I finally finished going through the whole episode.
I noticed how some people were commenting on how Sylvia and Ray had more of a father/daughter relationship. IMO, Sylvia seems like way too much of a flirt with Ray for that. The vibes I got for the entire episode was that there was something very different going on between them, and Ray's anger with the boyfriend only served to strengthen these. I know I would never talk to a professor that way, let alone to my dad. And I definitely wouldn't wear that low-cut of a shirt when doing so.
And seriously, what was with the scene between Fantasmo and Esteban? Since when do we see that sort of altercation between suspects/persons of interest? CSI is about figuring out what happened, not about showing it as it happens. That scene made every part of the episode that came before it completely redundant. Suddenly we know who the killer is, and it's not because of any of the investigation work -- it's because Fantasmo noticed that his mask was missing. Sure, it took Ray and Brass pointing out to him that the mask was found at the scene. But Fantasmo had already noticed weird vibes between Esteban and both Sylvia and a girl in AZ (presumably one of the ones that died). Basically, the idea of that scene seemed really, really stupid and totally uncharacteristic for CSI. I honestly don't remember a single other episode where we saw a scene without a CSI/detective/lab tech/other LVPD employee in it (aside, of course, from the imagined flashbacks). The closest thing I can think of is the chatting DBs in Poppin' Tags, which was still very different than this scene.
To me, the juxtaposition of Friedkin's very visual, naturally sensual style clashed with the more mechanical, digital A/V technology used by the CSIs. It especially stood out when Riley and Ray were using video tools to cut and paste the wrestlers' masks on huge computer screens.
And straight to zooming in on a picture of a wrestler's crotch. Not something I need to see. And this is coming from someone who generally loves muscular wrestlers in tight pants.
It was interesting to be see them pulling Sylvia's phone records right after the scene where she says she's gonna be "abusing that privilege" in regards to calling Ray on the phone for help. One would have expected his name to come up on the phone records, which would have been a good time to call 'conflict of interest'... if the opening scene wasn't enough of one. Though I won't even get in to the whole conflict of interest thing, as I think others have already more than adequately expressed the problems inherent in this episodes with this regard.
It seemed really lame of Ray to badger the boyfriend so immediately after telling him Sylvia is dead. It's like he's acting annoyed when the boyfriend is a bit speechless. Seriously, grief takes time -- like days, weeks, months, etc. Five seconds is definitely not adequate.
Overall, we've already seen examples of Ray taking the personal route to limited success, in contrast to utilizing science. Perhaps this episode, based on the end, is supposed to highlight how his personal strategy often fails, as his personal connection to the case leads to the pseudo-breakdown. I would say that his connection does emphasize the differences between him and Grissom, though I don't think it's in the best way.
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People have already summed up a lot of the other negatives about his episode (lack of other cast members, et al), so I'll go to the other thing that really, really frustrated me with this episode.
Part of the problem I have with the wrestling part is that Friedkin had talked about how excited he was about showing something that's important to latino culture. Friedkin emphasized in his interview how big lucha libre is in Hispanic culture, which made me think it would represent that culture in the process. I love wrestling, I love hispanic culture and I have spent a lot of time watching sporting matches at hispanic bars. But as someone who grew up in a largely Hispanic area, I found the presentation of Hispanic culture in this case very frustrating and borderline racist.
Overall, I feel like this episode embodied a caricature of American stereotypes about hispanic culture. It has nothing to do with the hispanic culture I know and love, and the choice in characters seems borderline racist. I was really excited to finally see CSI covering a different culture, let alone one that I feel a part of, and was very, very disappointed. In other CSI episodes where they're covering people from so-called 'white' culture, there are still sympathetic characters who are from said 'white' culture. Here, in an episode that was supposed to be looking at something that's special to hispanic culture, the only sympathetic characters -- Fantasmo and Sylvia -- are clearly from 'white' culture. Fantasmo's real name may be Jesús, but he sounded and looked more like Nick than like any of the other luchadores, fans or other hispanic characters in the episode.
And then there's the Santoría ritual at a house that, from the outside, is covered with... well, whatever that is outside of it. The majority of Latin America is Christian. The fact that we see a rather out-there Santoría ritual -- complete with shrieking and a convulsing woman -- only serves to highlight the differences between latino culture and the whiter culture that the CSIs are coming from -- differences which, religion-wise, are not nearly as significant in real life -- rather than emphasizing the similarities.
And to the language:
Why is Nick using 'Sabes' when talking to the santoría guy? If you're talking to a suspect, it feels like it would pay to be respectful, but he used the 'tu' conjugation rather than the 'usted.' Brass uses the 'tu' form when he demands that someone open the door to the Santoría house also. Brass's faux pas is at least forgivable just because it's so painfully obvious that Spanish isn't his strong suit, judging by his painfully bad Spanish accent. (And I don't mean this as a a criticism of PG. I honestly can't imagine Brass speaking Spanish with a good Spanish accent. It would seem OOC to me if he spoke it well.)
Overall, this episode was a huge disappointment. It might have worked as a pilot for a different show, but not for CSI. Everything, from the format to the character usage, was way too different from what we've come to expect from CSI. And that, for a show that's already so successful, makes no sense, especially not for a milestone episode. I understand how CSI switches up the format on occasion -- Rashomama, You Kill Me & Lab Rats, and 4x4 & Poppin' Tags especially come to mind as good examples. The conclusion I'm left with is that switching up the format in such a way works when a) there's an interesting plot, b) there's humor and c) when the episode showcases characters whom the audience has grown to love.
I have nothing against Ray, but (as many other people have already said) we just don't know him well enough yet. I honestly think that CSI could have kept the personal angle for Ray and incorporated in the rest of the team more if they had really respected the idea of a conflict of interest. The rest of the team could have investigated the case while still consulting Ray as a person of interest on a regular basis throughout the rest of the episode. It would have given him a unique personal angle, so it would still, in a way, have been 'about him,' and it would've given the other characters the screentime that they deserve (and that fans, after 200 episodes, deserve to see). It also would've allowed for some development in the relationships between Ray and his teammates. As it stands, however, he barely interacted with most of the team in this episode.
Episode Grade: D
