Well I wouldn't call last nights episode exactly season finale material, but it wasn't all that bad. I too was a little disappointed that the story focused mostly around the two newest members of the team, Riley and Ray, then the entire team, but reading the spoilers up until last night, I wasn't surprised.
As for Riley and being so called 'trigger happy', sure she may come across as that, but the way she acted last night, in my opinion, was the right way to act in the situation they were in. Sure the suspect was injured, but he was still breathing, had his sense about him, and most importantly, still had a gun. Ray definitely wasn't thinking about his or their safety at that moment when he jumped down to tend to the injured man. Clear the weapon from the suspect, THEN tend to the injury.
Glad that they at least explained Nicks absence from the finale, but like someone mentioned earlier on, he was an odd choice to have, to go to a workshop about bugs. But on the other hand....yeah, he has a fear of them since his burial, but as the saying goes; "The only way you'll overcome your fear, is if you face it head on!" With Grissom gone, perhaps he felt it was his duty to the team and to himself.
Nice to see that Greg's interest in the history of old Vegas etc., was still being touched on.
Well, yeah there were good and bad things about the episode, but personally, I can't complain to much about it. I got plenty of my fave, Hodges. I know most did not like that, but that was the decision of the writers and the producers (and besides the originals, he's next to being with the show the longest). I give it a B.
Hopefully they will have a much better season come the fall. They won't have as many things to deal with such as the departure of two huge characters/actors, introductions of new members to the team, the injury to George.