Picking Nits
Softball; case preparation; testimony; confession; diet; public discussions; Markinson; continuity
In the discussion (22)
Approx. transcript time · 00:13:21Read transcript
- Kaffee’s rapid progression through college, law school and the Navy toward private practice and a major national-security case seems unusually accelerated.
- Kaffee’s coherent drunken monologue, drunk driving and almost immediate recovery seem unlike genuine intoxication.
- Jo’s ignorance of Markinson’s suicide is questioned because she assigned people to watch his hotel room; Kendrick is named in error before being corrected to Markinson.
- After a lengthy intervening conversation, Jo has barely walked away in the rain when Kaffee drives after her.
- Cruise’s near-whisper during the interrogation seems too quiet for the jury to hear.
- Jo’s ability to interrupt as co-counsel whenever she wants is questioned.
- Extensive practice for a recreational adult softball team is questioned.
- The defense’s slow use of Santiago’s unpacked belongings is criticized, then defended as a later recognition of how to combine that fact with phone records.
- Weinberg’s usefulness is questioned through poor witness preparation, late arrival with the airmen and hostility to the defendants; Kaffee and Jo are criticized for begging him to remain.
- Putting the inarticulate Downey on the stand before Dawson seems reckless; Dawson’s missing corrective testimony may simply have been cut from the film.
- Ross apparently waiting to arrest Kendrick after Jessup’s confession is questioned.
- A participant claims that the depicted conduct-unbecoming offense is not an actual crime; this is presented as the podcast’s legal nitpick, not independently verified law.
- Jessup’s willingness to confess is considered implausible for a powerful man who could use lawyers, though avoiding the confrontation would remove the film’s climax.
- Kaffee ignoring repeated sustained objections is criticized.
- Kaffee’s diet of Yoo-hoo, Cocoa Puffs, bar popcorn, alcohol and a discarded partly eaten doughnut prompts concern about how he functions.
- Ordering an unspecified beer is criticized as an unrealistic movie convention.
- Calling oregano a condiment rather than a seasoning or garnish is challenged.
- Jo’s method of eating steamed crab with the picking knife is strongly criticized.
- Cruise missing four of eight extremely close Nerf-basketball shots is considered astonishing.
- Keeping the white hat on after being warned the uniforms attract gunfire seems unwise.
- Discussing sensitive case details loudly in public spaces and Jo standing with her back to batting practice are questioned.
- Kaffee takes implausibly long to notice the large, upright Markinson in his back seat, though Cruise’s startled reaction is admired.