Originally posted by PerfectAnomaly: Even if DL never existed (God, wouldn't that be wonderful!) I still wouldn't want Mac and Stella to be a couple. I like their dynamic as it is and I like the idea of a show that doesn't turn their lead characters into a couple.
Again gotta agree with
PA here. How DL have been handled is a catastrophe unto itself. Had a relationship never been imposed onto the show with these two characters, or even were it somehow ended in the immediate future, I would still not want Mac and Stella to get together.
People have voted at this forum they like this show for these characters. Also it was stated since the beginning CSI NY was going to be more personal-wise than the other two shows of the franchise
True. Both points. But people have voted in this forum about a great many things, and I would offer that liking these characters is not exclusive to other additional possible reasons people might like the show.
So a relationship among characters it's part of a natural development, especially in the way Mac and Stella's relationship was described since S4 because their relationship has always been sorrounded by the sexual tension.
And here we simply get into personal preferences, and we're gonna hafta agree to disagree. And it's all good
. I just happened to disagree at this point (a) that a relationship among it's characters must or should default to a romantic one within this reasoning; (b) I'm not entirely certain how you think Mac and Stella's relationship has been described since S4, though I suspect I can infer, and will again simply disagree; (c) sexual tension is subjective to a point, or I suspect DL and FA and Smacked and hell any other ship would not foster so many points of view; (d) even if sexual tension is present, flirting can be entertaining banter without deep, meaningful, pithy subtext being played out; (e) the execs and writers can do whatever the hell they want; nuthin is necessarily inevitable about what we see onscreen, all of it results from choices made.
Nightrider's right about the two-couple thing. Plus, even though F/A no longer exists (*quiet sob*), if Mac/Stella got together, it would be three couples on one team. Six people from a team of nine. It could quite possibly kill the show, and I don't want that to happen.
Yeah, this came up awhile back too, and I agree that the sheer volume within finite airtime would be overload in principle alone. Too many could alter the focus of the show from crime solving to a weekly update of everyone's relationships, one character at a time, with their jobs increasingly filling in the background as a premise and setting. That would be called a nite time soap.
...and yes, that could also happen if every character's off the clock time was simply devoted to a personal relationship. This is why I think relationships should not be the default or only way to show that a character has a life outside of work. In fact, continually pairing up the main roster makes the show rather insular, when what I'd also love is to feel it branch out and really dig into the city. I don't want that context to shrink even further, if everything is focused in their bedrooms. I want the city. I want the crimes. I want to see how they deal with all that, professionally and internally, solo and as part of the team.
I also welcome seeing other aspects of their lives beyond that, outside of the Job; but widen the scope, round them out. That's why something like stoic Mac secretly playing weekly in a bar band is an interesting notion, why Stella teaching could be an interesting thing to dig into a little more, why Sid's stories are always so much fun, why I was delighted to hear Sheldon has parents ferchrissakes, and an uncle too, why Reed was a good way to shake things up for Mac, and of course, all the other family tidbits dropped into the show that it's so hard to find time to revisit, for Flack, Adam, and yes, Danny and Louie.
I'm not totally against romance in the show. But when it
is included, why not show relationships with people outside of work, or at least outside the same department. Give Hawkes a brilliant girlfriend who has nothing to do with law enforcement. Hell, while Brandon was bland and boring, it was simply a nice and believable notion that Stella could be seeing a fireman. Sid has a wife and family; go ahead and pop in and see them on Thanksgiving Mac, it would be nice for us to meet them. Adam alludes to a very interesting social life. I don't want to see the team jumping each other all over the place. There is a wider world. Or should be.
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I really think the material DL gets already suffers for a soapdom effect. Their relationship tends to overshadow so much of the focus and screentime alloted to each, and sucks time from the rest of the show too.
I think any pairing within the main characters would suffer the same. I suppose that's the bottom line. If I wanted a soap I'd watch a freakin soap.
Originally posted by Curiosity:
It’s a tricky thing, though, to put the leading man and lady together in the middle of a series. Just by virtue of the lead status, that type of move tends to create a major storyline and draw a lot of attention. And once it becomes a major storyline, writers seem to feel the need to develop a whole series of challenges and obstacles for the couple to overcome, which may or may not serve the individual characters well. That’s really the main argument in my view for not putting Mac and Stella together as an "official" couple or at least waiting until much later in the series to do so. I simply do not want to see the characters put through a series of soapy plots in an attempt to maintain fan interest over the next four or five years.
Yes, exactly. I would not be interested in that kind of shift in focus in the show. Again. If I wanted a soap, I'd watch a soap. DL is bad enough.
There are things to kill a show. Not necessarily only putting two main characters together.
I think you and I, m'dear, are simply destined to disagree on all this in general
. Fair enough.
I agree. Yes there are many ways to kill a show. I think putting the two main leads together would be a way to expedite the process :lol:.
Besides, i think it's wrong (IMHO) to talk about 1,2 or 3 or even 4 couples. Couples are determined by their chemistry and by fans.
Couples are determined by what the writers and execs think will make for good teevee. They are more successful if they do have chemistry, and enjoyed in part for that reason by their fans, though doubtless there will always be viewers who won't ever agree on any given pairing. Fans derive their own ships from whatever is onscreen, be it literally depicted, or more personally perceived and interpreted.
Quite possibly, the writers and the show could say any relationship that so stirs strong feelings is more successful than one that generates no interest at all. The networks want ratings and a bottom line in the green. The execs and writers try to do that with a show that maintains a loyal following and perpetually grows in viewers.
Talking about the number of couples that could be vying for screentime and material from writers who have to deal with so much more than just romantic entanglements in order to put a coherent and engaging show together is perfectly valid.
Bottom line for me, the show would be far stronger, with greater flexibility and options available, with Mac and Stella remaining friends and colleagues, than ever if it travelled down a path that hooked them up.
i think that would be the only reason to do it for me - to see whether their insanely stubborn and obstinate personalities were able to get together in a non-work way, and see which of them really wears the trousers! it could be interesting on that level. but i still don't want it to happen.
I think we get to see that at work, with how they run cases and the labs. I don't think I'd be interested in seeing a more personal navigation of that sort of thing with sex and romance in the middle.
I would love to see them together. BUT not untill the end of the show.
I would rather they hinted at things and gave us some great moments between the two that we can inerpret whatever way we want.
I dont trust the writing at this point to do either character any justice.
I suppose that kinda reminds me of Vegas with Grissom and Sarah. I had mixed feelings about them, things I liked and appreciated in their handling and things I was less enamoured with. I'm pretty sure even as a sunset swansong storyline I'd not be keen on Mac and Stella getting together.
As for the writing. It was an interesting exercise to go thru the various grading threads and a re-evaluation of the season. Overall, I think the characters are the anchors of the show that let it run about to investigate all myriad of things. I think the characters are generally stronger than the cases they've been given. I think the writing has been rather uneven. I would rather the show focus it's writing to challenge the characters more, and less in finding ways to hook them up; I want it to raise the bar for the show as a whole.
