In this sentence, "I still wished I could have done more", why isn't it saying, "I still wished I could do more"?
Beauty and the Beast season 2 episode 16: http://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=beauty-and-the-beast-2012&episode=s02e16
You okay? Yeah. [sic]
I don't know, it's a little bittersweet, though.
Yes, we finally stopped Sam, but, I don't know, it feels a little hollow, don't you think? We broke up their secret society.
Just take a little bit of digging.
We can put them away for a long time.
Yeah, I still wished I could have done more, though.
That's the old you talking.
The one that used to take the law into his own hands.
I like the new you better.
Oh, you do, do you? Six years is a long time to hold onto all that pain and anger.
Can't even imagine.
I can.
I know the difference in meaning between 'could' and 'could have', but here, I can't seem to get the grammar.
Best Answer
I take it the character is speaking of something which happened in the past and ended in the past. Simplifying without changing the essential meaning:
This is the past perfect. It describes a completed action before something in the past. I don't know about the show or the characters, but this is something that bothered him in the past. But it's over. He can't do anything anymore.
is a bit confusing. Do more implies the present, and the ability still exists to act differently. Why would he use the past (wished) for something he could still potentially do?
All the events are located in the past.
These events are continuing in the present.
Edited to add: In light of F.E.'s expansion of the quoted script, I agree with him that the best word, in context, is wish. There is at least one other grammatical mistake in that script ("Just take a little bit of digging").
However, I don't necessarily agree that "still" implied that "wish" should be used.
E.G.: "When I was in school, I wished I could be popular. I wasn't. When I went to college, I sill wished I would be popular. But I wasn't. Then, when I founded (whatever internet company) and became rich, I realized being popular isn't so special.