CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

There are some good things to say about this particular episode of CSI. For one thing the performances by the actors who rose from the dead to tell their stories to one another were all quite good, but as I watched the episode I kept asking myself if I was watching CSI or Six Feet Under. The idea of having the dead speak has been done before on the popular HBO series and took away from my enjoyment of the epsiode. I hope this is something the producers of CSI don't repeat any time soon.

The opening to this episode was fantastic, and the piano music of sleepers awake definately added to that



the week before the episode, i read the description and i thought, WOW- this is a great idea, and it was--now, i wished they had made the dead people more involved in the telling of their stories, and i wished that there had been only 2 or 3 murders, and in the end they all linked, but i still loved the idea. While others may say that this episode caused the show to jump the shark--because dead people were \'talking\'- i though this was an innovative idea thats never been done before, and shows how csi is still one of the best shows on tv

Four separate cases are told from the point of some of the victims lying dead in the morgue while Grissom takes a class of students on a tour.



I didn't like the "chapter" separations of the 4 told stories. It was like watching 4 separate 15 minute episodes with no connection except the bodies were all lying in the morgue at the same time. I found it a little unsettling to watch the corpses sit up and have discussions about what had happened to put them in the morgue. Each case was covered by a separate team of CSIs so there was quite a bit of the cast used but they had little interaction with each other as the cases were not connected. They weren't really chapters of the same book it was more like 4 short stories, and I've never been a fan of short stories. They could have expanded each one of these cases and loaded them with details and made 4 separate episodes. The format was creative but I don't think CSI needs to change their format. I like the format exactly the way it is. This episode might have been ok if it were later in the season as a break from the normal format, but in episode 3? It just didn't sit well with me.

Pretty interesting treatment here. Murder from the mouths of the victims. A tad bit freaky, but still interesting.



This episode kind of reminded me of that one episode in a past season (I think it was S5, I'm not so sure, but I'm sure the episode was called "4x4"), where the team had to do 4 separate cases simultaneously, and showing one crime solved before the next one somehow made it really cool and fun to watch. It also gave the illusion that they worked really fast. Anyway, I got the same vibe from this episode, but with a freak factor because of the dead bodies.



Out of the four chapters, the last one was what I liked best (not because of the gore, mind you) because it was the case where I had no clue whodunnit. The first and the second was pretty obvious. The third, with a soldier falling victim to a random act of murder after only being home for a week and just meeting his baby girl, is sad. I did like how that soldier seemed to be at peace because his family is unharmed.



All in all, a great episode. But I wouldn't watch it again, lest I dream about corpses.

I thought that this was an exceptional episode in that it dared to delve deep into the minds and perceptions of the victims rather than have their stories played out how they otherwise normally would. That way, you get to see how they perceive their own deaths and how the csi's and even the viewers perceive them...as well as where they match up and where they differ. It also was an interesting touch to have the episode divided up into 4 separate chapters...obviously one for each case/story. I especially loved the last story:"The Nevada Chainsaw Massacre" haha...awesome(I sooooooo can't wait to see that movie btw).

"All change is bad - that's not true you know." But the same thing goes for "sometimes change is good". Fun enough for 1 time but I hope they don’t do it again.

For me the new way of telling the story did not work. There were some funny moments, but I like the old way of 1 case per episode better, versus rushing through 4 of them. Hey, it’s bad enough that Miami has gone bad ;)

It started off with CSI meets Ghost whisperer. Dead lady talking. I know they're CSIs so that dead people can 'tell' their story through them, but this was taking it a little too far I think.

But let's start with the beginning.

Chapter I: The elevator lady, with 1 rose petal. Turns out she was security ( not just for show) taking a bath in her boss’ tub, that coincidentally was filled with some kind of grapeseed oil that in the end gave Mr. Sing with his wet sleeve away as the killer. She changed his luck. So much for Feng Shui bringing serenity.

Chapter II: a no-brainer. Doc Robbins pointing to where the parietal and occipital lobes are not located was good for a grin. Poor devastated husband claiming suicidal people don’t make plans. Well, he should know because he was the one who pushed her off the cliff. Too bad she recorded him doing it with her cell phone. “Finally found a guy who loved me for my brains, turns out he thought I didn’t have any.” Chapter III : Embalming day. Nick, you don’t want to touch that very sharp and bloody knife like that... Druggie guy put embalming fluid into his joint to get higher, ended up stabbing a guy. (PCP’s street name apparently is embalming fluid, but I didn’t really get if the druggie confused the 2 and that coincidentally the real stuff works similar ? )

Chapter IV : Nevada chainsaw massacre.

By this time I had half lost interest .. I think guy 1 was chopping up his soon-to-be ex wife’s furniture and ended up sawing the arm of his neighbour and then he killed himself because he wasn’t Mr. New Yankee Workshop and the saw got caught on the metal and backfired ?

Greg was in this for about 2 minutes of the episode. That was what was wrong with this episode. For an episode to be really good there needs to be lot of Greg and there wasn't. Yes, I know he'll be in the next episode a lot but he hasn't even been in the season that much. He was working the case with Warrick but it was nearly all Warrick. Warrick's still cool though.



The cases they had were interesting and I like how the bodies got up and started talking to each other. I laughed when the guy tried smoking. The makeup and visual effects were good for the scene in the morgue. The kids walking through the morgue with Grissom were a nice extra to the episode. The girl asking all the questions actually made me think of Sara. We learnt how Grissom and Sara meet in this episode and I'm sure at the lecture Grissom gave she asked a lot of questions.



They got the least interesting one done first as you knew it was the guy as soon as you heard he left the table. I liked Warrick's (and Greg's) case and that actually kept you guessing. Nick's was slightly weird but still entertaining and you felt sorry for the wife as her husband died for nothing. The best case of the night was of course the chainsaw one with Grissom and Sara.



Chainsaw!!!! Yes I enjoyed that particular scene a lot. The look on Grissom's face when Sara came at him with a chainsaw was priceless. Unless they had had a fight I'm sure Sara wouldn't want to kill Grissom. I also liked how Sara mentioned how they first meet and there were a lot of flirty moments between both of them. Brass still continues to be the king on one liners. Still waiting for next week’s episode though...

So this episode probably wasn't the greatest in my books, but it still was original. I was very disappointed that they didn't try and solve who killed Sam Braun. At least I don't think they did. I could be wrong.

I was also very displeased with the fact that I didn't quite fully inderstand who commited the "mini crime scene in a box" case. Maybe the cased was rendered unsolved. I don't know. Usually I understand the cases and what not. Maybe I am just extremely slow. So, In conclusion I was kind of disappointed, but I did find the episode amusing on some levels. I would most definitely like to see some more GSR. I wouldn't mind a little clarification on the second episode of season 7 either. :)

Again a great show and that five people have one

Thing in common...they are all dead! That is wierd as

The team has to split up. One of them was a cop now working as a bodyguard while one of them came back from Iraq dying in front of his wife and new baby. Case gets solved very quickly rather. But still, that is what you expect of CSI!

Too many cases in this episode. Catherine had one, Nick had another, Greg and Warrick shared one and as did Grissom and Sara. Each case got about 10 minutes and the cases seemed too easy to figure out. It was a blend with some normal CSI with a hint of Tarantino. And David is getting married soon!

As for GSR, I was disappointed. There's hardly anything that proves that they are together. In a few eps of season 6 we saw that there was something there, but in this new season, even though they have worked together in 3 episodes there's nothing that shows that they are a couple and I'm disappointed. If the writers didn't want to show any romance then why have them in a bedroom for a season finale cliff hanger? Personal rant....



Now that Sara and Grissom are a "couple" why not let the viewers ever see them say something or do something that shows that they ARE a couple instead of them being subtle all the time and having viewers on 3 sides, one saying they are a couple, another saying they aren't and the last saying who cares? I'm pro, I want them to be together, they fit into each others awkwardness, they understand each others strange behaviours and both Grissom and Sara have changed alot. Sara seems more alive and happier and I, as a Sara fan really needed to see her like that or else what kind of life would she have? Grissom has become the same charming guy he was in season 1.He was seriously missed from late season 3 to the end of season 5. He almost seemed... autistic. His behaviour became too weird, it was like he was just anti-social when in season 1,2 and 3 he was dating he was the opposite. Now he's dating again and he's "normal" again. I hope that continues and I hope we get to see them evolve.I also miss moments of when the gang would have breakast together at a cafeteria or eat out at a restaurant, it's been a while since they were all out together and instead of Catherine (who should be with Warrick) that it can now be Sara that helps Grissom with his bowtie or walks with him arm in arm and hugs him for support before his surgery or whatever.

I thought this was a very good episode. I felt like I said in the summary that the episode why it is important to have good CSI's on a case. Dead people cannot tell you what happened to them, so someone else has to figure that out for them. By a CSI figuring it out with using the evidence they can possibly help to bring justice upon the person if what happened is a homicide. Anyway back to the show, I thought it was very inventive how they decided to make it look like the dead were talking in this episode and started to tell one another about how they ended up in the morgue. It was like what they would say if they could speak and tell the story. I enjoyed the fact that they broke the episode up into four chapters with chapter titles. I especially liked how they named the fourth chapter the Nevada Chainsaw Massacre. I was going really guys, a chainsaw massacre. I found that title entertaining. Especially since there ended up only being two deaths. This episode wasn't just about figuring out what happened it was about why they choose to do what they do in a way.

I left the television on after Survivor. I don't like CSI, generally, and I tend to stay away from it...but the commercials intrigued me. There seemed to be three things going on in the episode 4 stories, talking bodies, and it seemed Grissom was holding court with some students. My first thought was "this is going to be a trainwreck, too much in one episode."...My second thought was "on the other hand this could turn out to be like that House episode '3 Stories' which I quite liked. So...After tribal council, I settled in for some CSI.



Luckily, strangely, or fortunately the episode turned out to be neither of those things. It showed me a truth I'm not sure I want to admit. I like short form CSI. Instead of a two act play (or five acts or however many acts the producers and writers like to think they have) we were presented with an evening of one acts. I found the quite enjoyable. None of them would really stand to be the A story or even the B story of a regular episode (from my limited experience.) But together, they just kind of worked.



I enjoyed the talking body bit. Really. I wish they had gone farther from form and found a way to use that as the framing for the entire episode. I can't help but think that this would have been a way cool stunt for a halloween episode.



Regardless of any misgivings or wishes, they did a fine job and I actually enjoyed the episode. I hope you caught it. If not, seek it out or wait for the re-runs. Touching and funny...different. Good television.

This was a unique episode that started off badly, but ended good. The first story is pointless, and has no real mystery. Donna the bodyguard was killed by her boss. I knew that after the first time we see the boss.

The second story was a little better, and they the used the cell phone camera to catch the guy was great.

The third story involving a retuning vetern from Iraq was good. The end was great when Nick had to tell the wife that her husband was killed for no reason, and it was just a random act.

The final story was the best. The case involves Sara, Grissom, and Brass investagating a case involving a janesaw. The story was great, and the interaction between Sara and Grissom was great.

The final scean was also good. Grissom talking to students in the morgue where the five victims lay, giving a example of how each case was solved.

What a great way to present the stories, from the victim's point-of-view as they all wait in the morgue. The cop/bodyguard who ruined the Feng Shui, the soldier in the wrong place at the wrong time, and so forth. All commenting and giving opinion, then watching how their particular cases are solved. A great somewhat off-beat episode. I love this show! CSI rules!

I was a bit worried about this ep given the commercials but it turned out to be truly amazing. The "dead bodies talking" seemed a gimmick but it really did help. The fact they still carried wounds and scars made it more striking (kudos to the effects team for stuff like the armless guy and the woman without a brain). I think what made it work was there were no hysterics, no acting out. They all knew instantly they were dead and just accepted it. I liked the two female victims best and how they talked naturally, the cop almost kicking herself over how she died. Also the Marine was moving, from making sure his wife and child weren't there to saying it was the best week of his life. And we got some dark comedy like when they tell the armless guy not to smoke. We can see some character development like Catherine still reeling from Sam's death and Grissom and Sara reflecting on the first time they met. The investigations were good, if quick but then they weren't as much the focus as the corpses were.



What I found troubling was that CBS gave away the great "the dead can't speak for themselves" line in the commercials, runing the whole point of the ep. But on its own, this was a very inventive hour that shows the series still has plenty of originality left.

I am really enjoying season 7 so far. Not to say that season 6 wasn't great, but it took a little longer to warm up. Anyway . . . So first up we got Catherine solving the death of the drowning in the elevator. Interesting to have the whole lucky numbers and Feng Shui beliefs mixed through this chapter. I like that she is still sad about Sam, but she is moving on. We all knew it was the gambler, well at least I did, and the trick was to get the evidence to convict him. Many partials do make a whole. So Grissom tells us that “There is no such thing as an insignificant detail”



Then we got Warrick, with a little bit of Greg. I couldn’t seem to decide if the husband was guilty or not. I thought it was funny, perhaps a sad commentary on our technological world, that her camera phone caught her murder. Beauty and the Geek, made me think of Griss and Sara, but she is also a Geek. So the “evidence”, in this case the phone, bears witness and Grissom tells the students “Don’t just look for what you think you’re going to find”



Nick’s part was the most heartfelt and emotional, for me at least. Then ending with him and the wife – Nick looked like he was trying not to cry. Reminded me a little of Gum Drops. George is such a great actor, and Nick shows such empathy with his cases. I started to cry. I am such a sap. I also cried because the soldier got to hold his daughter before he died. Grissom tells us “Never impose logic on an illogical act”.



Then we have the Nevada Chainsaw Massacre. I was laughing. Not only did I call it that it was some kind of stupid “man accident”. You know, where boys play with big toys and end up getting hurt, or in this case, dead. But my local television channel played a preview for the “Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning” movie that is coming out soon. I loved Sara flirting with Griss about the first time they met. I loved the look in his eyes when she pretended to attack him with the chainsaw. This is the Grissom I remember from seasons one and two. I have missed Grissom’s experiments. Griss tells us (just like he told Sara), “If the evidence changes, your theory must change as well”. I liked the four different stories – I know it goes a little fast for some people, but I like it that way, once in a while. 4x4 is still one of my fav episodes. The commentary on that one talked about them trying to do more than 4 stories in an episode – and I think they may be able to pull that off. Maybe something like Fight Night, and everyone is out on a solo case? Can’t wait for next episode – poor Greg in the previews.

Wow they definitely pupt some originality into this episode (for CSI anyway). Although, it reminds me of episode 111, 4X4, sort of. The whole chapter thing, was kind of cool. I feel so sorry for that poor woman whose husband was killed by some dumb drug head. Frankly, idiots who do that should be tossed in jail with no hope of getting out. Ever. The fact that it was the Japanese dude who killed that cop was a little bit obvious. And as for that nerd who killed his hot wife, I think he was full of himself. The Nevada Chainsaw Massacre. Funniest part of the episode. That was when my mom came in a watched my with me and my brother. In all, they definitely did a great job making this episode.

Innovation is the key word here. They took the daring step of having the dead speak, which is what Grissom says he is there to do when they can not tell us how they died. It was edgy, funny and a little odd, but that is what made it so entertaining. A good reason to keep watching after a so so start to the season.

This series (and season) has yet to disappoint me. With a beautiful piano piece starting off the episode, it was clearly going to be a hit. The music making it all come full circle shows the writers appreciation for the classic elements of a good story. The interactions between the \"ghosts?\" of the dead may have been a little cheesy at first, but only because it was a little odd to see the corpses get up and start \"talking.\" All this still made for an excellent piece especially with the dark humor and sweet moments. Favorite moments: Grissom and Sara practicing with the chainsaw- Sara points the chainsaw at Grissom and his eyes bug out and Grissom saying Because the dead can’t speak for themselves, when they have been speaking this whole time and seeing Grissom teach.

I had to wonder about this episode when they needed to title each chapter -- that's a first for CSI and I hope that's a last too.



There are basic rules in writing about ordering a series of short stories of different types for effect. Put the poignant story last -- the one that you want viewers to take with them; to think about afterward. That story was the Iraqi vet's senseless murder investigated by Nick. But the writers put it second last and then followed it with a dufus comedy case. As a result it took away from the overall quality of the episode.



Of course the dufus comedy (chainsaw case) went last because that was the GSR case. So here we have the first episode screwed up by making sure GSR had the final scene.

The first case with the cop/body guard murdered in her boss' tub was just plain cold. No one felt for the victim. The murderer had little emotion. If no one involved in the case shows any emotion about it, why should we care? The only nice moment was Brass checking with Catherine to see how she was doing in the wake of Sam's shooting.



The second case featured "Steve" from Sex and the City as the victim's husband. Again, this was played somewhat emotionlessly or at least with ingenuine emotions on the part of the husband. It added to the lack of interest in the episode. I suppose another reason for not putting the poignant case last was that the episode would have been seen as a repeat of 4x4 (from season 5) minus the team crossing paths in the halls.





If I was on the writing team, I would have put the "chapters" in this order: 1, 4, 2, 3.

I think it was nice to watch the format of this episode, which was different from the format of the other usual episodes. I don't know what other people think, but I believe this episode was one of the most realistic CSI episodes. Before this episode, I kinda thought that there were too many people involved in a case and twists that rarely happen in the real world in most of the CSI episodes. But, this one shows that not all episodes are like that. (Personally, I think the writers wisely chose an unique way of presenting an episode at this time. They could've made four separate episodes out of this one episode.)



There are all four cases and one team member(or, two) is assigned to each case, and they all succeeded in solving the cases without much of difficulty. Plus, one more thing that was interesting about the episode was that the four dead bodies(specifically, their spirits) wake up and start talking to each other in the room(, which was kinda weird considering that the title of the show was CSI). Some of them talk about their past and how they were killed, and some of them complain they should not have been dead. But, no matter what they say after they die, it gets them nothing. They are all vain efforts. However, right here, Grissom says, at the end, he does this job because nobody would find out what happen to them(victims) unless he didn't. Impressive.

Interesting way of presenting an episode. All the crime victims talking to each other, after they have all died. with special effects and autospy scars thrown in for detail. The way the dead people talked about and explained they're own murders was really surreal. Plus all the cases were done in a cool way with the CSI humor we've learned to love. The end was really cool too, with Gil Grissom talking to the students and using the dead people's cases as examples for his lesson. Then saying the victims can't speak for themselves. Spooky...



Well those are my 2 cents

The things I love about CSI:LV are the marvelous scripts and play on words, especially the titles. They definitely reflect the storyline, such as Embalmy Day and No Brainer - the segments' titles, where the victim literally loses her brain. Of course, Toe Tags refer to the victims.



CSI is its best with its gallows humor.



The interaction between the characters, particulary Grissom and Sara, is great. My favorite scene was when Grissom and Sara try to recreate the "Nevada Chainsaw Massacre." The facial expressions are hilarious when Sara raised the chainsaw to Grissom.



I hope to see more of this type of episode!

The idea of the dead people explainig their own stories is simply brilliant! I specially like the first victim when She says that someone will figure out what happened to her and the scene changes and we see Catherine processinmg the crime scene!! 4 stories with very different characters that make this chapter one of the most amusing of all Las Vegas seasons!! In only 10 minutes we know how they died, who killed them and why! I am quite a dreamer and I like to think that this is the way our CSIs work when they are not stuck in cases more complicates like ones they show us every week.

Nice interpretations for all the actors and I love the last sentence:

Why do you do this?

Someone has to make the dead ones talk...(not exactkly like that but that is the message!)

GREAT!!

I like the way they did this one it was the dead people telling the story and they would flash back to see what happened exactly. I liked hearing the story from them and like how it went down and what they were thinking in that sitiuation. I also liked how they were just kinda talking to each other and all that. It kinda suprised me when one sat up and started talking i didnt know what was going on i was all questioning what had happened and stuff. I liked this episode but i though it could be a little better.

This episode unwinds in another original approach as the death of five people is told from the perspectives of the victims themselves. Catherine and Brass investigate the death of a bodyguard cop by a superstitious gambler. Warrick and Greg’s case involves a woman killed by her husband during a hiking trip. Nick and Sofia are set out to find out what happened to a soldier who just returned from Iraq and was stabbed at a gas station in front of his wife and baby. Finally, Grissom and Sara work together to solve a case where two people are found dead in a garage and one of them has a limb cut off by a chainsaw. Also, Grissom and Sara go down memory lane to the first time they met.

I liked the whole flashback idea this episode was based on, starting from the autopsy table and moving backward. Also I thought it was a unique way to present the cases, from the victims point of view instead of the investigators. Saddest case was deffinatly Jack, the returning veteran from Iraq. It made me so mad that he was basically killed for no reason, a random victim. I hated it. The one with Donna, the bathtub bodygaurd was absolutly riduculous that someone would kill over something so stupid. Maybe if he didn't gamble so much he wouldn't lose money. Some of the motives on CSI get me so worked up, like first of all, why would you kill somebody and second, that is the stupidest motive EVER! Grr. But all in all I loved this episode.

A very very good storyline. With those body's who wake up and than tell you what happend. And it wasn't even confusing. And the last words of Grissom:"The death can't speak for themselves" very good end. The sad story about that soldier who just came back. There wasn't that much Sara but it was OK. You keep watching 'cause you want to know what the next body has to tell. And it olso gives you some more info about the CSI's, that they need to work really hard every day again. So everything together I'm very positieve about Toe Tags.

Sara (looking at the crime scene): I thought this only happened in the movies.

Grissom: Life imitates art. Everything about Toe Tags was just so good. From the various well told mini stories to Doc Robbins singing his findings about the body, this is great stuff, and with the added bonus of the fantastical (talking dead people) it was even better than it would normally be.

It was great to see Jerry Bruckheimer try something different with CSI as opposed to his usual sameness. It was absolutley brilliant. I love the idea of all these corpses talking to each other and relaying the stories of how they died. Telling it through the CSIs and letting us see it quickly and sharply was brilliant. It was like scary short stories!

My only complaint is that it was obvious who the murderer was because there wasnt enough time for multiple suspects, but none the less an absolutly fantastic episode of CSI and we now know for sure, the team are back.