S01.E17: Close Encounters

[bros402]

I do wonder what the brother will think. He gave Brian a head's up on the brewing Hurricane Mom and advocated leaving right then.  Will he just go along with the family line, after he's had it "explained" to him?  Will he have some harshness for Rachel about tattling on a grown man? Maybe a 'you could have come to me because I am a doctor'?

 

I'm going to think something like "Mom asked me what it was, I've never seen it before, she got even angrier, which is why I gave you the heads-up."

[Izeinwinter]

Amphetamines are actually obsolete for the whole "Work inhuman hours" stunt. Google Modafinil - which you can get prescribed legally, essentially for "My boss is an idiot" syndrome, and get cheaply by mail order from India. 

[Big Mother]

I'm on Adderall and let me tell you, it doesnt allow me to work inhuman hours. It allows me to function as a human being.  But maybe ppl who dont have ADHD do become superhumaninvincible on it.

[Izeinwinter]

people with ADHD react differently to amphetamines than neuro-typical people. in practice, that is how the doctors know the diagnosis is correct, and they're not mistaking some other problem for ADHD. 

People without ADHD can, and do use amphetamines  for wakefulness, but it's a terrible idea, because it also wrecks their judgement to hell and gone. 

 

As I said, if there is a need to stay awake for days on end and make judgement calls at the end of that which matter at all, use modafinil. It simply switches the need to sleep off. No high, no stimulus buss, you are just.. Not Sleepy. This is why you can get perscriptions for this drug very easily - if you are operating heavy machinery / doing surgery and your boss is an idiot, the 1-in-100.000 chance of necrotic skin (DO NOT GOOGLE THIS) is trivial compared to the risk you will kill someone because you are too sleepy to see straight. 

Edited March 14, 2016 by Izeinwinter

[Big Mother]

adderall does not impair my judgment at all. as a matter of fact, it gives me clarity that I lack when I'm not on it. I'm so fuzzy and cotton-brained when I'm not on it. I had to go off it 3 yrs ago due to pregnancy and nursing and omg those 2 1/2 yrs were hell.

[Hecate7]

I can't disagree that this can be true, especially with addicts. However, my experience with that tactic has been with someone who detached until those he detached from came groveling for forgiveness, and were then let back into his good graces (drugs/addiction had nothing to do with anything in these cases) So my perspective, and reaction, is different. As with most things, there are many ways to view the same actions. Which is what's so interesting in the forums.

 

 

But coming back groveling was THEIR choice. It wasn't him controlling them. Now, if he was controlling their employment or housing prospects in the world away from him, that would be controlling, but honestly, he did not make them come back. It's probably the least controlling thing to do--detach from someone. What they do at that point is their business. It's not as if they have no other choice but to come back.

[Hecate7]

What I meant about the brother being a doctor, is that he's probably going to make himself scarce. He's been the star of the family, and he probably couldn't have done it without a drug of some kind. It's very hard to work those hours without some kind of stimulant, and hardly anyone ever does. Although it's frowned on, it's also practically required. Since he really can't defend Brian on that basis, and probably doesn't want to, he's most likely just going to avoid everyone til this all blows over. He is very busy, after all.

[Reishe]

He is allowed to go out at night and help cops solve crimes (or do anything else) if he wants to. 

This is a minor point, but it's come up a couple of times in this discussion. Brian is a consultant, not an agent, so he is falsely representing himself as a law enforcement officer. Also, I don't know the letter of the law, but I'm pretty sure that law enforcement agencies (be it FBI, police...) require their personnel to be assigned to work. There's probably a provision for wrong-place-right-time stepping in to help if they happen upon a crime in progress (or a murder victim after the fact), but Brian is demonstrably looking for ways to freelance, and I'm pretty sure that is illegal.

And while Brian is free on his own time, what he is doing is bad for the FBI. 1) He seems to be on NZT during his moonlighting, which would probably be well more than 12 hours after taking his sanctioned NZT pill (raising red flags that he's got a supply), and 2) he's a consultant taking a top-secret enhancement drug, and calling attention to himself all over the city endangers the secret.

 

That said, I agree with much of the rest of what's being said, particularly the amateur way the family intervention was handled. There are 100 different ways to have staged it so that Mike/Ike overheard the intervention without the family stupidly confronting Brian in front of his handlers. Surveillance bug, cell phone contrivance...

...And if Brian is so smart, how hard would it have been to come up with: "Mom, yes, I've benefited from experimental cognitive enhancement therapy, but it takes its toll on the body, and I need these miracle enzyme pills to prevent side effects"?

[Netfoot]

...And if Brian is so smart, how hard would it have been to come up with: "Mom, yes, I've benefited from experimental cognitive enhancement therapy, but it takes its toll on the body, and I need these miracle enzyme pills to prevent side effects"?

 

I'm sure Brian could have come up with a reasonable explanation, had he had a chance.  But Mommy bushwhacked him in front of the cops.  He would have been making his excuses with them listening, and ready to contradict him.

[hnygrl]

Not to mention the fact that mommy wouldn't let him get a word in edgewise. Every time he tried to explain, comment, anything, she shut him down. Brian's so respectful of his parents he wouldn't even dare interrupt, over-talk, or (heaven forbid) tell his mom to shut up.

 

I'm sure he would've explained everything and quite well, but she wouldn't let him talk. I think she assumed anything he said would be the lying excuses of an addict and she wasn't having it.

 

Man is she gonna regret not letting him talk. I don't see Brian ever quite trusting anybody in his bloodline ever agin. Oh, he's a sweet, sweet boy (man), and he will be quick to forgive and be happy to be back in the family's good graces, but I don't see him going over there for dinner or letting them into his life on the level he did before the incident.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

^ Agreed.

 

I have this feeling that somewhere along the line, Brian will do something that saves the family - or a member(s) of it; because getting his Dad the liver transplant wasn't enough(!!) -  and then that will bring the family around to "oh, maybe he's not only the pathetic drug-addicted loser we thought he was all along [ever since his mid-teens]!".   I will not be happy with that, if it happens, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if it does.  I will always feel like his family is a bunch of a-holes, no matter how much they try to redeem them.

Edited March 15, 2016 by iRarelyWatchTV36

[Hecate7]

^ Agreed.

 

I have this feeling that somewhere along the line, Brian will do something that saves the family - or a member(s) of it; because getting his Dad the liver transplant wasn't enough(!!) -  and then that will bring the family around to "oh, maybe he's not only the pathetic drug-addicted loser we thought he was all along [ever since his mid-teens]!".   I will not be happy with that, if it happens, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if it does.  I will always feel like his family is a bunch of a-holes, no matter how much they try to redeem them.

 

 

We're going to find out they're all total hypocrites. We already know Rachel uses marijuana recreationally. It's a safe bet that big brother the doctor enhanced his performance at school with speed and whatever else would wake him up and get him going. Mom probably uses sleeping pills or at the very least, Melatonin. Dad probably takes some meds to help him keep the new liver.

 

He'll redeem himself in their eyes, but I doubt they can return the favor.

[Anela]

Did his new handler still have the pill that he found on the floor? Did they ever address that again?

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

Did his new handler still have the pill that he found on the floor? Did they ever address that again?

 

It is assumed [at least by me] that Boyle still has the pill , and no, it hasn't been addressed on the show since he found it toward the very end of TIYBoD.

Edited March 16, 2016 by iRarelyWatchTV36

[sjohnson]

My guess is that at some point he'll break down and give it to his mother, who has Alzheimer's.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

My guess is that at some point he'll break down and give it to his mother, who has Alzheimer's.

 

A good theory I agree with... or he'll take it himself if he comes upon a situation where a very morally difficult choice needs to be made (most likely in the line of duty).  Near the end of TIYBoD, Brian told him that because he was on NZT, he could quickly think through all the outcomes and that was why he felt Boyle was wrong to shoot & kill Casey.  [and then Boyle finds & pockets the pill the next day]

Edited March 18, 2016 by iRarelyWatchTV36