flying mouse
Witness
It wasn't a mistake at the start but continuing it would be a mistake. They are just boring and utterly predictable couple now. I think DL is out of use.
Danny and Lindsay--Was it a mistake?
- Thread starter Top41
- Start date
Lime Sweet Pea
Dead on Arrival
I'm definitely indifferent. In the beginnging, it was fine. I mean, they were cute, the banter and all. I didn't mind it.
But now I think the writers have gotten a little too "cute" with it. I get it, they're married but that doesn't mean the characters have to lose all of their distinguishable characteristcs. I think Danny has definitely lost some of his park from earlier seasons. I'm not against a person growing up or moving on from things but he seems very different.
I don't think Lindsay ever got a chance to be a individual character. From the beginning, she was Danny's love interest. I think if she would have been by herself for at least the first season, it would have been better. I mean, at this point, there isn't much they can do about it. I just hope that they each get episodes that are either Danny centred, or Lindsay centered, not Danny/Lindsay centered.
But now I think the writers have gotten a little too "cute" with it. I get it, they're married but that doesn't mean the characters have to lose all of their distinguishable characteristcs. I think Danny has definitely lost some of his park from earlier seasons. I'm not against a person growing up or moving on from things but he seems very different.
I don't think Lindsay ever got a chance to be a individual character. From the beginning, she was Danny's love interest. I think if she would have been by herself for at least the first season, it would have been better. I mean, at this point, there isn't much they can do about it. I just hope that they each get episodes that are either Danny centred, or Lindsay centered, not Danny/Lindsay centered.
Finally weighing in on this topic. I have sort of skimmed the thread since it was opened, but I didn't read everything, and I don't remember everything I did read - so I apologize if it seems like I'm repeating what someone else said instead of quoting them to agree. It's not intentional. 
I think the marriage was a mistake because it feels like it was done out of convenience rather than as a conscious creative choice - and it wasn't the kind of spontaneous, go-with-the-flow plot choice that turns out to be even more awesome than whatever you may have been originally planning. Quite the opposite, I'm afraid. Even if TPTB were planning to have Danny and Lindsay get married eventually, shoehorning it into season five to accommodate Anna's pregnancy was a mistake. (They didn't have to get married to accommodate the pregnancy* since people have children without being married all of the time, but you can't convince me that the decision to marry them wasn't dictated by the need to have The Messer Family be 'official' and prevent Lucy from being, much as I hate the term, a bastard child.)
The marriage has done neither character any favors. It hasn't guaranteed either one of them any measurable amount of development together (the potential for development during Danny's recovery at the start of season 6 was largely wasted since they rushed through that storyline), and it seems to have removed even the possibility of separate development - will either character have anything that doesn't involve the other at this point? Doubtful.
Yes, marriage is a commitment and a union, and I'm not disputing that - but on a show that lasts 42 minutes (most of which is taken up by solving the Crime of the Week), having your Married Couple spend a great deal of their scenes together and with no focus on outside relationships (work, family, friendship, etc) is very limiting for what you can do, creatively, with both characters. Danny and Lindsay have been utterly bland for pretty much the whole season, and almost every spark of potential interest gets swallowed up by the need to always make sure one doesn't go anywhere without the other (literally or figuratively) - which is a shame when they could be making use of every unique and interesting relationship on the show.
So I don't think it was out of left field, not in the sense that they were probably going to get married eventually anyway, but I think it was a mistake to make it happen within the span of one season with so little logical build-up. (And quite frankly, any storyline that requires you to retcon events from a previous season to push the plot along is a mistake in my book. Danny sleeping with Rikki was suddenly a mistake that was all about cheating on Lindsay and nothing to do with, ya know, falling together in shared grief because you're trying to comfort yourself and each other over the loss of That Dead Kid during a time when D/L was ambiguous at best? Um, no. :wtf
* The decision to write in Anna's pregnancy instead of writing around it was another mistake if you ask me - it may have been more convenient for everyone involved, but it wasn't the best choice creatively, certainly not considering the way they went about it. Even if it does provide an easy excuse should Anna and her husband expand their family with another child - which is their right, and I'll be happy for them if they do, but there's no denying that it's an easy way out to just say, 'Oh, they're adding another bambino to The Messer Family' if Anna needs time away from the show.
I think the marriage was a mistake because it feels like it was done out of convenience rather than as a conscious creative choice - and it wasn't the kind of spontaneous, go-with-the-flow plot choice that turns out to be even more awesome than whatever you may have been originally planning. Quite the opposite, I'm afraid. Even if TPTB were planning to have Danny and Lindsay get married eventually, shoehorning it into season five to accommodate Anna's pregnancy was a mistake. (They didn't have to get married to accommodate the pregnancy* since people have children without being married all of the time, but you can't convince me that the decision to marry them wasn't dictated by the need to have The Messer Family be 'official' and prevent Lucy from being, much as I hate the term, a bastard child.)
The marriage has done neither character any favors. It hasn't guaranteed either one of them any measurable amount of development together (the potential for development during Danny's recovery at the start of season 6 was largely wasted since they rushed through that storyline), and it seems to have removed even the possibility of separate development - will either character have anything that doesn't involve the other at this point? Doubtful.
Yes, marriage is a commitment and a union, and I'm not disputing that - but on a show that lasts 42 minutes (most of which is taken up by solving the Crime of the Week), having your Married Couple spend a great deal of their scenes together and with no focus on outside relationships (work, family, friendship, etc) is very limiting for what you can do, creatively, with both characters. Danny and Lindsay have been utterly bland for pretty much the whole season, and almost every spark of potential interest gets swallowed up by the need to always make sure one doesn't go anywhere without the other (literally or figuratively) - which is a shame when they could be making use of every unique and interesting relationship on the show.
So I don't think it was out of left field, not in the sense that they were probably going to get married eventually anyway, but I think it was a mistake to make it happen within the span of one season with so little logical build-up. (And quite frankly, any storyline that requires you to retcon events from a previous season to push the plot along is a mistake in my book. Danny sleeping with Rikki was suddenly a mistake that was all about cheating on Lindsay and nothing to do with, ya know, falling together in shared grief because you're trying to comfort yourself and each other over the loss of That Dead Kid during a time when D/L was ambiguous at best? Um, no. :wtf
* The decision to write in Anna's pregnancy instead of writing around it was another mistake if you ask me - it may have been more convenient for everyone involved, but it wasn't the best choice creatively, certainly not considering the way they went about it. Even if it does provide an easy excuse should Anna and her husband expand their family with another child - which is their right, and I'll be happy for them if they do, but there's no denying that it's an easy way out to just say, 'Oh, they're adding another bambino to The Messer Family' if Anna needs time away from the show.
talkingtocactus
Coroner
^ agree 100% - i was going to quote a couple of bits and reply specifically but as i agree with all of it, i won't...
flying mouse
Witness
You are right, Faylinn. They really shouldn't have included Anna's pregnancy into the show, no matter how much she liked the decision.
Maya316
Lab Technician
I agree too, especially about the retconning. My hugest problem is that everything (both before this season, and I can think of a couple of things in this season) that should've caused friction or even the break-up I was anticipated, has been swept under the rug in every moment of theirs, as if those issues never existed. To me it feels like someone's taken White-Out to their previously-established relationship (at least from S4-S5), and then written over it to fit them into the storyline. In other words, incredibly forced if not downright unbelievable.
And it's not like I wouldn't be able to overlook that -- I have before, and I've overlooked and missed huger inconsistencies on this show -- except that they keep reminding me of this one, ad nauseum. And when it feels like that's all I've been seeing from Danny and Lindsay in almost every episode, they start to not even seem like the same characters anymore, because a lot of the time, they're not reacting in the ways I think they would've before. That's grating. These new versions of them are ridiculously dull, especially when together. It doesn't seem like a coincidence to me that this season, the times Lindsay's been most like her old interesting self are the times when Danny's nowhere around, and vice versa. So if the show's not going to re-write history again, they need to do something else to give the characters their individuality back.
And it's not like I wouldn't be able to overlook that -- I have before, and I've overlooked and missed huger inconsistencies on this show -- except that they keep reminding me of this one, ad nauseum. And when it feels like that's all I've been seeing from Danny and Lindsay in almost every episode, they start to not even seem like the same characters anymore, because a lot of the time, they're not reacting in the ways I think they would've before. That's grating. These new versions of them are ridiculously dull, especially when together. It doesn't seem like a coincidence to me that this season, the times Lindsay's been most like her old interesting self are the times when Danny's nowhere around, and vice versa. So if the show's not going to re-write history again, they need to do something else to give the characters their individuality back.
I wasnt going to comment because I have said enough on the relationship but decided to anyway.
I agree exactly with what faylinn said in her post, i think it never should have happened and it would have been much easier and better for the characters to just hide annas pregnancy, i mean it's not like we didnt know what was going on and the viewers would have been annoyed that she had less screentime and couldn't do as much, and even making up an excuse for her to be absent would not have been that hard, i mean she has been missing for nearly half of season 6 with no explanation and it hasnt been a total disaster. I'm not the biggest fan of lindsay to be honest she really gets on ym nerves and brings danny right down, they are better off without the marriage and even the relationship.
I agree exactly with what faylinn said in her post, i think it never should have happened and it would have been much easier and better for the characters to just hide annas pregnancy, i mean it's not like we didnt know what was going on and the viewers would have been annoyed that she had less screentime and couldn't do as much, and even making up an excuse for her to be absent would not have been that hard, i mean she has been missing for nearly half of season 6 with no explanation and it hasnt been a total disaster. I'm not the biggest fan of lindsay to be honest she really gets on ym nerves and brings danny right down, they are better off without the marriage and even the relationship.
CSI17
Hit and Run
I rooted so hard for DL when they just started out. They were young and fresh and they had their own personalities which made them so fun when they were together. I remember giggling at their antics and how glad I was when they finally did it.
They sort of lost touch after they got married. Sorry, DL fans. The spark that I saw when they were just flirting was goooone. They now bore me to death, really.
I miss Lindsay's longer hair and Danny's--well, I miss Danny.
They sort of lost touch after they got married. Sorry, DL fans. The spark that I saw when they were just flirting was goooone. They now bore me to death, really.
I miss Lindsay's longer hair and Danny's--well, I miss Danny.
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CSI Cupcake
Police Officer
I do too. I think they balance each other well in a lot of ways. They aren't perfect, but that's okay.
flying mouse
Witness
They are not perfect and they balance each other, yes, which makes them both boring as an individual character. The Messer family do no good to the show imo. It only makes some DL fans happy.
That pretty much sums up my view.
Normally, these types of romantic storylines can take a few years to play out, especially on a procedural like this one. Instead, they crammed the marriage and baby developments into the space of a season and simply glossed over some of the issues between D/L.
So basically, the storyline peaked way too early (imo) and robbed the show of potential plot developments that could've played out over the course of multiple seasons in a way that potentially engaged the audience and helped maintain ratings.
I think the acceleration also robbed the actors of the time they needed to work together onscreen and find a dynamic that reflects the deep feelings and bond they are supposed to have as a married couple. And that may be one reason the writers feel compelled to remind the audience they are married -- the non-verbals (looks, touches, body language, etc.) and other subtleties that would indicate a deeper connection don't seem to come across consistently onscreen (although I did notice that Lindsay put a comforting hand on Danny's shoulder in the last episode).