Grade 'Criminal Justice'
- Thread starter Top41
- Start date
I hate when they use exposition in place of scenes that actually set up the relationship they want us to believe exists between characters. 'Oh hai, we've been buddies for years! Let us reminisce about the good old days so the audience will buy it.' It's not that I don't understand - they can't bring in random characters for unnecessary scenes here and there to set up something that will happen down the road. I get it - but it's still frustrating.
The case itself was interesting enough, aside from some of the clunkier exposition.
The case itself was interesting enough, aside from some of the clunkier exposition.
hammer227
Rookie
gave it a B+
not one of the best episode, but i really liked it...yeah it was definately Stella centric with some snippets of Danny/Lindsay and almost no Mac.
plus where the heck is Sid hiding????LOL this is the second episode he goes AWOL
ooooh and Linds is back on the field!!!was about time!!!
not one of the best episode, but i really liked it...yeah it was definately Stella centric with some snippets of Danny/Lindsay and almost no Mac.
plus where the heck is Sid hiding????LOL this is the second episode he goes AWOL
ooooh and Linds is back on the field!!!was about time!!!
Am I going to be the first one? 
(gyyy.. two other replies while I was writing )
Well, what can I say? Mac all but absent during the whole episode, no SMacked, in those few seconds both of them are there - there is no interaction between them - it's almost as if they did not know each other. Well, except may be one scene where they talk about Sarah's affair. And WAY too much personal drama for one episode. Again only one case. Flack was cute and not like himself trying to get some info on the perp from Sophie's character. And Stella was just great - from the beginning till the end.:thumbsup:
So... unlike 6.10 and 6.11, I have no wish to watch it again.
C.
(gyyy.. two other replies while I was writing )Well, what can I say?
Mac all but absent during the whole episode, no SMacked, in those few seconds both of them are there - there is no interaction between them - it's almost as if they did not know each other. Well, except may be one scene where they talk about Sarah's affair. And WAY too much personal drama for one episode. Again only one case. Flack was cute and not like himself trying to get some info on the perp from Sophie's character. And Stella was just great - from the beginning till the end.:thumbsup:So... unlike 6.10 and 6.11, I have no wish to watch it again.
C.
Khanada
CSI Level Two
I have a message for Danny: They make these things called "locks" and they fit on the outside of those places where you put all your clothes and valuables. They're really inexpensive and come in both combination and key style. Seriously, dude... your badge???
I sense a disturbance in the crime lab....
I sense a disturbance in the crime lab....
Maya316
Lab Technician
I was really surprised by this one. The case was good from the first – I kind of forgot a lot of the spoilers I’d read for Criminal Justice, so the twists were amazing – and stayed that way all through. I felt for the vic’s mom from the moment Antonio Riaz gave her that skeevy grin in the courtroom (minor complaint though; I’m half-positive ‘Antonio Riaz’ was the same name for the guy that killed Horatio’s 2-week wife on CSI:Miami in S4, the one he hunted down in Brazil. It’s not a big detail, people can have the same name -- but it was beyond irritating throughout the entire episode. Kinda wish the creators would keep tabs on the other shows, if only so characters don’t inadvertently cross over)....I was almost annoyed when Stella came in to let him off, although she clearly felt so bad about it.
Even loved the story with the DA and his wife. I’ll totally eat my words – I didn’t think it’d play out well, since we were supposed to believe he and Mac had been BFFs since forever, even though we’d never heard of him; but it came off really effectively. I wonder if this is because we saw Stella interact with the DA more than Mac did. I wish we’d seen more Mac/Hansen interaction; I loved how betrayed!angry!Stella played off of the guy, because you could see her growing frustration with him throughout the episode and that added a lot to her triumph at the end. But I got the sense the three of them had kind of a threesome- friendship going, so, well, I wish we’d seen Mac’s side of it more, go figure. The one time (imo) it could’ve gotten really interesting...*shakes head* It was a strong storyline, a real example about how even close friends have things going on in their lives that no one would suspect. Brought that enjoyable human element to the case again. And then Hansen at the end, I believed him until Stella called his bluff; which was chilling.
I still wonder how this episode would’ve worked if they’d used a character we’ve seen before, that we know Mac’s been tight with for ages. But I’m also thinking that it may have worked so well as is because they worked on selling the story rather than the character – ie, they didn’t just rely on the familiarity of the character to carry the episode. Then again, when Marty Pino came back last year, they had both those elements working for the episode (he was both familiar and had an awesome, if depressing, story), and it was great. They should've done that again.
Where the hell did Flack go during the second half? That aside, I haven’t been this fond of Stella since Point of No Return (sorry, she was just made of awesome both in this ep and that one) and I loved Lindsay a lot in this one, too (the thing with the gun at the end – eating my words again, it is fun to see her toting it, though I still think half the reason Riaz was smirking when he was caught was because he thought she wouldn’t have shot him). Mac was perfect, especially when Mrs Hansen hinted at her affair to him; he wasn’t judgmental, just sad, I guess. And I still haven’t figured out why, but the whole “Demon” exchange had me LOL-ing. Aw, Flack...
Danny’s story..eh, I’ve gotta say I’m still suspending disbelief. On the other hand, I’m just glad they haven’t completely dropped it. Taking into account everything that’s been said about the difficulty of fitting storylines like this into procedural shows, it’s still unreal that Danny did a backroll in 6.09, but at least he’s feeling side-effects. And then the thing with his wallet, waiting to see how it plays out.
This episode reminded me of Point of No Return: I can't really pinpoint why, but I enjoyed it just as much. Nice. Second A of the season.
Random Note: The judge in court was Thatcher Grey, from GA. For that reason, I could not take any of his scenes seriously. This is becoming a problem with a lot of the casting lately.:lol:
Even loved the story with the DA and his wife. I’ll totally eat my words – I didn’t think it’d play out well, since we were supposed to believe he and Mac had been BFFs since forever, even though we’d never heard of him; but it came off really effectively. I wonder if this is because we saw Stella interact with the DA more than Mac did. I wish we’d seen more Mac/Hansen interaction; I loved how betrayed!angry!Stella played off of the guy, because you could see her growing frustration with him throughout the episode and that added a lot to her triumph at the end. But I got the sense the three of them had kind of a threesome- friendship going, so, well, I wish we’d seen Mac’s side of it more, go figure. The one time (imo) it could’ve gotten really interesting...*shakes head* It was a strong storyline, a real example about how even close friends have things going on in their lives that no one would suspect. Brought that enjoyable human element to the case again. And then Hansen at the end, I believed him until Stella called his bluff; which was chilling.
I still wonder how this episode would’ve worked if they’d used a character we’ve seen before, that we know Mac’s been tight with for ages. But I’m also thinking that it may have worked so well as is because they worked on selling the story rather than the character – ie, they didn’t just rely on the familiarity of the character to carry the episode. Then again, when Marty Pino came back last year, they had both those elements working for the episode (he was both familiar and had an awesome, if depressing, story), and it was great. They should've done that again.
Where the hell did Flack go during the second half? That aside, I haven’t been this fond of Stella since Point of No Return (sorry, she was just made of awesome both in this ep and that one) and I loved Lindsay a lot in this one, too (the thing with the gun at the end – eating my words again, it is fun to see her toting it, though I still think half the reason Riaz was smirking when he was caught was because he thought she wouldn’t have shot him). Mac was perfect, especially when Mrs Hansen hinted at her affair to him; he wasn’t judgmental, just sad, I guess. And I still haven’t figured out why, but the whole “Demon” exchange had me LOL-ing. Aw, Flack...
Danny’s story..eh, I’ve gotta say I’m still suspending disbelief. On the other hand, I’m just glad they haven’t completely dropped it. Taking into account everything that’s been said about the difficulty of fitting storylines like this into procedural shows, it’s still unreal that Danny did a backroll in 6.09, but at least he’s feeling side-effects. And then the thing with his wallet, waiting to see how it plays out.
This episode reminded me of Point of No Return: I can't really pinpoint why, but I enjoyed it just as much. Nice. Second A of the season.
Random Note: The judge in court was Thatcher Grey, from GA. For that reason, I could not take any of his scenes seriously. This is becoming a problem with a lot of the casting lately.:lol:
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Fwuzzfwuzz
Hit and Run
I really liked this epidsode. It was almost like a two case episode - like they used to have before. They should go back to that. It makes it a lot more exciting than trying to drag one case through the whole 40 minutes.
I really liked the twists and the characters were good. The DA was so annoying. I liked him at first but he was just so smart and so stupid at the same time. I just wanted to punch him in the face.
Flack makes me laugh of course, I'm glad he's back to his clean-cut self. Danny's current storylines seems extremely tedious. The whole back thing and the badege thing. blaaah. booring.
Melina was great in this. She really sold this episode and it relied very heavily on her. Although I got to say both court scene were a little cheesy. I don't know if it was because the judge seemed to deliver his lines weird or the "mom" was a bit much. but eh.
Adam was cuuute! I love how he was so engrossed with everything. speaking of Adam. I was going on a rant with my sister on how they have not given him a single REAL storyline this season. I don't count his little reactions to Haylen or the blip that is stella a storyline. Last season we had him almost get fired, the party's over episode, and almost get blown up. Give us more Adam, and Sid for that matter!
I really liked the twists and the characters were good. The DA was so annoying. I liked him at first but he was just so smart and so stupid at the same time. I just wanted to punch him in the face.
Flack makes me laugh of course, I'm glad he's back to his clean-cut self. Danny's current storylines seems extremely tedious. The whole back thing and the badege thing. blaaah. booring.
Melina was great in this. She really sold this episode and it relied very heavily on her. Although I got to say both court scene were a little cheesy. I don't know if it was because the judge seemed to deliver his lines weird or the "mom" was a bit much. but eh.
Adam was cuuute! I love how he was so engrossed with everything. speaking of Adam. I was going on a rant with my sister on how they have not given him a single REAL storyline this season. I don't count his little reactions to Haylen or the blip that is stella a storyline. Last season we had him almost get fired, the party's over episode, and almost get blown up. Give us more Adam, and Sid for that matter!
Jade_Nolan
CSI Level One
Overall analysis of various stuff:
Mac and Stella:
I'm just going to get this out of the way and say it. There was not nearly enough Mac. :angryrazz: Now, granted, I'm extraordinarily biased on this point, but there were glaringly missed opportunities for character interaction. This was a very Stella centric ep. Although Mac obviously knew Craig and Sarah well and for years, it appears that Stella was much closer to the couple than he was. This, combined with the fact that she was essentially forced into "releasing" Antonio, affected her deeply. There were multiple moments where it would have been so absolutely perfect for Mac to walk into her office or be there at the end when Antonio was back in court and ultimately remanded without bond, and have one of those "emotional support" moments that she has had with him in the past.
Additionally, his role to me seemed reminiscent of when his character was simply there to direct the compass killer case and there was zero MAC, if you know what I mean. It wasn't nearly that bad this time around, there were some significant looks between him and Stella at the beginning, and his interrogation of Rob was great along with when he had to question Sarah about her affair with Rob. But overall, I was left feeling that there were a lot of potential little moments they passed up on. On a side (or not so side note in my book) Mac was HOT in this ep!!! :devil::devil: I about died at the uber suave Mac that we got this week: black wool trench coat, black neck scarf tucked neatly almost out of sight under his coat, as always impeccable shirt and pants, and there was just something about the way he carried himself that screamed he's in a totally different place than a few eps ago!!!!
Stella was simply beyond awesome! I could feel the emotional conflict and sense of betrayal at the situation she was placed, just oozing off the screen! Brilliant!!! :hugegrin:
Danny:
Let me start by saying that I really really liked how they bought back a character arc. He sort of glosses over his back pain, but he doesn't specifically hide what's going on either when Lindsey asks him what's going on. I get the impression that he's a lot more (certainly not completely) open. Which leads me into the next part: YAYAYAYAY for shirtless Danny, even if he was lying on his stomach! *cough* And when he's finished he's only wearing a robe for god's sake and his pants were in his locker!! *devious imagination* :devil: anyway, back to my point about him evolving as a character, when he realizes that both his wallet and badge are missing, he instantly calls Lindsey to tell her (see? Danny improvement!), and since she asks him if he's still at the acupuncturist, she obviously already knows he's been having problems. hmmmmmm, although nothing more is mentioned on the missing badge the rest of the ep, so we'll have to wait to see where this arc takes us.
Lindsey:
Amazingly I actually like her!! Shock, I know! They need to have her pull a gun more often! It suits her! she did it twice in this ep: the awesomist time ever being when she wasthe decoy for the eyewitness to ambush Antonio. I don't know if Lindsey as a character is finally channeling and expressing the anger she felt over Danny getting shot, but I liked underlyingly pissy/smoldering Lindsey. Can't believe I'm saying this!
Adam:
although he was only in one scene, but it was soooooooo quintessential Adam, it was priceless. him sitting in front of computer screen in the middle of a room surrounded on all sides by other screens, his nose about 2 millimeters from the monitor, gesturing at it and never seeing Mac and Stella approach! :lol::lol: Priceless!!
Hawkes:
Magic Hawkes finding evidence where no evidence can be otherwise be found!! oh, and his hair is perfect and awesome!!!
Sophie:
although she had very little screen time and is certainly new, i think she has promise, being able to wordlessly act with facial expressions (ummmm, yeah, her father is who again?) universes better than all their stupid "star" guest stars TPTB seem to be obsessed with.
No Sid! *boo*
So there. overall i really liked the ep, the underinvolvement of mac and the complete absence of sid being the only things that knocked it down from an A+ to an A.
Mac and Stella:
I'm just going to get this out of the way and say it. There was not nearly enough Mac. :angryrazz: Now, granted, I'm extraordinarily biased on this point, but there were glaringly missed opportunities for character interaction. This was a very Stella centric ep. Although Mac obviously knew Craig and Sarah well and for years, it appears that Stella was much closer to the couple than he was. This, combined with the fact that she was essentially forced into "releasing" Antonio, affected her deeply. There were multiple moments where it would have been so absolutely perfect for Mac to walk into her office or be there at the end when Antonio was back in court and ultimately remanded without bond, and have one of those "emotional support" moments that she has had with him in the past.
Additionally, his role to me seemed reminiscent of when his character was simply there to direct the compass killer case and there was zero MAC, if you know what I mean. It wasn't nearly that bad this time around, there were some significant looks between him and Stella at the beginning, and his interrogation of Rob was great along with when he had to question Sarah about her affair with Rob. But overall, I was left feeling that there were a lot of potential little moments they passed up on. On a side (or not so side note in my book) Mac was HOT in this ep!!! :devil::devil: I about died at the uber suave Mac that we got this week: black wool trench coat, black neck scarf tucked neatly almost out of sight under his coat, as always impeccable shirt and pants, and there was just something about the way he carried himself that screamed he's in a totally different place than a few eps ago!!!!
Stella was simply beyond awesome! I could feel the emotional conflict and sense of betrayal at the situation she was placed, just oozing off the screen! Brilliant!!! :hugegrin:
Danny:
Let me start by saying that I really really liked how they bought back a character arc. He sort of glosses over his back pain, but he doesn't specifically hide what's going on either when Lindsey asks him what's going on. I get the impression that he's a lot more (certainly not completely) open. Which leads me into the next part: YAYAYAYAY for shirtless Danny, even if he was lying on his stomach!
*cough* And when he's finished he's only wearing a robe for god's sake and his pants were in his locker!! *devious imagination* :devil: anyway, back to my point about him evolving as a character, when he realizes that both his wallet and badge are missing, he instantly calls Lindsey to tell her (see? Danny improvement!), and since she asks him if he's still at the acupuncturist, she obviously already knows he's been having problems. hmmmmmm, although nothing more is mentioned on the missing badge the rest of the ep, so we'll have to wait to see where this arc takes us.Lindsey:
Amazingly I actually like her!! Shock, I know! They need to have her pull a gun more often! It suits her! she did it twice in this ep: the awesomist time ever being when she wasthe decoy for the eyewitness to ambush Antonio. I don't know if Lindsey as a character is finally channeling and expressing the anger she felt over Danny getting shot, but I liked underlyingly pissy/smoldering Lindsey. Can't believe I'm saying this!
Adam:
although he was only in one scene, but it was soooooooo quintessential Adam, it was priceless. him sitting in front of computer screen in the middle of a room surrounded on all sides by other screens, his nose about 2 millimeters from the monitor, gesturing at it and never seeing Mac and Stella approach! :lol::lol: Priceless!!
Hawkes:
Magic Hawkes finding evidence where no evidence can be otherwise be found!!
oh, and his hair is perfect and awesome!!! Sophie:
although she had very little screen time and is certainly new, i think she has promise, being able to wordlessly act with facial expressions (ummmm, yeah, her father is who again?
) universes better than all their stupid "star" guest stars TPTB seem to be obsessed with.No Sid! *boo*
So there. overall i really liked the ep, the underinvolvement of mac and the complete absence of sid being the only things that knocked it down from an A+ to an A.
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aya otohata
Victim
Lindsay kicks ass!!! I love the episode...but the DA was annoying and I kinda want them to drop the Danny's injury story line coz I don't think it's going anywhere.
Karlia
Rookie
Uhm not a big fan of this episode. Even though it was Stella centered something was off. And are they seriously going down the Danny vs painkillers road? because that would be so very very lame.
I expected so much more of this episode, it had potential, but unfortunately it was not used.
D
I expected so much more of this episode, it had potential, but unfortunately it was not used.
D
As useal a let down. Loved a lot of Stella. Hated lack of Adam and Adem and Stella together I knew almost from the start who did it and why. We had to wait almost a month for a new episode and was hoping for more:angryrazz: Glad to see them getting back to crime solving and away from the personel lives of the team. I was hoping they would get more into the lives of the team, but, they have been so all over the map with them this season it's getting to hard to keep up I wish Peter Lencov would come back and take over again
Loved a lot of Stella. Hated lack of Adam and Adem and Stella together I knew almost from the start who did it and why. We had to wait almost a month for a new episode and was hoping for more:angryrazz: Glad to see them getting back to crime solving and away from the personel lives of the team. I was hoping they would get more into the lives of the team, but, they have been so all over the map with them this season it's getting to hard to keep up I wish Peter Lencov would come back and take over again
Plenilunio
Lab Technician
Not bad at all. Maybe it has to do with the fact that season 6 is being quite disappointing so far and any not-completely-terrible episode stands out. So, lemme see...
-The court scene at the beginning was cheap, cheesy and lame.
-Where did Hansen come from? They've known him and his wife for, like, forever? Right... IMO, a more sensible way to explain how he knew that much about getting away with murder, as Stella put it, would be saying he just transferred from some other state where he also worked at the DA office (dunno if that's possible, I'm not from the States, so...)
-Adam is love. I can has moar, pleez?
-Not buying Danny's sudden and oh so dramatic boo-boo, just like I didn't buy Danny's recovering miracle.
-Lindsay was pretty cool. Yeah, I'm surprised.
-No Sid. Way to go :shifty:
-They caught the evil ex-DA *is shocked... not*
-Gotta love Stella. Good job, Melina.
-Aren't lockers supposed to have a... ahem... lock? That's what they're for, right? To prevent that kind of stuff happening.
-The court scene at the beginning was cheap, cheesy and lame.
-Where did Hansen come from? They've known him and his wife for, like, forever? Right... IMO, a more sensible way to explain how he knew that much about getting away with murder, as Stella put it, would be saying he just transferred from some other state where he also worked at the DA office (dunno if that's possible, I'm not from the States, so...)
-Adam is love. I can has moar, pleez?
-Not buying Danny's sudden and oh so dramatic boo-boo, just like I didn't buy Danny's recovering miracle.
-Lindsay was pretty cool. Yeah, I'm surprised.
-No Sid. Way to go :shifty:
-They caught the evil ex-DA *is shocked... not*
-Gotta love Stella. Good job, Melina.
-Aren't lockers supposed to have a... ahem... lock? That's what they're for, right? To prevent that kind of stuff happening.
Messers fan
Rookie
I liked this one - I missed the time they worked two differents cases and it was almost that this episode.
I like Adam he is cute, Stella was concerned and I like the new Lindsay, she is supportive now and Danny trusts her, he calls her when he gets in trouble..thats good
I wonder if it's Carmine or Danny who gets a new tattoo Do we have to believe he dated his injury's scare ???? I thought he was supposed to be shoot in lower back and not between his shoulder blade
I wonder where this story goes; but obviously Lindsay is the one who wants to hide the badge missing ??? so what's up with the conversation between Mac and Danny about wife and her hubby, maybe it will not be a joke about how danny overcooked the dinner??? We'll see
I like Adam he is cute, Stella was concerned and I like the new Lindsay, she is supportive now and Danny trusts her, he calls her when he gets in trouble..thats good
I wonder if it's Carmine or Danny who gets a new tattoo
Do we have to believe he dated his injury's scare ???? I thought he was supposed to be shoot in lower back and not between his shoulder bladeI wonder where this story goes; but obviously Lindsay is the one who wants to hide the badge missing ??? so what's up with the conversation between Mac and Danny about wife and her hubby, maybe it will not be a joke about how danny overcooked the dinner??? We'll see
Nice episode overall. Stella and Lyndsay seemed strong and confident.
What is the deal with losing a badge and then NOT reporting it? These are professionals? Danny: "My badge was stolen..." Lyns: "Come home and we'll figure out what to do.."
Report it, you meatheads.
Flack looked good....a little shopworn...but good. I was thinking maybe his RL wife had the baby and he's doing some diaper duty....
Overall grade: B--points off for no Sid and only a brief scene of Adam. At least Haylen is no where to be seen!
Tobin
What is the deal with losing a badge and then NOT reporting it? These are professionals? Danny: "My badge was stolen..." Lyns: "Come home and we'll figure out what to do.."
Report it, you meatheads.
Flack looked good....a little shopworn...but good. I was thinking maybe his RL wife had the baby and he's doing some diaper duty....
Overall grade: B--points off for no Sid and only a brief scene of Adam. At least Haylen is no where to be seen!
Tobin