Following the end of the WGA strike in February, Executive Producer Peter Lenkov and the rest of the CSI: New York writing team have been hard at work on the final seven episodes of the season. One of the major storylines that required their attention was the conclusion to the mystery that began in last fall's "Down the Rabbit Hole", when the team tracked a killer in the virtual world Second Life. The conclusion to that episode, "DOA for a Day" airs tonight in the U.S. Lenkov took time out the rushed production schedule to discuss the episode with CSI Files' Kristine Huntley as well as to hint at what's to come for the New York team in the season's final episodes.
CSI Files: Tonight's the big Second Life episode conclusion episode. How much did the writers' strike affect the episode?
Peter Lenkov: It really hasn't affected it at all. It's the same story I wanted to do before the strike. More time had passed since that last episode, but I'm hoping that because the first part of that aired last week that we won't really be paying too much attention to the time pass.
CSI Files: Will there be another virtual tie-in with Second Life in this episode like there was in the first one?
Lenkov: It's different because in the first episode it was a means to an end for [the killer]. She needed to go into Second Life in order to be able to steal this identity [of the character of Venus]. There is a little bit of Second Life in this episode because it plays into something that happened in the first episode, but it's not a Second Life episode. The first one really showcased Second Life, but in this one we use it because it helps us follow the trail of our suspect so it plays a lot less in it, but it's part of the overall investigation that bleeds from [episode] one into two.
CSI Files: So it won't be the same interface with the virtual world this time around?
Lenkov: I feel like we did that. It was fun the first time around but if we did it again the second time, I'm not sure how we would do it and make it any different. We do go to a cosplay club [in the second episode]. [It's] the cosplay club that you did not see in the first episode--we just mention she was coming from a cosplay club--we actually go to that club. But that's about it.
CSI Files: Do you feel the collaboration between CSI:NY and Second Life was a success?
Lenkov: It was successful; it was great. By the time we did the second episode, there was a lot of shorthand. A lot of it was a learning experience in the first one--how be able to tie in machinima into the episode and how to get it done in a timely fashion with our post-production schedule. With this one, we knew exactly what we needed to do to make those dates happen with our deadline. So it really was successful.
CSI Files: You came back from the strike in February and had seven episodes to do. What's the production schedule been like?
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He's totally right about Flack and Angell, two good looking people who work together, it's natural and fun for them to flirt. 
His comments about Jessalyn Gilsig were good too, love interest or not, I'm sure she'll make for an interesting character. 
