Original Air Date: 23 September 2011
Storyline: On the 10th anniversary of 9/11, Mac and the team remember specific moments from that day that were indelibly burned in their mind. As Mac is no longer part of the Crime Lab, Jo tries to make the best out of being interim boss, while Messer is out on the streets as a sergeant in the NYPD. Trivia: Flack's badge number (#9154) is not consistent with the one he's had in the past (either #8571 or #8620).
Cassidy Freeman, who plays Devon Hargrove, also appears in the CSI episode "Coup de grace".
Bug Hall, who plays Mike Black, also appears in the CSI: Miami episode "High Octane" and in the CSI one "Viva Las Vegas".
Best Quote:
Flack: That shouldn't be too difficult. Those two aren't exactly brain surgeons. They'll give it up. Hardest part might be keeping their names straight. The white guy's name is Mike Black. They call him White Mike. The black guy's name is Mike White. His street name is Black Mike.
Review: I'll try to keep my opinions on the whole 9/11 thing to myself and refer only to the episode at hand, though that might be difficult to do. Emotional turmoil aside, this season premiere was a bug disappointment to me. I get that it's a big thing for Americans and, seeing how the show is set in New York City and it was the 10-year anniversary from those events, it had to be celebrated somehow. I just wish they would stop doing that in movies and TV shows.
I don't watch any of the other CSI shows, so I was glad when this one was renewed for an 8th season, despite the last one being not as good as the ones before. The main reason is probably Melina Kanakaredes' replacement with Sela Ward, who doesn't really bring anything interesting to the table. And now we have to watch Jo Danville act as interim Crime Lab chief, which is, frankly, a big downfall. It's not that I like Mac all that much - his moral judgments and one liners have gotten repetitive and annoying lately, but at least he was fun at times. As for Messer being in the field rather than in the lab, that will also be a big minus to this season, I presume. I loved his humor and his "boom"s.
All in all, not a great episode for me to watch. It centers more on each of the characters' memories of what happened at 9/11 and less on actual procedural work and, even though I found it sort of emotional, it's not what I'm looking for from this show. The flashbacks were cool enough and I especially liked seeing Mac with his wife, but that was mostly it.
The crime they were working on seemed just thrown in there without any real focus on it, so it was really just a way to kill off a couple of minutes between the flashbacks. The producers should have stuck with one or the other. We didn't really get an explanation for Mac leaving the Crime Lab, nor any background on how did he start working with the DNA research lab or on the project involving the wall of remembrance. Danny and Flack meeting for the first time on 9/11 was ridiculous, mainly because it's the first time we hear of it. The dialogue between Lindsay and Adam was unnecessarily cheesy, Jo telling Devon that "It's fitting that on a day like today, the image of an innocent man dying for no good reason will be etched in your mind for the rest of your life" was stretched and reminded me of Mac's usual judgmental crap. As for the ending and Mac's speech, I feel they were forced.
This was definitely not the season opener that I would have hoped for. I trust things will go back to normal starting with episode 2, I don't want this kind of drama from a crime procedural.Back to Season 8
