The Weak Link

I already like this thread :thumbsup:!

Hm, let's see, Vegas. Sara became a problem for me as soon as the pining over Grissom started. So fairly early in the show. Problem is, I really liked her in the pilot. I thought, hey another strong female character who works well with Catherine, great and than she started her "obsession" with Grissom.

Another character I could live without is definitely Hodges. He's too weird and not in an endearing way. I can tolerate him for a few scenes (well, one would be enough) per episode but making him a regular? Nah!

Miami, well is there anyone else but Super-H? I don't think so. I especially loathe his self-righteousness and his attitude. Well, everything about him.

NY, definitely Lindsey. I just don't get her. I don't like or dislike her. She's just there and that's what makes me mad. At least with the other character I can tell if I like them or not. They have a character but she's just an empty shell to me.
 
speedystokesgirl said:
I'm going with the continuity thing too. Like Shytownmofo mentioned. Another example was their error this season in the episode "Turn Turn Turn". Nick's birthday is August 18th and has been since his character was created, now, all of sudden, his birthday was in February. :wtf: Gee, I wish I could change my birthday like that.
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that was a bit weird. especially because he shares his other birthday (18th aug) with me, why on earth would he want to change? :guffaw:

i totally agree about sara too, your post made a lot of sense.
 
Sara actually wasn't the only CSI who committed a crime. In Fannysmackin Nick punches that annoying guy, which would probably be assault and battery although he didn't get in trouble either. Strange
 
Biomeka said:
Well ok. I still don't remember her being mean to Nick (assuming we talking about the No more Bets episode?)
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There are a couple of episodes that I recall Sara being a "Witch with a capital 'B'" towards Nick in Season 4. I can't remember the titles, but there was the one with Rita Westonson, I think her name was, where Nick is working on the case solo to find out what had happened to the missing woman. Sara was Icy Cold towards Nick in that episode, all because she feels she's better suited for the promotion than he is.

Then, there's the episode where there's the model that goes missing, and Catherine has Nick and Sara working evidence in the lab, rather than out in the field. Sara is outraged toward Nick that he would *Gasp* be okay with being sent back to the lab when this is a case that could make a career.

That just goes to show how insecure Sara was with herself, and how secure Nick IS with himself.

As also alluded to above, I definitely think that all of the shows' portrayal of women is definitely a weak link.

Why is it that all of Sara's problems magically disappeared when she got with Grissom? Why do Catherine Willows, Stella Bonasera, Sara Sidle (Grissom Excluded) and so many of the other female characters have such atrocious taste in men? I mean, honestly, the club owner Chris Bezich, Eddie, Frankie Mala, Drew Bedford, Hank the Skank, I could go on and on.

Don't get me started on the debacle that is DL. I can't even understand why they would hook up. I'm not sure they even like each other, much less love each other enough to get married.

Then, when they're not hooking up with bad men, they're engaged in the most petty, passive aggressive nonsense, See Sara being nasty with Nick over the promotion, Her complete "Get away from my man, B.tch!" attitude towards Sofia, etc. Lindsay's complete out of left field emo meltdown over being pushed away by Danny after the Ruben Situation, without any indication that she ever tried to reach out to him.

I definitely the shows paint women in a bad light. Needy, Codependent, can't do anything without a man in their life, etc.

I haven't seen much of the latest season of NY or LV, so I really can't comment. Judging by what I have seen, Riley seems to break that mold. I certainly hope she does.
 
^ I think you have a lot of good points. However, I have a few points of objection:

First of all, I think that the women are not alone in their poor taste in men. Nick and Warrick both slept with prostitutes and Tina may or may not have been cheating on Warrick. I think romantic tastes are intended to be bad because it doesn't make as much sense to hook main characters up in the long term with outsiders. I don't recall anybody aside, presumably, from SuperDave, having decent romantic taste unless they were dating a coworker.

I agree that Riley breaks the mold, and I think that Wendy does as well. While I can't stand Wedges, mainly because I hate seeing as strong, interesting and well-acted character as Wendy reduced to only a love interest for Hodges, whom I can't stand, I like that Wendy is clearly not the needy and dependent one in that not-quite-relationship. I also like how Catherine has begun to fit that mold less and less, especially since she took over the supervisory position. I think that Sofia also definitely broke that mold, as did Calleigh on Miami and Stella, Angell and Aiden on NY. Natalia, abusive ex-husband aside, has also, IMO, always come across as a very strong and independent woman.
 
I agree. Riley has broken the mold IMO. But, there is a thin line between not being codependent and being a b*tch. Or at least, on TV. In real life, there are varying degrees of non-codependence. But on TV, it seems as if it's hard to find.
 
True, a lot of the characters have bad romantic taste, whether they're male or female. All of the shows quite frankly do not do romance well.

I also haven't noticed Sofia, Wendy, Aiden, or really any of the other women dating. I've missed a lot of this past season both of NY and LV, and I really don't watch Miami, so I can't comment on this season and Stella's new love interest.

However, Stella's taste in seasons 2 and 4 was awful. Frankie Mala who tried to kill her, and Drew Bedford who was just trying to get to Mac.

I do agree that Angell was an incredible character. Very strong, and she had incredible chemistry with Flack.

I wish they would do more strong female characters like Sofia, Wendy, Angell, Aiden, etc. I also would like them to do better with romance in general. I know they can do solid, believable romance, and still keep it interesting.
 
I disagree about Drew Bedford being in bad taste on Stella's part. While he did put considerable effort into chasing her and trying to get her to date him she never actually gave in. He showered her with gifts and she consistently rejected him. Granted this guy was charismatic, good looking, and interested. Any woman who has seemingly incredible catch like Drew Bedford (and he was a seemingly incredible catch) is going to get worn down some over time. Hell even I would have dated the guy. Stella had good instincts with him and for the most part stuck by them.

Just because he was interested in her does not mean that she had bad taste. You know?


Meanwhile as for who/what I think is the weakest link in each show you guys may not quite like me anymore after you see my comments. Just keep in mind I'm not saying that you have to agree!


CSI: Miami- I'll start here because I know this show the very least and really care a whole lot less for it than I have in the past. Instinct tells me to single Ryan out, pick on him, and move on. But I'm not so sure that he truly is the weakest link anymore. So many viewers love to hate this guy. I love to love him. He's not especially good looking and his moral compass is a bit skewed but honestly I think this makes him a bit stronger of a link than otherwise. The fact that he's not that good looking doesn't mean anything, Eric isn't that good looking either. Miami just doesn't have any knock-outs other than Calleigh and Nat but they more than make up for that, don't they?


Anyway, so on to actually finding the true weakest link. It's absolutely not Horatio. He is a part of that show and like it or not a part of everything that makes it what it is. And if you watch the show doped up on some over the counter pharmaceuticals he's actually really amazing! Okay, kidding. I haven't tried that. But, well... there's a certain something to H that makes me like him in spite of everything.


So who does that leave? Natalia. Give me five solid reasons that she's not. Haha. I really can't think of a single thing about her that has ever really made her important to the show. Granted I don't watch but the occasional episode. But, she's just... ugh. I see her the way the rest of the world sees Lindsay.


CSI: NY- This one is going to be quite a bit more simple for me to explain. Who was the weakest link? Angell. Only because I've been watching this show for three seasons now and I could barely even pick her out of a crowd. I think the show would have gone on just fine if she hadn't ever been there. Then again we had a neat plot for the finale this past season so kudos to her for that.


If you think that picking on Angell isn't fair then I'll have to go with Lindsay. Not for the same reasons that all of you have. Simply because Mac, Stella, Flack, Hawkes, Danny, Adam, and Syd are all really strong characters. Characters that made me care about them in five minutes on the screen. Characters that I wouldn't want to watch the show without. I care about Lindsay too, but of the principals honestly she's the least compelling. I like her a lot, I do. I think she's freaking adorable (and lucky to boot) but she's done the least in her time on the show to capture the audience and make them fall in love with her. If only the viewership was as easily impressed as Danny, eh?


CSI: Crime Scene Investigation- I think the whole weakest link phenomenon changes a bit with the seasons on this particular show. Granted it's the only one of the three that I've seen every single episode of. But, that also gives me a bit more authority with this one than with the other two.


Anyway, so I hated Sara early on. I've been there with the crappy childhood drama. I've been there with the whole bouncing around foster homes thing. And you know what? I don't go around work whining about it. I simply don't. Something about that always made me really despise Sara. You can have a rough time of it and still come out well in the end. Sara never even tried to do that.


But then as the show went forward I started to love and appreciate her as much as the other characters. She was a part of the team. A part of the family. And for better or for worse she was going to be there so I started to open my heart and my mind a bit and really saw her for what the writers intended. She did give them quite a bit of material to work with over the years and in the end I truly appreciated her for that. Some of her stories weren't half bad.


Riley is the weakest link these days, I feel, and it's a damn shame because I think that she could be a really awesome character if only the writers would give her a chance to be what she can. I really like her but she's been with us an entire season and I still don't even know her. What's up with that?


Of course I'd like to wave a flaming picket sign around at Langston for a while. There hasn't ever been a character on this show that I've liked less. I've got a love/hate thing going on with Hodges and even on his worst days I like him more than I like Langston. I've always kinda liked Ecklie I (except that one season five episode, jerk!) so I'd take spending a day locked in a room with him over Langston. Hell I'd take Geoffrey McKeen over Langston. And I'll have you note my siggy and avvy pictures at this time. Yes, I like Geoffry McKeen more than someone else on the show and I'm still just as passionate about Warrick as I ever was. Is that saying something? I hope so. I do so wish that I could call Raymond Langston the weakest link and I do so wish that I could do something to end his presence on the show permanently, but alas, I can not. He's by far not the strongest link. That lies in Catherine, Nick, and Greg now. Their continued presence on the show. But he's not the weakest either because he does give something to the show... about 90% of the screen time.


So there you go... my thoughts on the weakest links on the shows.
 
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I kinda didn't like Sara in the early episodes either (she seems to insecure and standoffish) Though I like her a lot more as the show goes on
 
I also noticed a lot of people say Catherine comes across as really cold a lot of the time. Would have to agree but I'm not quite sure why (I would say she's pretty caring actually based on a lot of her episodes). Her demeanor just seems cold
 
Biomeka said:
I also noticed a lot of people say Catherine comes across as really cold a lot of the time. Would have to agree but I'm not quite sure why (I would say she's pretty caring actually based on a lot of her episodes). Her demeanor just seems cold
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As a character, I can kind of see how people would see that as a weakness. That said, I think the delicate balance she strikes between cold and warm is crucial to her professionalism. She's an attractive, well-built ex-stripper. If she smiled all the time and was always warm, people would probably take her less seriously. That said, she has never struck me as cold, at least no more so than other characters. In general, I think she's a relatively friendly character who knows when to be businesslike. I absolutely adore Greg, but I think Catherine is the strongest 'link' on the show.

As to what LLK said, I haven't watched as much Miami as I have Vegas either, but I don't feel like Nat is the weak link. I think she's just underused. Ditto for Riley (though I think you pretty much said that). I disagree about Horatio. I guess it depends on how you define weak link though. He does set the tone and, IMO, makes it a lot harder to take the show seriously. Still, the show has done really well with him as the lead, so obviously his style seems to be working. I think his character would get laughed off of Vegas, but his style works on Miami. So I can see how he wouldn't be the weak link, per se, but I still can't stand his character. His character is, 100%, the reason I stopped watching Miami regularly. His style is too kitschy and I just can't stand him.

That said, what I really wanted to reply to re: LLK's last post is this:

lostladyknight said:
He's not especially good looking and his moral compass is a bit skewed but honestly I think this makes him a bit stronger of a link than otherwise. The fact that he's not that good looking doesn't mean anything, Eric isn't that good looking either. Miami just doesn't have any knock-outs other than Calleigh and Nat but they more than make up for that, don't they?
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All I can say is that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I think that Ryan is, hands down, the most attractive character on Miami. Then again, I don't find Nick or Grissom on Vegas or Danny on NY at all attractive. To each his own (or more likely her own). Honestly, I think that the most attractive character that Miami has ever had is Cooper the lab tech, though that might have more to do with his turn on Roswell back in the day.
 
Shytownmofo said:
Biomeka said:
Well ok. I still don't remember her being mean to Nick (assuming we talking about the No more Bets episode?)
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There are a couple of episodes that I recall Sara being a "Witch with a capital 'B'" towards Nick in Season 4. I can't remember the titles, but there was the one with Rita Westonson, I think her name was, where Nick is working on the case solo to find out what had happened to the missing woman. Sara was Icy Cold towards Nick in that episode, all because she feels she's better suited for the promotion than he is.

.
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Er she never talked to NIck in that episode. Maybe your thinking of a differnt one?
 
I've been wanting to post here for some time now, but pointing out the weakest link is actually harder than I thought. But anyways here it goes:

Vegas: I have to agree on Sara. I was never fond of Sara nor did I appreciate her relationship with Grissom. But more than that I think that of all original cast members she was the one the show could move on without. Though I have to say that the same could be said about Hodges. I could definitely do without Hodges. I guess because the other characters are so strong and well defined (not counting Langston and Riley on this, just the originals). Catherine and Grissom are in my opinion the strongest and Warrick, Greg, and Nick are very interesting characters with potential for great storylines (well in Warrick's case, was). Sara started out as a strong, defined character but somewhere along the way she became weak and dependent. And when you have a woman like Catherine by your side the contrast is too obvious and Sara didn't come off well at all.

Miami: I have to agree with lostladyknight and say Natalia. For me Natalia is just...there. Even when she was utilized and had storylines she was just there. I guess I appreciate that the CSI gals be strong and tough like Calleigh, Stella, and Cath and I've always perceived Natalia as a weaker character. I guess one of the things that I didn't like about her was the fact that she slept with her abusive ex after all the crap he had put her through and after she had been so adamant in putting everything behind her and moving on. Meh, after that it just all went downhill for me and I just don't focus too much on the character.

I know a lot of you have mentioned Horatio as the weakest link and even though I agree with the reasons you've pointed out (because all your descriptions about his weird self are accurate) I can't say he is the weakest link. There's a presence that Horatio brings to the show which I think is integral to what Miami is. He drives me crazy with the standing and the sunnies and the pausing and he could definitely tone it down, but other than that, IMO, Horatio really does bring that something peculiar to Miami.

NY: Lindsey. Nothing exactly against her just that the other characters are more compelling and interesting.
 
I would say all the CSI characters have a defining flaw or weakness. However i think that makes them more interesting as heroes that are perfect are boring and unrealistic IMO
 
I agree,hiphugger 17.I am not much of a fan of super H but he is as believable as CSI miami is.And at the end,it's entertaining.

I did like Natalia when she was with Eric but the whole triangle with Eric and Ryan is something that should NEVER be repeated.The actress is good but the writers have neglected her so much that most of the time I don't care much for her.
 
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