CSI: NY--'The Past, Present And Murder'

[CSI Files]

<p><b>Synopsis:</b><p>Media mogul Robert Dunbrook pushes a man through the window of his high rise office and calls his son, Connor, telling him to get a hold of his lawyer. When he looks out his window again, the body is gone. When the CSIs arrive on the scene, Dunbrook insists the act was one of self-defense. Stella and Hawkes puzzle over the absence of the body, finding several teeth and certain that the man couldn't have survived the fall. Danny lifts prints from the biometric security system, noting a strawberry smell on the device. He also recovers a box cutter from the office and a magazine chronicling Dunbrook's empire's success. Danny confirms the only prints on the security system are from Dunbrook and that it doesn't appear to have been wiped down, but Mac can't shake his suspicions of the mogul. Stella recovers a piece of trash bag art with blood on it stuck in a subway grate near where the body fell and takes it back to the lab. Danny doesn't recover any prints from the box cutter, but he does find sucrose on it. Flack tells Mac that the last person before Dunbrook to touch the security system was Ann Steele. Mac is shocked--Ann was a consultant who was murdered seven months ago. The body of the man Dunbrook pushed out the window turns up at Pier 40, with grate marks on his face and his fingertips cut off. In the morgue, Sid recovers his last meal: red, strawberry-flavored candy of some sort--with finger print ridge detail on it! Stella runs the prints and matches them to Ann Steele. When she shows Mac, they posit that the man must have replicated Ann's prints and used them to gain access to Dunbrook's office--and then ate them to hide the evidence. Mac recalls that Ann was on Dunbrook's payroll. <p>Dunbrook drops by Chief Brigham Sinclair's office to request Mac be pulled from the case. Sinclair is sticking up for the department when Mac comes in and asks Dunbrook about Ann Steele. Dunbrook offers that Ann was probably just not removed from the security system after her death and tells Mac to stop focusing on him and instead look for the man who tried to kill him. After Dunbrook leaves, Sinclair points out that all the evidence indicates Dunbrook acted in self-defense. Dunbrook goes outside and begins to speak to the press about the attack. Just as Mac joins him outside, shots are fired and Mac pulls Dunbrook to safety. As Dunbrook assures the press he's okay, Mac gets control of the scene and recovers the bullet fired at Dunbrook. He takes it back to the lab, where Stella identifies it as a .38. Danny brings Mac the results of the bloody print on the trash bag art: it's a match to FBI Agent Johnson, who, along with his partner Agent Walsh, pulled Mac aside about the theft of Ann Steele's flash drive six months ago. When Mac looks at the facial reconstruction Hawkes is performing on the computer on the man from Dunbrook's office, Mac recognizes him as Agent Walsh. Mac, Stella and Hawkes go over the flash drive case, recalling the sensitive information on the drive, the theft of the drive six months ago and the murder of property clerk Kevin Cross. Mac speaks with FBI Agent Ellis Park, but the man stonewalls him, only letting slip that Johnson and Walsh were fired six months ago.<p>Hawkes cross checks news stories run in Dunbrook's publications with scandals he recalls from the flash drive, and finds seven that were published after Steele and Cross's deaths. Danny is able to match ink from the magazine in Dunbrook's office to trace found in the gunshot wound that killed Cross. Mac takes the evidence to Sinclair, but the Chief says it's not enough for a warrant. Frustrated, Mac confronts Dunbrook, but just as the man is about to kick him out, Sinclair comes in with a search warrant. The two find a .38 in a safe. Back at the lab, Stella isn't able to match the striations on the bullet she fires from the gun to the one that killed Cross. She finds degraded DNA on the gun that matches Dunbrook. Flack calls Mac: Agent Johnson has been in a car crash. Mac rushes to the scene, where a dying Johnson tells the CSI that he and Walsh were set up. Agent Park finally comes forward to tell Mac that Agents Johnson and Walsh were building a case against Stiegel Tech--and that it got them fired. Stella goes back to the gun and finds it's been scraped up inside. She's able to get a striation pattern from deep inside the gun, and it matches the bullet that killed Cross. When Dunbrook's alibi for the time of Cross's murder checks out, the team turns back to the DNA from the gun and find it matches Dunbrook's son, Connor. Connor is arrested despite Dunbrook's protests. The team still isn't able to find the flash drive which, unbeknownst to them, fell from Walsh's hand through the grate to the subway tracks below.<p><b>Analysis:</b><p>When the flash drive was first introduced in <A class="link" HREF="http://www.csifiles.com/episodes/newyork/season5/sex_lies_and_silicone.shtml">"Sex, Lies and Silicone"</a>, I was intrigued. After all, Sinclair was personally involved in the case, telling Mac that there was information that was potentially damaging to him on Ann Steele's drive. The introduction of the FBI agents in <A class="link" HREF="http://www.csifiles.com/episodes/newyork/season5/the_triangle.shtml">"The Triangle"</a> as well as the murder of Kevin Cross added another layer to the mystery--clearly this flash drive was a Big Deal. But "The Past, Present and Murder" is a tangled web of confusing exposition, conspiracy theory and a heavy dose of self-righteousness from Mac. I'm still not sure why Dunbrook wasn't charged with manslaughter for throwing Agent Walsh out the window. I don't really understand why Johnson and Walsh were fired. I don't know why Park decided to turn over the evidence he had to Mac. I don't even know why Sinclair did an about-face on the issue of the warrant. While some questions serve to add intrigue to a storyline, the ones here only puzzle and perplex.<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/the_past_present_and_murder.shtml">here</A>.<center></center>

 

[CSI Cupcake]

Yep, yep, and yep. This episode seemed to be more season cleanup than anything else. It reminded me of someone pulling items out of a cupboard that had been there a while and trying to make a meal out of it, rather than going to the store. It may be filling but has no flavor or identifiable pizazz that makes it a keeper for future use.

About 10 minutes into the show my husband asked why they didn't look below the grate for evidence. When we saw the flash drive at the end of the show we knew why they didn't. But we still don't know if it was destroyed or not. So, will it come up again later or is it gone for good...who knows...and at this point, who cares.

 

[Faylinn]

Excellent review, as usual.

Boring, boring, boring - this episode was dull, and I kept watching the clock wishing it would be over. Whenever Mac gets on his high horse and starts trying to trample everyone in his path based on his 'gut', I lose interest. I think him calling Agent Park "useless" was quite possibly the most grating thing in the episode (although there were many). The whole world doesn't bow at your feet, Mac, so stop acting like it's everybody's job to do your bidding. I swear, I find Mac intensely unlikeable in these types of episodes.

Logically, at some point, Mac would have to suffer a fall for his own ego - the same way his many adversaries suffer a fall for their egos. But, as with Horatio on CSI:Miami, I doubt it will ever happen. The leading man is just so good that he'll never have problems - logic be damned.

Spoiler: the season finale

I'm not looking forward to the season finale. After seeing Mac get all righteous about making sure the FBI agents in this episode Didn't Die In Vain, I can only imagine how he'll jump astride his high horse when Angell gets killed.

After all, the finale is supposed to be the final episode with Dunbrook in it, and I can only imagine that it will naturally be All About Mac. I'm sure we'll get some scenes of Flack grieving, but I anticipate that they will take a back seat to Mac because, of course, it will be Very Personal for him.

CSI Files said:

even Danny manages to shut up about the baby

Have you noticed that in the last two episodes when he didn't go on and on about the kid, he's pretty much had nothing to do? They never bothered to make Lindsay about anything more than her relationship with Danny and now their Impending Parenthood, but I would have at least thought they'd try to retain some of Danny's individual personality. But no, they seem to be reducing him to nothing more than part of The Messer Family. *yawn*

This episode needed Adam, and it needed way more Sid and Flack. They might have balanced things out and provided a bit more excitement and interest in the middle of the plodding story.

 

[roximonoxide]

CSI Files said:

even Danny manages to shut up about the baby

Have you noticed that in the last two episodes when he didn't go on and on about the kid, he's pretty much had nothing to do? They never bothered to make Lindsay about anything more than her relationship with Danny and now their Impending Parenthood, but I would have at least thought they'd try to retain some of Danny's individual personality. But no, they seem to be reducing him to nothing more than part of The Messer Family. *yawn*

This episode needed Adam, and it needed way more Sid and Flack. They might have balanced things out and provided a bit more excitement and interest in the middle of the plodding story.

I've bloody well noticed. And it pains me dearly.

At the heart of it is a flash drive with important information that doesn't really affect anyone we care about. It simply doesn't feel important enough to anchor an entire episode.

Exactly. Girly novelty flash drive or no, not one person I'm invested in is going to come under fire for whatever information it holds. Why are we supposed to care?

The arc doesn't affect any of the characters personally--unless you count Mac's Ahab-like quest to bring Dunbrook down and make sure he doesn't get his twenty-million's worth out of the NYPD--and it's mired in political games that aren't particularly compelling.

I've been noticing more and more as this series progresses that when they bring up a complex political plot they never explore the grey regions of the issue anymore. They do it everytime Sinclair shows up and did it recently with the Blue Flu issue. Way to reduce a complicated situations to two sides of a coin. It also leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, because this kind of situation puts me, as a viewer, in a position to decide who was right and who was wrong in my own mind with little or nothing to support my opinion --aside from blind emotional allegiance to whichever characters champion whichever cause. When there's nothing I find credible to base my opinion on I'm left not wanting to form an opinion at all, and apathetic towards the whole thing. Where's the fun in apathy?

 

[Faylinn]

Girly novelty flash drive or no, not one person I'm invested in is going to come under fire for whatever information it holds. Why are we supposed to care?

Because It Pisses Mac Off?

I've been noticing more and more as this series progresses that when they bring up a complex political plot they never explore the grey regions of the issue anymore. They do it everytime Sinclair shows up and did it recently with the Blue Flu issue. Way to reduce a complicated situations to two sides of a coin. It also leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, because this kind of situation puts me, as a viewer, in a position to decide who was right and who was wrong in my own mind with little or nothing to support my opinion --aside from blind emotional allegiance to whichever characters champion whichever cause. When there's nothing I find credible to base my opinion on I'm left not wanting to form an opinion at all, and apathetic towards the whole thing. Where's the fun in apathy?

And so many times, I feel like the show is telling me which side I should root for. All of Mac( and Stella)'s monologues have really driven the point home. No, I don't want Mac and Stella preaching to me about what I should think and feel. The audience is not composed of morons who are incapable of forming their own thoughts and opinions.

 

[ErinElizabeth]

I have to agree I got a little bored but I do like this arc more than the others. But like you said, I can see where passive watchers would be left confused. I'm also more partial to character driven episodes (and I don't count Mac stomping around as character driven). But I think it coulda been worse. Although, the absense of Flack snark (and simply just Flack himself) was very disappointing. I still thought the episode was good though. The end at least had my jaw dropping when I saw the flash drive go down the grate. But I have to ask, shouldn't they have been looking down there for trace evidence in the first place? For all they know the perp could have stuck his body down there! That was my initial thought. You'd think there'd at least be some trace down there.

Obviously this isn't the end of the story though so maybe they'll be able to tie it up better later on.

Lastly, a big 'ol WTF to Hawkes wearing a badge when they found Walsh's body. He hasn't worn a badge every season (at least for most episodes), not even in promo pictures (except that one high beam one). It was also confirmed in the "Blue Flu" episode that he was not sworn in to the NYPD. I was under the impression that if you don't get sworn in, you don't get a badge.

Did the continuity fairy go on vacation again?

 

[roximonoxide]

Girly novelty flash drive or no, not one person I'm invested in is going to come under fire for whatever information it holds. Why are we supposed to care?

Because It Pisses Mac Off?

Haha. :lol: Ohh, iconed.

Sorry. Am I even allowed to post pics in here?

And so many times, I feel like the show is telling me which side I should root for. All of Mac( and Stella)'s monologues have really driven the point home. No, I don't want Mac and Stella preaching to me about what I should think and feel. The audience is not composed of morons who are incapable of forming their own thoughts and opinions.

Really. It's that subtlety thing again. They really struggle with it at Bruckheimer. Or at least they do lately... Anyone watch House? That's the kind of writing that makes me drool. They deserve a medal for continuity. :luvlove:

 

[CSI Cupcake]

Lastly, a big 'ol WTF to Hawkes wearing a badge when they found Walsh's body. He hasn't worn a badge every season (at least for most episodes), not even in promo pictures (except that one high beam one). It was also confirmed in the "Blue Flu" episode that he was not sworn in to the NYPD. I was under the impression that if you don't get sworn in, you don't get a badge.

Did the continuity fairy go on vacation again?

You know, it's funny, but I asked the very same question after "Prey" was on last week. In that episode Hawkes flashed a badge multiple times and also carried a gun...I think...not sure on the gun. But anywho, that was my thought. He's not sworn in so, what, they deputize him everytime he walks out the door? I know in this type of show they do blur the lines for the sake of the main characters doing all the cool stuff, but wherever that continuity fairy went, she needs to get back to the show, doesn't she!

 

[PerfectAnomaly]

Lastly, a big 'ol WTF to Hawkes wearing a badge when they found Walsh's body. He hasn't worn a badge every season (at least for most episodes), not even in promo pictures (except that one high beam one). It was also confirmed in the "Blue Flu" episode that he was not sworn in to the NYPD. I was under the impression that if you don't get sworn in, you don't get a badge.

Did the continuity fairy go on vacation again?

You know, it's funny, but I asked the very same question after "Prey" was on last week. In that episode Hawkes flashed a badge multiple times and also carried a gun...I think...not sure on the gun. But anywho, that was my thought. He's not sworn in so, what, they deputize him everytime he walks out the door? I know in this type of show they do blur the lines for the sake of the main characters doing all the cool stuff, but wherever that continuity fairy went, she needs to get back to the show, doesn't she!

The CSI's who aren't cops do have badges for identification purposes and they carry guns for protection since they will be at crime scenes. So it isn't so weird that Sheldon would have both even though he's not a cop.

 

[Chasca]

Wow, I'm impressed--she actually managed to get through an entire review without slamming Lindsay! I may faint from the shock.

 

[Top41]

About 10 minutes into the show my husband asked why they didn't look below the grate for evidence. When we saw the flash drive at the end of the show we knew why they didn't. But we still don't know if it was destroyed or not. So, will it come up again later or is it gone for good...who knows...and at this point, who cares.

I know--I was wondering that, too. The team is usually much more thorough in their investigations. It seemed too convenient that they didn't look down below, especially given that they found evidence attached to the grate.

Excellent review, as usual.

Boring, boring, boring - this episode was dull, and I kept watching the clock wishing it would be over. Whenever Mac gets on his high horse and starts trying to trample everyone in his path based on his 'gut', I lose interest. I think him calling Agent Park "useless" was quite possibly the most grating thing in the episode (although there were many). The whole world doesn't bow at your feet, Mac, so stop acting like it's everybody's job to do your bidding. I swear, I find Mac intensely unlikeable in these types of episodes.

Logically, at some point, Mac would have to suffer a fall for his own ego - the same way his many adversaries suffer a fall for their egos. But, as with Horatio on CSI:Miami, I doubt it will ever happen. The leading man is just so good that he'll never have problems - logic be damned.

Agreed. Having their hero get up on a high horse and yell at people isn't appealing. It doesn't feel like the little guy standing up to a big, powerful adversary--Mac comes off as a blowhard who's too consumed by his own ego to really do what he asks everyone on his team to do: focus on the evidence without making assumptions first.

Have you noticed that in the last two episodes when he didn't go on and on about the kid, he's pretty much had nothing to do? They never bothered to make Lindsay about anything more than her relationship with Danny and now their Impending Parenthood, but I would have at least thought they'd try to retain some of Danny's individual personality. But no, they seem to be reducing him to nothing more than part of The Messer Family. *yawn*

I have noticed that--at this point, I'm hoping it's just because they're spreading the character moments around, but I will be very disappointed if Danny's nuanced, complex character is left unexplored in favor of romantic or parental moments. I'm not too worried given what we saw in "Point of No Return," though--at least not yet.

Exactly. Girly novelty flash drive or no, not one person I'm invested in is going to come under fire for whatever information it holds. Why are we supposed to care?

Exactly. The flash drive was fine in "Sex, Lies and Silicone," when it had an impact on Sinclair and Hawkes (because of his friend). But why do we care about it now?

Wow, I'm impressed--she actually managed to get through an entire review without slamming Lindsay! I may faint from the shock.

And yet here you are--commenting on it. :lol: Fixated much? It never ceases to amuse me that so many people read my review just to get so mad, so very, very mad! about criticisms I have of Lindsay's character. Sorry I let you down this week.

 

[roximonoxide]

About 10 minutes into the show my husband asked why they didn't look below the grate for evidence. When we saw the flash drive at the end of the show we knew why they didn't. But we still don't know if it was destroyed or not. So, will it come up again later or is it gone for good...who knows...and at this point, who cares.

I know--I was wondering that, too. The team is usually much more thorough in their investigations. It seemed too convenient that they didn't look down below, especially given that they found evidence attached to the grate.

I think the strawberries thing was a little too easy too. I mean there's a bag of those marshmallow strawberries in the kitchen, but you sure as hell can't smell strawberries less you're jamming your nose in the bag. And the fact that the prints didn't deteriorate in his stomach --I can only imagine how fast stomach acid dissolves sugar, when saliva does a pretty good job of it.

Agreed. Having their hero get up on a high horse and yell at people isn't appealing. It doesn't feel like the little guy standing up to a big, powerful adversary--Mac comes off as a blowhard who's too consumed by his own ego to really do what he asks everyone on his team to do: focus on the evidence without making assumptions first.

I just hate that they have him doing all these things based on intuition when early Mac Taylor was so much about proof, and science and connections. It takes away from his characters importance.

I have noticed that--at this point, I'm hoping it's just because they're spreading the character moments around, but I will be very disappointed if Danny's nuanced, complex character is left unexplored in favor of romantic or parental moments. I'm not too worried given what we saw in "Point of No Return," though--at least not yet.

That had better be it. If they reduce Danny's personality and individual stories any further I doubt I'll keep coming back.

Wow, I'm impressed--she actually managed to get through an entire review without slamming Lindsay! I may faint from the shock.

I'm impressed you went to the trouble of joining this board just because you felt you had to bring this up. Well, maybe impressed isn't the right word...

I'd be particularly concerned if she managed to bunk up an episode that didn't so much as mention her... but if you're not putting it past her I won't either. :lol:

 

[CSI Cupcake]

Yeah, it appears that the TPTB are letting Danny take a backseat for a few episodes in order to let others have front and center. Sheldon has had a lot of screen time in the past two episodes. It's been good for him.

Chasca, I think that your comment wasn't necessary. You weren't offering anything about the episode, or stating an opinion one way or the other so it does nothing but stir up conflict. We all know that Top has very strong opinions about the character and actress and is not afraid to stand up and speak her mind. What you said was not constructive or positive in any way and really felt more like taunting than anything else. Sorry, but that's not cool in any way shape or form.

 

[ErinElizabeth]

Lastly, a big 'ol WTF to Hawkes wearing a badge when they found Walsh's body. He hasn't worn a badge every season (at least for most episodes), not even in promo pictures (except that one high beam one). It was also confirmed in the "Blue Flu" episode that he was not sworn in to the NYPD. I was under the impression that if you don't get sworn in, you don't get a badge.

Did the continuity fairy go on vacation again?

You know, it's funny, but I asked the very same question after "Prey" was on last week. In that episode Hawkes flashed a badge multiple times and also carried a gun...I think...not sure on the gun. But anywho, that was my thought. He's not sworn in so, what, they deputize him everytime he walks out the door? I know in this type of show they do blur the lines for the sake of the main characters doing all the cool stuff, but wherever that continuity fairy went, she needs to get back to the show, doesn't she!

The CSI's who aren't cops do have badges for identification purposes and they carry guns for protection since they will be at crime scenes. So it isn't so weird that Sheldon would have both even though he's not a cop.

I can understand him having identification, Hawkes had an ID when he was an ME and Adam had an ID in SD. But Hawkes was wearing a detectives badge. He's not a detective... As for the gun that doesn't bother me at all and like you said, makes sense.

 

[PerfectAnomaly]

You know, it's funny, but I asked the very same question after "Prey" was on last week. In that episode Hawkes flashed a badge multiple times and also carried a gun...I think...not sure on the gun. But anywho, that was my thought. He's not sworn in so, what, they deputize him everytime he walks out the door? I know in this type of show they do blur the lines for the sake of the main characters doing all the cool stuff, but wherever that continuity fairy went, she needs to get back to the show, doesn't she!

The CSI's who aren't cops do have badges for identification purposes and they carry guns for protection since they will be at crime scenes. So it isn't so weird that Sheldon would have both even though he's not a cop.

I can understand him having identification, Hawkes had an ID when he was an ME and Adam had an ID in SD. But Hawkes was wearing a detectives badge. He's not a detective... As for the gun that doesn't bother me at all and like you said, makes sense.

A badge doesn't only signify a cop. Security guards wear badges and they aren't cops. A CSI would carry/wear a badge that clearly identifies them as a Crime Scene Investigator.