CSI: Crime Scene Investigation--'The Descent Of Man'

<p><b>Synopsis:</b><p>Sky diver Pierre Delongue plunges to the ground, the apparent victim of equipment failure. The local sheriff is convinced the skydiver's near-fatal fall wasn't an accident and calls in the CSIs. Nick and Riley question Max Girard, the man who co-owns the jump school with Pierre, and Mink and Schuyler, Pierre's two girlfriends, but all deny attempting to sabotage Pierre, though there's clearly some jealousy between the two women. Nick confirms that Pierre's equipment was sabotaged, but can't find any DNA from either woman or Max. Ray Langston has an equally puzzling case: a monk is found dead in the desert. Tattoos on his body identify him as "Holy Steven," and Dr. Robbins and Ray examine his skull and brain, determining he was likely killed by blunt force trauma to the top of his head. Ray and Brass visit Steven's "temple"--an office in a strip mall--and find it renamed "Church of the Holy George." George tells the pair that he and Steven went into the desert and that Steven sent him back on the third day. When Brass posits that George whacked Steven on the head with his staff, George confesses that that indeed is what happened. But when Wendy tests the staff, she finds no evidence that George used it to kill Steven. Langston finds a DVD of Steven's teachings and realizes the man believed in acquiescence above all else, Brass puts George in an interrogation room and quickly realizes that George is agreeing with whatever he says. George is innocent, leaving Langston and Brass with no clue as to who really killed Steven.<p>Catherine and Greg respond to a call for a double homicide in Seven Hills. Ismail Javier and his business partner Allen McKenna are sitting dead in chairs in the backyard while Ismail's hysterical wife points out that her husband's bodyguard is missing. When the first officer on the scene and Gretchen both fall ill shortly after the discovery of the bodies, Catherine realizes a deadly toxin is at work and quarantines the scene. Henry finds evidence of digitoxin, a cardiac glyceride that causes arrest in large doses on a cigar at the scene. When Catherine returns to the scene with a team, she uses a spray and florescent lights to detect the digitoxin--and finds it covering everything in the backyard. Realizing it was spread from the air, she works with Archie to track flights and finds one small plane flew over the scene at the time of the murder. Surveying the area the flight took off from, she realizes it was from Max and Pierre's jump school. Catherine calls Nick, who goes to the hanger and finds digitoxin on the plane. Brass visits Pierre, conscious but almost completely paralyzed, in the hospital and finds Max by his bedside. He gets the story out of the two men: a man visited Max and threatened harm would come to his family if he didn't fly the man over Javier's house. Feeling trapped, Max was on his way to fly the plane when he got into a car accident. He called Pierre and asked him to take the flight. Pierre did, and the man pulled a gun on him and forced him to fly over the house--and then the man sprayed the poison down onto Javier and McKenna. Guilt-stricken, Pierre was unable to live with his part in it, and sabotaged his own equipment, hoping to end his life in the dive. Pierre gives Brass the man's name: it was Javier's bodyguard, who was working in tandem with another man. Both are arrested. Still mulling over Steven's death, Langston goes back to the scene and finds a tortoise with blood on it. After confirming the blood is Steven's, he realizes the tortoise was dropped by an eagle hoping to smash open the animal's shell onto Steven's head after the bird mistook Steven's bald head for a rock.<p><b>Analysis:</b><p>A true ensemble piece, there's a real natural flow to "The Descent of Man" that underscores how the recently shaken and stirred CSI team is settling into a routine and a rapport. There's been so much change in the last year for the show, with Sara's departure, Warrick's death and then finally Grissom's departure. The show lost three characters and gained two new ones--Riley and Langston--and the episodes this season, especially the ones since Grissom's departure have definitely been ones of transition. While the show hasn't slipped at all in quality, it has had to find a new balance. With no fewer than three principle characters gone, the entire tone of the show could have changed. Episodes like "The Descent of Man" prove that it hasn't--while also showcasing how the new characters have indeed impacted the show.<p><HR ALIGN="CENTER" SIZE="1" WIDTH="45%" COLOR="#007BB5"><p>To read the full reviews, please click <A HREF="http://www.csifiles.com/reviews/csi/the_descent_of_man.shtml">here</A>.<center></center>

 

Excellent review, as usual.

It was nice to see an episode that didn't concentrate on Ray, even though he remained a large part of the episode. I like the character, and I like learning about him, but sometimes I think the key is moderation - and subtlety. I know Laurence Fishburne is a tremendous addition to the show - and that they're paying a pretty penny to have him - but he himself has stressed that he's joining an established ensemble cast. There is introducing the new guy, and then there's making it all about the new guy. The show has gone back and forth with how they've handled it, IMO. An episode can and should concentrate on him every once in a while - but episodes should also concentrate on the others every once in a while as well. Theoretically, they have to make up for lost time since he's new compared to the others, but there's theory and then there's what people watching the show actually want to see. Like I said, I personally like the character and his dynamics with the rest of the team, but I'd also like to see more of the rest of the team as well - it's only fair that Ray stay in the background every once in a while.

One thing they're being a bit too subtle about is Catherine's role as the team leader, as you pointed out. I suppose they might have wanted it to just be a smooth transition because there's so much going on elsewhere, but it feels like a missed opportunity to me.

The story in this one was interesting, although it wouldn't kill these shows to have a case be connected to another case that the team is not working every once in a while. And why does the 'night shift' start cases during the daytime anyway? Oh well. C'est la vie, as they say.

I did enjoy the bits of humor in the episode - the stuff with the two girlfriends was fun, and the bit with Brass and George was hilarious. I also had to chuckle at the videotape of 'Holy Steven' talking about Starbucks.

BTW, several sites made a big deal about the 'panty party' featuring Charisma in this one, but I thought Pierre was quite nice to look at in the scene myself. :devil:

 

First of all, I was so happy to see Charisma Carpenter make a guest appearance (she hasn't made many TV appearances since Angel).

Anyway getting back to the episode, while Catherine hasn't done much (on screen) as team leader, I do notice and like that Nick is leading a lot of the cases this season since he's now second in command. Though it's a bit odd to see Ray handling a case by himself (after all Holly Gribs was killed because she had the bad luck to be left alone), I do like his interactions with Brass (they're almost reminding me of how Brass and Grissom interact).

 

It's also odd, because they made such a big deal in earlier seasons about Nick not getting 'big' cases to work solo on, and now Ray is handling murders all on his own. Maybe they're just really short-staffed!

 

I haven't watched this ep yet. I've gotten to the point where I record them, read the review here to see if it's once again CSI: Langston, or if we actually get some time with the rest of the team. And then decide if I'm going to watch accordingly. I'm encouraged by what I read here. I'm glad to hear that the rest of the team got to do more then stand in background.

Again, I wish we could get a bit more focus on Greg as he has had no character growth at all this season. But alas, Greg has always been the one to be ignored for the most part, so I'm not holding my breath. *la sigh*

Anyways, thanks for the review, I'm going to watch this episode for sure.

 

I absolutely love your reviews, and totally agree with what you say about Catherine here. She needs more airtime. I also loved the scenes with Brass and the suspect too.