Was Danny abused as a child?

Agree. I think we need to know more about Daddy Messer and if he is the abuser, have Mac chew him up and spit him out.
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I would love to see that. It would be nice to see Mac show Danny that he does have a father figure who will defend rather than hurt him. Daddy Messer--I like that. :lol:
This could also mean that Danny has been affected by crime a lot himself. We already know he was beaten up when he was 10 and later was involved with a gang, but there could be more, especially if he did grow up in the mob world, like his bio hints at.
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Yeah, the latter more than the first two. Danny could have seen how crime destroys families if it wrecked his own. The nicest people in his own family could have been those highest up in the mob hiararchy, and subsequently could have been arrested/incarcerated. If Danny's abuser wasn't his father, but his father was incarcerated at some point, that may have well left Danny in the care of the person who did abuse him. Hence he would equate being robbed of a parent because that parent committed a crime with abuse.

So many possibilities!

Definate indication of abuse. It could also be part of Danny's natural personality, but as well as rather than instead of the abuse.
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I'm sure he wouldn't ever have been an ocean of calm :lol: , but Danny actually seems to lack the normal filter most people have for their emotions. If I'm upset about something at work, I might show it by being quiet or brooding about it, but I don't get lippy with people around me, like Danny does. And he was almost in tears after the shootout in "On the Job." He seems to lack key emotional defenses that most people have. It suggests some significant damage was done during his emotional development.

Maybe he didn't have anyone who cared about him or that he could turn to.
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Probably not. If it was just him and his dad in his immediate family, and his father was the abuser, Danny probably didn't have anyone to turn to. And his experience might be that there was no one that could help him, which would translate to his adult feelings that no one can help him when he's in a bad situation.

I think Danny has too many issues for it to just be about his mother dying when he was young.
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Agreed, but I think that's part of what may have contributed to his beliefs. On an instinctual level, he probably thinks people will either abandon him or mistreat him.

Overall I agree with your theory Top41 , except maybe the 'Danny is an only child' bit, although I suppose the bit I always quote from 'A Man A Mile' could be interpreted as Danny wishing he had a brother.
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That part is just a guess. He could have a sibling; I just get the only-child vibe off him. Not sure why. If he does have a sibling, I expect that sibling is older.

Another way for Mac to find out. I think Mac does need some clue, or evidence for him to follow, because Danny's behaviour is just not doing it for him.
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Yeah, though it's understandable. All he sees is Danny acting out. Though I first started to suspect Danny had been physically abused in "Crime and Misdemeanor" when Mac is confronting him. If you look at Danny's body language in that scene, he looks like he's expecting to be hit. He's kind of hunched down and looking up at Mac--there's something defensive about his position. He also kind of slinks away and as someone else noted, he looked over his shoulder at one point, as if he expected Mac to be coming after him.

But those are subtle signs and Mac easily could have missed them.
 
to put in my two cents about Danny's personality.... :) as far as his natural personality being defensive, lippy, and an emotional mess, I am going to have to disagree. to reinterate what TOP 41 stated, from my understanding and what I have seen, the average person does have the ability to control (adult) their emotions on the job (no pun intended!) again this is MOST, not all. To me that does suggest a lack of emotional growth from Danny. In situations, he doesn't act like an adult, his defensiveness and wearing his emotions on his sleeve is something that a child , not a healthy functioning adult would do.
 
to put in my two cents about Danny's personality.... :) as far as his natural personality being defensive, lippy, and an emotional mess, I am going to have to disagree. to reinterate what TOP 41 stated, from my understanding and what I have seen, the average person does have the ability to control (adult) their emotions on the job (no pun intended!) again this is MOST, not all. To me that does suggest a lack of emotional growth from Danny. In situations, he doesn't act like an adult, his defensiveness and wearing his emotions on his sleeve is something that a child , not a healthy functioning adult would do.
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Yep, exactly. It goes beyond, "oh, he's just an emotional guy" or "he just has a bad temper." Danny's reactions to even the smallest things aren't normal.

Someone else mentioned in the "What You See" grading thread (I think it was that thread) that Danny went to Mac and asked if everything was okay with them before any actual repairs in their relationship had been made, like a four-year-old would. That's where Danny's problems are coming from--he's reacting to adult situations like a child. And Mac is getting frustrated because he's expecting Danny to react to these situations like an adult, and Danny isn't.

I really wonder what's in the psych report. I hope it's mentioned again in season 2. Because I think Mac was troubled by it because maybe it hinted at something being wrong with Danny emotionally.
 
right. I too am intrigued by the psych report. Mac's expression indicated that everything wasn't allright with their relationship.

I guess with Danny's personality and emotional status, with counseling or therapy of some sort, I wonder how his personality could change or if it would help him at all? It intrigues me to see Danny and his personality evolve on the show, but at the same time, I can see Mac's frusration mounting trying to deal with Danny as an adult and not getting anywhere with it. See I work with juveniles so Danny's behavior is 'normal' for me! :lol: but seriously, if Danny were my co-worker, wow I could deal with his emotional defensiveness, butit would be hard. of course, I would just want to do dirty things to him, so he and I wouldn't be able to work with one another!

another thought: I wonder how his personality affects other relationships in his life? girlfriends, etc
 
^Yeah, Mac's expression indictated he was troubled. Things aren't okay yet--not enough time has passed and Danny hasn't done much to redeem himself--but I'm also wondering how much Mac is troubled by what's in that report.

As for relationships in his life, well, Danny's shown that be it his mentor or friend, when it comes down to it, he thinks the people who care about him are going to betray him and/or not look out for him. I imagine that would spill out into romantic relationships as well. I suspect Danny's very insecure in relationships and probably needs constant reassurance. Which in turn is probably frustrating for the person he's with, especially if the person is confident and secure in her own right. I'd guess Danny has as much trouble with romantic relationships as he does with all other kinds of relationships.

EDIT (forgot to add this!): As for therapy, I don't know that it could *change* Danny per se, but it might help make him more secure and give him some tips for what to do when he starts to feel vulnerable/defensive. He could at least work on the trust issues in therapy.
 
I meant to say that he wouldn't 'change' his personality per se, but be able to work through what is troubling him. especially his trust issues.

yeah, i thought that he would have a lot of the same issues in a romantic relationship that he has in working relationships and possibly friendships as well.
 
^Aren't there exercises and stuff that can help people work on their trust issues? I remember doing a 'trust fall' as a kid in camp. Man, did I hate that. :lol: Danny, doing a trust fall? Ha! He'd be like, "They're all gonna go on a coffee break right as I lean backwards!" :lol:

I think with therapy and effort on his part, Danny could alter at least some of his behavior.
 
I really enjoy reading this thread. All the ideas I read start my mind going with all sorts of ideas. :) So here are a few more ideas that you all inspired:

1. What if Danny testified against the Tanglewood Boys? He probably got involved with the Boys to get away from things at home and maybe he saw one of their crimes and not only was it enough to scare him into leaving, but to go to the cops. If he was under 18, I think it's possible that the records of testimony could be sealed. Or maybe the cops used his testimony to get those involved to take a plea agreement. That would keep the rest of the Boys from knowing of his involvement in the case. That could explain a lot of his reaction at the end of "Tanglewood"- he's not only worried about Mac finding out about his involvement with the gang, but the gang finding out about him testifying against them. If Mac found out about this, I think that while he would be upset about Danny's involvement with the Boys, he would be proud of Danny for coming forward and testifying. He might also understand Danny lying about his involvement, if he realized that Danny would be afraid of the Boys finding out it was him.

2. Mac would never hit Danny. Mac isn't the sort of man to hit someone in anger. But if he got angry enough that Danny thought Mac would hit him(or if Mac slammed his fist down on his desk) and Mac saw his reation, that would go a long way to Mac figuring out what's going on with Danny.

3. Mac might purposely set himself up to be a father-figure to Danny if he confronts Danny's abuser in front of him. If it's Daddy Messer and he shows up at the lab and maybe threatens/gets physical with Danny and Mac steps forward to protect Danny, then Danny would hopefully start to see that he can trust Mac.

4. Another possibility is if Mac has to use some of his power/influence(call it what you will) to protect/help Danny, then Danny would see that Mac does think he's worthwhile and start to trust him.
 
in one of our substance abuse facilities we work with has a 'ropes' course that is similar to what you are referring to. actually it is an excellent team building exercise that our office is wanting to get involved with.

what the ropes course does is it helps people build trust with one another. have you seen the movie with Sandra Bullock when she is in rehab for alcohol abuse? I forgot the name of it but it is similar to the scene where they are all out on a 'ropes' course and they have to trust that the other person is going to help them and they have to ask for help if they need it. all of my clients that complete the ropes course really liked it.
 
My theory is that Danny's mother was a victim of violent crime. She probably died when he was young. This would explain why Danny went into law enforcement after his baseball career ended.

If Danny did have a sibling it would be a older brother. Maybe the older brother was "perfect" and no matter what Danny did it his brother did it first and did it better. Maybe his father abused him as a way to toughen him up and to make him more like his brother. This could explain his feelings of inadequacy and why hes constantly trying to please Mac who I believe Danny looks up to as a father figure. I hope I explained that OK.

As for the way Mac finds out I would like to see a scene, maybe at the start of Tanglewood 2. Mac remembers what Sonny said and asks Danny to prove that he dosent have a tatoo. Danny has some sort of physical scar on his back from the abuse and doesnt want to explain it to Mac so he refuses and Mac of course assumes it is because he has a tattoo. Later in the episode Mac somehow sees Danny's back, and confronts Danny about his abuse. And at the end of the episode Daddy Messer comes to the lab and Mac gives him a piece of his mind
 
I really enjoy reading this thread. All the ideas I read start my mind going with all sorts of ideas. :) So here are a few more ideas that you all inspired:

1. What if Danny testified against the Tanglewood Boys? He probably got involved with the Boys to get away from things at home and maybe he saw one of their crimes and not only was it enough to scare him into leaving, but to go to the cops. If he was under 18, I think it's possible that the records of testimony could be sealed. Or maybe the cops used his testimony to get those involved to take a plea agreement. That would keep the rest of the Boys from knowing of his involvement in the case. That could explain a lot of his reaction at the end of "Tanglewood"- he's not only worried about Mac finding out about his involvement with the gang, but the gang finding out about him testifying against them. If Mac found out about this, I think that while he would be upset about Danny's involvement with the Boys, he would be proud of Danny for coming forward and testifying. He might also understand Danny lying about his involvement, if he realized that Danny would be afraid of the Boys finding out it was him.
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Veeeeerrry interesting theory. I like it--it adds complexity to what we're assuming is just "Danny was probably in the gang and got out." It would have allowed Danny to get out of the gang and redeem himself at the time, so that Tanglewood pt. 2 can be about more than just Danny trying to apologize for/explain to Mac why he was in the gang. Definitely an intriguing possibility.

2. Mac would never hit Danny. Mac isn't the sort of man to hit someone in anger. But if he got angry enough that Danny thought Mac would hit him(or if Mac slammed his fist down on his desk) and Mac saw his reation, that would go a long way to Mac figuring out what's going on with Danny.
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I agree that Mac would never hit Danny, and that he might make a move that Danny would interpret as a threat. Through that reaction, Mac might get an idea about what happened to Danny. He's probably come across abused kids before in his line of work; he'd know the signs.

3. Mac might purposely set himself up to be a father-figure to Danny if he confronts Danny's abuser in front of him. If it's Daddy Messer and he shows up at the lab and maybe threatens/gets physical with Danny and Mac steps forward to protect Danny, then Danny would hopefully start to see that he can trust Mac.
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Yeah, I could see Mac doing that. It's obvious he already cares about Danny's career, which of course means he cares about him personally.

4. Another possibility is if Mac has to use some of his power/influence(call it what you will) to protect/help Danny, then Danny would see that Mac does think he's worthwhile and start to trust him.
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Again a possibility. Though I wonder what it will have to take for Danny to finally be convinced that he can trust others. For anyone who didn't have his problems/issues, seeing Flack and Aiden working tirelessly on the case and hearing reassurances from Flack and Mac would have been enough. No one would have felt great about the situation, but it was obvious that the whole team had Danny's back. He just couldn't believe it for whatever reason. What's it going to take to change that?

Thumpy, I remember those rope courses! I think we did that one in camp, too. That would be something for the CSI team to do--take Danny on one of the rope courses. :lol:
 
I can't wait for tanglewood 2 now. It's going to be so interesting to see where they take this.

I think the idea of Mac hitting the table and Danny flinching would be a good one. Perhaps if Mac was shouting at Danny and then hit the table. It would definately make Mac realise that Danny may have been abused.

Poor Danny is trying to redeem himself, i think it will get worse before it gets better.
 
I think the idea of Mac hitting the table and Danny flinching would be a good one. Perhaps if Mac was shouting at Danny and then hit the table. It would definately make Mac realise that Danny may have been abused.
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Yeah, I could really see this. Can you picture the expression on Mac's face when he puts it together? The "rebellious" behavior, the trust issues, the psych report? Man, that would be really good.
 
:lol: Danny does need a ropes course! although, since he doesn't trust anyone, he would probably not do well with it! Poor Danny, I really feel for the guy and his situation (if he was abused, etc). I guess that I couldn't imagine not trusting anyone-ever,growing up and feeling that the only security that you have is with gang members. wow, I can comfort him if he needs me ;) heh heh
 
Mac, Stella, Aiden, Hawkes and Flack would all be out on the course and Danny would be clinging to the pole saying, "You guys are gonna let me fall! Nobody's got my baaaack!" :lol: ;)

In all seriousness, Danny is kind of a sad character. It must be awful to feel that you can't trust anyone, even people you've worked with for five years. Even the person he considers his mentor (Mac) or his best friends (Aiden and Flack).
 
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