Past Episodes Discussion

[Crumbs]

With all the changes which have taken place this season, I decided to invest in getting Seasons 1-6 on DVD. When I watch episodes I also like to look back and see what other people have said about them. I noticed the forums must have had a purge some years ago because I haven’t been able to find anything from before Season 7, so I thought it would be good to make a topic where episodes from the past can be discussed.

I’ll post a new episode to talk about every few days (maybe longer if a particular episode gets quite a bit of discussion) and hopefully I won’t end up talking to myself the entire time. :lol: Naturally, it would make sense to start with the pilot but I’m also going to add “Cool Change” in as well seeing as the pilot feeds into it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Season 1, Episode 1: “Pilot”
Original Airdate: October 6, 2000
CSI Files Synopsis: "Gil Grissom is the supervisor of the graveyard shift of Las Vegas' elite crime scene investigators. Holly Gribbs, fresh out of the academy, joins the team. Jim Brass is head of the unit and is trying to scare Gribbs from CSI. Catherine Willows, mother of a young daughter, is the number two CSI on this shift. Warrick Brown and Nick Stokes are competing to solve their 100th case to earn a promotion to CSI 3. Grissom investigates a murder staged to look like a suicide with precious little evidence. Warrick and Catherine take the case of a drunk who breaks into the house where he had been staying and is shot to death. Nick talks to a man who picked up a woman who drugged and robbed him."

Season 1, Episode 2: “Cool Change”
Original Airdate: October 13, 2000
CSI Files Synopsis: "In the aftermath of the Gribbs shooting, Brass is sent back to homicide. Grissom is made head of the CSI unit. He brings in Sara Sidle from San Francisco to investigate the shooting. This irritates Catherine who wants to solve the case. Warrick, on suspension, learns he has a debt to the judge. Grissom and Nick take the case of a man who kills himself hours after winning a casino jackpot."

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Being someone who watched the series out of order, when I first the pilot, were it not for recognising the characters I would have thought it was a completely different show. It’s pretty obvious that the writers wanted to cram as much as possible into the hour but with it being a pilot that’s understandable. I’m not a huge fan of the episode personally due to the fact it feels rushed and the characters generally being a bit ‘off’ for most of the episode. (Brass in particular is portrayed as a bit of an ass in the episode.)

However it does do a good job of introducing forensics to the audience and provides a nice starter for several recurring themes over the season/series: Paul Millander, Nick/Kristie, Warrick/Nick’s friendship and Warrick’s gambling problem were all touched upon in the episode. I also love how quirky Grissom is, particularly the scenes in the morgue and the scene where he asks for Holly’s blood. :lol: (It saddens me that by the end of his run, Grissom essentially sheds most of the traits which made him a loveable character in the first place.)

Speaking of Holly, I didn’t particularly warm to her. She seemed too whiny and needy for the job however I am a big fan of the diner scene with her and Catherine. I’m glad Sara was brought in instead, although I do wonder the direction the show would have taken had they kept Holly. (Particularly in some of the later seasons.)

“Cool Change” was a big improvement over the pilot in my opinion. Having only two cases allowed the writers to develop the forensics aspect of the show and move at a more leisurely pace. I liked the balance in the two cases as well, with the A-case focusing on the forensics (gotta love the rooftop experiment!) and the B-case delving more into Catherine as a character and her determination to catch Holly’s killer. Add a bit of Sara/Cath drama and Sara/Warrick drama into the mix and you get a pretty stellar episode at the end.

Neither of the episodes are perfect in their own right but both pave the way to a solid season/series and I feel that “Cool Change” in particular is as ‘classic CSI’ as you can get: Two solid cases incorporating both forensics and character development moonlit on a typical Las Vegas background.

My rating for “Pilot”: 6.3/10 (so-so)
My rating for “Cool Change”: 7.0/10 (good)

I look forward to reading your inputs and observations.

 

[vegaslights]

They're still here. It seems they're just hiding. Here's the Season One Discussion. I also checked and found a few individual discussion threads that date back to late Season Five.

 

[Crumbs]

Ah, I did see those whilst I was snooping back in time but I thought I'd annoy less people if I simply made a new topic instead of resurrecting about ten which haven't been posted in for about 2 years. :lol:

 

[Smokey]

Ah, I did see those whilst I was snooping back in time but I thought I'd annoy less people if I simply made a new topic instead of resurrecting about ten which haven't been posted in for about 2 years. :lol:

Good idea.

I didn't start watching CSI when it first aired, so I too watched these episodes after already being familiar with the show. I do remember when CSI started tho and it was a really novel and different idea to focus on the evidence the way they did. I remember thinking how cool it was that the fact that the guy's shoe was tied from the wrong direction told them he didn't do it himself.

 

[sharp52092]

Being someone who watched the series out of order, when I first the pilot, were it not for recognising the characters I would have thought it was a completely different show. It’s pretty obvious that the writers wanted to cram as much as possible into the hour but with it being a pilot that’s understandable. I’m not a huge fan of the episode personally due to the fact it feels rushed and the characters generally being a bit ‘off’ for most of the episode. (Brass in particular is portrayed as a bit of an ass in the episode.)

However it does do a good job of introducing forensics to the audience and provides a nice starter for several recurring themes over the season/series: Paul Millander, Nick/Kristie, Warrick/Nick’s friendship and Warrick’s gambling problem were all touched upon in the episode. I also love how quirky Grissom is, particularly the scenes in the morgue and the scene where he asks for Holly’s blood. :lol: (It saddens me that by the end of his run, Grissom essentially sheds most of the traits which made him a loveable character in the first place.)

I do agree it is kinda wierd watching it, and yep probably due to not watching the episodes in order and starting to watch much later in the show, I started in season 7 with Law of Gravity

The Pilot is decent for a pilot, Cool Change is alright too but not one of my faves form season 1

I liked Who Are You, Sex Lies and Larvae, Too Tough to Die, Table Stakes, and probably a few others that I'm forgetting

Speaking of Holly, I didn’t particularly warm to her. She seemed too whiny and needy for the job however I am a big fan of the diner scene with her and Catherine. I’m glad Sara was brought in instead, although I do wonder the direction the show would have taken had they kept Holly. (Particularly in some of the later seasons.)

Yep, so glad Sara was added too :thumbsup:

Also don't forget the deleted Catnip scene from the Pilot, imo I'm glad they deleted it

 

[~fox~]

I do remember when CSI started tho and it was a really novel and different idea to focus on the evidence the way they did. I remember thinking how cool it was that the fact that the guy's shoe was tied from the wrong direction told them he didn't do it himself.

That's what got me hooked from the beginning, too.

I've been re-watching on dvd from the beginning, too...45 minutes goes by really quickly now on the treadmill! [trying to get this old body back in shape :lol:]
(Although I usually get pulled in again and have to watch another episode immediately after! )
I just love the progression of the show and characters, and at the same time the evidence is always front and center. No wonder why it's lasted 12 seasons...it's such a great show!

 

[Lilith]

I do remember when CSI started tho and it was a really novel and different idea to focus on the evidence the way they did. I remember thinking how cool it was that the fact that the guy's shoe was tied from the wrong direction told them he didn't do it himself.

That's what got me hooked from the beginning, too.

I've been re-watching on dvd from the beginning, too...45 minutes goes by really quickly now on the treadmill! [trying to get this old body back in shape :lol:]
(Although I usually get pulled in again and have to watch another episode immediately after! )
I just love the progression of the show and characters, and at the same time the evidence is always front and center. No wonder why it's lasted 12 seasons...it's such a great show!

tell me about it :bolian::hugegrin:!!

 

[Crumbs]

Also don't forget the deleted Catnip scene from the Pilot, imo I'm glad they deleted it

Oh yes I forgot about that, but then again I haven't seen it and to be honest, I don't plan on doing so. Having had a chance to look back on the past 12 years, I just didn't see it and I don't think having an office romance so early on would have boded well for the series.

I'm not sure whether I'd have become as hooked having watched from Season 1 but again this is from a hindsight perspective as I was never put in that position, sure it was intriguing but I don't think that it would have pulled me in as some of the later seasons would have done. (Or even some of the later Season 1 episodes.)

 

[sharp52092]

Also don't forget the deleted Catnip scene from the Pilot, imo I'm glad they deleted it

Oh yes I forgot about that, but then again I haven't seen it and to be honest, I don't plan on doing so. Having had a chance to look back on the past 12 years, I just didn't see it and I don't think having an office romance so early on would have boded well for the series.

Agreed, glad they didn't do it, I wouldn't want my own favorite ships then

 

[~fox~]

You know what's really freaky?

When you watch these old episodes on dvd (or some of mine are amazon web downloads) in really good quality...you can actually see veins throb and bellies rising with breath...in the db's!! :lol:

(one example...@ 11:40ish in Season 3 Episode 5 Abra Cadaver the guy is laying there on the slab with his heart on his chest...and you can clearly see the sheet rise as he breathes! :wtf

 

[sharp52092]

You know what's really freaky?

When you watch these old episodes on dvd (or some of mine are amazon web downloads) in really good quality...you can actually see veins throb and bellies rising with breath...in the db's!! :lol:

(one example...@ 11:40ish in Season 3 Episode 5 Abra Cadaver the guy is laying there on the slab with his heart on his chest...and you can clearly see the sheet rise as he breathes! :wtf

Whoops :lol:

 

[jafox]

It's hard for me to go back and review the earlier episodes without recognizing that life was different back then. My life has changed, so I like it when fictional characters evolve over the course of a show as well. I was a science major in school, so the scientific focus of the show was a draw for me. I was very much a regular viewer for the first 2 years, then became more of a casual viewer until season 7. RL was just more consuming during my 'intermission', but the procedural aspect of the show allowed me to watch 'whenever'.

The serialized nature of season 7 actually brought me back into being a more regular viewer. I really felt the episodes were top notch and I became intrigued with the Grissom/Sara storyline; and the rest, as they say, is history. I've since bought the dvd's of previous seasons, and watched and (probably over)analyzed the characters and the cases and the relationships throughout the years. Although still a forensics procedural at it's core, in my mind, the characters are the heart and the success of the show.

So, like many of you here, I rewatch older episodes with an appreciation for how far the characters and the show have come. For me, it's more about growing and improving than it is about repeating the past. In that regard, I'm mostly happy with how the show has evolved.

All that said , as far as the introductory season goes, I enjoy Cool Change much more than the Pilot. I like quirky Grissom to some extent, but I think in some of the earlier episodes he was kind of silly, and hard to take seriously considering their line of work, so I'm glad WP toned that down to some degree. ('Viva Las Vegas' was a better quirky Grissom to me.) I do remember liking all the characters and their different interactions with each other back then; but, for whatever reason, Sara-centric episodes always touched me more. 'Sex, Lies, and Larvae' is still so much fun to watch; it kind of defined the 'geek' nature of the show in the first season, as well as seeing the early foundation for Grissom and Sara's relationship. And 'Unfriendly Skies' is still one of the better ensemble episodes to date.

 

[sharp52092]

Ah yes, Unfriendly Skies is one I had forgotten, favorite of s1

I like the GSR of course but what I really liked is the team and Brass reacting what happened

They really do need to show more of that, it help makes CSI more unique

Gentle Gentle: I liked Grissom getting emotional and upset

Justice is Served: Probably my least favorite of s1 but it wasn't terrible, it was the B case I disliked

 

[Crumbs]

Interesting that “Sex, Lies and Larvae” has popped up a couple of times; I’ve personally never cared for the episode and found it the weakest of Season 1. :lol: Despite having three cases, I thought the main case was a little ‘meh’ apart from the entomology focus and I found the two supporting cases incredibly boring.

I do agree that “Unfriendly Skies” is probably one of the best team episodes ever written and I think I have it ranked in my top 5 episodes of all time too. The re-enactment scene is an instant classic and I love the discussion the CSIs have at the end about what they would have done on the plane.

Anyway, I think that’s enough on the first two episodes so let’s jump forward a couple of seasons to the next episode:

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Season 4, Episode 7: “Invisible Evidence”
Written by: Josh Berman
Original Airdate: November 13, 2003
CSI Files Synopsis: "Warrick is blindsided in court when a bloody knife he recovered from a suspected killer's car is determined to be inadmissible, leaving the CSIs only 24 hours to find new evidence before the accused murderer is set free."

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Over the course of the show, each of the characters has had a chance to be highlighted in some episodes. The lab rats, Nick and Greg have a fair few under their belts. Sara and Catherine also have a lot of character-centric episodes dedicated to them and I think we can all agree that Ray has had more than enough episodes covering his problems. If there’s one character who I think has been under-represented throughout the series, it’s Warrick. Sure he had a few in the early seasons until the poor guy disappeared into the background for almost the entirety of Seasons 6 and 7 and then comes back in Season 8 to a poorly developed storyline (in my opinion) and then to be killed off.

“Invisible Evidence” is a great episode which shows Warrick take on more of a leadership role (which we saw a bit in Season 2’s “Ellie”) but it also shows Grissom acting more like a supervisor. In earlier episodes, he’s shown as someone poor at politics maybe even incompetent in some aspects but here he takes a backseat, focusing on keeping the CSIs on task, dealing with the Sheriff and rightfully giving Warrick the credit at the end.

The episode also shows the CSIs being in the hotseat with not only having a ticking clock against them, but the media as well as the victim’s families. The case itself was far from the most interesting which the show had portrayed up to that point, but the very nature of the ticking clock adds a bit of tension to the episode and makes a relatively bog-standard case a little more interesting. Whilst I always thought there was a possibility the accused didn’t actually commit the crime, I didn’t think it was particularly obvious which way it could have gone.

My favourite parts of the episodes? (Sorry in advance to the Sara fans by the way. )

Grissom reprimanding Sara after she’s pulled off her case. (She seemed to have a lot of “MY CASE” tantrums during Season 4 I noticed!) Good to see Gil stepping up and acting like a supervisor. I also enjoyed the Gil/Catherine conversation which went something on the lines of: “Do you reckon I was a bit harsh on Sara?” “Not harsh enough!”

Sara: Do you know what pisses me off?
Nick: Lots of things. :guffaw:

The Warrick/Nick angst furthermore highlights the stress the job inflicts on them, having seen how good buddies they are throughout the show this scene comes out particularly strong.

Grissom being Grissom and constantly ignoring Sheriff Attwater. :lol:

Finally of course you can’t forget the Warrick/Catherine in the womens’ bathroom scene. A particularly humorous scene made even funnier by Catherine remarking “I’m all for it!” :lol:

I don’t generally go looking for plot holes in episodes but I find it hard to believe that it took until the prelim for it to be discovered that the paperwork hadn’t properly come through. I realise it’s for entertainment purposes but that’s my only little gripe in an otherwise solid episode which incorporates some great courtroom, crime scene and character drama.

My rating for “Invisible Evidence”: 8.3/10 (very good)

So what are your thoughts for this episode?

 

[jafox]

Up to season 4 already? I must have missed some days. :lol:

Season 4 is far from a favorite of mine (the writers really put Sara through hell this season). It was as if the writers said, 'Hey, which character can we punish the most this season?', and Sara drew the short straw. But it does have some stand out episodes: Homebodies, Butterflied, Fur and Loathing (who didn't like this one!), Turn of the Screws, and Bloodlines.

I thought 'Invisible Evidence' was a slightly better than average episode, I'd maybe give it a 7.5. Warrick agonizing and continually looking at the clock was good, along with Grissom telling him not to; I always enjoyed the Nick and Warrick dynamic; and, I can't help it, I love a pissed off Sara! I also loved Nick and Sara reinflating the car; that was cool.
But, TBH, that scene with Catherine and Grissom that you liked, and many Sara haters relished, tainted my opinion of Catherine for the rest of her time on the show. (I believe she just said 'Not enough'.) And it was more the way she said it. It seemed smug and catty, and it was vindictive and without provocation. Sara and Catherine worked well together on many cases in the previous seasons, and they had a nice scene at the end of 'Crash and Burn'; so it just seemed so weird, and out of place, and there for what purpose? I'm not saying Grissom wasn't right in reprimanding Sara, he was and he did, but that should have been the end of it. Coupled with 'After the Show' from this same season, it seemed the writers were intent on stirring up ill will between Cath and Sara; it was manipulative, trite, and ridiculous. Add this to the out of the blue drinking problem and the non-existent CSI promotion they cooked up for Sara and Nick.... well, like I said, season 4 is not a favorite.
Other than those things, I don't really have a good memory for what else happened in this episode. It's not one I've rewatched much.

As to Warrick, I don't necessarily think he was underused, but probably underappreciated. He was prominent in a lot of episodes, but I agree an actual Warrick-centric episode in the later years was rare; but we don't know how much of that may have been due to his now well known off screen antics. I did love his scene with Ruby Dee in 'Empty Eyes', though; that's the Warrick I like to remember.

ETA: LOL, I almost forgot the 'Pin me down' scene! This episode did kind of redeem itself with that. Ok, I'll bump it up to an 8.