CSI normally does a "creepy episode" right about this time every year. This year, of course, is no different. We have the narration from the little girl who was killed (was she?) giving raspy voice commentaries over the entire episode ("I used to like going to the lake"). The general eariness of blood being everwhere in a house, yet none of the four family members' bodies can be found. With Grissom gone and Catherine preoccupied this week, the weight of the investigation is resting on Nick's shoulders. So how's Nick gonna do? On with the show!After some small clues, the CSI still can't find any real motive or leads before they find a basement full of Mary Jane. Apparently the missing family was into "botany". Poor Hunter Parrish, between this and Weeds, he is forever going to be typecast as the kid who's parents deal drugs. Expect to see him in a couple of PSA's debuting next year. It turns out his jock friends on the show found out about his parents' dealings and decided to at the very least rob them, but are a bunch of high school football team members really violent enought to kill?
The CSI starts to put together exactly how things went down, with three big problems: the main suspect's father is a lawyer and is being very unhelpful, there are no bodies, and there is no evidence that the daughter was killed. The rest of the team is having the most trouble with the first point, but because of Nick's incident last year, he's much more interested in trying to rescue a girl that may or may not be alive. He even goes crazy on the creepy jock. Sarah even warns him that, in their line of work, looking for someone is much more dangerous than looking for a body, and that six months ago she doesn't think he'd flipped out this much.
Fortunately for the little girl, Nick was right. The jocks didn't have enough hubris to kill a ten year old girl. They find her washed ashore at the lake where the rest of her family has been sunk to the bottom. The episode ends with Nick and her in the hospital, talking in a very sweet scene.
So one can assume we've got a very Grissom-centric episode coming up, since he was not in a single frame of this. One of the strong points of CSI, in my opinion, is that it has a very episodic feel to it. Sure, there are some themes and plots that run the course of the entire season, but for the most part it's a show you can pick up, watch, and not feel lost without seeing a previous one. I know people that have gotten into the show in it's second, third, even fifth seasons and love it as much as those that have been around from the beginning. It's not like ER, where the job is the background, and the characters and their dramas are what the shows about. Yet in the same breath, it's not like Law & Order, where it's all about the job. CSI gives you just enough of both so if you see one episode, you want to see the rest. With all that said though, I really like the fact they are keeping the things that happened with Nick in last season's finale relevant. He's a very changed man and it'll be interesting to see exactly how deep his scars are now.
Let me know what you think.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-21-2005 @ 5:50PM
Tripp said...
This was the best episode of the season. Originally meant to be centered around Grissom (William Peterson had to back out due to a death in his family), the premise of Nick getting too emotionally involved worked much better (and more in character than the emotionally handicapped Grissom).
Also proved that the show can carry on if William Peterson leaves (I didn't even miss Grissom) and I loved the interaction between all CSIs...Greg/Sara, Sara/Nick, Warrick/Greg, etc.
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10-21-2005 @ 11:18PM
simon blackadder said...
"General eariness"? Perhaps you meant to say "general eeriness".
Funny, that.
sb
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10-21-2005 @ 11:47PM
blkhwx10 said...
I agree with you 100% I just started watching CSI: at the season finale last season. I spent the whole summer watching all of them on Spike TV. I am addicted and feel like I know everyone on the show. Last nights episode was great. In a way, I am glad also that it was not focused on Grissom, and it was a great move to make Nick the prime character.
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10-22-2005 @ 4:47PM
Evadne said...
I'm genuinely sorry to note that--for me, anyway--the episode worked so well because of the absence of Grissom and near-absence of Catherine. The dynamic between the rest of the team members was great without them, like a field trip without Mom and Dad. I do like William Peterson (and Marg Helgenberger, too, since China Beach, but I've never liked Catherine as much as KC from KC), but Grissom has gotten so that there's no air around him anymore--I mean, the contrast between recent episodes and episodes from the first few seasons is remarkable. I think he's never recovered from the isolation of his hearing storyline. It's like in the final episode of TNG--Picard sits down to play poker with the rest of the crew and he realizes he should have joined them a long time ago.
I think I made fun of George Eads last week for his dedication to the show, but man, he really pulled this one off--I know Grissom was originally supposed to be the one who believed Cassie was still alive, but I agree with the comment above; it wouldn't have worked nearly as well with him. It was totally in character for Nick to both sympathize and empathize with the girl, because of his own near-death and his affinity for lost causes (I'm thinking of the prostitute, played by Krista Allen, who was eventually killed). Also, Sara filled in for Grissom in the mentor role this week very well--she didn't condescend or patronize, and the scene with Nick at the picnic table (if I'm remembering correctly) was warm and melancholy. Sara was the perfect choice here, too, since we've seen her fly off the handle for victimized women--this episode reminded me of one from either last year or the year before that ends with the execution of a rape victim, and Sara weeping at the scene. It was nice to enjoy watching the show again.
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10-24-2005 @ 12:17PM
CSI Fanatic said...
This was absolutely the best episode since CSI hit the air waves. The cinematography was extraordinary throughout the entire show but especially in the opening shots. The director did incredible job! The writers need to be commended for such a well written show. I can't say enough about the episode.
I will echo the above comments in regards to the actors who were there. BRAVO! Nick, Sarah, Warick and Greg were phenominal. Nick's relentless pursuit of the little girl was touching. He came away from the season finale last year with a new sense of purpose for his job.
I remember there was a point a few years ago where George Eads was going to leave the show but I am glad that he is still here and doing a great job.
I had missed many episodes last season just because many of them had gotten too far out there and were not worth watching. This episode just might have pulled me back.
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10-24-2005 @ 1:11PM
Dennis said...
Tripp, where do you find out that info about a death in his family?
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10-31-2005 @ 6:47PM
CSI Fanatic said...
This was absolutely the best episode since CSI hit the air waves. The cinematography was extraordinary throughout the entire show but especially in the opening shots. The director did incredible job! The writers need to be commended for such a well written show. I can't say enough about the episode.
I will echo the above comments in regards to the actors who were there. BRAVO! Nick, Sarah, Warick and Greg were phenominal. Nick's relentless pursuit of the little girl was touching. He came away from the season finale last year with a new sense of purpose for his job.
I remember there was a point a few years ago where George Eads was going to leave the show but I am glad that he is still here and doing a great job.
I had missed many episodes last season just because many of them had gotten too far out there and were not worth watching. This episode just might have pulled me back.
Reply
11-01-2005 @ 11:08AM
Tripp said...
To Dennis, the information about the tragic death in William Peterson's family can be found in many places. You may want to try CSIFiles.com and TV Guide I believe has a blurb in this week's issue talks about it too.
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12-23-2005 @ 8:54AM
samsara said...
Definately the best show of the season and proof that it will go on. The writers seem really Grissom/Catherine, Catherine/Warrick, Grissom/Sara centric, so I hope that they can see that a storyline focussed on Nick does just as well, even better in the ratings then the previous centric storylines.
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