Yeah, I do think it's his dad who did the abuse (allegedly). Louie became his father figure, wanted to be like him. But after the stadium incident; Danny tried to do the right thing by trying to stop Sonny, he probably thought that Louie had his back but was was disappointed when Louie drove him away. He was young and that hurt him in the heart... Danny was crushed. So he lost his father figure and also his big brother. I guess this is why he's close to Flack and why he wanted to impress Mac. He wanted to show that he's can do great things -- something he wasn't able to show his dad. He seeks verbal approval and wants to hear that he has friends who have his back. In "Heroes" -- the way he talked with the battered wife, I think it's from the years he watched his father possibly beating up Danny's mom and her keeping her mouth shut about it. As for Lindsey -- okay, I'll pretend that the reason why they're together often is not because of TPTB -- I think he feels something for her because she's not from his comfort circle. She being the country girl, growing up differently than him and his friends (Flack, Aiden) - idk, I can't even think of legit reasons why they are 'together' apart from the writers lol.....
I agree. It seemed like that moment was a turning point in their relationship, it changed everything. I think Danny took it too personally for there not to have been something more too it than what we saw. I have an older sister who I'm really close to, and if she did that I'd just be really mad. Danny seemed to take it as the ultimate betrayal. I think it's very possible that Danny was physically or emotionally abused. He seems to need reassurance from other people. In On the Job what seemed to really bother Danny, most of all, was that he felt abandoned and that people had lost their respect for him. That seemed to bother him more than anything else and he started behaving a bit irrationally because of it.
^Yeah, Danny's reactions in "On the Job" were pretty extreme, even if he was worried about the outcome of the findings. I think if it had been Stella or Aiden or Flack in that situation, they totally would have trusted the team. Danny seems to have an inability to trust even those closest to him, which suggests to me that he's been hurt by those closest to him before, and that the people he loves have in the past wronged him somehow. Danny did take Louie shoving him/rejecting him waaay harder than one would expect. I wonder if Louie was his only real ally or protector in the family, and when Louie pushed him away that night, Danny felt like there was no one left that he could trust.
Just thought I'd pull this up from page 8 since we've talked about it in the spoiler thread. Any more thoughts about this since this season has started? Does doormat Danny have something to do with him being abused as a child? He seems close to his mother but what about his father? Does this play a factor into anything from TV Guide: "Danny's challenged on a personal level because of his brother Louie (who may or may not be dead), and there's a deeper, darker problem. He just can't shake his previous life."
Nice idea to pull this thread back up. There is much about Danny's character that is consistent with a history of abuse and his recent behaviour with Lindsey only reenforces some of those patterns we've seen in past seasons. No one with an ounce of self-esteem would pursue someone who treats them as Lindsey treats Danny. When a girl stands you up, you tell her to screw off and move on. It's that simple. Anything more just appears pathetic and needy. An abusive past could certainly explain his desperate need for acceptance.
That is true. Why would you go chase after someone who stood you up? Maybe his father is the one who abused him, so Danny stays away from his father as much as possible.
Glad to see this thread back. Yes, the more I see of Danny's behavior, the more convinced I am that he was abused. The stuff with Mac from season one has been mentioned earlier in this thread--how he never defends himself when Mac yells at him, how he continued to seek Mac's approval no matter how harshly Mac treated him, his body language when Mac yelled at him, etc. He's displayed more of the same with Lindsay this season. She might not be quite abusive--Mac wasn't quite there either--but she uses Danny and he lets himself be used. She sent him in to deal with the mother in "Oedipus Hex" knowing he had feelings for her and that he'd go because of that. She stood by and watched him get hit without stepping in, which shows she cares much more for herself than for him. Lindsay stood him up and then didn't give him any explanation for doing so, and still Danny went after her, asking for an explanation and then even after she gave him the brush off, offering his support. The normal reaction would have been anger--and then maybe understanding. But Danny never got angry, because he simply doesn't expect people to treat him well. People like Mac and Lindsay don't, and they simply fulfill his expectations. That kind of thinking is characteristic of someone who has been severely mistreated. I have little doubt Danny was abused as a child, probably physically and emotionally. He acts like someone who has been told he's worthless, and believes it. He's such a sad character--he really seems to have no self-respect.
That's a very interesting point, Top, something I've noticed myself quite a few times. Whether it's the result of abuse (and the term has so many nuances that there would be endless possibilities in terms of storylines) or not, I'd like TPTB to explore that. With only five or six episodes until the end of the season I'd say it's about time they give us a Danny-centric episode.
I would think Danny would be abused by his father as child as i agree with u that he seems so close to his mother but i would think it could be his brother trying to push him in to line. And talking of Louie is he died or alive ????
The "who" abused him is of course the next question. I doubt it was his mother because he called her "mommy"--but then, abused children don't necessarily hate the parent that mistreated them, so anything is possible. More likely is his father. But I think a lot of it depends on what kind of abuse it was. Physical/emotional suggests a close family member (someone he lived with). If it was sexual abuse, it could have been any older relative or person he interacted with. Either way, the way he gravitates towards people who mistreat him definitely suggests he has some deep emotional scarring of some sort.
Some of the abuse could have came from Louie too. Thinking of the flashbacks in RSRD where Louie is yelling at Danny to leave (saying all kinds of mean things to him) and then all the years he wouldn't have anything to do with Danny. I know he only did it to protect Danny and that in the long run, it kept Danny out of trouble. Then he calls Danny up in Trapped and wants to meet with him. There's something else that was never answered. What exactly did Louie want? In Danny's eyes though, his brother dropped him like a hot potato. Danny probably thought he did something wrong and always tried to get close to Louie again until he just gave up. His brother mistreated him, he didn't know why, and therefore he expects everyone to mistreat him. Danny definately does gravitate towards people who mistreat him and that is a classic sign of abuse..they repeat being the "victim" over and over.
i wonder how danny was as a cop b4 he became a csi, i remembered at some point Mac said he personally picked Danny into the team eventhough other ppl disagreed... or danny wasn't a cop b4 that?
I think it would definitely be a very interesting storyline if Danny were abused. I think it would be his father that would have hit him as a child. Mainly because dads more often than not are the abusive parent, and his dad is most likely somehow connect to the mob and mob people aren’t the nicest people. And to become a CSI you have to be smart, my sister is a CSI in Chicago and she has her master in science and you have to study forensic, so Danny is obviously a very smart kid and did well in school and that probably something his dad (and brother) didn’t know what to do with so Danny probably never fit in with his family. Automatically making him an easier target for his dad. And he might have gone to work for the NYPD as a way to get back at his father for everything. Which his Dad would most likely treat as a slap in the face. As for Danny always being tense, I don’t think that would necessarily be just cause he was abused. I always thought it was more form his family being “connected” and Danny feeling the pull of what to do. He has no doubt seen a lot and seen a lot of illegal stuff and probably wrestles with that everyday of his life. He knows its wrong, but its also his family and friends and do you really want to be the reason their behind bars. And people probably talk about him a lot behind his back about his mob connections and that would make anyone tense. Knowing that people are saying sh*t about you and you can’t defend yourself. I mean look at how the captain talked about him in RS, Danny knows that people whisper about him and he probably feels a lot that people may not trust him or he always has to prove himself to everyone. God Danny is so freaking complicated. He drives me crazy sometimes. But that why we love him I guess!!
wow what a discussion Do we know if there are more siblings or is it just Danny and Louie? If it is just the two of them and Louie's actions that night affected Danny so much, then there must have been a deep connection between the two before, for it to have such an impact for 15 years. But in one sweep of emotion Danny forgave Louie in an instant after finding out he was doing it to protect him. Who does that you don't "just forgive" unless there is something else we don't know, after all Danny was hurt for 15 years and suddenly...that's all over I don't know, but if Danny has a hard time with relationships with women why'd he have Cindy for a girlfriend, although she seemed to only be in one episode maybe he dumped her the next :lol: as someone mentioned - sabotaging his relationships so he won't get hurt. Wonder who dumped who :lol: