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STUDIO: Paramount
MSRP: $98.18
RATED: Not Rated
RUNNING TIME: 1020 Minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES:
• Featurettes
• Episode commentaries

The Pitch

Morpheus travels to Las Vegas and lands a good gig.

The Humans

Cast: Lawrence Fishburne, William Peterson, Marg Helgenberger, George Eads, Paul Guilfoyle, Eric Szmanda, Robert David Hall

The Nutshell

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is about a team of forensic investigators in Las Vegas, Nevada who solve murders. The series focuses on gruesome and bizarre murders.

The Lowdown

After the excellent season seven concluded I lost interest in CSI mainly because I was never a fan of the Grissom / Sara romance story they were peddling to fans. Said romance was always hinted at on the show but after season seven the producers decided to push that relationship into one of the main stories for season eight, and at which point I said "thanks but no thanks" and proceeded to move on.


Working for CHUD is not easy on the fingers. Just look at mine.

So here we are at season nine and to say there was a lot going on would be an understatement:

• One major character is dead, Warrick (Gary Dourdan) and in the season opener, For Warrick, has the team investigating his death.
• The main character, Gil Grissom (William Petersen), is retiring to tackle a lecturing career.
• Two new characters are introduced - Dr. Raymond Langston (Lawrence Fishburne) and Riley Adams (Lauren Lee Smith).
• One main cast member, Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox), who left in season eight, is now back for a few episodes (she is also in the first half of season 10).

Talk about a shake-up!

Each episode follows the same formula. We follow a few people going about their daily routine, next is a shot of a dead person, the CSI team is at the scene, the investigation goes back to the lab and then some suspects are rounded up and interrogated. In some cases the crime goes unsolved or is indirectly linked to another unsolved case. When a new case helps to solve an older one have come to be my favorite episodes because it not only takes the show into an unexpected direction but it gives the characters more to work with.

Season 9 episodes

For Warrick

The CSI team tracks down who killed Warrick and Sara makes a return to attend the funeral.

The Happy Place

A hypnotist uses her skills to have others rob banks however, the CSI team is more interested in her being the #1 murder suspect.

Art Imitates Life

An artist becomes the primary suspect when a series of murders where several dead bodies are specifically placed in poses. In this episode we meet one of two new cast members of the season - Riley Adams (Lauren Lee Smith).

Let it Bleed

A young woman is murdered and it turns out she is the daughter of a fugitive wanted by the FBI and DEA.

Leave Out All the Rest

A case involving domination brings back fan favorite Lady Heather who finds out that she has to deal more with Gil's depression then the case she is asked to help on.


Dominatrix Lady Heather impresses Grissom with her cup of a thousand cock rings.

Say Uncle

Standard episode involving the murder of a mother and son.

Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda

Gil appears at the hearing of Natalie Davis who in season seven turned out to be the miniature killer. The courts are going to decide if she is mentally competent to be placed in a regular prison instead of a mental institution.

Young Man with a Horn

One of my favorite episodes of the season. The team investigates the death of a young singer and a murder that happened over 50 years ago that may have a connection to the current case.

19 Down... (Part 1)

A murder with ties to a serial killer who is currently in prison leads Gil to sign up for a
college course where criminal pathologist Dr. Raymond Langston (Fishburne) is using the serial killer in a series of classes. A nice new character introduction for Fishburne.

One to Go (Part 2)

Grissom's last case and the team works even harder to close the case for him. This is where Grissom offers Langston a permanent position on the CSI team.

The Grave Shift

Dr. Langston's first day on the job is not an easy one as he has to learn some of the basics in forensic's.

Disarmed and Dangerous

An FBI agent is murdered and the CSI team assist the victim's partner solve the case.

Deep Fried & Minty Fresh

Interesting episode as Nick and Langston investigate a murder at a fast food restaurant and find out that all the evidence is covered in cooking oil.

Miscarriage of Justice

An old case is reopened as new evidence is discovered. I always like these reopened cases as it brings back some guests from previous episodes.

Kill Me If You Can

The CSI team are investigating three separate cases but quickly discover that all three have a common link.

Turn, Turn, Turn

Another episode where several cases have a connection. One of the weakest episodes of the season mainly due to it being flat out boring.

No Way Out

Langston and Riley are taken hostage after a shoot out. Langston must try and save one of the suspects while the suspects partner is getting more paranoid, and more dangerous. A decent attempt at having the two new characters get a stand-alone.

Mascara

This is the 200th episode for CSI and it involves the murder of one of Langston's former students who was doing some research for her thesis. For the series reaching a milestone this episode was sort of a let down.

The Descent of Man

The death of a skydiver takes a different course when Catherine figures out a connection with that death and a double murder.

A Space Oddity

A strange episode that turned out to be one of my favorites of the season. The star of Astro Quest Redux is murdered and all the freaks and geeks are scrutinized by the CSI team.

If I Had A Hammer

Catherine's first case as a CSI is reopened when the man she convicted claims he was found guilty due to faulty forensics. Although I love episodes where they revisit old crimes the ending is about as silly and farfetched as they come.


Lurking in the dark is Detective Munch whose quest for television series appearances knows no bounds. 

The Gone Dead Train

"A series of indeterminate deaths test the deductive powers of the CSI team, who fear that a public health emergency may be in the offing. Meanwhile, a friendly rivalry over who will win an upcoming bikini contest takes a deadly turn" The best part of this episode is watching Catherine in a fight against a crazed woman.

Hog Heaven

An undercover cop who has infiltrated a biker gang is killed and the team runs into a lot of trouble trying to solve the case.

All In

When a stash of casino chips worth $1,000 each is discovered not only is there a murder but five people's lives are destroyed. A solid season ender with all the main cast members getting a good share of screen time.

Even with all that was going on I was pleasantly surprised with how well the season turned out. Lawrence Fishburne was a great choice to replace Peterson. A nice touch was added to the season where the audience got to learn some little details about Dr. Langston's life. The downside of the season was the other cast addition. Lauren Lee Smith's character, Riley, just did not fit in with the flow of the series and she came across more as a smart-ass then someone who is new to a CSI team.

Even though season nine is not the series strongest (that is reserved for season seven) it still held its own in delivering some worthwhile episodes

The Package

The featurettes offered on this set are:

• Crime Scene Initiation
• CSI Mode
• Rats in Space
• From Zero to 200 in nine seasons
• Good-bye Grissom

On the surface this looks like a stacked set of featurettes but after viewing them I quickly discovered these are just your typical pat on the back features where the cast and crew tell the usual "its great to work on this series", "CSI is the best series ever", and so forth. A nice treat for fans of the series but not something a casual viewer would enjoy too much.

Five episodes have a deleted scene extra and they would not have added anything to the specific episode but they are still enjoyable to watch.

A Space Oddity episode has a commentary by Naren Shankar, Wallace Langham, Liz Vassey, Bradley Thompson and David Weddle. Enjoyable and you can tell these people had fun making this episode.

8 out of 10