CSI Files
Captain
<p><b>Synopsis:</b><p>Grissom and Catherine are called to a bizarre crime scene: a woman leaning against a light post is dead, possibly the victim of a lightning strike. Mandy Webster identifies the dead woman as Carla Perotti, a health care worker at Desert Palms. The CSIs, overtaxed because they're shorthanded, are given some relief in new hire Riley Adams, whose first day coincides with the arrival of a grief counselor named Patricia Alwick, who has been called in to help the team in the wake of Warrick's murder. Before Riley can get settled in, she's called out on a case: a jogger is lying dead on a bench. David Phillips determines that he's only been dead for about an hour and a half, but as was true of Carla, rigor has already set in. While both victims apparently died from cardiac arrest, Carla had no drugs in her system while the male victim did. Dr. Robbins also notices the livers of both victims are a reddish pink color, suggesting they may have died of gaseous asphyxiation. Hodges is able to identify the man as Harley Soon, who has a record for solicitation. The mystery deepens when a third victim is found, dressed as a businessman and posed hailing a cab. It's clear the CSIs have a serial killer on their hands.<p>The CSIs uncover a connection between their first victim, Carla, to an artist named Jerzy Scaggs. Jerzy paints eerie portraits of people that make his subjects appear as though they're corpses. Brass pays a visit to Jerzy, but he doesn't recall Carla, who modeled for him, and denies killing his models. Catherine posits that the killer is drugging his victims, posing them and then gassing them in a chamber so they die in the positions he wants them in. Another set of victims is found: two elderly people posed as bird watchers. While Riley scours an art blog, Greg finds tan fibers on the victims. When Brass uncovers Harley's juvenile record, which shows he was arrested at one of Jerzy's parties, Brass brings the artist into the station for further questioning. Brass shows him pictures of the murder victims and Jerzy recalls an artist who brought him similar sketches once, a subcontractor looking to win a city contract--as well as a contract to redesign Jerzy's studio. Nick pulls the city contract submissions and finds sketches from an Arthur Blisterman that match all five victims' poses--as well as a sixth, depicting a little boy on a bike. The CSIs step up their manhunt with the prospect of another victim, and their search grows even more urgent when a little boy goes missing.<p>The CSIs begin a desperate search for Blisterman, turning to the art blog Riley found after they discover a picture posted on it is one of Carla <i>before</i> the crime tape went up. With the help of the blog owner, the CSIs trace Blisterman's IP to a library and apprehend him there. The artist tells Grissom life is not worth living without beauty and that his victims were nothing until he made them extraordinary in his art. He's not afraid of dying, but he doesn't want to be forgotten. He refuses to give up the location of the place where he gases his victims and tells them it's too late to save his final victim, the young boy. Determined to find him, the CSIs trace the tan fibers Greg found to an abandoned warehouse and rush there only to find the little boy in the gas chamber. They quickly take him out, but he's not breathing. Frantic, Riley administers CPR--and at last manages to revive him.<p><b>Analysis:</b><p>The question of a person's legacy permeates the episode--most obviously in the pursuit of the serial killer who, having failed to achieve success as an artist, turns to murder to leave a legacy people won't forget. But the underlying story is the legacy Warrick Brown and Sara Sidle left behind. In the wake of Warrick's death a grief specialist is called in--the always phenomenal <font color=yellow>Alex Kingston</font>--forcing the team to either face their loss head on or avoid it outright. Greg goes right to Kingston's character, Patricia Alwick, to pour his heart out, while Hodges skulks around her office, probably in part to see who is going in and in part because he'd like to talk to her. And Grissom starts to talk about his dog, Hank.<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/art_imitates_life.shtml">here</A>.<center></center>