I really should stop reading the spoiler threads at TalkCSI. It's not good for my blood pressure. Sometimes I want to gnaw my hand off at the wrist, pick up the twitching, arachnid appendage, wave it above my head, and shriek, "The cases! Does anyone remember the cases? Please! Anyone!" while my stump spurts dramatic gouts of blood into the air. The bright side, if I choose this course of action, is that I will die shortly thereafter, and thus, not be subjected to any more hackneyed, badly-executed plot ideas.
I'm not averse to character development-really, I'm not-but in order for a big bang to be successful, there has to be a slow burn beforehand, and I don't mean the episode before or fifteen minutes before. It's like, well...you know. Sure, the wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am can be fun occasionally, but too often, it leaves you feeling oogy and chafed and wondering what just happened and why you thought it was a good idea.
I'm still going to watch the show for my Flack fix, but I cannot take it seriously as a procedural drama anymore. If I want personal angst done well and done right, I'll do it myself and read fic from those I trust. CSI:NY was a wonderful, gritty show in S1, and it's just a pity Les Moonves and CBS didn't trust the fanbase to support it as it done for the other shows in the franchise.
Sadly, with the news that Grey's Anatomy has trounced CSI in their first head-to-head, things are probably going to get worse.