Grade 'Scared Stiff'

[hiphugger17]

I LOVED this episode. It made me laugh, kept me interested, the character moments were great, and it even scared me a little bit. :lol:

I just have to start off by saying that Don Flack is such an awesome character. There were so many lines in this episode that were so great that I gave up on trying to remember them to post them here. The fairy dust line to the paranormal guy, the old lady, presenting Miranda, "I hope it's work related" when Jo told him about going to the morgue, when he told the bad guy that he liked conscious women so of course it was gross...:lol: And I know there were more. He was simply amazing in this episode. Oh and I love how he and Jo wear their badges aroung their necks, they look cool .

Loved Hawkes, Jo, and Flack talking about ghosts, that was a fun scene. Also loved Jo swatting Hawkes with the folder :lol:. I have to confess that I jumped a bit when the guy said "don't shoot" from inside the freezer thingy in the morgue :alienblush:.

Thought the Carver murder was introduced nicely and it made me interested to see were the story is going.

On a totally shipper mode (so considered yourself warned ) I'm more for Flack and Jo than Mac and Jo but that last scene was so obvious. More scenes like that and the ship will have my 100% support.

 

[Geeno]

The episode scared me a little bit too, especially the issue behind the "21 grams" Lindsay and Hawkes were talking about. I was pleased by the episode because it was funny too! The morgue scene was hilarious, thanks to Flack's comments! It would be kind of cool if the guy from Ghost Hunters was invited to play as the man who was filming the Central Park. But everything was fine. Carver's case is really intriguing. I can't wait to see how it will end next week.

I've said this last week but for me this is the best episode so far this season. It really served its purpose - to scare and make me laugh. :lol:

 

[La_Guera]

Oh, Flack, I still love you so, even if you did have a serious case of 'shroom hair going on last night. Your scene with Danny in Central Park was pure gold, and I wholeheartedly sympathize with your fear of spiders, the nasty little beasties. I do, however, think you've been watching too much I Was Bitten on Animal Planet. Your wounded pique at Danno's rejection of your earnest Northeastern black widow theory was endearing. Poor baby. I know you're smarter than the lab geeks give you credit for, and if that really was poison ivy, I'll be happy to break out the calamine lotion.

And rawr, was your interrogation and furious excoriation of the mortuary creeper hot. I've missed the furious passion and contempt you once displayed for criminals, and though I know why it has been absent of late, it was good to see it again.

As for the rest of the episode, I enjoyed it very much, though I'm annoyed that Chief Carver is being set up as yet another corrupt nemesis for Mac to expose and vanquish. Is there any member of the NYPD brass that isn't a moustache-twirling villain with a secret to hide? Gerrard covered for another cop's dereliction of duty. Sinclair played grabass and allegedly sexually harassed a secretary under his purview. The IAB officer in "The Dove Commission" killed his romantic rival with the TARU chopper, and now Carver is suspected of killing his wayward sister. Really? So I guess those rigorous psychological evaluations required for all members of the NYPD aren't doing so hot at weeding out the sociopaths, nutbars, and narcissists. Why must every challenge to Mac's self-righteous worldview be made by a superior who is inevitably revealed to be corrupt? Just once, I'd like to see Mac deal with the consequences of falsely accusing a superior. John Larroquette would be the perfect recurring antagonist for Mac. If Mac accused him and he were proven innocent, then he could make life difficult for Mac by nosing incessantly in lab business and scrutinizing the CSIs every move. It could be interesting, much like Stetler and Rebecca Nevins were on Miami.

Larroqutte is a wonderful actor, and thusfar, he's been criminally wasted. He deserves more screentime, and he should have gotten it in lieu of the cheesy ghost scene or the increasingly unfunny attempts to showcase Adam's social awkwardness.

I like Adam. He belongs on the show, and I'm not suggesting that his role be curtailed, but I am tired of the weekly "Adam is adorkable" scene. They were organic once upon a time, but lately, they've seemed forced, as though the writers were actively trying to make him funny rather than letting him simply be funny. It's irritating, so much so that his line delivery last night reminded me of some of Lindsay's most cringe-worthy S4 and 5 lines.

Still, it was a solid episode, and I'm interested to see if they play it safe with the Carver arc or take a ballsy risk and have the infallible Mac Taylor be wrong for a change.

A-

 

[PerfectAnomaly]

Liked the character interaction between Flack, Hawkes and Jo at the crime scene. Also liked the Danny/Flack interaction when they went back to search some more.

Lindsay is an idiot. That is all. You're not smart, let alone really smart. Plus she still throws off the dynamic of the team. She's still nothing more than the awkward, sore thumb sticking out in a team that works superbly together. That's saying a lot considering Jo has been with the team for less than half a season and Lindsay has been with the team for five plus and is married to one of the other team members.

I liked the crazy filmmaker dude.

Jo smacking Hawkes with the file when he said the suspect was a ghost was cute.

The whole thing about Carver not looking for his sister is absurd and the fact that Mac seems to accept that answer is even more absurd.

Loved Flack's "every man for himself" line.

Dude hiding was creepy.

I wondered where the hell Danny went. Nice to see he was still working.

It was nice seeing Hawkes and Flack in interrogation together.

Creepy mortician guy is creepier than I thought he would be.

I'm glad they showed Jo with the female victims of Gordon and not Lindsay. Jo shows real empathy and caring for people where Lindsay just has never done that convincingly.

Loved the end scene with Mac and Jo.

I agree with the people who said this should've been the Halloween episode.

As much as I love watching John Laroquette in scenes with Gary, I'm really disappointed in the way his character has been used and based on the previews for next week I'm probably going to be disappointed in the resolution to the arc. I hope like hell that I'm wrong because I've been so impressed with the guest stars this season that I'd hate for this arc to be a disappointment overall.

I'd give this episode another B. There were some things I didn't care for - especially as part of the Laroquette arc - but over all it was a solid episode with more good character moments.

P.S. I really liked Adam and Sid, per usual.

 

[talkingtocactus]

I like Adam. He belongs on the show, and I'm not suggesting that his role be curtailed, but I am tired of the weekly "Adam is adorkable" scene. They were organic once upon a time, but lately, they've seemed forced, as though the writers were actively trying to make him funny rather than letting him simply be funny. It's irritating, so much so that his line delivery last night reminded me of some of Lindsay's most cringe-worthy S4 and 5 lines.-

yeah, i agree. i think adam's great, i like the character a lot, but they need to let him relax into it more and not just keep overplaying stuff we already know.

as for the ep....

i thought the intro was a little weird but i kinda liked how it focussed on sid and his work.

immediately after the credits there was a really cool camera angle where they had a shot looking down from the top of a building, then it kinda moved towards the ground, then did a 90' turn so it was moving out across the park - not the most technical description but it worked well.

hawkes' little "thing" in the park about the ghosts - ffs.... y'know, the more i see hawkes at the moment the less i like him. even when he's joking about possibly believing something that can't be proven, he sounds like he's pontificating. honestly, he's less a csi now and more a bloody guidance counsellor or something. give it a rest!!

lindsay seeing the skating ghosts - well, i could see what they were aiming at but all they really achieved was cheese and *bleugh*

that said, lindsay jumping at mac being right behind her was pretty cool, and i liked how mac looked in the spooky torchlight.

one query i had about mac in the woods tho, and i may have been paying too much attention (hehe) but - how come his coat was wet but his hair was dry?

overall i liked the scenes in the woods during the storm, it was nicely shot and atmospheric. i liked how the torchlight worked in the rain and fog.

a lindsay line *really* bothered me. someone said that someone had killed someone (ha, well put...) and she said "not someone, a young woman in her 20s" - what the hell difference does that make? i know what they were getting at, but really, is a 20-something woman really worse to kill than, say, a 40-something man?

i loved flack's line when jo said they had to go and visit the dead - "work related i hope"

also when they found the dresses at the embalming place and flack said he hoped they didn't find the skeleton of a little old lady - was it just me or did that seem to come straight from this week's criminal minds?!

i liked that there was almost an old school 2 case format going on, that was nice.

i liked jo's line to mac when he said good work and she said it was what she says to ellie when she eats her carrots

i liked generally how well jo picked up on mac's preoccupation and worked with it in quite a gentle way. i think stella in that situation probably would've been quite angry or at least quite firm, along the lines of "oh get it together!" whereas jo was more coaxing and nice about it. and it worked!

i liked when carver turned up to the place where they were looking for the sister's killer - when he said to mac something like "did you think i wouldn't turn up?" it really reminded me of gerrard in season 4 turning up to deal with his daughter's interrogation, despite mac only giving him a heads up rather than inviting him along.

i think next week's been set up pretty well. as much as i adore mac, i also hope he's wrong because i think that would be a more interesting character story than "mac has corrupt departmental nemesis and defeats them". i'd quite like to see how mac would cope with a mistake of that proportion. i think it would be an interesting set up for jo too, to see how she dealt with it.

overall i liked it but didn't love it, so it's a B for me

 

[Robin]

Probably my favorite episode this season. Added bonus of Danny and Flack scenes together in the woods.

 

[Whistling J.]

A

I really enjoyed this episode. I think my favorite part was the fact that the entire team seemed to be involved in the case. It always makes it seem more fun when we get to see everyone working together.

Sheldon and Flack definitely made this episode for me. They are definitely two of my favorite characters so to see them having fun together was nice. The scene with Flack and Danny walking through the woods was funny too. Gotta love those two :lol:.

As for the case, I thought it was interesting. I didn't know who did it from the beginning so thats always a nice suprise. The killer was total creep though. That of course led to a nice interrogation scene.

The intro. to the Carver case was nice enough. I figured he had something to do with it after Mac left him in the office and he looked all weird.

The only thing I didn't care for was Lindsay seeing the ghosts. Really??

 

[Country233]

...You could see that "oh man, this is gonna be a mess" look all over his face. Of course, it helps when you have an actor like Gary Sinise who can say more with one look than a lot of actors can with a whole page of spoken lines. ...

Amen. I love how Gary acts with his eyes. It is one of his strong suits as an actor.

 

[Desertwind]

Trippy, interesting, weird epsode, The start Sid with the dead gal, going over her wounds, and she was running through Central Park away from who? Mac "They found her under a tree"~

Team goes to the park find evidence and find a shoe print. Flack suggests ghosts What did she die from? maybe suffocation.. Sid said he found it odd" that she had on black underwear, but with a white dress, as if someone else had dressed her" Lindsay saying "no ghost a real person" Lindsay and Lndsay seeing weird, creepy, spooky things around them Mac spots a guy digging and he rund away they find a corpse.~

They bring in a real strange guy and Lindsay [Anna, what a good actress she is] he makes bizarre comments and they find that sulfer with salt around the body. Oh, why is Danny's hair so short"? Paranormal beyond normal he had filmed in the park at night.. nitrous oxide, was the culprit~

John Laroquette as the guest it was his sister, team goes to funeral home and find a guy sleeping in a body drawer. arrest him.. then Jo and a gril having tea, she got away.. So I missed the ending [phone ran] who killed these girls, and what was the consversation between Mac and Jo all about?

 

[Dreamboat]

also when they found the dresses at the embalming place and flack said he hoped they didn't find the skeleton of a little old lady - was it just me or did that seem to come straight from this week's criminal minds?!

I didn't see Criminal Minds, but I took it to mean Norman Bates' mother from the movie Psycho.

 

[talkingtocactus]

^ well, yeah, it was that too, but i guess the CM ep was more fresh in my mind as i'd only just watched it tbh i think i wasn't that bothered about them ripping a gag from somewhere else (hell, everyone does that), i was more surprised that two relatively similar shows should have such a similar thread in the same week.

 

[pdegan2814]

...You could see that "oh man, this is gonna be a mess" look all over his face. Of course, it helps when you have an actor like Gary Sinise who can say more with one look than a lot of actors can with a whole page of spoken lines. ...

Amen. I love how Gary acts with his eyes. It is one of his strong suits as an actor.

And Gary doesn't even need to constantly play with his sunglasses to do it!

I think the episode that really showcased this is the one from Season 3 with Marlee Matlin. Her character even said to him, "you speak with your eyes". That and the Season 1 finale, the look he gave to the colleague who was getting in a cab to go be with his familly for the evening spoke volumes.

 

[talkingtocactus]

^ agreed, gary's acting is probably at its best when he's saying very little. that's not to say i don't like his voice, i do! but he's very good at facial expression and using his eyes. tyra would be so proud.

 

[Country233]

And Gary doesn't even need to constantly play with his sunglasses to do it!

I think the episode that really showcased this is the one from Season 3 with Marlee Matlin. Her character even said to him, "you speak with your eyes". That and the Season 1 finale, the look he gave to the colleague who was getting in a cab to go be with his familly for the evening spoke volumes.

Ooh, I want to see those episodes. Season 3 will be my next season to buy. I love his eyes :sighs:

^ agreed, gary's acting is probably at its best when he's saying very little. that's not to say i don't like his voice, i do! but he's very good at facial expression and using his eyes. tyra would be so proud.

I agree. nonverbal communication is so important in real life but also adds so much in acting.

I was watching CSI Miami last night and I was struck yet again how much better Gary is an actor than Caruso. Caruso says very little, but it comes off as weak.

 

[talkingtocactus]

And Gary doesn't even need to constantly play with his sunglasses to do it!

I think the episode that really showcased this is the one from Season 3 with Marlee Matlin. Her character even said to him, "you speak with your eyes". That and the Season 1 finale, the look he gave to the colleague who was getting in a cab to go be with his familly for the evening spoke volumes.

Ooh, I want to see those episodes. Season 3 will be my next season to buy. I love his eyes :sighs:

s3 is great (despite peyton!) - the season finale was one of the best eps they've ever done, fantastic stuff. just be warned it involves mac standing under sprinklers :drool::drool:

I agree. nonverbal communication is so important in real life but also adds so much in acting.

I was watching CSI Miami last night and I was struck yet again how much better Gary is an actor than Caruso. Caruso says very little, but it comes off as weak.

it really does, although it's quite strange given he's at root a theatre actor because in theatre the non-verbal communication is, well actors still do it and it's still important but unless you're in the front row of the audience you're unlikely to actually see it, so it's far more important on stage/screen. so maybe not strange but surprising he's so adept at something that's not so theatre rooted. in fact not even surprising, just cool edit, i made a meal of that, what i mean is it's unusual for actors who transfer from one medium to another to be so good at the later medium...

that's because when caruso says it he does so through a mouthful of cheese