I am 100% totally cool with CSI:NY moving to 8. Less competition. >.< And Made in Jersey is a better fit for the CSI:NY/Blue Bloods team up than A Gifted Man was that’s for sure. It sounds like it’ll have the same kind of down to earth family feel. Now doubt CBS will own Fridays yet again, but maybe they’ll win some younger viewers over with the new show.

CBS has my favorite line up for this season by far. They made a few bold changes that I think will support other shows (like moving The Mentalist to Sunday) but mostly stuck with what’s working and while some might see that as boring, I see it as smart.

{30 Days of CSI:NY} Day 10: Your Guilty Pleasure Episode » The Closer/Risk/Stuck on You/Personal Foul

I have too many guilty pleasure episodes but these would be my top four. The Closer is a great episode and that’s mostly for Mac’s emotional subplot, but the reason it’s a guilty pleasure for me has more to do with the frivolous baseball A-plot. As a kid I was a big Red Sox fan (for those of you who know me that’s probably less than shocking) and they broke my heart. But the NY/Boston rivalry has been a part of my life since day one. How could CSI:NY not cover it? What I liked was that we got some fun moments out of it, mostly involving Danny and his baseball skills. But mostly it’s the culture, this one comes right out of my life and I think I can appreciate the inside jokes and general fan stupidity of it all. Risk is fun episode right from the start. We get some subway action, we get a look at life outside the job, see Danny’s perspective as a younger detective, and some cute DL & Danny/Mac/Lindsay moments! I love when Danny/Lindsay work together, I love when Danny/Mac work together, and I love when Mac/Lindsay work together so that first moment of them on the tracks is just my dream. Probably one of my top scenes if I’m being honest. And DL were super cute of course. Which brings me to Stuck on You which was fun for the same reasons Risk was. It’s also more of a lighthearted episode… I guess I just like those. Personal Foul isn’t exactly lighthearted (although it has it’s moments) but this one sticks with me because -again- we’re getting to see life outside the lab and that’s the best! I have a huge soft spot for Flack/Danny so seeing them hang out away from work is always welcome. And never better than in Personal Foul. From the basketball game in the beginning it’s clear they really are best friends, and after the emotional ride Danny went on in season 4 it was nice to see him relaxing and having fun. The ending was pretty heavy but fitting for the storyline. The whole episode has a nice balance to it and that makes it easy to rewatch for those days when I just need a little guilty pleasure. ;)

{30 Days of CSI:NY} Day 09: An Episode That Disappointed You » Hostage/Veritas

When it comes to a season finale of CSI:NY, I expect a lot. If Hostage had been just another episode of the week I probably would have enjoyed it more. But despite being high stakes, I never felt a real sense of urgency. And as for bank robberies, I much prefer season one’s more energetic entry: Rain which hit the emotional sweet spot just right. I include Veritas as well because I was so disappointed in Hostage that by the time we got to the carry over episode I just didn’t care. It has the added offense of having a title named for one of my favorite Latin words but makes up for Hostage slightly by introducing us to Samantha Flack and kicking off the Sam/Don storyline which I adore. Neither episode is particularly bad but for what they were supposed to be and how they stand, they are disappointing for sure.

Degrassi talk later. First CSI:NY season finale.

Oh yes, I had some feels tonight! Nearly cried at the Mac/Flack scene and when Danny and Mac exchanged I love you’s. I knew they were going to do DL together and I think it was right that they were last because honestly they’re the closest to Mac now that Stella is gone. They’re his family and that bit was perfect. I loved the Mac/Lindsay hug but ending with Mac and Danny was just perfect.

I think this episode makes me realize I only really ever shipped Mac/Claire. Their scenes were handled beautifully.

But most of all I loved that Mac awoke to Christine rosary in had. Faith has always been the basis of Mac’s character and if this is the to the be the last episode of CSI:NY they created a perfect full circle. Honestly Mac clearing the last unsolved case in the S7 finale was nice but not particularly unique to Mac. But the prayer with the rosary was the perfect call back to Mac’s first CSI:NY scene in the cathedral in Blink. And of course Claire telling Mac he could move on was a wonderful bookend to Mac’s despair at Ground Zero at the end of Blink. So beautiful work there. 

I also loved that every member of the team got a moment to shine tonight. Their scenes with Mac brought out the core of their characters. Even Mac talking about each member’s stand out personality trait was perfect.

Also little Lucy Messer running through the halls of the lab ;___; lovely! I think I was hoping for a bit more but it fit the episode perfectly. Hopefully we’ll get a season 9 and a chance to see more of her.

Flack and Mac talking about Jess’s death and shooting?! Holy shit! I was not expecting that at all, but thank you, writers! Thank you so much! Perfect, perfect, perfect choice!

I also appreciated that we saw the Flack/Danny/Lindsay trio in action. They’re definitely the go to kick ass group and it’s not that often that we get to see all three of them involved in a take down. It was fitting for the end.

I didn’t cry but the Flack and Danny parts nearly got me. I think when I rewatch without the commercials there’s going to be waterfalls on my face. Those stupid insurence commercials always pull me out of the moment.

I know Melina couldn’t come back for the finale but… Stella was the only thing missing for me tonight.

/end random thoughts

Degrassi thoughts later. And edits again starting tomorrow. I really need to just fill up the queue with stuff so this doesn’t happen again.

{30 Days of CSI:NY} Day 07: A Character You’ve Changed Your Opinion Of » Aiden Burn

It’s strange to think there was a time that I didn’t like Aiden Burn. But looking back at those first few episodes of season one, I just didn’t. It was like the writers were saying: “Look we got Vanessa Ferlito to play a CSI! She’s super sexy! Her character doesn’t need a personality!” Yes, Vanessa is a knockout but if they had continued down that road with Aiden it would have been an awful shame. Thankfully, a couple episodes in they realized that Aiden could also bring a vibrant, authentic New York energy to the group and she became the most lively, enthusiastic, and spunky member of the team. The changed infused some much needed energy into the dark storylines and allowed Aiden to stand her own in both comedic and serious scenes. Her send off storyline makes me emotional every time I watch it but I can’t help but feel like she deserved better. It would have been a more interesting storyline had she actually planted the evidence. That’s something we haven’t seen on the show and would have painted some shades of gray on the DJ Pratt case. Alas, even though her time on the show was short, Aiden remains one of my favorite characters even today and that’s something I never would have imaged looking back at her pouty sex symbol beginnings.

{30 Days of CSI:NY} Day 06: Least Favorite Character » Kendall Novak

There isn’t really much to say here. I kinda hate Kendall. Not that there is much to hate since she was only in three episodes. Felt like a lot more at the time though. My main issue with Kendall was that she wasn’t believable. I actually preferred Bess Wohl in her one episode guest spot back in season one. I do understand what the writers were trying to do: sexy lab tech who could spice up the science and play love interest to Adam. But it just didn’t work at all. It’s not that it couldn’t work- Stella is certainly able to mix sex appeal and still be perfectly natural in both the bad ass cop role and the smart scientist role. Kendall? Not so much. She also didn’t quite mesh with the rest of the cast. While everyone on CSI:NY is quite attractive, they still manage to feel authentic. When Kendall had to interact with the group sans Adam she pulled me out of the moment completely. Thankfully it seems the producers and writers also realized this and so we didn’t have to suffer her long at all. Three episodes was enough.

Oh yeah! I forgot I made these wallpapers. They’re both size 1366x768 (click to view full size and save). Feel free to use if you want. <3

{30 Days of CSI:NY} Day 05: Favorite Character » Danny Messer

Danny is by far my favorite CSI:NY character. He’s one of my favorite fictional characters period. He might just be the most compelling character in the entire franchise. He’s a bundle of emotions which is great because you never know exactly what he’s going to do next or how he’s going to react to a certain situation. In fact the only way he’s predictable is that he’s always getting himself into trouble. Danny’s really the only character who can get away with things like blindly shooting up a crowded subway station or locking himself in a panic room. Of all the characters he’s the one most likely to need saving and usually it’s his own fault. But all of that comes from the fact Danny wears his emotions on his sleeve. He’s passionate about everything and to me that’s infectious. He always makes me want to care about him. And really that’s what a good character should do. I also think he’s the character that has grown the most throughout the series. Clearly it hasn’t always been easy and there have been times I get frustrated by the way the writers handle his storylines but it always works out because sure enough he’ll have something totally new going on in a few episodes. A lot of credit also goes to Carmine as an actor. In a show with powerhouse talent all over (I mean when Gary Sinise is your leading man what else can you expect?), Carmine is a constant scene stealer. The camera loves him. He also manages to bring out Danny’s goodness underneath the wannabe tough guy. Sure Danny’s a little rough around the edges but he’s arguably the most caring, sensitive, and insecure character on the show. And maybe because of that the writers have given Danny some of the best material in the series. Sure Danny has mellowed out in the recent years -he’s not the impulsive young CSI he used to be- but he hasn’t lost that compelling edge. Even with the softer, more mellow material he’s gotten lately he’s still managed to be the stand out star. When the show is over, I think Danny Messer will still be remembered as one of the greatest tv detectives of all time. 

{30 Days of CSI:NY} Day 04: Favorite Multi-Episode Arc » The Cabbie Killer 

I was debating between two storylines but I chose to interpret this question as the arc that had best idea behind it or the best crime saga based on the actual crimes. If we’re talking killers… my answer is a little different but I’ll save that answer for day 23. The Cabbie Killer arc is about as New York as it gets. The cool thing about overreaching arcs is that instead of putting the evidence together over the course of an episode and figuring out who the killer is, there’s more mystery. With every episode - and body - the team (and the viewer) gets another clue to solve the puzzle. Ultimately while the cryptic tee shirts/dollar bills in the Shane Casey arc and the puzzles in the 333 Stalker arc were really cool they didn’t feel very exclusive to CSI:NY. Those stories could have worked in any city. But a serial killing taxi driver? Only New York could pull that off. I also liked how the politics and media played into this storyline. Including Jordan and Reed in this storyline helped show how public pressures can effect the investigative process. For some reason seeing the whole city freak out over the Cabbie Killer added an element of realism for me. That panic is something we haven’t really gotten from the other multi-episode arcs because those crimes usually only effect the team. But serial killers effect everyone and the fear that comes out of that is very real. It’s also what makes this arc so entertaining. 

Degrassi & CSI:NY - Tonight was girl power night. I completely approve! And I have so many thoughts… under the read more…

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