Season 2 Discussion

PraetorCorvinus

PraetorCorvinus

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Moderator
A few months back I started a thread discussing season 1. Well, I think now we should discuss season 2 (given that I remembered the other thread :shifty:).

So once again we should remember all the good and bad that came with this season including:

-The introduction of two of the most popular reoccurring characters, Sam Braun and Lady Heather. This season also marked the first appearance of Archie as the A/V tech as well as introducing Brass's daughter Ellie.

-The conclusion of the Millander story arc.

-CSI Miami's pilot episode "Cross-Jurisdictions."

What were some of your favorite episodes? (Mine include "Burked", "Caged", "Slaves of Las Vegas", "Chasing the Bus", and "Stalker".)

Least Favorites? ("Alter Boys", "Cats in the Cradle...", and "Cross-Jurisdictions". Sorry, not a Miami fan)

What else did you like or dislike? Character developments? New Characters? Wardrobe :lol:?

Here's a list of episodes:

201: Burked
202: Chaos Theory
203: Overload
204: Bully For You
205: Scuba Doobie-Doo
206: Alter Boys
207: Caged
208: Slaves of Las Vegas
209: And Then There Were None
210: Ellie
211: Organ Grinder
212: You've Got Male
213: Identity Crisis
214: The Finger
215: Burden of Proof
216: Primum Non Nocere
217: Felonius Monk
218: Chasing the Bus
219: Stalker
220: Cats in the Cradle
221: Anatomy of a Lye
222: Cross-Jurisdictions
223: The Hunger Artist

Talk amongst yourselves and enjoy :)
 
I think season two is possibly one of my favourite seasons - I think there's just about the right balance between the different types of story: whereas some of the later seasons do get a little unrelenting in the grimness, season two still has a few nicely light moments and everyone gets at least one good episode.

Favourite episodes:
-Burked
Mostly because it introduces Sam Braun and because it does a really good job of reintroducing everyone
-Scuba Doobie-Doo
If for no other reason than Grissom's completely incredulous expression when the apartment complex manager explains murdering his wife by simply saying "She nagged me" (though the scuba diver up a tree thing is entertaining, too!)
-Chasing the Bus
Another really good ensemble story

Least favourite episodes:
-Overload
Mostly because of the A plot which just doesn't really grab my attention, although the B plot has its problems too (not the least of which is why on earth would Nick volunteer up his secret in a HALLWAY of all places?!)
-Organ Grinder
It's an okay story, but thanks to the rather insane repeat schedule, I think I could have caught this one five times before they even thought about showing Chasing the Bus once and it's not THAT good a story! Also, I think I'm just predisposed to dislike this episode thanks to Marcia Cross' presence as a guest star - really not a fan of hers...!
-Identity Crisis
I don't much like the Millander arc anyway, but I have so many problems with the way it's resolved that I could be here for the next six weeks, so I'll just leave it as: can't stand it!

I too am not much of a Miami fan, but I quite liked Cross-Jurisdictions - I thought it was an interesting story - although it's not one I watch terribly often.

The only other episode I want to specifically mention is Stalker, which was a good episode (and unlike Overload, I didn't actually feel let down when I finally got to see it) but I do sort of wonder if the writers couldn't have played it a little more subtle and got a few clues that something was going on with Nick into the previous episodes to build it up a little more. I do also wonder at both the way it ended and the fact that Warrick seems to think chasing criminals is more important than making sure the guy who's supposed to be his best friend is still breathing!

And damn, now I'm jonesing to go and watch Slaves of Las Vegas...which the repeats have yet to be brave enough to even contemplate showing! (Thank heaven for DVDs...)
 
Season 2 is amongst my favorites. The theme seemed to be to take the team and ‘open’ them up a bit – by adding some small, personal tidbits, and putting them in the ‘line of fire’.

The writers seemed to take the very end of season 1 (the scene in the diner with the team eating breakfast together) and continued on with the ‘family’ aspect of the team – starting at the very beginning with the introduction of Sam Braun as a close family friend of Catherine, and later on including her former mentor, Jimmy Tadero in Felonious Monk. Then there was the introduction of Brass’ daughter, Ellie.

It also delved into the hazards of the job for our team members – Nick stalked (Stalker) and Catherine ‘kidnapped’ (The Finger); And then there’s the return of the serials – Paul Millander and Tammy Felton – as well as the beginning of one of my favorite recurring arcs – the introduction of Lady Heather. Of course, there had to be the obligatory tie in to the spin-off, CSI: Miami, with Cross-Jurisdictions. Oh, and can’t forget Hank! Hey, I liked the guy – even if they turned him into a jerk.

Season 2 also focused a lot on ‘team’ episodes, like Burked, Chaos Theory, And Then There Were None, Identity Crisis, the Finger, Chasing the Bus & the Hunger Artist. However, the season did include some great episodes with duo pairings, like my favorite Catherine and Sara.

The best part of season 2 is the guest stars: Scott Wilson as Sam Braun and Melinda Clarke as Lady Heather are the two most notable, and probably the two most powerful presences the show has had to date. However, there were other well-known names to make individual appearances, like Marcia Cross and Anne Ramsay, Bruce McGill, Dale Midkiff, Tess Harper, Currie Graham, Jason Beghe, and Ed Lauter.

We also got our introduction to Archie and Detective Lockwood, and we saw Detective Vega on a more semi-regular basis.

My least favorite episodes: Anatomy of a Lye, Overload, and Ellie.

My favorites: Burked, Slaves of LV, Caged, Identity Crisis, And Then There Were None, The Finger
 
The ending of Stalker has always bothered me. The psychic who appears several times during the episode ultimately ends up at Nick's apartment to warn him of impending danger. The stalker kills him, bam, and the seer falls to the floor. No mention is ever made of him again. :confused:
There is a corpse on George's floor that no one notices! What was everybody on the crew, writers, directors, etc., thinking? :cardie:
LaSquisita
 
Besides Warrick thinking that helping Nick didn't "feel like the right thing", which was weird, I also thought it was weird when Catherine said, "The stalker could have killed Nick and didn't" and Grissom says, "I wonder why". Um....what was pushing him out a second story window supposed to do??
confused.gif


Then, of course, there's the little matter of leaving a person on meds and with a concussion alone in their house just hours later. :lol:

And just walking off and leaving him at the police station saying they need to "get back to the lab". :wtf: What the...??

And finally, there's the window that isn't broken in the long shot when Catherine and Grissom go back to the house, but then it's broken in the shot from inside.
 
Heh, Stalker used to be one of my favorites from this season.Thanks for ripping it to shreds for me. Now I'm going to go cry into my pillow. :(

Since we're discussing Nick, I'll go ahead and throw in my two cents of "Overload". I don't like the back story they gave Nick here. Since I found out that George didn't want to do it (he said it in an interview or something. Can't recall), they shouldn't have done it. He could still be empathic and extra emotional with kids without that in his past.
 
PraetorCorvinus said:
Heh, Stalker used to be one of my favorites from this season.Thanks for ripping it to shreds for me. Now I'm going to go cry into my pillow. :(

Since we're discussing Nick, I'll go ahead and throw in my two cents of "Overload". I don't like the back story they gave Nick here. Since I found out that George didn't want to do it (he said it in an interview or something. Can't recall), they shouldn't have done it. He could still be empathic and extra emotional with kids without that in his past.
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Sorry! :lol: It's still one of my faves tho. That's probably why I obsess over the little details like this...I've seen it so many times.

Yeah, I think this moment in Overload is like a lot of things that happened early in the show's life. They didn't quite know where they were going with it all, and it's one of those things that's faded away, except in fanfics. ;)

Thing is, George changed his mind about the Stalker episode too, after suggesting that he be the one to be stalked, then he felt like it wasn't a good move...made Nick look like a doofus not to notice someone living in his attic. :)
 
Smokey said:
Thing is, George changed his mind about the Stalker episode too, after suggesting that he be the one to be stalked, then he felt like it wasn't a good move...made Nick look like a doofus not to notice someone living in his attic. :)
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I didn't know that. I can kinda see where he's coming from. I think Athersgeo is right, they should have hinted at it a few episodes prior. Have Nick come into work and say that he might have rats in his attic or something.

Nick: "Man, I keep losing my clothes! They just keep disappearing."

Or something.

Would have made it very interesting.
 
PraetorCorvinus said:
Smokey said:
Thing is, George changed his mind about the Stalker episode too, after suggesting that he be the one to be stalked, then he felt like it wasn't a good move...made Nick look like a doofus not to notice someone living in his attic. :)
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I didn't know that. I can kinda see where he's coming from. I think Athersgeo is right, they should have hinted at it a few episodes prior. Have Nick come into work and say that he might have rats in his attic or something.

Nick: "Man, I keep losing my clothes! They just keep disappearing."

Or something.

Would have made it very interesting.
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The problem there is that some of the directors/exec producers do seem to have a thing against doing that level of continuity. (Danny Cannon, for one, actually says in commentary on s6's Shooting Stars that he hates following up on what went before, which is something that just blows my mind completely, both as a fan and as a writer!)

I suppose the other argument against it that the writers would make is that it isn't necessarily a week between each episode so this sort of gentle hint thing wouldn't necessarily have worked (given the definite statement in Stalker that Nigel's only been in Nick's attic three weeks) - at best, the hints would only have gone into Chasing the Bus and would anyone have noticed them in that episode?
 
Although I gave up on CSI:MIA after the second season and haven't watched any of the DVDs in years (I could rant for hours about the plot-holes and inconsistencies in the "Bodycount" episode), "Cross-Jurisdictions" is an o.k. episode. But there is one part that always drives me up a wall when I watch: the body found in the trunk of the chief's car at the airport. They never explain just who he is.
 
When I think of season 2, a few episodes really stick out to me.

First is The Finger. I think this was the first time that CSI fans could really see what Marg Helgenberger is capable of, and when she's given the ball, she really does roll with it. I love that they presented her in this dangerous situation without having someone holding a gun to her or threatening her physically, and she outsmarted the killer and captors without even realizing that she did it until later. And the subtle worry that the team has for her is great: Brass telling Grissom they can't make a move yet, the blink-and-you-miss-it sigh of relief from Doc R when Cath calls Grissom, the way Sara seems confused that Cath isn't talking to her in the diner, it just works perfectly. Plus, the great, subtle scene with CAtherine and Lindsey is enough to make your heart melt. Then, Cath's anguish at the end when she realizes that Logan was using her is great. This is one episode across the series that I can watch repeatedly.

Another great episode for me as a Cath fan was Felonious Monk. I hate the A story (found it boring) but the B story of Catherine looking into the murder of her dancing friend (Stephanie Watson) was really, really good, and a great character development episode of Cath. I loved how they made her mentor out to have made a mistake, and that she had to make that hard decision of having him arrented for tampering with the evidence. I really wish/hope that they would touch back on Stephanie's murder before/if Marg leaves the show, because it obviously hurt Catherine that her friend's murder was still unsolved.

Other good episodes of the season were Burked, Ellie, Cross Jurisdictions. I didn't mind Cats in the Cradle too much, and Stalker is kinda just there for me. Prinum Non Nocere was a blah episode except for the one line when Cath and Grissom were in the apartment...

Cath: "Judging from these stains, I'd say four women for every piece of furniture including the TV. At least we know what this guy was about: bucks, pucks and..."
Grissom: *looks at her*
Cath: ".....chicks." :lol:
 
I would agree that "Felonious Monk" is probably one of the best Catherine episodes made. I hate that it was the B story in that ep (although I did enjoy the A one).

Along with the previously mentioned "The Finger" and "Burked", this was one stellar season for the lovely Catherine.
 
Thank's PraetorCorvinus I loved this season and have got it on DVD, I don't think I have any least favs. except maybe the "Cross Juristrictions" cause' of Horatio, but here's a list of my favs and some accompanying photos to boot, not necessarily in order~

BURKED Based on a ture story of Sandy Murphy and the casino mogul Binion, who till this day his murder is murky and really never solved, who owned the "Horseshoe" Casino

YOU'VE GOT MALE

PNN "Since when were you interested in beauty"? "Since I met you"

BURDEN OF PROOF

ANATOMY OF A LYE

HUNGER ARTIST

FELONIOUS MONK

SCUBA DOOBIE-DOO

CATS IN THE CRADLE


CHAOS THEORY

STALKER Poor sweet Nick~

BULLY FOR YOU
 
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Smokey said:
Besides Warrick thinking that helping Nick didn't "feel like the right thing", which was weird, I also thought it was weird when Catherine said, "The stalker could have killed Nick and didn't" and Grissom says, "I wonder why". Um....what was pushing him out a second story window supposed to do??
confused.gif


Then, of course, there's the little matter of leaving a person on meds and with a concussion alone in their house just hours later. :lol:

And just walking off and leaving him at the police station saying they need to "get back to the lab". :wtf: What the...??

And finally, there's the window that isn't broken in the long shot when Catherine and Grissom go back to the house, but then it's broken in the shot from inside.
Click to expand...


See leaving Nick alone after he was released from the hospital always bugged me too. The doctor would not have released him unless there was someone with him. With concussions they don't want you sleeping for long periods of time and someone needs to check on you every once in awhile.

Yes, leaving him alone while they all went back to work :wtf: This is just one of the ways Grissom treated him badly. Oh and Grissom telling Nick that is wasn't about him. :wtf: Ummm let's see: Nigel kills Jane as a present for Nick, evening posing her and coloring her hair to match Nick's prom date, but it wasn't about Nick. Then Nigel lives in Nick's attic watching him, wanting to be Nick's friend, that they 'connected', but yeah Grissom it wasn't about him. :rolleyes:

That's right up there with Grissom telling Nick that 'it's over' when Kelly Gordon died. :rolleyes: Yeah, Nick was buried alive and lived through one of the worst nightmares that anyone could have, but it's over. Yeah, like Nick can just forget that happened.

Now don't get me wrong, I love Grissom and he'll always be a favorite character of mine, but let's face it, he treated Nick like crap.

:lol: for the unbroken window. I keep seeing that everytime I watch that episode.
 
speedystokesgirl said:
Smokey said:
Besides Warrick thinking that helping Nick didn't "feel like the right thing", which was weird, I also thought it was weird when Catherine said, "The stalker could have killed Nick and didn't" and Grissom says, "I wonder why". Um....what was pushing him out a second story window supposed to do??
confused.gif


Then, of course, there's the little matter of leaving a person on meds and with a concussion alone in their house just hours later. :lol:

And just walking off and leaving him at the police station saying they need to "get back to the lab". :wtf: What the...??

And finally, there's the window that isn't broken in the long shot when Catherine and Grissom go back to the house, but then it's broken in the shot from inside.
Click to expand...


See leaving Nick alone after he was released from the hospital always bugged me too. The doctor would not have released him unless there was someone with him. With concussions they don't want you sleeping for long periods of time and someone needs to check on you every once in awhile.

Yes, leaving him alone while they all went back to work :wtf: This is just one of the ways Grissom treated him badly. Oh and Grissom telling Nick that is wasn't about him. :wtf: Ummm let's see: Nigel kills Jane as a present for Nick, evening posing her and coloring her hair to match Nick's prom date, but it wasn't about Nick. Then Nigel lives in Nick's attic watching him, wanting to be Nick's friend, that they 'connected', but yeah Grissom it wasn't about him. :rolleyes:

That's right up there with Grissom telling Nick that 'it's over' when Kelly Gordon died. :rolleyes: Yeah, Nick was buried alive and lived through one of the worst nightmares that anyone could have, but it's over. Yeah, like Nick can just forget that happened.

Now don't get me wrong, I love Grissom and he'll always be a favorite character of mine, but let's face it, he treated Nick like crap.

:lol: for the unbroken window. I keep seeing that everytime I watch that episode.
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Wow, you really got it out for the whole "Nick is Grissom's bastard child" thing, huh? :lol: As much as I disagree, I will say this: you are certainly persistent and offer a compelling argument. I enjoy that ;).

To be fair, I've always thought Warrick secretly hated Greg, but hey...

Back to the season, and I'll be vague in case some have not seen any of the new episodes, I watched the final Millander episode and I didn't see any of the quirks mentioned in "Ghost Town" here. I'm still convinced they retconned the character.

Oh, and I watched "The Hunger Artist" for the first time since my initial viewing. I would say that it's an underrated season finale. Sure, it wasn't "Grave Danger", "For Gedda", or even "Inside the Box", but I felt the story was actually very good and Peterson's performance was outstanding.
 
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