CSI: Crime Scene Investigation--'Turn, Turn, Turn'

Discussion in 'CSI Files News Items' started by CSI Files, Mar 7, 2009.

  1. CSI Files

    CSI Files Captain

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    <p><b>Synopsis:</b><p>It's Nick's birthday, but the CSI has little time to celebrate: a 419 call comes in from the Park Pines Motel on Freemont and Nick volunteers to take the call. When he gets there, he's chagrined to find the victim is Haley Jones, the sixteen-year-old daughter of the motel's manager, Mark, and his wife, Nicole. Nick flashes back to his first meeting with the girl, on his birthday the previous year when a man named Harry Steadwell was found dead in his motel room, the apparent victim of a fatal fall. Haley expressed interest in Nick and forensics before being called away by her mother. Her father, Mark, was the new manager--he took over a week after the old manager, Dale Durney, failed to show up for work. The old manager's fate is soon revealed when Greg discovers him dead in the crawl space above the room, a wad of money in his pocket. When Doc Robbins determines Durney died from cardiac arrest caused by electrocution, the CSIs are able to piece together what happened: knowing seedy clientele would often hide money in the crawl spaces above their rooms, Dale rigged them with a magnetic locking mechanism only he could control. Dale saw Harry hide his money and triggered the lock. Harry was arrested before he could try to get to his money, but when Dale went after it, he electrocuted himself on some exposed wires. When Harry got released from jail a week later, he went back for the money and got his gun caught on the magnet, causing it to fire and Harry to be thrown back, falling from the chair he was standing on and fatally hitting his head.<p>Later that year, Nick was called in for another crime: Haley's friend, Bree Lindale, claimed that she woke up in the Jones' motel apartment after being at a bonfire for her birthday, her pants on the floor and Mark Jones standing over her. Bree tells Nick that she and Haley are no longer friends--when Haley started imitating her, right down to copying her blonde locks, she dumped Haley as a friend. Nick is surprised to learn that Nicole Jones went to the bonfire after forbidding Haley to go, and she tells him she took pictures with her camera to show Haley what was going on at the bonfire. Nick asks for the camera and takes the pictures to Bree, who identifies one person who wasn't supposed to be there: Zack Fenish, a boy she claims was stalking her. Zack admits to being at the party, but it wasn't Bree he was interested in, it was Haley. Archie finds deleted photos of Bree on Nicole Jones's camera, and she admits to Nick and Brass that she had a daughter, Melissa, who died as a baby before she had Haley. Bree reminded her of Melissa, so she'd take pictures of her. She deleted them so that Haley would never find out. Henry finds GHB in Bree's system, but when Hodges finds a substance used to condition baseball gloves on Bree's body, their suspicion turns to Bree's boyfriend Dave Henkel, a baseball player. Thinking that Bree was cheating on him with a teammate of his, he drugged Bree in order to have sex with her, but she fought him off and got out of the car. Catherine brings Bree in for her questioning and she admits to wandering from the street to the Park Pines Motel. She had a key to the Jones' apartment and used the key to get in. She finally confesses that Mark Jones did nothing to her--she just didn't want her presence to make Haley think they were friends again.<p>117 days before Haley's murder, Nick was once again called to a case at the Park Pines Motel after Haley, now a sullen goth dating Zach, discovered the body of Tanya Carrow, the apparent victim of an overdose. At only 32, Tanya already had a record and had just been released from the penitentiary. Her father, Frank, identified her but admits he wasn't much of a parent to the troubled young woman. He leaves a memorial with flowers and a picture of Tanya holding a baby in the penitentiary at the hotel. Back in the present, David Phillips tells a stunned and chagrined Nick that Haley was stabbed, and he discovers the picture of Tanya in Haley's pocket. The police bring Zack in, who Haley dumped the day before her death. Zack claims he loved Haley and though they both dealt crystal meth, he would have happily stopped for her if it would have meant she wouldn't have broken up with him. Langston is able to identify the location the photo was taken at: the White Sands Penitentiary, and they identify the woman in it as Tanya. Nick puts it together: Haley was her baby. Mark Jones tells Nick that Tanya was babysitting for Melissa when she left the infant unattended in the bathtub and she drowned. When she learned she was pregnant, Tanya offered her baby to the Jones in return. When Tanya showed up at the hotel several months ago to see Haley, Nicole went to her room and fought with her. A regular resident of the hotel recalls seeing Nicole leaving the room carrying two coffee cups--and he could smell the meth coming from one of them. When a search of the Jones' apartment uncovers a blood-soaked shirt, Nick brings Nicole in. Nicole admits to arguing with Haley after she cut her hair to look like Tanya and brought scissors out to insist on Haley changing the style, but during the argument, Haley argued with her mother and ran into the scissors. Nick asks Nicole why she didn't call 911, and she claims she was in shock--and worn down by Haley's constant rebellion. When he tells her he knows she killed Tanya with meth from Zack's stash, she admits that she never wanted Haley--it was like living with the ghost of Melissa's killer. After the case is closed, Ray finds a crushed Nick in the locker room, crying over the tragedy of Haley's life. Ray offers the devastated CSI some solace, as well as a realization, "Everyone keeps telling me what this job isn't. How you're feeling right now is what it is."<p><b>Analysis:</b><p><font color=yellow>Taylor Swift</font> acquits herself gracefully in this tragic story, which highlights how difficult the job can be when a case gets under a CSI's skin. Over the course of a year, Haley goes from being a fresh-faced, sunny brown-haired girl to a haunted blonde to a sullen punk and finally to a look that emulates that of her dead birth mother--and ends up bringing about her death. Swift slips into each persona effortlessly; rather than feeling like we're watching singer doing a high profile guest spot, the episode truly facilitates Swift disappearing into the role. Ironically, the persona closest to Swift, at least in appearance, is the one that is least Haley--the aloof blonde glamor girl look she takes on to imitate Bree never quite feels like the Haley we first met, the earnest girl who approached Nick and brought up an interest in forensics--as well as flirtatiously observing that Nick looked nothing like her chemistry teacher. Zack Fenish sees through the blonde persona as well, noting that he's attracted to Haley because he can see the wild child just waiting to break through. He's spot on: the next time we see Haley, she's a sullen goth girl, kissing Zack defiantly, and, as we learn after her death, helping him deal. Which persona was the real Haley? The answer, of course, is all of them: like other girls her age, Haley is simply a girl trying to find who she is--a quest that is cut tragically short.<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/turn_turn_turn.shtml">here</A>.<center></center>
     
  2. Smokey

    Smokey Nickaholic Moderator

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    Love it! :) You've hit on just about everything I felt about the episode, from feeling that Nick was partly breaking down because of Warrick to how wonderful Ray was in that final scene.

    Just one nitpicky thing...I believe Nick pulled a bill out of his pocket for the homeless guy. I don't think he gave him the money evidence from the case. I went back to the DVR to check (yeah yeah...an excuse to watch again :) ) and that's what it looked like.
     
  3. Faylinn

    Faylinn Adam Fangirl Super Moderator

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    Excellent review, as usual. :)

    Taylor Swift did a good job - sometimes stunt casting does work out, I guess. :p One thing I liked about the episode was that it left you wondering about Haley and wanting to know more about her and what happened - it gave you no more info than what Nick himself knew, but as a viewer you still felt a connection to the girl.

    I teared up a bit at the end when Nick got emotional (especially when he said her voice keeps saying, 'What happened?' in his head) - we've all been there, wondering what we could have done differently, although luckily most of us aren't thinking of how we could have prevented something so tragic. Ultimately, it isn't Nick's fault - whether or not he had solved Tanya's case, he was in no way responsible for Nicole stabbing her own daughter - but it's hard not to think 'if only I had done this, things would be different.'

    I'm enjoying the relationship between Nick and Ray - Nick is the mentor at work, but Ray also has life wisdom of his own to share, and it creates an interesting dynamic between the two of them.

    Overall, it was nice to see an episode that focused on Nick and that told a different sort of story in a different sort of way. :)

    (I thought the transitions from one time to the next were kind of cheesy, though.)

    By the way, I thought the scene with Tanya's father in the morgue was extremely well done. The dialogue, the acting - it all just worked together wonderfully to create a very simple, yet poignant, scene.
     
  4. Drumchik

    Drumchik Captain

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    I don't know why, but every time I see the title of this episode I keep getting that song in my head...
     
  5. mandy9578

    mandy9578 CSI Level Two

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    Your review was spot on Kristine! Great job!

    Agreed. Finally something Nicky-centric. I'm glad the writers are giving George Eads something he can sink his teeth into. (Amazing how he was able to channel the pain from his herniated disc into a brilliant performance.) It was such a shame that the last few years were too GSR-centered, overshadowing other characters and taking too much screen time.

    As for that last scene, it was so heartbreaking that I wanted to give Nicky a big hug.
     
    Last edited: Mar 7, 2009
  6. Fighter

    Fighter Lab Technician

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    Great review, I liked that you concentrated so much on T. Swift's acting, the fate of this episode was really hanging on her (and George of course) so it was a great relief she pulled it off :) She created a believable character, unlike some previous non-actresses.

    About the money,I also thought Nick gave that guy his own money, and it looked like just a few bills, not really the whole wad they found. I don't really believe Nick would give away what was practically the evidence.
     
  7. Top41

    Top41 Administrator Administrator Moderator Premium Member

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    Fixed the bit about the money--thanks guys! I could have sworn it was the wad of cash the first time I watched it, but yes, I did think it would be weird that Nick would be able to just give away evidence like that. Calleigh was able to give a witness money from evidence in an episode of CSI: Miami, but that had been carefully cleared through department protocol first.
     
  8. Jacquie

    Jacquie Ward Girl Moderator

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    Excellent review Kristine :) This was just an awesome show for both George and CSI :)
     
  9. Dragonfly

    Dragonfly ~Queen of Sarcasm~ Moderator

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    Great review for an excellent episode!

    Both George Eads and Taylor Swift shone in this episode. It was a nice change of pace from the usual format. And there were so many great moments (hearing from Grissom, mention of Warrick's son, etc).

    In my opinion, the best episode of the season so far!
     
  10. koshi700

    koshi700 Dead on Arrival

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    I enjoyed this episode, I have to say it was very well done and very interesting. I do have a small gripe a though, I'm not sure if I'm the only one, but I'm already getting tired of every ending of every ep focusing on Ray is some form or another whether directly or indirectly. This episode was mainly focused on Nick which I loved, but, in the end the we have Ray (the newbie) give Nick advice. I would have liked to have seen Catherine or even Greg comforting Nick in the end. It's not that I don't like Ray, I do. I think he has made a great addition to the CSI team. It's just that he's getting overused already, while Catherine, Greg and even Riley are hardly getting any focus at all. Ray is going to get tiresome if he's in our face all the time. They need to back off of him a bit.

    But that's my only gripe, I actually enjoyed the episode. :)
     
  11. Faylinn

    Faylinn Adam Fangirl Super Moderator

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    I think it might have something to do with the fact that Ray, as the newbie, might be more likely to approach someone rather than giving them space when they're upset (if that makes sense - like, people who've known Nick longer might know he prefers to be alone and not have someone asking him questions when he's upset - if that's the case, I mean *lol*). It might also have to do with Nick's role as Ray's mentor, in a sense, which might make Ray feel closer to him.

    I agree that it's about time they have some focus on the others, though. I know they want to feature Ray so that the viewers learn about him and warm up to him, but it's important that they don't forget he's part of an ensemble cast and that the love should be spread around. It's possible to feature him and still feature the others as well, if they rotate things a bit. Let's hope this episode is a sign that they're going to pay more attention to the older cast members.
     
  12. Lauren93

    Lauren93 Witness

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    One thing that I noticed was that when Grissom left a voice mail on Nick's phone the caller id had his name spelt Grissiom. I think I'm a little ridiculous for catching something so small, did anyone else notice it?
     
  13. myfuturecsi

    myfuturecsi Corpse

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    I agree with and it says a lot about Ray's character that he felt he should go and speak to Nick when the past characters would have walked away in his time of need.

    Grissom would never have gone and talked to Nick because he was socially inept in that regard.

    I loved the scene, it was beautifully done, beautifully acted by both of them.

    Great review Kristine, I think you hit the nail on the head in writing that Nick's grief over Warrick's death was channel through this case. It was the same with Gum Drops where his anger over being buried alive trickled through the case with the missing girl.

    I think Rambo made a good point in saying Nick doesn't have cathartic breakdowns, his breakdowns are triggered more by the cases where there's an emotional connection to the victim.
     
  14. Smokey

    Smokey Nickaholic Moderator

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    I agree that if it had been anyone else there with him, Nick probably wouldn't have let them see everything getting to him. LF was just awesome in that scene. His character is the type that would naturally encourage someone to open up like that. He did a great job, and I'm glad it was him. :)
     
  15. Nicksfriend

    Nicksfriend Police Officer

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    It was the perfect scene...well done.
     

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