CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

CSI continues to deliver terrific episodes with well written scripts. Liev Schreiber has certainly fit well into the show and does a very good job filling in for William Peterson. He now feels like a regular cast member and not just a guest. What I enjoyed most about this episode was how the members of the team expected something was not right and decided to investiagte the staged case themselves. That showed a real comraderie among the team members and their strong desire to search for the truth. Their reaction after having leaned the truth is terrific also.

Okay, I've just finished watching this episode, and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. Nice nod to continuity, with the Danilo Zamesca story. I love it when they do that. I have to tell you, there must be something really interesting in that drawer of Grissoms'. That's the third time this season that we've seen it. Also good to see that the box is still there, ominous music included. Great to see Bobby Dawson back. I was about to get worried he wouldn't be back this season. Ohh, Cath's in trouble, and Sara is gonna lay into her. I'd love to see that conversation. I was worried that ignoring the evidence in Sara's case would be what let the killer go. I mean, you can't just ignore evidence like that. Glad to see it actually helped nab the killer, when Keppler and Catherine’s plan went under. On a lighter note, what, Grissom can't write a note. I like the symbolism of the butterfly in the cocoon, but c'mon! A note saying "I miss you" wouldn't go amiss. And were Catherine and Keppler on a date? I guess they don't feel the need to hide that relationship. Overall I really liked this episode, but I still miss Grissom.

I don't know how she does it, lol.



Great episode- but I'm still missing Grissom. I couldn't believe that Sara walked in to the office to get the key, and din't notice the suspicious package that has been lying on his desk for at least two weeks now. That was very unperceptive, even for someone who was doing another task at the time.



But Sara's present! A cocoon!!! AIIIEEE!!! So great. She didn't seem too enthused though, especially when she realized that that was all that was in the box. Her initial reaction was great, but it slowly declined from there. I don't know if I can take all of this angst. :(



Catherine and Keppler getting outed was great. I love Nick's little rebelious huddle outside, and how Warrick, Sara, and Nick all agreed, but Greg just kind of gave shrug. :D Very cute, Greggo.



The Catherine/Keppler flirting is odd. Very odd. And I think this episode might have destroyed all CatNip dreams, unless you chalk the reason up that Nick was so upset was because he harbors unyielding passion for Catherine, and was dissapointed in her. :D lol



A great episode, and I can't wait until next week. :)

Wow, what an episode. The whole radio thing was kind of interesting. Reverse forensics, that's a totally new one. I still don't like Keppler and with his reverse forensics idea, it's really torn apart the trust between Catherine and her team. Especially with Nicky.



After watching this episode, I've come to the conclusion that with Greg in the field, Hodges has taken the responsibility as lab clown. He's really becoming a funny guy. I think with the fannysmackin' Greg undeservingly recieved, he's ort of lost his back bone. I say this because when he and the others were outside and making the decision to be a team without Catherine or Keppler, it was kind of like peer pressure to agree to Nick proposal. He didn't voice any sort of reason or comment much. Grissom is who I feel bad for the most because he's gonna have a big mess on his hands when Keppler finally scre-- er, leaves.



If there's one thing I completely agree with Catherine on is that her team cannot be decieved that easily. They're too good for that.

An assemblyman and an attorney were killed by Simon, the most notorious drug dealer on the West Coast. The killer holed up, so the CSI team has to track down him to put him in jail. Keppler convinced Catherine and Brass to approach this case in a different way, so-called 'reverse forensics', in which investigators manipulate a crime scene and arrest a fake suspect in an attempt to make the real suspect think he is off the hook and feel free to do something. Frankly, that's the way I've always thought about personally that the CSI team could try, at least once, in order to catch the suspect. (Probably, it would not have happened with Grissom in charge.)



When the other four members - Nick, Warrick, Sara, and Greg - noticed something fishy going on between Catherine and Keppler, they decided to work on the investigation by themselves. Especially, it seemed like Nick felt betrayed really bad. Anyway, the team managed to nail Simon, but Nick is still angry at the fact that he was deceived by someone he has always trusted.

Catherine betrayed the teams trust by sneaking around with Keppler. They set up a crime scene but the rest of the team was too smart to fall for it. They decided to fight fire with fire. They all felt left out and they smelled somthing fishy going on.They got together and decided to go look around at the evidenve and every time found somthing wrong with the evidence. In the end everyone got told what was up but i still think that everyone was still mad that catherine didnt tell them in the first place. Catherine had to explaine why they couldnt tell them and that they had to stay clueless.

Maybe it's because I've been watching to much CSI lately or because I love Grissom's way but I found this episode very different from all the other ones. Las Vegas team has always been a TEAM. Keppler's idea was great but as Brass said a lot of things can go wrong and they did!! Catherine acted as a jerk especially with Nick! And Nick, Warrick, Sara and Greg having a meeting to go against Catherine really broke my heart. With Grissom there nothing would happened. I miss the bug man! Finally all is explained but I felt as Nicky, betrayed. Nice chapter though but I would prefer that all the team worked together in the fake crime!!

Keppler convinces Catherine along with Brass to use a different approach to conduct an investigation and to nail the culprit… So they stage a crime scene and Catherine must keep the team from knowing the truth and she is quite uncomfortable with the situation. Soon enough, Sara, Greg, Nick and Warrick notice that something is odd and that Keppler and Catherine are acting weird. They decide to conduct their own investigation. The sweet part of this episode was when Sara received the package from Grissom and it showed that she was eager to open it (in her locker room). She looked happy when she saw the cocoon but she seemed… disappointed when there was no letter or note from Grissom.

I really like the whole idea of reverse forensics, but I think they did it the wrong way. First of all, I think the team should have known about the whole ordeal. The people I put the blame on for this episode is the undersheriff and Keppler. The Undersheriff caused this whole thing not to work. He left the DA out of the loop and then he got her pissed off. Stupid Undersheriff! Keppler is also to blame because he told Catherine she has to lie to the team and he pressured her into it. Catherine was reluctant the whole way through. Storyline=GREAT, way going about the storyline=BAD.

Keppler talks the undersherriff, Brass and Catherine into faking a crime scene to flush out a murderer. The plan sounds good enough except that Catherine cannot tell the people working for her the truth. She warns Keppler that they are so good that they will find flaws. Everyone notices the odd behavior and rumors start that it is an Internal Affairs investigation. Nick starts trying to connect the dots on the cases when Catherine orders him to stop. He gets the rest of the team together to find out the truth without letting Keppler or Catherine know. The ruse works and the killer is arrested, but the district attorney won't press charges because she doesn't know fact from fiction. They are able to pin a murder on the guy, but at a very high price to the CSI team.

Deception never really works. So I know that Cath and Sara have always have their issues. I get why see may be a little non-trusting. But Nick and Cath have always gotten along. And Warrick and Cath are close, beyond close, he should get it. You could tell that it was really hard for Cath to do that to her team, as it is now her team.



I liked the title, funny little play on the reverse forensics that they were pulling.



So I was really confused, as was Sara, about the present from Grissom, no card. What’s up with that?!?

Weeeeeeeell, this is getting rather sad. Two episodes in a row that, to tell the truth, I'm really far from even mildly close to what I've come to expect from CSI. The plot ran so slowly, they sorta used up a twist that could have been sustained over several episodes, the science seemed to be missing, and they seem to be giving me more and more reason to REALLY dislike Kepler.



I am happy to see the ballistics dude again, I like him. And the package from Grissom, that was good. Hodges' snarkyness, that was normal. But come on people, just because Gris is gone, do things really need to fall apart so badly?



At least we've got some reality from Nicky. He definitely felt betrayed over what happened with the reverse forensics (blarg), and I think that's going to stick around for a few episodes at least. Maybe he'll be better when Gris gets back, but let me say this, if he's goine to completely forgiving Catherine next week and their relationship being back to what it normally is (good buddy-friendly, if not more so), we'll know something's really off.

Keppler (or the actor Schreiber) just bores me to tears. I Tivo the show so that I can fast forward through the lab scenes (or I will doze off) but this cat is killing me, his scenes and/or delivery are such that I nodded off continually. I don’t think it was the pace of the show though, so I have to attribute it to him.



The team’s reaction to the deception was plausible and well played out, with the mild exception of Sarah. She seemed a little tame for what I would’ve expected from her character in that situation, but perhaps she’s maturing and altering her priorities with the calming influence of Grissom or is too preoccupied with his absence. She seems far less consumed and ambitious with her work than in the past.



With Grissom gone, I don’t really see the need to add another major character to the cast. The ensemble is solid as it is and I was hoping for more focus to be put on the rest of the team, fleshing out their characters to a greater extent.



I agree with some of the earlier assessments that if Grissom doesn’t return or the show evolves into something that gives larger roles to the existing cast, then this show will falter on my ladder of priorities (24, Shark, CSI, CSI: NY, Unit).

Let me say from the beginning, I love CSI and enjoyed this episode despite the shortcommings that I found. I am a fan of intrigue, double crosses, and cladestine plot themes, which this episode satisfied. However I thought some plot holes could have been tightened up and the episode been presented in a more dramatic and effective manner.



First and foremost, I think this should have been dragged over two episodes in order to heighten the dramatic tension and allow more time for twists to unfold. I envision that the reveal to the rest of the team wouldn't have happened until the middle of the second episode. This would allow the apparent mistrust of Keppler and Catherine by the rest of the team to reach an even more critical level and show the viewer how problematic this exercise would become. In Brass' words, "There's nine, no, ten things that could go wrong with this." This would be an important piece of tension to watch because everyone is already leery of Keppler because he is new and such an outsider. I wanted to see more.



Second, there were a lot of plot holes and shotty forensics that we shouldn't believe. If Catherine wanted to fool her team, she would have needed to try harder, and should have known to do so.



Calling Doc Robbins to relaease the body to a mortuary rather than the coroner. Why? What kind of protocol is this? (Like, what CSI department anywhere does this?) Why have we never seen this before?



The bullet does not have glass fragments and crud that Warrick would expect to find. Oops.



Finally, I didn't buy the idea in the first place that this exercise would flush out the real killer. With more plot developent, maybe I could have been convinced of this, but I wasn't in what was offered. I wouldn't start showing my face around again if I knew I had killed someone. I also missed the piece of intrigue with the politico that started this whole thing off and what his relationship was with the killer, and for that matter what the murderer's involvement in this aspect of the plot.



So my wishes for this episode would have been a two parter to develop the plot more, keep the team in the dark longer to heighten tension and play with our feelings, and make the bogus crime scene more passable to make both the CSI's and the viewers believe in the "evidence"

Wow, so finally the day comes for CSI again. And what an episode... Tensions were high!, Once again Catherine proves that she cannot make run the csi team properly without Grissom.

The whole episode idea was pretty neat, I liked the reverse forensics idea, and we all knew the team would figure it out sooner or later, so the episode was leading up to the confrontation between team and catherine all along.

Once it happened it was rather an anti-climax, I was hoping to see Sarahs discussion with Catherine, but nothing. I guess she just still has a huge problem with Kepplar, which is still quite unjustified, I mean it's not like he forced Grissom to leave.

The show still goes on, but without Grissom, it really misses something.

The box!, Once again we see the box!, I can't wait for him to come back to open it, I'm sure its another minature, but of what?

I'd guess at ...grissom at his desk trying to solve the mystery's. with clues all around to the real killer, or perhaps Grissom is dead himself, and this is the finale to season 7 or 8. Maybe season 7 finale, where Grissom is almost killed, but the model is already made.. who knows..

I think Nick did a good job in his own little mission, it was wrong to keep the team out of the whole thing, but sometimes those things are nessesary. To be honesy though, The team are prodffesional enough to keep it to themselves, I think the writing was slightly weak, or they wanted to show a flaw in Kepplar and Catherine.

One more thing, Catherine and Kepplar? Perhaps something will happen there, she seams interested in his mysteriosity...



Grissom and Sarah!, The symbolic cocoon, perhaps mirroring their own relationship.

The egg sybolising there closed, hidden relationship and feelings, one day blooming out into something beautifull and full of life...., the forks of the twig symbolising the two directions they are both going in. But the egg firmly stays at the core , where they are one, before it flies off leaving its begginnings behind.

Sarah probably would later think of this and how much it means, Grissom is not naturally good with what ladies expect in a way, and offers something different, not nessesarially bad.

The lack of a note could mean many things, but then there has never been that much communication ( that we have heard ) , between them, so it was expected. Just i'm sure she would have felt better with a few words.



I love that we saw more of the crew this episode, good to see Warrick finally, and more of hodges. i hope the following episodes will have more of them than previous.

The episode opens with Keppler, Catherine, Brass and the Undersherriff at breakfast. I'm already warmed to Liev's casual and yet somewhat dangerous portrayal of the "new kid on the block", but when he worriedly looks around for the waitress due to the state of his eggs and announces that he "should have been more specific", there's something about the delivery and the body language that makes me laugh, and endears me further.



You know Keppler is up to no good, that he's shady, but in his own quiet way, he's high entertainment.



Getting to the plot - the ridiculous nature of the concept itself "Reverse Forensics" where they set up a fake crime scene to lure a suspect does make you roll your eyes.



The lucky thing about this show is that whenever they completely pull something out of their ass plot-wise, the cast (very close-knit and very fun to watch) are usually able to support it. If not in its factual merit, than at least in providing enough interaction that's either fun or interesting to keep your mind off the stupidity of it all.



None of the fetish episodes would've been popular had it not been for the fun and curious nature that this team played those scenes. Catherine is quickly established as the powerless puppet-leader. While technically in charge, she gets told that they're going along with it whether she likes it or not. You can't fault Catherine for the plan, but you can fault her for not convincing them that her team WILL figure it out, and asking for them to be included.



Instead, even through constant professions of concern and uneasiness, she proceeds to be shifty to Sara, rude to Nick (who uncovers real and important evidence that is shrugged away), condescending to Warrick (and his abilities) and basically ignores Greg.



The saving grace of all of this is that Nick's ignored evidence gets processed by the BTeam, who quickly figure out what's happening and put Catherine to task. If ever there was an episode that proved that Catherine really should never be a Supervisor (other than the majority of Season 5 which did the same), it's this one.



No apologies, no regret, just "These are the facts, and too bad if you don't like them."



I miss Grissom, but it was still a damn tight episode. Slight unravelling in the last 5 minutes when the team scrambles to complete the real case, but ultimately one of the best of a season chock full of good and creative work.



Even with the stinging critique of Catherine, I do have to applaud Marg for playing this character with enough tenacity that she does inspire passionate reactions one way or the other.

Really the only thing I remember about this episode is Bobby Dawson being so totally hott. I like Bobby Dawson and up until this point of the season had been disappointed with not seeing him. Now he's been in an episode so YAY!!!



What I found funny about this episode was the fact that Grissom, merely two episodes ago, had told Warrick that he was the rock of the team. Jump forward to this episode and Warrick is the first one ready to join the mutiny against Catherine and Keppler. Those are certainly attributes *I* would look for when choosing the rock of the team.



Even without Grissom there was GSR. The gift Sara received is intriguing and what makes it even more intriguing is the fact that there was no note. Also the fact that Sara knew where the key was in Grissom's office made me smile. I don't know why, it just did...



Though Liev Schreiber knows how to wear a suit I'm rather indifferent to his character. He seems to be stepping on all the wrong toes. The reverse forensics was a good idea in theory but Catherine should have realized that the other CSIs would figure it out.



Hodges scenes provided some amount of comic relief in another episode without Grissom. Overall the episode was quite good but not even Keppler in a suit can make me forget about Grissom. Le sigh...

Come on. Catherine all of a sudden has to go behind the backs of the very people that have been there for her. It seems fishy to me that now that Grissom is out of the picture there is lying, deceiving, power trips. Catherine was always there for Gil and now that she has to step in and be in charge she runs off with the new guy and does things all kinds of backwards. I mean even after she tells the team the truth and they get mad at her and eventually help her to catch the killer she goes off and has dinner with the new guy instead of kissing a little butt to try and make things right. If they are trying to tie in a romance give me a break. I'm not buying it so they shouldn't be selling it. The first episode the guy's in she jumps on him with the whole "your a CSI not a profiler" line now she's having dinner with him. Huh? I don't blame Nick for being mad. I think now that Grissom is gone they should have eachother backs. The only part of the show I liked was that fact that with all the hoop jumping and lying the two of them did they ultimately need the whole team to catch the guy! The TEAM, that is what makes CSI so great, without it they got nothing.

Seeing some mixed reviews for this episode, I just have to say I loved it.



The fact Catherine went along with Kepplar's plan not only shocked me but also gave me some insight into how the character is developing - she seems more daring since Built to Kill. I was surprised that Nick was the first to have suspisions but this also highlighted a new area for the writers to explore: the two characters' friendship which has been developing over the course of this season.



Overall I was impressed at the new angle this episode took but I have a few reservations about the sudden ending - I didn't feel completely convinced by the conclusion of the case.



But as I'm also in it for the characters - and this was one of the best character driven episodes I have seen.

The sparks between Katherine and Keppler started almost immediately ... now she has a look that means she is smitten ... well she must be because why else would she go against her team? As Nick said to her, the team put their lives in her hands every day ... they have complete trust in her ... but she didn't trust them ... there is no going back from that! It is not a question of them ganging up on her ... she crossed the line ... Katherine has come off the fence ... she has chosen which bed she is going to lie in ... and I don't think I mean that just metaphorically! So I believe that the actual story being told in this episode was immaterial ... the real story was what is happening within the department without Grissom ... although Grissom is still making waves ... the present for Sara ... what was he trying to say to her? Was it sufficiently subtle for her to still be waiting when he returns? Then there was Nick ... stirring the team up ... what was getting to him more ... the fact that Katherine kept him out of the loop ... or is he jealous of her relationship with Keppler?



Sara is angry with Katherine ... but is it jealousy or trust? Greg and Warwick ... they seem to go with the flow!



However ... the story was great ... well written ... expertly performed ... giving the viewer just enough to keep them wanting more ... the reminder that there is still a serial killer out there ... and despite Keppler becoming a key part of the team ...it is Grissom that will find him ... or will he?



Can't wait for next week! Keppler and Nick working together ... that will be interesting! Pistols at dawn?

From an entertainment standpoint the show was ok but it could be a very important turning point in the show. The team is still divided even after the episode is done, when a team gets divided only two things can happen, it can become weaker and fall apart or it can become stronger and better than ever before, hope its the later.



The actor that plays grissom should either put his all into the show or get out, his long sabbaticals from the show i feel are really hurting it. Grissom is the glue that holds the show together, without him they are just a bunch of young punks with no clue about the big picture. Please grissom come back and save the show.



TC

Case-wise, this was a little boring for me. What I did like was how this episode somewhat focused on the team's relationship with each other. Doing that reverse forensics thing and having to make up evidence and keep the truth from your team must've been really hard for Catherine, but if she didn't have a choice, then what was she to do?



I can also understand Nick's difficulty in letting go of what just happened. I imagine I'd react the same way if someone I trust my life with would do something like that. Noble as the intention may be, the fact that he or she could not trust you after everything you've been through really sucks.



I'm excited to see how this affects the team's relationship in the future episodes.



On to other things, that package Grissom sent to Sarah was peculiar to say the least, but that's typical of Grissom. And Michael Keppler isn't so bad. I actually kind of like him. He's not as annoying as I thought he'd be. And do I see sparks between him and Cath? Maybe it's just me.

Cath is such a jerk! She could have told them that there wasn't really a murder. She was trying too hard and you could tell she was lying. Nick has a right to hate her. His whole life has been about trust, and she just completely lost it. Nick was molested by his babysitter, kidnapped, and almost killed. Cath should have known what her lying was going to do to him.

Well, first off like I said in the summary I absolutely loved Grissom's gift to Sara. Such a Grissom gift too. I mean it's one of those things that many many people would never send or use as a gift but anyway, I thought the cocoon gift was way cool. It would have been nice though if he had you know put a note in or some kind of sentiment but oh well. I felt the deception was completely unecessary. There was no way anyone of them would have leaked anything they are trustworthy bunch. I also completely loved that Sara knew exactly where the key was to the locker where the evidence was. I personally feel that Catherine once again is kind of a let down of a supervisor I mean compared to Grissom. I think he would have handled it differently because he would. I shall be happy no wait ecstatic when Grissom returns. Okay, that's it.

This is the first episode of CSI that I've ever rated below an 8.5.



The whole plot line just literally made me feel sick to my stomach. I despise deception especially in the workplace as I am a former member of the military and a Registered Nurse, where teamwork and trust are imperative. It probably doesn't help that I'm a huge fan of William Petersen and I have been following Marg Helgenberger since she was in "China Beach".



Tossing this hosebag Keppler into CSI to fill in for Grissom just doesn't work for me. Catherine is going to be the big loser here since Keppler is a temp fill in (I HOPE).



The CSI writers really hit bottom choosing Keppler (who's real name I do not know and could care less about.) for a fill in because, quite frankly that is all he is. He seems like he'd fit in best on CSI: NY. An uninspired episode like this really disturbs me as well. It didn't hold my interest at all and I think this may be the ONLY CSI episode that's had that effect on me. Hopefully that mystery box on Grissom's desk leads further episodes back into a better direction.



If William Petersen eventually leaves the series the show will fall completely apart if this episode is any prediction of the future of CSI.



And if you don't agree with this review, I could care less. It's how I feel and anyone has the right to disagree. This is just how I honestly felt and nothing is going to change that.

This definitely wasn't the greatest episode I've seen of CSI. I haven't watched much this season, since the season itself hasn't been that great, but this episode was decent enough.



I really like Liev Schreiber in his role as Michael Keppler. At first, I wasn't sure how I was going to feel, especially since it was William Petersen who was leaving for a little bit and he's my favorite by far. But it's important, I think, for the show to stop leaning on Petersen. So far, so good.

I'll start with this: I liked this episode. I think that Keppler is giving some new life to this show, and I like the actor playing him, and I like that Kepppler and Catherine went out for drinks after work.



Now for the rest of it. There were so many things that I didn't like. The CSI team (Sara, Warrick, Nick and Greg) all thought that Keppler was IAD, they all thought that he was looking into someone in the CSI lab. And it wasn't just them... David the techie tells Nick that Nick is number 1 on the hit list, with David at number 2, and Grissom at number 3. Everyone thinks there's an internal affairs investigation.



So what does the CSI team, under Nick's so-called 'leadership' do? Why, they reinvestigate! They cut seals, they second-guess, they doubt. I was bothered by the fact that not one of them had the guts to say that Catherine knew what she was doing and that they should trust her. They all went on, especially Nick, about how Catherine didn't trust them... but they didn't trust her either, and went behind her back. And that means that they may have jeopardized whatever it was that Catherine was doing... they had no idea.



That's what bothered me about this episode. It bothered me a lot. I'd like to see some repercussions coming down on the team for what they did, but I doubt that will happen. Maybe Nick will just get fed up and quit... that would be good, cause his character seems just about fed up enough to do that. Sayonara, Nick!

I guess this episode goes to show It only takes Grissom to keep this team together, without him.... well, Catherine Decides to lie to her team about the "Murder" she's investigating, though she should've known better then that! her team is Smart and to prove it Nick formed his own team with Warrick, Greg & Sara and together they solved the case and after all that Cat Explained why she did what she did now Nick Dosent seem to trust her anymore after what she did and I don't blame him. I'd be mad too if my Boss went behind my back and lied to me about something in order to catch the killer, if Catherine still wants her team to trust her while Grissom's away That Was not a good way to start.



as for The New Guy, Keppler, The Jury's Still out on him.

I had really been looking forward to this episode, and it didn't disappoint me. Keppler pushed himself in charge and Catherine stood aside. The tension between the team was well played out. Being a CatNick shipper, I had to feel bad for Nick - he was hurt by Catherine's dishonesty. Even more so than the others. Sara got a gift from Grissom, and seemed disappointed. The gift, however, was very much to Grissom's personality. Overall, I think this was a very good episode. I still miss Grissom, but this was a lot better than last week, and we're starting to see how the team is falling apart without him.

I usually like Catherine as she is my favorite character

But now, she is really going to get it big time!

Keppler is freaking me out as he is freaking out

Everybody in the lab. Loved it when Nick, usually a follower

Took charge for once. As Sara, Warrick, and Greg were along

For the ride with Nick. Really those four liked it when Grissom and Catherine worked together as Grissom, though grim as he may be, knows how to get the job done without stepping on each other's toes.