Grade "Tanglewood"

[lament]

I think that maybe the Mafia paid for his education so that they could have another "connection" in law enforcement. And he would definitly owe them if that was the case. Any thoughts?

I wondered if it could be something like that, too. My only thing is that being funded by the Mafia would pretty much ruin him. At least, I would think it would. I mean, that would saddle him with a major appearance of impropriety at the least. And Mac would certainly have difficulty trusting him.

I do think, though, that maybe they let him leave the TB alive because they figured that on down the road, they could use his past to get him in their back pockets. That's probably what Sonny is counting on.

 

[Top41]

^I agree...if they go too far and have him in debt to the Mafia or still in the Tanglewood gang, they've got a problem because ethically, if Danny has gone too far or is still involved with the gang, he really shouldn't still be a CSI.

Posted by lament:
Good point about Danny's trust issues. I agree that trust is probably difficult for Danny. That's one of the things that's interesting about the Mac/Danny dynamic. Mac is honest, above-board, and all about trust and teamwork--a regular gung-ho Marine (Who wants to see him in uniform? ). He makes it seem so easy.

Yep, exactly. And he probably hasn't has the same bad experiences growing up that Danny has had. I doubt Mac grew up in a rough neighborhood. Not to say that he wouldn't have turned out just as honorable if he had, but he doesn't have that rough edge Danny has. So it is probably easier for him to trust people than it is for Danny.

Danny, though, may want to trust Mac, but holds back out of a general poverty of experience with people he can really trust, and probably a self-preservation instinct, as well. Even though he wants to trust Mac, he probably feels like he's got his back against the wall.

It's probably almost an animalistic thing--the guy probably feels cornered. People get desperate when that happens.

That said, part of me really wants Danny to come clean to Mac (or Stella) on his own. But part of me wants Mac to walk into the locker room or something and see Danny's TB tattoo without an "out date." Oh, the angst!

Maybe he'll walk into the locker room and demand to see Danny's tattoo. Is that legal? I wonder if he could force Danny to prove he doesn't have a Tanglewood tattoo.

 

[lament]

Maybe he'll walk into the locker room and demand to see Danny's tattoo. Is that legal? I wonder if he could force Danny to prove he doesn't have a Tanglewood tattoo.

I don't know if it's legal or not, but I could see Mac doing just that. And if Danny refuses to show Mac one way or another, that would be tantamount to admitting guilt in Mac's book.

I wonder if it would be better (drama-wise) for someone to accidentally see the tattoo.

 

[Top41]

Posted by lament:
I don't know if it's legal or not, but I could see Mac doing just that. And if Danny refuses to show Mac one way or another, that would be tantamount to admitting guilt in Mac's book.

Yeah, that kind of puts Danny in a tough position: the burden would be on him to prove he didn't have the tattoo. Of course, the net might not to have one guy asking another guy to strip, so maybe they'd have Stella do it. I could see her doing it, too, especially after how she was in "Officer Blue."

I wonder if it would be better (drama-wise) for someone to accidentally see the tattoo.

I don't know--a confrontation seems pretty dramatic. But it's also possible that someone could see it accidentially--one of the CSIs could walk in on Danny when he's changing.

I just kind of hope it isn't a case where the audience sees it first and then we get ten episodes of wondering when someone else is going to spot it. I don't want it dragged out forever.

 

[ThumpyG]

I would hope that the writers don't drag this out for a long time, especially with sweeps coming up this month.

either way, someone walking in and seeing it or Mac demanding to see it, it would be dramatic.

 

[Polly]

I've been considering Tanglewood for a week now, trying to figure out how it's all going to go down - a very difficult past-time, as there's so many different options.

The way I see it, something HAS to be at least mentioned in the next episode. This is not merely because I would like to see some Danny backstory. A bombshell was dropped on Mac, Danny, and, to some extent, Stella. How can there not be a reaction to this? Danny Messer was involved with the Tanglewood gang - more involved than he carefully implied. If nothing else, there's got to be a slight change in attitude between Mac and Danny, if not a comment or two. On that same thread, to me it sounded like Sonny essentially threatened Danny - "And we know all about him ..." and that's also not something that should be ignored by Mac and Stella. I'm just seriously hoping that it isn't going to be swept under the rug until they're ready to bring out the whole story.

 

[BittenByTheWolfe]

Exactly. It has to be mentioned, at least, if not outright dealt with. Unless they decide to pull it like CSI: Miami did with the whole Speed thing. However, that would be detrimental, in my opinion. The audience expects closure, the writers can't just shelve the storyline and then pick it up again when it's convenient for them to do so. Even if they decide they want to drag the storyline out, they should at least give it a nod in the next episode.

 

[Top41]

I have a bad, bad feeling that we won't get zip in the next episode, maybe even the next few. CSI shows are not good with follow up, at least in the episodes immediately following a bombshell. Look how the whole thing with Sara is being dragged out over on CSI.

If we were to see something, I'd expect Mac to be kind of chilly to Danny and Danny to be kind of withdrawn/avoiding the confrontation. I'd kind of like to see Stella confront him, just because I think that's something she'd totally do.

 

[Polly]

I've got a bad feeling about it as well, but I simply can't see how they can avoid dealing with it. CSI's track record isn't great, because yes, CSI has dragged Sara's backstory out for a long time, but her story wasn't exactly dropped in Grissom's lap, either. And I'd nearly forgotten how little impact Speed's death seemed to make on the Miami crew - the death of a friend isn't something that's easily brushed off, even by stoical CSIs. But please ... please please please, let CSI: New York do the right thing and NOT drop the story for the next few episodes.

I can't decide how Mac would react. On one hand he doesn't seem to be a confrontational guy, but I can't quite see him leaving it alone. Stella is someone I can definitely see confronting Danny, but the problem there is that she doesn't know the entire story ...

 

[lament]

My hope is that they will hold off on an actual confrontation between Mac and Danny, but that they will allude to some tension between the two...either chilliness or possibly a small comment from Mac such as "If you want to talk..."

That said, I don't want them to drag this out too long. But at the same time, I don't want them to do an insta-fix either.

I would, however, love to see Stella storm in with a "What the..." moment. That's just Stella. I think she'd want to know what's going on.

Also, I'm assuming that Flack and Aiden are pretty much in the dark about Sonny's comments. I mean, I don't see Mac and Stella gossiping at the water cooler. It will be interesting to see if they pick up on any tension.

 

[BittenByTheWolfe]

Ooh, I was sort of thinking about who's going to know and all. I mean, Flack sort of knows about Danny's knowledge about the gangs because Mac mentioned that it was Danny who told him that those boys hang out at that mall. But yeah, it should be interesting to see how the rest of that goes down.

Yeah, I don't think this should be resolved in the next episode, but I also don't think it should be ignored. A happy medium would be nice

 

[ThumpyG]

I am not a huge Stella fan, as she is still growing on me, but I do like her agressive behavior and her confronting Danny would be great to watch.

In an ideal world, I want the confrontation or at least acknowledgement of it to be between Mac and Danny.

I too don't have high hopes that they will show anything on the next new ep (NEXT WEEK ) but, hopefully I am wrong.

 

[Top41]

Yeah, Flack sort of knows, but we don't know if Mac ever mentioned Danny's name, either.

I'd like to see some tension between Mac and Danny, but for some reason, I don't see either of them bringing it up. Mac doesn't strike me as confrontational--he'd expect Danny to come to him. And Danny's obviously ashamed, so even though going to Mac would be the smart thing to do at this point, I don't see him doing it.

I'd kind of like to see Stella confront him about it. I hate it when characters tip toe around something--just get it out there and talk about it. Stella is just the character to do that.

 

[Ducky]

I just watched this episode... what a great one.
Yay!
Everytime Danny showed up, I went "aaaaaaaaawwwwwwwww"
:lol: and how cute it was when he went to ask from Mac how was Tanglewood case going and all nervous and stuff...

 

[BittenByTheWolfe]

but we don't know if Mac ever mentioned Danny's name, either.

He did. As they're in the mall parking lot, walking, Mac says "Danny said..." It's right at the beginning of the scene so it's slightly cut and I thought he actually said "He said..." but when I watched it again I'm sure I distinctly heard Danny's name.

Mac doesn't strike me as confrontational

Actually, with the way he seemed so...righteous (is that the word I'm looking for?) during the scene when Danny comes to his office, I actually could see Mac possibly being a bit confrontational in this situation. I mean, he seems the type to be able to keep his cool but I'm sure he has a breaking point and I think the possibility of one of his CSIs not being on the up and up with him might actually really piss him off. I mean, I don't see him screaming at Danny, but I could definitely see him being very angry and letting Danny know.