Review of C.S.I.: Season 5 Part 1 (Box Set)

Introduction

CSI, or Crime Scene Investigation to give the full name, has been around a while now. The daddy of one of the biggest TV franchises with two highly successful spin-offs (and the odds must be short for yet another in a year or so…), CSI follows the adventures of a dedicated team of forensics investigators as they endeavour to solve some of the most imaginative murders in TV history via the evidence alone.

Forensic science, you would think, would be one of the most boring things to watch. After all, on countless detective shows throughout history the `tecs always manage to solve the murders after yelling expletives when told that the evidence will take anywhere from 4 weeks to process. In CSI land, they take a little liberty with the truth in that processing fingerprints and getting a hit from IAFIS (Integrated Automatic Fingerprint Identification System) or getting a hit for a DNA sample from CODIS (Combined DNA Index System) takes little more than a couple of minutes. The less said about massive databases on tyre treads or automotive paint, the better; although according to some of the extras I`ve seen on previous box sets suggests that some of these things do actually exist.

So the crime (or two generally) is wrapped up in a neat 41 minute episode, but that`s not all as we also have the obligatory flashbacks that explain the train of thought of whoever is the lead CSI at any given point and also the SFX that show in CGI gore how each injury occurred. These are the selling points of this franchise, and they have clearly worked as there is now a phenomenon called the `CSI effect` whereby jurors are now much more inclined to trust forensic evidence presented in court, which could have had different implications during the `trial of the century` back in 1994. But that`s a different story altogether…

Season 5 ended in dramatic fashion with the Tarentino-directed two part finale, watched by 40 million viewers apparently. However, we`re getting ahead of ourselves here.

So what do we have in this half of the season? Well, the usual mix of weird cases: a body in an alien suit near Area 51, storm surfing, bone marrow harvesting and kidnap, fumigation, plastic surgery, swinging, transgender murder, child abuse, and narcocorrido. Oh, and an excellent serial killer episode entitled What`s Eating Gilbert Grissom?

Video

You know the score now; Las Vegas by day and night, either lots of sun and desert or the bright neon lights of downtown Vegas. It looks good but I have a slight problem with the daylight tracking shots across Las Vegas, some of the buildings look blurred. This is a minor quibble, however, because we are talking about quick establishing shots.

Audio

The score is good, with a mix of rock and electronic tracks sprinkled in during the tedious lab work. The whole CSI franchise uses tracks by English rock group The Who, which surely confused a whole host of young music fans at the climax of Live 8, but someone seems a little hacked off about being credited as each disc contains a music credit item on the main menu. Seems a little overkill to me, or maybe an attempt by the music publishers to try to shift a few more copies of their Greatest Hits compilation off the back of CSI.

It`s also well subtitled, although I would prefer it if they also included a track listing for the soundtrack as I wouldn`t mind looking up a few of the artists featured...

Features

Hmm, seems that the recent releases of CSI have decided to add more commentaries (see also the recent CSI Miami S3 P1).

5.1 Viva Las Vegas - commentary by director Danny Cannon and CSI tech expert Carol Mendelson. This one is quite fun as this pair give us inside knowledge on why certain things happen on the show.

5.2 Down The Drain - commentary by Ken Fink (producer/director) and Naren Shanker (exec producer/writer).

5.7 Formalities - commentary with Dustin Lee Abraham (Story Editor) and Naren Shanker (exec producer)

5.11 Who Shot Sherlock? - commentary by Rich Catalan (writer/tech adviser), Ken Fink (director) and David Rambo (writer). This commentary contains a discussion of a crime scene where a victim has bled out slightly from a head shot. Catalan explains that in reality the whole floor would have been covered with blood rather than just the small pool we see. He is then asked how he would have worked under those conditions, to which he simply responds "very carefully".

5.12 Snakes - commentary by Richard J.Lewis (producer/director), Dustin Lee Abraham (Story Editor) and George Eads (Nick Stokes, yay!). This is probably the most fun commentary, although it is also major back slapping time, with one of the principal actors on board.

The Research of CSI: Maintaining the accuracy - 11 minute featurette on how the show interacts with real CSI`s in their attempt to `keep it real`. David Berman, coroner`s assistant `Super Dave` in the show, is actually also the Head Researcher, which is something I didn`t know. Respect.

Conclusion

It was the first kid on the block and it`s still the best. Miami may have the sun and shades (I think they`re glued to David Caruso`s face…), but the forerunner still simply has CSI as it`s title, we don`t need to be told where it is. Gil Grissom is a geek hero (and probably William Petersen`s defining role, especially with that Riker-factor beard), he solves crimes and studies insects while being worshipped by his team of gorgeous and handsome assistants with various personal issues.

Season 5 saw some major changes occur with the unexpected return of the evil slimy butt-licking Conrad Ecklie (Marc Vann) promoted to Lab Assistant Director and then moves quite fast in getting one over on super-geek Grissom by breaking up his team. We also see Greg Sanders (Eric Szmanda) take his first steps out of the lab and we are introduced to a female version of Grissom with ex-detective Sophia Curtis (English actress Louise Lombard).

The first half of the season takes up a lot of space with Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger); she discovers her boyfriend cheating on her, she has problems with her daughter, she flirts a bit with Warrick, she has doubts over Grissom`s willingness to recommend her for promotion, she discovers that supervising the guys she`s worked alongside is difficult and sometimes a lonely job. She also seems to resent to sudden closeness of new girl Sophia to Gil as they are thrown together by Ecklie after he promotes Willows to the swing shift (when she wanted days). It`s interesting, but a lot of time is spent on her private life, but not so much on the others. I`m guessing it`s purely because she probably has more to adjust to when those changes actually occur, but loner Grissom is the star of this show and all the better for it as his personal life is quite mysterious.

The transition from lab geek to semi-cool CSI for Greg is handled well, with a lot of comedy between the established team and also the lab tech Hodges (Wallace Langham - he`s ace) and straight-laced but ultraphobe Mia Dickerson (Aisha Tyler). The eventual passing of his field evaluation brings the splintered team back together for a minor celebration before big bad Ecklie breaks it all up with his usual bureaucratic management hamfistedness.

The season ends on a high and dramatic note, but don`t think the first half of this season is any less of watch. My only problem with these box sets is that clearly it is thought that the UK market will pay more for them as they are all split (same as Lost, West Wing et al) in two part box sets, whereas the US market seems to sustain a complete box set per season. Cynical? Moi?