WC Canon Question:

[soteriophobe]

Does anyone know what date it is, in canon, roughly?

Jeff Eastin said that it's been two years since the pilot, in canon!time. The pilot aired on October 23, 2009. So that would make it…late 2011, now, in canon!time? Possibly very early 2012? Is there any official word on this?

Thanks for any help anyone can give!

Comments

[neontiger55]

I think it's fairly safe to assume that it's 2012 in canon. The Pilot takes place in an unidentified wintery month that could be 2009 or 2010 depending on how much handwaving JE and crew do (a lot) and as far as I know, it's all been kept quite vague. Also, there will be a slight time lapse from 3.12 to 4.01, so that could bump it up to about now??

[soteriophobe]

Sweet - thank you! I was wondering what the date would be around the time of the S3 finale, specifically, so I figure I can probably squeeze it into the beginning of this year. :D

[neontiger55]

No worries ;) Because they film in winter and summer, the timeline and the seasons (imo) always seem off. So the finale was filmed in the summer, but could pass for early spring. They don't make it easy for fic writers, do they? lol.

[soteriophobe]

LOl, ikr? The idea of starting my fic with a fake news article seemed fun, until I realized that I had no idea how to correctly date it. O.o

[aragarna]

Do we ever see a date in the series ?
Cause if not, you can decide whatever date you want.

[soteriophobe]

True! I assume it's supposed to be set close to the current day, given the technology etc shown on the show - but it's confusing, because it was winter in both the pilot and the S1 finale haha, and then the rest of the series seems to take place in the summertime, despite…only 2 years supposedly having elapsed. Oh, and there's not meant to have been any time between S2/S3 or S3/S3.5 either, since both premieres pick up where the finales left off. So….ha, it's kind of a crapshoot. Or else WC takes place in a strange alternate reality.

[embroiderama]

The good side to canon being so dreadfully non-specific is that, whatever you do, nobody can really come and tell you that you got it wrong. ;)

[soteriophobe]

Very true! :D

[florastuart]

The way I've worked out the timeline for my own fics (and I'm not sure if this is how JE meant for it to be, but I think it works) starts with three seasons = two years = 24 months/3 = about 8 months for season 1, 9-10 months for season 2, I think, and S3 closer to 6-7, based on various dates mentioned in canon. Or something

[soteriophobe]

THIS IS EPIC.

I am serious - I feel like I'm stealing money from the mob, you've done so much work and...bang! I have a perfect timeline for the series I can work off from now on. Thank you SO much. And you should post this to whitecollarfic or wc_confab or something! It's amazing. *.*

[florastuart]

Oh, I'm so glad it's helpful! :)

About halfway through plotting the big bang fic that has EATEN MY LIFE over the past few weeks, I hit the point where I couldn't really go forward without knowing when certain episodes were taking place. I like writing descriptions of weather, and that's hard without knowing the season. *g*

And then I have plotbunnies show up like "Neal and June go out dancing on New Year's Eve" or other ideas related to various holidays, and I want to know what canon events are going on around then.

(Although I am not writing any of those plotbunnies until I finish the big bang! *nods firmly* Which has EATEN MY LIFE OMG. *is a little bit scared of the Giant Epic Plotbunny*)

[x_varda_x]

LJ marked my comment as spam (I linked a screencap)

There's a date on the cheque the guy gives Neal near the end of 3x15 = 7th March 2012

Which is odd considering the episode aired before then on 21st Feb. Perhaps USA had intended to air it later?