Why Lindsay Must Go, Part 4

Discussion in 'CSI: New York' started by Top41, Mar 22, 2009.

  1. PerfectAnomaly

    PerfectAnomaly Resident Smart Ass

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    I'm biased too because the only thing I've ever seen her in is CSI: NY. But those clips were very bad. In the first one it was like you could tell the script said, "twirl hair while speaking." Her mannerisms aren't natural at all. And her delivery is the same when she's supposed to be flirting with the guy and when she's supposed to be annoyed with him for figuring her out. The second is pretty much the same. It's almost like you can see her trying to hit her marks and again her tone was the same as in the scene when she was supposed to be flirting with the guy. As for the expression it went between blank and down right mean looking. Like people have said before, she just has no warmth or depth to her whatsoever. She's definitely a one trick pony and even that one trick isn't pleasant for me to watch.
     
  2. Top41

    Top41 Administrator Administrator Moderator Premium Member

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    I actually watched the premiere of Medical Investigation back when it aired, and was turned off by her character's little mock seduction routine. I've since seen other episodes and actually liked the show, but at the time I only watched the first episode and no others. That wasn't entirely because of Anna, but it was in part because I didn't like the character--and something about her grated on me.

    As PA says, Anna just doesn't have much range. If you watch Gary or Melina or Carmine or Eddie or Hill in another role, it's obvious they're playing a different character. Seeing those clips of Anna as Eva, I didn't feel she was markedly different than Lindsay...even though the two characters aren't really anything alike on paper. (Eva's supposed to be something of a hard-nosed PR type.) She doesn't inhabit her characters the way other actors do, and she's just not natural. That script is always obviously there--she's reading the lines, following the directions in the script or that the director gave her...but there's no depth to her performance.

    I can't help but wish someone else had been cast as Lindsay; I wonder if there'd be so much dislike for the character if someone else had played her.

    My pick? Amy Acker, from Angel and Dollhouse. She's an actress who can easily play the "awwww shucks" small town girl but actually has the warmth Anna lacks. I'm having trouble finding good clips on YouTube, but here's an interview with her. There are a lot of fanvids, but without going too many pages in, here's the only real acting clip I could find. She's playing a badass in it, so it's not the best example, but at least you can tell she can act. ;)

    I'm sure there are a lot of other actresses who could have played the part of Lindsay better than Anna. I really think her lack of warmth is as bad as her limitations as an actress--that scene with Adam where she says she "can't deal" with him might have been cute if she didn't come off so chilly and bitchy.
     
  3. Tee

    Tee Hit and Run

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    Hi everyone- I've never like Lindsay that much, but Season 5 has really gotten to my nerves with all of the DL baby drama...:scream:.

    But what she said to Adam at the start of the episode really ticked me (because NOBODY can say that to Adam :mad:) which led me to this thread...

    Question: If Lindsay has to take care of the baby now, does that mean she won't appear as much next season? Or am I getting my hopes up?
     
  4. Plenilunio

    Plenilunio Lab Technician

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    ^ We're gonna see the lovebirds struggling with parenthood, but I don't know if that means less Lindsay time or they'll come up with an impromptu nanny, say, auntie Rita, to solve the baby issue.
     
  5. symbeline

    symbeline Witness

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    I think that part of her problems lie in her eyes. She has that vacant look in every scene, the emotion doesn't register. It's very odd seeing her face and listening to her lines, while her eyes remain the same.

    I actually like her smile, but as Tyra would say, she isn't smiling with her eyes :lol: Same with the emotional scenes, she seems to be reading lines from cue cards (or reading them in her head), so her eyes remain blank, as if she couldn't remember her lines and emote at the same time.

    I guess that you are born with some abilities and it's probably difficult to achieve a dramatic range for an acting job, but she's an established actress, so it's her job to show emotion with every part of her body, no matter how hard it is. You can't simply read lines and scrunch your face every now and then when you remember that the scene requires something more.

    IDK, maybe I'm wrong and she's trying hard to show something when she's emoting and she just can't pull it off.
     
  6. Poppet

    Poppet Police Officer

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    Watching those clips reminded me what Lindsay looked like in Season 2. I don't mean to be rude to Anna, as I don't think wardrobe/hair people do her any favours here, but Lindsay looks like she has aged about 10 years in the last 2 season. Strangely she seems to be the only character aging, in fact I think Stella looks younger now than season 1.
     
  7. Elwood21

    Elwood21 Pathologist

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    Thanks for the clips. It was interesting to see those again and find Anna to be ...exactly the same...

    I do remember watching the show here and there when it was on, but I actually remember very little of it. I guess that says something in itself. I tuned in mainly because of Neal McDonough, because I thought he was excellent in Band of Brothers.

    The first clip, her flirt laugh and twirling of hair was so, well, annoying :lol: and layered on like a kid putting icing on a cake, and by around fifty seconds, where she stands up to put her coat on, incredibly forced even though the guy was supposed to have a tip off to figure things out, and the ending of it was her usual brittle, petulant fare. Like a miffed, sussed out cheerleader or something.

    The second clip, the woman at the desk was more grounded in one line than Anna was with her schpiel to get the files. The look on her face at the very end was again kinda like a thwarted child.

    Agree. Inhabit, that's a great word for precisely what she doesn't do.

    It's like there's this perpetual transparent veneer to her performances, and can see through them to the mechanics of them. It's like her Motivations for the characters in a scene, and her function within them, just read louder than the characterizations themselves. That would mean that we are reading behind the mask of performance to see her Acting. It often seems to me that the characters as a result come across as lacking sincerity or feel self centred or even manipulative, because the mechanics of her acting and how the characters are going about supporting or moving the story forward surface and read above the actual characters and story in question. Not seamless, and not something that helps one simply sink into the show.

    All I can say is that as far as PR types go, JJ on Criminal Minds puts her to shame, for being tough, compassionate, flirty on occasion, and funny when called for. And the writing (and performance of) to accomodate AJ Cook's pregnancy? Miles above.

    I remember a ways back in this thread someone asked that very question, would people like Lindsay better had someone else been cast to play her. And I think my response at the time was that it was moot because in S2 she was innocuous enough. But I really gotta rethink and revise that now. I really do wish someone else had been cast. I now do wonder if that would even have made the writing seem better, and if the writing's been getting a bad rap due to consistently trying performances. Mebbe the Dark Secret wouldna been so atrociously played (if they'd planned all along to have that as a backstory for Lindsay), mebbe Lindsay woulda come off as more complicated and nuanced in her troubled relationship with Danny, maybe there really was so much mor potential in the writing given her character that was never realized, so much more that could have been invested into the performances with someone able to convey subtext and subtleties more believably. Mebbe those bitchy moments would have seemed deliberate and made her a more designed character with that as another layer and edge to her. Whaddaya do.

    The clips of Amy Acker were fun. But man, that I dunno what that props rocket launcher was made outta, to just toss it away like she did :lol: musta had her wheaties that day :lol:

    Never watched Angel, but Dollhouse was great. I get the sinking feeling Dollhouse won't be making a return next season, but we'll see. Dunno about Mad Men or Breaking Bad. I have only started to admit I'm getting slowly tugged into Fringe from time to time and hope they leave it alone. If Dollhouse doesn't, then Amy Acker could be available... :p

    I think that's very true. I think that goes to both the lack of sincerity, layers, and subtext in her performances. Depth, in other words, as people have already said. You'd also think that after four seasons there'd be some growth or curve in performances, if not character depth. Often seems to be sliding backwards to me. S4 and S5 have not been the strongest of the series as a whole.

    She did look very young there. ...*shrugs*

    I think Stella's an example of that growth. I think in S1 there was a harder line taken with the character and some did see her not simply as strong, but sometimes cold, and I know what they mean. I think the character has warmed without losing that strength, has relaxed into a less guarded compassion, inverse to the trauma she suffered, and is a character I've come to like even more as the series has progressed.
     
    Last edited: May 10, 2009
  8. Jay1987

    Jay1987 Witness

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    Ok why she must go?

    Cause....I think the Reaosn for Angells Dead is the Lindsay/Danny/Baby storyline...and that makes me pissed....:scream::scream: I never really liked Lindsay...In Season 2 she was ok...but then....-.- Danny is too good for her
     
  9. Elwood21

    Elwood21 Pathologist

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    I'm not sure I get what you're saying here. That were it not for the direction that the DL storyline took this season and the integration of the baby into the show, that it would have been someone other than Angell who was to be killed in the finale?

    While I admit I'd have been all for a scenario that had Lindsay the one placed in jeopardy, I now think the show would not have killed off one of the main characters, and would have found a way to make it a recurring one or a guest regardless. It was exciting, for a brief moment in time, to think that they might :lol:

    As it stands, I think it all was a way to hype the finale without actually impacting the main line up of characters in a lasting way for S6. Though I guess we'll see what the cliffhanger actually brings :lol: There's a teensy part of me still hoping to be caught off guard and swept away, truly surprised at what we're gonna see :p

    I won't say that my hopes for DL and Family are high in S6, only that we're subjected to the absolute minimum possible. Might be one occasion where I wouldn't mind the gaping maw of Black Hole Continuity to arise.
     
  10. Plenilunio

    Plenilunio Lab Technician

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    I don't think this is related to DL in any way. The baby storyline has made Danny and Lindsay be together in a very definitive way unless something extraordinary and surprising happens out of the blue, but I don't think so because there are many fans who like DL.

    I'm trying to understand what you mean. If we have Angell and Flack, then Lindsay and Danny, that's two couples, right? Do you mean certain sectors of the fanbase would deem it to be a little bit too much or am I reading too much between the lines?

    I don't think two couples are a problem, since Angell and Flack's story is not that evident most of the times. We know they are a couple, but we don't see them together 24/7 and none of them is constantly mentioning how great they are together. If their relationship was shaped the way DL is, then it would be too much, but in most episodes there's Det. Flack and, sometimes, Det. Angell. Don and Jess as a couple are not shown that often. So, to sum up...
    I don' think Angell is being killed because of Danny and Lindsay. I fail to see the correlation, sorry.
     
  11. Zelda

    Zelda Hit and Run

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    Oof! Those were painful to watch. Especially her "flirting" in the first clip.

    I was indifferent to Lindsay until the baby drah-ma started. For some reason her petulance seemed to become magnified after that.
     
  12. Jay1987

    Jay1987 Witness

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    Ok I mean, that D/L is the Reason for Angells Dead...cause theres just space for ONE happy couple...so I think they're thinking just one way...for F/A to kill one of them :( I now sounds not really good....but I think so...And I hope ya understand me ^^ (from Germany)
     
  13. Top41

    Top41 Administrator Administrator Moderator Premium Member

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    I agree, Jay.

    Danny and Flack can't both be in relationships--the show needs to have one of the sex symbol guys be single. Not that the other men on the show aren't hot, but Danny and Flack have definitely been pegged as the sex symbols on the show--Danny even more so than Flack, which is why it's still kind of surprising that they've shackled him to Lindsay. I definitely think they're killing the wrong character off. ;)
     
  14. Plenilunio

    Plenilunio Lab Technician

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    Jay, don't worry. Language isn't an issue. I'm a non-native myself and I know how tough expressing what you mean can be sometimes. I got you the second time :thumbsup: And, well...
    ...my perception is the one to blame here. I'm one of the few people who don't like Danny. As a character, I don't like his personality traits. Writing him must be real interesting, but he's not the character I truly enjoy watching. Fortunately, Carmine is a great actor and he does a great job. Physically I don't find him attractive at all, he's just not my type, but I agree with Top when she says Danny and Flack are the show's eyecandy and at least one of them needs to be single.

    *shrugs* I like Flack. He doesn't make my heart race, but he's nice to look at and I love him as a character. I don't care if he's dating Angell or engaged to a drag queen, I'll still love him and enjoy each and every appearance he makes. I acknowledge he's simply a character and as long as he doesn't grow numb and pale the way I sometimes feel Danny has, I'll be happy because it's not like he's gonna appear out of the blue and ask me to marry him (I'd say yes :p).

    Anyhow, Jay, good luck with your hating. Lindsay is here to stay, we'll have to shrug it off and maybe cover our eyes and pretend she's not there ;)
     
  15. meggzie

    meggzie Police Officer

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