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I'm guessing that Lucas was using it more as a comparison then anything. He was probably trying to say that the reports one can generally find on the real CPD website these days don't contain nearly as much info as what Gerard must have in the hard copy reports he had on hand in the movie.
He could've been a bit more clear about that though, so I can see why you had that thought.
I like to think that considering it was Thanksgiving night, most places in Chicago would've been booked solid so Del probably did stay at least that one night with Neal, if not an extra night or two until motels cleared up a bit. I know Del would've wanted to impose for as little time as possible. Once the holiday passed and availability opened up, Neal would help Del secure a room at a decent Motel.
Afterward, it sort of depends on what Del wants to do. If Del wants to stay put and try to put down roots, Neal might be able to help him get an entry level job in the same marketing firm he works for and help him find a nice apartment or even a small house. If Del would rather continue traveling and selling his shower curtain rings, then Neal could still help him find a smaller more basic apartment that could act as a home base for Del so that he can retire his trunk and travel a little lighter, but more importantly he'll always have a place to return to and a friend to spend the holidays with.
If you're interested in reading a fanfiction version of where the series goes from that cliffhanger, it's posted here:
https://www.fanfiction.net/u/691276/
I think the scene is actually an attempt on Joaquin's part to fake his death.
Joaquin knows he can't run after being shot by Love so once he shoos Alejandro away he waits for Love to arrive. Alejandro hides a short distance away to watch. Once he has an audience, Joaquin spits and makes to shoot himself in the chest but in fact shoots under his arm near his armpit and plays dead, hoping the soldiers will just leave his "body" and move on.
Alejandro doesn't seem too fazed at this point because it's not real. It's only when Love cuts Joaquin's head off that Alejandro gets truly enraged. He also referred to Love as "The man who killed my brother". While I'm sure he would probably still say that if Joaquin did commit suicide, the pure hatred behind it makes me think faking suicide is one of their many tricks, and this time Love called the bluff.
Alejandro watched the whole thing, and probably stayed hidden until after Joaquin was buried. I'm sure Love had a squad searching the area for him while a few stayed there to "bury the body, bag the head". At any rate, it was dusk when we then see Alejandro pick up the medallion (the one Zorro gave them) that flew off when Joaquin's head was severed so certainly an hour or two had passed.
Indeed.
Honestly, I would've liked them to be a bit clearer about the whole conspiracy and who fit in where in the movie itself.
Did it stop at Nichols or were people at Devlin-MacGregor involved? What was in it for Sykes and why did he have to kill Helen so brutally when he brought a gun? Who were the 15 people who backed up the lie about Sykes being on a business trip the night of the murder? Were they part of the conspiracy? Paid off? Tricked into thinking he went? Is it possible that Detectives Kelly and Rosetti were part of the conspiracy as well, considering Sykes was an ex-cop? Did they all know each other?
We do sort of know what was in it for Nichols. When he was introduced as keynote speaker at the end it was mentioned that "He was appointed to the board of directors of Devlin-MacGregor Pharmaceuticals". That's a huge monetary and reputation boost right there which I'm assuming was contingent on how he (and Chicago Memorial) performed during the study.
The only problem with that is, the whole point of a drug study is to test out how it affects the patients. Discovering side effects is the whole damn point! What is accomplished by hiding them? The study can still be considered a success when major side effects are found because that's how you prevent a bad drug from entering the market. You make adjustments and try again. It could still have eventually been the "wonder drug" they were hyping and Nichols would still get credit for working the studies.
At any rate, the majority of these thoughts are my own conjecture; attempting to connect the dots as presented to us through Richard and Gerard's parallel investigations.
I think the movie needed some kind of wrap-up scene after the car pulled away, perhaps through another newscast by the same reporter who opened the movie reporting on Helen's murder. This time he would break down the conspiracy briefly and go over what happened to Sykes, Nichols, Richard, etc. as Richard is leaving the courtroom a free man, as he did at the end of the original 60s series.
It would've made a nice bookend.
Why would Richard sue the Lentz estate when Lentz was also a victim of the conspiracy?
Nichols was Chief of Pathology at Chicago Memorial, and acting as liaison between Chicago Memorial and Devlin-MacGregor. Lentz was a Pathologist working for Nichols, and seemed to be the direct supervisor for the drug study at the hospital. Richard was aware of the study as it involved the vascular system, and he was a practicing Vascular Surgeon.
So the chain is Richard--->Lentz--->Nichols--->Devlin-MacGregor.
Richard noticed discrepancies in the study results compared to his observations while operating on patients under said study and was in the process of bringing his concerns to Lentz. Richard must have confided in Nichols as well, which makes sense as they have been close friends since medical school and of course he would know of Nichols' involvement in the study. Nichols couldn't let Richard get to Lentz which is why he recruited Sykes to kill the Kimbles (I guess he assumed Richard might have talked about it with Helen too?)
Lentz would have continued to work on the drug study after Richard's incarceration and presumably discovered some of the same issues Richard did. He would have brought his concerns to Nichols as his direct supervisor. Lentz also seemed to be refusing to sign off on any further study reports until his concerns were addressed. Nichols couldn't allow that so he had Sykes kill Lentz as well and then Nichols forged Lentz's signature on all the outstanding reports.
One detail they didn't really focus on is that Nichols was a member of a tennis club and Lentz was "on his way to his daily tennis match" when he was killed. Perhaps they were members of the SAME club, and Lentz was on his way to play with or against Nichols. Nichols would then be able to tell Sykes when/where to set up the fatal "accident".
The way I look at the scene is that Gerard knew the glass was bulletproof and therefore wasn't actually shooting to kill. He just wanted to scare Richard into staying put which did work for a moment; Richard froze in shock and his caught foot made him fall. Gerard could've shot Richard in the foot if he really wanted to hurt him.
My feeling is Sam "Big Dog" Gerard was skeptical from the moment he first met with Detectives Kelly and Rosetti. He's incredulous at their motive for Richard killing Helen: "What do you mean he did it for the money? He's a Doctor; he's already rich!". Gerard re-interviews everyone in their files, and by the end he is having a hard time reconciling the Dr. Richard Kimble his colleagues are describing with the man who supposedly killed his wife in such a brutal manner.
At Cook County Hospital, his doubts about the CPD investigation intensify when he and Cosmo realize that the prosthetic clinic is the reason Richard was "hanging around a trauma ward acting like Mother Theresa". The fact that Richard's reason for being in Chicago appears to be that he's hunting down the one-armed man lends credence to his story. If he's guilty, why would he be after a man that doesn't exist? Richard then leads Gerard to Frederick Sykes, and all he can say after questioning him is "Cosmo, this guy's dirty!".
At this point, Gerard is convinced there's more to this case than meets the eye, and begins to run a parallel investigation to Richard's. Gerard learns that Richard was looking into tissue samples relating to a drug trial study that he was involved with, along with Charles Nichols and Alexander Lentz. This means he just caught Nichols in the lie that he didn't even know Lentz. Additionally, The pharmaceutical company behind the trial is Devlin-MacGregor, which just happens to be the company that Sykes is employed with as Head of Security. He also discovers that Lentz was killed by a hit & run driver while Richard was in prison.
While all this information is beginning to paint a compelling picture, it doesn't actually go against the "husband kills wife" scenario the CPD is pushing. Gerard needs something irrefutable; a cold hard fact...which is why this is the perfect time to receive the info regarding the phone call from Richard's car phone to Sykes the night of the murder. Phone records also indicate if a call connected so this proves that Sykes was lying about being out of town that night.
Gerard begins to look through his paperwork for the original arrest report. Why? That report is fresh enough in his mind that he knew right away something was off about the timing of the phone call, but just didn't quite what know it was. The timeline indicated the approximate time Nichols returned the keys to Richard, which confirms to Gerard that the call to Sykes occurred prior to this exchange. This proves that Nichols contacted Sykes the night of the murder while he was in possession of the keys to the Kimble home. No forcible entry.
This is the evidence Gerard needed and the moment that he is convinced beyond any doubt that Richard Kimble is innocent.
I also agree that it's not bad writing. In fact, I think Charles' actions are quite calculating and subtle. So were the writers in regards to this particular twist. I love the fact that they totally revealed that Charles was involved in Helen's murder with his first line, but in a way that only a very perceptive viewer would notice.
Charles returning the car keys to Richard was a casual encounter and may have seemed unimportant at first, especially as the focus was quickly shifted to Richard's introduction with Lentz and then meeting up with Helen. However, if you happened to recall it during the Richard's interrogation and trial when they were talking about about home access and observing that "no forcible entry was found", then you might realize somebody else DID have keys to the house that night...CHARLES.
Anyway, let me move on to Charles' actions later in the movie:
The first time Richard approached Charles, he was totally floored at seeing his "old friend" again. Once he composed himself a bit, he offered Richard a drive, or place to stay in order to keep up the pretense of being a concerned ally. He also didn't really have any reason to worry at this point because he assumed Richard would simply stay on the run indefinitely or be recaptured quickly. Either way, he would never have expected Richard to start his own investigation.
Charles didn't hear from Richard again until he called to reveal all he'd learned about RDU-90, Sykes, Lentz, and Devlin-MacGregor. Charles was pretty shocked here too and knew he had to tread very carefully, which is why he hesitated slightly in telling Richard that Lentz had been killed. He quickly questioned Richard about being able to prove his theory regarding RDU-90. When Richard confirmed that he could, Charles knew he had to act fast and control the situation.
Richard requesting access to the samples actually worked in Charles' favor. He authorized the access knowing he could explain that away by doubling down on the fact that he believed Richard was innocent and that he was simply trying to help him. In reality, Charles used Richard to remove the liver samples and then sent Sykes to intercept Richard, retrieve the evidence and kill him.
It was actually a pretty good plan, except Charles didn't realize that Richard would go directly to Kathy for help analyzing the samples (which is why Sykes was having a hard time tracking him down), and was equally unaware that Gerard was on the verge of uncovering the truth himself. Even if Sykes had been successful in killing Richard and securing the evidence, he and Charles still would've gone down. Gerard could prove Charles called Sykes the night of Helen's murder and had the means to access the Kimble home. He would also have Kathy's testimony regarding the liver samples and everything she and Richard discussed.