Synopsis: A young woman named Emily Miller is killed by a shotgun blast while buying flowers in New York City, but Mac is quickly able to determine her death was an accident, the result of a shotgun being tossed off the roof of a nearby building. The intended victim is just two buildings away: Julio Riverton, a family court judge whose badly beaten body was found by his teenage daughter, Madison. Madison tells Mac she'd met her boyfriend Jake and his brother Charlie at the movies and had come back to get money when she came back to find her father dead. A tooth found in Emily's chest matches one broken off from Judge Riverton's mouth and Dr. Hammerback confirms that Riverton died from blunt force trauma. Lindsay tests the shotgun and finds that one of the barrels is faulty and only fires under extreme impact. She also finds red oil based paint on the gun. Stella traces a black sunflower seed used as bird feed to Jonas Stark, a neighbor of Riverton's that the judge was trying to evict, claiming Stark's birds were unclean. Stark denies ever being in the judge's apartment and when she learns Stark dumps the seeds out the window, she realizes one of them must have gotten into Riverton's apartment below through his window. He's cleared when his palm isn't a match to a palm print Hawkes discovered on a napkin by Riverton's body. Drywall powder on the judge's shirt leads Stella and Angell to Larry Rose, a surly contractor who lost everything in his divorce, a case Riverton presided over. He admits to tracking the judge to his building and grabbing him by the shirt, but left after that to track down his ex-wife, which landed him in jail at the time of the judge's murder. Puzzled by the lack of forced entry, the CSIs turn back to Madison, who Stella learned wanted to live with her mother, not her father, after her parents' divorce. Madison denies killing her father, but when the CSIs go back to examine the evidence, they realize they're looking at a footprint, not a palm print, with the black sunflower seed embedded in it. Lindsay and Hawkes examine the scene again and realize the killer was naked and showered after the murder. The CSIs' suspicion turns to Jake and Charlie when they find traces of popcorn topping on the shower curtain. When they learn the boys have gone from foster family to foster family after Judge Riverton took them away from their father, they know they've found their killers. Charlie and Jake are brought in; they concealed the gun at the movie theater and snuck out to go kill the judge. The older boy, Jake, who wormed his way into Madison's affections, actually committed the murder while Charlie stood by. Mac notes that their crime had five victims: Riverton, Emily Miller, Madison and both of them. Lindsay asks Flack to track down Danny, who hasn't shown up for his shift at work. She covers for him with Mac, and Flack gets Danny's superintendent to let him into Danny's apartment. He finds a webpage on Danny's computer revealing that Ollie Barnes, who robbed a bodega several weeks ago and inadvertently caused the shooting of Danny's ten-year-old neighbor, Ruben Sandoval, was released on bail. Flack tracks Danny down, and Danny tells him that Ruben's mother Rikki, upon learning about Ollie's release, visited his apartment earlier and stole his gun. Flack agrees to help Danny try to find Ollie before Rikki tracks him down. The pair find Ollie just as Rikki is aiming the gun at him and Danny steps in between them, claiming Ruben's death is his fault. Rikki lowers the gun and allows Danny to take it from her. Flack gets upset with Danny when Danny refuses to arrest Rikki, giving him one hour to bring her in. Danny finally complies and as Angell leads Rikki away, Flack tells Danny he has to stop blaming himself for Ruben's death. Danny sadly replies, "How can I do that?" Analysis: An excellent episode that features both character drama and an involving case, "All in the Family" does a better job than most episodes of merging high stakes for one of the characters with a routine case. Danny's drama doesn't really come into play until the second half of the episode, and it mostly plays out in the third act. Indeed, we don't even see Danny until thirty minutes into the episode when Flack tracks him down at the beginning of his search for Ollie Barnes. That being said, once Flack does find Danny and Danny tells him that Rikki has his gun, it's a lot harder to concentrate on the main case knowing (because this is television after all) that a showdown between Rikki, Ollie, Danny and Flack is inevitable. <HR ALIGN="CENTER" SIZE="1" WIDTH="45%" COLOR="#007BB5"> To read the full reviews, please click here.<center></center>
Great review. And great analysis too. I agree that the case was interesting, but, and maybe this is because I already knew from promo that some very exciting character interaction was coming up, I did find myself waiting rather impatiently for the drama of that rather than concentrating on what could have been a really interesting case. :lol: And you're right, once Flack searches Danny's apartment the main case could have been left out completely and I probably wouldn't have really minded. In some ways that is a shame, but in others it's not because for a show and franchise that often seems to pride itself on the engaging cases and procedural aspects of the shows it was fantastic (in my opinion) to finally see some truly exciting, dramatic and touching character interaction without falling back on a troubled romantic relationship or some boring bedroom antics as I so often fear will be the case. I often despair of NY's attempts to put it's characters in danger or in trouble. If anything it does usually deal quite well with Danny Messer, he's certainly had some of the more interesting moments than most. And this one was great because it was all of the things that I liked, without being overly dramatic or completely ridiculous (like 333 for example, or Stella's boyfriend in All Access). Anyway, basically I love Danny and Flack, and their friendship and whenever it is shown on screen it adds that extra special dimension to the episode. Long live Danny/Flack! And long live Flack/Angell! Two very pretty Detectives indeed and so natural with each other.
Can i say i like Flack and Angell? Irish coffee huh? Interesting, i wonder where oh where that will go. Wow powerful performances by Carmine and Eddie on the whole episdoe, it was clearly them and i want more of that in the future!! The cases were well done too.
^I agree--Flack and Angell are an interesting pairing, and Carmine and Eddie knocked it out of the park with this one! Thank you! The CSI franchise as a whole tends to undervalue its characters; they really are too often stuck in the background just reciting evidence findings. And I think that except for the most casual viewer (who tunes in once or twice a season at most after seeing a preview for a case that piques their interest), the audience is very interested in these characters and wants to see at least something of their personal lives. Agreed. The writing for Danny when he ends up in a dramatic situation of some sort, be it trapped in a panic room or guilt-ridden over a crime, is extremely well, and Carmine always rises to the occasion and gives a fantastic performance whenever he's given something good to work with. Some of the dramatic storylines don't fare as well, like the ones you mentioned. Those two are gold on screen together. In an ideal world, they'd get their own buddy cop spin-off.
Wonderful review, darling, as usual. Carmine and Eddie really are fantastic together, and I'm glad that, with a limited number of episodes to write and film, they chose to go with a storyline that featured their onscreen chemistry and the friendship between their characters instead of making it all about who's shagging who. That being said, I definitely agree with you about Flack and Angell--I love them separately, and I'm definitely on board with the idea of them together. Since Angell is just a recurring character at this point, there seems to be little danger of it becoming too much--and both Eddie and Emmanuelle handle the scenes so well that I think I'll go along with it no matter what at this point.
Agreed. Carmine and Eddie are so incredibly fantastic on screen together--that bond between Danny and Flack really is the most compelling one in the show. It's great whenever we get to see them interacting, especially when there's some big emotional stake. That's how I feel. And really, could there be a more genetically blessed pair on TV?
Wonderful review, and wonderful episode. Possibly my favorite of the season. I loved the interaction between Danny and Flack, and also the interaction between Flack and Angell as well (at least she now has a first name :lol Maybe there's gonna be a rivalry between Danny and Lindsay and Flack and Angell.
Heloo! I am new to post here...but I've been reading the reviews for a while now and I think they are perfect Thank u Kristine..the episode is great, probably the best since Raising Shane (in my opinion of course).. I want to send my regards to Faylinn.. I find her opinions often similar to mine..
Great review Top That was a very good episode. The interaction between Carmine and Eddie is really great! I always love their scenes together. It's a great friendship and Flack always cares for Danny! I also agree with the idea that Flack and Angell would be great together. That's so true. Those are two really good looking (and that's probably "a bit" understated) persons.
Thank you, everyone! Thank you, miss_blue, and welcome! "Raising Shane" is one of my favorites, too. I think Danny and Flack's friendship really disproves the idea that some have that the CSI shows are only about the science and the characters just serve the plot of the show. There's real depth there, not only in both of the characters, but in their relationship to each other.
Maybe CSI:NY should fall out of the pattern that it is only a science show. Danny and Flack are natural on the screen and it "hits" the viewers since they are so popular, unlike other forced interactions And related to the possible relationship between Flack and Angell I'd say that it was about time for Flack to get lucky...everyone did..except Hawkes (I want to put back the horrible girlfriend from "You Only Die Once")
I'd love to see CSI: NY break with the formula even for one episode and do a "buddy cop" thing with Danny and Flack. Maybe have them go and investigate a crime somewhere or something. I bet it would be hilarious and fun and different. CSI has played with format a bit (with the lab geeks episodes and sending some of the CSIs out of town to investigate things); I think it would be fun if NY did as well, and these two would be perfect candidates to get an episode to themselves. They're gold on screen together.
Meh, am I the only one who didn't like this episode then? :lol: Loved the review though, of course . I don't even know what it was that I didn't like, the whole episode just didn't sit right with me. It seemed a little forced, all of it, and I couldn't focus on the things I probably should have been focusing on. It's really interesting to read everyones opinions, especially when I don't agree :lol: I did, however, like the Flack and Angell tilt on the whole thing. I admit, it was unexpected for me, probably becasue I havn't been paying attention recently, but it was a welcome supprise, and the only part of the episode that peeked my interest. Great review Top, and I'll look forward to seeing you back writing once this damn strike is resolved. Guess you get a break from it now, though