Grade "Grounds for Deception"

Discussion in 'CSI: New York' started by Top41, May 13, 2009.

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How would you grade Grounds for Deception?

  1. A+

    28 vote(s)
    27.2%
  2. A

    14 vote(s)
    13.6%
  3. A-

    6 vote(s)
    5.8%
  4. B+

    6 vote(s)
    5.8%
  5. B

    5 vote(s)
    4.9%
  6. B-

    6 vote(s)
    5.8%
  7. C+

    5 vote(s)
    4.9%
  8. C

    9 vote(s)
    8.7%
  9. C-

    3 vote(s)
    2.9%
  10. D+

    1 vote(s)
    1.0%
  11. D

    10 vote(s)
    9.7%
  12. D-

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  13. F

    10 vote(s)
    9.7%
  1. Ghawazee

    Ghawazee CSI Level Three

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    Lisa, it's a big pleasure not only you have enjoyed the episode but you started posting inside the Smacked Thread even tough as you have said, you are not naturally a Smacked fan, and we like a lot to have you there :) .
    I can only say i love this episode and i didn't pay attention to those little details in general because i wanted the "feelings" part ;) :D and I was more than satisfied ;) .
    Also she was happy of writing the episode and she said Gary was happy for his scenes because he likes character-driven stories (the audio file of that interview is inside the Stellarina Thread) you will be very welcome there too

    Many hugs Debbie :)
     
  2. virginia-hell

    virginia-hell Dead on Arrival

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    Anything lower than an 'F'? :confused:
    Really gut-crunchingly awful episode - the story of an unchecked ego run amok in the emporer's new clothes...and here i was thinking Melina seemed bright and down-to-earth. It seems i've been totally PUNKED!:eek:
    Oh yeah, Stella is apparently 34 this year...good grief woman - reality is a friend :rolleyes:.
     
  3. Hannah06_95

    Hannah06_95 Police Officer

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    Ok so living in Uk only got to see this episode last night. I loved it!! I thought Melina did a great job writing it (although lucy in the lab i thought was a bit strange!) I loved the whole stella travling to greece then mac going to join her and them finding out about the greek smuggling ring. Loved it! :)
     
  4. meggzie

    meggzie Police Officer

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    agreed I wish there was an f- for that cheese-tastic mess of an episode :lol:
     
  5. Duke

    Duke Witness

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    Well, it wasn't an overly dreadful episode. But I'm being kind.

    Lindsay bringing baby Messer into the Lab with chemicals and stuff around was very irresponsible and I blame Mac for that one. I hate how Lindsay gets such special treatment from him. Danny wearing the baby carrier thing around his neck while processing evidence made me cringe for the first time in CSI history. Unnecessary. As was the jealousy over some random, hot dude who I've never seen around the lab before but hope to again, cooing over his daughter. Vomit. I do NOT want Danny to turn into a sappy, wet weekend - we have enough of that with Montana. As for the lab falling apart without her = more vomit. I must have missed the part where her character was so interesting that people would actually miss her if she wasn't around. Go away woman! Take some time off to raise your offspring! Trust me, no one will fall apart without you.

    Over in Greece, Stella asking Poppywhotsists brother if he spoke english when she herself is greek was...weird. And for Mac to get there so quick, he must have speed-dialled Superman for a piggy bank ride. And was he wearing a linen jacket?? On to the Professor with the very bad skin...was he her father?? If so, why didn't he tell her?? If he knew her mother, again why didn't he tell her?? :confused: So many confusing unanswered questions. I wish I could be bothered to care.

    Stella telling Mac that she was in Greece "to find out who she was" or something along those lines - Um, I'm sorry, I thought she was there to track down her Professor and bring back some stolen antiquities? No. Oh, my bad.

    The bit at the end between her & Mac was indeed sweet, but I'm of the minority who isn't overly keen on seeing them together as a couple. They've been friends for a long time, so surely if anything was going to happen it would have by now? Not only that but I fear it would change the dynamics of their partnership. And that would be a bad thing! Besides, I'm holding out [just a teeny tiny bit] for Peyton to come back...She was perfect for Mac.

    Flack saying he cared for Jess made me sigh. Heavily. I guess they had to put that in to tie in with next week's awful events. :( *gutted but still spitting feathers*

    I can't think of anything more, I should have jotted them all down. But there were a couple of positives: Greece was gorgeous. Stella's dress - while not very appropriate for fighting crime - was extremely pretty.

    Oh, I just thought of something else! Stella is only 34??? What the hell, man?!?!? Why did I think she was at least 40?? It makes me wonder how old the others are meant to be........

    I'm going to be kind, and rate it D+
     
  6. talkingtocactus

    talkingtocactus Coroner

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    do you know how far back into the thread it is, i've gone through all of it and i can't find it :(
     
  7. Ghawazee

    Ghawazee CSI Level Three

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    Here you have Lisa :D

    http://podcast.movin997.com/kfrc/1740965.mp3

    (This file was a courtesy of AnnaDelko. Thanks again! :) )

    and here you have more interviews to Melina talking on 5.24 (well i think i have the right links. It's difficult to me to watch thse vids at home :)

    http://theyaketyyak.blogspot.com/2009_05_12_archive.html
    http://www.seattlepi.com/tvguide/406231_tvgif14.html
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCKq7sjoD5I&feature=rec-HM-fresh+div
    http://www.cbs.com/hd/video.php?cid=...et=7&play=true

    And I am so happy you have liked Hannah too!!!!!!!! :D


    Duke---> probably the scene at the lab wasn't Melina's idea. I have thought it could be a scene to show Lindsay's dicotomy because she wants to be a mom but she misses the lab and probably at some point she will have to choose between those 2 roles (but there are thousand of women who manage to have a career and to be a mom at the same time so i am lost;) ) Not being a DL fan i found that scene short and painless so it didn't bother me that much :)

    After i watched it i asked why, being so proud of her Greek inheritage, she didn't speak in Greek but later i realized she was there as American. Only later, when she found out from Mac she was born in Greece and she knew about her mother she could admit and accept the thruth about her origin. She is Greek and she is very proud of it! :)
    And regarding what she said to Mac...she was Nobody's Child. She only knew she was part Greek and part Italian and she believed she had been born in America. But when Mac told her the truth on her origin she tried to find answers to all the questions about her past because Professor P. was the closest link to her mother. The need of knowing her true identity was strong and it's strong in every single adopted child. Stella is not different
     
  8. talkingtocactus

    talkingtocactus Coroner

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    thank you very much, for that and the other links :D:thumbsup:

    edit: that craig ferguson sketch was great :D :thumbsup:

    that was the impression i got too.
     
    Last edited: Jun 22, 2009
  9. meggzie

    meggzie Police Officer

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    I think maybe also with the not speaking greek. It was probably done just for the audience and because they were too lazy to add subtitiles:lol:
     
  10. Curiosity

    Curiosity Prime Suspect

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    Yeah, that part of the scene was kind of funny – desk assignment just seemed so inadequate considering all the rules Stella had broken, but at that point, I guess Mac didn’t know the full extent of her actions.

    Overall, I thought that first confrontation was rather odd. The emotion was there, but the dialogue was a bit clunky and didn’t really fit with what had happened in previous episodes.

    Mac found out about Stella being the informant from NYPD Communications? How did that happen? Did they do some type of voiceprint analysis, or did Stella make the call from her mobile, which they were able to trace?

    And Stella says it wasn’t her intention to mislead Mac, but seems like that was exactly her intent based on what she told Angell. She also tells Mac that she got a tip that Diakos was running and followed up on it when the reality is she had been working the case for months and found out Diakos’ whereabouts from Kolovos before locking him in the container. At that point, she was still “misleading” Mac and didn’t come clean about the other stuff until Mac confronted her again at Kolovos’ crime scene. As mentioned before, I thought the second confrontation scene worked much better -- Mac’s anger seemed intense and somewhat more realistic to me.


    I didn’t notice the blooper – will have to look for it when next I see this one. I can understand why some folks liked the episode, though. It is a different sort of episode – more of a one-off, personal adventure, and it was interesting to see Mac and Stella outside their normal environment.

    And leaving aside the plot holes and contrivances, it was just nice to see Mac going out of his way to support Stella since I think it tends to be the other way more often – or maybe it’s just seems that way because Stella is the more expressive one.


    Well, I always enjoy Mac and Stella onscreen together. Even if the dialogue’s not great for whatever reason, you can always cut off the sound and watch :lol: – they do a great job with the little things (e.g., facial expressions and body language) that add nuance to the interactions.

    I was a bit disappointed with the resolution of the conflict between Mac and Stella, though. Seems like they spent time this season building up to what could’ve been a significant rift only to sort of gloss over it in the end. The scene where Stella apologizes to Mac as they are walking in the square is another one for which I thought the dialogue was inadequate. Stella apologizes for making things difficult for Mac and the department; Mac says it’s difficult because he cares about her; and Stella says “Thank you.” :confused:

    It seemed like there was something missing there – and no, I don’t mean a declaration of love ;) – perhaps something to express her appreciation for him being there to support her in spite of her transgressions. But this is a crime drama, so there’s probably a practical limit to how deep they can go with some of the material.
     
  11. Ghawazee

    Ghawazee CSI Level Three

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    I think it's related to the fact she felt, as Mac did, something has changed between them but in the middle of the square wasn't the right moment or place to talk about it. I think their mutual "realization" happened when they met at the museum. If you watch their behaviours you can tell they didn't say anything later. Probably because they are not ready to say anything yet. They need to learn to deal with their new discovered feelings (well, that's my shipper heart talking) :D
     
  12. talkingtocactus

    talkingtocactus Coroner

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    ^^ yeah maybe, i dunno, it did seem a little odd (this is an edit as you posted at the same time as me, i said more about it below, but you may have a point)

    yep, i'd agree with that, it was almost like they were spelling everything out which seemed a bit unnecessary. but that's my main gripe with CSI generally - they're always explaining everything and really, most people are fairly regular viewers and even if they're not most people are intelligent enough to work it out for themselves!

    i did wonder that - it seemed a bit odd, how would anyone else know? unless, as you say, the anon call was CSI'd, but we never saw that. it would've been quite an interesting scene actually, maybe mac being asked by someone upstairs to try to work out who made the call - because they do that in any other case with an anon call, as it could be a lead. i would quite like to have seen mac's reaction when he realised who it was. that was another issue i had with that confrontation which i think people have brought up here already, the fact that he confronted her with what he knew, and he seemed to know a hell of a lot for someone who'd just been given a file on it - how did he know what happened, and why didn't we see him find out? it could've really added to the storyline.

    heh, yeah, it was like "i didn't want to lie, so i'll lie now instead!" - i liked the scene in the park too, i like it when mac is apparently trying to be reasonable and not go off on one. maybe he should've failed for once and actually gone off on one, that would've been quite cool :lol:

    i think that's why i liked it, it was just a bit different. as for the blooper - i spotted it immediately but thought maybe my eyes were playing tricks because it seemed *so* obvious! i had to rewind a couple of times to check :lol:

    i think mac's always been supportive of stella but he doesn't really show anything in that department so it would make sense for him to be more closed down about it, whereas she's definitely very expressive! but it was very nice to see :)

    that "thank you" really bothered me too - that's not the right thing to say anyway but even if it was it just seemed a bit odd. i kind of wish they'd gone down the rift route too - much as i enjoyed seeing mac and stella get a bit closer, it would've been almost more interesting to have a rift that maybe continued into the next ep and even beyond, it would've made for a different atmosphere to the show which could've been interesting. right now i think there's very little they can do with them other than pursue smack.

    yeah, stella did seem to gloss over how supportive mac was - she really did go way out of line but was quite happy to just ask for her badge back (albeit in that convoluted way) and she seemed happy for him to support her but not remotely worried about the kind of trouble she might've caused. but yes, i guess there's only so much of that stuff they can fit in...
     
    Last edited: Jun 25, 2009
  13. lowey

    lowey Hit and Run

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    Well I thought it was pretty good! Granted, a bit far fetched with Mac magically getting from NY to Greece in about 30 seconds! I was just glad to get the whole stupid coin thing out of the way, tbh, it went on for ages (and got quite irritating cause nothing really happened, IMO)!!! :) There was a lovely Smacked moment at the end...although I think Melina should stick to acting! :thumbsup:
    Oh and also, it REALLY irritated me that they didn't subtitle all the greek! I hate not understanding!!! I yelled at the TV everytime they spoke in greek and I didn't know what they said. How could they be that lazy?? grrr!!!!
     
    Last edited: Jun 25, 2009
  14. meggzie

    meggzie Police Officer

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    I agree I didn't like the coin thing from the start and I knew it was just be blown up in a ridiculous OTT finale.


    :lol:That annoyed me soo much as well and how stella who speaks fluent greek would ask a man who speaks little english to translate because they were too lazy to put subtitles on :p
     
  15. talkingtocactus

    talkingtocactus Coroner

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    oh yeah, i really enjoyed it as well, but there were flaws and i suppose maybe i take pleasure in picking faults with something after admitting liking it :lol:

    i know what you mean about the greek, i understood the odd word but no more.
     

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