CSI:LV season 10 in the UK
- Thread starter Solitaire
- Start date
Athersgeo
Rookie
In the same way as I was looking forward to Death and the Maiden, I was DREADING this episode. I'm not a huge fan of Jon Wellner (irony time: we caught his episode of NCIS earlier this evening - he has not aged terribly well!) and I really, REALLY don't like physical comedy, so the idea of an episode where the opening relies on the latter and the former plays a fairly central role...
Yeah.
Didn't appeal as a concept and didn't appeal as I watched it. The whole opening sequence made me cringe so hard I ended up leaving the room and making coffee and I didn't go a great deal on the rest of the 'A' plot. The 'B' plot, by contrast, I did enjoy. I'm liking the build up of Dr Jeckyll (tootes does this count as more revision?...!) and the way things aren't wrapping up neatly necessarily. Good writing.
Having said that, I did love Greg actually and literally making a phone.
And having said that, I think I've just exhausted all the positive comments I can make about the 'A' plot!
I think my basic problem is that - at least to me - a lot of the script for the 'A' story came off as trying way too hard to be funny. Case in point would be the first dead body with the racoon: it's a set up clearly intended to make me laugh. It's a set up that's almost bouncing up and down going "Laugh damnit!" and it just...doesn't work. It's like the bad canned laughter you sometimes get on sit-coms that flags up the joke three lines before its delivered.
That's not to say that CSI can't do humour because it certainly can - Space Oddity has a genuinely funny opening sequence (admittedly, it's MADE by Wally Langham's delivery of the "He's dead, Jim" so it's less in the writing and more in the performance) and the first labrats episode from s7 (the title of which I'm blanking on!) had me in giggles pretty much through the whole episode. It's just that this particular effort misses on preeeeeeetty much every level.
Other points in (very!) brief:
-WENDY!!! And she took at least one breath per sentence tonight, too!
-Brass! We haven't had a good Brass scene in a while; this episode did at least provide a three-fa on that score.
-Okay; I lied. I can come up with one more positive for the 'A' story, in that the timing in the final scene, between Nick and Greg as Henry falls over, was entertaining, as was the extremely half-hearted "ow" from Henry. That did get a giggle out of me, but that was pretty much the only one from the 'A' story *pauses* no, wait; Wally Langham's facial expressions got a couple of mild "ha"s out of me too.
-Oh, and one more: A MENTION OF MANDY!!!
-And one more: Super Dave having more sympathy for the racoon than the victim - though I'm a little disappointed not to get more of a reference back to Fur and Loathing...
-So Dr Jackyll may (or may not) have size thirteen feet and last week we learned that Ray's feet are around about that size, too. Obviously, this must mean Ray IS Dr Jackyll. Or, y'know, not...:lol:
-I will echo one thing that got a mention on the OTHER episode discussion thread: now we've had a boy's night out, can we please, PLEASE have a girl's night out? Catherine, Sara, Mandy and Wendy out on the town...that could definitely be kick-ass.
-Actually, I'll echo another, too: Why on *EARTH* would Nick (at least) think the kidnap stunt was a good idea? Especially after the way the season opened, too...
Overall, then, definitely not a keeper for me.
What did anyone else think?
Yeah.
Didn't appeal as a concept and didn't appeal as I watched it. The whole opening sequence made me cringe so hard I ended up leaving the room and making coffee and I didn't go a great deal on the rest of the 'A' plot. The 'B' plot, by contrast, I did enjoy. I'm liking the build up of Dr Jeckyll (tootes does this count as more revision?...!) and the way things aren't wrapping up neatly necessarily. Good writing.
Having said that, I did love Greg actually and literally making a phone.
And having said that, I think I've just exhausted all the positive comments I can make about the 'A' plot!
I think my basic problem is that - at least to me - a lot of the script for the 'A' story came off as trying way too hard to be funny. Case in point would be the first dead body with the racoon: it's a set up clearly intended to make me laugh. It's a set up that's almost bouncing up and down going "Laugh damnit!" and it just...doesn't work. It's like the bad canned laughter you sometimes get on sit-coms that flags up the joke three lines before its delivered.
That's not to say that CSI can't do humour because it certainly can - Space Oddity has a genuinely funny opening sequence (admittedly, it's MADE by Wally Langham's delivery of the "He's dead, Jim" so it's less in the writing and more in the performance) and the first labrats episode from s7 (the title of which I'm blanking on!) had me in giggles pretty much through the whole episode. It's just that this particular effort misses on preeeeeeetty much every level.
Other points in (very!) brief:
-WENDY!!! And she took at least one breath per sentence tonight, too!
-Brass! We haven't had a good Brass scene in a while; this episode did at least provide a three-fa on that score.
-Okay; I lied. I can come up with one more positive for the 'A' story, in that the timing in the final scene, between Nick and Greg as Henry falls over, was entertaining, as was the extremely half-hearted "ow" from Henry. That did get a giggle out of me, but that was pretty much the only one from the 'A' story *pauses* no, wait; Wally Langham's facial expressions got a couple of mild "ha"s out of me too.
-Oh, and one more: A MENTION OF MANDY!!!
-And one more: Super Dave having more sympathy for the racoon than the victim - though I'm a little disappointed not to get more of a reference back to Fur and Loathing...
-So Dr Jackyll may (or may not) have size thirteen feet and last week we learned that Ray's feet are around about that size, too. Obviously, this must mean Ray IS Dr Jackyll. Or, y'know, not...:lol:
-I will echo one thing that got a mention on the OTHER episode discussion thread: now we've had a boy's night out, can we please, PLEASE have a girl's night out? Catherine, Sara, Mandy and Wendy out on the town...that could definitely be kick-ass.
-Actually, I'll echo another, too: Why on *EARTH* would Nick (at least) think the kidnap stunt was a good idea? Especially after the way the season opened, too...
Overall, then, definitely not a keeper for me.
What did anyone else think?
Solitaire
CSI Level Two
^ I have to say I rather enjoyed it.
So the Dr Jekyll thing- it is an interesting story, and like you, Athersgeo I am glad that has not been solved straight away, I liked the miniature killer case and I am liking this. The problem with this episode was that it didnt spend enough time on the case, I think this should probably have been the 'A' case, the other the more minor, comedy case.
I wasnt sure about Brass' scene with the guy who died. Seemed a bit callous to me.
The Boy's road trip
I agree that the kidnap thing was pretty nasty, knowing what some of the people in the lab, including Nick, have been through. I couldn't see him doing that kind of thing. And why did they think Henry would enjoy that kind of Birthday?
If any of my friends pulled that kidnap stunt on me I would kill them.
That being said once they were at the hoghouse I did think it was funny, although alittle over the top. I do enjoy the more 'out there' epi's of csi.
Good to see Greg being the clever one and making the phone call.
Yeah, I want to see a girls' night out now!
So overall an enjoyable episode, for me, not one of the best but entertaining enough.
So the Dr Jekyll thing- it is an interesting story, and like you, Athersgeo I am glad that has not been solved straight away, I liked the miniature killer case and I am liking this. The problem with this episode was that it didnt spend enough time on the case, I think this should probably have been the 'A' case, the other the more minor, comedy case.
I wasnt sure about Brass' scene with the guy who died. Seemed a bit callous to me.
The Boy's road trip
I agree that the kidnap thing was pretty nasty, knowing what some of the people in the lab, including Nick, have been through. I couldn't see him doing that kind of thing. And why did they think Henry would enjoy that kind of Birthday?
If any of my friends pulled that kidnap stunt on me I would kill them.
That being said once they were at the hoghouse I did think it was funny, although alittle over the top. I do enjoy the more 'out there' epi's of csi.
Good to see Greg being the clever one and making the phone call.
Yeah, I want to see a girls' night out now!
So overall an enjoyable episode, for me, not one of the best but entertaining enough.
Athersgeo
Rookie
*nod* Yeah. I think it would have definitely benefited from being the 'A' plot we could have had a really, REALLY great, tense opening sequence with Lily being pursued and caught and...ohgod I'm talking myself into more fanfic at this rate!
It was a little bit - and I don't think they'd have even considered playing it that way in another episode - but Paul Guilfoyle's expression/reaction was so good I'm inclined to let them off for it. (Particularly seeing as I have way bigger problems with the episode - as I may have already mentioned!)
tootes
Rookie
I'm not really sure what i thought of lasts nights epi tbh.. i kind of liked the obscure storyline, but it seemed a bit like they just wanted to make it as random as possible.
I was terrified at the start with the kid-napping, have avoided all spoilers (must interupt myself to show off the smug grin on may face
) so had no idea what was going on. I like the idea of a boy's night out but i don't think they needed to kidnap him first.
After just about recovering from my fear of masked kid-nappers, they found a dead man with what i first thought was a killer monkey attatched to his face I was sure he had somehow been killed by said 'killer monkey' which freaked me out even more.. Luckily it was just a racoon trap :wtf:
Hmmm.. very odd, but strange csi is better than no csi !! :lol:
Deffinatley liked the Dr. Jekyll storyline better though. I agree, am glad that its an on-going story & they didn't magically solve it in 2 episodes.
Athersgeo, i sadly couldn't convince my mum that csi is still revision, as apparantly death by racoon trap doesn't come up on physics exams.. Who new ?:lol: I do however have Jekyll & Hyde english coursework, so i might use that as an excuse if i get desperate. Hee'
Also agree that a girl's night out would be brilliant.. *fingers crossed*
I was terrified at the start with the kid-napping, have avoided all spoilers (must interupt myself to show off the smug grin on may face
) so had no idea what was going on. I like the idea of a boy's night out but i don't think they needed to kidnap him first. After just about recovering from my fear of masked kid-nappers, they found a dead man with what i first thought was a killer monkey attatched to his face
I was sure he had somehow been killed by said 'killer monkey' which freaked me out even more.. Luckily it was just a racoon trap :wtf:Hmmm.. very odd, but strange csi is better than no csi !! :lol:
Deffinatley liked the Dr. Jekyll storyline better though. I agree, am glad that its an on-going story & they didn't magically solve it in 2 episodes.
Athersgeo, i sadly couldn't convince my mum that csi is still revision, as apparantly death by racoon trap doesn't come up on physics exams.. Who new ?
:lol: I do however have Jekyll & Hyde english coursework, so i might use that as an excuse if i get desperate. Hee' Also agree that a girl's night out would be brilliant.. *fingers crossed*
After just about recovering from my fear of masked kid-nappers, they found a dead man with what i first thought was a killer monkey attatched to his face
"Killer monkey"!!!!! :guffaw::guffaw::guffaw: That's great!
Yes, the whole thing was a bit silly, but it was worth it for me to see Hodges and Henry and their reactions to some of the stuff that went on.
Solitaire
CSI Level Two
Do you write fanfic? Sadly I am somewhat lacking in imagination for these things.
Yeah, I agree about the opening. They could have done a really tense opening wuth the Jekyll thing. The fake kidnap was too much.
Brass does have some great expressions, and I did actually smile at the scene, until I realised the guy was dead.
I was terrified at the start with the kid-napping, have avoided all spoilers (must interupt myself to show off the smug grin on may face
Athersgeo, i sadly couldn't convince my mum that csi is still revision, as apparantly death by racoon trap doesn't come up on physics exams.. Who new ?
Also agree that a girl's night out would be brilliant.. *fingers crossed*
Katie- Well done on avoiding spoilers. I have failed miserably with Miami, but I have managed to avoid them for this and NY.
Is your Mum sure that they dont have death by racoon trap on the physics exam?!
Athersgeo
Rookie
I do indeed. My problem is I can never just write ONE story. One becomes a trilogy which becomes a complete rewrite of CSI from season 6 onwards, using Gum Drops as a jump-off point...
I was terrified at the start with the kid-napping, have avoided all spoilers (must interupt myself to show off the smug grin on may face
Athersgeo, i sadly couldn't convince my mum that csi is still revision, as apparantly death by racoon trap doesn't come up on physics exams.. Who new ?
Also agree that a girl's night out would be brilliant.. *fingers crossed*
Katie- Well done on avoiding spoilers. I have failed miserably with Miami, but I have managed to avoid them for this and NY.
Is your Mum sure that they dont have death by racoon trap on the physics exam?!
Don't know about tootes's mum, but I've sat a maths exam that had a problem about racoons on it. (It wasn't quite "If one racoon can eat one can of garbage in one hour, how many hours does it take three racoons to eat nine and a half cans?", but it was along those lines!) This was also the same exam that had us calculating how many ounces of grass seed you needed to grow a lawn nine feet square and working out the price of something in pounds, shillings and pence - and while I'm old, I'm not THAT old (the currency went decimal eight years before I was born!)... It was a straaaaaaaaaaaaange maths exam!
And, in the interests of saying something that's actually approaching the topic of this thread (!), the one thing I wasn't entirely clear on is whether the scrap of paper Doc Robbins pulled out of the Jekyll vic is the missing scrap from the vic's book that Ray was looking at and, if it is, does that mean that Jekyll sees himself as an artist? (It said Michaelangelo, irrc)
Solitaire
CSI Level Two
^ It looked like it matched the book to me. Seemed the same size.
At least you can write something, Athersgeo. With this kind of series im guessing it is pretty hard just to write a one off and not want to carry the story on. What bits would you re-write?
That was a strange maths exam you had. I cant remember much from mine, must have been that traumatic, I erased it from my memory!
At least you can write something, Athersgeo. With this kind of series im guessing it is pretty hard just to write a one off and not want to carry the story on. What bits would you re-write?
That was a strange maths exam you had. I cant remember much from mine, must have been that traumatic, I erased it from my memory!
tootes
Rookie
After just about recovering from my fear of masked kid-nappers, they found a dead man with what i first thought was a killer monkey attatched to his face
"Killer monkey"!!!!! :guffaw::guffaw::guffaw: That's great!
Yes, the whole thing was a bit silly, but it was worth it for me to see Hodges and Henry and their reactions to some of the stuff that went on.
Thankyou !!
:lol:
I do indeed. My problem is I can never just write ONE story. One becomes a trilogy which becomes a complete rewrite of CSI from season 6 onwards, using Gum Drops as a jump-off point...
I was terrified at the start with the kid-napping, have avoided all spoilers (must interupt myself to show off the smug grin on may face
Athersgeo, i sadly couldn't convince my mum that csi is still revision, as apparantly death by racoon trap doesn't come up on physics exams.. Who new ?
Also agree that a girl's night out would be brilliant.. *fingers crossed*
Katie- Well done on avoiding spoilers. I have failed miserably with Miami, but I have managed to avoid them for this and NY.
Is your Mum sure that they dont have death by racoon trap on the physics exam?!
Don't know about tootes's mum, but I've sat a maths exam that had a problem about racoons on it. (It wasn't quite "If one racoon can eat one can of garbage in one hour, how many hours does it take three racoons to eat nine and a half cans?", but it was along those lines!) This was also the same exam that had us calculating how many ounces of grass seed you needed to grow a lawn nine feet square and working out the price of something in pounds, shillings and pence - and while I'm old, I'm not THAT old (the currency went decimal eight years before I was born!)... It was a straaaaaaaaaaaaange maths exam!
And, in the interests of saying something that's actually approaching the topic of this thread (!), the one thing I wasn't entirely clear on is whether the scrap of paper Doc Robbins pulled out of the Jekyll vic is the missing scrap from the vic's book that Ray was looking at and, if it is, does that mean that Jekyll sees himself as an artist? (It said Michaelangelo, irrc)
Solitaire I'm pretty sure she's set on her decission that 'death by racoon trap' wont be in my physics exam.. perhaps it will be in biology, i guess there kind of related
& we did get a question about Herring fishing in our biology mocks.. so they might jump over to racoon traps for the real thing :lol: Hmmm.. i'll be an expert Athersgeo that sounds like one very strange maths exam & am very glad ours weren't as complicated / increadibly odd as that one !!
Keeping with the 'trying to talk about csi' theme.. i just assumed the paper in the body was the missing section from the book. Was thinking it might be like a clue 'Dr Jekyll' left, or maybe something to throw them off completely.
Athersgeo
Rookie
That's what I thought. I'm curious to know if Ray has any theories about the significance - though I'm guessing we won't find THAT out for a little while.
From just this season or in general? In fact, better idea; I'll PM you! And yeah; it was a VERY strange maths exam!
LasVegasCSI
Witness
Oh yeah that episode with the raccoon, I believe it's called Appendicitement, I found that highly entertaining. It was great to see a different way to present a storyline. I wasn't expecting Nick, Dave and Greg to be involved in the fake kidnapping of Henry. Believe me, if I could watch it again, I would. Looking forward to seeing tomorrow's episode, Better Off Dead.