This is just a general response to very popular musings on this board and particularly this episode. Well, probably not just this episode, but several this season.
oh, right. Um, Hi, I'm new. I usually lurk, but I felt like commenting, just because. Hence registering after many months of visiting this site.
I feel I always see the "this season has been boring" line or "it's a soap opera" or "it's jumped the shark" or any other popular complaint that I can't remember, but has been said several times since Season 6 has started. Honestly, I think Season 6 has been phenomenal except for a few bumps (Poppin' Tags, PoTTR, Daddy's Little Girl, just to name a few I think could've been better), but what season of CSI has been perfect? Sure, with any show we can always imagine that the first season was the best, but honestly, anyone can look back and find an episode from earlier seasons and wonder if it could've been better.
ToYD has been much more cohesive then some previous episodes this season have been. There was a victim, a plot gone awry and a killer who was caught. It had a general theme, "the fantasy". I enjoyed the interaction between Hodges and Catherine. The acting was superb as usual. Was the GSR heavy handed? Sure it was, but I believe someone said they've gone 21 episodes with no GSR? Um, no. They haven't. They've been dropping those subtle, corny one liners that we all secretly love all season.
Example: The Grissom "mouth-to-mouth" line.
Anyway, I guess my point...we as fans of a very popular television show have put the premise, the characters, the actors and the storylines on a golden pedestal. Yes, I'm a victim of this syndrome too. We expect too much because we keep comparing current episodes to previous ones that we believe to be better.
Just like anything in life, stuff can get boring or mundane or whatever. But I find comfort in the sameness. I love the corny opening lines usually delivered by Gris when first arriving at a crime scene. I love the GSR, even though it's not my ship. I love the little bit of drama they do give us whether it be Catherine's convoluted love life, Nick's dealings with stalkers, Sara's confusing, emotional attachment to Gris and childhood trauma, or Warrick's gambling addiction/live for the day attitude.
This show is a crime/drama. People tend to forget that drama part, so when it starts to lean from the crime to the characters, the world has suddenly gone crazy and to hell in a hand basket. It's okay, everyone. I promise.
Take comfort in the familiarity of the show. Remember that it is just a tv show and that these actors/writers/producers are working to make a living just like we are. The show has evolved and just like human beings should, the characters are evolving too. Does this evolution feel natural? Maybe it’s not, maybe it is...that’s up to you to decide, but one has to accept the fact that people change. The show will change.
I'm not trying to offend anyone, so please don't take offense. I just believe talking circles around the same complaints is fruitless pining and an unhealthy way to vent frustration. Life is too short and unpredictable to spend it picking apart little, useless things that may amount to nothing in the end.
CSI is pulling in millions upon millions of viewers each week including all of us. It’s obviously still doing something right. I always try to focus on the episodes in these threads, because well, that's what the forums should really be about...but I can't ignore the pleathora of replies that completely focus on everything but the episode.
So now that I've gotten that off my chest, I'll get off my soapbox and let everyone get back to the episode at hand. Have a good day everyone. I’m returning to lurker mode now.
