We got another brand-new episode of CSI last night. It was called “Lying Down With Dogs”, and the main storyline dealt with an illegal dogfighting operation in Las Vegas. That was a pretty timely plot, considering the fact that Michael Vick was sentenced earlier in the week for his role in a similar operation. Hmm. There was also a bit of continuation with the Warrick plot from last week, but not as much as I expected. Anyway, here’s a quick rundown of what happened in episode 8×10.
Plot summary (with possible spoilers): Nick and Greg get called out to a remote scene where a few teenagers spotted a dead body. It turns out that the female vic had been thrown into a pit that served as a mass grave for dogs. She had dog bites all over her body as well, but it was far too early to determine if that was the official cause of death.
During the autopsy, Doc Robbins realizes that he knew the woman. Her name was Liz Rodriguez, and she had just won a Humanitarian of the Year award the night before. Doc Robbins knew that because his band was playing at the banquet. He saw her husband at the party, and then saw her leave by herself later on.
The investigation brings Nick to a kennel, where he finds more evidence and a couple of employees to question. It soon emerges that Liz was not only involved in high-stakes dogfights, but she also financed the kennel where dogs were trained.
Eventually Nick figures out that one of Liz’s employees killed her because of the way she constantly mistreated the dogs. Moreover, it turns out that Liz’s husband tacitly approved of this killing, saying only that “Violence begets violence”. Nice.
Meanwhile, Warrick is questioned by Internal Affairs regarding his relationship with Candy, the stripper who was found dead in his car. When he’s cleared of any official wrongdoing, he asks Grissom to let him back on the case. Grissom refuses, at which point Warrick loses his cool — again. Grissom finally suspends Warrick for two weeks, telling him that if he doesn’t accept the suspension, he’ll be fired.
My Reaction: I usually don’t like these types of “ripped from the headlines” episodes, but I thought this one was well done. I could barely watch the parts where they showed the dogs in the ring together, and can’t believe that people actually enjoy this brutal activity. I was horrified to hear that sometimes fighting dogs are fed smaller dogs just to give them a taste for blood. OMG!
The Warrick stuff was much better than last week (actually, the whole episode was — thanks to having a regular director back), but still wasn’t all that interesting. It looks like that arc is going to continue for a few episodes more, though, so I guess I better get used to it.
I’m not sure when the next new ep will air, but it probably won’t be until next year. I’ll be back with more recaps then!