Episode 9x08 - ' Happy Birthday' **CONTAINS SPOILERS**

[nsynckal]

Hello all,

I haven't visited this section of the board for a few months (since there are much friendlier places to be for Eric/Calleigh fans like myself), but I thought I'd pop in and share my thoughts on the momentous 200th episode of CSIM. I really enjoyed "Happy Birthday" ... lots of action, etc. But the best parts were the emotionally-revealing scenes. I loved the scenes with Calleigh and the pregnant victim ... and to see Calleigh holding the baby at the end was just beautiful. Great irony -- considering that Emily's pregnant in real life, and the guest actress playing the expectant mother most likely was not. I also thought the end scenes with Eric and Horatio paying tribute to Marisol's passing were very touching and well done.:thumbsup:

On the downside, although "Happy Birthday" was one of the better episodes so far this season, I wouldn't go as far as to call it a "love letter to our audience" like O'Brien did in the recent TV Guide article. Any episode celebrating CSIM's history that doesn't contain a single E/C moment, is an incomplete episode, IMO.:shifty: To many E/C fans and even some casual viewers of CSIM, the evolution of Eric & Calleigh's relationship and eventual romance are such a major element of the show, that completely omitting any reference to E/C (even their friendship) during the 200th episode of CSIM was a major miss, in my view. Maybe this episode was a "love letter" to some fans, but not to many others for the reason I just stated.

Yea I totally agree with you about not getting an E/C moment in such a big episode. Not like it had to be a big love scene but something... atleast friendly. I mean they have both been there since the beginning, with the exception of Eric being gone for some of season 8, and were co-workers and friends before and after they were anything more. So I agree that there should have been some kind of E/C scene. But like you said, and I totally agree with you, there are much friendlier places for E/C fans to discuss these things. I try my best not to bombard the threads with my great love for EC, but it's hard not to.

However I also wanted to say that I feel like we should have gotten some kind of group scene. With them trying to give us back the group/family dynamic to the team, which we have seen more this season, I thought for sure we would get a GREAT group scene, considering it was the 200th episode. But we didn't. Hopefully they'll give us more in the future though.

 

[greatfan]

However I also wanted to say that I feel like we should have gotten some kind of group scence. With them trying to give us back the group/family dynamic to the team, which we have seen more this season, I thought for sure we would get a GREAT group scene, considering it was the 200th episode. But we didn't. Hopefully they'll give us more in the future though

I agree .The team dynamics is the most important aspect of the show to me,and it's what needs the most attention right now.A team scene would have been great for this 200th episode. As nice as the ending of the episode was, I felt the other team members(and cast for that matter) were short changed.

 

[Ninja0980]

Have to agree with several others. It's amazing that in the 200th episode, the whole group wasn't shown together at the end. I want to see the old team dynamics back, not crazy Horatio getting closer to the point of no return.

 

[kala79]

I must say I'm pleasently surprised with that episode. I liked it very much, despite of few things that annoyed me about it, but I knew about them from your reviews so was warned
Things I didn't like:
-they really should change a person that dresses them. H. wears same suits all the time, Calleigh always in black, Nat always white trousers(yesh, she has an amazing body, we get it), it's getting really boring.
-it really doesn't have to be a chase scene in every episode. I was kind of relieved that when they came to arrest Novak the chase was only like for few metres and they caught the guy. I thought it was going to be a second one this episode.
-I agree there should be a group scene for 200 episodes celebration. Marisol's birthday thing was kind of random, she was never a main character(I would rather prefer it to be Speed's birthday and everyone at his grave) and on top of everything not many people 'bought' her relationship with H.(including me).
-No EC action, no interaction, it's just like they ddn't know each other anymore
-I really, really hate tat type of camera like whilst the chase. My eyes get tired very quickly and it does remind me of home-made movies by someone whose hands are shaking.
-Not sure about H.'s way of investigating - surely it's a step for the dark side and I don't like that he made Nat to be a witness to it(she may be in trouble when it comes out).
Now the good things:
-I liked the plot in general, the husband is an ass, if he didn't want to have children he could have a vasectomy. Sure he is an egoist.
-Calleigh at the victim's bedside. She looks very pregnant now, her face features changed and also her voice. I like the prayer and her compassion. The baby in her arms was obviously a little wink towards the audience.
-I love Ryan's shirt!! I want to have one like this.
-Walter to Nat'But how will we stop the traffic?' Nat managed She is getting tougher and stronger and i think I like it.
-H. in his labcoat. That's always good.

Not sure i wrote everything I wanted to.

 

[yen35]

I watched the eppy twice last week but didn't get around to posting.
* A good episode but not my favorite this season; That would still be 'Fallen' followed by 'See no evil'.
* I agree that there should have been a team scene at the end. Maybe them having a barbeque at the end or something.
* I like the husband who played the actor. I was racking my brain trying to figure out which show he came on and I read here that he was in 'ghost whisperer' of which I watched 3 seasons. But the idea that he hired some men to make his wife have an accident so that she loses the baby was kinda ridiculous. Like Kala said, he could have had a vasectomy without telling her and like someone else said, they would have discussed this before marriage. Maybe he pretended at that time he liked children so that he wouldn't lose the woman but surely he could have gone and got a vasectomy afterwards.
*I don't like H's dark side at all and for him to have Natalia there was unnecessary.
*It was very funny when Natalia walked on to the middle of the road to stop traffic.
* I agree that its highly odd not to have even ONE scene of EC for the past few episodes, even them working together. That storyline did not have proper closure. Like someone else mentioned, they were very close friends before they started dating.

 

[redanemone]

Lol i've been wanting them to do a barbecue ever since I found out Rex Linn loves to grill! Who better than Frank to host one?

As for the vasectomy thing, unfortunately a lot of men are still ignorant enough to believe that having it done strips them of their manhood. I know this for a fact, because I've heard grown men speak of it that way. It wouldn't surprise me that the husband would never consider doing so, if he was arrogant enough to kill an unborn baby so he could have all his wife's affections. I wish men would realize there is more that defines a man than his anatomy.

 

[GregNickRyanFan]

So, I was watching the episode on cbs' website and right after they went to the car place and picked up the victim's stepson, the damn video froze up my computer. So, I'm not gonna attempt to watch it again online. I'll have to wait to see the rest when the episode re-airs. But here are my thoughts on what I did see:

Poor lady. Who would do that to a pregnant woman?

The blonde girl is jealous. I'm sure its devestating trying and not being able to get pregnant, but its not her fault, so why take it out on her?

CBS, if you're gonna have commercials online, at least make them to where they don't sound like a CD that skips!

Interesting shirt that Ryan has on. I kind of like it.

"Wham, bam, bun in the oven" hehe.

That gray jacket Nat has on doesn't go well with the yellow shirt.

Hi, David Conrad!

LOL at Walter "hold this man all day if you have to".

The car jacker is a red herring, right?

LOL at H's "get out of the way".

Frank's tie is awful. Where does he find these things "Ugly Ties Are Us"? Sorry, Frank. I love you, but you have bad taste in ties 8 times out of 10 LOL.

Cal with the victim was sweet. I loved that prayer, never heard it before. Does anyone know it word for word?

The number of commercials that CBS shows keeps increasing. It used to be one then it was two and now there are three commercials every break lol.

LOL at Horatio's scare tactics. Loved Nat's expression when that guy yelled LOL.

The kid was jealous cause his dad bought the wife a car and not him? It's not right for the dad to ignore him, but the kid came off as a childish brat.

Okay, this is where it froze up.

Can someone please explain to me what everyone's roles were in the attack? I know the hubby hired the guys to attack her cause he didn't want the baby... but what was the supposed best friend's part in it?