Feelings on Catherine's Addition

[Musicfreak]

So far I really like Catherine. What I would definitely like is to learn more about her , and to see her have a storyline of her own. Something that doesn't involve doing a favor for Steve, or anything like that. Because honestly, I like her. I think she's cool, and tough, and can hold her own.

I would also like to say straightaway, that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and all I ask as a moderator (and a fan of the show), is that we respect each other's opinions. Basically, please try to be nice. I know fans have a wide variety of opinions on this topic. I just hope that no one is afraid to share their's.

[cookiejar]

I think Cath is here to stay whether the fans like it or not - she is in the opening credits afterall. I am OK with that. Ideally I would have her show up more than she did in seasons one or two but a little less than we've seen her so far (which is every episode). Although it seems like her total screen time really doesn't add up to much and they (PL/TPTB/the writers) are making an effort to put Max in every episode as well since he, too, is a regular.
I would like to know why she is on leave, for how long, and does she plan on going back. Hopefully those answers will be revealed and I think a lot depends on fan reactions to her character. I would like her to remain a career Navy woman - not just Steve's "thing".
In my opinion, she had a purpose in the last episode. She was suppose to pick up the guys and when they didn't show she went to Chin and Kono. Someone had to be the person to let Chin and Kono know Steve and Danny were missing.
Going with Kono and Chin to the suspect's place may have been a stretch but this is a TV show afterall not reality. And we know from episode one Cath can handle herself and a gun in a situation. Cath was there at the end celebrating Danny's catch - that made sense as well.

[davilarose]

So far, I'm OK with Catherine being in every episode. They are not shoving her up every orifice like they did with SHSNBN last year. What I would like to know is if she is on leave or whatever?? If she is going to be around all the time now---that is a very long leave. Or, if they are going to write in the decommissioning of the USS Enterprise into the show, is she going to be stationed at Pearl Harbor from now on......it would be really nice to get a back story on that. Just my thoughts......

[biochemgeek]

So far I like her. She's had a purpose to her presence in all the eps, she has a very pleasant, natural personality, she's just likeable, like Kono is. I would like to learn more about her, and see her have her own episode, as long it continues to feel natural and not like the writers are forcing a situation to showcase her.

I'm happy to have her remain Steve's girlfriend, and I don't mind the occasional hug or scene in bed, as long as there isn't too much of that. I also wouldn't mind if they broke up and she became an independent team member (I'm neither anti-shipper nor pro-shipper). What I do NOT want to see is a long drawn out breakup with moping on either side and awkwardness and all that other unpleasant breakup stuff. If the writers go down the breakup route, I hope it's mercifully brief. Also not a fan of never ending on-again off-again relationships.

[gbird]

I think that her addition to the show has been done really well, they havent forced the issue and the scenes that she has been in have worked well. I also like that she has scenes with the others and you can imagine her and Kono hanging out together . Last year with Lori I never got that feeling .
I think the episode with the govenors fund raiser set up her addition really well, because she blended so well with the core four and I think that most people liked that scene with them all joking around.
I dont know where they will go with the relationship thing , we will have to wait and see but I like Catherines character and so far she is being well written .

[sunnyirish08]

well i was looking forward to the addition of cath to the show. and i'm still happy having her as addition to the show, she's not interrupting any of our favourite aspects of the show, she's not clinging or throwing lovey dovey googly eyes at steve in every episode, ok she had sort of lovey dovey eyes when they came a shore, but hey that was acceptable because she was worried about him.

she's helping out/spy for him to find his mom, which i'm sure will come back to bite him in the behind at some stage. ether from her or mama.

she gets on with everyone in the group, to be honest i never felt lori got on with anyone in the core 4, cath does though.

and last but not least, i don't feel like throwing a shoe at my laptop or fast forwarding the scenes that she is in, unlike last year, where every episode i was praying for plank face to go away.

[goldberry]

I like Catherine and I think they've done a good job with her so far, but I haven't changed my opinion that they should have left her as she was and let the relationship develop offscreen for the duration of the series.

[trina]

I think there is some confusion with Catherine's role. She is still in the navy, and isn't authorized to act as law enforcement when she is off duty, like when she went along with Chin to search the boat. There seems to be some ambiguity as to what she is authorized to do, and that she has more screen time, the writers are trying to put her in anywhere they can.

[sanmars]

I abolutely love Michelle in the Catherine role. She is a classy lady that has the same high standards of acting as our Fab 4. Yes, I would like to see a back story and also understand her position in the Navy. The interaction, that hesitation, between Cath. and Steve makes me laugh. They are trying soooooo hard not to show emotions!!! But, to me, it is written all over the faces and in their body language. Is it Monday yet???

[Musicfreak]

Oct 13, 2012 12:18:59 GMT -5 trina said:

I think there is some confusion with Catherine's role. She is still in the navy, and isn't authorized to act as law enforcement when she is off duty, like when she went along with Chin to search the boat. There seems to be some ambiguity as to what she is authorized to do, and that she has more screen time, the writers are trying to put her in anywhere they can.

I agree, and I disagree. Like I said before, I really do like her so far. But I do think that there needs to be an explanation as to why she's there long-term. A simple "she's on leave" was ok for the first episode, and even the second, but by the third I think there needs to be another explanation (how long is this leave?). I definitely disagree with you, Trina, about the writers putting her anywhere they can. If that was the case, Cath would be Lori 2.0 because they would be putting her everywhere. At least, that's what I think. I'm just speculating that because she hasn't been overly-present. She's there, but she's not in your face for 32 minutes out of the 42 minute episode. At this point, the only mistake I think the writers have made with her, is putting her in that scene with Chin and Kono. Hopefully they will explain her long-term presence in the episode on Monday, or else that would be mistake number two in my book. And yes, I do think they should clarify her qualifications. I'm not expecting it to be 100% realistic (this is TV), but I do think they should offer some kind of explanation. And I mean, just look at Steve. He's a Navy SEAL (I think he's still in the reserves?) turned police officer. But at least we saw him being sworn in by the Governor (even if it was over the phone). It will be interesting to see how they will incorporate Cath in. I mean, she can't just be doing Steve favors all the time? At the same time, I (and most of us here) don't want her to be on the team. This was one of the things I was concerned about immediately when I heard she was a regular this season. What will she be up to?

[nycgal]

Up until now, I have been staying out of the conversation about Cath's addition because I wanted to see how her more frequent appearances would be handled and what her role would be. Since we are now 3 episodes into S3, I do have a preliminary opinion, for whatever it's worth (I know, that would be nothing)....but here it is anyway.

I actually think (and I know there are a lot people here who would disagree) that TPTB have done a really good job of slowly easing the Cath character into the show and making her role bigger. Her presence has made sense so far (except the search of the boat-jacker's apt, not sure what she was doing there in a vest w/a gun in her hand) and as PL promised, she is still NOT on the 5-0 team.

I have to strongly disagree with Trina regarding Cath's screen time and being forced into every scene because that is simply not what has happened so far this season. Maybe I am just comparing the expansion of the Cath character with the introduction of the Lori Weston character LY and truly, there is NO comparison. The LW character was in almost every scene in the first 5-6 eps of S2 and that has definitely not been the case with Cath thus far. Who knows, maybe things will change as we get further on into S3, but I really feel that TPTB learned from the mistakes of S2 regarding the introduction/expansion of characters and the disruption of the chemistry of the team that new characters can cause.

As far as Cath's purpose and actual reason for being in HI so much more now, that has not been explained very clearly (as many other posters have pointed out). Is she on leave from the Navy by her own choice? What does she do when she's not helping Steve deal with (babysit and now locate) his mom? Hopefully TPTB will provide answers to these questions and explain her situation more thoroughly in the very near future.

As far as Steve and Cath's relationship, well, that one is a bit trickier for TPTB to get right. As Steve so eloquently explained to Danny in ep 303, they have 'a thing'...which means exactly what??

A. Just good friends with benefits (as Doris said, why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free)??
B. Steve loves Cath but can't admit it or commit to her??
C. Cath loves Steve but he's too dense and emotionally stunted and closed off to even realize it??
D. The long distance thing was much easier to deal with and now that Cath's in HI permanently, Steve doesn't know how to cope??
E. None of the above
F. All of the above

Hopefully in the weeks ahead we, the viewers, will get a much more cohesive understanding of Cath's reason for being permanently based in HI, her role in terms of working with the 5-0 team and her relationship with Steve. I don't expect to get all this information quickly or even at the same time but hopefully it will be forth coming in the eps ahead.

The one thing that I really do like about the Cath character is that they have already established that she respects and understands Steve's relationship with Danny. She understands Steve and Danny are friends outside of work and why Steve would want to take Danny fishing to catch his first tuna. It seems like TPTB are going out of their way to show the viewers that Cath is not there to break up the bromance. LW, on the other hand, just about destroyed the bromance for the first half of S2.

So, in a nutshell, I like Cath and think her role expansion has been handled very well, so far. My opinion may change as we get further into S3, but as long as they don't turn her into another LW or turn her relationship with Steve into a mushy soap opera, I think I am going to like her being around more. Only time will tell, but I have a really good feeling about S3 (even if the ratings are, unfortunately, indicating otherwise).

[katlyn520]

What nycgal said!

[margarine]

Let me just drop in a...little bit of an observation here. The ex - HWSNBN - said the words "I love you" to me exactly twice in the several years we were exclusively together. The first time, and I quote: "Of course I love you...", came after we'd been living together for a couple of years. Mind you, I was there every day. Heaven only knows how a thickheaded, emotionally blocked and guarded man with a mission might behave in a long-distance relationship. I don't wish my personal choices on Catherine, so it could be that she has a much more mature and realistic way of dealing with the situation than I did. Hope so, I like her.

[trina]

Oct 13, 2012 14:29:05 GMT -5 Musicfreak said:

Oct 13, 2012 12:18:59 GMT -5 trina said:

I think there is some confusion with Catherine's role. She is still in the navy, and isn't authorized to act as law enforcement when she is off duty, like when she went along with Chin to search the boat. There seems to be some ambiguity as to what she is authorized to do, and that she has more screen time, the writers are trying to put her in anywhere they can.

I agree, and I disagree. Like I said before, I really do like her so far. But I do think that there needs to be an explanation as to why she's there long-term. A simple "she's on leave" was ok for the first episode, and even the second, but by the third I think there needs to be another explanation (how long is this leave?). I definitely disagree with you, Trina, about the writers putting her anywhere they can. If that was the case, Cath would be Lori 2.0 because they would be putting her everywhere. At least, that's what I think. I'm just speculating that because she hasn't been overly-present. She's there, but she's not in your face for 32 minutes out of the 42 minute episode. At this point, the only mistake I think the writers have made with her, is putting her in that scene with Chin and Kono. Hopefully they will explain her long-term presence in the episode on Monday, or else that would be mistake number two in my book. And yes, I do think they should clarify her qualifications. I'm not expecting it to be 100% realistic (this is TV), but I do think they should offer some kind of explanation. And I mean, just look at Steve. He's a Navy SEAL (I think he's still in the reserves?) turned police officer. But at least we saw him being sworn in by the Governor (even if it was over the phone). It will be interesting to see how they will incorporate Cath in. I mean, she can't just be doing Steve favors all the time? At the same time, I (and most of us here) don't want her to be on the team. This was one of the things I was concerned about immediately when I heard she was a regular this season. What will she be up to?

I found this quote from someone with naval experience on the IMDb, at www.imdb.com/title/tt1600194/board/nest/205631261?p=1:

"Although Posse Comitatus does not apply to the Navy or the Marine Corps officially, the DOD and DON both self regulate the Navy and the Marine Corps and are prohibited from acting in coorination or subordination in carrying out "powers that maintain law and order" except when directed by the President of the United States. She doesnt have to arrest anyone, she is participating in traditional law enforcement activity and it is under the direction of a State Gov't and it is therefore illegal. Commander McGarrett's role is also in contradiction to this fact.

Her role on the show as a 'Naval Intelligence Officer' is very misconcieved. There are several incarnations of 'Intelligence Officer in the US Navy:

-1 is as an assignment in the role of Intelligence Officer for a Command, in which it is a billet and not a permanent specialty. An example would be a Lt. Commander, whose overall field is as a Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) and serving in an Intelligence Officer Billet aboard an Aircraft Carrier.

-2 is as a Restricted Line Officer in which you Designator is 'Naval Intelligence'. These guys/gals are not operators in any sense of the word and they rarely go into the field or to sea. They serve as laisons on Flag Staffs, as part of ONI, DIA, CIA, NSA and so on,providing analysis and interpretation.

Neither Naval Intelligence Officers nor Command Intelligence Officers have much to do with firearms directly. They at most will likely have qualified on the M9. And qualified isnt trained.

In every scene where Rollins is in Uniform she is clearly wearing a SWO pin identifying her designator as Surface Warfare Officer. It is highly unlikely she has any tactical training or anything more than minimal weapons training.

Army Intelligence has its similarities and its differences. They have similar Command Intelligence Officer Billets which are similarly situated at desks or in the rear with the gear. They have career Intelligence Officers which follow very similar paths as Naval Intelligence Officers. Then they also have Operational types with a focus on the field, including but not limited to Interrogation, Fieldcraft, managing human intelligence assets, managing technical/signal intelligence assets and so on. Military Intelligence Units in the Army can include 'spook' like activities but, they are far from tactically proficient and they surely arent involved in Law Enforcement type duties.

I base my knowledge off of being Chief Petty Officer in the US Navy with 16 years. Ive been on 2 Flag Staff's working closely with Naval Intelligence Officers. My current position puts me right next to the Command Intelligence Officer of a Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier. I deployed with 3 NSW Squadrons with attached Intelligence Staff. I call them Twidgets."




So, in a nutshell, both Catherine and Steve's positions are illegal, according to naval and civilian legal protocol, but the writers did not pick up on it.

[hawaiifive02012]

Yeah, well, it's also illegal to hang a subject off a roof and throw one in a shark cage and strap one to a car and drive around..I don't watch for real-life scenarios. But I am taking Criminal Justice 101 right now, so I do find it interesting how it would be in real life. Thanks for posting this, Trina.