Grade = C (a generous one)
Considering the “special” nature of this episode, I tried to look at it from two perspectives – first, as a regular CSI:NY viewer/fan and second, as someone not very familiar with the series. In both cases, it was a disappointing episode.
Even though the trafficking storyline has been done before, the writers brought some interesting elements to it with the big rig tie-in and also going beyond the more familiar prostitution scenario to include organ harvesting and surrogate scenarios. They did a reasonably good job portraying the horrors of these crimes, and the truck driver was creepily evil.
I thought the interaction between Mac and Langston also was handled reasonably well. Some of the dialogue seemed a bit stilted at times, but some awkwardness is to be expected considering the two previously hadn’t met. Nice timely reference to Veterans Day.
The rest of the character work was noticeably weak, however. Somehow they managed to take some of the more dynamic, interesting characters in the franchise and make them seem bland and flat. While the writers did get in a reference to Mac’s military career and the D/L marriage, some of the qualities and traits which normally make these characters distinctive and interesting just weren’t very evident – Mac’s intensity, Stella’s passion, Danny’s energy, Flack’s snark, Adam’s quirkiness….what happened to the characters we normally see?
And I don’t understand some of the other character choices made. While I like Hawkes and was glad to see him get a significant storyline last week, I don’t consider him as one of the signature, defining characters of the series and was sort of puzzled by his relative prominence in this episode. Maybe they wanted to play up the connection between his medical background and the organ harvesting scenario, but Hawkes’ role was just one more thing that felt off. It would’ve made more sense to me if Stella (who’s actually a detective) would’ve been the one chasing after the perp with Flack. And I think the interrogation scene also would’ve been more reflective of the actual series if one of the stronger interrogation pairings like Flack/Danny or Mac/Flack had been used to play off each other.
The bottom line is that this didn’t seem like a "representative" episode of CSI: NY. If the goal was simply to promote and/or raise Langston’s profile across the franchise, the results were mixed from my perspective. I like Langston well enough but probably but not enough to watch him on CSI original every week. If the idea also was to produce an episode that would get infrequent viewers interested in CSI:NY and its characters, it also seemed to miss the mark. But the real proof will be in whether the increased ratings for this episode are sustainable over time.
In any case, when they’re doing a very special episode like this one with the extra promotion and hype, I guess I expect to see their A game. And this wasn’t it (IMHO, of course).
Next week’s episode looks promising, though, so I’m looking forward to getting back to regular (but improved) CSI:NY.
BEST HOLIDAY EVER!
