FBI - General Discussion

[KLovestoShop]

I really hated Maggie at the end.  Her sister pulled their bacon out of the fire, but Maggie pulls the crap that she did.  Maybe Maggie was pissed that her sister looked better than she did?  

[illdoc]

3 hours ago, KLovestoShop said:

Her sister pulled their bacon out of the fire, but Maggie pulls the crap that she did.

Exactly! Maggie (to sister): "You nearly ruined the whole operation!" Me: "No, actually that was you, who butted into an operation you had no business in! Do you not trust Tiffany & Scola, who were your sister's back-up? If you hadn't been hanging around the soda machine obviously staring at the two of them, nothing would have gone wrong."

[Netfoot]

No train stations where I come from, so I really don't know for sure. But I'd have thought that pulling out a pistol and pumping two rounds into a guy would have attracted a bit of attention from the public. Not to mention SOCO, IA, and the entire dog & pony show from the authorities to determine whether the shooting was justified, plus the lawyers to deal with the hundreds of citizens who will file a class-action against Maggie & the bureau for their physical & emotional pain due to PTSD. And Maggie's obligatory visit to a shrink to prove that doing her job hasn't driven her doolally....

Edited April 26, 2023 by Netfoot

[Andyourlittledog2]

See, you can't really judge the conversations Maggie and her sister had at face value. There's a lifetime of history going into every word spoken in that relationship. They're all grown now, but the dynamic remains the same. Just replace all the dialogue from Maggie to her sister with:

"I'm the good one! You're the screw up! Stay in your lane!"

In all of these cop shows, I can never understand why the undercover onlookers don't get spotted immediately. All the weird covert looks for no reason, sitting silently on benches, side by side, looking intently in one direction. No one even pretends to have a conversation with their fellow undercover, they just stare silently and intently toward whoever they are supposed to be observing. Maggie at the soda machine was so typical. No subtlety at all.

Shoot out inside a train station. I'm sure no one had a problem with that. Sigh.

 

[MarylandGirl]

2 hours ago, Andyourlittledog2 said:

See, you can't really judge the conversations Maggie and her sister had at face value. There's a lifetime of history going into every word spoken in that relationship. They're all grown now, but the dynamic remains the same. Just replace all the dialogue from Maggie to her sister with:

"I'm the good one! You're the screw up! Stay in your lane!"

In all of these cop shows, I can never understand why the undercover onlookers don't get spotted immediately. All the weird covert looks for no reason, sitting silently on benches, side by side, looking intently in one direction. No one even pretends to have a conversation with their fellow undercover, they just stare silently and intently toward whoever they are supposed to be observing. Maggie at the soda machine was so typical. No subtlety at all.

Shoot out inside a train station. I'm sure no one had a problem with that. Sigh.

 

Yes, they often seem so obvious to me! I mean, Maggie could have at least gotten a snack from one of the machines, then acted like she was deciding on the drink or something. Or dig through her purse like she was looking for cash or a credit card, look at her phone, something!

Also, in the scene where the sister was trying to buy coke, why did the guy let her try some, but then not sell her any? I thought it was a test to make sure she was legit before he sold any to her, but it seemed like he was fooled by her act of doing the line as well. Was the idea that she'd come back to buy at some other time? Or was he on to her?

[shapeshifter]

1 minute ago, MarylandGirl said:

Also, in the scene where the sister was trying to buy coke, why did the guy let her try some, but then not sell her any?

I assume that the dealer wasn't entirely convinced by Maggie's sister's fake cocaine snorting, so he didn't want to sell her any in case she was wired.

[chicagofan]

2 hours ago, Andyourlittledog2 said:

"I'm the good one! You're the screw up! Stay in your lane!"

At the end when she found out that her sister tested clean she seemed disappointed instead of happy or relieved. Heaven forbid her sister didn't screw up and might be getting her life together.

[WendyCR72]

1 minute ago, chicagofan said:

At the end when she found out that her sister tested clean she seemed disappointed instead of happy or relieved. Heaven forbid her sister didn't screw up and might be getting her life together.

I didn't see the reaction like that. I think once Maggie saw the results, she was (rightfully) kicking herself.

[JPPT1974]

Next time Erin and Maggie meet, it will be a different conversation and really what is Maggie thinking or was? She nearly got her own sister killed. Erin should had chewed her out on that.

[Dowel Jones]

Points to Jubal once again for his attaboy to the analyst: "You got a future in this business, kid."

[MerBearHou]

4 minutes ago, Dowel Jones said:

Points to Jubal once again for his attaboy to the analyst: "You got a future in this business, kid."

I loved that comment and I look forward to Jubal’s little asides — his humor is my kind of humor.  He doesn’t say them often, but when it’s done, it’s a clever glimpse into Jubal and the comments ever-so-slightly lighten the serious mood in the JOC.

Edited April 27, 2023 by MerBearHou

[KLovestoShop]

The next Erin/Maggie moment will be Erin graduating from Quantico and being assigned to the NYC office. 

[VegetasMom]

4 hours ago, MarylandGirl said:

Also, in the scene where the sister was trying to buy coke, why did the guy let her try some, but then not sell her any? I thought it was a test to make sure she was legit before he sold any to her, but it seemed like he was fooled by her act of doing the line as well. Was the idea that she'd come back to buy at some other time? Or was he on to her?

He told her he only sells weight, not the smaller amount she was looking for. So she went to leave and he offered her a freebie.  

[MarylandGirl]

6 hours ago, VegetasMom said:

He told her he only sells weight, not the smaller amount she was looking for. So she went to leave and he offered her a freebie.  

Oh, I see, so he's just selling by volume that others could sell, not a little bit for personal use. Thanks for the explanation!

[Johannah]

On 4/27/2023 at 8:33 AM, MarylandGirl said:

Oh, I see, so he's just selling by volume that others could sell, not a little bit for personal use. Thanks for the explanation!

That, plus I also got the vibe that he liked her, or, at least thought he could get her high and have sex with her.

[Snazzy Daisy]

S05•E20 - Sisterhood

I feel for Maggie and the emotional burden that she carries due to Erin’s addiction. Relapse can happen anytime. But for her to say “you embarrass me” to Erin’s face, that’s mean. Is she trying to send her back into the hole?

Erin is stubborn AF, just like Maggie. At one point, she should stop interfere and let the agents do their job. I hope we won’t be seeing her anytime soon.

 

[SilverLake0315]

I’m not the biggest Maggie fan, but she typically bothers me less than what seems to be the general consensus. However, I hated her in this week’s episode. Good grief, stfu already 🙄

[MerBearHou]

Maggie just lingering around the vending machines was SUCH a rookie-move and so foolish in such close proximity to a very dangerous meeting going on with her civilian sister. 

[shapeshifter]

50 minutes ago, SilverLake0315 said:

I’m not the biggest Maggie fan, but she typically bothers me less than what seems to be the general consensus. However, I hated her in this week’s episode. Good grief, stfu already 🙄

I’m the outlier who saw Maggie stuck between a rock and a hard place in a no-win situation. 

Edited May 1, 2023 by shapeshifter

[millennium]

On 10/4/2022 at 9:43 PM, shapeshifter said:

Argh. I wish this show had episode threads, especially at a time like this.

Ha!  I just started episode 1 of this Season, so this thread is like a minefield.  I have to read each subsequent post with the utmost caution, lest a spoiler blow up in my face (no way to defuse that).

This one had me on the edge of my seat -- not about the bomb, but nervously  wondering if the poor kid would have a birthday cake at his Friends of the Friendless birthday party.  

I guess Jubal's wife wasn't watching the news because an explosion of that magnitude would have received wall-to-wall coverage, especially in the greater DC area.   Knowing as she does that her husband is with the FBI, and that he clearly had some kind of situation on his hands, one would think she might at least consider that he might be at the explosion scene and be a little worried for his safety rather than blowing up his phone.

[Xeliou66]

This was a strong episode - some good detective work and a good role for each character. Unfortunately it was realistic how the system fails some people while putting more emphasis on the rich and powerful. I thought that Maggie let the detective off easy - he was a fucking bum who didn’t do his job at all - there was no excuse for not even bothering to check Katie’s route home. I hope Katie’s mom sues the police and that detective gets fired. I liked that Katie’s mom told the agents to get out.   
I didn’t get why Maggie complained that Isobel was sacrificing the poor girl to save the rich one - it would be likely finding one would lead to finding the other and it was likely Katie was dead. Isobel did the best she could, at least they managed a partial victory by saving Alison.  
I liked seeing Isobel out in the field talking to the Senator, and I liked the scenes at the office with Jubal and company, like I said, each character had a good role tonight. The episode flowed smoothly and was well done with no major flaws, but I hated the lousy detective and wish Maggie had come down harder on him. 

[shapeshifter]

5.21 "Privilege" aired May 9, 2023.

Quote

The team tries to find out who kidnapped the only child of a prominent U.S senator. The abduction also uncovers a potential link to a similar case that was pushed to the side by local authorities.

 

5 minutes ago, Xeliou66 said:

Unfortunately it was realistic how the system fails some people while putting more emphasis on the rich and powerful.

Yes. The system that neglects missing persons could be described as cruel and unusual.  Of course, there are a lot of people who do not want to be found due to an abusive home life or a significant other.
Regardless, I don't blame the detective. He accurately said there are 13K missing persons in NYC per year. 

The real issue in the story was that they did use a lot of resources to find the Senator's daughter. And they made it look like it was because he was rich and politically powerful. But I would like to believe the FBI was involved because if a powerful politician's daughter is kidnapped, it could become a national security risk if the kidnappers want him to violate national security to get his daughter back. 

[Dowel Jones]

My first reaction was 'Go fuck yourself, Maggie, and that horse named Self Righteousness that you rode in on.'  If I were that NYPD cop I would  walk into the office the next day with 100-200 (out of 23,000) reports of missing persons in NYC, hand them to Maggie, and say "Here, put your resources to work on this.  Forget anything else, like terrorism or drug dealing.   Oh, and if you get bored, take a tip from another TV show and investigate the disappearance of indigenous women in New York State, because that really is your business as the FBI."

 

[shrewd.buddha]

Quote

5.21 "Privilege" aired May 9, 2023.
The team tries to find out who kidnapped the only child of a prominent U.S senator. 

It sucks to not be high enough on the food chain to get noticed by the authorities - - but the number to people who go missing in the US each year is staggering.
And many of those do not have anyone who bothers to notice they are gone. 

My armchair advice for the mother of the recovering drug addict girl:
1) Get the names of everyone one who apologized to you and consider filing a civil suit, making sure to talk to as many news outlets as possible.
2) If you truly believe your daughter has been abducted, maybe consider 'exaggerating' some details to the police to get the case escalated. "I found one of her shoes between the store and her apartment."

[milkyaqua]

11 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

Oh, and if you get bored, take a tip from another TV show and investigate the disappearance of indigenous women in New York State, because that really is your business as the FBI."

That's an issue in California as well.

I got Maggie's frustration but yeah, I was like she needs to dial it down and look at what her own agency did initially in this situation.  Unfortunately, as said some people disappear and no one notices or someone disappears and there aren't enough resources devoted to finding them and powerful people are more than likely going to get the focus.  It sucks.

[JPPT1974]

Yeah as really the ending got to me. As the poor girl IMHO I would save but sadly the rich girl and being the only child of a Senator from the USA, will only get more publicity and a lot due to also national security reasons.

Really the NYPD detective had every single right to get ticked off at the FBI. And rightfully so. But the feds had to look at the bigger picture. As always it seems on these shows.

Still putting innocent people being put at risk as the feds and any kind of law enforcement need to remember that those people had bad luck and did bad things but at times does not make them bad people at all. Just unlucky. And how that it is blood on the law enforcement agency if the situation they put those people in, gets them hurt or killed.

[Snazzy Daisy]

S05•E21 - Privilege

Moralizing Maggie. UGH!

Am glad OA strongly put her back in her place by reiterating about the system’s flaw. And this isn’t the first time she’s questioning Isobel’s decision/tactic, with her signature smirk on full display.

What happened to Katie Ryan, the way she suffered till the end is unimaginable. The clawing story is heartbreaking. 😢 

 

[MerBearHou]

17 minutes ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

S05•E21 - Privilege

Moralizing Maggie. UGH!

Am glad OA strongly put her back in her place by reiterating about the system’s flaw. And this isn’t the first time she’s questioning Isobel’s decision/tactic, with her signature smirk on full display.

What happened to Katie Ryan, the way she suffered till the end is unimaginable. The clawing story is heartbreaking. 😢 

 

After Maggie’s behavior in her sister’s episode, this moralizing Maggie episode following so closely really stood out in a bad way and bugged me.  Of course, it goes without saying that the double-standard for locating Katie and Allison was wrong, but just a big no to Maggie’s behavior IMO.  I think my fuse is growing shorter and shorter when it comes to Maggie (Missy).  

[millennium]

On 10/5/2022 at 10:11 AM, Trey said:

So Jubal and his son are all good now but it turns out this episode was from last season.  And so far this season, Tyler is having problems again; how did everything relapse?

JMO, but I think stuff like this is bound to happen when you give some poor baby a name like Tyler.

The final scene looks like it was shot in Tarrytown, New York.   I haven't been there in several years but it was immediately familiar.   Also the "Tarry Tavern" on the left side of the hill.   That street descends towards the Hudson.

[sweetandsour]

Maggie basically did the same thing last episode that the NYPD detective did this episode. She was super exasperated when her sister told her about her friend's missing boyfriend.  IIRC, Maggie's reaction of "you know I can't just use FBI resources to look into him" was basically "not my circus, not my monkeys" with the resulting implication of "welp, whatever happened to him isn't my problem, I have other work I need to do."

Yes, that kind of missing person situation and the Katie Ryan missing person situation are normally NYPD's domain.  But Maggie sure didn't care about a human being's purported disappearance until the missing boyfriend played into an FBI case.  

Maggie has no self-awareness to realize this, or to realize she was so harsh on the detective because she saw her sister in Katie Ryan, or to acknowledge she stigmatizes addict/recovery the way she assumed the detective did.  I mean, she literally did it last episode.  She was so dismissive and irritated about the missing boyfriend because of the addict/recovery context of her sister and her sister's friend.

I know people generally didn't like Nestor, the arrogant guy she was dating a few seasons ago (Josh Segarra), but really, they have a lot in common.

[chicagofan]

Did they have a sale this week on senators interfering in cases involving their children? NCIS had one as well, although that one started out with a dead body so no happy ending.

[millennium]

The chore of having to search back pages and pages to find comments about the episode I just watched (in this case, OA's mugging) is tiresome.   Why doesn't this show have dedicated threads?  

OA comes off like such a diva at times.   I get the whole "I'm a Muslim man working for a government distrustful of Muslims so I have to be twice as good as other agents" mindset.   But when he gets in one of his moods he starts treating everybody like shit.  Nina was nice to help him forgive himself but what he implied was true -- if he hadn't been so closed off, 3 women wouldn't have been murdered.

I like Nina a LOT more than Maggie. 

[shapeshifter]

7 hours ago, millennium said:

The chore of having to search back pages and pages to find comments about the episode I just watched (in this case, OA's mugging) is tiresome.   Why doesn't this show have dedicated threads?

I was told there aren’t enough posts per episode to warrant threads. 
I wonder if there’d be more posts if there were threads. 
But it seems to work most of the time. 
Until it doesn’t.

When I want to find posts on specific episodes, I Google:

Episode-title site:forums.primetimer.com/topic/75116-fbi 

(with no space before or after the colon that follows “site” and is followed by the base thread url minus the https://www.)

Or I look up when it aired and go to the page(s) for that date.

Anyhoo, the way they’ve been making Maggie so contentious — like she always has to be mad at someone — must be going somewhere. Is Missy Peregrine leaving the show?

[WendyCR72]

26 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

I wonder if there’d be more posts if there were threads. 

I can tell you that this did start as a regular forum and was downgraded. So you can infer the answer from that.

In any case, I don't think Missy Peregrym is doing a bad job. But the writing for Maggie does seem to like to have the character miserable a lot.

Wish the writers would let her lighten up a bit.

[Snazzy Daisy]

FBI | 5x22 - "Torn"

Quote

After finding a group of teens dead from a drug overdose, the team races to find the dangerous dealer and his supplier. Meanwhile, OA questions where he stands in his faith.

Airdate: May 16, 2023

 

 

[GiandujaPie]

On 5/11/2023 at 9:24 AM, sweetandsour said:

Maggie basically did the same thing last episode that the NYPD detective did this episode. She was super exasperated when her sister told her about her friend's missing boyfriend.  IIRC, Maggie's reaction of "you know I can't just use FBI resources to look into him" was basically "not my circus, not my monkeys" with the resulting implication of "welp, whatever happened to him isn't my problem, I have other work I need to do."

Yes, that kind of missing person situation and the Katie Ryan missing person situation are normally NYPD's domain.  But Maggie sure didn't care about a human being's purported disappearance until the missing boyfriend played into an FBI case.  

Maggie has no self-awareness to realize this, or to realize she was so harsh on the detective because she saw her sister in Katie Ryan, or to acknowledge she stigmatizes addict/recovery the way she assumed the detective did.  I mean, she literally did it last episode.  She was so dismissive and irritated about the missing boyfriend because of the addict/recovery context of her sister and her sister's friend.

I know people generally didn't like Nestor, the arrogant guy she was dating a few seasons ago (Josh Segarra), but really, they have a lot in common.

I agree. Also, unfortunately, many people do run away from halfway houses and so of course they would be low priority. I think Maggie was projecting. She knows if her sister had disappeared from a halfway house, she would have written it off too as just another bad choice that her screw up sister made. 

Katie's mother did have a right to be angry but it's the system that's messed up. Not enough resources to go around investigating every single reported missing person report so they do have to prioritize based on historical data and unfortunately drug addicts, especially ones living at halfway houses, do run away. I've also seen enough Dateline episodes to know that even suburban housewives who go missing can be written off as a mom who just decided to leave because she had had enough of her boring life. There's just too many people reported missing, too many instances of people running away voluntarily and then coming back for there to be enough resources and time to investigate every single case. And getting a senator's daughter back would be a priority because it could have national security implications. It's not fair but it's just the reality. 

[WendyCR72]

Article on TV Line about the 100th episode of FBI - which is also the season finale. A spoiler involving Scola is within.

[Xeliou66]

Tonight’s episode was pretty good - I liked the case, it was something different than normal with drug dealing and drug OD’s, I liked the case and investigation and how it played out. It was OA centric but he was good throughout - Maggie annoyed me a bit with her comments about OA eating the granola bar - what the fuck was her issue, it was none of her business whether OA was fasting or not. Not much of Scola/Tiffany, but I didn’t mind the focus on OA. Jubal, Isobel and the analysts got a good role which is always nice - the stuff going on at headquarters with Jubal and the analysts are my favorite part of the show. 
Nice to see the ME again.  
Overall this was good - a solid story and case that flowed well.

[shapeshifter]

Regarding 5:22 "Torn"

Anyone else recognize the young guest star, Chris Petrovski, as the daughter's boyfriend from Madam Secretary? 

IDK. This episode seemed kind of like an apology tour for the way they've written OA as a supposedly observant Muslim without explaining why he drinks etc. for the sake of the job.

Edited May 17, 2023 by shapeshifter

[SunnyBeBe]

Wouldn’t you think the FBI would ensure that agents who are going to work the field undercover are able to do whatever needs to be done?  Also, I’m not familiar with that agent’s faith, but is it okay to sin by telling a lie, but not okay to sin by drinking alcohol?  Are some sins acceptable?  
 

It was pretty suspenseful.  I liked it.  

Edited May 17, 2023 by SunnyBeBe

[WendyCR72]

As this is a single thread, I just wanted to point out that the season finale - also the 100th episode - is next Tuesday, May 23rd.

Carry on!

[MerBearHou]

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

Anyone else recognize the young guest star, Chris Petrovski, as the daughter's boyfriend from Madam Secretary? 

Yep!  This is the first time I’ve seen him in anything since Madam Secretary (sure did love that show).  This character was certainly not cut out for the FBI, wow.  So sincere and principled but so not a fit.

Edited May 17, 2023 by MerBearHou

[TVForever]

11 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Regarding 5:22 "Torn"

Anyone else recognize the young guest star, Chris Petrovski, as the daughter's boyfriend from Madam Secretary? 

IDK. This episode seemed kind of like an apology tour for the way they've written OA as a supposedly observant Muslim without explaining why he drinks etc. for the sake of the job.

I pegged him right away! Longer hair, but otherwise looked exactly the same.

[shapeshifter]

13 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Anyone else recognize the young guest star, Chris Petrovski, as the daughter's boyfriend from Madam Secretary? 

12 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

Yep!  This is the first time I’ve seen him in anything since Madam Secretary (sure did love that show).  This character was certainly not cut out for the FBI, wow.  So sincere and principled but so not a fit.

1 hour ago, TVForever said:

I pegged him right away! Longer hair, but otherwise looked exactly the same.

And similar uncompromisingly self-righteous character personality who is out of his league doing spy stuff.
The slight difference is that instead of being smitten by the Secretary of State's daughter, he had a Dad crush on OA when OA came to his HS class to talk about being a practicing Muslim in the FBI.
And he hasn't aged.
Are we sure they didn't make an AI clone of the actor and his role on Madam Secretary? LOL

Edited May 17, 2023 by shapeshifter

[MarylandGirl]

How long had that guy been working undercover? He was terrible! Getting his stories mixed up regarding the guy who wanted to buy the guns, clearly lying when he asked his name, freezing when he had the clean shot, being awful at stalling the guy from going into the imam's apartment, etc.

His not taking the drink reminded me of when Maggie's sister wouldn't snort the coke when she was undercover, though I guess she faked it OK. Wasn't there another episode where an undercover guy was supposed to be doing a drug deal, they wanted him to sample the product, and he wouldn't, which basically blew his cover, then people started shooting? (It's possible I'm confusing that with Most Wanted or another show). I mean, taking religion out of it, doing illegal drugs is different from taking a shot of alcohol, but it just seems like a really easy way for criminals to test whether people might be cops/FBI.

Another thought: With it being established that it was Ramadan, what if the guy had asked him to try a bite of his sandwich to make sure it wasn't poisoned? I wonder if he's going to keep working undercover (he shouldn't because see above) or decide to go for a role where he doesn't have to do anything that conflicts with his faith?

[MerBearHou]

Was it ever established how the bad guys used the imam’s apartment for their nefarious meetings when the imam was out?  It sounded like they had done this more than once.  That was bizarre to me.  

Edited May 17, 2023 by MerBearHou

[MarylandGirl]

1 hour ago, MerBearHou said:

Was it ever established how the bad guys used the imam’s apartment for their nefarious meetings when the imam was out?  It sounded like they had done this more than once.  That was bizarre to me.  

This seemed really odd to me as well. It seemed like they knew his regular comings and goings, but he was about to return to the apartment while they were still meeting, had OA not stopped him. Were they concerned that the back room of the bar would be bugged, so thought this was safer?

[Snazzy Daisy]

S05•E22 - Torn

The COTW is overshadowed by OA's crisis of faith. No idea why the writers manufacture this impromptu crisis when we all know OA isn't actually a devout Muslim. We saw him spending the night at Mona's place numerous times. Who are they trying to fool?

Anyway, I do love watching Maggie making fun of OA taking a break from Ramadan.

[Netfoot]

15 hours ago, MarylandGirl said:

Wasn't there another episode where an undercover guy was supposed to be doing a drug deal, they wanted him to sample the product, and he wouldn't, which basically blew his cover, then people started shooting?

I seem to remember something like that.

But I don't understand. If I am a drug dealer and my provider tells me to sample it, I simply say "I make money selling this shit to people stupid enough to take it. I'm not stupid enough to take it myself!"

6 hours ago, Snazzy Daisy said:

I do love watching Maggie making fun of OA taking a break from Ramadan.

I actually like Missy Peregrym. (Special Agent Maggie Bell not so much.) And I think it's fine to rag on your close workmates and friends and family too. Around here we call that "giving fatigue!" But you can't do it in a mean-spirited way, or it ceases to be a friendly ribbing and starts to venture on you just being nasty. 

In this case I don't think Maggie was mean-spirited in her query, but I think she has shown a slight tendency towards that at other times in earlier episodes. 

As far as OA is concerned, he has more than once claimed/shown himself to be devout. Yes, Muslims are allowed to set aside the strict rules in times of urgent need, as indeed OA himself mentions later in the episode. But I'm not sure that provision can be called upon when you are a mite peckish and feel like eating a granola bar.

That scene was obviously a setup for the later discussion between OA and under-cover guy who refused to take a drink to the point where he endangered his own (and others) life.

[shapeshifter]

4 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

If I am a drug dealer and my provider tells me to sample it, I simply say "I make money selling this shit to people stupid enough to take it. I'm not stupid enough to take it myself!"

And I can imagine you saying that, @Netfoot, LOL.

Likewise, couldn't the young, mild-mannered Muslim undercover agent in this episode have said he doesn't drink because he's a Muslim? He could even have ranted a bit about blah blah blah so-called Muslim cops who drink. 
Wasn't there some connection between the drug dealers and the Imam upstairs? 
Or not? 
IDK. Just wondering if it could have been different either IRL or in the script.