CSI: NY--'Green Piece'

Discussion in 'CSI Files News Items' started by CSI Files, Mar 12, 2009.

  1. CSI Files

    CSI Files Captain

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    <p><b>Synopsis:</b><p>Adam is enjoying playing goalie in a street hockey game with his friends when he suddenly finds himself caught in the blast when a van explodes, destroying a house. Though disoriented by the explosion, Adam hears a man calling for help and pulls him out of the debris. The police, along with Mac and Hawkes, and the EMTs arrive. The man Adam rescued identifies himself as Felix Redman and tells Hawkes he was alone in the house--his wife was visiting her parents. FBI Agent Frank Richardson offers his help to Flack, who has his officers canvas the area while the CSIs start in on the wreckage of the house and the van. Mac recovers traces of an explosive called Nitromethane, and he and Stella find the remains of two large metal drums, allowing them to calculate that the bomber used 500 lbs of explosive. Flack learns that Redman owns an electronic recycling company--and hasn't received so much as a parking ticket. While digging through the wreckage of the house, Danny makes a startling discovery: the body of a young woman. Sid confirms that she died from the blast, and Stella brings Redman in to identify her. The man is shocked and horrified to see that she's his daughter, Allison. Stella later tells Mac that Redman assumed his daughter was at school, while the pair wonder if the bomb is the work of a terrorist cell, and if it was intended for another target.<p>Danny is able to trace the van to Classico Rental company, and finds that a man named Michael Elgers rented it last. Elgers has a record for committing hate crimes, so Flack brings him in. Elgers is unabashedly racist, disgusting Flack, but he claims to have no knowledge of the van and when Flack shows him the rental form, he claims the signature isn't his. Stella and Mac go over the van's remains in the lab. Stella discovers a watch used as the trigger, set to detonate at 2PM. Mac notices metal inside the van welded to one side of it, indicating that the blast was directed to exit out of only one side of the van. Mac realizes Felix Redman was indeed the target. Stella visits the shell-shocked man at work, and he tells her he just signed a contract with the city to handle all of Manhattan's electronic waste. Stella wonders if one of his competitors could have set the bomb. Adam returns to work and takes over for Hawkes, who joins the rest of the team in a meeting. Stella and Mac have matched the watch trigger to a bombing at a gas station carried out by a group of environmentalists known as the Purists. Their leader is Theodore Wicks, who goes by Teddy Mayhem, and his second-in-command, Len Burton, was a victim of Michael Elgers. The team puzzles over why Redman was targeted by the group.<p>Mac pays Wicks a visit at the eco-friendly club he owns. Wicks denies knowing Redman but defends his cause--and the possibility of casualties in his attacks. Adam goes over Allison Redman's clothing and finds a picture from Guiyu, China, in her pocket, which he shows to Stella, but no promising leads. Hawkes reassembles the rearview mirror from the van and finds a print that matches Allison Redman on it. Mac studies footage from a Purists' protest and spots Allison among the crowd. Recalling the photo Adam found, Stella looks up Guiyu, China and discovers the city is the "E-waste Capital of China." Lindsay is able to connect Wicks to the bombing when she matches markings on a pipe used in the attack to a vice Wicks purchased. While Mac interrogates Wicks, Stella questions Redman, who was shipping electronic waste to China. Stella tells Redman that the Purists targeted him because of the hazardous--and illegal--exportation of the waste, and that his daughter died trying to save him. A disgusted Mac asks Wicks why he involved Allison by having her rent the van, and Wicks tells him every member of the group played a role. Wicks told Allison her father was the target, but only after he thought it was too late for her to stop the bomb. Mac vows to catch all of Wicks' compatriots. After a heart-to-heart conversation with Mac, Danny drags Lindsay, who is about to return home to Montana to visit her family, to the courthouse on a pretense and brings up marriage again. After telling her that they "make sense," he's able to persuade her to take the next step with him, and the two marry in front of Mac and Stella.<p><b>Analysis:</b><p>Irony is the name of the game in "Green Piece," with a man surviving the destruction of his house only to learn after the fact that his daughter was inside--and that she was killed in the blast. A daughter learns that the target of the attack she's been planning is in fact her own father. That very father, who on the surface would seem to be a champion of environmental causes with his electronic recycling company, was in fact shipping the waste off to China, where it would burn in junkyards and poison both the environment and the people of Guiyu. Of all the evidence that seems to be significant--the man filming the crime scene, the Neo-Nazi's signature on the rental form--it is a picture from Guiyu that Adam deems insignificant that ends up clinching the case. The biggest irony of all, of course, is that it is the daughter and not the father who ends up perishing in the blast.<p>As Felix Redman, <font color=yellow>Bobby Gant</font> turns in a sympathetic performance--but not <i>too</i> sympathetic. Given that the man just lost his daughter in a bombing when she wasn't even supposed to be anywhere near the house, I would have expected the team to dwell on his sad plight a bit more. Stella is compassionate when questioning him, but not overly so. Then again, it's a bit surprising to see the man back at work so soon after his house collapsed on him and he found out about his daughter's death. Gant plays him as very shell-shocked, but his quick return to work made me suspicious of him and I suspected there was some reason behind why he was targeted. In the end, after we find out what he's done, it's not clear whether we're supposed to feel sorry for him or find him as reprehensible as Stella clearly does. Perhaps some mixture of both.<p><HR ALIGN="CENTER" SIZE="1" WIDTH="45%" COLOR="#007BB5"><p>To read the full reviews, please click <A HREF="http://www.csifiles.com/reviews/csi/green_piece.shtml">here</A>.<center></center>
     
  2. mandy9578

    mandy9578 CSI Level Two

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    Great review Kristine! :)

    Yeah, I was kinda thinking the same thing but then again when my Dad died, I still chose to take my Political Law Review finals the day before his funeral...Now I wonder how I ever got through that and still got a high mark. People cope with grief in different ways, I guess.

    Spot on. Yeah, Flack was really subdued in this one, he wasn't quite his sarcastic self here, which is actually quite nice for a change.

    Adam was what made this episode for me. The D/L scenes just made me want to hurl so badly, so Adam saved the day big time, literally and figuratively. It's great that TPTB have given Adam a chance to shine, to be a hero. And yes, his confidence is growing day by day as can be demonstrated when he proclaimed to Hawkes that he was New York's Most Eligible Bachelor, although jokingly. That scene was really adorkable by the way.

    As for Danny and Lindsay, I still say that they shouldn't have gotten married. As you've mentioned his motivations are pretty iffy. His insecurity was definitely shining through. As for that montage at the end, we could have done without it. D/L overload anyone? :rolleyes: Too damn cheesy and that's just putting it mildly.
     
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2009
  3. myfuturecsi

    myfuturecsi Corpse

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    I'm still getting into this show, and I liked the wedding scene. It's nice to see romance in a show filled with the horrors of crime scene.

    And I find their romance is very cute.

    But with Lindsay leaving for Montanna and the talk of a character departure, I have to wonder if this is the calm before the storm.
     
  4. Top41

    Top41 Administrator Administrator Moderator Premium Member

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    That's true, and he did explain that in his dialogue. There was just something that made me suspect him; it's hard to put my finger on it.

    Eddie played it great; you could tell Flack was just kind of creeped out and horrified by the guy!

    I loved the New York's Most Eligible Bachelor quip from Adam--very cute!

    The montage was pretty cheesy. I think it's keeping in character that Danny would want to get married, but he comes off as kind of desperate and clingy as opposed to in love and happy. Even his speech to convince her comes from insecurity--he's basically saying he'll change to be the person she wants him to be. I think it should have been built to more gradually--the whole thing felt rushed.

    Well, it certainly would explain the rush to the altar! And make Mac's words that Danny should avoid having regrets--while he references Claire--prophetic. I guess we'll see what happens!
     
  5. Faylinn

    Faylinn Adam Fangirl Super Moderator

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    Excellent review, as usual. :)

    I loved seeing Bobby Gant on the show (I squeed when I first found out he'd be guest-starring), but I think there should have been more scenes with his character - not because I wanted to see more of him, but just because I think they could have developed his storyline better. I enjoyed his scenes with Stella, but I think they dropped the ball a bit with the whole thing.

    Adam was awesome, as always - he's such a dork, and he makes me smile. Seeing him rush in to be the hero was great, but I also loved how he asked his friend if he was okay even though he himself was the one who was right next to the van. Adam's a very sweet guy, and I would have liked to see more of his reaction to the fact that someone did die in the blast and that the guy he rescued ended up being a scumbag.

    The scene with Hawkes and Adam was adorable - but of course Hawkes didn't have a problem with leaving Adam to do the tedious work as soon as he got back. :p I love seeing Hawkes play doctor - it's nice to see that compassionate side of him when he's taking care of someone, be it Adam when they first walked up or Felix in the ambulance.

    I actually quite enjoyed the scene with Danny and Lindsay by the elevator - Anna Belknap isn't my favorite actress in the world, but she conveyed the anticipation of being a mother well (which one would naturally expect since she's pregnant in real life). Danny being overprotective is no surprise, of course. ;)

    Lindsay going back to Montana is obviously the cue for Anna to take her maternity leave. The episode was filmed a while ago, so I'm sure she's probably already had her baby and started recuperating - and adjusting to having another child. I hope everything went well and she and her family are all happy and healthy. :)

    Getting back to the show itself, though, I have to say the wedding thing felt very rushed. I know Mac meant well when he was talking to Danny, but not having children is not the same situation as not getting married. Danny and Lindsay are going to be parents whether they're married or not, and the best thing for them and their child is not necessarily to rush down the aisle. Living together, sure, maybe even getting engaged - but getting the marriage certificate feels more like a need to be conservative than a real expression of what they're ready for.

    The scene at the end was underwhelming - most of it had been released well before the episode aired. The cheesy montage was online for a while, and I'd venture to guess that a lot of the fans had already seen it. The promo gave away a large chunk of the actual scene outside the clerk's office. So what aired didn't have much 'new' material.

    Although I'm not a fan of the couple, I think it was odd that they didn't even share a real kiss before getting married. The flashback kiss during the corny montage - which was left on the cutting room floor from "Charge of this Post", I believe - was more of a kiss than the one in the present (right before they walked through the door - it looked like one of them aimed for the mouth and kind of missed).

    It all seemed very odd and rushed together, which doesn't bode well for the relationship as time goes on - one can only hope TPTB will soon be able to stop making quick changes to get the relationship wherever they want it to be (or wherever we're supposed to believe it is 'organically') so that it can actually grow in a somewhat realistic fashion going forward.
     
  6. ErinElizabeth

    ErinElizabeth Rookie

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    I dunno I get what you're saying but I actually thought he sounded rather confident.

    Yes he said "I could be that guy" but then at the end he also said "I am that guy." Sounds pretty confident to me...

    And when he said that he loved her he sounded damn sure about that so I don't think he rushed into marriage because he was a afraid or because the writers think this is the 50s. I think it was because Danny is kind of old fashioned and family is really important to him. He wanted to show his commitment to both Lindsay and his child. To be a different guy than what we've seen. I consider that the opposite of being afraid or "having his balls taken away". He's decided to grow up and be a good man for the woman he loves and their child. Is that really so bad?

    I know that marriage tends to get bad mouthed today saying it's too conservative or just another thing to bind someone but I find it refreshing that they decided to go the old fashioned route. Some people do still like the idea of marriage these days. :lol:
     
  7. Top41

    Top41 Administrator Administrator Moderator Premium Member

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    He was really good and I wish his story had been fleshed out just a little bit more!

    It would have been nice to see his reaction to the outcome of the case, but I kind of liked that they let him be the hero and left it at that. It was a nice moment for Adam.

    They are far more natural when talking about the baby then when they're interacting romantically, that's for sure!

    There's just no heat between them at all. I compared them to Grissom and Sara, but you could also compare them to Eric and Calleigh, who flirt and tease each other--and had passion when they kissed.

    He sounded like he was trying to talk her into it, not that he was confident. Danny is needy and her trip to Montana brought out his insecurities.

    He said "I don't know" when Mac asked him if he was just marrying Lindsay because of the baby. While I don't doubt that he loves her, I don't think either of them was entirely ready to take this step, either.

    Getting married just because someone gets pregnant isn't necessarily the best move, no. I do think Danny is old fashioned, but I also think he was afraid to lose Lindsay and the baby. Marrying someone so they don't leave you or take your kid away from you isn't the healthiest thing to do, at least not in my book.

    Marriage isn't a bad thing at all, and I might have bought it for these two somewhere down the road, as I mentioned in the review. But it's been rushed--in the space of eight episodes they went from having Lindsay avoiding telling him she was pregnant and saying she didn't expect anything from him to walking down the aisle. It was rushed.
     
  8. ErinElizabeth

    ErinElizabeth Rookie

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    See, that's not how I saw it all though. The reason he was making a fuss about her going to Montana is not because he thought she would leave him, she'd already told him in The Triangle that she wasn't going anywhere. I just think he was going to miss her. My sister-in-law (who is pregnant) had to leave home (they live in Orlando) for just a couple of days to go to a funeral in Buffalo and my brother acted the same way. He kept asking her to come back a day early because he missed them. :lol:

    I can respect your opinion and how you saw it but that's not what I saw at all.

    I can also understand that you feel it was rushed. For us it WAS only a few episodes, usually these types of things take seasons after a couple gets their relationship together. But even still, I know there were a few episodes after "The Box" and between them they mentioned like a 3 week break between or something. So that adds a little more time between "I'm pregnant" and "I do". A little. :lol:

    It would have been way worse if she had said yes the first time though! Which also brings me to believe that he really did want to marry her. He had a lot of time to think about it between then and now and I think he was being genuine. The first time I think it would be fair to say it was because of the baby but this time I think it wasn't.

    When he said he was afraid I think he meant of letting her down, not of her taking the kid and running. Like I said before, in The Triangle she told him flat out that she loved him and she wasn't going anywhere.
     
  9. myfuturecsi

    myfuturecsi Corpse

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    I just wanted to follow up on an earlier quote I made about a character departure. I did read in Entertainment Weekly that the face of New York will change with the departure of one of New York's finest.

    Isnt' that a reference to a cop?

    Just thought I'd pass it on.
     
  10. Top41

    Top41 Administrator Administrator Moderator Premium Member

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    Right, she told him she wouldn't leave him...and she also told him she wouldn't marry him. He apparently believe the latter, so why do you think he believed the former?

    What we've seen of Danny as a character on screen is that he's massively insecure. Remember how he reacted when Mac told him someone told him not to hire Danny back in season one? Danny immediately wanted to know who it was and focused on that, rather than being taken off the promotion grid, in "On the Job." In season one he constantly butted heads with Mac in misguided attempts to impress Mac. In season two, we learned Danny was scarred by his brother Louie's apparent rejection of him in their youth. In season three, Danny kept pursuing Lindsay to the point of calling after her as she walked away from him to let him know if she needed anything. The death of Ruben in Danny's care definitely took what little confidence he had down several pegs. After they grew apart in season four, Danny didn't seem to have any interest in Lindsay until she pushed him away. Danny got upset when Rikki left, even though he'd already decided to break off their affair.

    Danny's a guy with a lot of issues and insecurities. I doubt he believed Lindsay when she said she wouldn't leave him. Why would he? Danny's experience is that people leave or reject him eventually.

    I believe he loves Lindsay and I definitely believe she loves him, too. I think Lindsay has treated him better this season than she ever has before, and that's something positive.

    But I don't think you can ignore Danny's "I don't know" when Mac asked him if he was just marrying Lindsay because of the baby.

    The CSIs on this show are cops, but I wouldn't get too hung up on the descriptions. The hostage situation in "Snow Day" was described as involving "two CSIs" rather than "a CSI and a lab tech." Sometimes they just go for the most simple, to the point description.

    Similarly, I'm not sure how seriously to take that the death "will change the line-up of CSI: NY forever." That would imply someone in the main credits, but it could also be an exaggeration. At this point, it's all guesswork--fun to speculate, but I wouldn't take any of the speculation too seriously.
     
  11. Faylinn

    Faylinn Adam Fangirl Super Moderator

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    *pops in* I just re-watched the episode with my mom - I stand corrected about them not kissing at the end. I must not have been looking during the first kiss outside of the clerk's office.

    My mom was like, 'Don't you need a blood test to get married anymore?' :lol:
     
  12. JellyBelly

    JellyBelly Lab Technician

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    I agree. I'm really glad tptb decided to show Danny having some reservations because it made it realistic. If Lindsay wasn't pregnant then there's no way Danny would've asked her to marry him at this point. If they'd tried to spin it that way then it wouldn't have worked.

    Danny asked her because he feels insecure, likely fueled by her going 'home' for a while. Also, I doubt he felt like he had any claim on her or the baby.

    But, he does love her and it's quite likely that they'd have ended up here at some point, so in my mind they've fast forwarded a little. It actually does happen a lot. Gone are the days where couples have to get married, but still they do to create a sense of security. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, only time will tell. It does feel as though they're on more equal footing now so it'll be interesting where that goes.
     
  13. Top41

    Top41 Administrator Administrator Moderator Premium Member

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    Agreed--that's what does make it work, because it is in character. Danny wasn't totally sure, but he basically said, "Let's take this leap." It's a leap of faith, and it is happening now because of the baby.

    That's a good point--legally, he probably feels more secure in his position with the baby because they're married. Yes, Lindsay promised him she wasn't going anywhere--and we know she loves him and isn't going anywhere--but Danny is insecure. He needed proof, and in his mind, proof was her marrying him.

    Yeah, I think that with the baby in the mix they definitely would have ended up married one way or another. I hope we'll get to see them struggling with being a newly married couple as well as new parents. They say the first year of marriage is the toughest, and with a baby in the mix I imagine there's plenty of room for drama there.
     
  14. Jayceepat

    Jayceepat Victim

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    There were a lot of things I liked about this episode.

    The obvious disgust in Don's voice when the Neo-Nazi asked if the girl was white or black and he replied, "She's dead."

    The obvious disgust in Stella's voice and on her face when she was interrogating the father.

    The facts about the dumping ground in China. I did not know that at all and I do like to learn new things. Even facts as disturbing as these.

    I wasn't enthused with the wedding nor was I surprised. For some reason, the writers on all three of the CSI shows do not do romance well. With the notable exception of Grissom's moment with Lady Heather, Eric and Caleigh's kiss and Mac's affair with Peyton, the rest of the time they have fallen flat on their faces. My cat shows more emotion when approaching her bowl of dry cat food than Grissom and Sara ever showed in their 'romantic' scene's together. Except for the first experience between Danny and Lindsay, they show more emotion when they find a hot clue than they do together and let's not even mention Horatio's romance and marriage with Eric's sister. I still get cold shivers when I think about that one.
     
  15. melanie33

    melanie33 Hit and Run

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    Danny's problem wasnt his relationship with Lindsay, or him doubting his feelings for her, it was about him doubting himself. He said " I know myself and I dont want to disappoint her, or the kid ", IMO it seems like Danny was afraid because he was focusing on what he thinks are his bad qualitites, afraid of letting her/them down, not being good enough. Which fits with what Mac said to him " You can live in a place of fear, or you can belive in the best version of yourself"

    In the end, I dont think Lindsay would have agreed to Marry Danny, if she truly didnt believe he was asking for the right reasons. She didnt have any trouble turning him down the first time.

    As to the Kisses. I dont agree with you. I think that a passionate kiss in that situation would have looked totally out of place. It wasnt a hot, sexy moment that leads up to that kiss, its an emotional moment, mixed with a bit of apprehension, IMO the kiss totally fit the moment. Love doesnt always have to be about passion and sex. JMHO
     

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