CSI: New York--'The Cost Of Living'

<p><b>Synopsis:</b><p>James Sutton, an archaeologist back from a successful mission under the streets of New York, doesn't get to brag about his exploits for long: he's found dead in the alley next to the bar where just hours before he was bragging about his exploits. The CSIs examine him: Stella notes a single gunshot wound to the abdomen, while Mac notices markings around the wound indicating Sutton was shot at close range. His wallet is untouched, but there's an open parcel with only dirt in it around him and Mac notices marks on his neck indicating a necklace was ripped away. Flack questions Laura Roman, the woman who found him. She was on her way to hail a cab when she spotted his body; she tells the detective that she and James were friends and can't imagine who would have wanted him dead. In the autopsy, Sid has surprising news for Hawkes: the bullet didn't penetrate deeply, contradicting the very clear evidence that Sutton was shot at close range. Stella and Danny go over evidence found at the scene: an oven mitt with human and rat blood on it as well as a fishing hook. Stella knows exactly who they need to talk to: Wolford Bessie, a homeless man who fishes for rats. The detectives catch up with Wolford, who fesses up to being at the scene. When Stella and Danny catch him with Sutton's pocket watch and medallion, he admits to taking them, but was scared off from his corpse robbing by a man who happened by after the shooter. Stella gives the man her card and takes his purloined goods.<p>Stella gets a warrant for Sutton's apartment but is attacked on her way over by a man dressed in black who threatens her in Greek. She fends him off, and afterwards tells Mac and Flack the man knew she and Danny questioned Wolford. The connection seems to be confirmed when Wolford is found dead, his neck broken. The man was killed before the attack on Stella, and she surmises he must have gotten her card from Wolford--and might be the second man Wolford saw at the crime scene. Hawkes puzzles over the bullet and sets about reassembling the plastic shards found at the scene. The mystery deepens when Sid shows Mac that Sutton's death was actually caused by an aneurism caused by a gunshot wound he suffered one to two years ago that was treated haphazardly. Adam manages to decipher Sutton's maps by literally folding them into paper airplanes, and he locates Sutton's last dig by analyzing the dirt found in the package Sutton carried with him, leading the CSIs to an abandoned train station under the Waldorf Astoria used by Franklin D. Roosevelt back in the 1930s. They find the site of Sutton's dig, and also surprise Laura Roman, who they catch fleeing the site. Mac and Flack question Laura, who admits to being Sutton's lover and claims Sutton wasn't after treasure but rather the remains of Judge Joseph Crater, a judge who disappeared in 1930. The pocket watch Wolford found confirms this: it belonged to Crater. <p>Theorizing that the pocket watch might not have been the valuable item worth killing for, Stella and Danny examine the medallion and crack it open to reveal a gold coin that could date back as far as Phillip II's reign in Greece. Sid obtains Sutton's medical records and is puzzled when he learns that Sutton had his spleen removed years ago--and yet, there's an intact spleen in his body. Adam solves the mystery with a three-year-old video online: a man named James Sutton offering to literally sell his life to the highest bidder. The CSIs track down the real James Sutton, who they find working at a lighthouse. James identifies the man who bought his life for half a million dollars as Mitch Hanson. Realizing Mitch was shot after assuming James' identity, Flack questions Laura about the gunshot wound and realizes she was responsible. She admits that she got angry after he beat her to a dig in Cyprus and pulled a gun on him. They scuffled for it and he got shot, but she insists it was an accident. Hawkes reassembles the plastic shards to recreate the surprising murder weapon: a plastic pen fashioned into a gun. When he notes it's from a lighthouse, the CSIs know they have their killer. Mac and Flack confront the real James: he was broke and envious with how well Mitch was doing in his old life. He confronted Mitch and the man blew him off, so James hunted Mitch down and shot him. Stella pays a visit to the Greek consulate hoping to gain information about the coin and Greek smuggling rings. But when she's introduced to Sebastian, she recognizes his voice as that of her attacker's, and quickly leaves.<p><b>Analysis:</b><p>Complex is definitely the first word that comes to mind with "The Cost of Living." Not only do we have two James Suttons--the original owner of the name and the man who bought it from him, we also have some Greek skullduggery and a fair bit of history interspersed between the mystery. Usually what one takes away from a <i>CSI</i> episode is a cool science fact, but like Flack, I felt like I learned a fair bit of history here. The bits of trivia about Franklin D. Roosevelt that Mac imparted as he explored the underground train station with Danny and Flack were fascinating, and a quick glance at the <A class="link" HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Crater">Wikipedia article</a> about Crater, the judge who was known as the "Jimmy Hoffa of his day" is fascinating as well. Crater is something of a footnote in the episode, but an interesting one.<p>The idea of someone selling his life on the internet is an intriguing one; in an age where celebrities' dirty tissues can fetch a pretty price, the idea of a man selling his life isn't really all that far-fetched. James clearly didn't find what he wanted when he pawned his life off on Mitch; the money ran out, and he was the same dissatisfied man, if not even more so. But James' misery now had a focus: Mitch. Mitch rightly asserts that his accomplishments since taking Sutton's name are his own, but logic is ineffective with a man as unhappy as James. Mac defends Mitch's assertion that the life he created after assuming James' name was his own, and tells James that his life now belongs to the state, for the next twenty-five years.<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_cost_of_living.shtml">here</A>.<center></center>

 

Excellent review, dahling.

Adam is adorable - but yeah, the foreshadowing was very obvious. I was reminded of when Speed died on Miami and they had those lame bits of dialogue in the episode like 'I'm going to kill him' or 'I've got plenty of time' and whatnot. Granted, Adam isn't dying, but it was pretty unnecessary to be so clunky about it - especially when the rest of the episode had some real subtlety.

Like you, I loved Flack in this one - he's always great and funny, but seeing his compassion for Laura was nice too. With the introduction of his sister this season, I can't help but wonder if that might have something to do with it - the girl screwed up, but she didn't mean any harm and would have been even more devastated to know she was responsible. Maybe he couldn't help thinking 'what if this was Sam?' - Of course, that's probably reading way too far into it - Flack is just a nice guy anyway. Still, I thought I'd mention it since I thought about it, and it doesn't hurt to speculate.

Sheldon's little self-congratulatory comment was cute - and really, after reconstructing a gun made out of a floaty pen? The boy deserved a bit of praise. :lol: I would have been stumped by that for sure. You've gotta have some imagination in their job.

I'm intrigued by the Stella storyline, and I'm interested to see where they go with it - like you say, I hope it was intentional that she heard his voice. The other guy seemed to be watching her closely, so I'm guessing they were trying to see if she connected the dots. Stella is going to make sure those two get their come-uppance, that's for sure!

The history tidbits in this one were nice - like with the High Line in 5.01, it's nice to learn things about NY that don't involve the usual landmarks.

 

Yep, I agree with Fay, excellent review.

I enjoyed the episode, I thought Adam's paper planes were cute, but the foreshadowing was a little obvious. I thought Stella's attack was dramatic and scary, but the storyline was interesting. And Flack's compassion was unexpected but good to see.

Yeah, all in all, a pretty interesting episode.

 

Hey ya'll, I'm new here but not new to the show.

Well, I am all Flacked out after last night. :lol: I watched two re-runs (from 7-9 pm on Spike TV) then Game 5 of the World Series, which finished spot on at 10 pm in time for the new espisode. Brilliant!!

I am thrilled to see that Flack is getting more airtime this season. He's the absolute best thing about the show...at least for me. I am completely lost in those baby blues. :drool: I'm still not sold on the other characters. I think they make Stella, Mac and Hawkes too sanctimonious and self-righteous sometimes. I wish they'd lighten up a bit. Don't get me started on Lindsay.

I thought the storyline re Roosevelt and the judge was fascinating and was a bit disappointed to see that it was just a red herring. Flack's line about losing the bet was priceless. It even made Mac smile.

 

Unfortunately the writers couldn't go anywhere with the Judge Crater plotline. For one thing that real life case still doesn't have an ending (and if the writers came up with a fictional solution to that case they might make this episode dated if the case is eventually solved).

 

Great review!

I completely agree. This was actually the only part of the episode that stood out for me. The rest of it I felt was rather lacking. It just didn't really suck me in.

I also, like you mentioned, loved the Danny, Flack, and Mac interaction in the tunnel.

I also took note of the fact that Flack immediately put detail on Danny as well. I bet he was happy about that. :lol: