Grade 'Cold Reveal'

This certainly wasn't my favorite episode, but there were parts of it that I thought were superb - mainly the entire storyline with Mac, Gerrard and Sinclair.

I thought the writing and acting was superb in that portion of the ep. I love Mac, but what a refreshing change of pace to see him fall off his (sometimes self-constructed) pedestal, and be the one under intense scrutiny. Unlike his other CSI Boss counterparts, Mac has always pretty much had an overall decent relationship with his higher ups and colleagues from other departments - although we started seeing that unravel in "Consequences", which plays a huge role in the current storyline. I loved seeing him go toe-to-toe with Gerrard - and as others have already mentioned, I thought Gerrard came off looking very reasonable and even somewhat sympathetic/empathetic to Mac's situation. I love that the so-called "nemesis" (if Gerrard can truly even be called that) isn't a one-dimensional villian, and Mac isn't always the Hero who ultimately knows what's best for himself and those around him.

On the one hand, I certainly understood Mac's anger and frustration at the investigation - he proved that Truby truly was guilty and a dirty cop, after all, and he knows that he himself is innocent in Dobson's actual death - but the department can't automatically know or assume that just on his word and reputation alone, and the public most certainly can't. Without a formal investigation, it looks like the police are protecting one of their own, and ultimately some of the public will assume that Mac really is guilty, but it's being covered up. At least an investigation can prove Mac's innocence to everyone, both departmental and public, but of course Mac doesn't see it that way.

Finally, I love how he was noticably jolted at the end, when the father of a victim tearfully confronted him. I got the distinct impression that Mac wasn't affected as much by the gun pulled in his face, as he was by the realization that his actions with Dobson had consequences that went beyond his own little world, and judging by the look on his face as he cradled the grieving man, he just had a bit of a smack upside the head in that regard. Of course we know he'll be exonerated, but I'm definitely liking the road they're taking him down, on the way there.
 
i'm kind of confuse, can't the CSI determine whether the Dobson was pushed down or jump off the roof using a dummy, and like where he landed? i remembered other CSI franchise did this before... :confused:
 
I gave this episode an 'A'. I didn't like the storyline with Stelle and Valens. I really do like Cold Case, but they made Valens so different as he is in CC. He looks too arrogant and yeah, I agree that he did give the casefile too quickly to Stelle in my opinion.

The storyline of Mac was and is wonderful. I think this was the plan: the whole season they're making Mac look like some sort of God he cannot make mistakes and now he did make a mistake and he is gonna pay for it. Just great, really hope it's gonna be a long and intresting storyline. And for the part of Gary Sinise, he just plays the asshole and has nothing to do with it further. So don't blame it on him, he just plays Mac so well that it is hard to distinguish Mac from Gary I guess. It is the dumbest mistake you can make.. blame the actor behind the character, not the character himself.

Danny was indeed very sweet to Stella :) And I also like Adam more and more :D

ps Sorry, my English isn't perfect.
 
goldnhart said:
I found the episode a bit disappointing, too. And, hey, Adam just happened to leave Stella's DNA lying out on the countertop so it accidentally got entered into Codis? I wouldn't expect him to be that careless, especially since he was dealing with a friend's personal problem.


Well, I'm not sure if that was also when Mac was yelling at him for no good reason, cause that would be a bit of a distraction.


Anyway, Mac is a bit of a self rightous so and so, but no one is perfect. Gary did a great job with it.

I didn't know that the Dectective from Philly was even from Cold Case. :lol: The case was interesting./

The angel case was different. Had a hard time following but the ending was unexpected.
 
Good eppy. The angel case was interesting. Stella's case was a bit hard to follow at times, but at the end I got it. Liked how Danny stood up for her there.

Looking forward to next week's eppy and even more hyped for the finale.
 
While I liked the angel case and "pissed off Mac" I'm glad I wasn't the only one who was confused by the age thing!!
Like several other people, I thought Stella's former foster mother looked, at most, only a few years older than Stella herself. Also, are we supposed to believe that Stella is in her early 30s, was in foster care as recently as the 1990s and has only been in the workforce for 10 years?? Stella (or MK, if you prefer) is an attractive woman, but it's pretty darn obvious that she's an attractive woman in her LATE 30s. She would have aged out of the foster care system sometime during the 1980s.
 
Islandgirl said:
While I liked the angel case and "pissed off Mac" I'm glad I wasn't the only one who was confused by the age thing!!
Like several other people, I thought Stella's former foster mother looked, at most, only a few years older than Stella herself. Also, are we supposed to believe that Stella is in her early 30s, was in foster care as recently as the 1990s and has only been in the workforce for 10 years?? Stella (or MK, if you prefer) is an attractive woman, but it's pretty darn obvious that she's an attractive woman in her LATE 30s. She would have aged out of the foster care system sometime during the 1980s.

CSI has always been fuzzy about dates and times.
 
I thought the writing and acting was superb in that portion of the ep. I love Mac, but what a refreshing change of pace to see him fall off his (sometimes self-constructed) pedestal, and be the one under intense scrutiny.

I absolutely agree with you on this. Mac is definitely not Supermac here, but a flawed individual with human failings!

Finally, I love how he was noticably jolted at the end, when the father of a victim tearfully confronted him. I got the distinct impression that Mac wasn't affected as much by the gun pulled in his face, as he was by the realization that his actions with Dobson had consequences that went beyond his own little world, and judging by the look on his face as he cradled the grieving man, he just had a bit of a smack upside the head in that regard.

For me, this was the most surprising and telling part of the episode. There is an ongoing story arc from Consequences, and there are echoes of Mac's expressed opinions of emotional distance and protecting the integrity of the lab/police department in the earlier seasons. Mac doesn't see Gerrard and Sinclair as protecting the integrity of the department, nor does he see how emotionally involved he is in this case (and has been in others despite denying it). TPTB and writers are setting his character up for a fall of some kind and we are seeing it in slow motion so to speak. Now, since Mac is the head of the Crime Lab, we pretty much know he will be exonerated etc., etc., but what I want to know is how is Mac going to handle all the emotions he has now unleashed? He still hasn't really dealt with Claire's death, we have Reed lurking in the background, Peyton as a potential love interest that he's trying (and failing IMHO) to deal with, not to mention all the problems his staff have had.

Will a better, less cold and remote Mac emerge from this or will he just shut down completely? Will he admit he's wrong or is impossible for him to do so without admitting his own emotional invulnerability?

On a separate note, away from discussing Mac as a character, I thought Gary Sinise's acting, especially in the final scene with the distraught father, was absolutely superb. There was potential Emmy material there IMHO
 
Meh, this ep didn't do much for me, and sanctimonious Mac REALLY pisses me off. Sorry dude, but they can't just drop it.

D+
 
Although I agree that there was no bombshell revelation in last night's ep, I do think it was interesting to find out a bit more about Stella's past and her time in the foster care system. I also thought that the Cold Case cross over was cool and while I was annoyed at Danny Pino's character at first, he turned out to be a great guest star. Now, I'm just waiting for the oh-so-logical Without A Trace crossover.

Argh, the Mac/Dobson case is becoming wearisome, I wish it was only a two episode arc. I think what's particularly painful is that we all know that Mac will get off somehow, but we actually have to sit through each blow. Someone commenting on Past Imperfect compared it to a James Bond movie, which is a good analogy. However, with James Bond it's exciting, with Mac it's just annoying. The only thing that could salvage it for me is if they do some forensic investigation to prove Mac's side of the story and spare me the previewed legal proceeding that just looks painful to watch. But of course, I will still watch because, yes, I do need to know how Mac worms his way out in the end.

On the bright side, though we didn't see much of Flack in last night's ep, he was awesome as usual. He's the only one who seems to be able to put Mac in his place, yet he does it in such a calm manner and without showing disrespect. The rest of the team seems pretty oblivious to the whole situation, Mac, Gerard and Chief Sinclair are all too deep into it, that leaves Flack as the only one who can see this whole thing clearly. I'm hoping he has some more nice comebacks in next week's episode.

And just to comment on La_Guera's post further up the page, I don't think Stella's going to let her foster sister off the hook. She did say she was coming back the next day with her badge. Honestly, I doubt that Mindy/Erin or whatever she decided to call herself really expects anything less from Stella.
 
I liked this episode :) I didn't know anything about it going in, so there was nothing to dissapoint. It was interesting to see a glimps of Stella's past, even if the timeline did seem a bit odd. The whole Mac/Dobson thing is going to be interesting, and I can't wait to see how it all goes. I also loved the sceen with Mac and Hawkes doing the trig stuff.

But the whole guy-dressed-as-an-angel happens to fall into a church thing was a bit much :lol:
 
B

...but only because the stuff with Mac and the internal investigation was so incredibly well done. Sinise gave a fantastic performance, and I love how the writers dared to make Mac so clearly in the wrong, at least when it came to being upset about the internal investigation. He did come across as feeling he was above the law, and that was a daring move that I believe absolutely paid off. It makes Mac more human, more well-rounded, and a hell of a lot more interesting. I love how sympathetic Gerrard and Sinclair were, too. No cookie-cutter higher up types here. Thank goodness.

The rest of the episode was lacking, though. While the Mac stuff is an absolute A+, the Stella case was more in the D range--a cliched situation that was predictable and route the whole way along. I'll trust that Scotty Valens is a better character on "Cold Case" than he was here, because he was just a cliched cop on a mission, first suspicious, then trusting slightly, then accusatory, then apologetic...it was very paint-by-numbers.

Worse than that even was Stella's reaction to the whole thing. What could have been used to explore her background was sadly wasted...I don't know anything more about Stella's experiences growing up or in foster care than I did when I started the episode. Oh, I guess I know she had a foster sister she was close to, but beyond that, no reaction to the foster care system, no thoughts on the foster parents...nothing. If I didn't know better, I'd have thought she was working someone else's case, not her own (and wouldn't that be a huge conflict of interest either way???).

FlackAttack said:
Argh, the Mac/Dobson case is becoming wearisome, I wish it was only a two episode arc. I think what's particularly painful is that we all know that Mac will get off somehow, but we actually have to sit through each blow. Someone commenting on Past Imperfect compared it to a James Bond movie, which is a good analogy. However, with James Bond it's exciting, with Mac it's just annoying. The only thing that could salvage it for me is if they do some forensic investigation to prove Mac's side of the story and spare me the previewed legal proceeding that just looks painful to watch. But of course, I will still watch because, yes, I do need to know how Mac worms his way out in the end.

I have to say, compared to both Stella's HIV scare and the cold case involving her last night, I really don't know how Mac's case is going to turn out. I suppose in the long run he'll be fine, but I think a demotion or even firing is possible in the short term because he did do something wrong on that roof--he holstered his gun and fought with Dobson when he should have waited for backup. I love this storyline and I think it's the most daring one they've done since some of the early stuff where Danny crossed the line.

And just to comment on La_Guera's post further up the page, I don't think Stella's going to let her foster sister off the hook. She did say she was coming back the next day with her badge. Honestly, I doubt that Mindy/Erin or whatever she decided to call herself really expects anything less from Stella.

I think she gave her a head start. ;) There's no way Mindy/Erin will be in that apartment when Stella returns with her badge tomorrow.
 
Oh man I haven't watched it, but I feel kinda disappointed reading all this stuff :lol:, man, was Stella's case that bad?? o_O

We already knew about the foster home because of the spoilers (maybe if we hadn't read them *shrugs*), but I thought we'd find out about her blood family, I mean her real one o_O, well I'll watch and post later ;)
 
A+
I loved this episode, the plots were very interesting and the hottie from Cold Case was in this episode harrasing my poor Stella.
Adam should totally be suspended for leaving Stella's blood in the counter because in CSI MIAMI that happened and Valera was suspended.
The story about the angel was kinda far-fetched but My Awesome and Hot Mac was wonderful, that guy Gerrard is a total a**kisser because we all know Mac would have never thrown Dobson of the building, its ridiculous.
I loved that in the end, when Mac was walking and that guy came out with a gun, and yelling and Mac just talked calmy to the guy, I was kinda sorry for Mac cause that made him feel very bad.
Next episode is going to be so good, I can't wait.
P.S: Did anyone else noticed how sexy and hot Mac looked when he was kicking Dobson's a**, I thought that made my whole night.

--===============================================
House: A small feel for a man, a giant ass for mankind.
 
Adam and Hawkes: Mathy-mathy-math! Whee!
Lindsay: Ugh, just give me an answer.

:lol:

csiviper said:
Adam should totally be suspended for leaving Stella's blood in the counter because in CSI MIAMI that happened and Valera was suspended.
Valera accidentally put a rape victim's blood into CODIS. So, while what happened with Stella's blood in this episode wasn't good, it wasn't the same. What about the lab tech who just runs around grabbing blood samples to put into CODIS? Was he/she working on commission and trying to run as many samples through as possible?

Either way, Adam shouldn't have sat the blood down (and did he not go 'hey, what happened to that sample?'), but I think it's a case of iffy writing to get from point A to point B. They wanted Stella's blood in CODIS to connect to this cold case, so...it's stupid, IMO, but meh.
 
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