Poll: **Spoiler alert** if you haven't seen "Grounds for Deception"...

[FlackFan01]

I would like to try my hand at posting a poll. I see I am not the only one with this question.

Do you think Prof. Papkota is Stella's biological father?

 

[Plenilunio]

Re: Poll: **Spoiler alert** if you haven't seen "Grounds for Deception

I don't think so. It's Stella Bonasera and she lost her mother when she was 2. At that age she had been given a name and bore a family name: that of her father. Why would professor P bother to change Stella's family name to Bonasera? But then again, if she traveled with her mother from Greece, little Stella would be supposed to be a Greek citizen, not American, and she would have been sent to Greece unless she had close relatives in the States, wouldn't she? Yes, if professor P was her father, her staying in New York would be explained, but not the fact that her surname is Bonasera or the fact that he didn't take care of her. It's not like he had no resources to provide for her.

 

[CSI Cupcake]

Re: Poll: **Spoiler alert** if you haven't seen "Grounds for Deception

Provided that St. Basils is a "live in" boarding school, it's plausible that he would provide for her in the way of tuition so she could stay there and grow up outside of fosterhome care. She could still be in the system but on scholarship for the school, which Professor P paid for.

The reason he didn't claim her as his own could be that he wanted to keep her away from the smuggling ring activity and also didn't want to risk her being sent back to Greece for any reason. She was just a child after all and he does seem to be a compassionate person. It would be within reason that he wanted to care for her from afar.

 

[Plenilunio]

Re: Poll: **Spoiler alert** if you haven't seen "Grounds for Deception

CSI Cupcake, is it possible to do that in the States? Here it's not and that's why I felt like banging my head against the desk and crying "plothole!" If we assume St. Basil wasn't an orphanage and you're telling me he might have paid for her stay and her education, it makes more sense. I still don't get why he left her on her own, at the system's mercy from the age of 2 to the age when he "met" her. Maybe he was too busy doing illegal things?

 

[Poppet]

Re: Poll: **Spoiler alert** if you haven't seen "Grounds for Deception

I don't think so. It's Stella Bonasera and she lost her mother when she was 2. At that age she had been given a name and bore a family name: that of her father.

If Stella parents weren't married she could easily have taken her mothers family name and not that of her fathers. Although if he was her father why didn't he take custody of her? Even if it wasn't know that he was the father after her mother died, the authorities would surely have traced some relatives back in Greece instead of putting her in an orphanage

Provided that St. Basils is a "live in" boarding school

I am pretty sure St Basils was mentioned as an orphange although I can't remember which episode it was.

I think they were trying to imply that the Prof might be Stella father but it just doesn't make sense to me, Stella whole backstory it just too confusing now.

 

[Plenilunio]

Re: Poll: **Spoiler alert** if you haven't seen "Grounds for Deception

If Stella parents weren't married she could easily have taken her mothers family name and not that of her fathers.

Good point. Only "Bonasera" isn't the most Greek-sounding last name ever. Who knows? Maybe Ms. Bonasera was an orphan herself, taken to Greece by an Italian mother who was an orphan too

I am pretty sure St Basils was mentioned as an orphange although I can't remember which episode it was.

1.15, "Til Death Do We Part", maybe? I think that's the first time St. Basil's was mentioned and I had the feeling it was an orphanage, but back then I was also led to believe she had spent her whole life there until she came of age.

I think they were trying to imply that the Prof might be Stella father but it just doesn't make sense to me, Stella whole backstory it just too confusing now.

I had the same feeling! When he was agonizing, I thought he'd go "Stella, I am your father!" </Darth Vader Greek style!>

 

[Poppet]

Re: Poll: **Spoiler alert** if you haven't seen "Grounds for Deception

If Stella parents weren't married she could easily have taken her mothers family name and not that of her fathers.

Good point. Only "Bonasera" isn't the most Greek-sounding last name ever. Who knows? Maybe Ms. Bonasera was an orphan herself, taken to Greece by an Italian mother who was an orphan too

Messer isn't particulary Italian and Flack isn't very Irish so who knows where these names come from?

I am pretty sure St Basils was mentioned as an orphange although I can't remember which episode it was.

1.15, "Til Death Do We Part", maybe? I think that's the first time St. Basil's was mentioned and I had the feeling it was an orphanage, but back then I was also led to believe she had spent her whole life there until she came of age.

I think the first time it was mentioned she did say she had been at the orphanage until she was 18, then in a later episode the foster care story was used.

I think they were trying to imply that the Prof might be Stella father but it just doesn't make sense to me, Stella whole backstory it just too confusing now.

I had the same feeling! When he was agonizing, I thought he'd go "Stella, I am your father!" </Darth Vader Greek style!>

It was all a little over dramatic soap opera for me.:lol:

 

[Plenilunio]

Re: Poll: **Spoiler alert** if you haven't seen "Grounds for Deception

Messer isn't particulary Italian and Flack isn't very Irish so who knows where these names come from?

Yeah, I know Danny doesn't look like the stereotypical Italian guy and that his surname isn't Italian at all. I don't know about Flack as a family name and his physical appearance could match. The problem with Bonasera and Greece is that in Europe countries are older, with less migratory flows between them. So, if you're Greek, your family name will probably be Greek and the rule applies for the vast majority of people. Going a bit OT, I'm quite an exception myself. I'm Spanish, my two surnames (yeah, we've got two, we're weird and proud of it! ) are Spanish, yet the first one doesn't sound Spanish at all. Many people have asked me if I have French ancestors, but I don't.

Back to topic, given that we know virtually nothing about Stella's mother and that all of Stella's background is a total soap opera, I guess anything goes.

I think the first time it was mentioned she did say she had been at the orphanage until she was 18, then in a later episode the foster care story was used.

They should have picked a clear background stoyline to stick to. It's the same with Danny and his family of cops, they screwed and had to explain later so that it would make sense.

 

[Poppet]

Re: Poll: **Spoiler alert** if you haven't seen "Grounds for Deception

I think Messer is French and Flack is English, so go figure? (although I guess an Irish family with an English surname is possible as there is a lot of migration between the two countries)

Instead of fleshing out the back stories they have set for characters, they seem to change them or at least add in confusing elements so to ensure a character has a personal connection with a case. People can empathsise with people from different backgrounds, the cases don't always need to be personal to the investigators. Stella didn't need to have any personal connection to the Prof for the story still to work. Personally I think the cases work better when the CSIs are on the outside looking in, with no personal connections and slightly confused by the people involved.

 

[CSI Cupcake]

Re: Poll: **Spoiler alert** if you haven't seen "Grounds for Deception

Plenilunio, I'm really grasping at straws here because there are so many holes in this it resembles swiss cheese. I must have missed the orphanage reference to St. Basil's. I have S1 on dvd I will go back and watch 1.15 to see what is said.

ETA: My mistake. Episode 115 does say that Stella lived at St. Basil's orphanage for as long as she can remember. They must have added the foster home thing for the episode with her foster sister.

 

[Izod1360]

Re: Poll: **Spoiler alert** if you haven't seen "Grounds for Deception

CSI Cupcake, is it possible to do that in the States? Here it's not and that's why I felt like banging my head against the desk and crying "plothole!" If we assume St. Basil wasn't an orphanage and you're telling me he might have paid for her stay and her education, it makes more sense. I still don't get why he left her on her own, at the system's mercy from the age of 2 to the age when he "met" her. Maybe he was too busy doing illegal things?

St. Basil's is actually a real place about 5 minutes from my house It is for children in need and I know some girls who were taught there and then came to our high school.

http://www.stbasil.goarch.org/

 

[fm62]

Re: Poll: **Spoiler alert** if you haven't seen "Grounds for Deception

I kind of remember Stella saying she was Italian / Greek, when they were ordering Italian food (maybe it was in one of the books).

I was confused at the time by the Irish thug called Danny a 'guinnea cop', as he doesn't look sterotypically Italian. Though Flack has been called 'Irish' by a crook and he looks more Italian to me.

 

[CSI Cupcake]

Re: Poll: **Spoiler alert** if you haven't seen "Grounds for Deception

CSI Cupcake, is it possible to do that in the States? Here it's not and that's why I felt like banging my head against the desk and crying "plothole!" If we assume St. Basil wasn't an orphanage and you're telling me he might have paid for her stay and her education, it makes more sense. I still don't get why he left her on her own, at the system's mercy from the age of 2 to the age when he "met" her. Maybe he was too busy doing illegal things?

St. Basil's is actually a real place about 5 minutes from my house It is for children in need and I know some girls who were taught there and then came to our high school.

http://www.stbasil.goarch.org/

How cool is that!!! I had no idea that it was a real place. So its a home for needy kids and a school too. This makes her comment about him rescuing her from fostercare make sense in that he knew of St. Basils and got her in so she could be raised in the Greek Orthodox influence.

I still think the backstory was manufactured to a degree to fit the episode and make us have a more emotional connection with the characters so I'm not spending any more time trying to make it fit with the things we already know.

 

[Sagemint]

Re: Poll: **Spoiler alert** if you haven't seen "Grounds for Deception

i honestly thought at a certain point Stella figured out Pro. Popkota was her father for some reason. It seemed like that was the direction it was leading into for some reason.

Although it would make sense if that were true. I mean maybe he had some type of relationship with Stella's mother, and she became pregnant with Stella. Then everything goes from there...
I'm in a way confused about her story as well. Although the things I know are;
Her mother was a painter..
Worked for the Prof..
Killed in an accident...(perhaps this is a cover for something else?)
Stella was sent to the states when she was 2

I have to say I assumed that Stella was sent to the states when she was a baby? Did anyone else assume that? Or did Stella say it once in the show?

 

[Top41]

Re: Poll: **Spoiler alert** if you haven't seen "Grounds for Deception

Great poll! And good question. I went with no, because why would he not have raised her himself if he was her father? I got the feeling maybe her mother wasn't married, and Papakota fell in love with her after Stella was born.

However...it's definitely possible that he was. I think it should have been more clear if he was her father thought.