"Altered Stakes" Discussion **SPOILERS**

Argh, where was the Grissom mention? How'd I miss it? Grr.

They cast well, the guy playing Vega's son looked like whoever played Vega. But why wasn't he Vega too?

Greg was telling Morgan how DB got Nick to remember the smell at the scene by taking him back there and then said something about Grissom used to (do something...can't remember).

Sam was Morena's stepdad which is why they didn't have the same last name. :)

It was so fun watching the team playing softball. Reminds me of the go-carts and the bowling. They should do this more often. :)

I :lol:ed when DB said "gesundheit" to Greg after he rattled off something.

Finn wasn't so annoying to me this time, even with the flirting. :) And Nick...well... :adore:

The game was fun too...Nick's hot in the uniform :D

Got that right! :D
 
Ah, thanks. It must have been the usual, I always miss something trying to get upstairs before I miss much lol

Thanks, I missed the stepson part.

The DA or whoever was filing for dismissal annoyed me...I know he didn't want a case they'd probably lose, but it got to where I hated the repeated refusals to file LOL
 
Ah. Anyone recall what he said to Morgan?

Greg: Grissom used to teach by Socratic method...at least you knew when it was happening. But Russell...
Morgan: You never know? And by the time you figure it out, it's already over.
 
Accidentally hit a button on my iPod and lost my review. ARGGG

Anyway meh ok episode.

Loved the softball game. Good for Henry :) I'm starting to like Finn but of course it would be her getting a big hit and talking to/helping Henry. Had to put it out there...

Hodges and opera music. Lmaooo :D

And a Grissom mention! What do ya know?!

I agree whoever said it was great team dynamic for finding the evidence and not chasing people. Though halfway through I was bored, I did regain interest after that.

I just hope they don't resort to this type of case if they run low of ideas. I know the last one was Cath's If I Had A Hammer, but I'd rather them keep this kind for the very future.

I'll remember more once I watch again.

Overall mediocre episode for me.

*Of course I missed Sara! I know it's Jorja's schedule, but I felt a little sad when everyone was on the field but her :/

Ok I'm better now lol.
 
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Crap, I didn't realize Sara was missing. I must really have gotten caught up in my Ipad once I came upstairs. I did notice Brass wasn't at the field. He might not be in shape to play the game, (though he can't be too bad to still be a cop)but I was hoping he'd come watch.

I wonder if a new ship will get sparked with the flirting scenes tonight. Finn/Moreno wasn't it? Or Morgan? I forgot.
 
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You knew sooner or later one of the cases Vega worked on would get looked at.
Glad to see DB tell Nick what happened was wrong. As tempting as it is to beat the #@ out of bad guys,the end result could be exactly what almost happened here, a cold blooded and danger to society being released.
Glad to see the team bonding in this episode too. I give this episode a B.
 
Loved this episode!! I liked that it was all of the team working together (minus Sara :( ). I still prefer the two case episodes but this was good.

I loved Nick's struggle with what happened. I don’t think that DB had to tell him that what Vega did was wrong. I think he already knew that but was in denial about it. I think he suspected what happened at the time but let it slide for various reasons. No it wasn’t right. But as he said he didn’t know Vega was dirty at the time and he hit the nail on the head when he said that maybe he didn’t want to know. He liked Vega and didn’t want to believe it. There were lots of cases where Vega and Nick worked well together.

It seemed very in-character to me that he was struggling with this. I really like that he came clean with DB and I loved the scene between the two of them with DB being sympathetic while still making it very clear to Nick that what happened was wrong.

The same thing with the scene with Moreno and Nick. Moreno asked him about it and at first Nick wanted to deny it but then was honest and told him what happened. He defended the Vega he knew but admitted there was more he didn’t want to know. Again I think that was very in-character for Nick. He naturally thinks good things about others and is affected when that image is proved wrong.

I think George did an amazing job portraying that struggle.

I loved the baseball scene! I wish there were more ‘fun’ group activities. The team is always so serious and it’s nice to see them laughing and enjoying themselves.


Loved the softball game. Good for Henry :) I'm starting to like Finn but of course it would be her getting a big hit and talking to/helping Henry. Had to put it out there...

My thoughts exactly. :rolleyes: But I did like her flirting with Moreno. I thought that was funny. And I loved her scene with DB where he asked couldn’t she wait until the game was over to flirt and she just smiled and shook her head! :lol:

Overall I think it was a really good episode. It had forensics, teamwork and baseball fun!
 
I agree with everything you said.

I thought it was a good episode and enjoyed how everyone worked together - everyone had something to do.

Loved Nick talking with DB and with Moreno.

Loved how we got to see them play baseball twice, although a little less Finn and more of the others would have been nice.
 
That was a pretty good episode, not quite up to the standard as some of the episodes early in the season but it was decent. (And a heck of a lot better than last week!)

I liked the baseball on the whole. Would have preferred to have seen everyone get a chance to bat/run. I was PRAYING that Finn wouldn't score a home run and have us make her out to be an "I can do everything" Mary-Sue character so I'm relieved that she didn't get all the way round. Also liked how Henry essentially got the winning point, they really need to use him more. (And I also want to see sarky-Henry as well as nervous-Henry.) So yeah overall I liked the baseball, but it was no go-karts/bowling alley though.

I thought the case was pretty boring actually (but it was better than last week) and seemed to move slowly. It didn't have as much forensics as I would have liked and I felt it mostly consisted of talking around a table about "Invisi-skin" or something. At least they didn't put in a silly twist which completely through off the implausibility of it though. (Unlike last week.)

Okay, I'm still annoyed at how bad last week's episode was and I'll stop there. :lol:

If there's one thing this season has done right compared to previous is the balance of screentime (not just in episodes but throughout the series). This episode was no exception. Even though it was Nick-centric episode I feel we got enough scenes of Nick to showcase that yet we still got enough of everyone else that it encompassed the team ensemble as well.

I did however miss Sara in this one. I know it sounds harsh to say it, but I'm so used to her missing in some episodes I usually get by with it, however I really felt she was missing from the baseball game, cheering Henry on with the rest of the team.

I liked Nick's scenes with detective Moreno, particularly the scene where they discussed Vega himself. I think it's clear to say that Nick still misses him a lot and potentially still in shock about what happened.

Loved the Hodges stuff today with the Italian continuity. Particularly the first short-second glimpse of him dancing in the lab as Nick and Greg walk past the lab. :p

Greg got a smooch :lol:

Yeah, so overall pretty good episode, even if the case was a little pants, it was the team interactions and all the character moments which made it all count.

Rating: 8.0/10 (good)
 
Really loved this episode. Showing Nick's internal struggles is something that George excells at. :thumbsup:

I think my favorite part was with Nick and Moreno and Nick tells him that the dirty cop Sam Vega wasn't the Sam Vega he knew. In a way I think it gives the reason why they (TPTB) made Vega the dirty cop instead of one of the others - there were no indications to Nick, us, or anyone else that he was dirty.

Loved the softball game, and the fact that they did get to finish it in the end. It was nice to get back to showing that sort of thing. In season 10 they made a big deal out of the team being a big 'family' only to have it drop off the face of the Earth in season 11 so it was nice to get back to it. :thumbsup: I only wish we got to see how Nick got to second base. :p

It was obvious that DB was going to be #1 but I wonder if the others got to choose what number they were and if they did if there was any personal significance to the number they chose?

Glad that it wasn't the predictable 'we put the wrong man behind bars' or 'missed key piece of evidence in the murder' type of story. Unfortunately the guy's in there under lesser charges because she lived but it does point out to the others that Vega put in there that it's not going to be easy to get out just because Vega turned out to be a dirty cop.

All-in-all this episode didn't feel as jumpy as others have, one scene flowed into the next a little easier than in other episodes this season. And we didn't have people disappear half way through which is always a plus. :lol:


Susan
 
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Loved this episode!! I liked that it was all of the team working together (minus Sara :( ). I still prefer the two case episodes but this was good.

I loved Nick's struggle with what happened. I don’t think that DB had to tell him that what Vega did was wrong. I think he already knew that but was in denial about it. I think he suspected what happened at the time but let it slide for various reasons. No it wasn’t right. But as he said he didn’t know Vega was dirty at the time and he hit the nail on the head when he said that maybe he didn’t want to know. He liked Vega and didn’t want to believe it. There were lots of cases where Vega and Nick worked well together.

It seemed very in-character to me that he was struggling with this. I really like that he came clean with DB and I loved the scene between the two of them with DB being sympathetic while still making it very clear to Nick that what happened was wrong.

The same thing with the scene with Moreno and Nick. Moreno asked him about it and at first Nick wanted to deny it but then was honest and told him what happened. He defended the Vega he knew but admitted there was more he didn’t want to know. Again I think that was very in-character for Nick. He naturally thinks good things about others and is affected when that image is proved wrong.

I think George did an amazing job portraying that struggle.

I loved the baseball scene! I wish there were more ‘fun’ group activities. The team is always so serious and it’s nice to see them laughing and enjoying themselves.


Loved the softball game. Good for Henry :) I'm starting to like Finn but of course it would be her getting a big hit and talking to/helping Henry. Had to put it out there...

My thoughts exactly. :rolleyes: But I did like her flirting with Moreno. I thought that was funny. And I loved her scene with DB where he asked couldn’t she wait until the game was over to flirt and she just smiled and shook her head! :lol:

Overall I think it was a really good episode. It had forensics, teamwork and baseball fun!

Good post...I agree with all of this, especially the struggles each team member had with it. Nick getting emotional and teary-eyed over it was a sign of not only accepting that Vega was bad but accepting that he suspected Vega had done something wrong and didn't do anything about it. :(

Now that the high of all the great scenes is over, I can critique the case a bit. :lol:

If this guy was as mean and nasty as they say he was, it IS possible that he lunged for Vega. I know that's not what they're suggesting, but it goes along with how they portrayed the bad guy.

And again, if he's that violent and crazy, would a pop in the mouth and eye from Vega really get him to confess and lead them to a body? Don't think so.

But I digress. Great episode! :)
 
Great, great episode :). I really liked it and it kept me interested.

-Baseball game was awesome and fun.
-Moreno was great casting and I do hope he comes back.
-Nick/George did a great job throughout and I loved his scene with DB. I liked that DB was sympathetic yet kept firm in what was right and wrong and I liked that even though it was difficult for Nick he still knew deep down what had happened and accepted it. It was a very nice scene to watch and the actors did a great job with it
-Loved the Grisssom mention :).

There's only one nitpick I have. If I go away for a couple of weeks and I don't leave someone to turn on my car every couple of days my battery is dead. Yet this car has been 7 years sitting there and Nick goes with the keys and just turns it on and the battery is A-ok?!? That was just a bit too much lol.
 
I to hope they keep Moreno, I really liked him, he seemed to fit in almost immediatly and got along with everyone he worked with. He seems to me as having the same kind sympathetic nature as Nick, maybe its just me. Anyway I really liked him.

Also liked the game, good to see everyone having fun.
 
I to hope they keep Moreno, I really liked him, he seemed to fit in almost immediatly and got along with everyone he worked with. He seems to me as having the same kind sympathetic nature as Nick, maybe its just me. Anyway I really liked him.

Also liked the game, good to see everyone having fun.


I liked him too and hope we see him again as more of a regular. They are running out of cops since we don't see Vartann much anymore. So maybe they will keep him around. Especially if they ever go back to the two-case episodes (still holding out hope).
 
Is it me, or did they do a ballgame scene once before? It could have been another show, but I'm not sure.
 
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