The Hunger Artist

Season 2, Episode 23, Aired
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Episode Summary

Season Finale. The CSIs investigate when the body of an unidentified young woman is discovered stuffed in an overturned shopping cart near a freeway underpass. Her horribly disfigured and partially decomposed face is a nightmare of blood, scabs and scars, as if she'd been shoved into a fan. A huge circular hole dominates her left cheek. Someone not only wanted her dead, Grissom reasons, but "they wanted her ugly." Adding to the mystery are the cart's other contents: an expensive handbag, fashion magazines and a leather day planner with notes written in code.moreless
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Fan Episode Reviews (6)

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  • Modelling job gone very, very wrong!!!

    9.4
    "Superb"
    By HankL, Jan 03, 2011 Report Abuse
    This episode was downright creepy on a number of levels. The main point some would think would be to serve as a PSA about the problems associated with excessive dieting, drug use and how society values appearances.

    All the usual murder suspects are rounded up, but none of them have any evidence to link them to the crime:

    1. The Jealous ex-boyfriend-seems like a no-brainer, but this guy loved the girl who was, not the pretty ad face that she was molded into.

    2. The ex-agent/photographer. The man who made her what she was, an asset to him, who most likely drove her to bulimia, but in the end, didn't hold the smoking gun.

    3. The homeless sister who once was a beautiful model, but lost her mind due to freebasing cocaine and paranoia derived from bulimia.

    The fact that this woman actually had self-mutilated her own face and had binged, purged, enema'd and so forth to drive herself to death makes it all the creepier. I just don't figure how that NASTY RAT got into her digestive tract. YUCK! I could have done with her "ratting herself out" scene. YUCK!!!moreless

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  • I know how this pain feels...

    9.6
    "Superb"
    By MeMoiMeee, Jun 06, 2007 Report Abuse
    I found this particular episode of CSI to be painful. Painful because I used to work in an Eating Disorders Unit of a Psychiatric Hospital.

    I chose to work in this area because a person has/had to be pretty thick skinned to deal with the sorrow of a person's self hatred.

    So on that note this is a rather gruesome episode but it is pretty spot on which is very sad and unfortunate. No human being should be influenced to think they're so "ugly" that they literally kill themselves over it. But damn, yes it happens. The extremely very sad sad part about this episode is that it is painfully realistic. More so then many other episodes.

    I can't work in this field anymore. It hurt so damn much that it almost killed me. I still, however, worry about my former clients/patients. That is what separates the jerk offs from the real feeling people. This just sucks so bad I can't even began to describe it.

    Anyhow, this is one episode of CSI that unfortunately is pretty damn accurate. Which makes it an extremely grand tragedy.moreless

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  • This is by far the best episode of CSI ever! Still!

    10
    "Perfect"
    By Ingoman, Jun 13, 2006 Report Abuse
    The whole feeling and mood is so sad and in a way cosy. The idea that it doesn\'t have to be a mad killer out there but a destructive soul is very thrilling. The way that the truth unfolds and the teams respons to it feels so very real.

    The epsiode shows a side of modeling that isn\'t talked about much, we know it\'s there we tend to forget it since all we see is beauty. When things go out of hand, which it eventually does, things can be really ugly. I hope the ideals change and people stop try to live up to those ideals.

    Great epsiode, great actors. Great ending of both episode and season.moreless

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  • The team invesigates a model's murder...

    8.0
    "Great"
    By Two_4theRoadx3, Mar 21, 2006 Report Abuse
    I only found this episode alright. I expected more because it was the season finale. I thought more was going to happen since usually the CSI finale make you go "Oh my God!". I think that this episode, had it been a regular episode and not the season finale, would have been more likable for me. The episode isn't bad, just disappointing. It takes you into the world of modeling and shows you just how desperate and sick it can be. The poor victim (and her sister) were just about driven to madness because of what everyone told them, about how wrong they were and how they were never good enough.moreless

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  • My favourite episode of CSI because it was chilling and tear-jerking.

    10
    "Perfect"
    By eatbugs, Mar 04, 2006 Report Abuse
    This is my favourite episode because it was a little scary caompared to the other ones. What makes this scary is that this type of thing can and does happen a lot more, perhaps, than people realise. This woman\'s pain was terrible and it made me cry. The storyline here was particualarly good, although CSI is nothing but great storylines. This episode also sends out a good message. That we are beautiful no matter who or what makes us feel we are not. I also think that this was a great way to end the season becuase it keeps us happily anticipating the next season.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

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    • It is shown in this episode that Grissom is starting to become deaf. Edit
    • Goof: When we see Ashleigh picking at her face with the cosmetic tools all her hair is in a clip and in the next shot part of her hair is down then in the next shot it's all in a clip again. Edit
    • Goof: During the flashback of the death of Ashley James, she is shown falling onto her bed on her back, her arms spread away from her chest. In the next scene, when her living sister enters the room, Ashley is shown lying on her side with both arms to one side of her body. Edit

  • Notes

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    • International Episode Titles: Czech Republic: Otrok hladu (The Slave of Hunger) Edit
    • Music: Baba O' Riley - The Who Gorecki - Lamb Hallo Spaceboy - David Bowie Hayling - FC Kahuna In Trance As Mission - Simple Minds Me and Jesus - Stellar Kart Smiling Faces - Stellar Kart Unbound - Robbie Robertson Wild Horses - Natasha Bedingfield Gave Up - Nine Inch Nails Von - Sigur Rós. Edit

  • Quotes

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    • Grissom: So the victim and the killer became one and the same. The very nature of addiction -- whether it be self-medicating herself or self-mutilating -- is that the very behavior we use to survive it becomes a behavior that ends up killing us. Edit
    • Warrick: Well, that makes sense why the blood and skin under Ashleigh James's fingernails is a perfect match to Ashleigh James. Grissom: She attacked herself. I mean, Ashleigh was convinced that everything about her needed to be fixed. The real problem was inside her head. She couldn't deal with that so she tried to fix the outside. Hence, the digging and picking and purging and bleeding. To us, it would be torture. To her ... some sort of release. Edit
    • Grissom: Cassie threw her life away and her sister Ashleigh recycled it. Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Episode Title: The Hunger Artist The title of this episode is a reference perhaps to Kafka's short story Hunger Artist. Edit

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