Character: Lindsay Monroe-Messer
Fandom: CSI: NY
Reason for Being Hated: “Mary Sue”, replaced the popular Aiden, love interest/wife of Danny thus is in the way of any other Danny-ships, changes Danny’s character too much so that most of his subsequent storylines and development are all about her, weak/unstable.
I figured for my first submitted defence that it would be a decent idea to go with what you know, and since CSI:NY is one of my favourite shows (I’m still recovering from the cancellation news) it seemed like an excellent place to start. Whilst Lindsay isn’t my favourite character, I still think the amount of hate directed her way by the fandom is more than a little undeserved. What I will say is that I’m surprised she’s managed to get off so lightly in the submitted reasons; I’ve certainly seen a lot more vitriolic explanations given on blogs and threads. But anyways, on with the defence; some spoilers ahead so be warned!
‘Mary Sue’
*sigh* Honestly, I feel like the phrase has actually ceased to have any sort of legitimate meaning, considering the fact it is bandied about in relation to (just about) EVERY SINGLE FEMALE CHARACTER IN EXISTENCE. Without even taking into account other females outside the CSI:NY fandom (although I have been hard pushed in general to find any character that hasn’t been accused of this crime at some point), the three women listed here(Jo, Lindsay and Peyton) are all described as being a ‘Mary Sue’. It’s just laziness on the part of detractors, who can’t come up with a good reason to justify their dislike; so they crack out this old chestnut and think that no one can possible disagree with this rock solid rationale.
However, for the purposes of the defence, I am going to attempt to argue this point. From research, a Mary Sue is defined as a character that is lacking in any sort of fault, making her seem like she isn’t a realistic human being. General traits include being impossibly beautiful, having an unusual name, being lusted after by every male within a ten mile radius and generally being able to do no wrong.
Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m struggling to see how Lindsay falls into this category. Whilst she’s pretty, I think impossibly attractive is a bit of a stretch; she’s more like the petite brunette girl that lives next door as opposed to the exotic beauty with flawless skin and legs up to her armpits. As for her name, Lindsay appears in the top 100 most common first names and Monroe is a surname shared by approximately 54,000 families in the US; thus ruling it out as an unusual name. Being lusted after by all males is laughable; the only man that showed any legitimate interest in her was Danny, and even then he managed to have other relationships as well as cheat on Lindsay. Stella, Angell and Lovato have all had men hitting on them left, right and centre; so they could be accused of this more than Lindsay can. And as for being able to do no wrong…there’s plenty of situations she hasn’t handled in the best possible way. During Season 3, she pushed her colleagues and friends away so she could deal with her issues on her own; in Season 4 she was reprimanded by Mac for leaving evidence unattended (a cardinal sin in forensic investigation); and in Season 5 she tried to keep the news of her pregnancy from Danny for as long as possible. Not the actions of a faultless character, are they?
The fact is that Lindsay Monroe, despite a few wayward errors in her characterisation thanks to the writers, is a layered character. She is in no way perfect, and in fact demonstrates flaws that many of us would recognise in ourselves. She is a know it all, as evidenced in her need to beat Danny on several occasions in Season 2 and her demonstrations of her results throughout the series; she can find it difficult to know how to react in certain situations, which can be seen in her interactions with certain witnesses/suspects and her inability to know how to deal with Danny after the death of Ruben; and she can be a little self-obsessed at times, as shown with her upset at Danny forgetting her birthday even though he was dealing with the death of Ruben. She also holds a grudge, as shown in the early interactions with Danny in Season 2. I suppose it all depends on how you define a Mary Sue, but for me Lindsay Monroe doesn’t fit the profile.
Replaced the popular Aiden
This is to be expected, particularly by fans who have been with the series since the beginning. When an original character and fan favourite departs, the actor or actress who steps into the breach is going to come under close scrutiny and fire (I suspect this is part of the reason for people’s strong dislike for Jo, but that’s a whole other defence.) Whilst I never warmed to Aiden particularly, since I felt like she was a little too similar in characterisation to other characters, it is understandable that people will miss her and judge her successor in relation. However, how is it Lindsay’s fault that Aiden is no longer there? Was the New York Crime Lab supposed to leave the Aiden’s position open forever, never to be filled? Real life isn’t like that; things move on, people leave jobs and other move in to take the vacant spot. Lindsay didn’t sabotage things for Aiden (the New Yorker more than had that covered on her own); she simply transferred to the department thanks to an offer from Mac.
The fact is that Vanessa Ferlito chose to leave the series, in order to return to New York and to take part in more movie/theatre work. She’s even stated in interviews that she had no intention of being in TV series’, but took the job because it was such an excellent opportunity. You don’t have to like Lindsay, but to dislike her because she is a replacement for another character is a bit weak. Even saying she is a replacement is inaccurate, since Mac picked her due to the fact she was Aiden’s polar opposite. Feel free to take umbrage with aspects of her personality, but don’t hate her because she isn’t another character.
Love interest/wife of Danny thus is in the way of any other Danny-ships
Okay, deep breaths…repeat after me: shipping IS NOT an acceptable reason to hate a character. So what if Lindsay and Danny are now a canon couple and have ridden off into the sunset with their children? This is no way impedes you from the crack ships of Danny/Flack or Danny/Mac or Danny/OC; that’s what fanfiction is for, to allow you to have your own adventures in the fictional worlds created by the writers. Whilst I don’t ship these pairings personally, I’m not going to come along and hate on your characters and choices. If you don’t like Lindsay, then that’s fine; just change her relationship with Danny to a friendship and then go off and have fun with your pairing.
The fact is that the writers chose to take the series in that direction, and there’s nothing that anyone can do about it. No amount of hate towards Lindsay’s character is going to change their mind on that. Personally, I like the two of them together and think they are good for each other; Danny opens Lindsay up more and brings out more of her emotional side, whilst she grounds him and makes him more stable. But hey, that’s just my own opinion, and I’m not going to force people to like my ship. We can all live in peace and harmony with the ships; just don’t hate on a character for that reason only.
Changes Danny’s character too much so that most of his subsequent storylines and development are all about her
Again, if this is an issue for you then it’s something that you really need to take up with the writing staff. But to hate on her for changing his character too much, you would have to hate on the rest of the team; since they have all been responsible for changes to his character, particularly Mac. If anything, I would say that the opposite is true, that Lindsay’s storylines and development have all been about Danny (something that certainly irked me, since they could have done a lot more with her; but I digress).
I’m guessing that most people are referring to his changes in Series 5, following the announcement of the pregnancy and the Danny/Lindsay wedding. Whilst I feel that the whole thing was a little rushed, this in itself is the explanation of the changes: he is now a father and a husband. When you get married and start procreating, of course your priorities and your focus change; that’s only to be expected. You are now no longer a lone being that only has to look after yourself; you now have to worry about the safety and wellbeing of two other people along with your own.
Personally, I like the development of Danny’s character; particularly in contrast to Season 4 Danny, who was an absolute douche to everyone. Whilst the circumstances surrounding this do make some of his actions understandable, others are not easily explained away by the death of Ruben. The fact is that Danny has grown up, realising that he can’t walk into dangerous situations and risking his life all the time; this was particularly evident in the Season 5 episode where he went into a gun fight without his vest. Realising that he could have easily widowed Lindsay and left his unborn child without a father probably put a lot of aspects of his behaviour into perspective. There are still flashes of the old impetuous Danny, but he has matured now; and I think that’s a good thing for his character development.
Weak/unstable
Oh, boy. I don’t even know where to start with this one. I guess it depends on your definitions of weak, but for me this is one trait that Lindsay Monroe does not display; if anything, she has shown time and again that she is a strong woman. She goes out and does her job just like every other character on the show, she isn’t hanging back in the lab and avoiding the danger. She dealt with the team hazing she suffered in her first few months without balking (sure, she groused a little, but who wouldn’t when they had to wade through lube and poo or dumpster dive for evidence). She tackled several much larger suspects who fled from the CSIs. She was thrown through the air like a ragdoll in the bombing at the end of Season 2. She almost got herself killed by going undercover to save a hostage in Season 3. She returned to Montana to testify in the case against the man who killed three of her best friends when she was a teenager, and again to witness him being given the Death Penalty. She stood by and helped to rehabilitate Danny when he was shot and paralysed in Season 6. She didn’t crumble when Internal Affairs was insinuating her husband was having an affair with one of his recruits; she just calmly went out and got the truth to clear his name. She was injured trying to protect her daughter and almost killed by a murderer in Season 9. Hell, the woman shot Shane Casey to protect her daughter and husband from the gun-toting psychopath! Now, I don’t know about you, but I certainly wouldn’t call her weak in any sense of the word.
As for the second point, I’m not sure I really understand the argument that she is unstable. The only times we’ve ever seen Lindsay being emotionally volatile was in season 3 due to the stress of the trial and the demons that this dragged up for her. Therefore, I’m going to assume that this is more to do with how she treated the beloved Danny Messer in Seasons 3 through 5; since messing that man around is a criminal offence to a lot of the fandom. Now most of us haven’t been in a situation like that, so we don’t know how we would react. But I must say that it would be more than a little understandable to act ‘off’ with people and withdraw. I know this isn’t really a defence of this point, but I honestly don’t know how to since I’m struggling to understand it.
In summation, the character of Lindsay Monroe seems to suffer from three main attacks: the relationship with Danny, the replacement of Aidan and issues with her personality. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, since such things are subjective, but a lot of the reasons given for the hate of Lindsay are weak at best. She might not be your cup of tea, and this defence likely won’t have changed people’s opinions, but at least have a legitimate argument; as opposed to she gets in the way of shipping or isn’t another character. Peace out!