I gave this episode a C. The case didn't really hold my attention and I didn't find the performances of Helen Slater and the Melrose Place dude to be very compelling. I also thought the way the case ended up to be pretty lame. I didn't have an ounce of sympathy or empathy for the killer or her motives. And what the hell was with Flack talking to the husband in what looked like morning (the mother he talked to apologized for being so early) but they didn't track down the mother until what looked like way after dark. And why the hell didn't the mother vacate the place as soon as she set the fire? She should have had time to run up the stairs and get out. That whole scene just didn't make any sense. I really liked the character moments. Adam wanting Mac to give him knucks was hilarious. Mac and Jo are absolutely wonderful together. Jo brings out a side of Mac that no one has ever been able to. I liked the flirtiness of their interactions as well because Sela and Gary have amazing chemistry. It was cool to see Jo outside of work with Ellie. Ellie is adorable. I know she was being bratty at first, but if my parents moved me to a new state in my early teens I'd have been a way bigger pain in the ass than Ellie was. :lol: Sydney Park was great and she and Sela had good chemistry too. Loved the Jo/Flack high five after she shoved the dumpster at the bartender. And I really like that Jo's office is a disaster area. :lol: I thought shoe horning in the part with Flack and the one mother was weird, but I really liked the way Flack handled the situation. I know there have been comments about Flack's hair this season. I dig the longer hair, but tonight it looked like he had LEGO snap on hair. WTH? Also, in the one scene where Adam was explaining something and Lindsay was hanging over his shoulder was weird. If I were him I would've freaked out on her - not because it was Lindsay, but because she was being a space invader. I'd have freaked out at anyone if they were hanging over my shoulder like that. :shifty: Not a great episode case wise at all, but some good character moments saved it for me.
First of all, I love Jo OMG she's so adorable. :lol: I love that she's a complete slob, and it was fun to meet Ellie. The scene at the end where she and Mac discuss adopting Ellie was a total info dump, but eh, exposition happens. I'm just glad they didn't have an immediate 'hey, she doesn't look like you, is she adopted? Yuk yuk!' moment. Second of all, geez, that body was super gross. :wtf: They really took icky to a whole new level this week. :lol: Sid got some nice moments, though, so it's all good. I know! That was fun. I'm sure Jo would have fist-bumped Adam. Mac, you're so mean. The Black Hole of Continuity strikes again! It's in ur show, screwing with ur timelines... :shifty: :lol: It totally did!
There were some good character moments, I agree. I think this episode was more focused on Jo (which was okay since she wasn't really a prominent charter since the 1st episode) - she seemed to be the one going out with Flack to find the suspect (which is a new development - it seems to usually be Mac or Danny) so it was an interesting change-up. That's what I miss about having two-cases in one episode, the different characters get paired up differently more often and there's more interaction between them. I think Adam was only in that one scene with Mac - although I love how Adam always says or does something that makes Mac look at him like "Does he really except me to respond/do that?" It was nice though to get Sid out in the field, we normally only see him in the morgue. It was sort of shocking that the kid survived a week like that though. That girl's logic was about just as flawed as the killer's logic in Officer Blue or Shane Casey's logic. They must all be on some bizarre criminal mind wavelength that normal people don't get.
Overall I was very disappointed with this epsisode and gave it a C-, by far the weakest episode of the season. My thought was that they spent all the time working on making a gross body scene and forgot to write. The girl who played Jo's daughter was a bad actress. Really disliked the Jo scenes. Jo is a necessary evil on the show, but I just check out when she's on. Mac wasn't even very interesting. I was just bummed out when it ended and felt like watching an old episode to make up for that one.
C- As always fantastic scenes with Eddie. He's such an enrichment to the show, and his incredible ability as an actor does make you forget the bad writing. You could give him the dumbest lines and he'd still sell them in the most interesting and captivating way possible. I'm grateful to all the scenes he gets, but not surprised. He is an outstanding actor and they can be glad to have him! So disappointed about the lack of Carmine. Yeah, he had quite a few scenes in the previous episode (and thank goodness WITHOUT Belknap) but that was really overdue. I'm so sick of seeing him in Anna's shadow most of the time. What's up with that? Aside from Eddie and Gary, he's one of the most passionate and gifted actors on the show. If they keep going like this, I'm afraid he'd be the next one who leaves the show and I couldn't blame him. He has been degraded to the husband/father role and his once so edgy and interesting character is disappearing more and more. The whole Danny/Lindsay story line should have never happened! And I could have done without the Hawkes and Lindsay moments. Those two just bore me to death.
B Okay, I'll bite. That body almost had "Smell-O-Vision" on it was so gruesome. You know, watching the CSI franchise, you get kind of used to seeing the bodies. You think to yourself, "Man, it would be cool to be CSI". But after the body from Vegas' "House of Hoarders" and this weeks body, maybe that isn't such a good idea..... *dry heave* Anyway, I thought Jo Danville had some great moments. Her playful demeanor brings a smile to my face (something as I guy I wouldn't usually readily admit). But when she had that interrogation at Rikers, I was on the edge of my seat. She's written very well. It's as if CSI:NY got a shot of "The Closer". That being said, Ward isn't nearly as agile as Kanakaredes, and it totally showed in the burning building scene and the chase scene Flack (with weird hair) does his thing. I heard a couple of years ago, that the show would go into Flack's extended family (Don Flack Sr. etc). Doesn't look like that's gonna happen (like finding about Danny's brother Louie), but I think Cahill could swing it, if given the storyline. While this episode was weaker than others this season, I do believe CSI:NY is in a bit of a creative renaissance. I guess they heard most of the complaints about season 6 (which I thought was OK, but a far cry from S1-3) and went back to the drawing board with Season 7.
Gross all the flies on the body. Haha Jo covering her nose... exactly what my first reaction would have been (if I didn't vomit first lol). Sid: Do you prefer heads or tails? Hawkes: Does it really matter? Sid: In that case, you can have tails. Hawkes: Thanks. :lol: Eew! Vic's hand came off when they pulled him out of the car. I still don't think this is as gross as the episode where people were eating bugs and live octopi (sp?). "This is where tired old street signs go to die". I knew the snake would be what poisoned the first guy soon as I saw it. Loved the high five. The was Jo described seeing Ellie for the first time was so sweet.
Ok, this is totally random, but I paused on Mac's face in one of the scenes with Jo and had to make one of these. The meme is popular on some sites - it would be better if I had a bigger screencap of Mac to zoom in on just his mouth in the last one, but this is still fun. (Click to see the image since it's pretty big.) Spoiler: COME TO THE CRIME LAB WHERE THE PEOPLE ARE NICER
yep, that's definitely random! i'm not gonna say too much as i was watching on a really bad stream that was poor quality anyway and cut out twice. besides that i have some evil bug and was/am feeling like poop and unable to focus. i thought it was ok, mostly, i liked the premise, although more could've been done to keep continuity on track as people have already said. jo was great, i liked the interaction with her daughter, and mac being all nosey about it was cute. i didn't appreciate danny & lindsay being surgically attached again at the start. as for mac not bumping adam's fist - i wasn't sure why either, on one hand, as a boss, i guess it made sense, but he fist bumped (admittedly somewhat reluctantly, i think) in yahrzeit so why not now? that's two things that mac has queried adam on this season that happened in yahrzeit - they should try watching that ep again to work out what things adam and mac will do together (wow, that sounds so wrong). also was it me or did mac whack adam's shoulder just a little bit too hard when he came in, to get his attention? i was surprised to see who the killer was. er, that's about as far as my brain can manage at the moment.... i'll grade it once i feel better & have seen it properly. on 2nd watch: it is a little odd. although the stock footage of NY between flack calling mac and them going into the building was a sunset shot so i guess it was meant to show passed time, although given they had the address should it have taken that long? either way it wasn't quite right! flack sliding under the truck was fab, and jo pushing the dumpster at the guy, followed by their hi five i liked jo's interrogation scene, at least she tried to get through to the killer! i really liked jo's bonkersly messy office & mac's utter bemusement about it, especially "are you sure it's on your desk?" and "i read files too you know!" - although presumably if he'd been there for lunch he knew the address, why not just tell her?! one thing i really hated (well, apart from aforemented DL stuff) was mac's waffle at the end about science and miracles and fwuffy bunnies and all that crap. shut up! grade: B+ i think; B for the story, + for the character stuff.
Huh? They were? Didn't notice that at all. The only scene I remember with them was when Lindsay asked Danny hypothetically, "Can you imagine finding your kid like this?" I was really surprised she didn't say "our kid" or "Lucy"... so it seemed more like they were just two CSIs working a case rather than the way the writers sometimes have a tendency to remind us that they are married. :lol: That was great!
i do see what you mean, but i would rather her line had gone to just about anyone else, because by it being danny, the implication was there. after last week having them almost completely separated, i thought maybe there was hope for the rest of the season, then they stuck them back together again!
Good episode though it could have been better. The case is pretty clever but lacks execution. I'm not so satisfied with the woman-(in prison)-wants-a-revenge twist. The promo is really misleading that made me expect more, I guess. Jo is the bright spot of the episode. I like her scenes with Mac, Flack and Ellie. The chemistry is so natural, not forced. A-