*facepalm*

[scarletts_awry]

I wasn't going to do this. I wasn't going to offer an ep response. My resolve lasted all of eight minutes.

Spoilers for Sleight out of Hand.

Comments

[mybestexcuse]

so, i'm not gonna lie, i was sorta expecting lindsay to be pissed that he showed up.

to me, that seemed like the logical reaction.

[scarletts_awry]

Sadly, I'm not surprised that she wasn't upset, given what I percieve to be the hamfisted way they've handled Danny and Lindsay's interaction, but on an emotionally realistic level it struck me as a very wrong note.

[limmenel]

See, I really like the Danny/Lindsay relationship, but I'm totally the opposite of you in this case. I don't want to like the relationship, and I wish I didn't believe in it, because I totally hated Lindsay from the moment she started. But at some point, I started to like her as a character. And from there, I started to like her as a character in relation to other characters. She was a nice balance to the mostly male cast, and she was a rather believable character, not the mary-sue that I thought she'd be at first (like, say, Peyton or Angell

[scarletts_awry]

Well, I think we just differ on a lot of our reading of the show, bceause Angell is an exceptionally minor character to date and I don't think we've seen enough of her to have any genuine characterization (which means folk would probably write her as a Mary Sue in fanfic; I don't know, I haven't read any Angell fic). My impression of Angell is that they're just still writing Maka still (who they gave a little bit of characterization to) even though Kelly Hu couldn't or didn't want to do the show any more. I actually think they've made Peyton a rather believable love interest for Mac. I mean, I don't at all *want* Mac to have a love interest, but assuming they won't be dismissing Mac's issues after losing Claire, I feel like they've handled the Mac/Peyton situation rather realistically, unlike how they've handled the Danny/Lindsay interaction

[scarletts_awry]

So, when Lindsay survived after the flashbomb went off, I think Danny saw that as a wake-up callAnd that's an example of what I mean by telegraphing the relationship. That's a set piece, a cliche of sorts. Person X's life is in Danger, forcing person Y to have a bit Epiphany. For me, that only works in a larger context of demonstrating that Danny and Lindsay have been growing close, both in and out of work. It's the small, everyday, incidental moments that sell a relationship for me, and the writers have been remiss in giving such moments to Danny and Lindsay. The ending of "Not What It Looks Like" (the Holly Golightly robbery episode)--Danny's concern struck me as a general worry for yet another colleague's life being put on the line. I imagine he'd react the same if, say, Hawkes had been the one to go undercover because after the series of traumas that ended S2--his brother Louie beaten and in a coma, his good friend and former colleague Aiden murdered, his long-time colleague Stella attacked, his other good friend Flack and

[limmenel]

We haven't seen enough of Angell for me to really dislike her, but I certainly don't like her yet. She showed up without explanation, and suddenly was everyone's best friend, which really annoys me. Also, the initial description we had of her was the one that frankly kind-of made me want to gag... "Jennifer Angell is described as, "young, bright, sees everything." The detective also has tattooed roses around her wrist, but despite her appearances she's all business."

As for Peyton? If I look at her as just an extension of Jane, with a different face and working as an ME instead of in DNA, then sure, she's great. Actually, as a character in general I quite like her, because I think she's a good addition to the cast. But I don't like her as a love interest to Mac, because that REALLY doesn't seem believable to me. Like, she just shows up and suddenly Mac's smiling and in love? I'm sorry, I can't buy that. That seems like a forced love story.

See, nicknames aren't automatically signs of affection, and I never took the way Danny used

[webbgirl]

I haven't watched the ep yet, but I wanted to read your review because I was afraid this was going to happen.

I'm so with you on the writers not selling D/L. It's a whole lot of telling and not showing with those two characters.

I must go to my happy place with a Naked Flack in my brain.

[scarletts_awry]

Yeah. Speaking generally, it's very sad the shortcuts writers of popular media will take because there's this pervasive and wholly unrealistic model of what a Real Romance looks like. I'm resigned for the most part, but I'm still annoyed.

Naked Flack makes everything better.

[stellaluna_]

I always hold off on reading the East Coast reactions until after I've posted, so I don't get subconsciously influenced by everyone else's comments.

...Hi, want to be my brain twin? You just said, very succinctly and articulately, what I spent several hundred words flailing about. Just -- yes. A world of yes.

[scarletts_awry]

Hi, want to be my brain twin?

Okay! Heh. I think we already are. I held off on discussing the family theme running through this episode because I knew you'd handle it in your own review, and you did so beautifully.

I honestly did not intend to write more than a three-minute response to exorcise my dissatisfaction with those two and a half scenes, but it... grew. Because my dissatisfaction was great, and I really did not want to say something as didactic and one dimensional as "the show's portrayal of Danny/Lindsay fills me with homicidal rage," however true that may be.

[stellaluna_]

Heh. We really are. And thank you; the family theme's been consistent all year, but it really stood out in this ep, and I liked that the focus was specifically on the LoD as a created family.

Oh god. I *told* myself I wasn't going to spend more than a paragraph or two on all of that. Next thing I knew, I'd written 800 words. *facepalm* indeed. I mean, I like to try to find *reasons* for why I find myself wanting to conduct long arguments with my television, but still.