Is the Old Danny Back?

[Top41]

The Amityville episode is geared towards those that like the pairing with Lindsay, and I think how much we see of the "Old Danny" in it is going to depend on the writing. So far, now that the characters are actually together, he's been more in character with Lindsay than he was last season when he let her use him like a "punching bag" (Carmine's phrase for it). Hopefully now that that is done, Danny will be able to actually be himself around her.

I think an episode like "Child's Play" is going to showcase Carmine's acting skills--and the personality traits that make Danny so fascinating and unique--better though.

 

[PrettyEyes]

I think an episode like "Child's Play" is going to showcase Carmine's acting skills--and the personality traits that make Danny so fascinating and unique--better though.

You couldn't have said it better. Carmine shines when he's allowed to portray "dramatic" Danny, as Tanglewood, RSRD and Raising Shane have proven. Those dramatic episodes are reminiscent of his film roles, particularly his indies.

As for "Child's Play," I firmly believe that he should be allowed to act this out on his own. He doesn't need anyone there as a crutch. TPTB have written Danny as strong, and he needs to be strong.

The witty, fun dialogue showcase Carmine as well though. I realize I'm in the minority, but the DL banter with the condom spray and geeking out over Mach 5 v. the Batmobile was great stuff. His "back in black" off-the-cuff remark to Mac was subtle, not bust-a-gut, in-your-face humor. His exchanges with Don and Sheldon, even Adam, are amusing and bring a level of ease during trying cases.

As for Danny getting his balls back, he never lost them. A man without balls wouldn't have acted as a distraction and taken the beating he did in SD.

 

[Top41]

I thought I'd throw this in here, too, since while I do believe Danny is showing some of his old snark and sass, I also noticed that Danny has looked tired and worn out lately. I know people noticed it in the first episode, but I noticed it in the most recent episode, "Time's Up," too--a distinct lack of energy. I know it's a long shot, but could they be setting the character up for someting--either an illness or a nervous break down??? Or is Carmine just tired of getting up at 6am?

 

[Twinkletoes]

Having only just watched the last episode I've come up with a different theory about Danny's lack of lustre; I think that maybe, in those episodes that don't prioritise Danny, Carmine deliberately downplays his performance so as not to upstage the other actors.

Let's face it, Danny's screen presence is so huge (*ahem* I said 'screen presence' ) that he can easily upstage another actor just by being there so I think he underplays his character occasionally so as not to dominate every scene and let the episode belong to the other characters.

Just a theory.....

 

[MrsGiovinazzo]

Whatever the cause of the tired appearance, I really hope it's an intentional decision. I'd be sad if they're setting Danny up for some kind of illness, but I'm sure Carmine could play it very well. We've seen broken Danny. I'm sure he could hit gravely ill Danny out of the park just as easily. I very much hope that it isn't an outward manifestation of the grind getting to be too much for Carmine.

 

[PrettyEyes]

Top41 said:
I thought I'd throw this in here, too, since while I do believe Danny is showing some of his old snark and sass, I also noticed that Danny has looked tired and worn out lately. I know people noticed it in the first episode, but I noticed it in the most recent episode, "Time's Up," too--a distinct lack of energy. I know it's a long shot, but could they be setting the character up for someting--either an illness or a nervous break down??? Or is Carmine just tired of getting up at 6am?

I replied over in the LR (I think it was that thread), but it wouldn't surprise me if they were setting him up for a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder storyline from SD. You know the drill. Nightmares of him being a hostage wake him up during the night, and he can't go back to sleep. He will probably have stopped eating. He'll probably become more withdrawn.

Save for the therapy ball he was squeezing in his hand during ep. 1, we really haven't seen continuing evidence of his injury. Psychological trauma would make sense, and wouldn't be obvious. Plus, Carmine would be able to showcase his acting chops even more.

 

[Faylinn]

True enough, but you'd think that both he and Adam would have PTSD--unless Adam being late for work one day counts.

 

[PrettyEyes]

^ You know, Fay, that's the one thing that bothers me. Adam came back with no burn scars and no trauma. They could have had AJ and Carmine act out psychological trauma from their shared hostage-experience together. But no. They're back to work lickety-split.

 

[Faylinn]

^^It really does bother me that the let such golden opportunities slip by with regard to continuity. Those storylines aren't just good for one episode, they're good for whole character arcs. *sigh*

 

[Ceindreadh]

I thought I'd throw this in here, too, since while I do believe Danny is showing some of his old snark and sass, I also noticed that Danny has looked tired and worn out lately. I know people noticed it in the first episode, but I noticed it in the most recent episode, "Time's Up," too--a distinct lack of energy. I know it's a long shot, but could they be setting the character up for someting--either an illness or a nervous break down??? Or is Carmine just tired of getting up at 6am?

Actually it's probably just all the great sex he's getting with Lindsay. Pool tables don't make for comfortable nights ;-)

 

[Top41]

^But Lindsay looks just fine! She must be a tiger in the sack if that's what's making Danny so worn out. :lol:

MrsGiovinazzo said:
Whatever the cause of the tired appearance, I really hope it's an intentional decision. I'd be sad if they're setting Danny up for some kind of illness, but I'm sure Carmine could play it very well. We've seen broken Danny. I'm sure he could hit gravely ill Danny out of the park just as easily. I very much hope that it isn't an outward manifestation of the grind getting to be too much for Carmine.

I kind of like the idea of TPTB setting him up to be sick. I wonder how Danny would handle something like that? And it would be a test for Lindsay, too, to see if she would be there to support him the way he supported her last season.

PrettyEyes said:
I replied over in the LR (I think it was that thread), but it wouldn't surprise me if they were setting him up for a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder storyline from SD. You know the drill. Nightmares of him being a hostage wake him up during the night, and he can't go back to sleep. He will probably have stopped eating. He'll probably become more withdrawn.

I like this idea, too. I mean, Danny has been through a lot in the last few years--nearly losing Louie, Aiden dying, nearly losing Flack, and then being held hostage...it would be understandable if he was near the breaking point psychologically. I think Carmine could knock the storyline out of the park, too.

As for why Danny and not Adam...well, I think they'd only have one of them suffer from PTSD because dramatically, two people would be overkill. Plus, Danny tends to internalize things and blame himself, whereas Adam seems better adjusted. Even how they behaved during the hostage situation indicates this--Danny basically provoked them, while Adam knew to keep his head down and wait for opportunities to act.

 

[PrettyEyes]

I mean, Danny has been through a lot in the last few years--nearly losing Louie, Aiden dying, nearly losing Flack, and then being held hostage...it would be understandable if he was near the breaking point psychologically.

This is so true. If we take S1 into account, Danny also dealt with the Minhas shooting, losing his position on the promotion grid and the Tanglewood fiasco, with having Sonny hanging over his head and waiting for that shoe to drop. Early S2, Aiden got herself fired, which must have also done a number on him as well, considering they were so close.

I'm not saying TPTB began the series with the idea of piling psychological pressures and stresses upon Danny, but now that we're in S4 they probably saw a seriously compelling storyline emerge through the pattern.

And it would be a test for Lindsay, too, to see if she would be there to support him the way he supported her last season.

This has me intrigued also. In the back of all our minds is the question of: Will she run away if something drastic happens? She did push him away for all of S2 and most of S3, as has been discussed previously. Knowing her history, TPTB could set up a situation where she can't deal with the sickness/PTSD/whatever affecting him and breaks up with him.

I hope not, but it would make for great TV with Carmine and Anna, in my opinion.

 

[Carrieattheprom]

All right, guys let's not get our hopes up too high. For TPTB to be that stellar with continuity is very unlikely. I really don't think it's anything intentional. Would be nice, but this show's let me down before.

 

[Top41]

PrettyEyes said:
This is so true. If we take S1 into account, Danny also dealt with the Minhas shooting, losing his position on the promotion grid and the Tanglewood fiasco, with having Sonny hanging over his head and waiting for that shoe to drop. Early S2, Aiden got herself fired, which must have also done a number on him as well, considering they were so close.

I'm not saying TPTB began the series with the idea of piling psychological pressures and stresses upon Danny, but now that we're in S4 they probably saw a seriously compelling storyline emerge through the pattern.

I think all of that adds up to a pretty trying few years for Danny. And I love the idea that he'd suffer a breakdown, because really, Danny is so the type of character that would. He holds it all in, then explodes, then kind of withdraws into himself again and takes criticism or worse without really reacting. He just internalizes it. When people try to talk to him about traumatic situations--like Aiden did with the psych review in s. 1 or Lindsay in "The Deep" he just shuts down. He confides in Flack, but I doubt he'd talked about what he went through in "Snow Day."

This has me intrigued also. In the back of all our minds is the question of: Will she run away if something drastic happens? She did push him away for all of S2 and most of S3, as has been discussed previously. Knowing her history, TPTB could set up a situation where she can't deal with the sickness/PTSD/whatever affecting him and breaks up with him.

I hope not, but it would make for great TV with Carmine and Anna, in my opinion.

I kind of doubt that they'd go that route since it would make Lindsay so unsympathetic, but it's possible. It would be a chance for her to really step up to the plate and help Danny out, help him get through whatever he's going through. Of course, they could be setting up for him to push her away or brush her off, kinda like he did in "The Deep." Either way, it would be interesting to see it play out!

 

[PerfectAnomaly]

Top41 said:
As for why Danny and not Adam...well, I think they'd only have one of them suffer from PTSD because dramatically, two people would be overkill. Plus, Danny tends to internalize things and blame himself, whereas Adam seems better adjusted. Even how they behaved during the hostage situation indicates this--Danny basically provoked them, while Adam knew to keep his head down and wait for opportunities to act.

I think having them both suffer psychological problems to different degrees would be a great story line. I also think it would be a great way to tie two characters who had vastly different reactions to a shared traumatic experience.

I don't think Adam is better adjusted or that he was waiting for an opportunity to act. Adam is socially awkward at work and he's admitted to suffering at least emotional abuse from his father. Adam was scared shitless and I don't think he would have done anything to try to escape. He would have waited until help arrived, or the baddies let him go, or he would have been killed. Plus he had the added guilt of giving up the lab to try and save himself. Danny was scared, but he was able to think clearly enough to come up with a plan, comfort Adam enough to help with it and then execute the plan even though it meant more injuries for himself. Adam is a scientist or techie or whatever TPTB are making him now that he's a regular character, and he wouldn't have a clue how to handle the situation. Danny's a cop and grew up having to watch his back, so I think he knew the baddies would never let them go. I saw his being the distraction for Adam as simply a cop doing what he needed to do to try and get out of a bad situation and save himself and the others and hopefully catch the baddies.

They both should have psychological issues but in totally different ways. I really don't expect anything to be addressed, however, so I'll be pleasantly surprised if it is. Even if it's only one of the two characters who goes through something.