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S05:E08: Cloak and Beaker


thewhiteowl
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Didn't we have story like this once already? And what does Bull do? (That's rhetorical.) In this episode, as in many, he just sits there like a bump on a log. Sometimes – occasionally — we see him dabbling in jury selection but even then, he comes up with a generic question for Benny to ask. And I'm sorry — Benny seems to be too good an attorney to have to wait for Bull to suggest what questions to ask. (Sure, there might be times when Bull might be more clever . . . but have we seen any????) It seems like clients get more form Benny than Bull. If I were Benny I'd be thinking of making a coup attempt. (Yes, I realize there's the DA issue burning.) This show, I'm afraid, has gone off the rails of what it was intended to provide. The first season wasn't too bad . . . but then someone took a wrong turn and hasn't brought the train back yet.

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I'm not sure what the plotline with Taylor's (whom I still think of as new!Cable) kid and relationship with her ex-husband was all about.  I get it, this is a slice of life where a divorced mom struggling to manage shared custody has issues with the care the shared child gets in the father's household.  I like Taylor, but she was really over the top last night.  I get feeling uncomfortable with your ex's new squeeze, but that whole bit about forcing payment on her when the new girl was truly trying to make things normal and nice, that's some hostility and baggage Taylor is dragging right there.  It makes me begin to wonder that maybe Taylor is the reason for the bitter divorce, and not the ex-husband.  Maybe she's the completely unreasonable one, and the ex had to run away to save himself.  What I don't want to see is Taylor sink into a mental health crisis and do something horrible like pull a gun on her ex and new squeeze, and suddenly Chunk and Benny are in the courtroom defending her in her murder trial.

I feel like we've seen this case before.  I know singleminded scientist types who have one focus, and one focus only and are oblivious to everything else.  So the fact that he got paid way more money to take his research to that sketchy country truly wasn't a priority for him was completely plausible.  Equally plausible was that he gave zero thought to how his research could be misused as a weapon--he has a monorail train of thought and anything else is just extraneous and unimportant.  There is only the goal.  But that guy needed a good slap upside the head.

I'd also like to think in the real world the court of public opinion would shame that company into continuing the research and eventually curing Parkinsons.  Maybe that could happen.  There's plenty of other diseases to profit off of.  You can't cure them all, but if you cure a few then maybe...just maybe...the public will trust your company more than the other companies and you get more profit.

I did like the Bull and Benny teasing dialogue at the end.  "You can't find the courthouse by yourself, I have to pick you up in my car and drive you there every time!"

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Speaking of that, did the lab actually pay the research doctor the money for the samples?  If so, regardless of what MegaDrugCorp does, the doctor is in deep shit.

I don't buy the rationale that the company would bury the drug research in favor of continuing a treatment drug.  That would be corporate suicide, as some other researcher would eventually clue into the process, perhaps with the help of the jilted scientist (especially after the trial), and the company would be left with virtually nothing.  They could try and scramble for an international patent, but why not cash in on a gold mine in the cure?  Your stock value would skyrocket, and you would still have years of excellent returns on the investment.

Wouldn't the secretary have a copy of the minutes stored in her own computer at the office?  In theory, it would be password protected to prevent unauthorized changes, so that would be a key bit of evidence.

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6 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

I don't buy the rationale that the company would bury the drug research in favor of continuing a treatment drug.

Are you kidding?  There isn't a drug company anywhere in the world, looking for the cure for anything! They are not interested in a $100 injection that will cure you of rotchacoqovf. They want to find a $5 treatment that you have to take every day for the rest of your life.

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I always hate it when they go right from getting the case to the trial. I miss the scenes of, "here's the kind of people we want on the jury." Without it, the show is pretty much a generic courtroom drama. Also, I have no problem with different series making different decisions about masks on camera or not. I wish Bull would be consistent, because I cannot figure out why they are wearing masks in some scenes, and not in others. 

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2 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

Hence the eradication, for the most part, of smallpox and polio.

 

1 hour ago, Netfoot said:

Smallpox: Eradicated 40+ years ago. "What have you done for me lately?" ---Janet Jackson

Polio: Not eradicated.

 

Smallpox was  highly contagious and killed a lot of people hence the willingness to eradicate it.

But non contagious diseases I absolutely believe drug companies are reluctant to put a lot of money into curing.

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I won't argue this ad nauseum, but what I'm saying is that the research doctor may go to another lab anywhere in the world, and give them the research, legally or not.  This other lab will likely sense a huge financial opportunity to cure Parkinson's disease (a worldwide problem, not just the US), and jump on it.  Thus, the original lab is out all their time and money spent on a treatment drug.

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On 2/9/2021 at 3:45 PM, HurricaneVal said:

I'm not sure what the plotline with Taylor's (whom I still think of as new!Cable) kid and relationship with her ex-husband was all about.  I get it, this is a slice of life where a divorced mom struggling to manage shared custody has issues with the care the shared child gets in the father's household.  I like Taylor, but she was really over the top last night.  I get feeling uncomfortable with your ex's new squeeze, but that whole bit about forcing payment on her when the new girl was truly trying to make things normal and nice, that's some hostility and baggage Taylor is dragging right there.  

Yeah, I was very confused by this, and couldn't figure out if the show wanted us to be sympathetic with Taylor or not.  

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With Taylor, at first I thought she was over reacting, but then I put myself in her position.  She comes to pick up her son from school and sees not the boy's father but his girlfriend of a few weeks.  The father hasn't been around all day, so apparently girlfriend also brought him to school.  Not sure why the school released him to someone unknown to them, but that's another issue.  So yeah, I'd be upset.  She doesn't know this woman, maybe she inserted herself into ex's life just to get access to her son.  Or maybe this woman has a substance abuse issue and can't be trusted to look after the kid for even an hour.  Although I do think 'paying' her was just being mean.  The father should have at LEAST called Taylor and told he wasn't going to be around and was leaving the girlfriend in charge.  

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On 2/10/2021 at 1:12 AM, Dowel Jones said:

Wouldn't the secretary have a copy of the minutes stored in her own computer at the office?  In theory, it would be password protected to prevent unauthorized changes, so that would be a key bit of evidence.

Maybe.. maybe not.

My company does not have any place on our own computers to store files- that is blocked.  We have to log into a secure system using citrix passthrough authentication which, once opened, creates a virtual box..  This virtual machine even prevents screen shots which can be annoying when you're trying to train someone!  

 We can only put files on a shared server and anyone with the proper permissions to the shared drive can access my documents.  They do have limits on who has access but all those above me have permissions.  The lower you go in the company, the lower your permissions.    We all have a folder of our own on the shared drive and we can create whatever file structure that works for us within our folder but that's it.  We are also forbidden to use any external devices. Caught using unauthorized flash drives is grounds for dismissal. 

So in theory, she may not have had a copy of the minutes on her own computer but even if documents were stored on her own device, IT could easily reset that password at the behest of some mucky muck from above and provide them access to edit/remove unwanted portions of the minutes.

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On 2/10/2021 at 7:07 AM, Netfoot said:

Are you kidding?  There isn't a drug company anywhere in the world, looking for the cure for anything! They are not interested in a $100 injection that will cure you of rotchacoqovf. They want to find a $5 treatment that you have to take every day for the rest of your life.

I hate to agree with you but I definitely agree with you!!

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On 2/10/2021 at 6:07 AM, Netfoot said:

Are you kidding?  There isn't a drug company anywhere in the world, looking for the cure for anything! They are not interested in a $100 injection that will cure you of rotchacoqovf. They want to find a $5 treatment that you have to take every day for the rest of your life.

As the spouse of a survivor of 3 different cancers, I am certain that the "Cancer Industry" would be apoplectic if a bona fide cure was found. Imagine their horror when the donations for research stop cold! As a practicing diabetic, I think that industry would feel the same way.

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