Season 7 Discussion

PraetorCorvinus

PraetorCorvinus

Moderator
Moderator
Time for another season to discuss.

Season 7 was an interesting one. For many, it was a departure from the original setup and feel of the first six seasons. Some saw this as negative, others positive. Two of the present more common elements were introduced this season: season-long story arcs and the annual "Lab Rat" episode.

The three main story arcs of the season:

-The Miniature Killer
-The Fallout of Demetrius James
-The Introduction of Michael Keppler

Along with these, what other events (i.e. the death of Sam Braun) did you like or dislike? What episodes were your favorite? What about your least favorite?

List of episodes for this season:

701: Built To Kill Part 1
702: Built To Kill Part 2
703: Toe Tags
704: Fannysmackin'
705: Double Cross
706: Burn Out
707: Post Mortem
708: Happenstance
709: Living Legend
710: Loco Motives
711: Leaving Las Vegas
712: Sweet Jane
713: Redrum
714: Meet Market
715: Law of Gravity
716: Monster in the Box
717: Fallen Idols
718: Empty Eyes
719: Big Shots
720: Lab Rats
721: Ending Happy
722: Leapin' Lizards
723: The Good, The Bad, and The Dominatrix
724: Living Doll

Feel free to discuss anything and everything about this season. Please keep things civil and respectful. And be mindful of the Moderators' rules when discussing ships for this forum.

Previous discussions:
Season 1, Season 2, Season 3, Season 4, Season 5, Season 6
 
PraetorCorvinus said:
Time for another season to discuss.

Season 7 was an interesting one. For many, it was a departure from the original setup and feel of the first six seasons. Some saw this as negative, others positive. Two of the present more common elements were introduced this season: season-long story arcs and the annual "Lab Rat" episode.
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Yeah, for me it had a weird feel. I didn't care for it at all. It's kind of like they peaked and then started heading downhill with Season 7.

That said, I of course like a LOT of episodes from this season and the ones following. But something just seemed "off" for me.

The three main story arcs of the season:

-The Miniature Killer
-The Fallout of Demetrius James
-The Introduction of Michael Keppler
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Hated the the first two, loved Keppler. Now THAT'S how they should have brought Ray in...just another CSI from somewhere.
 
vegaslights said:
And then there was GSR. :rolleyes:
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Well... I kinda group that one in with the Miniature Killer. :lol:
Smokey said:
Yeah, for me it had a weird feel. I didn't care for it at all. It's kind of like they peaked and then started heading downhill with Season 7.

That said, I of course like a LOT of episodes from this season and the ones following. But something just seemed "off" for me.
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I agree with that. And I would have liked the Miniature Killer much more if it hadn't been made personal for Grissom. They had a pretty intriguing serial killer that was ultimately made into a plot device for GSR.

For the most part, I liked Greg's arc with the Demetrius James case. I just wish it had taken a different route. The character angst was good in that it allowed Greg to expand and develop beyond that of comic relief (though I wish he kept more humor for later seasons). The post mortem hearing, civil suit, and the spoiling of an otherwise great Drops episode I could have lived without.

And I agree about Keppler. His little arc was very enjoyable and two of my favorite episodes of this season come from it ("Sweet Jane" and "Redrum").

My other favorites:
"Toe Tags" - a surreal episode that I found interesting.
"Fannysmackin'" - Great episode for Greg.
"Happenstance" - one of those types of cases that doesn't seem possible but still enjoyable.
"Living Legend" - Just brilliant
"Lab Rats" - Very funny and my personal favorite of all the Rat episodes and my favorite of the MK episodes.
"Ending Happy" - A great example of CSI's dark humor.

Least Favorite:
"Built to Kill" both parts - I didn't care for the cases and hated the way they got rid of Sam.
"Burn Out" - I really despise the suspect in this one and thus can't stand to watch it.
"Living Doll" - When the whole Miniature Case soured to me.
 
season 7 was when i got into csi, it was when grissom came back from his sabbatical in law of gravity

season 7 is also my favorite season

the mini killer, my favorite serial killer :)

greg: he was hardly there all season except for his storyline :thumbsup: with demetrius james or 30 sec. to a minute of screentime :(, warrick's wasn't much better

gsr: i loved the little pieces of it the entire season, my favorite moments are when grissom says "you make me happy", sara shaves his beard, and sara reads the letter :)

the episodes i either really liked or liked all the episodes

keppler was alright, maybe i'd like him more if we had to know him more, too bad they killed him off

living doll: loved that one but boy was it a really long summer, my addiction grew a LOT that summer also, the mini killer turns out to be female that i did not expect

law of gravity: my first episode of csi, i had watched reruns on spike before but after gravity i soon started to become a die hard

the alright ones were built to kill parts 1 and 2, toe tags, living legend, sweet jane, redrum, meet market, monster in a box

burn out it's okay but the sex offender creeps me out

the good, the bad, and the dominatrix:
there was a moment or so i wanted to slap griss myself but i'm glad he saved heather
grissom walks in the hospital room and sees sara and heather ACKWARD
catherine conversation with sara :lol: and later griss :lol:
 
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Apart from the introduction and kickoff of the Labrats episodes, the season was a toss up for me. Some episodes didn't strike me as well as others.

I did enjoy Keppler and still think it was a shame that it ended the way it did. And I agree with Smokey, they should have introduced Ray into the mix the way Keppler was. I believe it would have won over many more fans a lot quicker.

Keppler had a different approach to the job which was kinda refreshing. And his overall demeanor was intriguing, even though he was carrying a lot of baggage from his past.

As for the Miniature Killer...well, I think it was a great idea...on paper or in the think tank, but it ended up a little flat at the end. But well that was the past.

And though Greg is not my number one fave, it was really nice to see his character grow. We DID get to see another side to him, apart from the comic relief of sorts, and seen him mature as a CSI.

Personal opinion...I don't think it was anywhere near one of the better seasons, but it was decent all the same. :)
 
I like season 7 a lot. It is one of my favorites along with seasons 1, 2, 9 (only the first half... ooops, plus about 3 great episodes on the second half) and 10 (a candidate for the best ever, but Grissom is nowhere).

My favorite episodes are:
Built To Kill - I always love episodes where Catherine shines. However, I feel sad for the unfortunate events happened to her. :(
Toe Tags - a very great way of incorporating ghosts in the episode. I like episodes with many cases than usual (3 or 4). No dull moments, just load of important scenes.
Happenstance
Living Legend - it's just great. Nice twists, great story.
Loco Motives - one of the funniest episode ever!!! I love Catherine's laugh at the end of the episode. I always make me smile (sometimes laugh) whenever I remember that scene! :lol: I don't know what to feel for the suspect's misfortunes.
Leaving Las Vegas - I love cold cases once in a while. This is a great installment.
Sweet Jane - serial killer plus cold case in one episode equals awesomeness.
Law of Gravity - I like Keppler's story arc. I just wish he wasn't killed so that we could have him now as part of the team.
Fallen Idols
Ending Happy - another one of the funniest episode ever! Happy was too tough to die! I love the interrogation scenes with Brass! The Paula Abdul line, the singing hooker, Greg with the hooker scene, Doc Robbins calling Brass... many more. Goodness! :guffaw:
Living Doll - I actually like this episode. Grissom rules again! I just don't like "Dead Doll". It's so dull that I can feel the heat of the dessert the entire episode.

My least favorite episodes are:
Redrum - I don't like the conspiracy.
Leapin' Lizards - I think this is my least favorite episode of all time. The lizard thing just doesn't work for me. It's so weird, hard to watch.

I like all the 3 story arcs mentioned above during this season.
 
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Definitely my favorite season. I thought the production upped its game, the stories were still compelling and unique after 6 years, and the creativity probably peaked with this season IMO.
I like multi-episode arcs, and this one had several that were all interlaced uniquely into the regular procedural aspects of the show: The Miniature Killer, Keppler, Grissom's sabbatical, Catherine's family trauma, Greg's ordeal, and GSR.
Though BTK wasn't necessarily my favorite episode, I loved the premiere opening in LV with the Cirque du Soleil.
It was also the season of the first, and still my favorite, lab rat episode.
There wasn't any episode I disliked, and most I really liked.

My favorites, still:
Empty Eyes (haunting, and Walter Goggins has gone on to do some great stuff since then)
Fallen Idols (the shave scene, and one of the best use of a song to open and close an epi, although Sweet Jane is a close second).
Ending Happy (GSR walk and talk, and Brass' interviews are still some of his best)
Fannysmackin'
Redrum
Living Doll

Least favorites:
Living Legend
Burn Out
Big Shots

I agree with several comments about Keppler; I liked his character, not too overpowering, and I thought he and Catherine were a good match.
Definitely, a unique season. As a GSR fan, it's easy to understand why I like it so much. But even without that storyline, I think the season was creatively one of its best, and seemed to have the best overall structure to it. The GSR scenes laced throughout the season was just the icing on the cake for me. :)
My only complaint would be the cliffhanger; it was a very long summer.
 
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Definitely amongst my least favorite seasons of this show. Yep, probably #1 on that dubious list.

- The one bright spot was the appearance of Mike Keppler, which was unceremoniously dimmed by the death of Mike Keppler.

- The mini crime scene killer story was good - for the first two cases. Then it became boring as all heck.

- Killing off Sam Braun pissed me off. (and I still am!)

Favorite episodes:
- BTK 2 (and the final 5 minutes of part 1)
- Living Legend (nice performance from Roger Daltrey)
- LocoMotives (a nice, subtle attempt at humor)
- Sweet Jane (the introduction to Keppler)
- Leapin' Lizards (a little more on the subtle humor)
- The Good, the bad & the Dominatrix (Lady H - enough said!)

Least favorite episodes:
Everything else
 
Season 7's the last one that I can really contribute on as a whole and I think I'm basically with everyone else in that I liked some of it, didn't like the rest and hated a few specific pieces.

It's worth noting, before I get into this, that my impression of this season is probably skewed slightly: I've only ever seen this via my DVDs. Which means that I got to see it in a very concentrated form with none of the waiting around a week to see how/if something was going to resolve and that DEFINITELY makes it a lot easier to like (and dislike!) the various story arcs.

That caveat given...

I didn't mind the Miniature Killer arc at all. One of the things that does make CSI a trifle unrealistic is the way things neatly (or almost so) wrap up within 42 minutes of television, so the idea of trying to do something that extends over the whole season is definitely one I was happy to see them play with, and the character they came up with was an interesting one. The fact that Grissom took it so personally...well that's not that much of a leap (even without the way the arc wraps up), because he's done that before and as for the final wrap up (bearing in mind that I haven't yet seen Dead Doll!), I thought that was basically everything a season finale cliffhanger ought to be.

I both did and didn't like Greg's arc for the season. Him getting some growth and getting a couple of episodes where he was (more or less) front and centre was the good part. The less good part was the way it happened. I really didn't like Fannysmackin'. It struck me as an episode that seemed to have sprung from the pages of some bad fanfic (even though I am well aware that the concept of fanny smacking - or happy slapping, or whatever you want to call it - is all too unfortunately real) and it just came across as really uneven. I also want to know why/how Nick wasn't at least reprimanded for punching a bystander. Yes, I know the guy he hit proved to ultimately be the villain, but that doesn't make what Nick did any less...well...illegal!

(And just on a minor point: "Y'all is plural. I use it a lot." No, no you don't. George might; Nick doesn't. I've found two [yes, I've been counting - I think we've already established I have no life!] instances across the preceeding six seasons where Nick actually says y'all. That doesn't constitute "a lot" in anyone's book!)

I'm also a little ambivilant about Kepler. There were some decent episodes in his time on the show (and whoever said this was the way the writers should have brought Ray in, you're absolutely right!), but again, they were done very unevenly and with next to no continuity. As angry as Nick is at the end of Redrum, I can't buy the way he's all smiles at the start of Meet Market. That might have been less jarring watching the two episodes on a week to week run, but on the DVD it REALLY sticks out. It doesn't help that there are some actors who I'm automatically suspicious of every time they show up and Liev Schreiber is one of them. That, though, is a personal quirk that I can't blame the writers for!

A serious plus for season 7 was having Roger Daltry appear. As a long time Highlander fan, I knew he was going to be great value for money - and he was, most definitely. Unfortunately, the way the episode plays out, I'm left sitting there going, "Okay, so how dumb are these CSIs that they haven't noticed that it's the SAME GUY EACH TIME?????????" And that's not mentioning the fake names, which got my antennae twitching at least one body before Nick finally catches on. I don't like it when I'm left feeling more intelligent than the CSIs. That said, though, I'll forgive the episode everything for that final scene between Catherine and Mickey Dunn. At least there was one twist I didn't see coming from a mile away...

Of the rest of the season, I did like Fallen Idols and I was entertained nicely by Toe Tags (again, an episode that plays with the formula and works well) and Happenstance (ditto) and was frustratingly amused by Loco Motives (Nick following a trail of ants and no-one makes any comment? REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEALLY?). Lab Rats made me pull a muscle from laughing so hard and Law of Gravity was a good wrap up to the Kepler arc (and probably the second best Kepler episode, behind Redrum)

The rest of the season, though, could quite nicely disappear into a blackhole somewhere.
 
lab rats along with field mice are my favorite lab rat episodes

monster in the box was my first mk episode, and boy did it catch my attention

i missed fallen idols :( between that and empty eyes it was march madness i believe :(, i started watching more and more csi on spike

ending happy :guffaw: me and my mom about died laughing, how many people does it take to bring happy down???

loco motives "Because I killed my Granny, it was a long time ago and it was an accident." :guffaw::guffaw:

sam braun yeah i wish they could of had him around a season or two more, but what more could we do with him is what tptb were probably thinking

bringing ray in like keppler i agree with since they didn't stick to the orginal plan of bringing him in as a newbie, i'd probably like ray if they just written him better
 
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I'm not sure whether it's because it was so long ago or because I just didn't like it that much but I'm having real trouble recalling much about Season 7.

Like it's already been mentioned, there were a few good moments and I liked a handful of episodes but on the whole, I felt pretty let down by Season 7.
 
I didn't really care for Season 7 that much.
I guess because it opened with Built to Kill. To me, that was WAY to much drama in two hours!
Too many things happened; Catherine thinks she got raped, Lindsey gets kidnapped, Sam Braun dies, all in the span of two hours! Too much for my brain. :lol:

I also didn't like the miniature killer arc either. It got boring after a while.

And as much as I love Lady Heather, I didn't care for The Good, the Bad and the Dominatrix. It made Heather look weak (for lack of a better word). And sort of dumb and I hated that she called Grissom, Grissom instead of Mr. Grissom like she used to. The whole Grissom-Heather-Sara triangle thing was just ... flat.

To me, the best episodes were with Keppler. He brought a spark or something back to CSI because he was such a mystery.

Season 7 wasn't my favorite, too many episodes I didn't care for.
 
I absoutely loved this season, so much my son-in-law got me it for Xmas, The Minature killer riveting 'who done it" and it was crazy Natalie Davis, who knew? It was intriguing riveting and exciting. And loads of GSR~ but except for boring Keppler who to me, added nothing to any episode he was featured in~ One of my all time favorite seasons:bolian:Some to mention~

"Built To Kill" both parts~
"Fannysmackin'"
"Living Legend"
"Law Of Gravity"
"Living Doll"
"Double Cross"
"Monster In A Box"
"Empty Eyes"
"Ending Happy"
"Living Doll"
 
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Season 7 is definitely my favotite season so far.
The two part season premier was great (especially the second part).I also liked Toe Tags for it's unique way of telling the story,Fannysmackin because Greg got a nice storyline that developed during the season.
The miniature killer story was awesome(my favorite serial killer of the show)with Monster In A Box being my favorite episode of the season.I also liked Living Legend because I always liked the stories about the old Vegas.
I didn't like the introduction of Keppler so much and the only good episode involving him was Law Of Gravity.
Lab Rats was crazy entertaining,while Living Doll was a phenomenal finale.I didn't like much Lady Heather's episode,but the worst episode of the season has to be Leapin' Lizards.The whole GSR stuff was really bad handled in my opinion.
 
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