Writers, was the script for the attempted assassination of former President Trump too outlandish to believe? Is it just too implausible that the storied Secret Service, protector of presidents, didn’t think to cover that slightly sloped rooftop?
Joseph Mallozzi—a showrunner, writer, and executive producer for “Dark Matter” and “Stargate”—offers a wry commentary in the style of an executive’s critique of a movie script. He scorches the Secret Service’s ridiculous excuses for why a gunman got within a hair’s breadth of shooting Trump through the head.
Mallozzi writes:
Thanks for the script. Overall, the plotting feels contrived and, at times, defies logic, so we’re going to require a fairly extensive rewrite for the second draft.
Our biggest issue with the script is the characterization of the Secret Service who come across as so inept that it defies credulity. Specifics to follow.
Could we put the building that the shooter climbs onto OUTSIDE a proper security zone instead of the current Pac Man configuration that only excludes his position?
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The Secret Service Director character seems to lack the intelligence one would expect from someone in their position. Please have her come up with something more plausible than the “too slopey!” excuse for why no armed agents were stationed on the rooftop. Let’s work a little harder to create a more clever explanation for the egregious lapse in professional conduct, one that our audience could buy into. Maybe the shooter incapacitated the agents inside the building through non-lethal means, say a knock-out gas or drugs in their water supply. This could also explain how the shooter could have carried the ladder over, propped it up to the building, and climbed up without being noticed by law enforcement.
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