CSI: Miami--'Wrecking Crew'

<p><b>Synopsis:</b><p>In a safe house in a condominium building in downtown Miami, Calleigh and Delko are watching over William Campbell, who overheard a hit being carried out on behalf of mobster Joey Salucci. Campbell goes over his testimony: he was at Spiral bar and went to the bathroom when he heard someone come in and shoot a man named AJ Watkins for "Joey Salucci's daughter." Watkins' body hasn't been found, so the state's case against Salucci hinges on Campbell. Calleigh and Delko are preparing to take Campbell to testify when a crane slams into building! It breaks through the window and takes off part of the floor in the unit. Calleigh holds onto William, who hangs between floors, but she loses her grip on him and he plunges to his death. After Horatio arrives, the CSIs question Travis Drake, the site owner, who tells them construction was halted when he couldn't afford to continue the construction. Horatio pays a visit to Joey Salucci at the grave of his daughter, Emma. Emma was killed after she fell asleep on the beach after a bonfire and AJ Watkins accidentally ran her over while driving his ATV. Horatio reminds the man that it was an accident, but Salucci clearly held Watkins responsible. Ryan examines the crane's control area and recovers a black box there. He also finds blood in the cabin, which he's able to trace to a man named Kurt Greenwood, who claims he was simply in the cabin to retrieve drugs he left behind after the site was shut down. After a tense encounter with Campbell's widow, Beth, and their son, Noah, Calleigh goes back to the site to look for more clues with Ryan. Ryan notices charcoal grey paint transfer on some of the shattered glass while Calleigh finds fresh tire treads. After finding the make and model of the car, they're able to trace it to a man named Mick Ragosa.<p>When the CSIs find Ragosa, they discover his car is damaged. He admits to being a friend of Salucci, and claims he went to the safe house to persuade Campbell not to testify. He got there just as the crane was slamming into the building; some of the wreckage fell onto his car, damaging it. He claims not to have seen the person operating the crane, and the black box from the crane's cabin backs him up: apparently it was being operate remotely when it slammed into the building. Lab tech Jane Bartlett is able to pinpoint the killer's likely location: the top floor of a parking structure. They find the remote in a trashcan and are able to get DNA off goggles found with it. The CSIs are stunned when the DNA matches Campbell's son Noah. Noah admits to them that he was angry at the prospect of going into the witness protection program and changing his whole life for his father's testimony. He wanted to scare his father with the crane, and never intended to hurt him. He's horrified that he killed his father--as is his mother, who apologizes to Calleigh for their earlier confrontation. <p>Horatio is determined to put Salucci away for AJ Watkins' murder, so he puts the CSIs on the case. After retrieving the tape of Campbell's 911 call, Calleigh is able to hear the sound of a toilet flushing in the background--perhaps the sound of the killer flushing evidence? Ryan and Natalia go back to the club and retrieve a 9-millimeter cartridge from the toilet. Using a new piece of equipment in the lab to recover a fingerprint on the cartridge, Horatio is able to match the print to Mick Ragosa. Ragosa won't talk, refusing to give up the location of Watkins' body. Calleigh and Ryan find blood in Ragosa's car, proving that he used the vehicle to transport Watkins' body. Ryan finds a shovel with sand on it--burned sand. Horatio concludes that AJ was killed at the site of Emma's accidental death. AJ's body is dug up and Dr. Tara Price makes a startling discovery: AJ was shot in the kneecap, but the actual cause of his death was strangulation. Dr. Price finds pollen residue on his skin from a white lily--the kind of flower Horatio recalls Salucci leaving at his daughter's grave. Horatio brings the mobster in: Mick Ragosa may have started the job, but Joey finished it. Horatio tells Salucci he's not the law, and Salucci reminds him there's a big difference between the law and justice. As Salucci is led away, Horatio looks at a picture of his son Kyle and Calleigh visits the morgue and imagines she'd been able to save Campbell. <p><b>Analysis:</b><p>Easily the best episode of the seventh season so far, "Wrecking Crew" quickly fills viewers in on a case already in progress and then quickly kills the very sympathetic character who happens to be the key witness in a case against a mobster for two reasons: dumb (bad) luck and because he's an honest man. <font color=yellow>Tim DeKay</font> is the perfect actor to play Campbell because he's immediately sympathetic. DeKay has a genuinely earnest demeanor that immediately makes the viewer like and trust him. He's convincing as an Everyman who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time--at least for him. In his one scene at the episode's beginning--and other than the teaser, we only see him in flashbacks--DeKay sells Campbell's hesitation, nervousness and resolve as he grapples with his decision to testify against Salucci.<p>The teaser ends with a powerful emotional moment--Calleigh loses her grip on poor Campbell and watches in horror as he falls to his death. The moment is prolonged--she makes eye contact with him after the crane has done its damage, sees him fall and jumps forward to catch him, grabbing onto his hand. We know the odds aren't in her favor; women generally don't have the upper body strength men do, and Campbell certainly outweighs Calleigh. She valiantly holds on for a few seconds, but we can see it in her eyes: Calleigh knows she physically can't hang on. <font color=yellow>Emily Procter</font> conveys Calleigh's realization, and her horror when she has it, incredibly effectively. We're with Calleigh in the moment, as the knowledge flashes across her face and she loses her grip on Campbell.<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/wrecking_crew.shtml">here</A>.<center></center>

 

Great review, as usual.

This was a pretty good episode, mainly because of the not-Horatio moments. I loved Ryan's scene in the crane, as well as his scene with Natalia where they were looking in the toilet. :lol: They should have flown Adam from NY in - he's used to fishing through sewage.

It was nice to see a baddie that wasn't a cardboard cut-out (making the audience sympathize with a mobster isn't easy - even though we don't agree with what he did, like Horatio we understand his anger and pain), but some of these people are just dumb. You try to scare your father by slamming a crane into the building he's in? How does that seem like a good idea? Who even comes up with that kind of cockamamie plan?

The scenes with Calleigh were well done - and I agree with you about Tim DeKay. He's an excellent actor and really made the character believable without a lot to work with. Random: Whenever I see him, I always call his character Jonesy by default (yes, big Carnivale fan ), and I've seen him on two CBS shows recently (he was also on The New Adventures of Old Christine).

Also, the color scheme was less OBVIOUS this week, so that made it less cartoonish overall.

 

I found it interesting that this episode and last week's CSI episode used the accidental death of a crime boss's daughter to set events in motion. However its good that both shows went completely different directions with it.

 

I thought this was the best episode yet. I love Ryan in the crane :guffaw::lol:. I felt so bad for Calleigh she was really upset about what happened and when that lady slapped her.