CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

Don't know about the rest of you, but I'm so excited for this episode! I've been a big fan of Without a Trace since its first episode, and I confess to loving Jack Malone even more than Grissom and Co.! So this episode will be big one for me, and probably for the rest of you, too! We'll have to watch to see how the lowly litte Vegas crew interacts with the big guns from the FBI--I'm thinking that there will be some bruised egos tonight! What do you guys think? As always, a full recap after the show! Stay with me!

Episode Recap: Chick Chop Flick Shop

Did anyone else feel like tonight's episode was a day late and a dollar short? I mean, literally a day late? It's November now. I've gotten all of the spooks and ghosts and oozy things out of my system. I've moved on to turkey and pie and general overeating. So I would much rather have seen this week's episode last week, when we all had to suffer through a rerun! (Down with reruns!)

And instead of spoofing bad horror movies, which is what I think the writers were going for, it just felt like a bad horror movie. A really bad horror movie.

Of course, these aren't just any horror movies. They're porn horror movies, and we start out watching a beautiful young woman (and a dwarf and a circus freak) strung up in some kind of tiled room while blood is being sprayed on them rather sloppily. But, no, the beautiful young woman isn’t the victim. In fact, we never see her again. (Thankfully.)

The victim is a blonde star—odd, since, as Sara points out, the blonde usually lives while the brunette dies. Blonde Weatherly has been found lying in a pile of blonde dummies with an ax sticking out of her back, though it turns out the ax wasn’t the cause of death. She was stabbed with something else first. The ax was just a cover-up. But who stabbed her? Who moved her? And why?

There was no “B” story line in this week’s episode, because we were too busy following the ridiculous subplots of the CSI team and their fondness for horror flicks. Lab rat Wendy? She starred in one right out of college to help pay the bills. (She only got $600, so I don’t know what bills she was paying. Doesn’t seem worth it to me.) And David is apparently Weatherly’s Biggest. Fan. Ever.

And I was just so not on board with any of it. The CSIs weren’t even doing their usual crime-investigating thing. They dusted for fingerprints and didn’t find any. They figured out that the blood wasn’t really blood at all. And that really wrapped it up. No other really technical stuff involved.

Still, the CSIs have a few suspects. Weatherly’s ex-boyfriend, who was horribly burned in a fire and is now disfigured. The owner of the film company. His brother, who wants to get back at him for years of cruel behavior. In the end, it turns out it was an accident with a grisly cover-up. But of course, that wasn’t the end of it.

It's a dark and stormy night. Ronnie is alone at the film company, looking for her forgotten cell phone. But what’s the dripping from the ceiling? Why, the blood of the dwarf, who’s hanging dead from a beam. And someone dressed like the dead woman is roaming the halls. Ronnie runs, hiding in a bathroom set. She tries to call Catherine but can’t get service. Suddenly, the director staggers in. He’s been shot! And the company manager is coming after him to finish the job. But wait! He’s been hit from behind with an ax. Now he’s dead! His killer? The faux dead woman, who is in fact the disfigured man. He professes his love for Weatherly.

And that’s that. Like I said, bad horror movie. Ugh.

What did you guys think? Am I way off base here, or right on the money? And what did you think about Sara’s comments that she’s sick of death, and that the brunette always gets it in the end? I assume it’s all just leading up to her departure, but who knows? What do you guys think?

As always, don’t forget to check out our Online Video Guide for more killer CSI clips!

This week, the team is investigating the death of a famous porn actress whose specialty is a little more intense than you might think--she's been killed every way you can think of (and a few you probably never wanted to!). Don't worry, it's all been in good fun--at least until now. Something tells me this week's episode is going to be a little bloodier than most! What do you guys think? It might be the perfect thing to keep that Halloween spirit alive! As always, a full recap after the show. Stay with me!

So here's your first clue about this week's episode: It's entitled “The Chick Chop Flick Shop,” and it's aptly named. The reason? Grissom and his fellow CSIs go behind the scenes of a horror porn movie when one of the lead actresses, known for her slasher films, is murdered on the set. — Tim Holland

Batman and Robin. Starsky and Hutch. Hasselhoff and his talking car. Prime time has always featured plenty of crime-busting partners. And coming up, two of TV's toughest solo acts — Gil Grissom (William Petersen) and Jack Malone (Anthony LaPaglia) — join forces to catch a killer in a special CSI-Without a Trace crossover. Inspired by the real-life saga of a murderer who rode the rails to hunt his victims, the story begins on CSI, when a murder investigation by Grissom's team turns up a link to a case that Jack and the FBI have been pursuing for years...read more

CSI is a rerun this week, but you don't have to go without your favorite show. Tune into TV Guide Network's TV Guide Special: Inside the Crime Scene for exclusive cast interviews and a sneak peek at all the secrets of the new season; October 24 at 4pm/ET and October 25 at 11pm/ET. And for a sneak peek at the upcoming CSI-Without a Trace crossover, check out the spoiler-packed cover story in the new issue of TV Guide Magazine.

In Part 1 of my interview with CSI boss lady Carol Mendelsohn, she swore that Grissom "will not have seen the last of Sara Sidle" after Jorja Fox departs next month. But what that statement doesn't address is the fact that by the time Sara returns, Grissom may already be gone. With contracts for the rest of the show's primary cast — William Petersen included — set to expire at the end of this season, he and other CSIers could follow Fox out the door. What does Mendelsohn have to say about that? Find out — and get the lowdown on who'll replace Grissom and Sara as the show's next super-couple — in this, the second part of our Q&A...read more

Episode Recap: “The Case of the Cross-Dressing Carp"

Wow! As you all know from reading my preview item, I did not see this coming! Especially because of Michael Ausiello’s scoop — Jorja Fox is still leaving, though she may flit in and out of CSI kingdom from time to time. But despite all of that, when Grissom popped the question, Sara said yes!

Let me tell you, I heart this proposal. Heart heart heart! Spontaneous declarations of love are always better than scripted, pre-thought out speeches, don’t you think? I haven’t always been on board with Grissom and Sara’s relationship, but after tonight’s episode, I’ll support them no matter what! It was perfectly sweet and lovely. Only one thing darkened what should have been a storybook moment — despite Sara telling Grissom that she trusted him to keep her safe, she got stung by a bee anyway. Is this a dark omen, a sign of things to come? The knowledge that Jorja Fox is leaving the show makes me think that it is, but I really don’t want it to be! Now that I’m finally on board with this relationship, we know that it has to end. I’m bummed.

Also bumming me out — though not in a Jeers kind of way — is this week’s main story line. Don’t get me wrong, I thought it was fabulous. But during a week when Al Gore won a Nobel Prize for drawing attention to global warming, this episode about terrible things in the environment — terrible things that we put there — got to me. Brian is an 18-year-old found hanging from a tree with male genitalia and breasts. An intersexual? A pre-op sex change? A victim of a hate crime? It turns out he was none of these things. The ground water where he lived was so polluted with pharmaceutical waste that it actually threw off his hormonal imbalance, causing him to grow breasts while at the same time causing the local carp to have both male and female organs. In the end, it was a hate crime — Brian hated himself so much that he hung himself from a tree.

But the mystery didn’t end there. Paul Cydon — a person of interest in the case who was a retired scientist — was found dead in his home, shot three times through the chest. The CSIs suspect the manager of the water treatment plant (also known as the father from Boy Meets World!) killed the scientist to keep him from spreading the word about the contaminated water. He certainly had a wonderful motive. But in this, at least, he wasn’t guilty. The shooter was Brian’s mother, who suspected Paul of something untoward. She had no idea what was going on in her son’s life. She had no idea how unhappy he was.

For the first time this season, I liked the secondary case just as much as the main case — maybe more! Catherine and her mom are at the site of her dad’s old casino, the Rampart, which, you remember, was demolished last season to make room for his new casino. Despite Sam’s death, the casino is being built when they find a body. It may or may not be a number of deceased — a chimpanzee, a mobster, a soldier from Vietnam. He turns out to be a journalist who was covering a story at the Rampart the night it opened. He found out that Sam was bribing a gaming official, and one of Sam’s people took him out. But the thing I liked best was Greg’s outrageous enthusiasm for the old Vegas stories. We’ve seen this from him before, but I loved it even more this time around.

There are so many things to talk about with this episode! What did you guys think of the cases? And, most importantly, the proposal? And what do you think about all of it in the context of Jorja Fox leaving? Leave your comments here!

Plus, to see some great clips from CSI, check out our Online Video Guide!

To go behind the yellow tape and see exclusive interviews with cast and crew, tune into TV Guide Special: Inside the Crime Scene; October 21 at 8pm/ET on the TV Guide Network.

OK, if you're anything like me, you've been going crazy ever since the previews at the end of last week's episode showed Grissom popping the question. But let's not kid ourselves here: We know that Jorja Fox is leaving the show. (Ausiello scoop, though--she'll be back for guest spots!) So, my guess is that wedding bells won't be in our favorite bee-enthusiast's future. Still, you've got to love a little love thrown in with the crime solving! What do you guys think? Are nuptials in a certain pair's future? As always, a full recap after the show. Stay with me!

Now that Jorja Fox has officially confirmed the worst kept secret in the TV biz — she's ditching CSI next month after seven years in the forensics lab — we can start to focus on more important things in life. Like, you know, her return to the show! In her only interview, CSI's top gun, Carol Mendelsohn, weighs in on the circumstances surrounding Fox's exit, responds to published reports that she considered killing her off, previews tonight's big marriage proposal, and utters the words grieving fans have been dying to hear: Sara Sidle will be back...read more

"Maybe we should get married," Grissom says to Sara in this week's pivotal episode. What will be her response? (Since Jorja Fox is leaving the show, I'm guessing her answer is no. But that's just me.) As for the main story, a young man is found strangled to death by hanging. While that may not sound all that unusual, the catch is — wait for it — that the man's body looks like it’s that of a female. — Tim Holland

Explaining that there are many things, both personal and professional, that she wants to do — "and I really need to do some of them before I get too old" — Jorja Fox confirms the biz's worst-kept secret, that her days as a CSI are ending, partly because the hit procedural isn't . "If I thought the show were on its last legs, I would've tried harder to stay the course,"...read more

Episode Recap: “Go to Hell”

It’s hot as hell in Vegas. The temperature is 109 degrees and rising — but don’t worry. People don’t start getting crazy until it’s 110.

Maybe that thermometer’s a little off.

Distorted, grotesque people are staggering around in the blistering heat while Harold Perrineau—yes, that’s Papa Michael from ABC’s Lost—is preaching about Hell and damnation. Hell, in case you were wondering, isn’t a possible afterlife. It’s a night of terrible storms in which my cable keeps going out while I’m trying to watch CSI! OK, fine, it’s actually right here in Vegas. Meanwhile, there are a million bees flying around. Keep an eye on the bees. They’re a sign of the coming apocalypse.

On their way to a crime scene, the CSIs stumble across one of the previously mentioned distorted, grotesque people (I’m so mean, I know) lying dead in a pile of trash. There’s a dead bee lying near him.

Catherine and Warrick continue on to the true crime scene, where Grissom is waiting for them. At a seedy hotel, a man has been shot execution-style while a woman was bound, gagged and tortured on the bed. There’s trash from a fast-food restaurant in their room. In a dumpster outside, Warrick finds a bloody button-down shirt, inside out with the cuffs buttoned. (Yes, also important. It will be on the quiz later!)

Neither body has ID, but the woman is lying in a puddle of semen. Catherine posits that it’s drug-related, but Grissom isn’t buying it, especially when he finds a non-Gideon-issued Bible in the room. As Catherine pointed out, “I don’t think they helped.”

Brass is questioning the clerk who checked the couple in, but he unfortunately has impossible-to-decipher handwriting (shoutout to you here, Mom!) so the CSIs are unable to glean any personal information about the murdered pair. And at this point, I’m a little tired of the grotesque characters.

Across town, Sara and new CSI Ronnie Lake — who for some reason has never figured out that she was named for Veronica Lake — are checking out the homeless man who died earlier in the episode. Ronnie is clearly meant to be endearing, but her Twenty Questions attitude annoyed me as much as it was annoying Sara!

Back at the lab, Catherine is pleased to learn that there were hits off of the fingerprints found in the hotel — a rapist, pedophile, drug-dealer, prostitute and pimp, just to name a few. They’ve matched the bloody shirt to the victims, and Wendy has realized that the blood spatter means that the killer rolled up his sleeves. As Warrick says, “He had a lot of work to do.” Wendy also tells them that the semen spot on the bed has a female contribution—from a girl who must be the murdered couple’s daughter! Catherine suspects the pedophile, Alistaire Rhodes. Because he’s a registered sex offender, he’ll be easy to find.

And it’s Papa Michael! The pedophile now calls himself Reverend Rhodes, and says that the reason his prints were at the hotel was because he goes there to “save” people. When Brass shows him photos of the dead people, he’s clearly shocked, but asks for his lawyer. Brass arrests him.

Warrick and Archie are trying to decipher the handwriting on the hotel check-in form to ID the couple. Using computer records, they narrow the possibilities down, and Warrick and Nick head out to the scene in the middle of a Vegas blackout.

The couple’s home is full of religious icons. As the CSIs search the house, they find a little girl, dead in her bed. There’s trash from the burger joint in her room, too. But a photo in the parents’ room shows two little girls! So where’s the other sister?

Grissom and Greg find a trap door in the parents’ bedroom ceiling, which leads to a pitiful attic bedroom where the other daughter has clearly been kept. Hundreds of bees are buzzing around — there’s a hive right in the wall of the house! This episode isn’t making me love bees any more, let me tell you.

Brass is questioning Reverend Rhodes, who’s refusing to admit to anything. His lawyer is a former druggie who feels he owes his life to Rhodes, so he’ll do anything to get him off.

Ronnie and Sara discover that their homeless man, who officially died of dehydration in the heat, had been beaten and arrested sometime just before his death. Ronnie can’t believe that they would go after the cops, but Sara sets her straight, explaining that their job is to figure out what happened, no matter who did it.

Warrick and Nick are searching Rhodes’ apartment when they find a bunch of videotapes labeled with Roman numerals. They’re convinced that they’ve found child pornography, but when they play the tapes back at the lab, they’re of exorcisms instead! Rhodes’ lawyer says that he recommended that the exorcisms be recorded, for legal safety. Unfortunately, the exorcism was unsuccessful.

Back at the house, Greg finds a handgun in a puddle of water. Looks like the murder weapon. Grissom has collected the beehive — since bees are dying off, he can study this thriving hive. Sara says she’s heard that if all the world’s bees die, humans will die off within four years.

Two patrol cops happen upon the parents’ missing car. (Do police departments really have software like that, do you think?) The driver attempts to escape, but the cops stop him. It’s a young girl and an older guy. The girl claims to be the missing daughter.

At the hospital, Catherine is going to collect evidence from the girl. Catherine clearly feels sorry for Amy, especially when she finds out that she’s only 12. Catherine asks if the man made her wear the clothes she had on. “He made me do a lot of things,” Amy says.

Back at the station, Brass accuses the older man of being Rhodes’ partner in crime. His shirt size is a match. But when Warrick tries it on, he finds he can’t roll up the sleeves with the buttons buttoned. But Catherine can roll them up all the way. So a small female had to be wearing it when she killed the couple.

Grissom has found computer chat logs that show Amy having inappropriate conversations with Wolf, the older guy. The CSIs suddenly realize that Amy killed her whole family. Maybe she really was possessed! The CSIs and Brass are heading to Child Protective Services to arrest her.

But they’re too late! Rhodes got there first, and Catherine arrives just in time to see him throw Amy over a third-story railing, to cast out the devil inside her. She lands with a sickening thud, and a pool of blood begins to form around her.

And on the floor nearby is a dead bee.

What did you think of this devilish episode? Leave your comments here!

To check out clips of CSI, check out our Online Video Guide.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m totally amped to see Harold Perrineau on tonight’s episode! Perrineau, who’s better known to most of us as Michael on ABC’s Lost, is guest starring as a priest-type involved in what sounds like an exorcism gone bad. “The Exorcism of Emily Rose,” anyone? Add a dash of exceptionally creepy little girl and this episode is shaping up to be a doozy! What do you guys think? As always, a full recap after the show. Stay with me!

“Go to Hell.” Hey, don't take that personally; it's just the title of CSI's next devilish episode, in which an entire family is murdered — except for a daughter. But as it turns out, she might be the most unfortunate one of all. Why? It appears that she may be possessed by demons and in need of an exorcism (spooky!) — or at the very least, an intervention from Grissom (even spookier!). — Tim Holland