Why Lindsay Must Go, Part 4

It definitely explains why Lindsay falls flat as a character. It also partially explains the bad acting. If the actress has no grasp of Lindsay beyond the superficial there's no way she can play her convincingly and, in turn there's, no way a big chunk of the audience can connect to the character.

It just makes me wonder if Anna just isn't talented or if part (or all) of it is that she just doesn't care.

 

I was wondering too. Adam was absent from the last episode, so maybe they're cutting screen time for some characters? Or maybe they're "double banking" episodes so she couldn't be in this one? The possibilities are endless. Although I will say last night's episode showed - once again - how unnecessary she is as a character. I may have wondered why she wasn't there, but I certainly didn't "miss" her in any way, shape or form. In fact the team always seems to work together more effortlessly and cohesively when she's gone.

 

She didn't even have her own story/episodes when it was supposed to be about her. They had to stick Danny in the middle of it and make it about their relationship to make it interesting.

I agree it's mostly been about Danny, too. But I mostly chalk that up to Anna's poor acting. Whenever we're supposed to feel some type of empathy or solidarity for/with the character her cold, impersonal delivery makes her come off as a self-centered bitch instead of someone a large portion of the viewers can identify and side with. After the MOD I think there may have been a consious decision to make everything about Danny and Lindsay is just there to be supportive or as a vehicle for Danny to have a personal life because Anna just can't make a good chunk of the viewers relate to her.

I really wish they'd just write her out at the earliest opportunity because all she does is make Danny less interesting. The bulk of her role is easily absorbed by the rest of the characters. Heck, they can leave Lucy in and Flack (or Adam, or Mac, or Stella or Hawkes, or Sid) can adopt her and even Lindsay's role as second parent can be easily filled. Or they can bring Rikki back and she can be Lucy's step-mom. Her being Lucy's mother doesn't even make her necessary to the show because everything about Lucy has been Danny related. Stella says she even looks like Danny, which was a surprising statement to make about a baby girl when the mother is still in the picture.

Yeah. "Unnecessary" is my new go-to word for Lindsay.

 

I think it says a lot about my opinion of Lindsay when her absence stands out in a more positive way than her appearance. Even when Super!Supportive!Wife!Lindsay is largely unoffensive (and arguably lacking much in the way of personality, for that matter), she doesn't contribute to the show for me. Having her not be there made me a lot happier than anything she's ever actually contributed.

I'd just be tickled pink if someone in the fictional NYPD pointed out the ridiculousness of a married couple working the same shift under the same boss (don't tell me defense attorneys wouldn't have a field day with that) - and then Lindsay could move to a different shift or something and rarely be heard from ever again. *sighs as dream sequence music fades*

Anyway, as I come thudding back to earth - I am curious about why Lindsay didn't appear this week. We know AJ has been known to do other projects, and Hill is always doing other stuff (so I could see why he might be absent from an episode - although he's made it work so far) - it's always possible that Anna had something else going on. Or it could have something to do with budget or filming schedule or who knows what else. But she was pretty prominent last week (whereas Adam was absent last week and had some good stuff this week - "Battle Scars" featured some uniquely quirky Adam moments, which makes me wonder just what Lindsay contributes to the show and the character interaction that's 'unique' aside from her role as Danny's wife and baby mommy.)

Yeah, I dunno, but it was nice to have a Lindsay-free episode - which of course reminded me how much I wish she'd be gone from the show.

 

I'm probably breaking rules again by even being in this thread, but I just had to point out that since her birth, save for two scenes in which Danny is holding Lucy, it's pretty much only Lindsay we've seen or heard about dealing with her.

If it's true, why would it be a surprising statement? Girls frequently do look like their fathers more than their mothers (case in point, me); their being girls doesn't change that.

I want to argue more about last night's episode, but I have to find it online and finish watching it first ...I've never seen myself as the kind of person who won't watch a show I like if my favourite character's missing; but while it was more of an accident that I ended up missing NY last night, I will say that Lindsay not being there makes me feel a little better about that. It probably got better toward the end, but the beginning of the episode really didn't grip me, and I can't help but feel it would have if Lindsay had been there.

 

Yeah, they've showed Lindsay holding Lucy and talking about her, but how does that make her important enough to the show that no one else could replace her? It doesn't. Anyone else could be a parent to Lucy (step or adoptive) and Lindsay wouldn't be missed. Lindsay has no purpose on the show as an independent, unique character.

What I meant is that TV shows in general seem to go the route of talking about how baby girls are beautiful/pretty, etc just like their mothers. To me, taking into account how the whole pregnancy story line was about Danny from the get go, saying the baby looks like him is just one more way of drawing attention to the fact that Lindsay was/is nothing more than an incubator/care giver for Danny's baby.

 

To some, perhaps. I could give about 20 reasons why she's both unique and best-off when independent, just as you could probably give me the same amount for any other character.

Also, I meant that if Lindsay's the one who's most often with Lucy, that probably means it's her who has the stronger connection to Lucy...which I think would mean (in story) that Lucy probably would have a problem with Lindsay suddenly vanishing, and (out of the story) it would seem weird to have someone we've never seen with her before suddenly step in as the second parent.

CSI:NY deciding to go an original route rather than the (as you mentioned yourself) cliched one doesn't say much to me.

Mac specifically turned to Lindsay in "GfD" to ask where Lucy was, and why she wasn't at home with her (makes me think it was Lindsay who brought her into the lab); "Epilogue"; "Blacklist", we learned she was the one late to work because she was with Lucy (D was already at work); "Dead Reckoning", even. Aside from the moments I mentioned, I remember Danny talking about Lucy once.

 

She's never been written independent, IMO, so I don't think there are any believable reasons why she's unique and independent. From Zoo York on she's been tied to Danny. The one story line that was supposed to be hers - the dark secret in S3 - really turned out to be about her and Danny. Obviously you disagree, but giving me 20 reasons why you like her and find her to be a viable character isn't going to suddenly make me smack my forehead and say, "Now I get it. She's a great character!" I'm not saying that to be bitchy, I'm just trying to say that we both bring our own dislikes, likes, biases, perceptions and personal experiences to the table when we watch the show and the fact that we have opposing viewpoints doesn't make one of us "right" and the other "wrong."

We've seen Lucy, what three times since birth? And twice she was with both parents (at the hospital and at the lab) I'd wouldn't be so quick to say that she has a stronger bond with Lindsay based on that. I personally wouldn't find it "weird" to have someone else be a second parent to Lucy if Lindsay leaves. Blended, non traditional families aren't exactly a new concept. My point was that Lindsay brings nothing to the table as a character that someone else in the existing cast couldn't provide in her absence. Even her role as a mother has been non-descript enough that she could be changed out with someone else and I personally wouldn't mind. In fact she annoys me so much I think that the show would be better if they did just let all of her roles - which at this point are glorfied lab tech and baby momma - on the show be absorbed by other characters.

And it speaks volumes to me.

 

Interesting that she wasn't in last night's episode. That makes one episode for her, one for Adam and also for Sid. I wonder if they're cutting back screen time for budgetary reasons or if it just ties into how the story flows.

 

Totally agree; but then her uniqueness or lack therof probably can't be debated (at least, not in this thread); because yeah, we have differing opinions, but the only fact I've seen proven so far is that not everyone thinks she's unnecessary or replaceable as a character, even TPTB. Which is what I was getting at when I said I could list the reasons she's not. And as a factual reason for why she shouldn't go, I think it's a pretty solid one. Just like, I imagine, a reason that Adam or Sid or Hawkes or whoever shouldn't go, is because there are plenty of people who could list the reasons they're necessary to the show. Others not agreeing with those reasons wouldn't change that.

Fact is, she's the only "glorified lab tech" who seems to look outside the box. Fact is, she's often the one who finds something to break the case. Fact is, she's the one who makes a point of making her demonstrations fun/interesting (a character element unpossessed by any other character in the franchise; except maybe Greg, in his earlier seasons). Whether you view these as necessary or annoying or whatever, that's what she brings to the table that no other person in the existing cast currently does. If Lindsay did leave, though, I'm completely sure they could find someone else to fill her role: like I'm sure they could find someone else to do Hawkes's/Angell's/Adam's/hell, Flack's/etc; like they're currently doing with Eric on Miami.

 

If I'd known ahead of time that Lindsay* wasn't in the episode, going into the episode would have been a more pleasant experience. That's not to say whether an episode is good or bad is totally dependent on Lindsay (that gives one character way too much power over my enjoyment of a television show - a character's gotta really screw up an episode for that to be the case for me), but watching the show always has a certain promise (or threat ) of Lindsay doing something that will annoy me in the next scene or that The Messer Family will bore me to tears or make me choke on the cheesy corn chowder right after the commercial break - it's like something unpleasant dangling just out of the way over my head that makes me slightly less enthusiastic about the whole thing because I know I could get hit with it at any moment.

Knowing she's not there makes watching an episode more pleasant from that standpoint, but that's about it. Whether an episode is good or bad depends on a lot more than that. It's the same for any show for me.

* Lindsay, Messer Family nonsense, etc

Wasn't Lindsay supposed to still be on maternity leave at that point or something? Why ask Danny if he assumes Lindsay should be at home with the baby? *shrug*