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SPOILER ALERT
As the great CSI Gilbert Grissom once said, “Sooner or later, everybody gets replaced”, the start of Season 10 of CSI marks the first time that we’re embarking on a year of forensic crime solving without the influential protagonist. It isn’t a surprise that the writers have started this season with a massive cliffhanger that will prove pivotal to the season’s progression.
There were many critics following the disappointing Season 9 finale that didn’t open any threads but instead tried to emphasise the importance of CSI’s new Sherlock.
The attention is now on Raymond Langston (Lawrence Fishburne) to support and carry a show that has had a significant impact on primetime TV and brought forensic serials into the limelight. A lot depends on Langston as for Season 10 we’re without the always dependable Grissom. His presence, however, can still be felt as CSI tries to compete with newer shows such as NCIS and The Mentalist along with new seasons of the CSI spinoffs, (New York and Miami) - there’re a lot of disenchanted fans to win over.
This new episode entitled “Family Affair” starts off in a different fashion to the norm, the initial stop motion portrait of a shootout within the lab creates a confused atmosphere and perhaps attempts to emphasise the uncertainties regarding leadership in the department following Grissom’s departure. The story itself, however, is not as engaging as this stop motion montage - it’s just a regular CSI episode about a stalker framed by a casino owner’s son’s bodyguard for the killings of a movie star. Personally, I was rather disappointed with the whole “Russians-storming-the-morgue-just-to-steal-a-corpse-whilst-creating-havoc-in-the-lab” situation. It all felt a bit too unrealistic and bizarre to be a believable plotline. Although, it must be said that watching Lawrence Fishburne pay homage to Morpheus (from The Matrix) by kicking one of the intruders through a glass pane in slow motion was just as fascinating as the way Grissom used to dictate his weird sense of humour to his understudies.
The main point in this episode to take note of is in the ending where we see Langston and Doc Robbins open a corpse to a gasp of surprise; having seen the entire season, I’ll spoil it a little by saying that what they’ve seen is only the beginning to the climax and primary storyline for Season 10.
If you’ve seen Season 9, you’ll have seen the introduction of Riley Adams; she was a breath of fresh air and it’s unfortunate that she’s departed the show after just one season. It must be said that one needn’t worry as the producers have brought back Sara Sidle on a more permanent basis (so at least CSI should seem just like the old days). Whereas its spinoff’s have boldly killed off their main characters, the Las Vegas team has always been prone to a few close calls. Perhaps it is in desperation then that CSI: Las Vegas has finally dropped the towel and said goodbye to some major cast members. The stories might be familiar, the conclusions a little clichéd but praise must be given still to the witty dialogue and gentle comedy provided by the writers. Many examples of that impressive writing can be seen in this episode.
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation continues on five, Saturdays at 9.50pm
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