Zodiac Killer arrested

Thanos6

Banned
There is a very, very definite POD here.

Zodiac's 1969 murder of a cabbie was witnessed and a description given to police in the area. Unfortunately, the dispatcher somehow made a mistake (I hope it was not deliberate) when talking to officers and described the suspect as black when he was really white. So the cops literally walked right by him; later, when they heard the real description, they realized they'd seen him. In a letter, Zodiac confirmed they almost got him (and included a piece of the cabbie's bloody shirt as proof it was him).

Speaking as a dispatcher, it's one of the worst marks on our profession.

But let's say the dispatcher gets it right and Zodiac is arrested. What else would this change? Assuming he's a relative nobody, not a public figure.

I think Dirty Harry would be butterflied away or at least be significantly changed. Would "criminal mind games" in general be less popular in culture, since we don't have the mystique of the one who got away?
 
There is a very, very definite POD here.

Zodiac's 1969 murder of a cabbie was witnessed and a description given to police in the area. Unfortunately, the dispatcher somehow made a mistake (I hope it was not deliberate) when talking to officers and described the suspect as black when he was really white. So the cops literally walked right by him; later, when they heard the real description, they realized they'd seen him. In a letter, Zodiac confirmed they almost got him (and included a piece of the cabbie's bloody shirt as proof it was him).

Speaking as a dispatcher, it's one of the worst marks on our profession.

But let's say the dispatcher gets it right and Zodiac is arrested. What else would this change? Assuming he's a relative nobody, not a public figure.

I think Dirty Harry would be butterflied away or at least be significantly changed. Would "criminal mind games" in general be less popular in culture, since we don't have the mystique of the one who got away?

Not at all. While I agree that Dirty Harry would be butterflied (and subsequently much of the police action subgenre, from Death Wish to Lethal Weapon), the "one who got away" mind game story still has Jack The Ripper to draw from.
 

MacCaulay

Banned
Not at all. While I agree that Dirty Harry would be butterflied (and subsequently much of the police action subgenre, from Death Wish to Lethal Weapon), the "one who got away" mind game story still has Jack The Ripper to draw from.

Okay, not to get all anal and Aspie, but Death Wish was more about the concept of how close regular people are to being killers. I guess I don't get how the plot and point of Death Wish would be changed with the withdrawal of the whole "one that got away" aspect.
 
Okay, not to get all anal and Aspie, but Death Wish was more about the concept of how close regular people are to being killers. I guess I don't get how the plot and point of Death Wish would be changed with the withdrawal of the whole "one that got away" aspect.

No, with the arrest of the Zodiac Killer that cop genre would be significantly altered due to the probable loss of or serious change to the Dirty Harry franchise. "The one that got away" would still be a significant trope.
 

MacCaulay

Banned
No, with the arrest of the Zodiac Killer that cop genre would be significantly altered due to the probable loss of or serious change to the Dirty Harry franchise. "The one that got away" would still be a significant trope.

Okay, I get what you're saying.

Didn't mean to get all "I'm going to pick two words out of your post and make random attacks". I know how that is.

It's just that Death Wish is one of my favourite movies so of course you latch on to what you're a fan of, you know?
 
Okay, I get what you're saying.

Didn't mean to get all "I'm going to pick two words out of your post and make random attacks". I know how that is.

It's just that Death Wish is one of my favourite movies so of course you latch on to what you're a fan of, you know?

Oh, absolutely. And I have a fondness for Lethal Weapon, so I hate the idea of the franchise likely being butterflied away.
 
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