Why Lindsay Must Go

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hey all,

i was wonderin bout this the other day. I personally do not agree that Lindsay must go. However i do see your point. I think you shouldnt attack the character or actress without first stepping back from the situation.

At first i didnt like lindsay, the abrupt aiden exit left a sour taste in our mouths. Much like when your parents split up and you hate ur dads new gf, we werent to keen on lindsay.

TPTB seemed to try and replace Aiden and the replacement suffered because of this. Im sure TPTB soon realised the dislike for lindsay and tried to make her win our hearts with the relationship of an exsisting popular character, danny (classic sitcom trick). But this just made things worse as again she filled the whole that Aiden left behind.

Soon many people were pessimistic about her as a character and threads like this occurred. Then people start ripping mercilessly into Annas acting skills.

i do agree with some of the comments made on this thread but i believe that most of Lindsays misfortune is down to bad descisions from TPTB. I understand most find Annas acting skills questionable but next episode of csi look at the other actors, they all have different styles that fit with their characters and i believe it is because you are not investing enough time in the character of Lindsay that her acting isnt communicating in a way that you understand.

This is just my personal view please do not be offended :D

Ps. I am speaking from experience because i personally cannot get on with Horatio caine. David carusos *im an all american cop and can do no wrong whilst constantly oozing cool* aproach to the character does nothing but frustrate me. But i realise that it is a way of acting that i am not getting along with and most people love it.
 
This is just my personal view please do not be offended
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Oh, I don't think anybody will be offended. ;)

the abrupt aiden exit left a sour taste in our mouths. Much like when your parents split up and you hate ur dads new gf, we werent to keen on lindsay.
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When I found out a character was leaving NY, I was glad it was Aiden because she was my least favorite character (along with Danny at the time, in case you're interested :p). I was excited to see a new person come in, and I had no problem with Lindsay in principle. So I'm not part of the 'we' apparently.

Soon many people were pessimistic about her as a character and threads like this occurred. Then people start ripping mercilessly into Annas acting skills.
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People felt Anna couldn't act well and most still feel that way--they just had a place to say it. There are a thousand threads on a hundred message boards where I could wax poetic about Anna's OMG-SO-FANTASTIC ACTING SKILLZ if I felt she had them--but I don't, so it's nice to have a place where I can say that no, I don't think she's the best actress on the show. Very few people 'rip mercilessly' into Anna's acting skills--most just say they don't think she's the best or that serious angst isn't her strong suit, etc.

i believe it is because you are not investing enough time in the character of Lindsay that her acting isnt communicating in a way that you understand.
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Um, I watch the show for an hour, 24 weeks out of the year, and that's just for new episodes. None of the other characters get more than that, so I don't know what time I'm supposed to invest in her. :confused:

I've never been totally convinced that the character should leave, but I've also never been convinced that she was worth the space she takes up on the show. I can't help but think of the things the writers could do for the other characters if she weren't around. It's not because she came in later, it's not because the writers thought she should hook up with Danny--I just don't think any of it works.

A lot of people assume that anybody that doesn't like Lindsay has a certain set of reasons for not doing so.

Aiden? I wasn't a huge fan of her until after season 1 had ended and I started to re-watch the show and really get into it. I was excited to have someone from "Medical Investigation" on the show, and I liked Lindsay initially. So that theory doesn't hold water.

D/L? I'm not jealous of Lindsay being with Danny--he's a fictional character, and I can't understand why I'm supposedly jealous of their twu wub when I would like to see him in a relationship--with someone who isn't in the main (or possibly even recurring) cast. I don't see the chemistry the writers intend to be there, I don't know why they feel like they have to have it happening now, and so on and so forth. It takes away from the individual characters rather than adding to them, although it's become the only aspect of Lindsay's character anymore. I didn't feel that the scenes in the finale were a natural progression of something that was a long time in the making--I felt that it was a gratuitous way to get the 'hot' guy naked and get the teenyboppers squealing over the twu wub. Lindsay has been on the show for less than two years--there was no need for them to be banging each other in the finale. No, not all relationships take years to develop, but if they're going to be as half-ass as they've been with Danny and Lindsay, they should have taken twice as long to at least develop it right. It doesn't work just because you write it, TPTB.

And blah blah blah. :p
 
Nope, not offended. :)

I doubt it's any skin off Anna's nose if we don't like her character or feel that her acting skills are not up to scratch. As Fay said, it's just nice to be able to express the opinion somewhere amidst all the Lindsay-love.

If you read through this thread, you'll see that the general consensus is that the writers are as much to blame for our lack of affection for the character. They cannot seem to settle on a characterisation for her, which may well explain why Anna Belknap appears to struggle at times. The poorly conceived and badly written "romance" has only served to make matters worse, further robbing her of the chance to develop a distinct character independant of the others.

TPTB seemed to try and replace Aiden and the replacement suffered because of this. Im sure TPTB soon realised the dislike for lindsay and tried to make her win our hearts with the relationship of an exsisting popular character, danny (classic sitcom trick). But this just made things worse as again she filled the whole that Aiden left behind.
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While some people may have disliked Lindsay because she replaced Aiden, that wasn't really a factor for me. I liked Aiden and was sorry to see her go, but I was not inclined to be "fannish" about it and declare war on her replacement. I didn't like or dislike Lindsay at first. I did think that the writers tried much too hard to sell the character in this first couple of episodes. But I mostly could ignore her, even when she grated on me. The nature of the show meant I wouldn't have to put up with her for long. As time went on, I just never warmed to her.

I guess it comes down to the fact that not all characters are equally likeable by everyone. Mac annoys the heck out of me too at times, but I can't fault Gary's portrayal. Lindsay has failed to be other than irritating to me, whether she is in ass-kissing or whiny mode (things that drive me nuts in real life too). But what really bugs me is when I am taken right out of a scene by Anna's acting. Maybe it is her style, in which case I guess it's one that doesn't work for me as a viewer.

I've given her two seasons and I still don't like Lindsay or Anna (as an actor, that is). I don't think that is likely to change now. Nor need it, as after all, in the end, it is only my personal opinion.
 
As someone who was never that attached to Aiden--I liked her character, but I didn't have the "this is really, really going to suck" reaction that I did to her leaving that I did to Speed's leaving--I was indifferent to the idea of a new character coming in. In fact, I remember seeing the story about Anna joining the cast and being intrigued, because she was so different from the blonde, blue-eyed type that TPTB were initially looking for (back when the character bore the unfortunate name of Summer Hamilton). :lol: If there was any character I was inclined to hate because of love for his predecessor, it would have been Ryan, because Speed was absolutely my favorite character. But I love Ryan, too, and pretty much liked him right off the bat because Jonathan Togo is so good, and the character is so well-developed.

I can't in good conscious blame Lindsay entirely on the writers. Yes, they've been inconsistent with her personality, and that is their misstep. But Melina did wonderful things with the steaming pile of crap that was "All Access," so I know the actors can rise above the writing when it's not the best.

And honestly, I think the storyline with the dark secret wasn't all that bad (aside from being rushed). It was Anna's acting that made it atrocious. Having to watch her cry in the morgue or yell at Stella to leave her alone made me cringe. And that wasn't because of the writing--it was because of the acting. Melina could have sold those scenes, or Carmine or Eddie or Hill. So I don't think it can all be blamed on the writers by any means.

As for Caruso, though I like him, I absolutely understand how some don't. I think his acting--and the writing for the character--has become more stiff and wooden over the years. I wish Caruso and the writers would stop trying to make him so superhuman and get back to what was so compelling about the character to begin with: his compassion.

But I digress. penguinpie brings up an excellent example: Mac. I couldn't stand the character the first season, but it wasn't because Gary Sinise's acting wasn't good. Mac was supposed to be stiff and rigid and a little unsympathetic, and so even as I disliked him, I didn't think he was a bad character by any means. And, that initial stiffness has allowed for the great development we've seen for Mac in season three, with him opening up and forming relationships with others (Peyton and Reed) and seeing that life isn't always as black and white as he previously believed it to be.

With Lindsay, there's no consistent personality for her to grow or change from. She's just whatever the writers need her to be for that episode. And because of Anna's limitations as an actress, she's never really come up with any kind of core personality for Lindsay, the way Eddie has for Flack or Hill for Hawkes, who, even though they aren't on screen as much certainly have gotten across to the audience a good sense of who their characters are as people.
 
TPTB seemed to try and replace Aiden and the replacement suffered because of this... But this just made things worse as again she filled the whole that Aiden left behind...While some people may have disliked Lindsay because she replaced Aiden, that wasn't really a factor for me.
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After reading this board regularly for the past few months, I think that the majority of people who have not been able to 'warm' to Lindsay have suggested 1 common reason, that of poor character development. Yes, there are other reasons that have been justified, clarified & constructively criticised, such as her acting not being on the same level as her co-stars.
I did not take an instant dislike to Lindsay, I was actually quite excited that there was going to be a new female character. When I watched Season 1 for the 1st time, I wasn't too keen on Aiden and I was quite glad to see her go :devil:, but by the end of Season 2 I watched Season 1 again and I was hoping that TPTB would pull off a 'Bobby Ewing' and resurrect Aiden :lol:
1 example of why I found Aiden to be a more believable character than Lindsay, is that both these females flirt with Danny, the difference being it was so much more believable with Aiden BUT it stopped being believable with Lindsay the day that it went from flirting to something more serious IMHO. There is just no chemistry between the 2 characters (and some might even say there's none between the 2 actors?!), and I feel that they are used & abused as sexual pawns to the detrement of their character development :(
 
Just gotta say, I thought their initial flirting was Cute, with a capital C, but still kinda forced. For me there never was any chemistry. It felt more like a curiosity because there was something new.

I agree ^ and have said before that the relationship between them became the focus instead of the people in it. They both lost some personality in S3. The whole guilt/simpering angst/whinging kind of thing has got to stop. I could tolerate the flirtation, but the moment they tried to evolve it something more serious, it's like they did so without clear direction - it lost whatever spark the writers thought it had (that I never saw) and became almost more of a negotiation.

I liked Lindsay in S2; her performance kinda matched the new-girl character. It's when they tried to hint at her tragic back-story and up her relationship with Danny that I started to seriously lose interest/patience in her (and also somewhat in Danny). Sounds like a combo of writing and acting both.

As for Aiden, I was never an avid fan of hers, but neither was I as into the show as much as I am currently. I will say that IMO Vanessa/Aiden just possessed an edge, range, and intensity that Lindsay/Anna doesn't seem to carry. Lindsay just doesn't have the same weight of presence on-screen. Again, is that acting? writing? direction? I still don't know if Anna should go, but more and more I'm agreeing that she is the weakest link in the show.
 
I was at a writing seminar tonight, and one of the writers made an interesting comment. He said that an actress on the show he worked on (which I can't name, but no, it wasn't one of the CSI shows) simply wasn't very good and therefore the writers didn't write for her as often as another, more talented actress on the show.

That got me thinking about Lindsay's lack of development and made me wonder if that was perhaps why her storylines always feel half-assed. Is it because the writers simply don't enjoy writing for Anna when frankly there are more talented actors on the show? The dark secret storyline was so hastily revealed and dealt with and moved on from that it does make me wonder.

And yes...I know Anna was pregnant. :p But her storylines in season two were pretty uneven, too. Anyway, it was an interesting comment and did get me thinking...
 
^ That's a really interesting point. I imagine there may be some validity to that. As a writer, it would be tremendously rewarding to pen something along the lines of RSRD because you know that if you write for Carmine, he will come through for you. He'll knock it out of the park and you'll both look like superstars. He has the ability to bring home the high ratings. On the other hand, if you write for Anna, no one wins. She struggles with the material, highlighting her weaknesses and any strengths that may lie in the writing are buried. The only way to make Anna look decent on screen is to give her the light fluffy stuff and that's just not where the writing gold lies.

And to think, we've been blaming the writers for not developing Lindsay's character. Perhaps there are considerations we're not taking into account.
 
^It's hard to argue that they didn't make any attempts to develop her--there was the whole dark secret storyline. And while it was mishandled/under-developed, a lot of that was Anna. Her crying in the morgue and yelling at Stella in "Silent Night" was embarrassingly bad. I can't blame the writers for not wanting to give her more to do to flesh out the story better, since she obviously can't handle it.

I can't quite forgive them for using Carmine to prop her up though. I know they're a team, but I don't believe in dragging down someone who's so good for someone who can't pull her weight.
 
^^Using Carmine to prop her up was a very lame attempt to make it look like Anna could act worth a crap. How well would Lindsay have done if she hadn't had Danny to lean on. I personally don't think Anna's good enough to stand on her own two feet. When the Danny/Lindsay crap is over, they'll just use somebody else to prop her up.

Top, the crying scene in the morgue looked so fake. If you can't pull off a fake cry, you shouldn't be allowed to act. The same thing with the court room scene. What a load of crap. I CAN fake cry better than that.
 
I honestly don't wanna start a flame war, but I think Anna herself said it best:

After my first audition, I felt really bad about it, so I was like, "Hill, tell them I'm not that bad!" and he put a nice word in for me which was very sweet.

I wonder if she ever realized just how much she admitted there.
 
Kimmychu said:
I honestly don't wanna start a flame war, but I think Anna herself said it best:

After my first audition, I felt really bad about it, so I was like, "Hill, tell them I'm not that bad!" and he put a nice word in for me which was very sweet.

I wonder if she ever realized just how much she admitted there.
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Heh...You think she'd keep her mouth shut about Hill having to help her out. Apparently even she knows how bad she is. :rolleyes:
 
1CSIMfan said:
^^Using Carmine to prop her up was a very lame attempt to make it look like Anna could act worth a crap. How well would Lindsay have done if she hadn't had Danny to lean on. I personally don't think Anna's good enough to stand on her own two feet. When the Danny/Lindsay crap is over, they'll just use somebody else to prop her up.

Top, the crying scene in the morgue looked so fake. If you can't pull off a fake cry, you shouldn't be allowed to act. The same thing with the court room scene. What a load of crap. I CAN fake cry better than that.
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That was an embarrassment. One of the things an actor or actress is charged with doing is conveying emotion convincingly. She can't do that.

I posted this over in the spoiler thread, but this part of it is probably something to talk about here:

It's that selfish behavior that I find so noxious from Lindsay. Lindsay gets sent to process evidence in a gruesome multiple murder? OMG, it's so unfair that Lindsay the new girl got sent back to the lab to do work and can't process at the scene. A young woman has been murdered? OMG, it's all about how Lindsay can't deal with the mother. Danny's been taken hostage and beaten, but OMG it's all about Lindsay's guilt over it.

And now this spoiler where she "can't watch" Danny and Hawkes in danger. Why is it always about her???

Seriously, none of the other CSIs are like this. I know Danny gets flack ;) for being a drama queen, but a lot of times when he's all worked up, it's because he cares about the case or a person involved. The only time I've ever seen him behave like a brat was when he gave the son of the gypsy cab driver a hard time after the man was killed, but he went back and apologized.

Have we ever seen Lindsay apologize, ever? For standing Danny up? For making him do her part of the job and talk to the mother who slapped him? For storming out of a crime scene and yelling at Stella when she tried to offer support?

I think I could deal with Anna's poor acting if the character were at all likable, but she's just not. There's so much to dislike about her that I've stopped trying to find the few moments here and there when she's tolerable.
 
Top41 said:

And now this spoiler where she "can't watch" Danny and Hawkes in danger.
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Beautiful. It sounds as if we'll be treated to a tragic collision of reality and fiction. We've seen time and again that Anna, as an actress, is unable to perform her job duties as demonstrated by her utter failure to convincingly convey anything other than the lightest of emotions. Now we'll be treated to watching her fictional persona choke on the job as well ... oh, that's right, wasn't that what season three was all about? For the love of God, why is Lindsay still usurping unmerited screen time?
 
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