"The Unusual Suspect" Discussion *Beware SPOILERS*

yeah i think they can cause its not the same charge but they still have evidence that can convict him of assault or w/e they choose to charge him for.
mandi

 

Very well said, Ford! I feel the same way. I hate having all the characters crammed into one episode.

I'm not sure about that. He said, "I know the feeling" with a touch of tension in his voice, like, "Yeah, I'm about to snap, too." But that was just my perception.

The one spot where I felt Nick was a bit cold was when Cath was explaining how self-conscious preteen girls are, Nick's reaction was almost like, "Yeah, okay, whatever, spare me the details and let's just get on with the case." He seems just a TAD impatient these days. Not terribly so, but maybe a tiny bit more so than the old Nick we knew.

 

I don't think any of the characters necessarily need to go. They just need to use them more effectively, and as I said in my previous post, not try to fit them all into every episode.

 

Best of the season. It proves that while there can be great episodes without William Petersen (Gum Drops was my other favorite this season), it just won't be the same without him there.

But this episode! Wow. Absolutely riveting. I do think it goes to the theory that they need to cut down on the amount of screen time each sub-character has in an episode, because this was so incredibly tight I was choking.

 

i said it before and i will say it again...without grissom there is no science in the show....

didn't anyone notice how bad the evidence was??? it was all based on the guy being a 'bad' teenager, there wasn't any actual scientific forensic evidence...and they were basically going on the confessions. now i know, that is more realistic, but its a show about FORENSIC science, and sara, especially nick are not very convincing scientists...and this episode would have been way better with grissom, because i think he would have related better with the girl than sara did

 

I've always felt that Grissom keeps them grounded - pulls in the reigns and really makes them wait and think.

That said, it was a brilliant episode, but the show will not survive without WP.

There was just a disjointed feeling about it - Catherine would show up and disappear, same with Warrick and so forth.

It feels like Grissom unifies everyone.

But how much can I say about George Eads? Not enough. Just not enough. Jorja Fox was amazing as usual, but George Eads doesn't get enough chances to show off his talent on this show - this man deserves an Emmy for Grave Danger, Gum Drops and this.

Not for anything overt - but that one scene where he jokingly said he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown? A small line, a small scene and there was this haunted quality to the way he did it.

 

No one would have to leave; certain characters could be switched to semi-recurring, like Ecklie, to appear only a couple times each season. The problem with putting all the characters in every episode is that no one gets any worthwhile screen time or story lines. No one character stands out in an episode, which is one reason why this season has seemed so lackluster. Rotating characters seems like a good solution, but it only works if Nick and Sara are at the forefont of every episode working alongside Catherine and/or Grissom. Bottom line is that it might be better to not rotate characters (except possibly Sophia and Brass), but instead drop certain characters to semi-recurring status.

As we saw tonight, Nick and Sara carried the ep quite well by themselves, with some strong supporting moments from Catherine and Warrick, Sophia, Hodges, and Ecklie. The interaction was good, and the writing seemed tighter and more focused.

 

Could be signs of that major post-GD meltdown I've been waiting for.

BTW, did anyone else notice that Nick's getting kinda skinny this season? He could almost pass for Greg from behind, that's how spindly he's getting.

The no Grissom and Greg thing kinda bothered me. Grissom not so much because, like someone else said before, maybe they are trying to "wean" us off of him. But why cut out Greg? He's only just become credited on the opening, seems a little premature to be leaving him out of whole episodes.

And I'm sure all the Snickers and YoBling shippers were very happy about this epi

The episode itself was pretty good. It drove me nuts not knowing for sure who did it until the very end. But I am glad they gave us a conclusion, because it would have bothered me even more if they'd left us hanging. It really made me angry how everyone made Marlon out to be really stupid, everyone from the lawyers to his own parents. Like he couldn't have figured out the whole sodium thing. And it made me kind of sad that they only had one picture of him among all of Hannah's pictures and awards and trophies. The extended courtroom scenes annoyed me too. Like someone else said, I'd watch a courtroom drama if I wanted to see all the trial stuff.

They'll have to do a revisit of this case, no doubt.

 

one thing i have noticed this season is the lack of "A" and "B" stories...and i really think that contributes to the not enough roles for the cast to play. if they have 2 storylines, then they have more stuff for the csi's to do, and then they can include more people...

 

Mmm....you're right. Unless it's a high-profile or some other kind of special case, it would seem kind of crowded to have all the CSIs working one case. Which is why it kind of suprised me that there was no Grissom in this episode, since it seemed like a high-profile case, seems like the supervisor should have been in on it.But Ecklie was there so I guess that counts. But it's not the same!

 

Although a majority of reviewers seem to give this one a 10, I found it quite unmoving.

"Coming of rage" in season 4 worked better for me, same kind of ep with a girl manipulating Sara all the way, and I'll never forget the actress who played the real killer, she gave a powerful performance.

In tonight's ep, genius girl and her real killer brother were a bore. Yes, the surprise confession was something : you have to be real smart to make people think that something happened when it didn't happen.

I guess TPTB believe they're smart enough to make us think something interesting happened tonight but HEY, no music, no Grissom, no upstanding characters, no emotions...

Subtlety is good, loudness is bad, I get that, but is CSI going to flatline or what

 

Don't have much to add really, but wow! Loved this episode.

Unlike "I Like To Watch" or whatever it was called, this one kept me riveted from start to finish, and I truly couldn't figure out who was guilty until the little girl spilled the beans. Great pacing and great scenes from everyone.

I'm a bit worried that I didn't even miss Grissom in this episode. It always has me wondering if they're warming us up for his departure after season 7 or something... because it seems to be working for me! And I really don't want it to!

Anyway, much better episode this week. Can almost make me forget "Werewolves" or "I Like To Watch" ever aired! :lol:

 

Popo,

I so agree.

 

I actually thought the ending was pretty ambiguous. Even though Hannah told Sara her brother did it I felt that she only said that to mess with her. So there remains the possiblity that Hannah was the real killer.

 

What I liked best about this episode was its feel -- it just seemed balanced and well-paced, almost giving it a lightness without actually being light, if that makes any kind of sense. I think a lot of it has to do with what people have been saying about the absence of certain characters. With fewer CSIs it's easier to focus on the story. It gets distracting when the writers try to cram everyone in. About halfway through, I started thinking "I want Grissom," but at almost the same time I realized what a jolt it would be for him to turn up, which probably would be just for the sake of turning up. And George and Jorja really held their own.

I also thought the intercutting at the end between the closing arguments and Nick and Sara packing away the evidence was extremely well done: The voice over of the prosecutor with Nick, who both pegged Marlon for the murder, followed by voice over of the defense with Sara, who both liked Hannah for it. That's some subtle, sophisticated stuff.

The ending: I think it would've been cool to have a "Lost in Translation" moment, where we don't actually hear what the girl was whispering. The whole episode was ambiguous, why not end it that way?

And I need to hug Hodges for this: "Doogie Howserette." Love it!