The Season 8 premiere of CSI last week was much better than I expected it to be. I was hoping that it would signify a return to form for this once-beloved show, but unfortunately episode 8×02 was just another in a long string of mediocre efforts dating all the way back to the beginning of last season.
The best thing I can say about “A La Cart,” was that it was at least watchable and didn’t have me glancing at my clock every five minutes. But still, it wasn’t the type of ep that made me want to watch this series in the first place! At any rate, here’s what happened:
Nick/Greg/Grissom: Nick, Greg, and Grissom worked the A-plot this week, which consisted of trying to find out how a high school boy named Vincent Bartley wound up decapitated on the highway. His head was found in a football helmet even though he didn’t play the sport, and there were a few other clues that indicated his death warranted further investigation. After analyzing the evidence and tracking down a couple of people with ties to Vincent, Nick and Greg are finally able to determine what happened: Vincent was racing a go-kart on the highway and was decapitated after the treads from an 18-wheeler blew off right in his path.
Catherine/Warrick: These two investigate the B-plot, which involved the murder of a wealthy magazine publisher in a restaurant where diners eat in the dark. Because it was pitch black at the time, there were obviously no eyewitnesses, so Catherine and Warrick have to try to piece together what happened by using seating charts, evidence found at the scene, and diner testimony. It turned out that a disgruntled waiter killed the man in the hopes of framing the restaurant owner (who had a past relationship with the victim). Or something like that. Admittedly, I wasn’t paying much attention to this plot, so I didn’t catch all the details.
Sara: Sara is still sporting a bunch of injuries from her recent plight, so she wasn’t in the field with the rest of the team. She did, however, have to come in and tell Ecklie about her relationship with Gil, since it was (is) in direct violation of lab policy. In the end, it looks like Sara is going to go on the day shift, which will break up the team but allow her to continue seeing Gil without further risk to their careers.
My Reaction: Is it just me, or are the CSIs taking less and less time to solve cases every week? I think it feels that way because the writers are trying to squeeze in all this personal drama crap about Gil and Sara, which of course takes time away from the actual cases. I know that they had to have the internal investigation take place on screen because of the way the whole G/S relationship was revealed; but in the future, I would like to see this stuff relegated to the backburner or only mentioned in passing — like Warrick’s marriage and divorce.
There was a new police detective questioning suspects in the A-plot this week. I didn’t catch his name, but he already seems much better than Sofia (the Louise Lombard character). Does this mean Sofia is being replaced? She didn’t make an appearance this week, so who knows.
The cases themselves were pretty average. I notice that unlike earlier eps, the writers don’t try to fool us with misdirections very much anymore. Instead of giving us several suspects and making the big reveal at the end, we pretty much get one suspect and have to wait for the evidence to show if the death was an accident or murder. I think it’s kind of boring this way.
The go-karting scene at the end was pretty good. I like little touches that show the team bonding outside of work. I don’t want the writers to cram this stuff down viewers’ throats, but it’s great in small doses like this. I noticed that even Doc Robbins was in on the action (did he really need his walking stick in the kart with him?), which was cool. Didn’t see David, though. Or Hodges (but he’s never really been part of the inner circle anyway).
Not a great episode this week, but not completely horrible either. Still, I hope we get something better next time around!
I’ve only added one new television show to my regular viewing schedule this fall (Private Practice on Wednesdays). This means that I still don’t have any shows to watch on Friday or Saturday, which leaves me free to watch movies on those days. Nevertheless, there are weeks when I can’t make it out to the video rental place, so I also like to have a TV series box set or two on hand to ensure that I always have something new to watch (and write about on this blog).