CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

The December 7, 2009 issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine named this episode as one of the best television episodes of the decade. I agree. "Chaos Theory" is one of the best episodes of the second season. The episode keeps you guessing throughout which is one of the things I like about CSI as well as its' spin-offs. Just about everything, the flashbacks, the through investigation of the disappearance of young Paige to the surprising conclusion, works perfectly here. I can't say much for fear of giving too much away, but "Chaos Theory" is definitely an episode of CSI worth seeing.

i was surprised they didnt open the ep w/ that..i mean seeing her in the dumpster would have added more suspense to the ep w/ the how and why that they were asking..but i think they did a really good job w/ building the suspense the way they did it..spoiler..they were focusing their attention on the missing girl and found something else along the way and got someone else arrested for date rape on another case w/ the girls roommate..the disappointing factor was all the dead ends they hit..but i was so relieved and the suspense built up and was finally relieved when it was all an accident..yay!

I thoroughly enjoyed the twists and turns this particular episode took, as well as the banter between the characters and the clever "historic scientific" references, if you will. Despite the sad truth of what you ultimitely discover actually happened to the girl, I think the writers attempted to try and make the whole episode a little less dark by interjecting the sarcastic comments.



For me, I think the most heart-breaking thing about this episode was not just the tragic circumstances under which the girl dies, but that a completely innocent man's life was probably ruined due to a completely random event.



It also brings to mind a scary thought; that perhaps we are not in control of our lives to any extent, and that our freedom of choice is a complete illusion. If that's the case, is it at all possible that everything happens for a reason? Makes you wonder.....

It's a very clever story that seems to be about more than it is. When a girl goes missing, there is no shortage of evidence, but none of it seems to lead anywhere. The more they examine the different evidence, the more the team is flummoxed. Even when they have suspects, they can't quite build a case.



I liked this episode, because it builds up an atmosphere of menace and you know something horrible might have happened to her. The clever part is that the ending is much more pedestrian and tragic than anything that was set up by the story. You can almost see how the writers would have started at the end and worked backwards.



Oh, and just what on earth has happened to Greg's hair in this episode?

This episode centers on the mysterious disappearance of a college student and the whole team works the case. After many theories and the discovery of an actual crime (date rape) the case is solved. The poor girl died due to being in the wrong place at the wrong time. No crime was actually committed. The scene at the end when her parents are told the cause of death is sad. They wanted closure but the closure they received was not enough to comfort or satisfy them. We are left with a perplexed Grissom not understanding this.



Overall it is a wonderful team episode. All of the characters work together in some capacity throughout. There are great humorous moments interspersed over the episode. From Catherine in the “Bob the Builder” outfit going down the chute to Sara explaining the benefits of putting toothpaste into nail holes in the wall (anyone who has not gone to college seriously needs to pay attention to this because your place will be trashed and you need every bit of help you can find to get that deposit back, trust me). And the two scenes with all of them standing at the dumpsters are absolutely wonderful. Great teamwork guys.

A coed disappears the night she's supposed to be leaving the fictional West Las Vegas University and go home. This isn't discovered until 4 days later. As a result, we see the CSI team chase down all kinds of leads to only turn up a series of dead ends that reveal some new crimes and dirty secrets, but no direct answers to how the coed was murdered.



There were more red herrings in this story than Opus the Penguin's lunchbox. Frat boys pulling an unrelated prank cover up a security camera aimed at the coed's floor. However, there is nothing tying them to the coed's disappearnace. Forensic evidence shows that coed's roommate who left school during the second week was the victim of a ruhypnol induced date rape. However, when the rapist is discovered, he has an iron tight alibi as to his wearabouts.



Other evidence leads to the discovery of an affair with a philosophy professor and a confrontation with his wife. None of it leads to a body or the coed.



Later, the body is discovered compressed in a bunch of trash from the dumpster at the campus garbage dump. No bullet holes, stab wounds, or other evidence showing how she died beyond a blunt force trauma to the ribs that doesn't fit any typical weapon.



The final plot twist--the use of chaos theory to determine this was the result of a series of unrelated events that ended in an unfortunate accident. No murder. No rape. No serial killer. Just plain bad luck. While it rings bitter to the parents of the coed, it makes perfect scientific sense.



This episode is really great because you find yourself trying to piece together what happened, and going by the plausible and neat way that makes the most sense, you can't solve the murder. The viewer needs to pay good attention to the show in order to follow what happens, and as more layers are uncovered, it leads to wilder speculation.



One of the best of the season 2 episodes by far.