^Top, are you referring to specific episodes for the Danny and Lindsay comments you made? It's interesting how I see things differently than you do with these two, also with Flack in this instance, so I would like to know. I'm thinking Snow Day for Flack offering to trade himself for Danny, and one in the Rikki arc for Lindsay passing Danny off to others when he's upset or in trouble.
Yes to both. I'd be curious to hear about how you interpret their actions...I can see some grey area with Lindsay, but I'd be hard-pressed to see another side to how devoted Flack is to Danny. The guy really goes above and beyond when it comes to Danno!
Okay. First, have you noticed that the only two people that call Lindsay "Linds" are Danny...and Flack? It's a variation on her name that speaks to me of a close friendship, not a causal acquaintance or a rivalry. The writers seem to have forged an unspoken friendship/alliance between Lindsay and Don as two people who watch out for Danny. Lord knows it would be a burden for just one person to have to handle all the drama that follows him around.
Having said that, let's go with Flack first in Snow Day. He offers to trade himself for all the hostages, not just Danny. His guys are in there, along with Adam, a civilian, and Danny. I just don't see where Danny is his main focus, ecxept that he knew Danny was "not good" as he told Lindsay when she came into the scene. I also didn't see any sign that he ignored or dismissed her (as you mentioned in your review...yes I went back and read it for the sake of research), unless you count the comment about why Mac wasn't there yet. That was totally approprite in the context of Flack's character and speaks to his feeling of responsibility and loyalty to his men. If one of his guys is in trouble he's there, and he would expect the same of Mac Taylor. If he did have an attitude I think it was more in line with his expectations of Mac rather than the fact that Lindsay came instead. She actually gave him valuable information about the lab.
And I gotta say this about Lindsay and Danny: at the end Danny seemed very okay with her being there. Her saying she was sorry didn't seem self-centered...guilty maybe and responsible, yeah but not self centered. If anything, Danny didn't realize until that moment that she would have been the hostage if he hadn't traded shifts with her. I could see a pause in him as he thought of that. She put herself in danger once in NWILL and we saw his reaction there. I wonder where his heart went on this day, after leaving her asleep on his pool table and taking a beating like that? (and you would be right in thinking he may be wondering what the heck he was getting himelf into with this girl). It wouldn't surprise me.
Now Don's a guy, but not a total clod, so I also wonder if he realized that something was different with these two which made him back off and let Lindsay take care of Danny. He did seem sort of lost.
Moving on to Lindsay in the Rikki arc:
For someone who appears to be pretty straight-laced (except for sex on pool tables, of course
) Lindsay shows again how very much she is involved with Danny and willing to put him above everything else. She's the one that knows he's not where he is supposed to be. She's the one that tries to call him and can't get through. She's the one that goes to Don for help (once again that unspoken alliance) and she's the one who lies through her teeth to Mac (of all people) about why he's not there. I just don't see how someone who tends to pass Danny off when he is in trouble would do those things or take that risk. C'mon Top, think about it. She couldn't leave the lab...she was probably doing her work and his, or at least trying to keep up a good front so Mac wouldn't ask any more questions. She's the inside person and Don is the outside person. Teamwork at it's finest. She also helps Don with the program in plain sight in the lab. It deals directly with Danny, and doesn't seem to be an active case they are working on at this point, and could make Mac (or even Stella) question her flu story. Yet she took the risk and did it anyway. I think she was 100% engaged in wanting to be there for him. I wonder just how high her stock rose with Don Flack when she chose to go out on a limb for his friend?
