received permission from the homeowner to allow 24 access which may involve having someone from the show letting them in.

We don't know what would have happened because it wasn't even necessary. When they had the couple bring them to the location, they didn't need to contact the homeowner or have someone pose as the homeowner to let them in because the couple had their own way of getting in.

[–] bing-57 13 years ago

> he says "Where is the next place you stop?" and she says "The exit, off of Lakeshore" Then he says "tell me about the off-ramp." Because on the map, that exit is an off-ramp, and she just said they stopped there.

And yet he didn't acted surprised to hear that they stopped there. Remember that detectives often know far more than they let on during an interrogation.

Consider, for example, that he already knew that they had stopped when they got off at the off ramp. He asks her about the off-ramp, pretending not to know anything. If she claims that they did not stop, he knows that she's lying and perhaps he should ask more questions about it and concentrate the search there.

If she tells the truth, then he has no new information. Maybe the case is there and maybe not.

> Watch the episode again, the interrogators get all of this information out of her.

It is much more likely that they are pretending that they are learning all this from her for the first time and looking for inconsistencies between her story and what they already know to be true.

> If they were, how would you explain "Start point" and "Stop point" on the instruction screen?

Sloppy editing?

Otherwise it would be almost useless to the detectives to be given the starting point (they already know the stopping point). The players could have taken any of hundreds of paths between points A and B.

That's like being given a road map with everything erased except your starting point and your destination. That's useless!

> Because the phrase "the investigators will have access to all cell phone activity, receipts, and their start and stop locations" does not definitively mean ALL start/stop locations, and could very well mean their (two) start and stop locations.

More likely it does mean "ALL start/stop" locations or, as I say, it is a useless piece of information for the detectives and for the home audience.

> They went to the bar because of the receipt, and they went to the parking garage because of the ticket, (which, if they had start/stop locations, they would have ruled out the parking garage because it didn't seem like they actually parked at all. They just seemed to drive in, get the ticket, turn around and leave)

Think back to the second episode. When the couple parked the car and ran six blocks to Robert's house, the wife specifically told the husband to leave the engine running so that the detectives would not know that they stopped the car.

And recall the first episode where the investigators pointed to Lafayette Park and said that the team had stopped here for ten minutes.

In this episode the detectives went to the car park only because of the receipt. Apparently the team never shut off the engine and the detectives probably never would have known about it without the receipt.

> Since they ruled out the parking garage and the bar, it was the only other "stop point" you believe they were given, so for 20 hours they just ignored that piece of evidence for no apparent reason?

I'll mostly concede that point. It does seem odd that they took so long to check out the off-ramp, especially since it was early on the route.

But there could have many reasons for that. Part of those 20 hours it was dark outside which isn't good for beating the bushes. And at one point they showed a map with a bunch of flags in it, so maybe the couple stopped and started the car many times, once at each flag. And we were never shown completely unrelated footage when they spent their time checking out those other flags.

And maybe the investigators were convinced early in the investigation that the case was hidden near the bar and decided to concentrate there. Plus, it was an hour's drive to get over to the off-ramp.

> And when the detectives make it clear that they are going to so-and-so's house where the production team knows the case is hidden, they make sure that someone will be there to open the door.

That whole situation intrigues me. I really want to know how it really works with the detectives knocking on doors. From one of the FAQs it says that anyone who allows the case to be hidden on their property must abide by an unknown set of rules. I presume one of them is that they must allow their property to be search and they must answer all questions.

So if a detective knocks on a door and asks to search the place and the owner says no, then they know for sure that the case is not there. Similarly, if an owner instantly allows a couple of strangers with cameras to search their house, then the detectives know that it is very likely that the case is there (see Eddie in episode five as an example).

Also, in the first episode, I think, the detective rang the buzzer to a friend's apartment and, when no one answered, one detective said, "Well then it can't be in there."

--
What Would Jesus Do For A Klondike Bar (WWJDFAKB)?

[–] SBL84 13 years ago

And yet he didn't acted surprised to hear that they stopped there. Remember that detectives often know far more than they let on during an interrogation.

They don't always act surprised when they find something out. Because they're professionals. Sometimes when they catch someone in a lie, they keep it to themselves to use later. And they already had a feeling they got off on that off-ramp to get to the zoo.

It is much more likely that they are pretending that they are learning all this from her for the first time and looking for inconsistencies between her story and what they already know to be true.

So then why do they wait so long for the investigators to head to that point? If they already knew that stop existed, why wait so long? Why were they holding back this vital information (especially since the investigators already would have known the stop existed themselves since you think they were given that stop point.)

Sloppy editing?

That's just ridiculous to assume. They chose to put "Start point" and "Stop point" up on the screen for a reason.

Otherwise it would be almost useless to the detectives to be given the starting point (they already know the stopping point). The players could have taken any of hundreds of paths between points A and B.

And that's why it was changed in the next episode they filmed and they were given the full route the contestants drove. The original goal of the show was likely for the interrogators to break the contestants and give information about possible locations to the investigators... then after they shot the pilot, they realized that it was way too hard to figure it all out.

More likely it does mean "ALL start/stop" locations or, as I say, it is a useless piece of information for the detectives and for the home audience.

Not at all. If they know the start point and the stop point, they can ask the contestants for a route they took, and see how that matches up with each of their stories as well as other information. Like with the mileage of the car that Paul (I think it was him) mentioned to the guy who said they only drove something like 5 or 6 miles but he said the car had 7 or 8 miles on it. And what is the home audience supposed to do? It's not like we're playing along. We see where they hide the case when they hide it. Why does it matter to us where the start and stop points are? They're just provided as basic information of where the 1 hour started and where it stopped to encase a general search area.

Think back to the second episode. When the couple parked the car and ran six blocks to Robert's house, the wife specifically told the husband to leave the engine running so that the detectives would not know that they stopped the car.

Because they didn't know the extent of the GPS tracking. They didn't know if the GPS would record the car turning on/off, and if the investigators would get that information. To be on the safe side, they left it on.

And recall the first episode where the investigators pointed to Lafayette Park and said that the team had stopped here for ten minutes.

That wasn't because of GPS information, they still only received the line-map route from the GPS information. Re-watch that episode and you'll see that they came to that conclusion that they stopped at Lafayette Park because they were looking at the cell phone usage. When the brothers were in the car, before and after they hid the case, they were calling a bunch of people and receiving calls back. Then there was a 10 minute gap in the calling/answering calls, and THAT is what they picked up on, for when they hid the case. They also mentioned a few 3-5 minute gaps in time as well, but thought the 10 minute one was the longest, and it was somewhere in the middle of the 1 hour. Lafayette Park was somewhere in the middle of the line-route that they were given. So they started questioning about Lafayette Park and broke down the dumbass brother.

In this episode the detectives went to the car park only because of the receipt. Apparently the team never shut off the engine and the detectives probably never would have known about it without the receipt.

OR, it's because ALL THEY GOT WAS THE RECEIPT. If they saw the receipt, and then looked at the supposed list of "start/stop locations" you think they got, they would see that the car was never stopped at the parking garage, and they would have known that the parking garage was a decoy.

I'll mostly concede that point. It does seem odd that they took so long to check out the off-ramp, especially since it was early on the route.

It's not odd if the detectives never received start/stop information about every location, and they actually did only find it out through interrogation about the off ramp. Any oddness you may find based on your theory that they were given all stop/start locations can be easily explained by them NOT receiving the stop/start locations.

But there could have many reasons for that. Part of those 20 hours it was dark outside which isn't good for beating the bushes. And at one point they showed a map with a bunch of flags in it, so maybe the couple stopped and started the car many times, once at each flag. And we were never shown completely unrelated footage when they spent their time checking out those other flags.

That's practically a full day. So even if 12 hours of that 20 was even partially dark to pitch black outside, 8 of those hours should have been perfectly fine to go there and check it out.

And the flags could have easily been notes about interrogations or based on the receipts, or just general ideas about what they thought could be good locations. The flags didn't necessarily mean "Stop/Start point."

And maybe the investigators were convinced early in the investigation that the case was hidden near the bar and decided to concentrate there. Plus, it was an hour's drive to get over to the off-ramp.

They were convinced it was in that area... until about 20 hours left, leaving plenty of time to get over there, and no matter how convinced they may have been, with nothing else to go on, why not go on THE FIRST STOP/START POINT that they were supposedly given about 28 hours ago after they believe there's nothing at the bar? And how could it be an hour's drive to get over to the off-ramp? The couple only had an hour to hide the case, they hid it near the off-ramp at about 15-20 minutes into their time, and they got to the bar at about 50 minutes in. So it was probably more like 30-40 minutes away from the off-ramp, especially since the detectives wouldn't have to stop at the parking garage. Even if it was an hour away, what's an hour to check out DEFINITE STOP/START POINT THEY WERE GIVEN when they've already exhausted all of their leads at the bar?

Here's another question, why would they call them "start and stop locations" instead of something like "They will be given the location of everywhere they stop" or "They will be given the locations of everywhere they park" or "They will be given the locations of everywhere they shut off the engine" or something like that? Calling them "start and stop points" is just redundant, unless they stop the car and then push it down the street and start it up again, making the stop point and the start point different. Now, if you think of it as "The Start point" and "The Stop point" as "Start and Stop locations" it makes a lot more sense to call them that.

Seriously, look at all of the evidence you think there is that "proves" they got every single location where the engine was turned off, and they can all be explained by other events in the investigation (receipts, interrogation, etc.) Any evidence against the idea that they were given all stop/start locations, you yourself can only explain as "Odd" or "Sloppy editing."

Occam's Razor. Which is more likely? They DON'T get all start/stop locations, so they don't know about the couple's first stop, they interrogate them and when the woman slips up and mentions the zoo and they catch her in the lie, they revisit that later and get her to talk about stopping on the off-ramp and they point the investigators in that direction... Or they DO get all start/stop locations, they ignore the first stop for the first 40+ hours for no apparent reason, and don't check it out even though they're out of leads near the bar, and wait for the interrogators to call them and point them in that direction, not to mention the sloppy editing of having "Start point" and "Stop point" on the screen?

So if a detective knocks on a door and asks to search the place and the owner says no, then they know for sure that the case is not there. Similarly, if an owner instantly allows a couple of strangers with cameras to search their house, then the detectives know that it is very likely that the case is there (see Eddie in episode five as an example).

It is odd how that would all work out, and I hope this show comes back for a second season so we could see more situations and learn more about the rules. And what would have happened if they didn't show up at the place that night if the father didn't just give the whole plan away? Would Eddie have had to sleep on his desk for the next two nights waiting for them to show up? Could he not go home until the 48 hours was up?

Also, in the first episode, I think, the detective rang the buzzer to a friend's apartment and, when no one answered, one detective said, "Well then it can't be in there."

I think that was the one with the sisters. In the first episode when the friend answered and said they couldn't enter his apartment they assumed it couldn't be there. If that is the case, I think it'd be funny if you had a dozen friends that didn't care if the detectives/camera crews came into their houses... so every time they went and found someone that would let them in, they'd waste a few hours looking through the whole house at each house assuming it had to be there since the occupants were so willing to let them look.

[–] ChicagoMike1966 13 years ago

I live in Chicago so can tell you about the location assuming the map they showed viewers of the hide location is accurate.

It was not hidden on an offramp by the exit. The exit off Lake Shore is Fullerton, the major exit in Lincoln Park. There is no shrubbery on the side of the ramp itself, and once you go up the ramp turn left onto Fullerton (the lake is on the right), there is a road 1/2 block ahead, Stockton, that runs north through the park. They appear to have turned right on Stockton. There is a museum right where they showed the spot to be (Google Peggy Notebart Nature Museum to see) so presumably, it was in the shrubs near the museum. It was about 2 blocks from the actual exit ramp.

As an aside, as a local, I find it interesting no-one in the show ever used the street name "Fullerton" as this is the common vernacular ("get off Lake Shore at Fullerton"). Thedy always said "the exit off Lake Shore in Lincoln Park." No local would say it so vague - so funny you never hear even the cops mentioning the Fullerton name.

The fact the briefcase was porly hidden notwithstanding, I can tell you that if the cops only had the Fullerton exit to work with and not the GPS route, it would have been real tough for them to find with only a couple hours left as there is many stretches of the park and paths/roads through the park and it was about 2 blocks away.

[–] sonyab1974 13 years ago

It seemed like the pilot to me.