Okay. I was dreading this episode. I was dreading it for two reasons:
1) The episode title and the concept of the fettish concerned
2) I watch CSI with my mother.
And I have to say I was pleasantly (well, kind of, given the subject material!) surprised.
It was a pair of decent stories, done well - both in terms of plotting and in terms of pacing. I probably favour the stakeout story over the more ordinary whodunit, simply because it's something VERY different and the ending was staged well, though I do have one issue with it which got raised when this aired on t'other side of the pond, namely: Just how the hell deaf is Vartann not to have heard Bell on his cellphone if Bell could so clearly hear Vartann's radio?!
I guess I also have a bit of a problem with Catherine not making use of her gun when she sneaks up behind Bell - and, in fact, when she's in the bathroom watching Bell and she reaches for her gun, I was half expecting it not to be there because of her being in her hazmat suit - but I can kind of explain that away. The radio vs cellphone conversation thing, however, doesn't wash.
One last teeeeeeeeeeny nitpick, over on the other story: I'm afraid I'd figured out the killer in the first scene after the credits. BUT. BUT. It was a heap of fun getting there.
Ooh. One more: since when can Vegas CSIs arrest someone??!
Okay. Who wanted to give Vartann a hug when he was talking about his son? Though, having said that, if Jake's just turned 21, that means he did at least some of his high schooling in Vegas (given how long Vartann's been a detective on the show), so I'm a little bit surprised that Catherine DIDN'T know about Jake already, particularly if he was as much of a handful as his father implies. I mean, I know that the detectives and the CSIs don't necessarily spend a lot of downtime together, but you'd think they'd have had some time for casual conversation somewhere along the line...
And Nick! The "Oh. Oh! Ohew!" That about had me falling off my chair laughing. That said, though, I'm just a little bit skeeved by the cheerleader thing. It kind of puts a whole new light on one or two investigations both earlier this season and in earlier seasons and...yeah. Going to a bad place with that one. Which I'm sure the writers didn't intend, but there you go.
And poor Archie. Only the second (I think) time he gets let out of the lab and he happens to stumble (literally) across a dead body. He's presumably not going to want to leave the lab ever again! I'm amused by people telling him it gets easier from this point on, though - something tells me, he wasn't exactly taking that as consolation!
A few points in brief:
-Did Greg mug Vanilla Ice for that outfit at the end or what?! I'm kinda shocked that Bell and his pal didn't "make" him as a cop immediately in that get up...that said, though, yay for Greg getting to DO something (even if we didn't necessarily get to see a lot of it)
-Just how much was Larry Mitchell bribed with to get him to wear that shirt in the opening sequence? I think that was a crime scene all on its own...
-Speaking of which, how cool was that opening sequence? After 'Family Affair', I think that has to be my favourite opening to an episode this season and it's pretty high up the overall list, too. So many subtle (and not so subtle) clues and hints and all without a word spoken.
-Super Dave wasn't late!!!
-Wendy and Nick...so cute. So very, VERY cute. Though speaking as a woman who buys expensive bras, I don't agree with Wendy's assertion that you always buy the panties to go with the bra... [and I'm going to stop that there before I go waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay into overshare territory]
-I'm with Ray. Doc Robbins is getting weirder.
All in all, then, I liked it. Though I still abhor the title.
What did anyone else think?