I'm way behind most of you since I'm just now catching up on CSI NY through Netflix. This is my first post and review on an episode, but after I found this review thread I wanted to share my thoughts...
First of all, the overall episode was great. The jewel robbery story line with the "Hollys" was a really well done story, and like, most people I loved the bit with Danny and the cute little dog. That whole scene was great!
I'm one of the people who liked the ending, though, and I wanted to share my reasons for why I don't think it was as out of the blue as some people thought. First, the notion that the slo-mo ending kind of took away from Lindsay's amazingly selfless thing she did -- At first, when I read other people saying that I kind of agreed but then I thought about it a bit more. We all noticed it, so it didn't keep the viewers from knowing what a good thing she did. She had the chance to be very strong about going in though it was risky and though there was some opposition to her going in. We saw her make the choice to do what needed to be done. And it isn't like the people she worked with didn't know it, either. In real life, you wouldn't expect an immediate fuss to be made over her for doing it, because that in itself could have been a bit demeaning in a "gosh, we didn't think you had it in you" sort of way. There's time after the whole thing is over for the pats on the back or a department recognition thing. An ending focused
just on what she'd done could possibly have come across as condescending. That said, though, I would have liked to see her make sure that the hostage was ok before Danny rushed in.
That did take away from Lindsay a bit.
Now as for why I don't think that the interaction between Danny and Lindsay was inappropriate. First of all, I agree with
capslvr55 who said that this was a defining moment for both of them. But to get more in depth, the circumstances surrounding their jobs are very different than what many people have. People who work a standard 9-5 job generally have a limited insight to their coworkers. The circumstances of the job just don't lead you to seeing people in different situations or to having an understanding about what it is inside them that makes them tick.
In less traditional jobs where you spend time working in varied and sometimes adverse conditions with a small group of people, maybe having a lot of travel time with them, having the chance to see their emotional side as they react to things, or having time forced on you by the job where you're just spending time together and have time to talk in the midst of what can be emotional things -- things can be very different. You get to know people on a much different and deeper level than you do in a 9-5 desk job or retail job. You have the chance to experience not only their strengths, insights, and even sense of humor but you also experience their weaknesses and emotional vulnerabilities. Your co-workers become a second family.
The relationships that form, and I'm including just friendships, can be very intense. If someone starts to get romantic feelings for a co-worker, it is easy not to realize among the usual work interaction. I think people's tendency is to subconsciously
hide it from themselves because especially among a small group of coworkers, workplace romance can be seen as bad and wrong at worst and very complicated at best. And, as someone else said, it sometimes takes a catalyst to bring the intensity of your own feelings to the forefront and to your attention. And in my eyes that's what happened with Danny. I think when he was trying to talk her out of going upstairs his feelings for her were still lurking somewhere below his recognition level but when he was listening on the headset and realized that her cover was blown and she was with a brutal killer, that was his catalyst.
When he got to that room Danny's heart would have been racing from running and from his emotions as he looked for her through the smoke. When he found her and pulled her close, his relief was palpable, yet at that moment she would have been so shaky that she'd have hugged anyone. But when he looked at her she could see the intensity of his relief and his feelings and she responded to that; responded to
him. The slo-mo wasn't to rub it in anyone's face or to force it on the audience, in my mind it was a representation of how overwhelmed by emotion Danny was between being terrified by what could have happened to Lindsay, relief that she was ok, and the sudden realization of how much he cared. In real life things like that feel like dizzying slo-mo, and I think that the way it was done conveyed that perfectly.
I do realize that this is a crime show, not a romance show, but I don't mind seeing a bit of romance here and there. I don't want to give the wrong impression in my first post. But so far, I don't think this looks like it will be something very in your face or overdone overall.
In my mind, it was one of the better "moments" that a potential couple have had in a TV show. It was much more imaginative than the "accidental" kiss or the anger/fear/other emotion that abruptly turns into passion and a kiss that we've seen all too often in shows, and somehow more exciting for it being an emotional hug rather than starting out with a kiss. And I enjoy a romance that builds more than a relationship that suddenly just pre-exists like Mac and Peyton's sudden relationship or finding out that Grissom and Sara had been in a hidden relationship for a year. As it stands, a hug is not an instant relationship. It is just a sudden realization of feelings that have been lurking.
Despite what this may sound like, I didn't go into this episode being someone who wanted to see a relationship between Danny & Lindsay. Other than knowing what the preview was for the next week's show and that she seemingly pulled away (and yes, I've seen that full epi, too) I don't yet know what the future will bring for them since I'm so far behind in the shows. But I like that we're starting to see a different side of Lindsay and a more developed character. And, whatever her reasons for her pulling away in the next episode, her response to him this time was definitely more than just relief. There were feelings on her part, too. So, this episode made me suddenly willing to see if they do have chemistry together and to actually hope that something does develop between them.
I'm sorry this post was so long, especially as my first post!