CSI: Crime Scene Investigation--'Living Doll'

[CSI Files]

Synopsis:

Continuing their hunt for the miniature crime scene killer, the CSIs track down another of Ernie Dell's foster children, Trevor Dell, but find him dead in his apartment. When Grissom discovers a miniature doll dressed like Trevor, he suspects the miniature killer has beat them to Trevor. Warrick looks at Trevor's computer and determines he's been dead for twelve days based on his instant messaging activity, while Nick reports that Trevor died from a hemorrhage due to blunt force trauma to the head. Grissom recovers a partial fingerprint from the back of the miniature man, and Wendy runs it, surprising him by telling him the DNA of skin cells in the print are female. Grissom takes the small bracelet on the doll to a local miniature shop, and the owner tells him he made the bracelet for a woman named Natalie.

Nick and Warrick determine Trevor was electrocuted when wires behind his sink connected with water in the sink, but what they at first think is an elaborate booby trap created by the miniature killer turns out to be nothing more than a red herring when they discover a neighbor is siphoning power from Trevor's apartment. Trevor's death was an accident, but the CSIs have a lead: they question a Mrs. Wexler about Natalie Davis, who came to her as a foster child before going to Ernie. She tells them Natalie was "broken" and sends the CSIs to Natalie's father, Christopher, a ventriloquist who calls his doll by the same name as his dead daughter, Chloe--Natalie's younger sister. He tells the CSIs that Natalie was responsible for her sister's death: she pushed her from their treehouse and watched as her father cleaned up her sister's blood using bleach.

The CSIs are horrified to learn Natalie has been working as a cleaning woman at their very offices, and Grissom makes a chilling discovery: a miniature car wreck in the desert, with a miniature of Sara under it. The car license plate matches a wrecked car from a case Sara worked weeks ago. Grissom is stunned, and reveals to the team that Natalie is seeking revenge on him for Ernie Dell's death, taking from him the one person he loves like he did to her. The team finds an address for Natalie and storms her apartment. She runs, but Nick and Warrick catch up to her and arrest her. Grissom interrogates her, desperately trying to find out where she's taken Sara, but Natalie doesn't give him an answer. Somewhere in the desert, as the rain pours down, Sara reaches out from under the crushed car...

Analysis:

CSI ends on a cliffhanger--but was it a cliffhanger of merit or necessity? With <font color=yellow>Jorja Fox</font>'s contract up for renegotiation--and, at the time of this writing, no deal has been struck--the writers were wise to capitalize on the 'will she or won't she return?" question by putting Sara in a life or death situation. I'm not sure if it's possible in the age of the internet, but if they could keep secret whether or not they reach a deal, the eighth season opener will definitely be buzzed about.

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[Elsie]

Thanks for the fantastic review of what was a very interesting episode.

Whilst I did enjoy the episode, I think that they had set themselves up for an uphill struggle to come up with a killer and plausible scenario to explain and complement this season long arc. And for me they succeeded in some aspects but not others.

Natalie did make for a nice change as a young, female serial killer and truly not what I imagine any of us expected at the start of the mini killer storylines. But this is in part the problem with the scenario. Natalie managed to execute these murders and, in most cases, accurately depict what these murder scenes would look like when she was done! Clearly she must be an incredibly organised, strong, pursuasive and calculated woman, none of these attributes seemed to match the murderer we were given.

I admit that when I switched on to watch the finale I was mostly interested in seeing how they could possibly find this elusive killer and what explanation they could come up with to explain the behaviour and link the murders. This is why, whilst interesting, the finale was ultimately a let down for me. Rather than explaining the murders, or actually linking them we were left with a flashback of Ernie Dell reasoning that they must have deserved to die because Natalie wouldn't just hurt people. Yet, as it was suggested that she murdered her younger sister we know that maybe she did just decide to kill them and there were no good reasons. Did she perhaps work for them all, as we know she liked to be paid in cash so there may have been no trace. The likelihood of this link not being noticed previously seems strange to me, even if at the time they thought they were looking for a man?

They found Natalie because of a fingerprint left on a doll in the apartment of one of Ernie Dell's other foster children. Obviously this guy was simply a plot device to help uncover Natalie, I think it was a poor one and didn't seem to have been greatly thought out. Why would Natalie have been there, why on earth would she have left the doll when she makes all her miniature scenes in her own apartment? I guess, as Grissom once said, it isn't for the CSI's to find out 'why', unfortunately viewers aren't quite as satisfied with simply finding out who and how!

OK, I think I could go on about the failings of this episode for a long time. :lol: So, I'll try and stop soon...other than the actual case, the hotly anticipated moment of the finale was to be the outing of Grissom and Sara's relationship. This fell somewhat flat, and I agree that the lack of screentime for Sara in this episode did impact on the reveal. Well, that and Grissom's self centred approach to the situation (yeah, your girlfriend's gone missing, blaming yourself is fine, but what is it with these lead CSI's and their 'all about me' attitudes?) Whether Sara's disappearance is due to contract negotiations or simply used as a cliffhanger we'll have to wait and see, but either way they have certainly succeeded in creating anticipation for next season's opener.

Unfortunately, once again I will expect to be disappointed, as seems to be the case with LV for me these days. I expect the season to start with the mini killer case, and unless they do stray from their usual format then we will be 4 months into the future, Sara won't still be under a car in the rain and they will have to work very hard to come up with an episode that can plausibly and effectively explain this? When all is said and done, the 6 episodes in this arc was more than enough, it's time to move on and I really hope they don't dwell on this for another quarter of a season.

 

[Top41]

Elsie said:
Thanks for the fantastic review of what was a very interesting episode.

Thank you!

Natalie did make for a nice change as a young, female serial killer and truly not what I imagine any of us expected at the start of the mini killer storylines. But this is in part the problem with the scenario. Natalie managed to execute these murders and, in most cases, accurately depict what these murder scenes would look like when she was done! Clearly she must be an incredibly organised, strong, pursuasive and calculated woman, none of these attributes seemed to match the murderer we were given.

That's true, and problematic. Natalie did seem just a little too plain crazy in some of those scenes, and perhaps we just didn't see enough of the methodical way her mind can work.

I admit that when I switched on to watch the finale I was mostly interested in seeing how they could possibly find this elusive killer and what explanation they could come up with to explain the behaviour and link the murders. This is why, whilst interesting, the finale was ultimately a let down for me. Rather than explaining the murders, or actually linking them we were left with a flashback of Ernie Dell reasoning that they must have deserved to die because Natalie wouldn't just hurt people. Yet, as it was suggested that she murdered her younger sister we know that maybe she did just decide to kill them and there were no good reasons. Did she perhaps work for them all, as we know she liked to be paid in cash so there may have been no trace. The likelihood of this link not being noticed previously seems strange to me, even if at the time they thought they were looking for a man?

That was my problem as well--lack of discernable motive. And if she killed people she worked for, I'd expect a lot more dead bodies because presumably everyone has bleach. And like you, I think if she worked for them under the table, someone connected to each victim would have mentioned "the cleaning lady" in a rundown of people who had access to the house and that might have caught the CSIs attention. As for why she killed, I think Ernie was deluded, unless her motives are going to be revealed in the premiere.

They found Natalie because of a fingerprint left on a doll in the apartment of one of Ernie Dell's other foster children. Obviously this guy was simply a plot device to help uncover Natalie, I think it was a poor one and didn't seem to have been greatly thought out. Why would Natalie have been there, why on earth would she have left the doll when she makes all her miniature scenes in her own apartment? I guess, as Grissom once said, it isn't for the CSI's to find out 'why', unfortunately viewers aren't quite as satisfied with simply finding out who and how!

I think the idea was that she was visiting her foster brother and made him the doll out of affection? Maybe there was someone other than Ernie that she cared for. But yes, I agree Trevor's death was simply a plot device to lead the CSIs to Natalie through something other than her "perfect" crimes. I admit, I did like that in a way, because having her slip up at one of her own crime scenes would have been a little too easy and predictable.

OK, I think I could go on about the failings of this episode for a long time. :lol: So, I'll try and stop soon...other than the actual case, the hotly anticipated moment of the finale was to be the outing of Grissom and Sara's relationship. This fell somewhat flat, and I agree that the lack of screentime for Sara in this episode did impact on the reveal. Well, that and Grissom's self centred approach to the situation (yeah, your girlfriend's gone missing, blaming yourself is fine, but what is it with these lead CSI's and their 'all about me' attitudes?) Whether Sara's disappearance is due to contract negotiations or simply used as a cliffhanger we'll have to wait and see, but either way they have certainly succeeded in creating anticipation for next season's opener.

It's funny how self-centered these characters can be. :lol: But I think that was mostly how Grissom's scientific mind was working: trying to find a 'why' to explain the situation. If Sara is rescued and he starts going on about how it's all his fault when she's lying there bleeding, I'll have plenty of harsh words for him. Grissom is a tad self-centered, though.

Unfortunately, once again I will expect to be disappointed, as seems to be the case with LV for me these days. I expect the season to start with the mini killer case, and unless they do stray from their usual format then we will be 4 months into the future, Sara won't still be under a car in the rain and they will have to work very hard to come up with an episode that can plausibly and effectively explain this? When all is said and done, the 6 episodes in this arc was more than enough, it's time to move on and I really hope they don't dwell on this for another quarter of a season.

I hope the arc will be wrapped up in the premiere (to stretch it out any further would be a mistake) and that it won't leap forward four months. However it's resolved (Sara alive or dead), I'd like the story to have a sense of immediacy to it.

 

[ph4179]

I don't know if this is the right forum but I am trying to find out the name of the song or the singer that the show opens up with. Can you help me? Pat

 

[19ams87]

It's The Who - Who Are You. Hope that helps.