Hawkes has been there five seasons, he's a main character, and has yet to have a big storyline. Flack has been there five seasons, and I think he's had two big storylines - and I'm being generous, including the Season 3 torment over turning in a dirty cop, as a big storyline. Lindsay (despite the fact that Belknap is, imo, a far less famous actress) has had two. Three, if we absolutely must include her part in the Season 4 fiasco.
Aside from the dark secret, what was the other one? The romance? I almost don't count that, because it seems like a way to give her some purpose on the show, to mask her overall inadequacies as a character/actress.
I don't know if I'd call it a storyline, but Flack's devotion to Danny has definitely been a bit part of his character, and their friendship is a big element in the show.
Hawkes has smaller stuff, but he has the newbie CSI stuff (sadly overshadowed by Lindsay), the former ME/doctor beats and even some friction with Mac over the case where he knew the victim.
I don't know, I've gotten the feeling that all the CSIs on all the shows (well, maybe not Miami) are supposed to have a little nerd in them - though Lindsay especially so, because she often comes across as that know-it-all nerd who was into all this paranormal/cartoony stuff and did the unnecessary extra-credit homework in school.
She's the Little Miss Perfect in school who everyone
hated because she spent her time kissing the teacher's ass. :lol:
When was Flack's Dr. Who line?? :lol: (I so have to find it) I remember him being kind of a nerd in DOA for a Day, when he reminded Danny that the cosplay club looked like a Star Wars cantina
The Dr. Who thing was in "Time's Up." And he kind of gets dorky around Danny--the two just play off each other in a really cute way. :lol:
They never went anywhere with it because, like I said, black hole of D/L; Danny's not the only victim of it. It's one of the most frustrating things I find in the show - Lindsay doesn't seem to have any connection with anyone other than Danny, but there're always, always so many moments where it seems like the writers could (or even were planning) to take it in that direction with other characters - Mac, Stella, Hawkes - before D/L stole the show again.
Yeah, but where Danny gets moments with all of the other characters despite D/L, Lindsay doesn't get that much at all. Even though the romance looms large, Danny still has a connection with every other character on the show, whereas Lindsay just doesn't. I think that's in large part due to her falling flat as a character much of the time. Even the stuff she has--the demonstrations, conflict with Danny, etc.-- is all repetitive. There's never anything new with her, and as an actress, Belknap doesn't stretch at all.
Stella's interest in fashion and clothes and Tiffany's doesn't always come up, either, but I'm fairly sure we're still supposed to kind of see her as a glam-girl.
Really? I always saw Stella as having a certain sophistication, but not quite being a glam girl. I think she spends time on her appearance but doesn't obsess over it. She's kind of in the same category as Calleigh and Catherine.
But anyway, I just meant that Lindsay's definitely supposed to be a stereotype, but she doesn't strike me as a stereotypical tomboy - that was what Angell was supposed to be, if you ask me.
The buck knife, the rope braiding, the slingshot... all of that says tomboy to me. Angell held her own with the guys, so I can sort of see the tomboy side of her, too, though I think a lot of that had to do with having four brothers. She was just strong, probably because she had to be in that family!
IIn character arcs, the acting is singular - you just have to respond to situations on your own.
Oh, no, not at all--I'm thinking Danny butting heads with Mac or confiding in Flack or offering comfort to Hawkes... the acting is never singular, because the characters are always interacting with each other.
In romantic arcs, you have that, plus you have to convincingly portray that you have romantic feelings for someone you (usually) don't. I think that's harder. I don't think it's a coincidence that CSI for the most part is a show that has stayed fairly romance-free, whereas there are entire shows specifically oriented toward romance - I think there might actually be a different kind of skill-set required to play romantic arcs. They seem hard to do.
Maybe... but Danny and Lindsay don't have a whole lot of chemistry, so I see Anna (and even Carmine) failing in that regard, too. The romance is easy--it panders to fans who are really just watching the show for two characters to hook up.
Flack has had nothing but tiny character arcs until Season 5 - the one in Season 1 with his old supervisor, the one with Officer Truby in Season 3, and then a brief one where he had a girlfriend in Season 4. Adam...well, he had the little "almost getting fired" one in Season 5, plus had little moments that give depth to his character (like in "My Name is Mac Taylor, when he was looking up all the different Adam Rosses in New York). Danny hasn't had tiny character arcs because with the exception of Stella and Mac, he's the one who gets the most storylines on the show.
Maybe arc isn't the right word--elements that flesh out the characters, perhaps. AJ plays Adam very consistently. He's nervous, he's flustered, he likes Stella, he looks up to Danny and Mac... I know who Adam is. Lindsay changes from episode to episode, because of the writing, yes, but also because Anna doesn't inhabit the character in the way the others do. It's a little less glaring in the fourth and fifth season, in large part because it seems like she's had less to do.
Her outburst in All Access seemed natural to me (I don't remember the hand on Danny's arm, though) - I thought she was very clearly on edge that whole episode, and if the problem was with Lindsay's outburst being too abrasive...I really think it was meant to be.
To me, it felt like she was reading the script and responding to the obvious cues. She just didn't seem natural in that scene. I felt the script there. And I never feel the script (unless the lines are hugely awkward or something) with any of the other actors.
The hand on Danny's arm was earlier, when they were out somewhere, and looking at the action I remember thinking, "Gee the script/director probably called for her to put her hand on Danny's arm." It was robotic in a way.
