Hmmm. Now, I dunno really, but I do not believe that Mac's wife, Claire Conrad, is mentioned in the very first cross-over episode with Miami. Maybe it is mentioned just in passing that he's a widower? I think the first we really hear of her, or at least Mac speak about her, is in Blink. Sadly, I do not own the dvd set to check...
MIA/Non stop aired in May 2004 as one of CSI:Miami's last episodes of season two and as the pilot episode for the new series..It was "used to introduce the cast and characters of the upcoming CSI:New York series" in the same manner that the Vegas/Miami cross-over did.
Forgive my indulgence, as everyone knows the premise and I'm really just thinking out loud, but it amuses me, so... The premise of Horatio going to NY was to keep a promise to the daughter of a slain couple (*...wait,* does anyone else hear violins...?) and because a suspect was found in them to have traces of elements specific to Ground Zero fall-out.
He heads to NY, he meets our beloved crew here, helps solve some nasty murders, then vanishes mysteriously into the crowd at the end of the episode, and we're left thinking, *well golly gee, I wonder where he ... (what's that rumbling? was that a, um, McSubway Train?) OOHH, ...hey there, Mac is it? Oh is it ever nice to meet YOU... a pleasure I'm sure. Thank christ those bloody strings have stopped, did you hear them too? Yeah, they seemed to follow that ginger-haired fella, eh? ...wierd. So, ummm, you live around here...? :lol::devil:
[BTW apparently the crews of the NY and Miami shows have a fuze-ball rivalry going that they developed during the two episodes they filmed together. When are Vegas and NY gonna meet? We get Cold Case?? WTF? Get NCIS in the game here....]
Even between the cross over/pilot ep and Blink you can see the alterations they made to Mac (among others). I guess they had to start him somewhere in order to give him some way to evolve, character-wise. They lost the leather jacket, side burns and open shirt, and gave him shiny ties, a trim haircut and a suit. Now, although he does wear a suit well, I've been very happy to see him hang up the blazer, pocket the tie, roll up his shirt sleeves, and finally take the shirt off altogether to reveal t-shirts of various sorts, to.... (some of you know other posts I've made to this effect in other threads
)...
I am glad too that thru three seasons they have managed to find a way to keep Claire's memory in his life - with Stella asking him about his wedding ring, to hesistating then deciding it's time to date women he meets in diners subject to shoot-outs, with the introduction of Reed, and finally thru his relationship with Peyton and his initial cautiousness and hesitance there, to use Mac's own words.
Long story short, I don't think Claire's mentioned in the pilot, at least not in detail, but is talked about in Blink, the very first NY eppie, and brings Mac to that great shot at Ground Zero at the end of it. I'm gonna have to to rent season one again, or treat myself to a little dvd shopping sometime soon...