I think the writers really need to better balance what is true/correct for medical purposes better with "what makes a more compelling storyline." And this goes for all television writers (producers too), not just the CM crew.
In one of the first episodes of CSI, Warrick makes a "plaster cast mold" of a victims stab wound to get the shape of the weapon used to stab the victim. He does this by using what is essentially a caulking gun to squirt the plaster into the track made by the murder knife. A jump cut later and he is pulling out a perfect mold of the murder knife.
THAT IS FREAKING IMPOSSIBLE!
And you know what, their real life CSI advisor told them this. Told them that it couldn't happen. It wasn't medically possible. Would never ever ever happen in real life. They told her that it made for a more compelling show and that they were leaving it in.
Bottom line: I'm really not sure if someone told them what errors they made in the writing of the last CM episode. I'm sure that someone probably brought up the inconsistencies, especially since a great deal of the care giver's struggles were portrayed well. Hell, there were portions when the UNSUB had similar behavior to my friend's grandmother (she had dementia and schizophrenia).
I don't think the episode was one of the better ones. I think that the reason the viewers would have sympathy is because, as a culture, it is very hard for us to see older people declining in their later years. I admit, I felt a twinge of sympathy when he wet his pants. Just because I've seen it happen in gas stations when the person assisting the elderly person just wasn't fast enough to help them get to a bathroom.
In the end, it wasn't enough for me to feel actual sympathy for the elderly man. I felt more sympathy for his son, and even then, it was more of the type of sympathy I felt for Henkel. And that was more of a "wow, your dad REALLY fucked you up."
no subject
In one of the first episodes of CSI, Warrick makes a "plaster cast mold" of a victims stab wound to get the shape of the weapon used to stab the victim. He does this by using what is essentially a caulking gun to squirt the plaster into the track made by the murder knife. A jump cut later and he is pulling out a perfect mold of the murder knife.
THAT IS FREAKING IMPOSSIBLE!
And you know what, their real life CSI advisor told them this. Told them that it couldn't happen. It wasn't medically possible. Would never ever ever happen in real life. They told her that it made for a more compelling show and that they were leaving it in.
Bottom line: I'm really not sure if someone told them what errors they made in the writing of the last CM episode. I'm sure that someone probably brought up the inconsistencies, especially since a great deal of the care giver's struggles were portrayed well. Hell, there were portions when the UNSUB had similar behavior to my friend's grandmother (she had dementia and schizophrenia).
I don't think the episode was one of the better ones. I think that the reason the viewers would have sympathy is because, as a culture, it is very hard for us to see older people declining in their later years. I admit, I felt a twinge of sympathy when he wet his pants. Just because I've seen it happen in gas stations when the person assisting the elderly person just wasn't fast enough to help them get to a bathroom.
In the end, it wasn't enough for me to feel actual sympathy for the elderly man. I felt more sympathy for his son, and even then, it was more of the type of sympathy I felt for Henkel. And that was more of a "wow, your dad REALLY fucked you up."