agree with you that the writers need to do this relationship correctly if it's going to be done, StellaMac . There were a lot of people who really liked the D/L interaction in S2, but then there were also a lot of people who didn't. If the writers do things well, then both groups of people can be happy with season 3. The D/L thing needs to be subtle and in the background--it doesn't need a prominent scene in every episode, it doesn't require that we get the two of them discussing things when they aren't on the same case, and the list goes on and on. I think fans and non-fans of the ship agree (from what I can tell ) that it's detrimental to D/L as well as the other characters because constantly interacting with each other takes time away from possible screentime with the rest of the team.
I think that's what bothers me most about D/L-more than the utter lack of chemistry between Anna and Carmine and the shoddy writing responsible for such stilted dialogue and awkward, unrealistic character interaction. Before Lindsay came on the scene, Hawkes was being pushed to the fore, if not the center, as a character in his own right, and we were getting glimpses into Stella and Flack, albeit obliquely.
Then Lindsay arrived, and Hawkes' position as a newbie CSI learning on the fly was usurped. He was shunted aside and absorbed into the bland background, and instead of seeing him learn how to cope with being on the front lines and dealing with the folks left behind when the morgue claimed another body, we were treated to clumsy scenes of Lindsay one-upping everyone else in the lab and crass flirting on Lindsay's part, even at such grossly inappropriate times as a former colleague's death and the bedside of a critically-injured Flack. It boggles my mind that the writers could be so socially tone deaf ehen they have brought us such gut-wrenching episodes as "Blink" and "Officer Blue" and "The Fall".
I never minded that much of the show centered around the Danny Messer Angst of the Episode because Danny was and is a fascinating character whether you like him or not, but the writers need to rethink the strategy of making S3 All About Danny once again, with a flaccid, rancid side order of D/L sturm und drang. Danny and his terminal case of the woe-woe-woes has carried the show for most of two seasons, and both he and the audience need a break. Putting all the show's emotional eggs in one basket is boring and dangerous; if Carmine ever pulls up stakes, the writers and the rest of the cast will be left to fill a very large void. It would be healthier and wiser the spread the developmental wealth.
Honestly, I have no interest in watching a D/L romance unfold every week. Or any other romance, for that matter. Romances tend to smother shows under the staggering weight of their craven schmoop, and I watch the show for the whoddunnit, not the who's doing it.
The writers may yet prove me wrong, and S3 could be earth-shattering; I'm going to give it a chance because I love Mac and Flack and Hawkes, but I'm not holding my breath, and if we reach the midpoint of the season with nary a flicker from Flack and Stella because we're hip-deep in the festering sheepdip that is D/L, I'm not sure I'll see it through to S4.
