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« CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
November 2, 2006: Good Job, Gashopper
I always love it when someone tries to tell Gil Grissom that they know what he's thinking. No one ever knows what Gil is thinking, especially in this episode. Seems to me like Gil's feelin' a bit tired of it all right now. We all get to that point once in a while. You know, where you sit in your drab gray cube, squinting at the computer more and more as the day gets long. And then suddenly you just lose it, and everything sort of jumbles. We all need some time to clear our head now and again. Having Grissom clearly not all together right now is a clever way for the producers to write in his imminent hiatus from the show.
As for the rest of the episode, there wasn't a whole lot of captivating material, though Grissom's reaction to Brass when he told Carl, "Bad things happen to bad people," was interesting. We all know Grissom is a big fan of letting the evidence do the talking, and he really seemed like he wanted to give the guy a legit shot to prove he was innocent without Brass' being an idiot. But who can blame the captain for acting the way he did. Brass has never been known for being overly cordial anyway.
I certainly couldn't believe that Jason's football-coach grandfather could sit at the station and claim that fighting two little boys was self-defense. I know they arrested the grandfather, but they should be charging him with murder as well. He's the one that threw Lucas to the ground and caused the bleeding in his head. Carl certainly deserves the most blame here for what he did, but the grandfather deserves all of what he gets and more. That's not discipline. That's a coward.
Feel free to comment and let me know what you thought of this one. I'm also curious to hear your reaction to Sara's "be nicer" comment to Gil. I'm not sure I'd like my employee telling me how to act.
Until next week, friends.
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Nov 2, 2006 11:08 PM
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First let me get this right out of the way LOL. After all the things Catherine has said to Gil over the years, all up in his face on various fronts, both personal and professional, Sara's gentle suggestion that Grissom not be so hard on Greg, given what Greg just went through and the inquest coming up, in my estimation, was totally appropriate. As a matter of fact, even though Grissom is my favorite TV character of all time, I wanted someone to call him on his grouchy mood. Now if the writers felt safe enough or had the cajones to really let the GSR soar we'd have seen Sara trying to reach out to Grissom as well, not just defending Greg, but since we all know that won't happen we don't get to see a rounded view of their relationship. She's got to see something is wrong with him. Actually I loved the way he had nothing to say when she told him it was her who put the music on. Shut him up LOL. Can't help someone who won't reach out but that's Grissom for you. Probably sort of sucks to be his GF! But given the fact that Warrick has called him a Robot and Nick has told him that he's not like him, etc. Sara's polite suggestion was right on target and after all they are friends and if nothing else, he was being a bit of a jerk to Greg.
Now to the episode. I found Carl to be an interesting character. Wasn't sure again if he was guilty or not and the way it turned out that he was not guilty of intentionally hurting the boy, but being a selfish, sicko and keeping the kid there with him instead of getting him help was something I hadn't expected. Carl was creepy too.
One thing I'm noticing this year is that there seems to be less CSI'ing and more detective work. It seems Catherine is now taking a serious backseat to Sophia as far as screentime goes. That bothers me but I'm still liking this season overall.
I loved Brass in this episode. I find that Brass is evolving into one of my favorite characters. He often says what I'm thinking.
All in all this felt more like a typical without a trace episode... but I liked it. I liked that Greg showed that he is a capable CSI and that Grissom is probably seriously burning out if Greg is out-thinking him.
The team were all on one case which was good.
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Nov 3, 2006 12:45 AM
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I don't see Sara's suggestion that he be nicer as out of line; aside from the bf/gf thing, they've been friends a long time. She didn't do it in front of anyone, so it was between them.
As for the prev poster's note about Sophia, yes, in this episode she had more to do than Catherine, but in the last few episodes there was much more Catherine, and much less Sophia. I don't mind so much, because I don't have a problem with Sophia; when they introduced her I wasn't thrilled because I've been a Grissom/Sara fan forever. I think there's enough room on the show for them all.
It'll be interesing to see how the team's dynamics change when Liev Schreiber [sp?] comes in for awhile when Gil's away.
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Nov 3, 2006 7:12 AM
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Why is William Peterson planning to take a hiatus? Another project?
I think I read that this will start in January. Will he be gone for the rest of the season?
I'm happy with his temporary replacement, Liev. I like him.
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Nov 3, 2006 9:38 AM
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This episode was disturbing on so many levels. Getting a glimpse into a child molester's psyche was just too creepy and evil. But, sadly, evil is out there. I guess I was hoping the molester was innocent in this instance and that there was actually hope for redemption and rehabilitation.
Now, onto the whole Grissom/Sara/Greg issue. What I took from it was that is wasn't ok for Greg to play his music but once Grissom found out it was Sara's, it was fine. That's what irked me about the scene.
Sara's admonishment regarding Greg was neither here nor there for me. I thought Gil treated Greg as he always has. Should Greg get special treatment because of his recent situation? Not really. Nick didn't get special treatment after being buried alive.
I know I'm in the minority, but I like Sophia. She's got spunk and softness, too. Was it really realistic to think there was only 1 cop (Brass) to ever work homicide with the Las Vegas Crime Lab?
Oh yeah, one more thing. I'm tired of Hodges being the only lab tech we ever see anymore. I miss Bobby and Archie and all the others.
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Nov 3, 2006 10:32 AM
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I have a huge problem with Sophia for the same reason I have a problem with Lost for killing off a main character I loved only to introduce us to TWO more strangers in the same episode. Cast bloat, plain and simple. And I nearly spit out my soda when Sophia asked the Grandfather about the 'dogs' because I swear it sounded like "DONGS" and I just burst out laughing. Not exactly good for a Drama show. It sounded like she said 'remember those DONGS you were so interested in?'and I nearly fell off the chair! LOL I'm just not a person who accepts new cast members very easily especially when we only see 2-3 minutes of other cast members like Warrick/Nick, etc. Just too many people but hey that's their decision at least we're getting alot of Grissom in these first episodes. That's something to be thankful for. He's the reason I really watch. Without Grissom on the show it's like a day without sun... better get my umbrella out I guess!!
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Nov 3, 2006 12:05 PM
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vjw1218, couldn't agree more about Hodges. I need me some more Liz Vassey in a hurry.
Anyone else have a problem with the whole gasoline-DNA thing? Not a scientist but it just seems to defy logic to be able to trace a batch of gas to a specific station. Maybe refinery, sure, but once it's on a tanker and dropped off into a station's plastic underground tank all bets seem to be off at that point. A tanker is a tanker and storage tanks are mass produced. Sorry to bring reality to the table, just bugged me.
Don't want to upset anyone but I thought the term used by Lucas' father, vaginamony was an hilarious play on words. But all you ex's should not shirk your responsibilities. PSA over.
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Nov 3, 2006 12:31 PM
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About the music scene. First, we (or at least I) didn't realize at that moment Gil was fighting an episode-long migraine. Sara seemed to be sharing that it was her as simple fact (it's not Greg's fault) I don't think it was "ok" that Sara played it; I think Grissom was suddenly faced with a specific age/personality difference. He also seemed to be wondering "how do I comment on this 'now'." Not that we ever know what he's thinking
About the case. I wish they'd plotted it differently. They raised issues about whether vigilantism against sex offenders is justified, and if they can change, and came up with standard responses. What if they'd gotten to the point that the kids were trying to make friends with him, and then we found out that Louis died because the guy sent him away, and he didn't get medical treatment. THAT would have led to some discussion.
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Nov 3, 2006 12:35 PM
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who played lucas' father? he looked so familiar
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Nov 3, 2006 1:42 PM
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bmp - it's a interetesting point about the gas. I didn't address because honestly I didn't quite get it myself. I mean, I can understand that different stations get different gas. But just from my house to work I must have 10 gas stations from the same company which I assume gets the same gas, from the same tanker, and all the pumps are pretty much built the same. It did bother me when he actually said "pump 6" or something like that. Identifying the gas station is one thing - the actual pump seems a little far fetched to me...but who knows, these guys can get DNA for anything these days.
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Nov 3, 2006 1:52 PM
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All the gasoline supplied to an area generally comes from the same distribution terminal - it doesn't matter what brand it is. The next time you pass a terminal take a good look, you'll likely see multiple brands of tanker trucks filling up at that location. All fuels (gas, diesel, fuel oil, etc.) travel through the same pipelines to those distribution terminals. It is separated by density into the various tanks before being loaded onto a tanker truck and delivered so it's pretty improbable that a specific gas station could be identified. Most stations have a common storage tank for each grade of gasoline so identifying a specific pump is also highly unlikely.
Gasoline is a fraction of crude oil that distills in a specific temperature range. Industry used fuel oils, diesel (fuel oil #2) and kerosene but had no use for this rather large fraction until the gasoline engine was invented. Crude oils are another matter. Crude oil can be identified to a specific region of the world.
To make a long story short, this is like the exploding bullets episode - nice, exciting thought but completely unrealistic.
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Nov 3, 2006 9:44 PM
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I loved this episode, mostly because of the traditional feel to it. Sure, the Sophia thing wasn't very traditional, but I really didn't mind her so much in this episode. I think there are far worse people on television than Sophia.
I liked the look on Greg's face when Sara said it was her idea to play the music. Almost like a little kid trying not to get in the way of his parents. lol.
The ending kind of confused me..I don't understand. Was it exactly like the beginning to symbolize the endless cycle Grissom's work is becoming? That his life and his work are becoming one? Am I looking wayy too far into this? I often do over-analyze. All in all, I loved this episode, and the direction this season is headed.
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Nov 3, 2006 10:33 PM
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I thought this episode was strange. It was one of those episodes where when it was over, it felt like a dream. Catherine, Nick, and Warrick were shown so little that it really bothered me for some reason. Sara and Greg were on more than them, but still not very much at all. Then there was Grissom. He seemed to be on a lot of the time, but I didn't think he was on very much either. I guess what I am trying to say is that, to me, this episode seemed like it didn't even happen.
On the Sara telling Grissom to be nicer, I thought it was very appropriate considering everything.
Although, this episode did get me a little worried about Grissom. He seemed extremely stressed out. If he isn't leaving until January why are they doing this to him now? Will he be like this for the next two months?
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Nov 4, 2006 7:45 PM
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My understanding is the William Peterson will be appearing in a play in Providence, RI (an hour from home--I just might go!) for a few weeks in December. He's only supposed to be out for two to three eps, last I heard. So fear not, Peterson/Grissom fans--he'll be back!
As for the episode--I agree with the person who said he/she hoped that the pedophile wasn't guilty, just because that would have been a little unexpected (and yes, so maybe there IS hope for redemption). Also, I like Alan Tudyk (from Firefly), and it was a bummer to see him hauled away in cuffs. (The grandfather seemed more guilty in some ways.)
And as for Sara asking Grissom to be kinder to Greg--right on, Sara! As previously mentioned, she didn't say it in front of anyone else, so how could Grissom be embarrassed? She handled it correctly. I understand that next week's ep covers the hearing about the Greg stuff; I'm really looking forward to that.
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Nov 4, 2006 8:35 PM
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sbh1cats - Seth Peterson played the father ... he was Robbie Hanson (the brother) on Providence. It took me a few minutes but I recognized him too.
I thought this was a really great episode in terms of character study ... especially Carl, played by the incredibly expressive Alan Tudyk ... he was so good as Wash in Firefly and I am always so excited to see him in good roles on TV as well as movies.
I feel very protective about Greg and was glad that Sara stood up for him. Also agree that she did it the right way behind the scenes.
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Nov 6, 2006 8:44 AM
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