Character Development/Screentime Discussion

maybe some on Robbins and David too

we've had lab rat episodes, maybe we could have a coroner episode
 
I agree about Marg's reduced screentime this season; it hasn't made me very happy. If it was her choice then fine, but if it wasn't then please don't drag it out to the new season. It's a tricky situation because as a supervisor she's taken Grissom's role for which I expect equal screentime, BUT Fishburne is the lead and the one that came in for Grissom so they are apparently giving HIM Gil's screentime. Can't they just distribute it more effectively? Cause even though he is the lead, doesn't Marg being there from the beginning and being supervisor has a lot of weight? At least for me it does.

I would also like Greg's sense of humor back. The labrat sense of humor. He's changed and I used to like more the old Greg. CSI Greg is fine and cool but labrat Greg was funnier.
 
maybe some on Robbins and David too

we've had lab rat episodes, maybe we could have a coroner episode

I wouldn't be surprised if TPTB thought of Doc Robbins & Superdave as part of the Labrats. :lol:


I agree about Marg's reduced screentime this season; it hasn't made me very happy. If it was her choice then fine, but if it wasn't then please don't drag it out to the new season. It's a tricky situation because as a supervisor she's taken Grissom's role for which I expect equal screentime, BUT Fishburne is the lead and the one that came in for Grissom so they are apparently giving HIM Gil's screentime. Can't they just distribute it more effectively? Cause even though he is the lead, doesn't Marg being there from the beginning and being supervisor has a lot of weight? At least for me it does.

Taking season 9 out of the equation (because I heard CM, NS, & one other say on TVGuide Channel that they were going to try to get Billy an emmy nomination in those first 10 eps) and Catherine's screentime isn't really that much less than what Grissoms ended up as. I think the screentime got less as the role of supervisor evolved. Grissom spent less time out in the field in the later seasons than he did in the early seasons. I guess the supervisor delegates to the rest of them more often. :lol: What they have to do is find that one 'kind' of case what would bring the supervisor out into the field throughout the whole episode. With Grissom it was usually an amber alert - with Catherine...

Remember, you do have this - The writers did seem to go towards the Catherine/Vartann relationship over the Wendy/Hodges relationship. So (provided everybody gets signed!) you do have that to look forward to next season. :)


I would also like Greg's sense of humor back. The labrat sense of humor. He's changed and I used to like more the old Greg. CSI Greg is fine and cool but labrat Greg was funnier.

When they made Greg a CSI he seemed to loose his personality. :( We don't get to see that quirky labrat Greg any more and sometimes you need to!

Susan
 
I don't think get "lost" his personality at all. It is simply called maturing. Plus being in the lab is a lot different than being out in the field. Out in the field he sees death almost everyday. In the lab he do not really see that. He mostly dealt with just the evidence and never had to actually be where the scene of the crime happened. Look how he reacted in "Chasing the Bus", his first real experience in the lab. He said he never realized blood looked like it did, pre-collection. As a CSI, he is in a whole new world now. It would be inappropriate and immature to crack a bunch of jokes at a crime scene. He's in his mid-30's now. He has just simply grown up, but he can still be funny when it is appropriate.
 
I don't think get "lost" his personality at all. It is simply called maturing. Plus being in the lab is a lot different than being out in the field. Out in the field he sees death almost everyday. In the lab he do not really see that. He mostly dealt with just the evidence and never had to actually be where the scene of the crime happened. Look how he reacted in "Chasing the Bus", his first real experience in the lab. He said he never realized blood looked like it did, pre-collection. As a CSI, he is in a whole new world now. It would be inappropriate and immature to crack a bunch of jokes at a crime scene. He's in his mid-30's now. He has just simply grown up, but he can still be funny when it is appropriate.

I agree. He hasn't lost it, it's just that more pieces of been added. He isn't simply the comic relief anymore. We've seen him frustrated in "Family Affair" and several other episodes in season 10. Season 9's "No Way Out" showed his more sensitive side. And his quirky, humorous side made appearances in "Lover's Lanes", "Appendicitement", "Better Off Dead" and "Take My Life, Please". As I said in a previous post, his personality is there. It's just subtle sometimes.
 
Just to add to what's been said so far regarding Greg's development, I think how he's portrayed now is rather apt. In fact, watching back the first two seasons, even Cath has changed--a little less hot-headed with more leadership skills . Nick and Sara used to poke fun at each other, flirt, joke but now they're both more professional, too, but you can see the friendship conveyed is still as strong as ever.

I think it's only natural that the characters evolve as the show progresses, and besides, ten years (going on to 11) is a long time. =)
 
I kind of get the impression that Greg is trying to change himself and be more professional, you know? When he tells Sara that he's still being 'treated like the lab tech with the crazy hair' he says it almost resentfully, so it makes me wonder if perhaps it's a conscious effort on his part to shed that goofiness and thus become a properly respected member of the team.
Of course, what he doesn't realise is that we love his goofiness... ;)
I don't think he's 'lost his funny', as Knuckles would say - I think he's just hiding it.
 
Greg's maturation is all fine and good. Every character deserves the right to change throughout the seasons. However, Greg's lack of screentime just makes his maturation just seem jagged and rushed. It was explored in spots and then just ignored at other times. For example, in the Fannysmackin' arc, Greg's character was given a chance to develop correctly and after that...nothing. I think Greg needs to remember what Sofia told him in season five about not losing his humor. It's what made him unique and special. It's what had me rooting for him to become a CSI.
 
In last nights "Death And The Maiden" Greg was hilarious, his sense of humor and his quirkiness was still there. He was talking to himself a mile a minute "Ray, Ray Well that's OK, thank you Greg" blah-blah-blah:lol: then he found Ray talking to himself as well, and said "Thank goodness someone esle talking to their selves too" Sometime the hurmor really wouldn't fit into the gruesome crime scenes, but to me he'll always be Greggie the funny lab-rat and now big time CSI:bolian:
 
MaxPointy posted this in the Season 11 Spoiler Thread:

2) I don't think anyone's ever posted an idea like this here but I think Greg would make an awesome homicide detective. I recently watched "No Way Out" and observed that he
i) has a really good grasp of police tactics.
ii) has a natural ability to empathize and relate with victims families while still ensuring proper procedures are followed.
iii) is still relatively young and teachable.
Maybe the best way for Greg to get some really good character development would be for him to leave the lab all together.

This is an interesting idea. I'm not sure I agree with it, but it does bring up an interesting discussion.
 
Greg has always been interesting as a character when he's learning or transitioning. Short of becoming a supervisor, CSI Level-3 is about as far as he can go professionally...Greg's always been the character that's been more ambitious and eager to take on new things, but it's been a while since we've had a chance to see this side of him.

I think there's a danger in terms of character development when the characters become too competent, too good at their jobs, or too comfortable in their positions. It's as thought they reach a certain career plateau and are content to coast to retirement.

Aside from some early rivalry between Nick and Warrick to become a CSI-3 and some griping from Catherine about the lack of opportunities to become a supervisor, we've never really seen the CSIs get really serious about career advancement.

I'd like to see a character introduced that maybe isn't all that passionate about the work, but sees the job as a necessary stepping stone to bigger and better things...kind of like a young Conrad Ecklie. Doesn't mean this character would be bad at their job or take their work likely, just that they have no intention of retiring as a CSI. They've got their eyes set on certain career goal and being a CSI is just a temporary stop along the way.
 
MaxPointy posted this in the Season 11 Spoiler Thread:

2) I don't think anyone's ever posted an idea like this here but I think Greg would make an awesome homicide detective. I recently watched "No Way Out" and observed that he
i) has a really good grasp of police tactics.
ii) has a natural ability to empathize and relate with victims families while still ensuring proper procedures are followed.
iii) is still relatively young and teachable.
Maybe the best way for Greg to get some really good character development would be for him to leave the lab all together.
This is an interesting idea. I'm not sure I agree with it, but it does bring up an interesting discussion.

Do you imagine Gerg talking/arresting bad guys with Brass?Their interactions would be awesome.:guffaw:
But I don't think they are willing to do this again.They already have done it with Sofia.
 
Do you imagine Gerg talking/arresting bad guys with Brass?Their interactions would be awesome.:guffaw:
But I don't think they are willing to do this again.They already have done it with Sofia.

I've always wanted more scenes of just Brass and Greg. Imagine the awkwardness. :lol:

And yet, that's the reason I liked Sofia. She was in that regard the most realistic of the characters. In real life, CSIs don't accompany the police on raids or into interrogations the way the show portrays it. Yet Sofia, being both a Detective and a registered CSI, could do all those things.

I can't see Greg involving being a cop. But the point that MaxPointy seems to be making is that Greg needs to do something in regards to his job and career. This I agree with.
 
I can't see Greg being a cop either, simply because he still does not like to carry a gun. I can't see his character going down that road but I can see him still looking for job growth. I could see him pursuing a doctorate degree, another way of further educating himself.
 
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