Ballettmaus said:
I didn't mean that Langston was trying to be Grissom but they gave him a lot of Grissom's characteristics. He apparently does have a broad knowledge and high IQ and so did Grissom. Further they gave him cases no rookie would ever get, let him work crime scenes alone and in a lot of the episodes it was him solving the crimes. And he was the one sent to NY and Miami in the crossover while three more experienced CSI's stayed in Vegas... right... like I would ever believe that.
It made him a very incredible and slightly annoying character to me.
I could see this, and I'd say it's one of the dangers they should stay away from... but I know I sometimes find it neat when Langston said something very Grissom-esque, yet it sounded completely different than the way I'd imagine Grissom saying it. If just the tone of the character is different, I think the character can also manage to come across as someone different -- however, I agree that there shouldn't be too many of Jo's characteristics that cross with Stella's (especially since she
is, or will likely be seen as, the direct replacement of her). I'm fine with the teasing and the butting-heads even, but, ie, I don't think I'd want to see her play the "mom" or "big sister" figure, because imo that was Stella's. I think I'd feel like it was crossing a line.
PerfectAnomaly said:
I'd agree with you if the development lasted longer than the dark secret storyline. As it stands, they've only given her development in the scope of one episode at a time and not given her a personality that is decernable based on a solid history as a character. The only real development she's has is the development of DL. She's Danny's wife and Lucy's mother. That's all that's discernable about her character.
Everything that was in her character leading up to the dark storyline was still in S4. (Even written: "I'm not good at this kind of thing", admitted to Mac no less, which I give the writers credit for though they still limited it to DL.) They dropped a lot of the development from the storyline after it was done -- though Anna Belknap herself didn't -- but that's why I said "the one and a half" season of independent development. I also might give the dropping more weight if the same thing hadn't happened to six-sevenths of the cast/team.
However, her development outside of the DL storyline was worlds more consistent, and discernable, and interesting, than her development
within that storyline has ever been from beginning to now. So that's not what's discernable about her character. At least not back then. She spent less than an hour's worth of onscreen-time with him in S2, S3, and S4 combined (when not just working, I mean), so the idea that it would be is odd to me, but again, ymmv.
I'm shocked you don't consider the reveal of what happened to her and caused her to behave the way she was during the course of S3 NOT to be the emotional climax of the story.
Those
are the exact scenes I mentioned, aren't they? Yes they were the emotional climax. She laid out to Stella what had happened in that scene in the office - which yes, explained a lot about why she's always been so weird around people (much earlier than S3). That first trial scene was just flat-out i ntense, with the half-testimony mixed with the flashbacks to that night and all. I liked the performances; I still don't believe anyone who went through that would ever become a cop, but if they did, I easilyy believed they'd be as damaged as Lindsay seemed up till then.
If you mean the morgue scene, it was fine, but I certainly wouldn't call it
the reveal since it revealed...well, nothing. That she'd witnessed a crime, yeah, but given that she witnesses crimes every day, I couldn't see what the big drama was for till she later mentioned they were her friends, and the crime was from her childhood.* And I don't know, I still don't like that scene. I get that they were trying to reveal the whole thing in bits and pieces -- but that backstory itself still comes off as OTT dramatic and Mary-Sue-ish to me, and I largely blame that scene. Can't shake my first impression of it.
*To be fair, I wasn't watching the show regularly first couple of times I saw this ep. I don't remember how many of the eps leading up to it I'd seen, but I know I hadn't seen Oedipus Hex yet, and I think that's the only one which directly hints at the backstory.
It doesn't necessarily have to be a long storyline, but the traits they give her during the storyline shouldn't disappear after the story is over.
I'd agree with
this, only it seems to be done a lot on this show (ie, heavy emphasis on Adam being beaten in S3 dropped entirely, from 4.01; Danny's grief over Louie apparently vanishing til three years later; Flack nearly blown in half in S2 yet not even flinching when the next bomb goes off less than a year later...] It shows more that if "all's well that ends well" at the end of the episode, that means the same thing for the storyline.
I have no clue how Lindsay will react to a situation and after 5 seasons on the show, that's not a good thing. There's no sense of a true character. Just someone who is written a certain way to accomodate a particular story line and then she changes when the next story line calls for it.
As a
fan, I usually have a good idea of how Lindsay will react to certain situations. It's something I actually complained about with S6 -- I've only ever been "wtf" over two of her decisions before. And hell, even with both, I can in theory see how they might've made sense to her, being who she is; they just weren't the choices I'd've expected her to make.
That's character. There's no way to feel like TPTB nearly committed character-assassination if the girl doesn't have a character. Also, on being written a certain way to accommodate a storyline, then changing with the next...I think that might describe over half the characters on the show, and that includes even Mac :lol: At least lately; it didn't always used to be so.
Top41 said:
That's actually not accurate--I think it's safe to assume that Anna had the same six year contract all of the other regulars did, but hers started a year later than theirs. The first real opportunity for them to release her from her contract will be at the end of season seven. Because of Melina's departure, I doubt they will now even if they wanted to. Anna is one of the luckiest and least worthy actresses in showbiz, but that's neither here nor there.
Sometimes I wonder what a more capable and gifted actress would have done with the part, but that's really neither here nor there.
Well anyway
My main point is and was, "The World According To..." is a fun game, but it doesn't actually explain why TPTB are letting Lindsay have a storyline now, and why they haven't for a while.
She is, and let's hope Anna can do a better job with it than the last time she was given a meaty storyline, way back in season three. I'd like to find Lindsay interesting and compelling. I used to not be able to stand the character, but since midway through the fifth season, I've more or less become indifferent to her. She doesn't act like an entitled little priss as much as she used to, but it would be nice to actually be able to like and sympathize with her.
I'm actually not sure she should do anything at all different. Like any other actor/actress, she does her job her way, and people like it, and people don't. For someone who likes it, it's hard not to be hoping for the story alone to be good. I won't be happy if they do the same thing they did in S3 with Danny playing white knight or something as ridiculous; coming on the back of Vacation Getaway, ick. Danny should have his own issues in dealing with this. I'll admit I'm wary; their track record isn't the greatest on not making storylines all about DL, but I'm looking forward to it all the same.
I don't really see that as character assassination at all, since one of the few consistent things about her is that she's always been partial to Danny. She brought the DNA to him first in RSRD, when she should have taken it right to Mac. She covered for him in "All in the Family." She defended him when he stayed home with the "blue flu" in "The Party's Over." So her covering for him with the badge seemed to be more of the same, at least to me.
It definitely came close to character assassination. The far more consistent thing about her is that she's been steadfastly by-the-book. She reported Flack to Mac about the coke thing in "Consequences". She argued with Stella over what evidence was saying in "Open and Shut" (and we know that wasn't personal, because the last time Stella had a feeling that contradicted evidence [Wasted], Lindsay went back to the scene to look for evidence that might support Stella's theory). Hawkes is one of the people she's closest to on the team, yet she seemed to take Mac's side in "Murder Sings the Blues" over the phone number. When she steps away from the line jobwise (herself, or even through Danny like in All in the Family), we either see her try to make things right or she gets reprimanded. Not as harshly as she could be, but it
is still made clear that she's in the wrong, and she seems to take it to heart.
It wasn't made clear here. And yes, she has that unhealthy tendency to cover for Danny alone, but it's one thing to cover a shift or defend him -- or even to pass on DNA results (against the rules, but I doubt she would've handed them over, even for him, if she was less than 100% certain they'd be going directly to Mac anyway). It's a different thing to hide the fact that a police badge is in the hands of a serial killer for him. I didn't think her by-the-bookness would let that pass. And when it apparently did, I thought for sure Mac or someone would be tearing her a new one, so
she'd at least learn the lesson, third time being the strikeout and all.
Like I said up-post, I can in theory see how the decision might've made sense to her, which is what stops it from being completely :scream:, but it was still crap. I get using one trait to make a storyline work, but if they have to start stomping on other previously-established trait to
keep it working, yeah, that's a problem.
Exactly. Anyone who started watching the show at the tail end of season three or later wouldn't see her as much else. Aside from "Redemptio," has there even been another reference to her past since season three? And the one in "Redemptio" is one only people familiar with the details of the earlier stuff would have caught.
"Pay Up", freezing at the bloodstain on the diner floor. Additionally, all the things said in that round-robin in Redemptio are things only people familiar with details from earlier seasons would catch. With the majority of them, actually, people would have to be familiar not just with earlier seasons, but with specific moments and/or episodes from those seasons.
