korbjaeger
Pathologist
Re: Post - "Grave Danger" Episode Discussion/Review ***Spoi
I'm still in afterglow...
Tarantino in genius mode. First, all the little expository stuff in the beginning, the little conversational/interactional scenes that you tend to think at first are just filler? Unh-uh. It's major set-up.
Another thing they did well was to show the characters in full-strength mode and then strip them down to the basic elements. Catherine, who is initially very take-charge and comes up with the "zip it" and "shaddup!" lines, has to sacrifice her pride and approach her father on his terms for the ransom money. Warrick, who comes off as rather macho in the locker room scene, is brought to his knees emotionally. And Nick, who seems so unflappable and easygoing in that first sequence...well, need I say more.
The autopsy scene had the same effect on me as the adrenaline-injection-in-the-heart scene from QT's "Pulp Fiction" - I was simultaneously laughing and cringing. The scene that had me tearing up first was when Nick's parents saw him in the coffin. On first watching, I was bawling. Second time, it still had me damn near sobbing. Kudos to the actors who played Bill and Jillian Stokes.
Did I detect light being used as a metaphor, both positive and negative? The lesser but positive lights being the glow-sticks and the team's Mini-Mags (that looked so tiny but hopeful in the dark night of the rescue scene), the greater but negative light being the light inside the coffin? And if you want to get reeeealllly "zen", the "inner lights" - Grissom's is science, entomology, as he calmly looks for the species of ant that is meanwhile eating Nick alive. Warrick's is simply the fire in his heart. At first, Grissom's seems almost too detached, too "cold", while Warrick's is out of control and hence fruitless and self-defeating at times. But both are needed, in the long run, to save Nick.
For all of the drama, tension, twists, turns and "Holy #@&%!" moments in "Grave Danger", at its heart it is, ironically, a love story. By that I mean a story of many loves, manifesting in different ways, but ever-present and suddenly forced by circumstances to focus on the rescue of one team member and to demand more of the loves that interweave to form the supporting fabric that holds them all.
Of course, the central "love story" is that of the team as a whole. One of their own is in danger, and that immediately becomes All That Matters. It's a family that has been attacked, and the wagons are circled. Investigators, detectives, "lab rats", even the snarky Ecklie is touched. But there are dynamics between certain characters that seem suddenly strengthened, making that support fabric tougher and the rescue all that much more attainable.
Grissom and his "guys". There is already a unique quality about his relationships with Sara (the "unrequited love" that affects him nonetheless) and Greg (former "lab rat" always looking for a raise, suddenly hungry for the field and "not about the money"...repercussions from "Play With Fire"?). But the team was split, and Catherine ended up with the two men with whom Grissom had had the most intriguing interaction: Warrick, his "chosen one", the bad-boy-gone-good, and Nick, often unfairly the recipient of the brunt of Grissom's frustration and impatience. It seems as if Grissom favors Warrick to a dysfunctional degree...but, forced with the prospect of losing Nick, Grissom has to reconsider how he sees him. When Nick addresses what he thinks will be his last words to Grissom by expressing sorrow at disappointing him, Grissom says, "No, you never did." If only Nick could have heard him.
Catherine and Warrick. The lot of a single working mother is not an easy one, especially with the added burdens of a shady father, a nasty (and, later, dead) ex-husband and a past as a stripper. Warrick doesn't judge, doesn't lecture. Instead, Catherine brings out the protector and nurturer in him; he is her tower of strength and comforting power on many an occasion. But this time, it's Warrick that is crumbling. He is ridden with guilt - perhaps another painful flashback to his carelessness that cost Holly Gribbs' life. He is humbled by Nick's ability to hold on through the hell he's been relegated to. But when Warrick confesses to Catherine that his own courage would have been long broken in the same circumstances, she insists, "I know you. I don't believe that." Although he tells her she's wrong, she sees Warrick's courage more clearly than he can himself. That will certainly be apparent later.
The Stokes family. There was Matalin and Carville. Schwartzenegger and Shriver. And now right/left "power couple" Bill and Jillian Stokes. He's a tough Texas state judge; she's an advocate for the accused. But the marriage is obviously based on profound mutual respect and affection, which seems to have translated into a loving and close-knit family. And the most appropriate product of that union is Nick, who embodies the quests for justice and compassion in a single personality. That they would come to Nevada from Texas to try to help in the rescue of their son would be a given...but Grissom observes Judge Stokes and how he reacts to and speaks to his wounded son, and derives from that the way...and the one word...that cements his ability to save Nick. Grissom may at last be learning to nurture, even if by mimickry. Baby steps.
Walter and Kelly Gordon. There is a form of "honor among thieves", and even the most hardened of criminals can have deep and unconditional love for their children. Kelly Gordon, caught up in a bad situation, is paying with a hellish prison sentence, the "sin" for which her father Walter feels the CSI unit must "atone" by watching one of their own suffer. It is a dysfunctional "love", but one Nick still has the compassion to understand when he confronts Kelly after his ordeal...and perhaps that compassion will have some effect on Kelly, coming as it does from the one who was maltreated for her sake.
Nick and Warrick. Their friendship has always been a strong one, capable of light-heartedness and macho competitiveness, and at the same time supportiveness and concern. It was apparent from at least "Stalker" that when one is hurt or endangered, the effect on the other is deep. But Nick's situation is so dire, and Warrick feels so powerless, that he is utterly devastated. When he tells Catherine, "If something happens to Nick, if we don't bring him back in one piece..." you're almost glad he never finishes the sentence; the implied conclusion is almost too painful to verbalize. As he watches Nick on the video, it seems as if his own heart is buried with his friend. When they finally find Nick, all semblance to the cocky, cool, self-assured Warrick of the first season is gone - his tearful "I'm not leaving here without him!" is the emotional crest of the episode - the statement that he would rather die with Nick than save his own life and leave him to die alone. Even as the ambulance heads off into the night, and the two friends clasp hands, you have a sense of that friendship being a rock that will weather any storm, the kind of friendship about which legends are written.
That this episode and the actors involved were overlooked at the Emmys this year is a travesty. But then...how long did it take for Jimi Hendrix to get a Grammy? (Hell, did he ever?) Fortunately, not everyone buys into the hype, the Academy darlings, the Next Big Thing. I think we know quality when we see it.
Consider soapbox thoroughly worked. Bring on Season 6!!
P.S. - I was a genetics nerd in high school. Blue-eyedness is a recessive trait. Nick could possibly have two blue-eyed parents and have brown eyes. (In fact, my father's eyes were blue, my mom's are green - I have dark eyes.)
--Robin
I'm still in afterglow...
Tarantino in genius mode. First, all the little expository stuff in the beginning, the little conversational/interactional scenes that you tend to think at first are just filler? Unh-uh. It's major set-up.
Another thing they did well was to show the characters in full-strength mode and then strip them down to the basic elements. Catherine, who is initially very take-charge and comes up with the "zip it" and "shaddup!" lines, has to sacrifice her pride and approach her father on his terms for the ransom money. Warrick, who comes off as rather macho in the locker room scene, is brought to his knees emotionally. And Nick, who seems so unflappable and easygoing in that first sequence...well, need I say more.
The autopsy scene had the same effect on me as the adrenaline-injection-in-the-heart scene from QT's "Pulp Fiction" - I was simultaneously laughing and cringing. The scene that had me tearing up first was when Nick's parents saw him in the coffin. On first watching, I was bawling. Second time, it still had me damn near sobbing. Kudos to the actors who played Bill and Jillian Stokes.
Did I detect light being used as a metaphor, both positive and negative? The lesser but positive lights being the glow-sticks and the team's Mini-Mags (that looked so tiny but hopeful in the dark night of the rescue scene), the greater but negative light being the light inside the coffin? And if you want to get reeeealllly "zen", the "inner lights" - Grissom's is science, entomology, as he calmly looks for the species of ant that is meanwhile eating Nick alive. Warrick's is simply the fire in his heart. At first, Grissom's seems almost too detached, too "cold", while Warrick's is out of control and hence fruitless and self-defeating at times. But both are needed, in the long run, to save Nick.
For all of the drama, tension, twists, turns and "Holy #@&%!" moments in "Grave Danger", at its heart it is, ironically, a love story. By that I mean a story of many loves, manifesting in different ways, but ever-present and suddenly forced by circumstances to focus on the rescue of one team member and to demand more of the loves that interweave to form the supporting fabric that holds them all.
Of course, the central "love story" is that of the team as a whole. One of their own is in danger, and that immediately becomes All That Matters. It's a family that has been attacked, and the wagons are circled. Investigators, detectives, "lab rats", even the snarky Ecklie is touched. But there are dynamics between certain characters that seem suddenly strengthened, making that support fabric tougher and the rescue all that much more attainable.
Grissom and his "guys". There is already a unique quality about his relationships with Sara (the "unrequited love" that affects him nonetheless) and Greg (former "lab rat" always looking for a raise, suddenly hungry for the field and "not about the money"...repercussions from "Play With Fire"?). But the team was split, and Catherine ended up with the two men with whom Grissom had had the most intriguing interaction: Warrick, his "chosen one", the bad-boy-gone-good, and Nick, often unfairly the recipient of the brunt of Grissom's frustration and impatience. It seems as if Grissom favors Warrick to a dysfunctional degree...but, forced with the prospect of losing Nick, Grissom has to reconsider how he sees him. When Nick addresses what he thinks will be his last words to Grissom by expressing sorrow at disappointing him, Grissom says, "No, you never did." If only Nick could have heard him.
Catherine and Warrick. The lot of a single working mother is not an easy one, especially with the added burdens of a shady father, a nasty (and, later, dead) ex-husband and a past as a stripper. Warrick doesn't judge, doesn't lecture. Instead, Catherine brings out the protector and nurturer in him; he is her tower of strength and comforting power on many an occasion. But this time, it's Warrick that is crumbling. He is ridden with guilt - perhaps another painful flashback to his carelessness that cost Holly Gribbs' life. He is humbled by Nick's ability to hold on through the hell he's been relegated to. But when Warrick confesses to Catherine that his own courage would have been long broken in the same circumstances, she insists, "I know you. I don't believe that." Although he tells her she's wrong, she sees Warrick's courage more clearly than he can himself. That will certainly be apparent later.
The Stokes family. There was Matalin and Carville. Schwartzenegger and Shriver. And now right/left "power couple" Bill and Jillian Stokes. He's a tough Texas state judge; she's an advocate for the accused. But the marriage is obviously based on profound mutual respect and affection, which seems to have translated into a loving and close-knit family. And the most appropriate product of that union is Nick, who embodies the quests for justice and compassion in a single personality. That they would come to Nevada from Texas to try to help in the rescue of their son would be a given...but Grissom observes Judge Stokes and how he reacts to and speaks to his wounded son, and derives from that the way...and the one word...that cements his ability to save Nick. Grissom may at last be learning to nurture, even if by mimickry. Baby steps.
Walter and Kelly Gordon. There is a form of "honor among thieves", and even the most hardened of criminals can have deep and unconditional love for their children. Kelly Gordon, caught up in a bad situation, is paying with a hellish prison sentence, the "sin" for which her father Walter feels the CSI unit must "atone" by watching one of their own suffer. It is a dysfunctional "love", but one Nick still has the compassion to understand when he confronts Kelly after his ordeal...and perhaps that compassion will have some effect on Kelly, coming as it does from the one who was maltreated for her sake.
Nick and Warrick. Their friendship has always been a strong one, capable of light-heartedness and macho competitiveness, and at the same time supportiveness and concern. It was apparent from at least "Stalker" that when one is hurt or endangered, the effect on the other is deep. But Nick's situation is so dire, and Warrick feels so powerless, that he is utterly devastated. When he tells Catherine, "If something happens to Nick, if we don't bring him back in one piece..." you're almost glad he never finishes the sentence; the implied conclusion is almost too painful to verbalize. As he watches Nick on the video, it seems as if his own heart is buried with his friend. When they finally find Nick, all semblance to the cocky, cool, self-assured Warrick of the first season is gone - his tearful "I'm not leaving here without him!" is the emotional crest of the episode - the statement that he would rather die with Nick than save his own life and leave him to die alone. Even as the ambulance heads off into the night, and the two friends clasp hands, you have a sense of that friendship being a rock that will weather any storm, the kind of friendship about which legends are written.
That this episode and the actors involved were overlooked at the Emmys this year is a travesty. But then...how long did it take for Jimi Hendrix to get a Grammy? (Hell, did he ever?) Fortunately, not everyone buys into the hype, the Academy darlings, the Next Big Thing. I think we know quality when we see it.
Consider soapbox thoroughly worked. Bring on Season 6!!
P.S. - I was a genetics nerd in high school. Blue-eyedness is a recessive trait. Nick could possibly have two blue-eyed parents and have brown eyes. (In fact, my father's eyes were blue, my mom's are green - I have dark eyes.)
--Robin
