In other words, black fits Daniel Santos to a tee. Does he have other qualities? Of course he does, but predominantly we see the danger in him, in his world. We see his pain, his anger and the depth of his feelings. His choice of dark clothing inherently reflects those qualities, so much so that when he wears a color other than black, we automatically imagine different assumptions about what he is feeling at that moment.

Were we to see Danny in black less often, I would personally fear that it was a watering-down of his character. The complexity, the mystery of the character is so embodied in that one murky color. We love Danny (as does Michelle) but we don't completely know him (and neither does she) and black is a signifier of his enigmatic allure (not that he doesn't possess other alluring qualities. Kathy made a list and if you are so inclined to review those qualities, click here.)

As for Danny himself, It is almost as if the dark color is a safety blanket for him. Whenever things go wrong, whenever he is in distress, despair, in a situation that he is not comfortable with (ie., hunting down Mick's killer, mourning the loss of Michelle) he seems to wear black-predominantly the leather jacket, but his other clothing is also of that color. It is as if black is a shield, the color a protective talisman against the demons inside of him. Only by wearing that dark shade can he pursue the elements of his world that he is uneasy with and only in black can he lose himself in destructive grief.

Now, we come to the Mrs. Many, many, many Manny-acs have bemoaned the prevailing pink in Michelle's wardrobe. I am not in those many, because I believe that pink is such a perfect representation (at this stage in her life) of who she is. She is incredibly romantic ... this young woman lives for romance. What made her fall for Danny? The small things. The romantic things.

Exhibit A: His "he had a beautiful subject and he didn't do it justice" comment about P.B.'s drawing of Michelle. In my opinion, that is the first time Michelle looked at Danny in any sort of romantic way. That such words, so casual, so simple, yet so incredibly sweet could come out of this, this, this ... gangster shocked the heck out of her.

Exhibit B: His wedding vows. As he spoke those wonderful words - "I knew you were a treasure, to be cherished and revered" - you could practically see her melting before him. The way he kissed her, held her, danced with her ... all incredibly romantic balms for her aching soul.

Exhibit C: Their 'wedding night.' When he confessed that the night was special for him too, that he didn't want to rush, he wanted it to be perfect, she was genuinely shocked. Here was a man who had married her (she believed) basically because he wanted to get her into bed-re: their first night in the newly-redecorated bridal suite and also the whole "you're exactly like your brother" speech before the first lighthouse scenes - telling her how important it was to him, soothing her, comforting her. And by golly, he then took her feelings (even though the silly man mistook her guilt for disgust) into consideration and completely backed off.

Exhibit D: the "okay?" during their near-lovemaking session after the church scenes with Mrs. Silva. In the middle of heated passion, undoing clothing, kisses, caresses, sighs, heavy breathing, he hesitated, he actually stopped mid-button, mid-kiss, mid-caress, mid-sigh to ask if she was all right with what they were doing.

Exhibit E: The flowers the next morning. Okay, yeah, then he set her up about the shipment the next night, but she didn't know that. And the flowers were really sweet.

Exhibit F: The "Millennium" kiss. 'Nuff said.

Exhibit G: His all-nighter as he searched the web on information about blindness and how she could be helped. In the midst of her guilt, her efforts to steer the subject from her 'blindness,' this brought a smile to her face. That he would so something so time-consuming, so thoughtful for her well being was wonderful.

Conclusion: Michelle loves romance, romantic gestures, etc. and pink is the color of romance. However, there are other reasons why pink fits Michelle so perfectly. One is the 'girlyness' of the character. Tracee commented that Danny's overbearing macho 'I make the decisions and you adhere' attitude regarding their third nuptials was endearing enough in its delivery to make even card-carrying feminists want to be swept off their feet and dragged back to his cave. (Well, something along those lines.)

This is not the first time that Danny has been the 'man' in the relationship - making the rules, wearing the pants and basically deciding how they are going to live their lives. And with a few exceptions, Michelle has, well; she's gladly allowed herself to be swept off and into his cave. She has been the perfect 'female' to his 'alpha male.'

However ...

This brings us to one of the last two reasons that pink is so perfect for Michelle at this point (and both have to do with the mixture of white and red.) She does not always adhere to his decisions. She does not always smile sweetly and allow herself to be carried in his arms. And she does not always abide happily in his cave.

When she really wants something, truly believes in something, she stands her ground, but ... there is still a waiting grace period before she makes those feelings known. Sometimes the hesitancy is due to her uncertainty about the situation and other times, it is due to indecision regarding her own feelings.

She is not at the point where she is decisive about her stance; she is getting there closer and closer every day, but she still wavers, she still steps back from the edge when she should be jumping off the cliff. This is why Carmen wears that power red and Michelle, a watered-down pink. Note: Michelle has worn red once since marrying Danny. The night she stood her ground and confessed to her FBI activities. And the strongest, loudest pink she ever wore was the night she got drunk and faced the reality of her relationship with him.

Lastly, why pink is Michelle's color ... she is not quite pure, not quite virginal, thus white is too much for her. Still, on the other hand, she does have quite a bit of passion in her. The thing is, she hasn't allowed herself to fully express that passion, thus red is too strong a color for her in a sexual sense.

She is still on the cusp of her burgeoning sexual passion. Zachary most likely lightly lit the match, P.B. enflamed it a bit, ('bit' being the key word.) It is up to Danny now to turn that small fire into a raging inferno. And I think he may be up to the challenge.

There you go ... my reasons why I love seeing Danny in black so often, and Michelle seen just as much in pink. Oh, and on a purely aesthetic note, Paul Anthony Stewart looks fabulous in black and Joie Lenz looks lovely in pink.

Jennifer H.