Skip to main content

Men In Black: After Agent K's retirement, why was Agent J left as senior partner?


From my limited understanding, generally police-type agencies partner an experienced senior agent/detective with a junior one.


However, at the end of "Men In Black" movie, Agent K announces that he's ready to retire and he has been training Agent J as replacement:



I haven't been looking for a partner. I've been looking for a replacement.



Now, Agent J is a brand new green rookie - he was hired just a couple of days before (based on my understanding of movies' timeline); and doesn't know anything; see the scenes with Agent K explains obvious beginner type stuff to J, including how to identify a bug, or general methods and mission of MIB, or hell, the starting-off on the job:



Kay: Cool, whatever you say, slick, but I need to tell you something about all your skills. As of right now, they mean precisely... dick.




So, how come Agent J ends up being the senior partner once Agent K retires, instead of being partnered up with another senior agent till he stops being such a rookie?


NOTE: I'm specifically asking about the very end of MIB1, where Agent J is a senior partner to agent L - not about eventual MIB2 where J is obviously more experienced and more likely qualifies to be a senior partner.



Answer



I don't have any concrete canon information to back this up, but:


My guess would be that there are a limited number of people who they (the MiB org) would consider as a field agent, as the field agents likely get exposed to a slew of more exotic experiences than the people who work on base. Therefore they would need people who can handle all the weirdness on a constant basis and not break down. Secondly, they would also want an agent that is already familiar with the retiring agent's patrol region; in this case NYC and the surrounding area. This would limit agent's getting lost when on duty or making cultural gaffes when trying to make up new histories for the people they flash.


Considering the two above points, which may or may not be valid, it may take a considerable amount of time to find someone who can work in the field. After all, by the start of MiB2 agent J had retired a number of candidates and was in the process of washing another. Zed, while upset at having lost another candidate, was not overly discouraged, which would seem to indicate that it was not uncommon for it to take a while to find agents. Add to this that the field agents seem to work in pairs (at the start of MiB there was only K and his partner) there just may have not been another unpaired senior agent available in the NYC area.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

What is Tolkien trying to say in this letter?

In a draft of a letter, later recorded as #246, Tolkien makes a strange statement. I am interested in the first few sentences of the letter, but I will include the remainder for the sake of context. In the 'Mirror of Galadriel', 1381, it appears that Galadriel conceived of herself as capable of wielding the Ring and supplanting the Dark Lord. If so, so also were the other guardians of the Three, especially Elrond . But this is another matter. It was part of the essential deceit of the Ring to fill minds with imaginations of supreme power . But this the Great had well considered and had rejected, as is seen in Elrond's words at the Council. Galadriel's rejection of the temptation was founded upon previous thought and resolve. In any case Elrond or Galadriel would have proceeded in the policy now adopted by Sauron: they would have built up an empire with great and absolutely subservient generals and armies and engines of war, until they could challenge Sauron and destroy ...
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Was Galadriel's temptation of Boromir instrumental to his fall?

We know Galadriel tempted the members of the Fellowship, did she tempt Boromir with visions of taking the Ring and saving Gondor? In the books, Boromir willingly accepts the judgement of the council that the Ring should be destroyed, but after the meeting with Celeborn and Galadriel his personality seems to change. Was the temptation offered by Galadriel in some way responsible for Boromir's fall? Answer It's likely, but not certain I believe it is likely Galadriel tempted him with the ring, and in doing so re-ignited a pre-existing idea to take the ring, but to be clear lets break this down into three parts. Boromir at the Council of Elrond Boromir after setting off Boromir after being tempted Boromir at the Council of Elrond Boromir pleas for the ring to go to Minas Tirith, to help Gondor in its defense against Mordor. “ Why should we not think that the Great Ring has come into our hands to serve us in the very hour of need? Wielding it the Free Lords of the Free may surely...
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - What is the difference between Diffindo and Sectumsempra?

In the Harry Potter books, Diffindo is called the 'Severing Charm' and it’s most commonly used to cut ropes and the like. However, in the last book Hermione uses it on Ron but misses, creating a 'slash in his jeans' and his knee gets cut, causing him to 'roar in pain'. We've only seen Sectumsempra used once on screen when Harry directly uses it on Malfoy in the sixth book, but there it's mentioned that he is 'waving his wand wildly'. Wouldn't Diffindo, if used in such a fashion also cause a similar effect? Similarly, if it was able to cut Ron, it would also be able to, say, chop off an ear (George's)? In that case, how are these two spells different, except for Sectumsempra seemingly used exclusively to hurt humans? Answer While Diffindo and Sectumsempra both can be countered by other spells, Diffindo is far more easily countered. Reparo, a relatively common spell, can completely reverse its effect when used once. “He pulled the old cop...
Post a Comment
Read more