Finale Report: CSI - "Way to Go"

CSI has just completed its sixth season with an episode that was interesting as both a finale and a standalone episode. Unfortunately, it is not without its problems, prinarily what happens in the final minutes of the show.

This is the only CSI series that I watch. I tried to watch the Miami and New York incarnations, but neither one has captured my attention as the original has. Sadly, I have missed a few episodes this season due to the crowded timeslot, I also watch the My Name Is Earl/The Office combination, as well as Supernatural when it moved to Thursday. Next season brings even more competition when ABC brings Grey's Anatomy to Thursday. It will be interesting to see how that plays out. On to the finale!

The show picks up right from the end of the prior week's episode. Captain Jim Brass was shot while trying to his way out of a hostage situation, and it is not looking good. He is brought into the ER, and we get a flash of a conversation between Jim and Gil, where he gives Grissom the power to decide medical decisions should the need arise. It has arisen, as the bullet is in a precarious location near the heart, where removal has life threatening potential.. Gil gives the go ahead to perform the procedure.

After the hospital scene, we shift to the scene of a murder. There is a decapitated corpse laying on railroad tracks. Nick goes off looking for the head, while they attempt to get a liver temperature fromt he body, to determine time of death. It is discovered that his torso has been compressed to a point where he has a 19 inch waist.

The drama surrounding Jim's condition thickens with the arrival of Ellie Brass, Jim's daughter. She was a drug addicted prostitute, who seems to be turning things around, kind of. She arrives, and immediately goes to work trying to gain access to Jim's apartment, not to mention inquiring as to the beneficiary of his pension. Nice girl. Her relationship with her father is strained at best.

Finally, there is the death being investigated by Catherine and Warrick. A man is found laying on his bed, surrounded by drugs. The guy looks to have had a party and partied himself into the great beyond. This is probably the least interesting part of the story, and seemed to be there just to give Catherine and Warrick some screen time in this season ender. It was rendered even more useless when the ultimate reason for his demise was accidental.

Back to the decapitated guy. The head has been found, as has some burnt clothing remnants. After sifting through them, and discovering that he wore a corset, they are able to track down the shop which sold the item, and from there, his name. They also find that he had been shot, and was dead before the decapitation. They find that the man is a Civil War aficionado, with setups and memoribilia in his home, an homage to an ancestor who fought in the war. More than that, this man was involved in living battle recreations.

A visit is paid to the recreation field, where it is found that the dead guy had been in a duel, of all things with one of the other recreationists. The investigation reveals that the dead man was dead set on emulating his relative, a confederate officer. During one of the recreations he felt he was being insulted by someone talking to his wife on a cell phone, that leads into the aforementioned duel, and subsequent death of the man. He had a helper in his employ, who helped hime with his corset each morning, who also happened to be present at the duel. When it was discovered that he was using real bullets in the duel, the helper tried to stop him, that is how he was accidentally shot. The helper guy, wanting to help his master with an honorable death, placed him at the train tracks, hence the decapitation.

Back at the hospital, Jim has come through the surgery, and is looking to be OK. He looks out the window of his room and sees the whole team there supporting him. Everyone, that is, except Ellie. She did not go, despite all of Gil's efforts.

The episode comes to an end with something that has been teased, but I never wanted to see happen. It appears that Gil and Sara have taken their relationship beyond the office.

The episode ends.

I did not care for that revelation. I liked the sly little teases that have popped up from time to time over the past years, but I likened their relationship more like that of Scully and Mulder, never being fulfilled. The show has always done a good job of giving us interesting cases, but also adding a splash of the personal developments. Sadly, this is a turn that I do not believe they should have taken. Hopefully, they will realize their mistake, and this will be glossed over next season.

Categories: Television, TV_Review, Reviews, Recap, Drama