happyharper13
Pathologist
First of all, in response to the criticism of Riley,
I really like the Riley angle. I like how she talked about it without getting overly emotional, acting out-of-character or breaking down in tears. She tries her best to distance and dissociate herself from it, which seemed very believable. Overall, I loved that it was a very realistic angle, particularly in comparison to past CSI-angst angles. Getting blown up, buried alive, attacked by a serial killer, etc. just aren't as common, but losing someone close to suicide is, sadly, quite common, and Riley's reaction seemed very believable. IMO, Lauren Lee Smith did an excellent job of subtly and tastefully conveying her grief.
And I really don't think it's fair to compare her to Sara. I thought part of the problem with Sara was her inability to separate personal feelings from her work. Riley, on the other hand, has clearly worked hard to keep her own biases from endangering her cases. She clearly wanted to tell Humphreys' widow what else had been in the note, but she restrained herself. I would say this really does separate her from Sara. If anything, I think her level of discipline and dedication makes her more like Nick, and how he kept going after the burial and, especially, after Warrick's death. By the end of the episode, she was still able to joke around with the team and not dwell on the tragedy. I definitely have a lot of respect for the character as a result.
Other things:
Not much of a one-liner
Whoever played the Congressman did an excellent job of playing an enigma. At the beginning, I thought he was trying to look sympathetic to avoid a conviction for a crime he committed, but, in the end, you find out that all along he's been covering for his wife. He cheated on her and gave her an STD, thus inadvertently killing the child she'd been desperately waiting for, but, in the end, he was still willing to go to jail for her. That definitely redeemed him, at least in part, in my eyes.
SuperDave's glasses?? ;(
Poor policewoman at the scene of Humphreys' suicide! She seemed rather traumatized.
Cath did a great job. She's definitely proving her critics wrong about the kind of supervisor she'd be. I feel like she's done a great job of keeping her own character (along with her own social skills and politicking abilities) while adapting some of the best parts of Grissom's supervisory style.
Do men actually wear cashmere? As soon as Hodges told Cath that the fibers in the gun was cashmere, I thought they ought to check Humphreys' and the Congressman's wives. I know that none of my guy friends would ever wear cashmere, though it might be more because none of them can afford it.
Interesting transition from Riley/Greg @ car scene to interview w/ wife. I was expecting Riley to say something else, and the wife starts talking about her husband before the screen fades, making me think, at least temporarily, that it's Riley talking about a former husband.
The music toward the beginning of the episode, when Greg, Riley and Nick were processing, really irritated me; very repetitive and especially annoying to play underneath the dialogue.
Ray and Cath get along great. I really liked how LF portrayed Ray's frustration without getting whiny. It was a very fine line between letting his frustration get whiny and childish (especially given the lines) and avoiding grating on the audience's nerves. I'd say he walked that line very well, and managed to convey his frustration perfectly. He did a great job throughout the episode of keeping his calm while still letting the audience see his frustration. You can definitely tell he's different from Grissom.
The image of the chlamydia was gross.
I really like the computer program/tool they used to show the timeslots and alibis
Loved the scene with Greg processing the closet. It's nice to finally see him getting at least a little emotional.
The Congressman's lawyer was a great love-to-hate character. Very clever and conniving, but Ray did a good job holding his ground.
It was kind of weird how they kept panning to the daughter before they said who she was (unless I missed that scene).
It was similarly weird, IMO, how they introduced Tommy the pimp (or whatever more PC term he would fall under). Brass made it clear that LVPD had been looking all over for Tommy, yet we hadn't heard about him before the scene.
That said, the scene with Tommy and Brass was hilarious. Is it just me, or does Tommy totally sound like Matthew McConoughy? He also reminded me of Jack Black. Overall, I loved that character and I hope they make him one of those semi-recurring characters (like Stoner Dude from 'Ending Happy' and 'Disarmed and Dangerous').
Did anyone else notice that the doctor Ray talked to also played a cylon/Doctor on BSG? That made my day. It was especially amusing, since he was a verrryy different doctor on that show, though he was pretty much wearing the same thing. It wasn't even one of the BSG writers who did this episode.
Ditto on all scores. I loved the increase in Henry and Greg, and definitely appreciated the reprieve from Hodges for a week. But I still miss Wendy.
My understanding was the the Congressman's aide really believed in the Congressman and was willing to give his life to see the Congressman's career prosper. We don't really know what kind of legislator Griffin was, so it's hard to say what exactly it was that made Humphreys think that Griffin's career was more important than Humphreys' own life. Overall, from the interview with Mrs. Humphreys, it sounded like Humphreys really believed in Griffin's work though.
As to your question, I think Humphreys saw the gun (which he lied about under oath, as Greg noted), recognized it as Griffin's and assumed that Griffin was the one who killed Amber. Humphreys was already poisoning Amber, so we know that he wanted her dead anyway. He didn't want Griffin to go down for the crime, thus ending Griffin's career, so he took the fall for it. I don't think there was any indication that Griffin called Humphreys ahead of time to ask him to clean up the scene. Had he done so, he likely would have told Humphreys the whole story (that he knew, based on the missing gun, that his wife had killed Amber), Humphreys wouldn't have helped in any way, since Mrs. Griffin told Brass (or at least I think it was Brass) that Humphreys thought that Mrs. Griffin was a liability and wanted Griffin to divorce her.
Hope that helps.
Personally, I'm thinking she lost a husband or a boyfriend, especially because of some of the comments to the wife, which, IMO, indicated that she understands what the widow is going through, specifically as a widow.
I was thinking the same thing! Cath's scene with Ray where she talked about the theories changing totally reminded me of the scene in 'Who Shot Sherlock' where Greg thinks he failed his proficiency because he made the wrong theory, but got all the evidence, and I definitely felt like there was a parallel between Grissom and Cath's supervisory comments about theories changing when the evidence changes.
I really like the Riley angle. I like how she talked about it without getting overly emotional, acting out-of-character or breaking down in tears. She tries her best to distance and dissociate herself from it, which seemed very believable. Overall, I loved that it was a very realistic angle, particularly in comparison to past CSI-angst angles. Getting blown up, buried alive, attacked by a serial killer, etc. just aren't as common, but losing someone close to suicide is, sadly, quite common, and Riley's reaction seemed very believable. IMO, Lauren Lee Smith did an excellent job of subtly and tastefully conveying her grief.
And I really don't think it's fair to compare her to Sara. I thought part of the problem with Sara was her inability to separate personal feelings from her work. Riley, on the other hand, has clearly worked hard to keep her own biases from endangering her cases. She clearly wanted to tell Humphreys' widow what else had been in the note, but she restrained herself. I would say this really does separate her from Sara. If anything, I think her level of discipline and dedication makes her more like Nick, and how he kept going after the burial and, especially, after Warrick's death. By the end of the episode, she was still able to joke around with the team and not dwell on the tragedy. I definitely have a lot of respect for the character as a result.
Other things:
Not much of a one-liner
Whoever played the Congressman did an excellent job of playing an enigma. At the beginning, I thought he was trying to look sympathetic to avoid a conviction for a crime he committed, but, in the end, you find out that all along he's been covering for his wife. He cheated on her and gave her an STD, thus inadvertently killing the child she'd been desperately waiting for, but, in the end, he was still willing to go to jail for her. That definitely redeemed him, at least in part, in my eyes.
SuperDave's glasses?? ;(
Poor policewoman at the scene of Humphreys' suicide! She seemed rather traumatized.
Cath did a great job. She's definitely proving her critics wrong about the kind of supervisor she'd be. I feel like she's done a great job of keeping her own character (along with her own social skills and politicking abilities) while adapting some of the best parts of Grissom's supervisory style.
Do men actually wear cashmere? As soon as Hodges told Cath that the fibers in the gun was cashmere, I thought they ought to check Humphreys' and the Congressman's wives. I know that none of my guy friends would ever wear cashmere, though it might be more because none of them can afford it.
Interesting transition from Riley/Greg @ car scene to interview w/ wife. I was expecting Riley to say something else, and the wife starts talking about her husband before the screen fades, making me think, at least temporarily, that it's Riley talking about a former husband.
The music toward the beginning of the episode, when Greg, Riley and Nick were processing, really irritated me; very repetitive and especially annoying to play underneath the dialogue.
Ray and Cath get along great. I really liked how LF portrayed Ray's frustration without getting whiny. It was a very fine line between letting his frustration get whiny and childish (especially given the lines) and avoiding grating on the audience's nerves. I'd say he walked that line very well, and managed to convey his frustration perfectly. He did a great job throughout the episode of keeping his calm while still letting the audience see his frustration. You can definitely tell he's different from Grissom.
The image of the chlamydia was gross.
I really like the computer program/tool they used to show the timeslots and alibis
Loved the scene with Greg processing the closet. It's nice to finally see him getting at least a little emotional.
The Congressman's lawyer was a great love-to-hate character. Very clever and conniving, but Ray did a good job holding his ground.
It was kind of weird how they kept panning to the daughter before they said who she was (unless I missed that scene).
It was similarly weird, IMO, how they introduced Tommy the pimp (or whatever more PC term he would fall under). Brass made it clear that LVPD had been looking all over for Tommy, yet we hadn't heard about him before the scene.
That said, the scene with Tommy and Brass was hilarious. Is it just me, or does Tommy totally sound like Matthew McConoughy? He also reminded me of Jack Black. Overall, I loved that character and I hope they make him one of those semi-recurring characters (like Stoner Dude from 'Ending Happy' and 'Disarmed and Dangerous').
Did anyone else notice that the doctor Ray talked to also played a cylon/Doctor on BSG? That made my day. It was especially amusing, since he was a verrryy different doctor on that show, though he was pretty much wearing the same thing. It wasn't even one of the BSG writers who did this episode.
Ditto on all scores. I loved the increase in Henry and Greg, and definitely appreciated the reprieve from Hodges for a week. But I still miss Wendy.
My understanding was the the Congressman's aide really believed in the Congressman and was willing to give his life to see the Congressman's career prosper. We don't really know what kind of legislator Griffin was, so it's hard to say what exactly it was that made Humphreys think that Griffin's career was more important than Humphreys' own life. Overall, from the interview with Mrs. Humphreys, it sounded like Humphreys really believed in Griffin's work though.
As to your question, I think Humphreys saw the gun (which he lied about under oath, as Greg noted), recognized it as Griffin's and assumed that Griffin was the one who killed Amber. Humphreys was already poisoning Amber, so we know that he wanted her dead anyway. He didn't want Griffin to go down for the crime, thus ending Griffin's career, so he took the fall for it. I don't think there was any indication that Griffin called Humphreys ahead of time to ask him to clean up the scene. Had he done so, he likely would have told Humphreys the whole story (that he knew, based on the missing gun, that his wife had killed Amber), Humphreys wouldn't have helped in any way, since Mrs. Griffin told Brass (or at least I think it was Brass) that Humphreys thought that Mrs. Griffin was a liability and wanted Griffin to divorce her.
Hope that helps.
Personally, I'm thinking she lost a husband or a boyfriend, especially because of some of the comments to the wife, which, IMO, indicated that she understands what the widow is going through, specifically as a widow.
I was thinking the same thing! Cath's scene with Ray where she talked about the theories changing totally reminded me of the scene in 'Who Shot Sherlock' where Greg thinks he failed his proficiency because he made the wrong theory, but got all the evidence, and I definitely felt like there was a parallel between Grissom and Cath's supervisory comments about theories changing when the evidence changes.
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