Danny & The Blue Flu

[Top41]

How did you feel about Danny leaving work with the "blue flu" despite the fact that his co-workers--including his pregnant girlfriend!--were staying behind to do their jobs? Was he making a stand for something he believed in, or just being selfish? What's your take on it?

 

[racefh853629]

I have mixed feelings.

I appreciate that he took a stand for what he believes in, but I think that there's a more tactful way to do that. If you're gonna stand up for that, don't show up to a crime scene and then suddenly leave. Call out all together.

And it is BS for everyone else to have to pick up the slack, and it ended up letting someone back onto the street. Which could (if the writers believed in continuity) come back to bite Danny and all of the CSIs.

It's hard to say that he was in the wrong, but it's hard to agree with his actions too.

 

[JellyBelly]

I definitely have mixed feelings about this one. I don't think Danny was selfish, after all his actions were ultimately taken to benefit all of them. I do think he was irresponsible though. The interplay between Lindsay and Hawkes really did hit on the opposite sides where it's impossible to distinguish if one is right and the other wrong. They were both right. And no, it wasn't fair that the others were left to pick up the slack, but then again is it fair that Danny felt the need to throw himself on his sword while the others kept out of the spotlight yet ultimately benefited from the action (which was somewhat successful)?

The consequences of his action was pretty serious, a murderer walked free. Not good. But, as I said in the episode thread I'd say that's more to do with poor systems in place to deal with absent CSI's than anything else. As for the pregnant girlfriend picking up his slack, they obviously talked about it beforehand so she was a willing participant. The alternative could have been for Lindsay to take his place and call in sick but that would have been really out of character for her as she is known to have a slight 'goody two shoes' side to her personality.

 

[jolein]

I have mixed feelings about this one.
It is typical of Danny to act on impulse and I can understand why he would do such a thing but at the same time I felt it was not a good descion to go off like that.
It would have been better if he just called in sick and didn`t come at all.

 

[Elsie]

I thought his behaviour was very strange. He went to a crime scene, got a call, then decided to leave. I'm with Hawkes on this one, Danny's decision was a little selfish. But obviously at that point I was unaware that Danny came from a 'family of cops'. Flack is from a family of cops, yet it looked like he made it in.

Personally I'm just against unofficial action of this sort, but if he did want to support his other colleagues by having 'blue flu' he could have at least actually pretended to Stella that he was sick.

 

[kkennedytx]

I think he shouldn't have pulled the "blue flu", especially given that his girlfriend and best friends all came in to work. I think his choice made him look like a tool compared to the class acts of Mac, Stella, Hawkes, Flack, and yes--even Lindsay.

 

[fm62]

Like I said on the other thread, I don't understand the storyline. Sorry, but if i'm not being paid, i'm not coming into work at all. How can any employer say that they cannot afford to pay their employees, it is their responsibilty to budget their money properly.

Maybe it's a cultural thing, but I can't see that ever happening here.

 

[La_Guera]

I apologize in advance if this review is largely incoherent, but such are the lingering effects of the minor head trauma I suffered because of chronic headdesking during last night's episode. I just...I can't make excuses for the show anymore. After five years, the characters' histories should be set in stone. And yet, five years on, the writers are still retconning those histories prove inconvenient to the plot of the moment.

Danny comes from a family of cops? Since when? I'm fairly certain that Danny told Flack in SI that his family was often watched by the Feds as a kid, a fact which implies involvement in criminal activity. Now, it's possible that Danny came from a family of corrupt cops, which would be a riveting story, but if that were true, then the PD never would've hired Danny in the first place. If it were true that Danny came from a family of good cops, then PD Brass would not have advised Mac against hiring him. In fact, they would've touted his pedigree to the skies and waxed rhapsodic about the great legacies of the department. Not only that, but one would think that Sonny Sassone might've used that as a needling point against Mac in "Tanglewood."

And if Danny did come from a family of cops, then he managed to dishonor them by forsaking his sworn duty and jaking it until he got paid. Yes, I know that police offers are unforgivably underpaid and hideously overworked, and it's not fair. But Danny's decision to not come to work got a case thrown out and put a criminal back on the streets. Mac, who was also a sworn officer of the NYPD(so stick it up your ass, Lindsay), came to work. So did Stella. So did Flack, and he's the biggest badge baby on the show. Danny wasn't standing behind his convictions; he was throwing a temper tantrum because he didn't feel "respected". He said as much to Pod!Stella when she turned up at his apartment. Needy Danny was willing to subject the citizenry to the elevated risk of rape, robbery, and murder because he felt unappreciated. Meanwhile, folks who got paid just as little or even less were still in the trenches. Even pregnant Lindsay was pulling her weight, though God knows I wanted to dropkick her over the lab table when she snippily reminded Hawkes that he wasn't a sworn officer of the NYPD.

 

[Plenilunio]

I didn't understand his behavior at all. I mean, if you're not getting paid, I understand it if you don't go to work. However, he did go to work and then, somehow, got cold feet and left. Come on, you just can't do that? Either you go to work and stay or you don't show up at all, but just stick to your decission. Oh, and the "family of cops" thing got me puzzled. I thought I had amnesia or something like that. Tanglewood isn't exactly a department of NYPD, is it.

 

[FlackFan01]

Plenilunio, I was thinking the same thing last night. I was confused. I thought it was just me. Until today, when I read all this stuff! Maybe Tanglewood is a department of the NYPD, but SHHHHHH, it's a secret! Only Danny knows about it!

 

[Poppet]

As I just posted in the other thread I can only assume this story was meant for Flack and Eddie was ill the day of filming so they gave it to Carmine instead.

As to his behaviour of not working when he is not getting paid - fair enough, I wouldn't work for free either. 'doing your duty to the people of the city' doesn't pay bills and doesn't keep a roof over your head - when you have a baby on the way you need to think about money and how you will provide for it, so fair play to him for taking a stand.

My only problem with his behaviour is that he turned up at the crime scene and then left - if you are boycotting work then don't go at all, don't turn up and then just leave.

 

[JellyBelly]

God knows I wanted to dropkick her over the lab table when she snippily reminded Hawkes that he wasn't a sworn officer of the NYPD.

Whereas I wanted to drop kick Hawkes over his pious attitude. Even though what he was saying was 'right' it wasn't appropriate for him to take it up wth Lindsay (although I understand he was probably damn frustrated at that point).

 

[Poppet]

I don't think Hawkes was right, I think he contradicted himself. Danny was looking out for Lindsay and the baby - working for free won't provide for them.

 

[La_Guera]

I don't think Hawkes was right, I think he contradicted himself. Danny was looking out for Lindsay and the baby - working for free won't provide for them.

I'd buy that reasoning if Danny were the sole breadwinner for the "family", but he isn't. In fact, Lindsay was busting her hump double-time to make up for his "stand."

And if you're taking a "stand", as Danny claimed, why not admit it openly instead of hiding behind a spectacularly lame illness excuse? If you're pissed that you're not being paid, why bother to show up at all? Why not skip work altogether? Because Danny is either an idiot, or he wanted his stand to be seen and came to the scene just so he could leave.

Besides, Danny whined to Stella that he felt unappreciated and disrespected. Never once did he mention doing it for Lindsay or the baby, nor did he mention implications for his future security. If he had, I might've sympathized, but it was all about how Danny wasn't being respected, and that's a weak excuse in light of Mac, Stella, and Flack's willingness to suck it up and cope.

 

[JellyBelly]

And if you're taking a "stand", as Danny claimed, why not admit it openly instead of hiding behind a spectacularly lame illness excuse? If you're pissed that you're not being paid, why bother to show up at all? Why not skip work altogether? Because Danny is either an idiot, or he wanted his stand to be seen and came to the scene just so he could leave.

Well I think that's because it was a 'united' stand (although not completely, obviously). Industrial action (official or unofficial) relies on a group of people taking that stand together. It's not uncommon to have 'flash' walk outs where a group of staff will agree to take action but will be notified when that action is to take place. It's all about safety in numbers and the fact it will make it harder for the brass to take punitive action.

The way I interpreted the scene was that Danny was one of those who'd agreed to take action and the phone call was informing him that the action was to start. It's not as though he was acting on his own, hence why I don't see it as selfish or see Danny as being an idiot.