Grade 'Sleight Out of Hand'

goldnhart said:
I am not a D/L shipper, so that doesn't play into my opinion. However, I did not like CSI:NY very much until Lindsay came along. I thought Season 1 was as dreary and gray as the shady colors they purposely shot it with. I've really enjoyed the past two seasons, and this might be my favorite season yet. The cases have been better, especially the T-shirt killer, and there has been better continuity than in the past.
With all due respect, JDonne, we each have our own opinions, and it's not necessary to put down the feelings of those who like the way things are going. We are not stupid or lacking in judgment.
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It's not so much Lindsay, if you ask me. I feel Anna Belknap is.... not good. Not terrible like some other people say she is, but she's "off" compared to the rest of the actors. Something's just not right. I mean, cahill does a great job as Flack, Harper does a great job at Hawkins, Giovianna (sic) does a great job as Danny, Kanderes (sic) does a great job as Stella, and Sinise does a terrific job as Mac.

It's just hard to compare. Belknap is... bland. I have no problem with the character Lindsay, but Belknap...
 
Perhaps we can steal a page from "Grey's Anatomy" and convince NY to make a Flack spin-off. I'm grasping at straws, but hey, you never know!
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I say we fan the flames for Camp Flack a little more and hope the writers get around to something. It looks as if they responded to the audience's affectionate taking to Adam.

But I'd totaly be behind a Flack spin-off. If it means I get to watch him verbally slap some people around, my butt would plant itself in front of the TV each week. :lol:

And didn't we say that Sid was keeping Danny's junk in a pickle jar in his filing cabinet or something?
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That's right, the pickle jar. *sighs* Oh Sid, how could you?

But really in all honesty, I could care less if Danny was in a relationship or not. I don't care if he was straight, gay, single, taken, slutty, pathetically lonely (as midnight humorously pokes at) -- whatever. I'm just disappointed the character now has to act as a crutch for another main character. Now with Lindsay's dark secret out of the way, I'm afraid of what the writers will put in it's place. Will she only become a romantic interest for Danny? Will I only be able to learn about her as a character through Danny? I shouldn't have too. Ok yeah I learned she once drove a Pinto due a conversation with Hawkes (was it him?) but that's it. For as much build up as it had, the 'super dark scary secret' was hardly scary nor much of a secret. It was dragged out so long with so many awkward and tedious moments that I didn't care to invest any emotional interest in it. Despite my little moment of false hope during the court case, I felt the conclusion of it all was just...flat.

But I've also come to the conclusion that Danny's an attention whore. First he steals Hawkes' moment in the locker room by stripping off his shirt, and then he takes away from what should have been a pivotal moment for Lindsay by trying to kiss her.

You think two centric episodes and a ton of other character developing moments would be enough. He has to invade. :rolleyes:
 
CSI: New York says it's okay to set my boss on fire. Thanks, CSI: New York. Your wish is my command. Bitch woke me up today and made me work a double shift.
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:lol: :lol: too funny! great post!
 
I really have nothing other to say than these few things:

-Gave it a B. Would've been an A, but I damn near threw up at the end and I hate throwing up. Such an unnecessary thing for two people who are just going to be friends. I almost had a stroke when they followed Danny home, thinking this was IT. And then he just goes home, looks at his mail and says, "Follow your instincts." WTF?! Waste of time, because next time, those two will act as if nothing ever happened. :/

-If I didn't already love Criss Angel, this episode would have cemented it for me. He did so well last night! His last scene was awesome.

-It's been said already before, but the banter between Hawkes and Flack is hysterical. :lol: The difference between RNA and DNA made me laugh for a long time last night.

-Oh yeah, ETA. This whole damn episode was too choppy. Naturally, as soon as things started getting good with Luke Blade, we'd cut back to Lindsay's courtroom drama. I don't give two shits about Lindsay or anything that happened with her 10 years ago.
 
Faylinn said:
Midnight, it's 4:30 in the morning and I'm supposed to be in bed, but here I am laughing my ass off at your post. Are you sure you don't want to marry me? :lol:

ThisIsMe, thanks muchly for the penguin visual. :p

SimplyBlue, excellent points. :) Perhaps we can steal a page from "Grey's Anatomy" and convince NY to make a Flack spin-off. I'm grasping at straws, but hey, you never know! :lol:

And didn't we say that Sid was keeping Danny's junk in a pickle jar in his filing cabinet or something? :p
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I have to agree with Faylinn -- Midnight that was a great post. I don't usually laugh out loud at posts, but I did at yours. Some great points.

Simply Blue your post was also good and made some very good points. I am not sure who is getting a spin-off from Grey's -- but that is probably because I stopped watching that show at the end of last season. I just lost interest.

I haven't seen the theory that Sid is keeping Danny's masculinity in a jar, but I do love it :)
 
I liked this episode but not as much as the last 2 episodes.
Criss Angel is hot and he is a great illusionist.
Mac was so sweet when he gave the rose to Stella.
The whole Danny/Lindsay almost kissing is pushing it too much, is giving me the sensation it wants to be like CSI LV with Grissom and Sara *grins*.
Anyway it was good, not excellent but good.
 
B not great, but not terrible either

liked Cris Angel, he did better then most of the other guest stars on the show. the case was interesting, and tired Danny was funny. Also Hawkes and Flack were pure gold! :D

the court case was okay, wasn't especially interesting
I'm not into D/L but it wasn't that bad :p
just they don't turn the show into 55 minutes D/L and 5 for cases

Also, pegiuns rule :lol:
 
Defintely one of my fave eps of this season!
I loved the Danny/Lindsey stuff at the end.
I also loved when Mac conjured up the red rose and gave it to Stella! (Anybody suspect that I just *might* be a shipper?)
I also really liked the fact that there was only one case (unless you count the backflashes to the one Lindsay was a witness to as a teenager) in the ep; makes it easier to follow than the multiple storylines. And the end, with Mac shooting the water tank, was a great visual effect.
Have to say that I think the woman kind of created the monster who almost killed her, though. No decent human being would "get rid of" a six-year-old child because he was difficult to control. Yes, I've heard of parents who've had to relinquish custody of out-of-control teenagers in order to protect the safety of their younger children, but anybody who can't control a kindergartner has no business having ANY children!!
 
C+

One plotline so good, the other so bad...where to begin. Criss Angel was great--I loved the case of the illusionist who hides behind his tricks to commit murder. Clever, well-written, engaging--everything that can be good about a case!

Flack and Hawkes were so funny--now that Danny's every emotion will no doubt come from the silly romance, I think the focus should be on Flack and Hawkes as a comedic duo. They made me laugh, really laugh, with their back-and-forth snarking. :lol:

I liked Mac's investigation into magic, and I thought his line to Danny about setting him on fire was great! Danny never seems to want to go along with Mac's experiments--his reluctance is amusing.

That brings me to the bad, the oh-so-very bad. The silly romance, the one that belongs in a teen drama--and not even a good teen drama. To echo what someone else said above, did Lindsay's trial even matter? We don't know the killer's motive, don't know anything about the aftermath of the shooting, don't really know anything about the suffering mothers save for seeing them in the courtroom. The whole thing has been barebones at best.

I agree with ejacksonian above--much of the problem is Belknap. The storyline is weak, but a more gifted actress could have made me care. Belknap wasn't as bad as she usually is in emotional scenes, but she still wasn't good--there was still mostly face scrunching and flat delivery abounding. The hallucination scene was laughable to me. It should serve as a warning to pregnant actresses everywhere: don't go back to work after three weeks, because you won't have lost the baby weight. :lol: What I also found funny was that the lab tech Danny hallucinated away was far more attractive than the one he was imagining. :lol:

Lindsay is barely a character in her own right as it is, and having Danny come in at the end of what should have been her storyline (weak as it was) pretty much shuts out any chance of her ever becoming a character in her own right. She's Danny's love interest, and a poor one at that, stuck in the main credits. What a waste, a complete and utter waste, when there are truly compelling characters--Sid, Adam, Peyton (a great example of what a talented actress can do with a 'love interest' role)--and far more talented and deserving actors of that coveted slot in the credits.
 
First, let me start out with adding my enjoyment of this episode, primarily but not exclusively caused by the performance of Criss Angel. Personally, I've never seen Criss Angel Mindfreak or anything else he's been on so my only ill-conceived notions of the man were associated with David Copperfield. For that I apologize to Criss Angel and all Criss Angel fans. This man was awesome. He had me totally blown away. Unlike other stunt casting, this man had me believing his character and afraid of him at the end. He was a madman! This man needs to do other acting roles...he's great!

Next, the writers didn't let us forget about the struggle Stella is currently going through. Just a quick glimpse at the knowhivaids.org site but it was enough to remind us all of what happened. I'm curious to see how the show will conclude the storyline. I don't think they will have her HIV positive, but you never know. They did with Mark Harmon's character on 'St. Elsewhere'.

On the other hand, I really wish they'd move away from this 'bipolar' Danny like he doesn't know what he wants. He's a great devoted CSI (as evidenced by his fatigue caused round the clock work prior to the magic case but still he didn't want to leave Mac a man down until he absolutely had to.) However, he had no problem heading out to Montana when he was supposed to be at home getting some sleep.

I didn't see when Lindsay left for Montana so I don't know if he knew what was going on. Even if he did, I wonder if he really understood the problems she was having with it until Stella mentioned it after the phone call. It sort of looked like he started 'thinking' then.

But of course, the writers had to make him look 'batty' by imagining Lindsay walking through the lab. I know he was tired and probably thinking about her but that just made him look obsessed. When he hadn't even mentioned her in the previous episodes? Doesn't make sense for me.

Finally, Anna Belknap is back. Wow. She couldn't have been gone more than a month. Granted she's still in 'bulky' clothes but she looks great.

Her scenes on the stand left something to be desired but overall they were good. She felt the pain again of having to relive the murder of her best friends, but she'd moved far enough past it that testifying didn't totally consume her.

The murders still occupied her thoughts (as you could tell with her issues in "Silent Night" and others) and that's understandable. Not only was she the only survivor, but she probably questioned herself (as well as others questioning her) as to why she didn't do anything, why was she the lucky one to go to the bathroom at the 'right' time, did she have any 'previous knowledge', was that why he killed everyone but didn't go into the bathroom to check on someone in there? Going back to school had to be hard too with the other kids possibly calling her a freak or avoiding her because all her friends were killed. (I mean seriously, if you knew someone was the only survivor of something like that...would you seek them out to be their best friend?)

In New York, she'd started to be accepted for herself. Mac knew of the case as well as Stella (eventually). But she couldn't bring herself to talk to the others. (Possible fear of ostracizing herself again. Would the others understand? Would they treat her like a leper, a weirdo?)

I saw Danny's arrival in the courtroom wasn't to give her confidence to testify, but clarification that he did understand. He knew what happened but he was there for her. His sympathetic smile as she spoke even told her that he was proud of her. Maybe something she hadn't gotten before.

What I'm curious to see is the development of this relationship and Lindsay's character. Will she fall into an obsessive relationship with Danny because he's the first man that has shown her attention but didn't think her a freak? Will she be able to get close to him knowing that in their line of work he could very well end up like her friends? Actually that might be a good episode...a hostage situation or shooting with Danny and possibly Lindsay involved. Will it cause strain? Will she be able to handle it?

I may not have started out a fan of ANY relationships in the CSI world, but I really like how they've made CSI:NY more people focused than the others. This open relationship would never work for CSI:LV. The Las Vegas crew works better with 'behind the scene' romances. Even Warrick's marriage was played out primarily behind the scenes.

Oh, don't think I forgot to mention Flack. He was great as always and I really enjoy his time on the screen...but I think everyone has hit on him enough. (RNA vs. DNA....priceless!)

TTFN
 
redbaron said:


Her scenes on the stand left something to be desired but overall they were good. She felt the pain again of having to relive the murder of her best friends, but she'd moved far enough past it that testifying didn't totally consume her.

The murders still occupied her thoughts (as you could tell with her issues in "Silent Night" and others) and that's understandable. Not only was she the only survivor, but she probably questioned herself (as well as others questioning her) as to why she didn't do anything, why was she the lucky one to go to the bathroom at the 'right' time, did she have any 'previous knowledge', was that why he killed everyone but didn't go into the bathroom to check on someone in there? Going back to school had to be hard too with the other kids possibly calling her a freak or avoiding her because all her friends were killed. (I mean seriously, if you knew someone was the only survivor of something like that...would you seek them out to be their best friend?)

In New York, she'd started to be accepted for herself. Mac knew of the case as well as Stella (eventually). But she couldn't bring herself to talk to the others. (Possible fear of ostracizing herself again. Would the others understand? Would they treat her like a leper, a weirdo?)
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What you write here is interesting sadly, Anna Belknap was not able to convey any of it during her many many scenes relating to her backstory. It is again a case of the viewers’ imaginations having to compensate for a poorly told story and less that convincing acting.
 
Actually that might be a good episode...a hostage situation or shooting with Danny and possibly Lindsay involved. Will it cause strain? Will she be able to handle it?
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All I have to say is, if the writers have forgotten all about Danny's storylines this season, only to bring them up when it's convenient for something with Lindsay, I'll have a conniption fit. The way to correct a character that can't stand on their own is not to take another character and make them dependent on the other as well. Just no. (Not that it's what you were suggesting, redbaron, but I thought I'd mention it.)

Excellent post, Top41. :D

***

Alright, I finally re-watched the episode--I still haven't re-watched "The Ride In," but I couldn't put off popping this one in the VCR. Luckily, it was better the second time around, and I missed some things during the first viewing--but how many people watch an episode of shows like this more than once? The first impression I got of the episode was uneven and slightly off, and if I hadn't rewatched it, there would have been little value to it beyond the scene between Flack and Hawkes.

But I'm going to leave comments that I scribbled down as I was watching the episode. Sorry if they seem a bit random. :)

~ That girl getting sawed in half? Owowowowowow! *cringe*

~ Mac hopping off of the stage--not graceful. At all.

~ Flack with the 'fake fly' thing was priceless. :lol:

~ Flack snarking the magic shop guy--kinda hot. ;)

~ I made a note of the fact that Lindsay said something about testifying as a forensics expert in 'a hundred' trials, or 'hundreds' of trials--it's probably not relevant, I just thought it was a point of interest

~ Lindsay said hello to 'everyone', Danny, not just you. :rolleyes: But honestly, I didn't see anything remotely resembling thoughts-of-love in his expression--he just looks kind of lost a lot lately (and no, not in the I-miss-my-twu-wub kind of way). Maybe that's his 'the cogs are turning in my brain' face. *shrug*

~ Ooh, a "Zodiac" preview! Jake Gyllenhaal is yummy, I don't care about his sexual orientat--sh**, that was off-topic. Never mind, carry on. :)

~ Danny's facial expressions are hilarious--the scene where he and Stella are watching Luke get set on fire? Gotta love the looks on his face.

~ Stella called him "Dan."

~ Tell the truth, Lindsay, you went to the bathroom because your lunch hit your stomach wrong.

~ Mac as 'Merlin'--aye, make my fanfic muse behave!

~ The CSIs are so cute when they're confused (like at the end of the fire stunt when they're outside the barricade).

~ Am I the only one who was slightly annoyed by the way that reporter was talking? It was like she had to take...a breath every so often...and it really stood out.

~ Danny: Avada Kedavra!...oops, wrong one. My bad.

~ Dude, what in the hell possessed them to do a shot of Anna's stomach when 'Lindsay' walked down the hall? In a bright color no less! Unless I'm supposed to believe that Danny was hallucinating about her being there and about her being his baby-mama, they should have limited it to upper-body shots. Really, we'd recognize her if you just showed her face. :rolleyes: Cut Anna some slack, damnit!

~ Oh, and that girl he was looking at when he was hallucinating looked nothing like Lindsay. Just saying. Yes, Danny, you are losing your mind. We just can't figure out why or where it's gone.

~ That scene about Houdini is still the best part of the episode for me. Flack's expression was priceless. I would love to have heard what kind of snappy comeback he'd have given Hawkes for the comment about knowing the difference between RNA and DNA. And that little arm-nudge when Flack walked off? :lol: Hawkes is going to be hearing about that for a while. :p

~ I still feel like I missed something during the 'go with your instincts' scene. :confused: WTF did that even mean? And if he's that out-of-it, should he be driving?

~ Like others have said, I would have thought that Stella would have had more of a reaction to Luke's history.

~ "I iz a snazzy en-y-pee-dee detective, so I can go into the courtroom right smack-dab in the middle of a witness testimony for a murder trial!!1"...Really, is that allowed, people just walking in like that?

~ Flack being out of breath when he came to tell them about the missing truck--aww, it was kinda cutesy. :p

~ Yeah, Criss, you're a "highly pissed off professional." And batshit crazy to boot. "Escape-ology"--is that even a word?

~ Yay for Super Mac!!!

~ Take 'im down, Flack-o! (That scene was a bit meh, actually, because something about the body movements was...stiff or obvious or something.)

~ And the award for best repeated grunting sound (combined with blowing hair out of the eyes) goes to...Criss Angel! Congrats, my friend, you really earned it.

~ 'Oh, I am immediately over any and all personal issues that have prevented me from having at that ass, Danny. Now kiss me!'

~ I'm sure Danny's doofus kissy expression will make the front page of the Bozeman newspaper. "Witness (and former Bozeman resident) Lindsay Monroe and mysterious leather-clad city boy are OMG-SO-IN-LUV!!! (full story on page 3)" :rolleyes: (Maybe his jacket wasn't leather, I forget. You get the idea anyway.)

Anyway, it sucks that the ending can put such a smear of stinky, corn-filled poo over the entire episode. The case was actually good on it's own, but the Lindsay stuff didn't put me in a happy place before a five or six week break...

That's all, sorry it was so long. :lol: I'd say the episode was a B+. The case itself almost made up for ~5 minutes of utter crap, but not quite.
 
I was just going to say 'stinky poo' but the corn bit just kind of came to me, and who am I to ignore the promptings of sudden inspiration? :p
 
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