![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I wrote this in response to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
faylinn_drake's post on the topic, but since I'm lazy and soon to be busy with academic reading(oh, joy), I thought it would double nicely as daily post fodder. So, without further ado:
CSI:NY has lost so many more viewers than Criminal Minds because CSI:NY is exponentially more terrible and more inconsistent. CSI:NY S1 laid the foundation for so many rich storylines--Mac versus the Mob, Louie, Danny, and the Tanglewood Boys, Flack's friction with his father--but only one of these storylines was ever revisited, and not very convincingly or thoroughly, at that. Yes, we know Louie was a Tanglewood Boy who ratted on Sassone to save Danny, but we still don't know how deeply Danny's involvement ran before Louie pushed him out. For fuck's sake, we still don't know if Louie is alive. The NY writers have a piss-poor track record of continuity and a nasty habit of retconning established canon to suit the purposes of the week. Viewers have wearied of waiting for the big payoffs to personal storylines because they've learned there likely won't be one.
CM, on the other hand, masters continuity and the delayed payoff like a mofo. They set up exit strategies for their characters far in advance of their need so that when the time comes, it doesn't look rushed. With Gideon, it was his mental instability. With Elle, it was PTSD from being shot by an unsub in her home. With Reid, it's his struggle with drug addiction and his family history of schizophrenia. With Morgan, it's his mistrust of the system he serves, as well as the possibility of promotion to his own command. With Hotch, it's a need to be involved in his son's life. Everybody has an established bugaboo in reserve, and that bugaboo also influences how they respond to certain cases. No one acts bizarre because the writers have written themselves into a corner and need a way out. Canon isn't tortured in the name of plot contrivance. It's a rock-solid show with believable, human characters and a firm handle on what it wants to be and where it wants to go.
It does have the occasional wet fart of an episode; the few before the finale were flat, in my opinion, but their missteps are far fewer than those of CSI:NY, and thus, I choose to give them the benefit of the doubt that I refuse to extend to Zuiker and company.
CM is trying to create a good show; NY is trying to create merchandising and syndication opportunities overseas.
At this point, I'm watching CM for the content and NY for the hot Flack tottie and the fannish camaraderie of posting on TalkCSI.
And that's my treatise on why CM outperforms CSI:NY.
faylinn_drake's post on the topic, but since I'm lazy and soon to be busy with academic reading(oh, joy), I thought it would double nicely as daily post fodder. So, without further ado:CSI:NY has lost so many more viewers than Criminal Minds because CSI:NY is exponentially more terrible and more inconsistent. CSI:NY S1 laid the foundation for so many rich storylines--Mac versus the Mob, Louie, Danny, and the Tanglewood Boys, Flack's friction with his father--but only one of these storylines was ever revisited, and not very convincingly or thoroughly, at that. Yes, we know Louie was a Tanglewood Boy who ratted on Sassone to save Danny, but we still don't know how deeply Danny's involvement ran before Louie pushed him out. For fuck's sake, we still don't know if Louie is alive. The NY writers have a piss-poor track record of continuity and a nasty habit of retconning established canon to suit the purposes of the week. Viewers have wearied of waiting for the big payoffs to personal storylines because they've learned there likely won't be one.
CM, on the other hand, masters continuity and the delayed payoff like a mofo. They set up exit strategies for their characters far in advance of their need so that when the time comes, it doesn't look rushed. With Gideon, it was his mental instability. With Elle, it was PTSD from being shot by an unsub in her home. With Reid, it's his struggle with drug addiction and his family history of schizophrenia. With Morgan, it's his mistrust of the system he serves, as well as the possibility of promotion to his own command. With Hotch, it's a need to be involved in his son's life. Everybody has an established bugaboo in reserve, and that bugaboo also influences how they respond to certain cases. No one acts bizarre because the writers have written themselves into a corner and need a way out. Canon isn't tortured in the name of plot contrivance. It's a rock-solid show with believable, human characters and a firm handle on what it wants to be and where it wants to go.
It does have the occasional wet fart of an episode; the few before the finale were flat, in my opinion, but their missteps are far fewer than those of CSI:NY, and thus, I choose to give them the benefit of the doubt that I refuse to extend to Zuiker and company.
CM is trying to create a good show; NY is trying to create merchandising and syndication opportunities overseas.
At this point, I'm watching CM for the content and NY for the hot Flack tottie and the fannish camaraderie of posting on TalkCSI.
And that's my treatise on why CM outperforms CSI:NY.
Tags: