CSI:NY, "Dead Inside"
Again, my apologies for the lateness of this review, and my thanks to everyone for your patience.
"It's not my secret to tell."
A few episodes back, I think, I suggested that this season would, at least in part, focus on the darker side of family ties. Now that I've watched "Dead Inside," I feel fairly confident in saying that this does, indeed, seem to be the case.
What also strikes me as interesting is that this isn't a "big" episode; by and large, it's just another week for the CSI team. And yet this episode, like those big episodes (e.g., "All Access" or "Run Silent, Run Deep" or "The Thing About Heroes"), keeps its focus very tightly on character development rather than on the forensics. The case of the week seems almost extraneous, except as a means of shedding light on the family dynamics of our main characters by playing compare-and-contrast. Is this a signal of a slight shift in emphasis for the show as a whole? Only time will tell, but at the very least it's an intriguing possibility.
But back to the darker side of family ties: Here it emerges in the form of secrets kept, and the effect that those secrets can have on a family. In the case of the victim, the revelation of those secrets gradually tears his family apart, and ultimately lead to his murder. In Flack's case, it's the keeping of the secret that's tearing both him and Samantha apart.
At the beginning of the episode, Flack has begun, however reluctantly, to buy into their father's perception of his sister as a willful fuck-up, and to consider cutting his losses with her and moving on. By the end of the episode, he's come to a new understanding, that Sam is an alcoholic. He's devastated by the revelation -- and by realizing that he's missed seeing this very big factor in his sister's life -- but it seems that, ultimately, this is the kind of revelation that can lead to healing. He knows, now, that his sister isn't a bad seed or a black sheep, but a woman who's struggling with illness and addiction. It has to hurt him to know that she's been keeping this secret all along, just as it has to hurt Sam to know that she's always been shuttled off into this bad-girl role by her family, but now both of them have a second chance.
In a broader sense, this, of course, points again to how difficult it is to know another person, and how much that difficulty can spring from one's own preconceptions. It also points to how easy it is for people to fall into the trap of attempting to construct others' identities for them, or see their own identity constructed by someone else, someone who may be doing it all wrong. Aside from the fact of her alcoholism, and whatever physiological and emotional factors may have played into that, how much did Sam fall into that bad-girl role with her family because it was, after awhile, what they all seemed to expect of her, and because she wasn't given the chance to be anything else?
It's clear how much Flack cares about his sister, and I'm not sure that he would have been able to walk away from her even if he hadn't realized the truth behind her behavior. He's too loyal, as we've seen time and time again, and the ties between them are too strong. The scene where he plays Peter Gabriel's "Red Rain" for her over the intercom is moving, both of them managing to demonstrate an emotional connection even though they're not onscreen together, and I wonder if Flack making this gesture and reaching out to Sam like that is part of what gave her the strength to attend an AA meeting.
Speaking of secrets, and the darker side of family ties, I'm also rather concerned about just what Stella has in mind when she tells Danny that, "You remember yesterday when you asked me if I wanted to break some rules? I do now." I'm glad to see her reacting with anger and with a refusal to be intimidated to Sebastian's threats, but I worry about whether whatever she had in mind is going to be a good thing. It was also good to see her confiding in someone, but Danny is maybe not the best choice, precisely because of that willingness to break rules.
Because the thing is that they have a limited number of options available to them. It was specifically pointed out in dialogue that Sebastian has diplomatic immunity, so even if they're able to prove that he's behind all of this, there's only so much they can do. So, again, I have to ask: what exactly does Stella have in mind? And just how much trouble are she and Danny going to be getting into? I spoke a few episodes back about a potential erosion of trust between Mac and Stella this season, and I wonder if this isn't the incident that could make that a very real possibility. At the very least, it looks like this is going to be a secret that Stella and Danny are going to be keeping, and in an episode that's all about the devastating effects that secrets can have on people's relationships...well, that doesn't bode well.
Finally, I find it interesting that the daughter of the murdered man -- who was only ever able to connect with her father, to hold his interest, when he thought she was a potential affair -- has chosen to surround herself with other people's secrets, and with their sins. Tangible proof that she's not alone in the world after all, that other people are also unable let their loved ones know about the stories they're hiding -- or that they're unable to make them see, even when they're all but screaming in their faces.
Briefly Noted:
The vegetables as pipes/bongs were amusing, but poor Adam is filled with more nervous energy than ever. Just watching him was making me jumpy.
Regarding the kiss between Flack and Angell: I have no opinion at this time. Whether this storyline (if it becomes an ongoing storyline at all) proves to be a good or a bad thing will depend largely upon both how the relationship is handled and how/if Angell is developed as a character, specifically if she's granted some interiority and if the writers are careful to develop her in and of herself, on her own terms, rather than as just a complement to Flack. I'm not, by and large, a fan of canon romance, but I have no real issues with it if it's done with some thoughtfulness, and I hope that this will be.
Once again, Mac makes a promise (to the daughter) that he doesn't know for sure he's going to be able to keep. I still think that habit is going to come back to bite him at some point this season.
Next week: Episode 100! I can't quite believe it's been that long, but I am very excited.
"It's not my secret to tell."
A few episodes back, I think, I suggested that this season would, at least in part, focus on the darker side of family ties. Now that I've watched "Dead Inside," I feel fairly confident in saying that this does, indeed, seem to be the case.
What also strikes me as interesting is that this isn't a "big" episode; by and large, it's just another week for the CSI team. And yet this episode, like those big episodes (e.g., "All Access" or "Run Silent, Run Deep" or "The Thing About Heroes"), keeps its focus very tightly on character development rather than on the forensics. The case of the week seems almost extraneous, except as a means of shedding light on the family dynamics of our main characters by playing compare-and-contrast. Is this a signal of a slight shift in emphasis for the show as a whole? Only time will tell, but at the very least it's an intriguing possibility.
But back to the darker side of family ties: Here it emerges in the form of secrets kept, and the effect that those secrets can have on a family. In the case of the victim, the revelation of those secrets gradually tears his family apart, and ultimately lead to his murder. In Flack's case, it's the keeping of the secret that's tearing both him and Samantha apart.
At the beginning of the episode, Flack has begun, however reluctantly, to buy into their father's perception of his sister as a willful fuck-up, and to consider cutting his losses with her and moving on. By the end of the episode, he's come to a new understanding, that Sam is an alcoholic. He's devastated by the revelation -- and by realizing that he's missed seeing this very big factor in his sister's life -- but it seems that, ultimately, this is the kind of revelation that can lead to healing. He knows, now, that his sister isn't a bad seed or a black sheep, but a woman who's struggling with illness and addiction. It has to hurt him to know that she's been keeping this secret all along, just as it has to hurt Sam to know that she's always been shuttled off into this bad-girl role by her family, but now both of them have a second chance.
In a broader sense, this, of course, points again to how difficult it is to know another person, and how much that difficulty can spring from one's own preconceptions. It also points to how easy it is for people to fall into the trap of attempting to construct others' identities for them, or see their own identity constructed by someone else, someone who may be doing it all wrong. Aside from the fact of her alcoholism, and whatever physiological and emotional factors may have played into that, how much did Sam fall into that bad-girl role with her family because it was, after awhile, what they all seemed to expect of her, and because she wasn't given the chance to be anything else?
It's clear how much Flack cares about his sister, and I'm not sure that he would have been able to walk away from her even if he hadn't realized the truth behind her behavior. He's too loyal, as we've seen time and time again, and the ties between them are too strong. The scene where he plays Peter Gabriel's "Red Rain" for her over the intercom is moving, both of them managing to demonstrate an emotional connection even though they're not onscreen together, and I wonder if Flack making this gesture and reaching out to Sam like that is part of what gave her the strength to attend an AA meeting.
Speaking of secrets, and the darker side of family ties, I'm also rather concerned about just what Stella has in mind when she tells Danny that, "You remember yesterday when you asked me if I wanted to break some rules? I do now." I'm glad to see her reacting with anger and with a refusal to be intimidated to Sebastian's threats, but I worry about whether whatever she had in mind is going to be a good thing. It was also good to see her confiding in someone, but Danny is maybe not the best choice, precisely because of that willingness to break rules.
Because the thing is that they have a limited number of options available to them. It was specifically pointed out in dialogue that Sebastian has diplomatic immunity, so even if they're able to prove that he's behind all of this, there's only so much they can do. So, again, I have to ask: what exactly does Stella have in mind? And just how much trouble are she and Danny going to be getting into? I spoke a few episodes back about a potential erosion of trust between Mac and Stella this season, and I wonder if this isn't the incident that could make that a very real possibility. At the very least, it looks like this is going to be a secret that Stella and Danny are going to be keeping, and in an episode that's all about the devastating effects that secrets can have on people's relationships...well, that doesn't bode well.
Finally, I find it interesting that the daughter of the murdered man -- who was only ever able to connect with her father, to hold his interest, when he thought she was a potential affair -- has chosen to surround herself with other people's secrets, and with their sins. Tangible proof that she's not alone in the world after all, that other people are also unable let their loved ones know about the stories they're hiding -- or that they're unable to make them see, even when they're all but screaming in their faces.
Briefly Noted:
The vegetables as pipes/bongs were amusing, but poor Adam is filled with more nervous energy than ever. Just watching him was making me jumpy.
Regarding the kiss between Flack and Angell: I have no opinion at this time. Whether this storyline (if it becomes an ongoing storyline at all) proves to be a good or a bad thing will depend largely upon both how the relationship is handled and how/if Angell is developed as a character, specifically if she's granted some interiority and if the writers are careful to develop her in and of herself, on her own terms, rather than as just a complement to Flack. I'm not, by and large, a fan of canon romance, but I have no real issues with it if it's done with some thoughtfulness, and I hope that this will be.
Once again, Mac makes a promise (to the daughter) that he doesn't know for sure he's going to be able to keep. I still think that habit is going to come back to bite him at some point this season.
Next week: Episode 100! I can't quite believe it's been that long, but I am very excited.