Huh... just realized this episode was Harry Dresden and the Chain of Sin. I think I'm going to refer to all episodes in that format. :-)

I wonder if the Council tolerate Siroda because he's a devil in the classic sense, that he doesn't actually hurt people, just tempts them and makes suggestions, but, yeah, never actually forces their hand.

Yeah, I could buy that.

I suspect that the council would get involved if someone was bound against their will

I've been thinking about that. Jim Butcher said (somewhere) that Tv-Bob was cursed because he got too powerful and wicked, and the Wardens tethered his ghost to his skull as punishment. That sounds like the Council ordering someone to be bound against their will. If that's so, I don't see how this version of Bob can be reconciled with the Council and the Laws as theya re in the books. Maybe the Laws have been changed for the series?

I don't think it's entirely realistic that Harry should have powerful enemies everywhere, and no powerful allies, and it makes for a good story when he has to go ask someone he doesn't like much for some help.

Well, book Harry actually has quite a few powerful allies: Michael, the Alphas, certain faeries (being vague so as not to spoil later books), Ebenezar, Susan, Thomas but he gains them slowly over time, and he's reluctant to pull them in for every little thing because he doesn't want them hurt or killed. However, in Storm Front and Fool Moon, it was very much Harry against the world. He doesn't even fully gain Murphy's trust until Summer Knight and she hardly counts as a powerful ally (totally kickass, but painfully mortal).

My first impression of the Book White Council went like this: "Okay, they'll execute Harry for killing his uncle with magic, but where were they when said uncle was trying to enslave the 17-year-old kid Harry was? Leave a kid to fend for himself against a powerful black wizard, and then threaten to kill him and put him under some kind of Doom probation for defending himself? These guys are arrogant hypocritical bastards. When can we kill them?" I get that their only intention is to enforce the 7 Laws of Magic (which they made up), but if protecting kids from evil wizards, when they're the only ones who reasonably CAN, is not in their charter, then they all need to be replaced with actual human beings.

I seem to remember Book!Morgan saying "we have only your word for that" when Harry reminded him that it was self defense. I thought of it as a situation where they had no reason to believe it wasn't, but also no evidence to believe that it was.

Right. It was Harry's word against Justin's and book!Justin was a Warden. The Council had no idea that Justin had turned to evil. (It's never been spelled out in the books, but we find out in Dead Beat that Justin got Bob when he was part of a group that took down a powerful necromancer. I have a feeling he found more than Bob among the ruins of the necromancer's lair, and whatever it was started him down the dark path.) As far as the White Council was concerned, one of their Warden's in good standing had adopted a couple of orphan children with magical talent and was raising them as his apprentices. Next thing they know, Justin's home is burned to the ground, one of his apprentices is missing and presumed dead and they find Justin's other apprentice standing over his charred bones.

Harry was the magical equivalent of a cop-killer, even if it was self-defense, which explains a lot of Morgan's hatred of him.

the other interesting thing about Book!Morgan is that Harry says that he's not very smart, and incapable of independent thought and rationalization, which TV!Morgan seems to be.

Right. Book!Morgan is very much a simple enforcer for the Council, whereas TV!Morgan seems like more of an investigator.

I think I remember later we learn (possibly Harry's opinion/perception again) that Morgan is burnt out, that he's a good cop who's done his job for so long that he's become somewhat jaded and hard. That even though he does his job to the letter of the law, he's lost some of his humanity, his compassion.

Yup. Dead Beat is where Harry finally starts to understand Morgan and what makes him tick. And even before that, as much of an ass as he is, he isn't a bad guy. He saves Harry's life in Storm Front. Granted he does it because it's his duty as a Warden to protect all members of the White Council, but he didn't have to risk his life to pull Harry out of the blaze or give him CPR.

Kalshane, thanks for the explanation of BookJustin and what happened. That makes things make a lot more sense. I didn't know any of that; I'd thought BookJustin was his uncle too.

That sounds like the Council ordering someone to be bound against their will. If that's so, I don't see how this version of Bob can be reconciled with the Council and the Laws as theya re in the books. Maybe the Laws have been changed for the series?

I think of it as the equivalent of the government can do things that I can't. I can't lock someone in a closet for 6 months for stealing from me, but the government can put someone in prison. same deal.

I don't know if they mean for me to be this amused by Dr. Where beating the crap out of Peter, but I am. And I LIKE Peter.

OK, THAT was COOL!!!!

Poor Claire, though. Still. Again. Whichever.

Me too.

I loved the dart stopping and the flying too.

Hmmm. Hiro can reverse time? Verrrrrrry interesting.

That's the first time he did that, isn't it?

(Seeing HP in the ad is much less jarring then seeing SMG in her ad during "The Body.")