CSI:NY Spoiler Discussion - Bring on Season 6!

[Maya316]

Well, that's only half of her backstory, though...the other half being "survived a horrible tragedy in her past" which brings up at least as much material as "work-obsessed widower" and "gruff NYC cop from a family of cops." The dark secret was a decent backstory, but Belknap bungled it.

I imagine it wasn't half of her backstory when they held the audition, otherwise they probably would've put more work into what that backstory was. I think they only put it in to explain why Lindsay would be disappearing for x episodes, and I think they created it drawing on the element Belknap had already added to the character - her tendency to push people away/hold them at a distance. Which brings up your point about Lindsay being written for the purposes of being warm and enthusiastic - I don't think anyone who suffered tragedy in their past would be warm and enthusiastic to any person she met, boss or coworker or no. Maybe she was initially written to be warm, but the fact that the writers decided to run with Belknap/Lindsay's coldness indicates that they probably saw it as a far more interesting dimension.

They could have put a lot more thought into the storyline, though, and I'm still of the opinion that Belknap bungled it because of the Over-the-top-ness of it. I don't know how well Emily Procter could have acted the part, but in the more emotional episodes I have seen her in, the slight hardness to Calleigh's character is more believable because of the comparatively understated nature of her tragedy(ies). Alcoholic dad that she looks up to, parents in a bitter divorce, ex-boyfriend kills himself on the job. Things like what Lindsay went through usually leave people with severe PTSD, especially if they went through them as kids - they don't usually become warm-and-enthusiastic cops in New York.

I think they were intentionally trying to make her different--I mean, look, four seasons down the road and we're still getting Montana references. The problem is that Belknap never really inhabited that country girl backstory, so we have to be constantly reminded that she's "from Montana"...as though Montana is outer space.

Well, I think Belknap pushed this as far as it could go, what with the buck-knife, and the ongoing tale of the Graveline tours, and etc. But like you said, Montana isn't outer space, it's not even international, so there's not a lot of definition it can give a character. It would be like trying to make a backstory out of Mac being from Chicago, or Adam (or is this just AJ?) being from Vancouver.

AJ said he added inflection and nuance to the character based on one line he was given in his first episode. It's a line on the paper--Buckley decided how he was going to deliver that line, and ran with it. He's the one character that I really don't think would be a regular if he hadn't wowed the audience and producers alike.

Yeah, I definitely agree he wowed everyone, and he did give inflection to the line he was given in the episode. But I remember that line - it was in Bad Blood, and thinking back on it, if it was the only thing I still knew about Adam, I wouldn't have pegged him as the endearingly-nervous guy we know him as today. It sounded more like he was standing up to a guy he was routinely picked-on by (lol, Danny ).

But again, Joy added something to the delivery of his lines that made the writers want to write for him. So Sid got fleshed out.

But in the same way, I think this is how Lindsay was (though badly) fleshed out when S3 came along.

Not a lot, maybe, but I liked her sass and how to-the-point she was.

Well yeah, I agree she was a character written to be sassy and loveable.

I imagine they thought she'd be better than her audition.

But this is like putting a bungling-someone in charge of a head office based on the recommendation of a friend, while passing on a capable-someone who was actually interviewed and is known to be good at their job. I know that this sometimes happens (and Lindsay's intended role on the show probably isn't as important as hiring a CEO or other kind of executive), but if the casting for the CSI shows is generally good, this seems kind of irresponsible. If her audition sucked, why would they imagine she'd get better because Hill said she'd get better? How would he know?

 

[PerfectAnomaly]

Why would one ever say, "I did a poor job in my chosen profession." Maybe to a family member, yeah, but in an interview? I don't think it was self-deprecating. Why would she need Hill to put in a good word for her if her audition was great and she was just being modest?

Exactly, why would they say that in all seriousness? Which is why I've always taken that comment as a joke, even more so because of the whole 'Hill having to put in a good word'. I think AB comes across light and jokey in interviews that I've seen, I don't think that necessarily transfers well to the written word.

To me Anna Belknap always comes off bad in interviews. She comes off as not being really interested in answering questions and gives only the most superficial of answers. But then that pretty much corresponds to how I see her portrayal of Lindsay. She says her lines and doesn't inhabit the character or appear to care too much about bringing any depth to the role.

I assumed she was trying to be funny with the audition story, but after seeing how bad she is in the role I started to wonder if she was maybe telling the truth. It really doesn't make a lot of sense to talk about how bad your audition was and how you had a former co-worker go to bat for you in order to get the role, especially since she doesn't do many interviews. It doesn't leave a good impression, IMO.

 

[Top41]

I imagine it wasn't half of her backstory when they held the audition, otherwise they probably would've put more work into what that backstory was. I think they only put it in to explain why Lindsay would be disappearing for x episodes, and I think they created it drawing on the element Belknap had already added to the character - her tendency to push people away/hold them at a distance.

Actually, the backstory was in the character description from the beginning--I remember an early description saying something about her can-do, cheerful demeanor not hinting at "the dark and bloody secret from her past." Something melodramatic like that--but it was in her backstory from the get-go.

Which brings up your point about Lindsay being written for the purposes of being warm and enthusiastic - I don't think anyone who suffered tragedy in their past would be warm and enthusiastic to any person she met, boss or coworker or no.

I don't think that's necessarily true at all. There are people who've suffered horrible tragedy that are the nicest, sweetest, warmest people you'd ever meet. Conversely, there are privileged people who've had nothing but good things in life who are cold and unkind.

Maybe she was initially written to be warm, but the fact that the writers decided to run with Belknap/Lindsay's coldness indicates that they probably saw it as a far more interesting dimension.

Or a more limiting one. Maybe they couldn't get the warmth out of her they wanted/needed, and adjusted according to necessity rather than desire.

They could have put a lot more thought into the storyline, though, and I'm still of the opinion that Belknap bungled it because of the Over-the-top-ness of it. I don't know how well Emily Procter could have acted the part, but in the more emotional episodes I have seen her in, the slight hardness to her character is more believable because of the comparatively understated nature of her tragedy(ies). Alcoholic dad that she looks up to, parents in a bitter divorce, ex-boyfriend kills himself on the job.

I don't know if it's so over-the-top...what if it had been a school shooting, something that sadly appears on the news all too often? It's certainly not as over-the-top as the Frankie violence Stella was subjected to. And I think Emily Procter would have done a great job with it. She's someone who is great at mixing a certain toughness and guard with a genuine warmth.

Things like what Lindsay went through usually leave people with severe PTSD, especially if they went through them as kids - they don't usually become warm-and-enthusiastic cops in New York.

They usually don't become cops/CSIs in general, though supposedly Lindsay was driven by the tragedy to go into law enforcement. So why does she have so many complaints about her job?

Well, I think Belknap pushed this as far as it could go, what with the buck-knife, and the ongoing tale of the Graveline tours, and etc. But like you said, Montana isn't outer space, it's not even international, so there's not a lot of definition it can give a character. It would be like trying to make a backstory out of Mac being from Chicago, or Adam (or is this just AJ?) being from Vancouver.

I think someone with a little more sass and spirit would have better personified what they were going for with Lindsay's character.

Yeah, I definitely agree he wowed everyone, and he did give inflection to the line he was given in the episode. But I remember that line - it was in Bad Blood, and thinking back on it, if it was the only thing I still knew about Adam, I wouldn't have pegged him as the endearingly-nervous guy we know him as today. It sounded more like he was standing up to a guy he was routinely picked-on by (lol, Danny ).

I admit, it's been ages since I saw that episode! But I do remember he stood out early on. And I do think the fact that Buckley chose to play it that way distinguished the character.

But in the same way, I think this is how Lindsay was (though badly) fleshed out when S3 came along.

Is it that she was badly fleshed-out, or did Belknap do a bad job with the material? I think it was the latter.

But this is like putting a bungling-someone in charge of a head office based on the recommendation of a friend, while passing on a capable-someone who was actually interviewed and is known to be good at their job. I know that this sometimes happens (and Lindsay's intended role on the show probably isn't as important as hiring a CEO or other kind of executive), but if the casting for the CSI shows is generally good, this seems kind of irresponsible. If her audition sucked, why would they imagine she'd get better because Hill said she'd get better? How would he know?

Because he acted with her in a previous show. Regardless of how that audition was--good, mediocre or bad--I think Belknap has done some very poor work on the show. At best, she's mediocre--I've never seen her do excellent work, while the others all have.

On the spoilery front, all of this talk of the tragedy Lindsay survived as a kid makes me think of that shootout in the bar. Is that going to bring back memories for her? How could it not? And in light of the new character coming in, does that make it a greater possibility that the shootout will make her reevaluate her job as a CSI?

 

[Maya316]

Actually, the backstory was in the character description from the beginning--I remember an early description saying something about her can-do, cheerful demeanor not hinting at "the dark and bloody secret from her past." Something melodramatic like that--but it was in her backstory from the get-go.

Oh, so it was there from the beginning. Well then, it makes more sense that Lindsay's coldness might've been there from her very first episode, even as she was all cheerful on the surface.

I don't think that's necessarily true at all. There are people who've suffered horrible tragedy that are the nicest, sweetest, warmest people you'd ever meet. Conversely, there are privileged people who've had nothing but good things in life who are cold and unkind.

I know this is true (and certainly about the privileged people). But I am fairly sure that if/when kids witness violence like what Lindsay did in their childhood, it's more likely to negatively impact their ability to interact socially with people. They aren't as likely to be easily friendly, more likely to be distrusting in general, to push people away.

Or a more limiting one. Maybe they couldn't get the warmth out of her they wanted/needed, and adjusted according to necessity rather than desire.

Maybe. But it doesn't make much sense that, if they had their backstory in mind from the first, they were looking for someone who was warm, friendly, and easy with people. At least, not if they did their research. Belknap as Lindsay is, for the most part cheerful and can-do -- but as Lindsay, she exhibits quite strongly what I'd actually expect to see in someone who went through what she did.

I don't know if it's so over-the-top...what if it had been a school shooting, something that sadly appears on the news all too often? It's certainly not as over-the-top as the Frankie violence Stella was subjected to.

I'm not sure I agree. School-shootings are traumatic enough, and unfortunately have become common enough to be fairly realistic, had they used that as Lindsay's background. But sitting in a diner with four close friends, and then suddenly those four best friends are shot dead by a guy they (presumably) never met in their lives? And she went to the bathroom for a second, came out, and an important part of her life (along with most, if not all of her innocence) was gone? It's not only over-the-top, it's practically unrealistic. The Frankie-violence did get far too graphic, but it was at least borne out of a situation that women are far too often subjected to. A guy you thought you knew becomes dangerous.

And I think Emily Procter would have done a great job with it. She's someone who is great at mixing a certain toughness and guard with a genuine warmth.

I probably have to see her in something other than CSI:Miami to agree, but she is great at mixing guard with general warmth as Calleigh. I do, however, think that if Calleigh had been given Lindsay's background, it would not fit her character as I've seen it. That's why I think Calleigh's toughness works, it's the amount of guardedness I'd expect to see in someone whose gone through what she has.

They usually don't become cops/CSIs in general, though supposedly Lindsay was driven by the tragedy to go into law enforcement. So why does she have so many complaints about her job?

Yeah, and I can't get over how fanfic-y that motivation is. The fact that she's in law-enforcement at all seems unrealistic to me - not so much that she wanted to get in, but that she would've graduated from police academy and stayed at the job, when each scene she'd ever been to would probably remind her of the diner.

I still think Danny and Aiden had at least as many so-called complaints about their job, though (and even Adam, to an extent). As does almost every CSI I can think of (Sara, Greg, Warrick).

I think someone with a little more sass and spirit would have better personified what they were going for with Lindsay's character.

Trying to picture Emmanuelle Vaugier as Lindsay...can't quite do it :lol: But then, I hated Angell's sass-and-spirit (or I guess I was supposed to see it as sass and spirit), so maybe it's a good thing?

Is it that she was badly fleshed-out, or did Belknap do a bad job with the material? I think it was the latter.

I still have to say the element Belknap adds to Lindsay's character is basically what makes me like Lindsay. I think I'd want to strangle her every day if she was played as genuinely warm, funny, endearing, cute...for me, it'd be like Angell, only in every episode.

On the spoilery front, all of this talk of the tragedy Lindsay survived as a kid makes me think of that shootout in the bar. Is that going to bring back memories for her? How could it not? And in light of the new character coming in, does that make it a greater possibility that the shootout will make her reevaluate her job as a CSI?

The writers promised stronger character development, so I'm really hoping they run with what happened in the diner. Toward the beginning of Pay Up, it looked like Angell's pool of blood on the diner floor was creating bad flashbacks for Lindsay - I was actually kind of impressed that the writers bothered to highlight that. But I do have to bring up something I've been thinking about; they spent all that time making Adam emphasize how expensive it was to raise a kid, and how it would be better for D and L to "combine their salaries" (because that's totally a good reason to get married ), and then Lindsay's just gonna leave her job? It doesn't make much sense to me.

ETA: Sorry to debate and run, but I've got exams, so I'll probably be back...um, sometime later

 

[CSI Cupcake]

Maya316, what you said here:

The writers promised stronger character development, so I'm really hoping they run with what happened in the diner. Toward the beginning of Pay Up, it looked like Angell's pool of blood on the diner floor was creating bad flashbacks for Lindsay - I was actually kind of impressed that the writers bothered to highlight that. But I do have to bring up something I've been thinking about; they spent all that time making Adam emphasize how expensive it was to raise a kid, and how it would be better for D and L to "combine their salaries" (because that's totally a good reason to get married ), and then Lindsay's just gonna leave her job? It doesn't make much sense to me.

...is what I've been saying all along. I just can't see the show putting as much time and effort as they have into this storyline and then killing off or hurting her to the extent that she leaves her job at the start of S6. However, if Anna has decided to leave the show (and I have NO knowledge of anything spoilerish at all) it would be a perfect out for her character. If she stays I would not mind if she decided to leave field work and be full time in the lab. She appears to love the science, once stating that she was a scientist to Mac in Jamalot. They could maintain the interaction as Danny comes and goes from the field sort of like they did in Green Piece. However, I don't know if we would get the full impact of two CSI's trying to juggle schedules with a new baby and a new marriage if they weren't both in the field and on call like they are now.

As for Lindsay's reaction in the diner, I can't imagine that it didn't bring back memories of her own past. It could also bring home to her how very close they are to danger in the jobs they have and that would weigh heavily on a new mom. I don't know that I want them to revisit her past trauma. I think that storyline should stay in her past as this is a perfect opportunity for her character to change and move forward in development.

I feel like Lindsay finally settled somewhat in in Season 5. Yes, it may not have been the hardest of material, but the point of the storyline was to bring them together and come to terms with their feeling for each other. The resolution of those feelings and the subsequent marriage, regardless of whether it was in the plans or not and dictated by Anna's real life pregnancy, was a refreshing change from previous seasons. I'm talking more about the on-again-off-again nature of the relationship here, not the ability of the actress to play the part.

 

[Plenilunio]

^The thing is everything happened so quickly and suddenly the approach to their relationship during s5 looked quite haphazard sometimes. Also, they forced the audience to play "fill in the gaps" so that things made sense. Maybe it's due to Anna's real life pregnancy?

 

[Maya316]

...is what I've been saying all along. I just can't see the show putting as much time and effort as they have into this storyline and then killing off or hurting her to the extent that she leaves her job at the start of S6. However, if Anna has decided to leave the show (and I have NO knowledge of anything spoilerish at all) it would be a perfect out for her character. If she stays I would not mind if she decided to leave field work and be full time in the lab. She appears to love the science, once stating that she was a scientist to Mac in Jamalot. They could maintain the interaction as Danny comes and goes from the field sort of like they did in Green Piece. However, I don't know if we would get the full impact of two CSI's trying to juggle schedules with a new baby and a new marriage if they weren't both in the field and on call like they are now.

Yeah, exactly. I mean I'm not so much sure about the D/L - I'm actually half-waiting for that marriage to disintegrate into divorce by at least mid-S6. But from a time-management viewpoint, it doesn't make sense for the writers to have crammed that many D/L moments into S5 (even when completely unnecessary - we already knew D/L were married with a baby on the way, without Danny spending half an episode running around in search of baby names), and then scrap it in S6. Which also leads me to believe that Anna or Carmine would be among the last people on the show they'd willingly let go of.

I know the idea is that Anna might choose to leave to stay home with her kids, but honestly, that makes at least as much sense to me as what I mentioned above. She's currently a regular actress on a hit TV show. I'm sure she has enough money to hire a nanny should she need one.

I can picture her being moved to the lab, though - I actually might like this if they provided entertaining scenes with Adam and kept the part of her personality that makes me see her as action-oriented. I'm hoping, though, that they don't use the excuse of her being in the lab to sacrifice more of her personality to Danny or D/L. Do lab techs also get crazy schedules? I would really prefer they kept her as a CSI, though I know it might not be likely.

As for Lindsay's reaction in the diner, I can't imagine that it didn't bring back memories of her own past. It could also bring home to her how very close they are to danger in the jobs they have and that would weigh heavily on a new mom. I don't know that I want them to revisit her past trauma. I think that storyline should stay in her past as this is a perfect opportunity for her character to change and move forward in development.

I agree, I'm hoping they don't move backwards if the writers run with the storyline. But, I mean, Catherine from CSI faces the same kinds of dangers and is a single mom. Lindsay of all people should know that nothing is completely safe - her friends were killed while eating at a diner they'd presumably been to hundreds of times. If the elements of danger and being a new mom have any effect, I'm hoping it'll give her more of an edge - make her harder with suspects, that sort of thing.

The thing is everything happened so quickly and suddenly the approach to their relationship during s5 looked quite haphazard sometimes. Also, they forced the audience to play "fill in the gaps" so that things made sense. Maybe it's due to Anna's real life pregnancy?

I so agree with this. I was under the impression that Danny and Lindsay had finally split by the end of S4 (or rather, that Lindsay had finally gotten him to leave her alone and let her get over him by hanging up on him after Personal Foul). Instead I find out halfway through S5 that that's when they hooked up. I'm sure Anna's pregnancy had a lot to do with the direction the writers chose to take the D/L story, though I'm not convinced that this is the only way they could've written Anna's pregnancy into the storyline. (I mean, people have gotten randomly married to practical strangers before in CSI shows. It wouldn't have been unreasonable if Lindsay had done the same thing.) I think they just ran with the most popular option they had.

However, a lot about D/L this season just made me shudder. I mean, D and L have always had problems with their relationship, very real problems which I think culminated in their split starting from the moment Danny started pulling away from her (which, if you ask me, was way before Child's Play. He actually seemed to lose interest from the day after he finally got her into bed, which sadly seems to be the point where Lindsay actually gained interest.). Those problems had everything to do with what happened in Right Next Door, and I was really hoping the writers would just leave them as friends after that, which I do think they work well as. But they're tossing a baby into that mess and tying them together through marriage. I just don't see any way this is not going to end in divorce.

 

[Poppet]

I know the idea is that Anna might choose to leave to stay home with her kids, but honestly, that makes at least as much sense to me as what I mentioned above. She's currently a regular actress on a hit TV show. I'm sure she has enough money to hire a nanny should she need one.

In the season 4 wowow interview Anna does say that when she had her first child she felt alot of conflict about being a working mother, now she has two children maybe it is a greater feeling of conflict for her. Just because she can afford a nanny doesn't mean thats how she wants her children to be brought up, she want to be a full time hands on parent.

 

[Maya316]

In the season 4 wowow interview Anna does say that when she had her first child she felt alot of conflict about being a working mother, now she has two children maybe it is a greater feeling of conflict for her. Just because she can afford a nanny doesn't mean thats how she wants her children to be brought up, she want to be a full time hands on parent.

Oh, okay...I never saw that interview.

And I guess I understand about wanting to be a full-time parent, but I still can't help but see it as a little impractical at the same time. I mean, it's a good and (presumably) fairly secure job, and from what I've seen the schedule seems to accommodate the actors to a reasonable extent. Buckley and Harper are able to work on several projects at the same time, and Belknap was able to juggle a two-year old and being pregnant through most of S5.

 

[CSI Cupcake]

In the season 4 wowow interview Anna does say that when she had her first child she felt alot of conflict about being a working mother, now she has two children maybe it is a greater feeling of conflict for her. Just because she can afford a nanny doesn't mean thats how she wants her children to be brought up, she want to be a full time hands on parent.

Oh, okay...I never saw that interview.

And I guess I understand about wanting to be a full-time parent, but I still can't help but see it as a little impractical at the same time. I mean, it's a good and (presumably) fairly secure job, and from what I've seen the schedule seems to accommodate the actors to a reasonable extent. Buckley and Harper are able to work on several projects at the same time, and Belknap was able to juggle a two-year old and being pregnant through most of S5.

She also said that Melina, who is a working mother with multiple children is her role model. You can find the interviews on YouTube. Search for Stacon and they will pop up in the list. There are interviews from Carmine, Anna, Melina, and Gary for S4.

However, a lot about D/L this season just made me shudder. I mean, D and L have always had problems with their relationship, very real problems which I think culminated in their split starting from the moment Danny started pulling away from her (which, if you ask me, was way before Child's Play. He actually seemed to lose interest from the day after he finally got her into bed, which sadly seems to be the point where Lindsay actually gained interest.). Those problems had everything to do with what happened in Right Next Door, and I was really hoping the writers would just leave them as friends after that, which I do think they work well as. But they're tossing a baby into that mess and tying them together through marriage. I just don't see any way this is not going to end in divorce.

Danny did seem to drift away in S4. They seemed okay up until after Commuted Sentences and then we got next to nothing until after the strike. I don't know what would have happened if the strike had not interfered. I tend to get impatient with shows that put couples together just to pull them apart and then reunite them only to make them mad at one another, etc, etc. Somewhere I heard that they were going to take both characters in different directions and when Anna got pregnant they scrapped both storylines to write in the pregnancy and bring Danny and Lindsay back together. Whether the couple is liked or not, they certainly know how to divide the fanbase and it makes for good conversation. I am glad that they were able to bring them back together because, even though it is not cutting edge action or angst, it does bring a different dimension to the show and allows some human connection that hasn't been seen before. I expect drama but hope it doesn't go to the extreme of divorce and custody and whatnot.

 

[Poppet]

In the season 4 wowow interview Anna does say that when she had her first child she felt alot of conflict about being a working mother, now she has two children maybe it is a greater feeling of conflict for her. Just because she can afford a nanny doesn't mean thats how she wants her children to be brought up, she want to be a full time hands on parent.

Oh, okay...I never saw that interview.

And I guess I understand about wanting to be a full-time parent, but I still can't help but see it as a little impractical at the same time. I mean, it's a good and (presumably) fairly secure job, and from what I've seen the schedule seems to accommodate the actors to a reasonable extent. Buckley and Harper are able to work on several projects at the same time, and Belknap was able to juggle a two-year old and being pregnant through most of S5.

She also said that Melina, who is a working mother with multiple children is her role model. You can find the interviews on YouTube. Search for Stacon and they will pop up in the list. There are interviews from Carmine, Anna, Melina, and Gary for S4.

The impracticality of it depends entirely on Anna homelife and family situation, something we know little about. Although Melina manages it, things may different for Anna, and just cos she repects Melina doesn't automatically mean she wants the same. All I am saying is if someone is leaving/reducing their hours then Anna is a possibilty for family reasons - how much of a possibility we not really in a position to judge.

 

[CSI Cupcake]

Oh, okay...I never saw that interview.

And I guess I understand about wanting to be a full-time parent, but I still can't help but see it as a little impractical at the same time. I mean, it's a good and (presumably) fairly secure job, and from what I've seen the schedule seems to accommodate the actors to a reasonable extent. Buckley and Harper are able to work on several projects at the same time, and Belknap was able to juggle a two-year old and being pregnant through most of S5.

She also said that Melina, who is a working mother with multiple children is her role model. You can find the interviews on YouTube. Search for Stacon and they will pop up in the list. There are interviews from Carmine, Anna, Melina, and Gary for S4.

The impracticality of it depends entirely on Anna homelife and family situation, something we know little about. Although Melina manages it, things may different for Anna, and just cos she repects Melina doesn't automatically mean she wants the same. All I am saying is if someone is leaving/reducing their hours then Anna is a possibilty for family reasons - how much of a possibility we not really in a position to judge.

True and agreed! The bottom line is that we don't know yet and speculation is just that. I try not to read too much into either side of the debate but have my desires for the show just like everyone else. It would be completely reasonable to believe that she wants more time with her family, but on the other side we don't know how much help she has, how much time her husband can contribute so she can continue on the show, or whether either of those things would be a deciding factor.

I really hate that we are given news of a new person even before we know who may not make it out of the bar alive. I would love to think that no one leaves and that everyone recovers. Am I holding my breath? Not at all.

 

[Maya316]

She also said that Melina, who is a working mother with multiple children is her role model. You can find the interviews on YouTube. Search for Stacon and they will pop up in the list. There are interviews from Carmine, Anna, Melina, and Gary for S4.

I am off to hunt them down, right after this post!

Danny did seem to drift away in S4. They seemed okay up until after Commuted Sentences and then we got next to nothing until after the strike. I don't know what would have happened if the strike had not interfered.

Not sure if I agree...maybe Danny didn't exactly lose interest the day after he slept with Lindsay (because that was actually the Snow Day, and I thought they were pretty okay in that episode). But from the beginning of S4 it always struck me like the last thing he wanted was to be in a relationship with her. He was always the one to "hang up first", so to speak, to brush her off when she was admiring him or trying to impress him. It really seemed like, in S4, Lindsay was by far more emotionally invested in "them" than he was, whereas the way he was acting made me think that while he still wanted to be her friend, he wasn't at all interested in her beyond a casual hookup. Maybe this is only fair, because in S2/3 it actually seemed like the reverse was true (Lindsay only wanted the casual hookup, Danny wanted more - or at least, he suddenly decided he did once she said no to him). But I have to say I wasn't that surprised when Danny pulled away in Child's Play and after, though I do agree that the tone of things seemed to change after the writer's strike.

I tend to get impatient with shows that put couples together just to pull them apart and then reunite them only to make them mad at one another, etc, etc. Somewhere I heard that they were going to take both characters in different directions and when Anna got pregnant they scrapped both storylines to write in the pregnancy and bring Danny and Lindsay back together.

I think if it's done in a tasteful, understated way, it's possible to make couples like that work, like Ross and Rachel in Friends. But I can see how it would get irritating: I'm guessing it's easier to like Ross and Rachel now that Friends is actually over. I'd probably want to throw a shoe through the TV if I was a fan while the show was still going.

I heard that about the storylines getting changed due to Belknap's pregnancy, too. I just wish they hadn't - I think the only time I actively enjoyed D/L was when I was watching them break up. I know how that sounds, but I was excited because the writers seemed to be seeing the problems between them that I was seeing. I thought that if all this was actually acknowledged, the D/L friendship at least could get stronger and healthier. But alas.

Whether the couple is liked or not, they certainly know how to divide the fanbase and it makes for good conversation. I am glad that they were able to bring them back together because, even though it is not cutting edge action or angst, it does bring a different dimension to the show and allows some human connection that hasn't been seen before. I expect drama but hope it doesn't go to the extreme of divorce and custody and whatnot.

Oh, they're definitely liked...I think this is part of the problem. It might be why the fanbase is being divided, because half the fans are attracted to CSINY by D/L. [Or so it seems if you're looking at Fanfiction.Net: 86 pages of fanfic dedicated to Lindsay, 93 to Danny. Stella and Flack, the two most dynamic characters on the show, barely have even half that amount - 44 and 45 pages of fanfic to each, respectively. Same as Mac's. I've found that fanfic is usually a fair indicator of what's attracting fans to a show/book/movie/whatever, but that's a lot of people writing DL fluff. It gets annoying, to say the least.] And that attraction is what the writers often seem to be responding to. They could have taken Lindsay's pregnancy in another direction, and then later if they still felt the need to, they could bring Lindsay and Danny together again. Bringing them together in S5 seemed to white-out all the issues they've ever had with each other, and while that's definitely leading me to expect drama - to say the least - I certainly expect more. Just because it's such an unhealthy start to a marriage.

 

[CSI Cupcake]

Not sure if I agree...maybe Danny didn't exactly lose interest the day after he slept with Lindsay (because that was actually the Snow Day, and I thought they were pretty okay in that episode). But from the beginning of S4 it always struck me like the last thing he wanted was to be in a relationship with her. He was always the one to "hang up first", so to speak, to brush her off when she was admiring him or trying to impress him. It really seemed like, in S4, Lindsay was by far more emotionally invested in "them" than he was, whereas the way he was acting made me think that while he still wanted to be her friend, he wasn't at all interested in her beyond a casual hookup. Maybe this is only fair, because in S2/3 it actually seemed like the reverse was true (Lindsay only wanted the casual hookup, Danny wanted more - or at least, he suddenly decided he did once she said no to him). But I have to say I wasn't that surprised when Danny pulled away in Child's Play and after, though I do agree that the tone of things seemed to change after the writer's strike.

If he thought he could keep it at a casual hook-up he was kidding himself! It appearead from conversations he had with others that Danny always kept his girlfriends at a distance and only at his convenience and Lindsay was interested in a relationship. It's possible that working together with someone he dated was more than what he wanted. I will agree that he seemed more business like after Snow Day, whereas he was really over the top with the flirting and such before they actually got together. It makes him seem shallow, to me, and that is why I really liked the way Lindsay nailed him in the breakup talk in Right Next Door, regardless of the fact that he was grieving. He needed to hear what she had to say.

I think if it's done in a tasteful, understated way, it's possible to make couples like that work, like Ross and Rachel in Friends. But I can see how it would get irritating: I'm guessing it's easier to like Ross and Rachel now that Friends is actually over. I'd probably want to throw a shoe through the TV if I was a fan while the show was still going.

Oh, don't get me started on Ross. He's the one character I had absolutely no use for, so I totally understand the folks that want Lindsay to disappear completely. I could not stand him!

I heard that about the storylines getting changed due to Belknap's pregnancy, too. I just wish they hadn't - I think the only time I actively enjoyed D/L was when I was watching them break up. I know how that sounds, but I was excited because the writers seemed to be seeing the problems between them that I was seeing. I thought that if all this was actually acknowledged, the D/L friendship at least could get stronger and healthier. But alas.

I would never say that they didn't have problems, because they really did. I just didn't see them as insurmountable issues, as some did. But I really didn't expect them to throw a baby in the middle of it! I will say that if they had remained unmarried for a while it would not have bothered me at all.

Oh, they're definitely liked...I think this is part of the problem. It might be why the fanbase is being divided, because half the fans are attracted to CSINY by D/L. [Or so it seems if you're looking at Fanfiction.Net: 86 pages of fanfic dedicated to Lindsay, 93 to Danny. Stella and Flack, the two most dynamic characters on the show, barely have even half that amount - 44 and 45 pages of fanfic to each, respectively. Same as Mac's. I've found that fanfic is usually a fair indicator of what's attracting fans to a show/book/movie/whatever, but that's a lot of people writing DL fluff. It gets annoying, to say the least.] And that attraction is what the writers often seem to be responding to. They could have taken Lindsay's pregnancy in another direction, and then later if they still felt the need to, they could bring Lindsay and Danny together again. Bringing them together in S5 seemed to white-out all the issues they've ever had with each other, and while that's definitely leading me to expect drama - to say the least - I certainly expect more. Just because it's such an unhealthy start to a marriage.

You and I have been doing the same kind of research!:lol: I have been on FF.net lately just seeing what people are writing and some of it will give you cavities. What I find most interesting is that people write stories to fill in the gaps that we don't see on screen, conversations that we haven't been privy to between the characters that explain the jumps from together to apart and everything in between. That in itself tells me that regardless of which way the writers choose to go with these two that they aren't giving enough detail to give the fans resolution and a way to move on. This "keep 'em hanging" tactic frustrates me more than anything.

And of course we are in for more drama. The writers have promised that and they will milk this for everything it is worth. I think that the whiting out of the issues could have been explored and the marriage more believable if they had taken it slower. Why they thought they had to get them married by the end of the season is beyond me. It's not a deal-breaker for me, but I would have been okay with seeing it be more drawn out over another season. IF they had given us the conversations and scenes to makie it real.

 

[danny-lindsay4e]

i'd not hold your breath hun you could be waiting awhile lol x

it's all a quessing game we could be here til september guessing and be wrong anything can happen from now to shooting so until spoilers we really don't know anything