CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - General Discussion

[FormerMod-a1]

Editor's Note:  This topic replaces the old CSI: Crime Scene Investigation forum which has been vaulted at the location below:  http://forums.previously.tv/forum/500-csi-crime-scene-investigation-v/

 

A place to discuss particular episodes, arcs and moments from the show's run. Please remember this isn't a complete catch-all topic -- check out the forum for character topics and other places for show-related talk.

 

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And if you have a good subtitle, post it and I can change the thread title accordingly.

[Sharpie66]

No subtitle, but I'll mention my two favorite episodes:

 

My first one that I ever watched was the Nick-gets-buried-alive two-hour ep Grave Danger, which I only tuned in for because it was directed by Tarantino. I ended up sticking around for several more years because I got hooked on the show. After watching other eps, I realize how unlike most of the other standard episodes it is, but it still did a good job of character, plot twists and turns, and yet was uniquely Tarantino all at the same time. And GE really knocked it out of the park, too.

 

My favorite non-VSE episode is another Nick-centric one, Gum Drops. To me, it really wraps up what makes CSI so very very good when it is at its peak: excellent performances, both from the regular cast and from the episode-specific cast, character continuity (Nick referencing his being saved the previous year, Sara saying she had really been into gold stars as a kid, and Greg retorting, "As opposed to now?"), a very creepy atmosphere brought out from the little girl's narration (I really thought she was narrating from the grave until the end of the ep), and just a fascinating case. Even better, at least to me, was the fact that all the show's main characters (Grissom, Brass, and Catherine) were either MIA or had minimal face time, so we were able to spend the time with the second-tier regulars and see them really dig into a great script.

[Linderhill]

Gum Drops and Grave Danger are two of my favorite episodes also, along with Stalker.  Just seeing the stalker crawling out of his ceiling trap door before hurling Nick out the window is enough to give me the creeps.  The funny thing about Gum Drops is that it was originally written to showcase Grissom but I believe Billy Petersen was unavailable, (I believe for health problems? I'm blanking on it) so the PTB surprisingly gave the story to Nick's character.  I say surprising since such a moving story is usually given to the drama queens of Catherine and Sarah.  Interesting factoid, it was Tarantino that decided it was Nick that would be buried alive.  He was a huge fan of the show and tried to include lots of insider character bits.

[webruce]

I can't think of the name of the episode, but it was the one where the lab rats(Henry, Hodges, Wendy, Archie etc.) did a big chunk of the case solving. I liked seeing them working together. I wouldn't mind seeing it happen again. I know Wendy and Archie(miss them both),  have left the show but they could make it work. We have seen the rest of the crew doing thier tests in the lab, but that time to me was special.

 I wonder if now with Catherine's show(Intelligence) cancelled if we will see her again? I at first thought maybe a case about her daughter, but we have seen that done with Jim Brasse's daughter. We do hear about Grissom once in awhile and I doubt we will see him again on the show but it would be nice. I am curious to see if he and Sarah will beak up? If so I believe she and Nick would make a good couple. They have been friends for years. It shouldn't be a "we broke up 3 weeks ago lets date". But slowly see them getting closer? I think it would be great. But they can also do the story line that Mr. and Mrs. Grissom work things out too. 

 

 Also would like to hear or see sometimes about Dr. Ray Langston. He was a part of the team. If not a guest apearance we should atleast hear about him, like we do Grissom.

Edited July 28, 2014 by webruce

[Mama No Life]

I haven't watched the show since the Grissom/Sara kiss in the jungle b/c Grissom WAS that show to me. I did tune in for the Mrs. Grisson's ep for obvious reasons. 

I thought I read later that Grissom and Sara divorced?  I guess they couldn't do anything else since Jorja wanted to be on the show and Peterson didn't, but I still hated that cross-continental marriage.  Made no sense.

 

I believe you are correct, @Lindenhill.  Gumdrops was for WP but he couldn't do it. I can't remember if he was sick or doing a play or what.  Good memory.

[wlk68]

In regards to the episode Gumdrops, WP had a death in the family - I believe it was his nephew in a motorcycle accident. I think George Eads did an excellent job filling in for him. That's one of my favorite episodes. Stalker and Blood Drops are two more of my favorites due to the sheer creepiness factor.

 

Damn, this show used to be so good. What the hell happened?

[RustbeltWriter]

In regards to the episode Gumdrops, WP had a death in the family - I believe it was his nephew in a motorcycle accident. I think George Eads did an excellent job filling in for him. That's one of my favorite episodes. Stalker and Blood Drops are two more of my favorites due to the sheer creepiness factor.

 

Damn, this show used to be so good. What the hell happened?

There's really no reason this show can't be good. They've got Ted Danson, George Eads and Jorja Fox so the talent is there. The really just need good plots. The show's formula is solid but they need a showrunner who can actually run the show. Law & Order ran for 20 years with the same weekly formula. CSI could do the same but not if it's boring. Also, the producers could occasionally throw a bag of money at William Peterson so he could stop by for a consult.

Edited August 12, 2014 by RustbeltWriter

[Linderhill]

I agree that the acting pool is there except for the fact that the character Finn exists.  Do away with her and the show improves exponentially.  The show was perfectly fine until TPTB decided that they needed to replace Helgenberger. It was handled oh so poorly.  

 

I hold out the remote chance that somehow Warrick isn't dead at all.  It would be awesome to have him come back from witness protection or some other not so feasible plot point.  Its just as believable as whatshername, Morgan, going undercover or those totally unbelievable interrogation scenes.

[SparedTurkey]

My favourite era was seasons 1-7. Though I could have done without the Grissom/Sara romance. I also remember that at the time of season 5 there was a lot of drama surrounding contracts and Sofia was created as a warning that the originals could be easily replaced. But I think this show was able to integrate this new character relatively well, and Sofia fit within the show (much like Criminal Minds managed with Paget Brewster). Unlike the Langston era and beyond, where it just doesn't seem like the new characters fit (aside from Ted Danson though).

 

Although I think I hold a rather unopular opinion that Grissom was a terrible supervisor and I prefer Russell overall. That said, the Langston years should be struck from the record.

[friendperidot]

Been watching early seasons on Cloo, I had tuned out for a few years, or had just forgotten but I didn't remember Brass having such an adversarial relationship with the CSIs even when he was in charge. When did this change? I like him better in recent years with less adversary.

 

Laurence Fishburne is a good actor and I was ok with him until they had the prolonged storyline with the serial killer, forgotten his name, don't care to look it up. So many shows seem to go off track when they get into a storyline like that. I lose interest when that happens, 

 

I like the newer seasons with Ted Danson, I think he's fit well into the show and agree he's probably a much better supervisor than Grissom. He actually seems to do some supervisory chores.

[BooksRule]

Been watching early seasons on Cloo, I had tuned out for a few years, or had just forgotten but I didn't remember Brass having such an adversarial relationship with the CSIs even when he was in charge. When did this change? I like him better in recent years with less adversary.

 

This is from back awhile, but I caught the pilot episode on Syfy (of all places) day before yesterday.  I also hadn't realized this.  Brass was a real pill (to put it politely), especially to Warrick.

 

Also, one of the episodes they showed was the one with the 'Plushies'.  Eek!  I know that everyone has different interests and tastes, but I always get the giggles when I watch the fashion show scene, especially when the person dressed as the kangaroo struts his stuff and then lowers his sunglasses like he's so cool and hip.  Ha!

Edited December 24, 2014 by BooksRule

[walnutqueen]

Also, one of the episodes they showed was the one with the 'Plushies'.  Eek! 

 

Is that the episode where I reluctantly learned the meaning of the word "scritching"?  'Cause ... Yikes!

[BooksRule]

Is that the episode where I reluctantly learned the meaning of the word "scritching"?  'Cause ... Yikes!

 

Yes, that's the one with the scritching (and yes, yikes--and yuck!).  What's funny, is that everyone in my family talks about giving our cats 'scritches', but we got it from an old Peanuts comic strip.  There was one where Lucy says that most dogs like to be scratched, but Snoopy likes to be scritched (which is kind of like using a backwards scratching motion).  How times have changed!

Edited December 24, 2014 by BooksRule

[bunchofgrapes]

Brass was a real pill (to put it politely), especially to Warrick.

 

 

Pilot Brass was a real pill but Pilot Warrick wasn't much better. Thankfully, Paul Guilfoyle didn't like Pilot Brass either and was responsible for changing the character.

 

The funny thing about the Pilot is that all of them, Warrick, Grissom, Brass, would have been fired after Holly's death but then we wouldn't have had a show so there's that.

[needschocolate]

Some channel started showing CSI from the beginning in the form of marathons every Friday - I now have the entire season on my DVR.  I have only watched the first 4 or 5 episodes.  I am surprised at how different the show was than I remembered.  It seemed to move slower.  They turn on the lights all the time, even though there also seem to be more daytime scenes.  The complain about working doubles and there is more animosity among members of the team. 

 

Girssom sounds like he is teaching much of the time, even to Catherin, and they state things that would be considered obvious now.  For instance, the suspect claims that the victim choked to death, he tried the Heimlich, but it didn't work.  The CSIs then have this conversation (paraphrasing) -  

 

A: "I don't think he is telling the truth."

B: "Hmm, well if they did the Heimlich ..."

A: "...there would be bruising on his torso and possibly broken ribs"   

The next scene shows them talking to the examiner while looking at an x-ray showing no broken bones and the examiner comments that they were no bruising on the chest.

 

Nowadays, the CSIs would already know there was no bruising - and would probably immediately tell the suspect "The autopsy showed no sign of the Heimlich being performed - no bruising, no broken bones.  Maybe you should tell us what really happened."

 

In another case, they found flecks of green in the victim's hair.  Back then, they noted it, and it wasn't until the end that they realized that they found the boat  that the victim was in - "the boat is green - same green as the pieces we found in her hair".  Now, the lab would determine the paint on the chip was the type of paint used on boats and they would search through the marina's datatbase to see which boats matched the paint color. 

 

I like this show when it first came on and watched every week (I have skipped episodes and chunks of seasons over the years, but I watch regularly now).  The show was definitely much simpler in the beginning, and I think that is part of the problem now.  The viewers were more ignorant or innocent when it started - we were more easily entertained - they could get away with relatively simple plots.  Now, it is more difficult no to make us go "Wow! That makes sense, but I never saw that coming."  The need to be more and more clever and the cases need to be more complicated.  The more complicated, the more likely we will find things that make no sense.  And, at times, they work so hard at making it interesting, that it seems like they jump over relevant information (hence all the "how did she go from a tear in his jacket to he killed the guy with a shoehorn?" kind of questions now). 

[Lillybee]

I am watching Season 1 on hulu and I must say that everytime I hear blood splatter I am grateful that Flynn didn't show up until much later.

[Linderhill]

That's because Catherine was the blood spatter expert back then.  Something that seems to have been forgotten a couple years down the road.  As pretentious as and self centered as Catherine was at times, its nothing compard to The Fin.

[TimetoShine]

I've been re-watching old episodes and I have a question. Why is Ray giving orders and why is everyone coming to Ray to brief him when he just started acting as a CSI?

[jennifer6973]

My guess, is because he has a doctorate of some sort and was a doctor at one point.  Which would be fine if the ME was asking him questions.  Dunno, I guess because they think he's smart.

[merylinkid]

Because the writers put it in there.   He was brought in to fill the "starring" male role left by William Peterson leaving.   Unfortunately, instead of making him the equal of Gil Grissom, they made him a newbie.   But they wrote like he was Gil Grisson.   Then the writers got stuck on "OMG, we got Laurence Fishbourne" and wrote for him, instead of writing for the character of Ray.

 

They did much better when they brought in Ted Danson.   Then blew it again with the intro of Elisabeth Shue.

[Lillybee]

I thought that Jackpot was a great Grissom episode.

[CoyoteBlue]

Then blew it again with the intro of Elisabeth Shue.

 

Oh, god, the repeat cycle is currently in the Finn years and just reminds me how much I hated her.

[Driad]

 

I liked Laurence Fishburne's character Ray at the beginning, when he was changing careers and anxious about doing well,  But then they turned him into super CSI, the greatest at everything.  There are too many characters like that on TV already (see Finn).

[Lillybee]

I just watched season 11 episode 13. In it Sarah was at a fund raising gala and all dressed up she was drop dead beautiful. I have watched eleven seasons of CSI and remember Jorja on West Wing and this is the first time I ever saw her dressed up. I wonder if there is a reason why Jorja plays down her good looks.

[amensisterfriend]

Here's a fun albeit torturous challenge: How would you guys rank the seasons from your favorite to least favorite? And which episodes would you guys single out as your favorites. 

 

I'm almost embarrassed by how much I like many of the Ted Dansen ones :) 

[jaytee1812]

Mine would probably be all from the Ted Danson era, because I never liked Grissom. My favourite episodes are probably Crime After Crime and Wild Flowers.

[amensisterfriend]

Mine would probably be all from the Ted Danson era, because I never liked Grissom.

 

Oh my gosh---table for two, please! I was just confessing that elsewhere :) I really preferred the later cast in general. I was indifferent or slightly worse than indifferent to pretty much all of the original team, except for Brass and Early Seasons Greg. 

[SparedTurkey]

I did like Season 6 - particularly A Bullet Runs Through It. Though I didn't like the whole Grissom/Sara Romance that was a bit of a subtle/unsubtle hint during that season, moreso towards the later episodes. I did like Sofia's addition in that season with being a detective - getting to play off of Brass and some other characters without being an 'impediment' towards the Grissom/Sara relationship that shouldn't have happened for the benefit of both characters.

 

I liked seasons 1-3. Nothing was overdone. Grissom was..Grissom but not as bad - not as overdone. Everyone got their own episodes, their own arcs. It Season 4 was a bit of a wash, solid, but nothing to write home about. Season 5 seemed to change things - some characters got more prominence, possibly a result of BTS shenannigans or not - but it didn't really feel like the same show. More showy but with less substance. Maybe culminating in that season finale - Grave Danger, which set of a trend of sorts.

 

I also like season 7, but would have liked much less Grissom/Sara relationship thing. After the start of season 8 it seemed to slide into a SVU-kinda-soap-opera-plot show. Stayed that way through the Laurence Fishbourne seasons, which I refuse to believe was the result of LF but the writers. I believe the writers (were either pressured by a network OR) felt they couldnt write a show without the highest paid actor being given the most meat/lines/gravitas in every episode. I think LF could have carried of anything he was given - Hannibal has shown that -  but the plan was interferred with because there is no other reason for a character who was introduced as the greenest of the green, becoming the Go-To-Guy (Complete with Serial-Killer Story) in a handful of episodes as being anything else but CBS interference.

 

I did like the Ted Danson era - I think he was a better supervisor than Grissom (though maybe not better character, in terms of interest, even though TD is awesome!). I liked it when it was more even. When it became the soap-operatic, Morgan/Ecklie/Finn show with TD struggling...I lost interest.

 

Additional questions - favourite characters and/or line up?

[Lillybee]

I think that Finn ruined the Ted Danason era for me. She came from nowhere and became second in command. Her acting consists of smirking and having the attitude that she was the best CSI ever. I think that her character distracted from the core characters to the determint of the show

[Lillybee]

AmI wrong to be annoyed with all the women with long hair who do not tie it back when investigating a crime scene? I am looking at you Morgan.

[John Potts]

AmI wrong to be annoyed with all the women with long hair who do not tie it back when investigating a crime scene? I am looking at you Morgan.

 

That's unfair on Morgan - they ALL do that! Catherine was notably bad, but we also got Sofia, Jules, Wendy (when she got into the field). Sara's hair (in my memory, anyway) seemed the most sensible, and even that was probably too long to be practical.

[RodLu]

Catherine: "Okay, so, we've got a dead woman, a dead horse, a runaway vet, and...a couple million dollars worth of uncut diamonds that are unaccounted for."

Grissom: "Well, diamonds are worthless unless you have a buyer."

Edited October 17, 2015 by RodLu

[cpcathy]

There is a marathon today on Cloo, from 2011 onward including  Finn's first episode, where she mentions her past with DB. Did they ever say what that was, did they have a relationship or was it just hinted at?

[SparedTurkey]

I watched a youtube show from the early 2000's ( I think) when this show was absolutely on fire. It was the highest rating show and eventually led to the CSI Effect (to the dismay of judges, prosecutors and police alike). It also (I think?) caused a lot of backlash upon 'procedurals' and the rot they brought to network tv (now clearly seen in NCIS being the Number 1 show).

i think this show was great, was worth it, was well acted and shouldn't be written off.

Does anyone else remember the height of the show? Back in the day. I remember being in love with Sara Sidle for her ability to stick to her guns, regardless of how she looked. Not a popular character, I know, but I think she used to be awesome.

Anyone else up for a rewatch?

[Miss Dee]

I'm currently doing a rewatch of Season 1 and I had forgotten just how addictive this show was! And why I gravitated towards Grissom and Sara in the first place. I'll probably stop my rewatch when Grissom leaves for good, even though I liked Laurence Fishburne. 

[MaggieG]

My favorite season has to be the Miniature Killer season. I loved everything about it. Those episodes still creep me out with the music they would have whenever they showed the miniature. I like it when procedurals have their story of the week, but throughout the season there is another mystery. They did the same thing a few seasons later with creepy leather guy. He freaked me out! Full disclosure, I know I finished that season but for the life of me, I cannot remember who that turned out to be, if it was a man or a woman and what the motive was. I also can't remember what he called himself. I actually had nightmares about him, the way he would crawl around on the ground LOL 

[txhorns79]

I was watching an episode from Season 10 on Esquire last week that seriously bothered me.  It's one where Brass had befriended a parent who had lost her entire family three years prior when they mysteriously disappeared, but it was strongly suggested they had been murdered.  The parent was unable to move on from this incident.  It then turned out that the son had been dead the entire time when his body was found in a trunk in the attic.  It was eventually revealed that the daughter had accidentally killed her brother when he found out that their uncle had been molesting her.  The father then hid the body and staged the scene to make it seem like they were all dead.  The mother then confronts the father and kills him (believing his "confession" that he killed the son).  In the end, the police decide not to charge the daughter for killing her brother, but it appears the mother was going to be charged for killing the father.  I think what bothered me was that the father's solution to cover up the son's death was crazy and extremely cruel towards the mother, but she was the one who ended up in jail.       

[stuckin60s]

I have always loved this show and usually watch the Grissom reruns.  Does anyone know where to get a hat like his straw hat?

[SparedTurkey]

On 3/3/2017 at 8:54 AM, stuckin60s said:

I have always loved this show and usually watch the Grissom reruns.  Does anyone know where to get a hat like his straw hat?

I gotta say, and I realise that this may be an unpopular opinions, but I the more I rewatch this show, the more I dislike Grissom as a oss. I think he could have been a good second-in-command and mentor but his leadership skills are weak, he is borderline petty and plays favourites too much. I think they should have had Ted Danson as DB as the boss from the beginning. I do rewatch his reruns before any with Ray though. So he wasn't the total worse.

But sorry - I've got no idea about the hat!

[shaaylyn]

On 9/19/2016 at 1:38 PM, MaggieG said:

My favorite season has to be the Miniature Killer season. I loved everything about it. Those episodes still creep me out with the music they would have whenever they showed the miniature. I like it when procedurals have their story of the week, but throughout the season there is another mystery. They did the same thing a few seasons later with creepy leather guy. He freaked me out! Full disclosure, I know I finished that season but for the life of me, I cannot remember who that turned out to be, if it was a man or a woman and what the motive was. I also can't remember what he called himself. I actually had nightmares about him, the way he would crawl around on the ground LOL 

This was probably one of the best season arcs to ever exist. Definitely the high point for CSI before it fell apart. The entire season is so calculated, everything ends up fitting together so nicely. And that cliffhanger... 

[John Potts]

On ‎19‎/‎09‎/‎2016 at 8:38 PM, MaggieG said:

They did the same thing a few seasons later with creepy leather guy. He freaked me out! Full disclosure, I know I finished that season but for the life of me, I cannot remember who that turned out to be, if it was a man or a woman and what the motive was.

Do you mean Sqweegel? You wouldn't remember what was revealed about him (beyond his gender) because he was never caught. Apparently he was a character imported from a Digi-novel by CSI Producer Anthony Zuiker - and I believe he didn't want him caught so he could (potentially) write sequels (great artistic integrity if that's the case).

[emma675]

OMG, my dvr picked up the Sqweegel episode today and I forgot how totally terrifying that ep was. The way he moved and contorted and the costume was so freaking scary. I had hoped that character would be the next big serial killer the team would track over a big arc, but wasn't that season the one where the writers guild went on strike and a bunch of shows had to stop production?

[shapeshifter]

ION has just started running CSI marathons on Fridays. They started with season 6. Was this show always so gross? I remembered filler montages of pretty colored test tubes and rock music. But the 2 episodes I turned on today had a family of real werewolves and a corpse wearing the eyeball of a homeless (and now one-eyed) guy with a lobotomy. I will miss L&O marathons on Friday.

[Mrs. DuRona]

I've been doing another binge re-watch on Hulu, and man... it really does come to a screeching halt when it turns into the Lawrence Fishburn show, doesn't it?  I actually checked on IMdB to see how long I have to endure it, haha.

I was trying to figure out why I always felt... uncomfortable?  Awkward?  With the Grissom/Sara romance.  It's because I just didn't buy it.  We never saw them being a couple.  There was a little bit of flirtation, a couple of shots of them outside of the office, but it always felt uncomfortable and forced.  It felt like there was a lot of telling us they were a compatible, loving couple, but we were never shown it.  I liked both of them individually, but could never really get into them as a couple.

[LadyChaos]

Doing a CSI rewatch..... I really miss this show.....and there never seems to be anywhere to talk about it anymore.

 

 

If anyone is interested....I read an article where Zuiker said that '10 years from now' he saw Grissom and Sara together as a CSI: sea couple with children.  Brass retired in Hawaii. Catherine still running the lab, and everyone else someway or shape still involved in crime solving in someway shape or form.

[Raja]

On 6/26/2018 at 11:08 PM, LadyChaos said:

Doing a CSI rewatch..... I really miss this show.....and there never seems to be anywhere to talk about it anymore.

 

 

If anyone is interested....I read an article where Zuiker said that '10 years from now' he saw Grissom and Sara together as a CSI: sea couple with children.  Brass retired in Hawaii. Catherine still running the lab, and everyone else someway or shape still involved in crime solving in someway shape or form.

Well sure because how many 50 something year olds will give up their government pension  for a lateral move to some related field? It is not like they are in the military and they are being forced out

[threebluestars]

Possible CSI reboot/limited series.

https://www.newsweek.com/csi-reboot-20th-anniversary-cbs-cast-william-petersen-jorja-fox-grissom-sara-sidle-1524235

 

[Chaos Theory]

Doing a CDI rewatch mostly because I need something in the background  while I work from home.   And while the Dr. Ray seasons start off pretty fun...ie a guy starting a new career at the beginning by the 2nd season it jumps from to seasoned CSIs like Nick asking “him” for advice like he is the boss.   
 

I am on the Russell seasons now and I really do enjoy them.   They are refreshing and fun especially in the early seasons.   What more I also really like Finn.   

[LadyChaos]

CSI is my absolute fave show ever. So excited about the reboot. I know the last info I found was that they were still in talks. I hope it happens. I know COVID has everything on hold.

[scorpio1031]

On 8/30/2020 at 8:17 AM, Chaos Theory said:

I am on the Russell seasons now and I really do enjoy them.   They are refreshing and fun especially in the early seasons.   What more I also really like Finn.

Love the Russell and Finn seasons as well

On 10/4/2020 at 1:48 PM, LadyChaos said:

CSI is my absolute fave show ever. So excited about the reboot. I know the last info I found was that they were still in talks. I hope it happens. I know COVID has everything on hold.

So it seems to be in the works with William Petersen and Jorja Fox returning