Involved incidents. Ok so let's say he's been doing this for several years. And it's thousands ( plural ) so what, he's been doing this on average once every other day or so. Successfull saves mind you. Ok then.
shareThe girl who just talked her way into a job... her mom died from his only unsuccessful negotiation and that was when she was a child
So, you have to assume he's been doing this not only for the duration of her growing up from child to adult and through college, but also for enough years prior to that for him to have been established when he was negotiating on the case involving her mother
Which means he's near or over 40 and has been doing this at least 20 years
He could do just 2 cases a week and he'd be at a couple thousand over the course of a 20 year career
Saying it as "thousands" is likely meant to make it sound like even more but without actually bothering to lie. he's just being vague while still being accurate
2 a week on average is believable given that his company travels to cities around the country and potentially around the world to handle these cases
Yes I believe they said 17 years but still; hundreds would have been more believable.
shareIn the latest episode they finally clarified it had been 17 years since the mother died.
Prior to that he was with the FBI and had been there long enough to be in a command position to handle top level negotiations, which means he had a few years experience there
So again, that's 20 years or more of him doing this. And they've now clarified that they do work world wide as well.
Now consider there are millions of kidnappings world wide.
My estimate was low at only 2 negotiations per week over 20 years to get to 2000 or so
I've since done a little more research. This show is actually based on the real life crisis negotiator Laraunt Combaltbert (46) who has negotiated many thousands of cases in his 20+ year career
Thousands is not a stretch, at all, given his global work range. He's the defacto negotiator on call for all of the major insurance companies that offer hostage insurance for wealthy clients and politicians worldwide
The show of course is a fictional version and does not follow the events of his life, but it is based loosely on him and the character in the show is also basically the best in the world
Perhaps you just don't realize how many kidnappings there are that require a hostage negotiator. There's 7 billion people in the world. Millions get kidnapped. A hostage negotiator to the rich and politically connected could easily do thousands of cases over the course of their career if they are the best in the world
It also depends on how one interprets "thousands". "2 negotiations per week over 20 years to get to 2000 or so " but that's if you consider his saving one person at a time. If you consider that he also can save groups of people, that would easily bring it into the thousands.
That being said, there are a lot of flaws in Eric's backstory. I recently rewatched the pilot, there is one scene where his license if visible. The character age is the same as the actor's age, 41. That doesn't really allow for college, several years with the FBI and then 17 years with his own company. (Which would mean he left the FBI at 24. That would barely get him out of the FBI Academy)
Another is why is his company based in Montreal? He's from Chicago. Zara from NY. (I don't think they ever specified Oliver). Maxine also from the US. Originally, I thought it was because of Nathalie, but as specified in the final ep of season 1, she's from Paris. So again, why and how did he start his company in Canada? I'd think NY, Chicago or Washington DC would make more sense.
Not to mention that in season 1, the company was based in a big, glass corporate building. Season 2 has the 4 of them working out of a loft. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the series, but TPTB are making it up as they go along and not doing a very good job.