Okay, I
finally saw the episode and angst-wise, it sure met my expectations. :lol: Yes, Carmine was fantastic and delivered his best like he always does.
I'll just say a few more things:
* I knew most of what was going to happen in the episode, particularly the Danny/Ruben scenes, so I was prepared for the worst. Yeah, Danny could have been more strict in keeping Ruben close to him and he did answer his mobile phone just before Ruben rode off on his own, but there was no way Danny could possibly have known a gun was about to be fired or that the bullet would kill Ruben.
To his credit, he ended the call as quickly as possible and also yelled out to Ruben to not go around the corner and stop there so he was still in plain sight. There's also the following notion I haven't seen mentioned yet: the dialogue between Danny and Ruben as they were headed back to their apartment building was a subtle set-up. The way Danny said, "So
this is what it's all 'bout?" to Ruben showed he knew how much Ruben had been yearning to ride his bike on his own. Danny might have allowed Ruben to ride ahead for just a moment to let Ruben enjoy that. They just blessed the bike at the church, Danny the experienced cop was there to watch Ruben, so how bad could it be for Ruben to just ride on his own to the end of the sidewalk so close, right?
Poor Danny. All the circumstances were against him that morning. It wasn't his fault Ruben was an excited boy riding his bike on his own for the first time who just wanted to ride on his own for a little more. It wasn't his fault either that Ruben would ride straight into a robbery and get fatally shot. I am a little ambivalent on Danny telling Ruben to ride away after hearing the shot, but if I had been in his shoes and saw Ruben still on his bike, giving me a glance backwards, looking outwardly just fine, I would probably have told Ruben to ride away as fast as he can too.
It would be easy to say that Danny should have run up to Ruben and check on him, but Danny saw the perp with a gun in hand run away from the scene. What happens if there was still another armed person in the vicinity? What if he/she shoots their weapon within the time Danny runs up to Ruben who's stopped where he is to wait for Danny to reach him? What if Ruben gets shot then? What if, what if, what if. So many factors to assess and so many factors that can change in milliseconds, factors out of Danny's control. So seeing it this way, I do not blame Danny for Ruben's death, not entirely.
Man, sometimes Danny is just one of the unluckiest guys around who needs a break.
* Having said the above, I thought it was very odd that Danny would not call Ruben's mom Rikki as soon as possible to check on whether Ruben arrived home safely or not. I understand that the writers had to leave that out in order for the morgue scene to have maximum impact but ... it's just odd.
* The fact that Danny was pouring his heart out to Mac made Danny brushing off Lindsay seconds later even more significant. It was direct proof that Danny does
not push people away in his worst times. Well, except for Lindsay.
I'm sure future episodes will shed more light on why Danny did so. And the irony of ironies, Lindsay seems to have more chemistry with Mac than she does with Danny. Oh, and getting advice on how to connect to people from
Mac? Hilarious. :lol: I think that scene wasn't about Danny/Lindsay at all, but about how Mac and Lindsay are both inept at dealing with emotions. (The amusing thing to me is that Mac is clearly
stoic and has always stayed in character throughout the show but Lindsay ... yeah, you fill in the blanks.)
* Like some people mentioned, it really was bizarre to see Lindsay joking around and chuckling after knowing Danny's predicament. I can't tell if this is bad editing/writing or whether this is deliberate. If it
is deliberate, it's very telling about Lindsay's character that she's capable of disconnecting herself from Danny's situation and grief so easily. (Of course, this is
if they're even in a relationship to begin with.) I can comprehend Flack and Stella being in a jesting mood since they're not working the same case as Danny and most likely don't know what's happened. (If I'm right, Stella once told Mac that she regretted not being there for Danny during On the Job because she was so caught up in her case. Can anyone confirm this with me?) After watching the episode, I'm
still wondering why Lindsay didn't tell Flack and Stella about Danny. (Yes, I know, it's probably for the sake of levity to balance out the angst, but since TPTB have played it that way on the show, it's canon and up for debate.)
* Heh, seems like this is a lone opinion: I thought the dialogue between Flack and Lindsay about the Laughing Larry memories was overdone and forced, even on Flack's part. It was as if they were trying too hard to relate to each other and look friendly on screen. It would have been more believable if they hadn't go on and on about all the toys and how disappointed they were. By the end of that scene, I was pretty much like Stella when she said the, "That was then and this is now," bit. :lol:
* Sid was so darn cute with his hair all ruffled up. :lol: Hawkes was hardly there.
And Adam! Only he could make such a piece of clothing look cute. :lol: He was great in the scene with Sid too. They played off each other well.
* And lastly, I'm kinda glad TPTB went the route of having Rikki feeling that Danny is partly to be blamed for her son's death. In the spoilers, she and Danny were supposed to hold hands in the final church scene, which would actually negate much of any future angst for Danny and give the storyline a sense of finality. But since it's otherwise, TPTB will be extremely foolish in discarding continuity for this Ruben story plot. Danny and angst made for a superb combination for more great acting and great storylines!
(Bloody hell, my post is an essay. :lol
