Laurence/Raymond: Man of Mystery

[PerfectAnomaly]

Not that I want to get into an old can of worms, but it's along the same lines as people begrudging Ray his happy ending. Yes, he was responsible for the whole mess, and it seemed people would have been a lot happier had Ray gone to prison. I contended that the rest of the team would've had to deal with the fallout either way, so what difference does it make? Pretty much the same people who feel strongly about Ray's happy ending are the same ones who dredge up the negativity about LF and won't let go.

LF is gone from CSI. The haters should be happy about that fact but they don't seem to be happy unless they're gleefully ragging on him in some way--like anything reported that's remotely negative about LF somehow validates their hatred for RL.

You're right. I've been turning cartwheels and giggling maniacally everytime I've posted something negative about Ray or something critical of LF.

The fact that you continue to make assumptions about the people who didn't like Ray and who don't like what LF said regardless of what they say says to me you're not interested in actually discussing anything but just like to throw out accusations and insults. That's fine. I've learned my lesson and will choose to ignore you from now on.

 

[DJRideout]

Okay, I'm just going to step in with a friendly reminder and remind ALL that everyone is allowed to like or dislike a character/actor (in this particular case Langston/Fishburne) and should be open to discuss it in a mature manner without teetering on the edge of comments getting personal (toward another poster or the actor themselves). And while some things one may or may not like, there is and will be someone that may think the opposite.

 

[byline]

OK, for better or worse, I'll weigh in with my thoughts. I like the actor, Laurence Fishburne, and thought he brought an interesting dynamic to the cast, especially in the beginning. But at some point, I began having problems with the way the character of Ray was being written. I don't know whose "fault" that is; the producers, the writers, or Fishburne seeking to direct the way his character developed? I have no idea, and it would be wrong of me to speculate. But because of the way the whole mess with Haskell developed, I did find myself feeling relieved that he wasn't coming back. Again, not because of the actor, but because I just didn't see anywhere else for Ray to go. He'd been written into a corner, and IMO it was best to just walk away. I would have liked a more creative resolution, but we got what we got, and so it's time to move on.

I do understand that Fishburne's interview comments were made in jest, but I suspect there was a bit of truth behind them, as well. As others have noted, sometimes humor is used to deflect or lighten what is still a harsh observation. Maybe he, too, was unhappy with how his character was written, and this is his way of commenting on it. I tend to be in the "some things are better left unsaid" camp, but I also know that people are people, and things slip out. I haven't lost respect for Laurence Fishburne, the actor. It is true that there's a lot of "stupid" stuff out there, in both film and TV. Some of it even on our beloved "CSI" . . . because we've complained about it. Also, the technical lingo is something that all the actors have complained about. How do you "act" that, day in and day out, and give reams of technical jargon new life? So what he said wasn't off the wall or inaccurate, just maybe not great from a PR standpoint.

 

[Gloriana]

@Byline - I agree with so much of what you expressed. I personally found the Ray Langston character intriguing and often really endearing, and I was truly bummed out when I read that he was not coming back for another season. Still, if he had stayed, I'm not sure the writers could have ever resolved the glaring problems I agree were there from the beginning.

When I take a look at everything, it just seems like there was a whole mess of stuff going on with this series, starting when Gary Dourdan left. Warrick was such a beloved character, and his character was sent off with a death rather than a goodbye exit. Then, not long after, the MOST beloved character, Gil Grissom, also left. They had the writer's strike going on during this period as well, and it almost seems like some sort of 'snowball effect' started, and things became so disjointed and just plain weird after that.

I could not tell what was going on, I didn't know if the writers were just freaking out and getting stressed out, or if there was some kind of communication break-down between the show's staff and CBS, or if it was both. It just got chaotic and mangled to me. Riley Adams was introduced as a new main character, she didn't work very well, and then she disappeared. The Sara Sidle character reappeared in a really odd way, and it did not seem like the writers were prepared for that AT ALL, to me it felt like the writers were frantically pounding out ideas on the fly to put her back into the fold. They worked on the Hodges/Wendy romance some more, and then Wendy left too. The cases got more disjointed, and I think most hardcore fans noticed they were negating a ton of already established rules and history as if we just wouldn't notice, but a lot of people did.

So I'm not sure if the Ray Langston character or Fishburne himself ever had much of a chance. I'm just speaking from a viewer standpoint, I'm not preoccupied with anything he said or did off camera. In the series itself, I personally felt frustrated because I truly loved the Langston character but I too felt like there was so much written for him that felt out-of-place and awkward. When I look at the dialogue itself as written for him, I'm not sure any actor could have made it work. I'm not blaming the writers outright, I am not sure Fishburne himself ever really completely committed to that character. I don't think it was any one person's fault, I think there just seemed to be so much miscommunication and chaos going on with that series from so many angles.

The glaring plot holes in the writing, the stunt casting, the cast shuffling, how they kept building elements of a story with the audience only to make them disappear without explanation. It just didn't seem like anyone involved was agreeing on where to go with it or what to do with it once Dourdan, Fox, and Petersen left, and I don't think I'm off-base to say I think there was a panic about how all of it would effect ratings (and in turn, advertising revenue). I might be reading too much into it, but the actors seemed kind of exhausted and confused all around, not just Mr. Fishburne. I wonder sometimes if the writers were forced to dump a lot of carefully planned stories because of pressure from CBS to preserve their ratings darling. It really felt that way a lot of the time.

I can't think Fishburne was happy in any respect because (from what little I've read) it doesn't seem like there were any negotiations about contracting him for a few episodes just to tie things up. He might have had a lot of problems in that role, but I just don't think it's ever any ONE person's fault when this kind of stuff happens on established series, you know?

There were episodes I felt the Ray Langston character was wonderful and on target, and there were also episodes where I felt he was out of place and something was missing in terms of chemistry. I also got tired of the entire Nate Haskell storyline, and I personally threw my hands up with the 'Dr Jekyll' story, but I felt it was more a failure in the writing myself because I honestly can't imagine how ANY actor could have worked with that particular material.

That's just me, though, I don't want to come off like I'm gratuitously bashing anything here. For the record, I don't think anyone is wrong or foolish for either disliking the Langston character or liking the Haskell/Jekyll plots. Not at all. This is just where I'm personally coming from.

I really do miss Ray Langston, though! I really do. I WISH there was some time machine to go back and have a do-over, because I think he could have been a much better addition than he turned out to be. Suffice it to say, I just think it was the result of a whole myriad of problems from a lot of different camps, not just one actor, you know?

 

[byline]

You make a lot of very good points, Gloriana. There was a whole lotta stuff going on, and it may be that the problems we saw with Ray were only the tip of the iceberg, part of a much larger post-Grissom picture.