Grade "Tanglewood"

[lament]

All right. Now that I've gotten some rest, here are my thoughts:

-First of all, "Tanglewood" was a brilliant episode, easily one of the two best.

-I'm happy to say that it lived up to the hype! They promised Danny backstory, and they gave us Danny backstory.

-I definitely think Danny was far more involved than he led Mac to believe. I half-expected him to go into the locker room to change and reveal a tatoo. I'm guessing the writers want to string us along for a while. :lol:

-As for the office conversation with Mac...That had all the markings of a little boy who broke one of Dad's prized possession and went to own up to it, but chickened out. I think Danny full well intended to come clean with Mac, but just lost his nerve.

-So, how involved was he? I think Danny was actually a member of the gang for a while. I can't believe that he was a wannabe. I don't think he'd try to hide that. Plus, I don't think Sonny would've bothered to keep tabs on a wannabe.

-I'm guessing that Danny got into the gang and realized too late what he'd gotten himself into and escaped. Now, he has to live with the guilt and shame of his terrible choice. I'd say any criminal activity would be limited to minor stuff. Otherwise, they'd have a hard time justifying to the audience how he's still a cop.

-Sonny was fabulous! They've got to bring him back as a recurring nemesis.

-I definitely think we'll see some reprecussions of Danny's secret. Maybe he'll wind up suspended or losing his promotion at some point. I think, though, that Mac will hold back for a while to see what happens, maybe to give Danny time to come clean. It will be interesting to see how this revelation affects Danny's relationships with Mac and Stella.

 

[ThisIsMe]

Posted by keiko:

Posted by ThisIsMe:
I was thinking...what if back in the day, Danny wanted to be a member of the Tanglewood Boys like the guy that they killed.

But why didn't they kill Danny if he was just a wannabe?

Because he's special. :lol:

I didn't mean that Danny was a wannabe. I meant that he had the want to be a member like the other guy. Danny already said that they wanted him to join, so I was thinking that maybe he willingly joined, then he backed out. That's all.

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"Ask Danny Messer...Ask him the odds of me going away."
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[Top41]

Posted by lament:
-I definitely think Danny was far more involved than he led Mac to believe. I half-expected him to go into the locker room to change and reveal a tatoo. I'm guessing the writers want to string us along for a while. :lol:

I think we'll be seeing that tattoo before too long. I think it's there, and it's almost a matter of time before we see it. Or find out definitively in some other way, but we're all gonna be looking for that tattoo now. :lol:

-As for the office conversation with Mac...That had all the markings of a little boy who broke one of Dad's prized possession and went to own up to it, but chickened out. I think Danny full well intended to come clean with Mac, but just lost his nerve.

I am definitely going to watch that scene again. If Danny was going to own up, then Mac praising him for making the right choice was what probably broke his resolve. Mac was basically saying how much he admired him, and Danny was going to have to turn around and say, "actually..." I couldn't do it, that's for sure.

-So, how involved was he? I think Danny was actually a member of the gang for a while. I can't believe that he was a wannabe. I don't think he'd try to hide that. Plus, I don't think Sonny would've bothered to keep tabs on a wannabe.

No way was he a wannabe. Danny is many things, but a wannabe is not one of them. I have a feeling he wanted to belong to something as much as Mac did to the Marines and Paul wanted to be with the Tanglewood Gang. And the Tanglewood Gang wanted Danny, so...he joined. And you're right; Sonny wouldn't keep tabs on a wannabe. We've seen what he does to wannabes.

-I'm guessing that Danny got into the gang and realized too late what he'd gotten himself into and escaped. Now, he has to live with the guilt and shame of his terrible choice. I'd say any criminal activity would be limited to minor stuff. Otherwise, they'd have a hard time justifying to the audience how he's still a cop.

That would be my guess as well. I think the last scene implied that he was pretty darn ashamed. And to compound it, he obviously made the effort to get out of the gang, but it's come back to haunt him anyways.

-Sonny was fabulous! They've got to bring him back as a recurring nemesis.

Loved him. I love the Deluise boys. Either he or his brother was on Seaquest DSV. So much fun. And I have a feeling he's going to try to put pressure on Danny to get him out of jail.

-I definitely think we'll see some reprecussions of Danny's secret. Maybe he'll wind up suspended or losing his promotion at some point. I think, though, that Mac will hold back for a while to see what happens, maybe to give Danny time to come clean. It will be interesting to see how this revelation affects Danny's relationships with Mac and Stella.

The interesting thing is, Mac and Stella know, and Danny knows they know. But they don't know that he knows that they know (sound convoluted enough yet? :lol: ). It will be interesting to see if one of them brings it up in a future episode.

 

[lament]

I think we'll be seeing that tattoo before too long. I think it's there, and it's almost a matter of time before we see it. Or find out definitively in some other way, but we're all gonna be looking for that tattoo now.

You know what would really be the bomb? If we (and Mac) see the tattoo and discover that there's no out date.

 

[Top41]

Posted by lament:
You know what would really be the bomb? If we (and Mac) see the tattoo and discover that there's no out date.

That would literally make my jaw drop, I think. And you know what? It could just be that there is no out date. Which would explain Sonny's supreme confidence in knowing "all about" Danny.

 

[ThisIsMe]

Posted by lament:
You know what would really be the bomb? If we (and Mac) see the tattoo and discover that there's no out date.

Whoa, that would definately throw everyone for a loop!!

....if that's the case, he could always just say he has a newly aquired fear of needles and couldn't go get the out date added.... :lol:

 

[Top41]

^Heh, or he could say that he just intended to get it removed and never got around to it. There are a myriad of bad excuses Danny could come up with... :lol:

 

[Guest]

I may be wrong but I believe that in Italian, "Messer" is used to address esquires, as in Messer Giovanni Bentivogli, for example. So I would assume that it could also be an Italian surname.

I wonder when the "sequel" to Tanglewood will be. I hope we don't have to wait a long time to find out more.

 

[keiko]

has anyone seen gilmore girls? the guy who played sonny was in some of the episodes, he played this really stupid guy who probably wouldn't be able to find his own nose without a detailed map. at first I thought he would be like that in this episode too, but man was he scary :O

 

[ThisIsMe]

^^
I've seen those Gilmore Girls episodes! I knew he looked familiar! He played Luke's brother-in-law. He was so funny on that show!

 

[keiko]

but all this things with the tanglewood boys.. if they were a treath (don't really know how to spell that) to Danny, why is he still in New York? I mean, if I had some unfinished business with guys ike that.. I would Not stay in that city :O


haha, he was sooo good and I hated him so much. he was too stupid

 

[Guest]

I really, really loved this episode. It was even better than recycling. Really, really good. Aiden and Danny do work really well together, especially when he made that "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" comment. Hehehe...a little corny, but it was fun! Sooooo fun! I'm also beginning to hope, and think that they're shying the focus away from the older characters and putting the spotlight on the younger ones. The background on Danny, especially that cliffhanger-ish end was a true EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE moment.

Although, I do think that Danny was an actual member of the Tanglewood boys but I don't really think he totally lied to Mac about being one. From my memory, about the part where Mac says "You should be proud of yourself for making that decision" or something along the lines, and Danny responds " I am, I am," I think Danny meant that he was proud of getting out but he implied that he did it too late. Make sense any?

Overall, I gave it an A plus. And if they keep this stuff up, I'm sure they'll give Law & Order a real run for their money.

 

[lament]

why is he still in New York? I mean, if I had some unfinished business with guys ike that.. I would Not stay in that city :O

If his family has connections, maybe they pulled some strings to get the TB to leave Danny alone.

Or maybe it's all his girlfriends. *cough* :lol:

 

[ThumpyG]

All in all, I thought that the writing of this episode was amazing- one of my favorites thus far.

I am especially looking forward to future shows with Danny and Mac together. I am anxious to see how they will react to one another. Mac is obviously a mentor to Danny and the disbelief and shock on Mac's face after Sonny's announcement was real.

Kudos to the writers for the cliffhanger and the storyline- I hope that they take their time with this storyline with Danny and not shove it under the rug.

I still think that Danny is HOT, even though it appears that he (used) to gang-bang, mafia-style. Of course, that just makes me like him more, :devil:

 

[BittenByTheWolfe]

Ok, so I rewatched the episode...

I definitely gave this episode an A+. For one, Stella did not bother me in the least bit. She seemed...human. It even seemed like she had a bit of a heart, for example, when Mac said "Lucky for us, it happened out here..." she kind of gives him this look like "Uh, this kid being dead is lucky?" Also, she made a point of taking a profile picture of the kid because she didn't want his mother to see all the wounds he had. So Stella? Rock on!

Ahh, the Danny backstory. This rocked my socks to no end, I love backstory and I love Danny so the marriage of the two makes Mariel a very happy girl. Ok, Mac obviously knows a little something about Danny and the Tanglewood involvement, otherwise he wouldn't have gone to Danny in the first place. How much does he know, though? Probably not much since Danny did end up explaining a bit to him (although that was more of an expository for the audience) but the fact is, Mac does know something. Hmm. Also, when Danny goes to Mac's office with the air of "fessing up" it seemed to me that Mac knew something was up then, too. Maybe he knew that Danny wanted to confess something and so wanted to reassure him...it seemed that way to me when he threw in a detailed list of all the reasons why Danny should be proud of who he has become. Again, it makes me think Mac knows something more than we think he does, but with Danny's obvious guilt here and at the end, perhaps it still isn't the whole story. I look forward to finding out more.

What I found interesting was the possible foreshadowing with Danny's comment as he and Aiden process the massage parlor. He mentions that most of those places are owned by the Asian mob and that once the women are hired they can't quit. He uses the word trapped. Again, hmm. Something to think about anyways.

Finally, I found the promo for the next episode to be interesting, at one point they show someone being interrogated and this person says "We handle things internally," and then there is a cut to Mac saying "So do we." Now, I'm inclined to think perhaps the two cuts are not from the same scene since the background didn't look consistent. I also know that Mac's line could probably have nothing to do with whatever the interrogated man was saying, but, I was wondering if maybe, for the sake of the promo, the two cuts were spliced together to sort of foreshadow Danny's dilemma. Is IAB going to be brought in? Or is Mac going to deal with it himself?

All in all, I loved this episode. The characters seemed to be rounded out believably, even Sonny was awesome, he was a strong antagonist when usually the criminals are rather uninspiring. I agree that he needs to come back and cause some more trouble.