On Loyalty, or Will Flack Ever Have to Choose Sides?

Discussion in 'CSI: New York' started by Top41, Jan 8, 2007.

  1. glam_chic86

    glam_chic86 Head of the Graveyard Shift

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    Firstly, I think loyalty is a quality, not a choice so I find Flack is just naturally that way. If there does ever come a time where Flack has to choose sides he'll probably go with whatever is morally right, not who he loyals most if that makes sense. Like, his best friend could do the worst crime possible & even though Flack respects him he'll probably go with what's properly expected of him. We all seen Flack turn on Mac before & that was because of loyalty. However, I also felt that Flack chose sides at that moment as well. It was a combination of both basically. I just think that if worse comes to worse Flack will probably back down. Basically, if Flack has to choose between his teammates & the police he's gonna go with whatever feels right for him. He knows he's not gonna side with the bad guys, even if he's known them for eternity. Good always outweighs everything in the end.

    I apologize if my post confused you. I had all these wonderful ideas in my mind but putting them down in a post is more complicated then one can imagine :lol:.
     
  2. Railynn

    Railynn Rookie

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    I love the idea of Danny's family being involved in an upcoming eps. And Flack having to help the Messer family and the Captain being mad because he hates the Messer’s. I don't know if Flack will be involved or not but I read somewhere that Danny problems aren't over I believe Anthony Zuiker said something along the lines of "...he just can't seem to shake his pervious life" so that promising that something might happen. That may cause problems being that Danny and Flack are such great friends.

    I do hate that we basically know nothing about Flack. I know the show is called CSI, and Flack it’s a CSI. But neither is Sid and we know some stuff about him. I just wish they would make Flack a bigger part of the show. Flack a great character and Eddie and such a great actor (and sooo pretty). I also heard they we may met Flack dad Don Flack Sr. so that could be a really great eps. Apparently they don’t have the best relationship.

    But I also have a question I see it a lot on the message boards what the hell does TPTB mean?? I know it’s probably a stupid question and it’s also probably so obvious what it means but I just can't figure it out.
     
  3. crankyjules

    crankyjules Police Officer

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    You know the saying - 'there are no stupid questions' :)

    TPTB is 'the powers that be'. A loose term for, well, the poweres that be!! :D
     
  4. kissmesweet

    kissmesweet Coroner

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    Me too. To be honest, I have a feeling that we will get to see that. Since we know from Hung Out To Dry that TPTB haven't forgotten about Louie, I think that before the Season 3 Finale maybe Louie will wake up and then Danny will have to deal with things that he haven't before. I really wanna see that.
     
  5. Top41

    Top41 Administrator Administrator Moderator Premium Member

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    I definitely think that ties in. After all Flack is a cop, and his dad was a cop. That's got to play some part in his steadfast loyalty to the department and his fellow officers. It's probably pretty much what he learned from the cradle.

    Really? I loved the Mac/Danny clashes, though I think Danny always ended up looking like a chastised child in those scenes. The difference between Flack and Danny when it comes to Mac is that Flack fights back and Danny doesn't. It's an interesting distinction.

    The thing with Mac is interesting because in both cases, "Consequences" and "Raising Shane," Flack hasn't really sided with Mac. In fact, I'd argue he's built up some resentment towards Mac since Mac got him to turn over his log book, as evinced in "Sweet 16." I think if it came down to Mac vs. the department, Flack would side with his department (he sort of did in "Raising Shane").

    The reason I bring up Danny is because he's the only one Flack has pretty much put his cop behavior aside for. Flack wasn't acting like a cop on an investigation when he pushed that officer who was hassling Danny, or when he met Danny in the diner after Mac has barred all the CSIs from talking Danny and vice versa. Flack stood by Danny as a friend, not a cop, in RSRD. I do find it interesting that Flack is willing to put his job aside for Danny, and I think it's significant given the number of times we've seen Flack put his job above all else, especially this season.
     
  6. CSI_Watcher_8

    CSI_Watcher_8 Coroner

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    I think Flack and Danny just have a different relationship then Flack and Mac. Flack plays basketball with Danny knows him outside of the CSI world and likes him as a person. I don't think Flack has that same relationship so when it comes down to it Mac is just the Boss of the CSI's who can get in his way of doing this job. Not that Mac does or anything but Mac like to him on the same level as his Caption I think.
     
  7. Islandgirl

    Islandgirl Police Officer

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    Maybe I've missed something major (I haven't seen every single episode from all three seasons) but isn't the NYC CSI team PART of the NYPD??
    On the original (Vegas) CSI, I know that Grissom makes a big deal about being "a crime scene investigator, not a police officer" but Mac and his team seem to very much be police officers who just happen to be assigned to the crime scene investigations unit (as opposed to the homicide unit, or vice unit or whatever). I know Mac has referred to himself as a cop on more than one occasion.
     
  8. Top41

    Top41 Administrator Administrator Moderator Premium Member

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    ^Yeah, they are cops as well, but CSI is very clearly a separate division from Homicide.

    Flack and Danny do have a very different relationship than Flack and Mac do. With Danny, it's clearly personal--a friendship that extends beyond work (they play basketball together, Flack takes time out to console Danny or stand by him when he's in trouble).

    With Mac, I think it's almost entirely professional. "Charge of This Post" didn't do much to change that--Mac saved Flack's life, but he related it to losing a subordinate in Beruit in the 80s, and Flack, while no doubt grateful to Mac, doesn't seem to have a deeper bond with him than he did before that episode.

    But lately I think we've seen a gulf come up between Mac and Flack. It started in "Consequences" when Mac demanded Flack's log book, intensified in "Sweet 16" when Flack challenged Mac's hunch that the teenager was innocent, and was underscored in "Raising Shane" when Flack clearly sided with his captain after Mac broke into holding to talk to Hawkes. Though he was sympathetic to Mac's plight, he still sent him packing.

    I wonder if the divide between Mac and Flack is going to increase, and if so, if that will come to a head at some point this season or later on.
     
  9. La_Guera

    La_Guera Lab Technician

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    As long as the cops aren't doing something morally reprehensible, something that Flack knows to be categorically wrong, he's going to side with them. He's a cop, his father was a cop, and his CBS bio, scant as it is, infers that his grandfather was a cop. That loyalty runs deep, and frankly, aside from Stella and Danny, whom he clearly counts as friends, the CSIs haven't done much to engender loyalty. In fact, Mac has behaved like an obnoxious twuntwaffle.
     
  10. detdonflackjr

    detdonflackjr Rookie

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    They do seen to have a lot of Mac/Flack fighting lately but they had a lot of Danny/Mac fighting in season 1. I think all of them will have disagreements at some point but they will all stick by each other in the long run :) we all know Mac cares about Flack by last seasons finale.
     
  11. CSI_Watcher_8

    CSI_Watcher_8 Coroner

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    Even then it seemed Flack was reluctant to turn in his fellow officer. You know because of these past epiosdes with the cop taking some of the drugs on the bust. And it looked like Flack thought Mac shouldn't have come asking for him to help him especially requesting his notepad. And what is morally reprehensible? Isn't it different when your on the side of law enforcement?
     
  12. kkennedytx

    kkennedytx Rookie

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    I think it would be a great story line but I don't think it'll happen because I don't believe the writers will develop Flack beyond what he is now. If the writers did run with this story line, I believe it would be to explore Mac's side of the issues, not Flack's.

    But I can hope to be wrong about that!
     
  13. La_Guera

    La_Guera Lab Technician

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    Flack is at least a second-generation cop-probably a third-and that loyalty runs deep. Unless the cops are doing something he knows to be categorically indefensible, his loyalty will be with them. He knew Truby had abused his badge in the worst way, and it was still excruciating for him to turn over the memo book. Not because he condoned what Truby did, but because it felt like a betrayal of all the men he works with every day. Not to mention the victims of the criminals Truby put away, who now risk having convictions overturned.
     
  14. CSI_Watcher_8

    CSI_Watcher_8 Coroner

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    Isn't it categorically & morally reprehensible to disgrace the shield. Especially being a 3rd generation cop he would know that. And while being a cop is a job to respect when someone disgraces it doesn't that mean they are a criminal and should be put in prison.
     
  15. La_Guera

    La_Guera Lab Technician

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    Well, yes, it is, and Flack *did* know that. As I said, I think his reluctance to turn over his memo book had nothing to do with shielding a dirty cop like Truby and everything to do with the feeling, however misguided, that he was betraying the trust of *all* the officers with whom he serves, and if he's taking guff for it, some of them must feel that way as well.

    Not to mention all the victims who may have to relive horrors because everything the dirty cop did is now under scrutiny. I think Flack does what he thinks is right, and 99% of the time, that means he'd side with his fellow officers.

    As far as disgracing the badge goes, you're right. Not every disgrace to the badge is a criminal offense, but I never said it was. I suspect Gavin Moran was never prosecuted for his actions in "The Fall". I think the department probably took his badge, voided his pension, and forced him into early retirement.
     

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