episode summary index

Here's the index of the upcoming episode summaries:

Case File: Episode name/season
Gathering evidence: episode Summary
The Geek Squad: our CSI family – Gil, Catherine, Warrick, Sara, and Nick
My Girls: Catherine, Sara & company try to even out the testosterone level
The Boys’ Club: Boys will be boys…in one way or another
Oh ‘Rats’! They’re geekier than our main geek squad. They’re the lovable lab rats.
You’re mine tonight: who’s on the case
My crime scene is where?: Vegas is a wacky town.
You’re under arrest: the ones with the guns. They’re the law.
I know how to hide the body! From lawyers to Ecklie, they’re like pesky gnats
What’s up, Doc? Autopsies are gory, but Doc gets to say fancy words
It’s personal: even though they work with death every day, they're still human beings
Who are you? Who? Who? guest stars of note
Hey, I know you! recurring guests
Person of interest:
Micro/mini/gadget: it’s all about forensics
Do you wish to change your statement? We know the CSI writers aren’t good with continuity. This will prove it.
I don't get it: something doesn't make sense here
What did you say? Quotes
The joke’s on you: Death can be a humorous business
From this moment: a moment of importance
Meow! It’s all about Cat
Quick on the draw: Tally the score. Who draws the most
Case solved/unsolved/pending: let’s tally up
Add this to the case file: my random comments

1x03 Crate & Burial

Case File:
1x03 Crate & Burial

Gathering evidence:

Out in the middle of the desert, a man has just finished filling up a hole and is walking away. A woman trapped in a small, dark space flicks on a lighter. She starts screaming. We hear a distorted voice making a ransom demand for $2 million within three hours or the wife dies. Grissom & Nick are listening back to parts of the tape repeatedly on the husband’s answering machine. His name is Jack Garris. He’s agitated and complaining that they’re wasting time listening to that recording over & over and not looking for his wife. Grissom explains that he’s listening closely to certain things on the tape, including hearing nothing – which, in the Las Vegas area would mean somewhere in the desert. There’s also a low frequency background buzz which might indicate there are power lines nearby.

Brass just got off the phone. He says the FBI will back them up if needed, but LVPD is in charge of things. Jack Garris is concerned about the chances of getting his wife, Laura, back safely. Brass says that since the kidnapper has given a short (3 hour) window for the ransom, it’s likely that the wife is in a situation where she would likely be dead around that time. Mr Garris encourages them to move quickly. Grissom says that in these situations, it’s better to go slow, so they don’t miss anything important.

Sara comes to the Garris house to process evidence. She gives instructions to others on what to take pictures of or dust for prints. Nick comes in to let her know that he’s going to be working on the ransom audio tape. Sara notices some scratches on a doorframe.

Brass is interviewing Jack Garris, asking if there was anyone who would want to hurt her. Jack says that she’s a health nut and surrounds herself with good people. Jack wants to pay the ransom. Brass still wants to hold off on that for a bit.

As Nick is leaving in his vehicle, Grissom gives Nick instructions on what to tell the audio guy at the lab. Nick gripes that he already knows what to tell the audio guy. Grissom goes into the house where Sara is still processing. She starts running through her initial theory (a professional job), but Grissom isn’t really paying attention to her. He’s doing an initial survey of the house. He notices some dirt on the floor. He walks out the door and notices a rag with a bad odor. He thinks possibly halothane.

At a street intersection, Catherine & Warrick are doing their initial sweep of a hit & run with a young girl killed while riding her scooter. Catherine says that her daughter wants a scooter. Warrick tells her that he can do this case alone if she’s bothered by it. He says Holly Gribbs’ death got him thinking about working with his partners. He does his initial theory of the case where a car is cruising down the street, hit the girl on the scooter. She was thrown a fair distance, then the car turns & speeds away. Catherine thinks the car will be hard to track down because all they have for evidence is paint from the car, which won’t really narrow things down.

Back at the Garris house, Jack Garris is ready to drop off the ransom money, but Brass is still encouraging him not to. Jack won’t give in. He leaves to make the drop. Brass tells Grissom that he’ll “stay close to the money”. In the lab, Grissom & Sara are analyzing the dirt found in the house. Grissom announces that the gold flecks found in it are actually gold. The “little gray squiggles” are cyanide. He says that miners drop cyanide powder into the dirt and it brings the gold to the surface. So Grissom surmises that the place their looking for has to be one of three mines that are near power lines and within range of the money drop zone.

In the morgue, Dr Jenna is showing Warrick & Cath evidence from the crash on the young girl’s body. There’s a bruised indentation of a license plate on the girl’s body. They can make out a “4” and a “J”. Warrick is going to check with DMV on plates registered in the area.

Grissom & Sara are in a helicopter, flying over the three possible locations. They’re using a thermal scanner to try to locate Laura. They initially find a running pack of coyotes. Now, we’re with Brass as he’s scoping out the money drop site – which is at a golf course. He watches Jack make the drop in a garbage container. Nick enters Brass’ car to be there if/when the kidnapper picks up the money. Back in the ‘copter with Grissom & Sara. They’re finding nothing yet, so will circle the mine again. At the money drop, a guy with a dog comes up towards the garbage container. Nick wants to move in on them, but Brass says no. Then a guy with a golf bag walks up, trying to not look suspicious, but not succeeding. We’re back in the helicopter where they’ve come up with another “hot spot” on the scanner. They land and hear her screaming, so they start digging. They uncover Laura. Her hands are bound, but she’s alive and doing fairly well. Grissom radios to Brass that they’ve “got the package, and she’s still alive”. Brass acknowledges the information. Their “major player” is just making his move. He grabs the bag from the garbage container, is quickly surrounded by police and apprehended.

Cath & Warrick walk up to a house. Charles Moore answers the door. They want to ask him about his car. Mr Moore claims that his car was stolen. Cath hands him a search warrant and asks to look in his garage. They open the garage to find the car, with lots of damage to the front. Catherine turns to Mr Moore. She doesn’t say a word, but Mr Moore starts explaining that he hit the girl because he stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake. He says he gets confused. He acknowledges wrong doing for leaving the scene. He’s dismayed when Catherine tells him that the little girl died at the scene.

In the break room, Catherine is taking Lindsey’s birthday cake out of the fridge (she’ll be 6). Cath expresses her concern to Warrick that Mr Moore gave up too easily. Warrick says he was just scared. Grissom comes in acting giddy. He shows Cath a chemistry set that he got for Lindsey. Sara wonders how long before she has to kick in for gifts. Cath says “when the spirit moves you.” Nick comes in to the break room and inquires as to when Lindsey’s coming. Cath says she isn’t. Nick says he got her a present – which is the same chemistry set that Grissom bought her. Cath says Lindsey doesn’t want a party, and makes it clear that there IS no party. At that point, everyone’s beepers go off. The Moore car is in the garage & ready for Warrick & Cath to process; The “burial box” is ready for processing, and the victim (Laura) is ready to be interviewed at the hospital.

Grissom is talking with Laura. She claims the guy grabbed her from behind & put something over her mouth. She doesn’t remember getting the black eye. She does submit to having blood drawn for analysis. Sara is processing evidence from the box. She lifts a print, and gives a little smirk. Brass is talking to Chip. He’s still claiming he didn’t know there was money in the bag. Apparently, Chip is Jack’s trainer. He knows both Jack & Laura, and he goes to their house. Brass asks about the fingerprints on the burial box. Chip said if the crates are from Jack’s Vineyard, then he moved some crates for him a couple weeks ago.

Cath & Warrick are checking out the Moore car. Warrick sits in the driver’s seat and he’s a bit cramped. He surmises that Mr Moore is about the same height that he is, and he’d probably have the seat pushed back farther, and the mirrors aren’t right for his height. Cath tells Warrick to start up the car. He does, and they’re immediately flooded with loud rap music. They decide that Mr Moore wasn’t the last to drive the car.

Grissom arrives in the audio lab where Nick & the audio tech are going over the tapes. They compare the distorted voice on the ransom tape to the one that Brass recorded in the interview with Chip. Grissom asks Nick what to do next. Nick says to call Brass & pick the guy up. Grissom says to wait for a bit because Nick has more to do with the tape. Sara comes to ask Grissom to help her with something, so he leaves. Nick is confused and wonders what he did wrong. The audio tech says that he’s not saying anything because he knows Grissom is trying to teach Nick.

Cath & Warrick are talking with Mr Moore about who was driving the car. Mr Moore’s grandson, James, comes into the interrogation room. Cath & Warrick note that James is an approved driver on the car’s insurance. They ask James if he was the one driving. James wants to explain, but Mr Moore won’t let him. Mr Moore says that he was driving with James, hit the girl, got woozy & asked James to drive him home. He says if he got one more moving violation that they would take away the keys to his car. James confirms the story. Mr Moore is brought back to his cell. James goes home. Catherine & Warrick meet James in the hallway & ask him if he needs a ride home. He declines and leaves. Cath is conflicted. She has thoughts of letting Mr Moore take the wrap. Warrick talks a bit of sense back into her.

While walking through the halls of the lab, Grissom is telling Nick that he wants to find something new on the audio tape. Nick still doesn't understand what more there is to look for and he gets upset with Grissom, thinking that Grissom is always second-guessing him. Nick continues on through the lab while Grissom stops at the breakroom where Catherine is getting some coffee. He asks if she’s okay following her “major/minor blowup about Lindsey not wanting a party”. She tells him that she thinks she’s making Lindsey weird; that she works all the time and has no time for her friends. She thinks Lindsey is trying to copy her mom. Grissom tells her “then she’ll be fine”. Sara interrupts and asks for Grissom’s help to come “tape her up”.

In the garage, Grissom is taping Sara’s hands together as she’s sitting in the front seat of the vehicle. She had told him that she found Laura’s hairs on the front seat of the passenger side. So, she asks why a kidnapper would put a bound & unconscious person in the front seat of a pickup truck. They wouldn’t. There was also sheepskin fiber on the back of Laura’s sleep, indicating that she would have had her hands & arms free to sit normally in the seat, as she shows him after he cuts the duct tape from her wrists. Now they don’t even think she was unconscious. They found the halothane rag on the patio, but it was likely just to throw them off the right evidence trail. Grissom says it’s a good thing that he got a blood sample from Laura. Sara is amused & slightly annoyed that Grissom never told her that – and that he was also ahead of her in the evidence gathering. Brass comes in & tells Grissom that Chip is ready to make a deal. Grissom says “no deals”, as they know what Chip has to offer – Laura, the accomplice.

Nick runs up to Grissom & says he has the “enhanced” version of the ransom tape. Nick apologizes to Grissom for being snippy.

Catherine & Warrick are searching the Moore car for more evidence. Catherine finds part of a chipped tooth in the steering wheel cover. Back at PD, they’re now asking to look at Mr Moore’s teeth. He takes his dentures out & puts them on the table. Cath & Warrick then look to James. Mr Moore says that James is a good kid, he always calls to say where he is. It seems that after James hung up after a call to his grandfather, he dropped his phone in the car, reached down to get it, and looked back up in time to see the little girl on her scooter. He couldn’t stop quickly enough & slammed into her. He freaked out & drove quickly home, wanting his grandfather to go to the police station with him. Mr Moore said he wouldn’t let him. Mr Moore begs them to let him serve the time for James. They said they can’t allow that. They told Mr Moore that he can explain all of that in court. Cath says that both she & Warrick will be witnesses for him.

As the cops lead James & Mr Moore through the hallway, Warrick tells Cath that she should go on home for the day, that Lindsey is out of school soon – and it’s her birthday. Cath says she owes him one.

Sara comes into Grissom’s office. He’s got headphones on and listening to something. She tells him that there was no halothane in Laura Garris’ blood. They surmise that her kidnapping was fake, but how did she end up buried in a box with a black eye? Grissom’s theory – greed.

Back at the Garris house, they’re explaining that theory to Jack & Laura. Sara surmises that they faked the kidnapping, drove out of town, stopped at a roadside phone so Chip could call in the ransom message. Grissom picks up the story, saying they drove East towards Sandfill mine, saying they needed to wait around for the ransom money. Chip would tell her they needed to change vehicles, and that there was one just ahead. When they get there, she sees an open, empty box. Chip hits her, pushes her in the box, duct taped her hands & buried her. Nick comes in with the audio recordings. First they play Chip’s ransom message with his voice unaltered. Nick puts in a second tape. The first sound is of a car driving by. The second sound has the car noise taken away, and hearing Laura say “chip, hurry up.”. Jack is stunned. Laura tells Jack that he was only interested in his work. She started sleeping with Chip because Jack was too busy with his work. Laura says that she can give them Chip on other things too. Grissom tells her that they already have both her & Chip for about 25 years. The officers take Laura away.

Catherine & Lindsey are at a park sitting on a bench eating popsicles. Lindsey says the reason she didn’t want a party with her friends is that she sees them all the time at school, but never gets to spend time alone with her mom. Cath is stunned. Lindsey sees a kid nearby riding a scooter & asks her mom if she can get one for her birthday. Cath says maybe when she’s 40. Lindsey laughs & says “it’s not fair.”

James Moore is being brought to the jail. He says his goodbyes to his grandfather. Warrick writes down his own cell number on James’ hand and tells him to call if needed. As they leave, Mr Moore tells Warrick that he didn’t have to do that. Warrick mentioned that he gave his grandmother a lot of rough nights while growing up. Mr Moore says that Warrick’s grandmother “did something right”.


The Geek Squad:
Grissom: Grissom is in “teacher” mode in this episode – teaching both Nick & Sara. With Nick, it’s giving him hints that there’s more to look for in the audio tapes, but he doesn’t tell Nick what exactly to do or to look for. With Sara, he’s more or less letting her do things, but also doing his own investigating of the evidence, and waiting for Sara to catch up – such as the situation with Laura’s blood sample. He also, through time, gets Jack to trust him and the evidence to see the truth.

Catherine: this case becomes quite personal for Cath, considering it’s a young girl who was killed. Add the fact that it’s Lindsey’s birthday and she wants one of those scooters too. Cath’s initial disgust for the “bastard” who hit the girl & left seems to change immediately when she realizes the situation with Mr Moore and his grandson. It even brings her to some thoughts of not following protocol. The underlying emotions for Cath in this one is why Lindsey is insistent on not having a party with her friends – a question that’s resolved with the best reason possible – Lindsey wants to spend some “alone” time with her mom.

Warrick: We see from the beginning what impact the situation surrounding Holly’s death has had on Warrick – starting from his offer to Cath to work the case by himself if she can’t handle it. Even though he’s feeling the same sense of sympathy for the Moores as Catherine is, he’s the one to keep her on the path of professionalism in their job. He acknowledged her sympathy for the case by telling her to go home & be with Lindsey on her birthday while he finishes up things on the case. His decision to give James his cell number is also summed up in his conversation with Mr Moore at the end – James reminds Warrick of himself when he was younger.

Sara: We see a bit of Sara’s territorial side come out at the beginning of this episode. When she arrives at the crime scene, she gives out instructions to others on what to do. She tells Nick that he’s in “her” crime scene. Then she points out to Nick that Grissom hand picked her to work here. When Grissom arrives later, and he basically ignores her initial summary of the case, she exclaims, “glad I have a healthy ego.” She may have a healthy ego, but it’s clear throughout this episode that she’s still got more learning to do.

Nick: The writers are finally giving Nick a bit of personality in this, the third episode in the series. Nick’s promotion to a CSI level 3 seems to have given him a “healthy ego” like Sara’s. He gets pissy and upset that Grissom is always second guessing him. And Grissom is correct in doing so – which Nick learned after finishing his final analysis of the audio tape.


My Girls:
Sara: what’s the rule… how long do I have to be here before I start kicking in for gifts?
Cath: When the spirit moves you, Sara, so in your case, I guess …never?
Just the short interaction with the two ladies this time, but considering what we know so far from the two, it’s not a surprise that they’re still a bit short with each other. They both like to be in charge, and you know Catherine isn’t going to let the “newbie” take over her territory.

The Boys’ Club:
Grissom & Nick are in the “boys club” again this time. Here Nick seems to be the little brother who just got a bicycle for the first time, but can’t ride quite as fast as big brother, Grissom – even though he thinks he should be able to. In the end, Nick realizes that even though he got the promotion to level 3, he still needs to keep learning things about the job, and that sometimes Grissom actually knows what he’s talking about.

Oh ‘Rats’!
We’re introduced to a new ‘rat’ this time – the audio tech, known as TDH. He helps match the voices from the ransom message to the interview with Chip.

You’re mine tonight:
- Grissom, Sara & Nick are teamed up on the ransom/kidnapping case of Laura Garris, but their mainly paired into duos: Grissom & Sara working the house, rescue and burial box angles. While Nick is working on the audio aspect of the ransom message with Grissom overseeing his work.
- Catherine & Warrick pair up to find out who hit Renda Harris on her scooter, then drove away. It’s not as clear as just finding the “bastard”, because said “bastard” is actually a scared teenager who made a bad choice and didn’t get the proper guidance from his grandfather to go to the police.

My crime scene is where?
Catherine & Warrick’s initial scene is a street intersection where Renda Harris was killed on her scooter. They eventually go to Charles Moore’s house and look in his garage. The rest of the evidence gathering and interrogation is done at the lab & PD.
The Garris kidnapping/extortion case has a few different scenes. The main one is the Garris house, where the kidnapping occurred and the ransom message was delivered. Brass staked out the golf club where the money drop was made. Grissom & Sara went to the desert to locate Laura Garris.

You’re under arrest:
Brass is on the beat again. This time, his main agenda was to “follow the money”, at the ransom drop site. He also did Chip’s interrogation. There was no useful information gathered from the talk, but the main objective was to record Chip’s voice for comparison. He accomplished that easily. We also see some officers & rescue personnel in the race to locate Laura Garris, and there were a handful of officers at the Garris house as well. Also some officers helping Cath & Warrick in moving Mr Moore & James through PD.

I know how to hide the body!
The main annoying person in this episode was at the beginning with Jack Garris insisting that he make the money drop, even with Grissom & Brass encouraging him not to. It’s understandable that he was worried about his wife and it seemed that no one was doing anything, but usually in those matters, you think it’d be wise to listen to those who have been around those types of situations more.

What’s up, Doc?
A brief appearance by Dr Jenna Williams in this episode. As with the last episode, she gives some crucial information that basically breaks the case – pointing out to Cath & Warrick the license plate bruises on Renda Harris’ body.

It’s personal:
This episode gets personal for Catherine, as she’s on the case where a young girl was killed while on her scooter. Lindsey’s been asking her mom for a scooter, but this case gives Cath a good reason to say no. What’s bugging her the most is that Lindsey doesn’t want a birthday party this year and Cath thinks that Lindsey’s trying to mimic her mom by not having fun. Her “major/minor blowup” indicates her frustration: “What do I have to do -- put it on the bulletin board? There is no party. My daughter doesn't want a party. Is everybody clear on that?” The cutest personal moment comes at the end where Cath & Lindsey are at the park and Lindsey says she just wants to spend time with her mom. She also brings things to a personal level when her compassion for the Moores causes her to help them instead of doing things the right way.

There’s also a fun, personal moment for the entire team in the break room, as they all (except for Sara, who is new) have presents for Lindsey’s birthday. This shows a great team moment because it’s rare that a person’s co-workers take part in their child’s celebrations or activities – and even giving her presents.

Who are you? Who? Who?
John Beasley as Charles Moore is gentle & stoic in his role as the grandfather .
It’s interesting that I still don’t notice Jolene Blalock as Laura Garris, even though I’ve seen her a few times on Stargate as Ishta. Must be the hair. She does a great job here as acting the victim, even though she turns out to be an accomplice.
Samuel L Jones III as James Moore is great as the good grandson who made a bad mistake that will change the rest of his life.

Hey, I know you!
Dr Jenna Williams is a returning character in this episode. It’s just a small part, but she comes up with a crucial piece of evidence to Cath & Warrick’s case.

Person of interest:
Charles Moore (John Beasley) is my main person of interest in this episode. He comes across as this quiet, stoic teddy bear. However good his intentions were, he made things worse by not letting his grandson, James, call the police after he got home like he wanted to do. He seemed to compound one lie with another – first telling Cath & Warrick that he reported his car stolen, then they see it in the garage, and he confesses immediately. When they bring James in during his questioning, he tells another story and James goes along with it. When the real story comes out, he still argues to let him take the punishment.

Micro/mini/gadget:
Grissom & Sara are using the microscope to examine the samples of the dirt found in the house. They also use a thermal scanner to look for Laura in the desert. The main technology used here is the audio software to hear certain hidden things on the ransom tape.

I don’t get it:
How were Sara & Grissom supposed to hear Laura Garris screaming in the box underground after they got out of the helicopter. It was still hovering over them with the line shining. Why wouldn’t they have still used the thermal imaging machine to pinpoint her location once they got off the helicopter?

What did you say?
- Jack Garris: how did you hear all that?
Grissom: I listen.

- Sara (to Nick): you’re standing in my crime scene
Nick: no, you’re in mine (holds up a disc)
Sara: You’re doing audio? I wanted that!
Nick: I outrank you.
Sara: technicality. Who did Grissom hand pick to work here?
Nick: Ha. Keep telling yourself that.

- Warrick (to Cath): you want me to take this case alone?
Cath: you feeling alright, Warrick?
Warrick: I’m fine. I’m…I’m looking after you. … It’s that thing with Holly Gribbs, it’s made me think who I am to my partners, you know.
Cath: so this is what, your new leaf?
Warrick: you keep on busting on me, you won’t see any kind of leaf
Cath: Hey, relax. I’ll play nice. Thank you for the offer. I’m okay. I can handle this one.

- Grissom: it’s funny, but every case teaches me something about the next.

- Dr Jenna: the bad thing about this job is that you stop asking yourself why.

- Sara: it never ceases to amaze me what people do to each other.

- Nick: now what’d I do wrong?
Audio tech: I’m not going to spoil Grissom’s fun. This is how he teaches you guys.

- Cath: You know that James was riding solo that night.
Warrick: Like I know my middle name. Well, let's go back to the car and find the proof. (Cath doesn’t move) … What?
Cath: It's just that we've got so much power in this job which we use to get the bad guys. Once in a while, I'd like to use it to help the good guys like Mr. Moore and his grandson.
Warrick: And what-- forget about little Renda Harris?
Cath: No ... what I'm saying is that ... putting James away isn't going to bring her back. Mr. Moore is willing to do the time and the victim's family gets closure.
Warrick: Hey, you don't think I'm feeling this? But we got to follow the evidence even if we don't like where it takes us. (beat) It's the job.
Cath: Yeah. I know it.
Warrick: Hey, we start making deals with the devil and you don't get to walk away. You understand what I'm saying?
Cath: Yeah. Momentary lapse

- Grissom: You any better?
Cath: What are you talking about?
Grissom: Your little major-minor blowup about Lindsey not wanting a party.
Cath: Oh, that. Yeah. (sighs) I'm just afraid that I'm making her weird, you know?
Grissom: No.
Cath: I work 24/7. I have no time for my friends. My daughter rarely sees me having any fun. And, all of a sudden, she doesn't want a party.
Grissom: And that's because of you?
Cath: Yes. I'm her mother. She mimics me.
Grissom: Well, then she'll be fine. I mean, look at you.
Cath: You're just saying that to make me feel better.
Grissom: Yeah.

- Warrick: Hey... why don't you run on home? I'll handle this.
Cath: Is this more of your new leaf?
Warrick: Your daughter gets out of school in a half hour, right? On her birthday. Why do you want to pick a fight with me now?
Cath: I owe you.
Warrick: Don't think I won't collect.

- Cath: So, did you have a good day at school?
Lindsey: Yeah. Three friends made be birthday cards.
Cath: They did?! Well, you have got some great friends. So, Lindsey ... how come you didn't want to have a party with them?
Lindsey: I see my friends every day at school. I never get to be alone with you.
Cath: Oh ... wow ... well, I'm really glad to be alone with you, too. I like this more than you will ever know.


The joke’s on you:
- Sara: get a picture of the security pad. If someone touches it before it’s dusted, I break their fingers. (meow! LOL)

- Sara: excuse me, is my evaluation interrupting you?
Grissom: huh? No, no, no. I barely heard you.
Sara: glad I have a healthy ego. You find something interesting there?
Grissom: dirt
Sara: you’re… so … technical, I can hardly keep up
Grissom: sorry, but uh… out of context, it’s just…dirt.

- Nick: why don’t they move in on the guy?
Brass: Why? Because he’s probably just walking his dog.
Nick: Well, he’s been there five minutes.
Brass: Dogs take their time. What, do YOU want to be rushed?
(a man with a golf bag on his shoulder walks up slowly.)
Nick: Here kitty, kitty.

- Chip: look at the bag. It’s not even leather, why would I want it?
Brass: I can think of about 2 million reasons, Tiger.

- Chip: Going once, going twice, sold. Walking out the front door.
Brass: don’t go too far, pal. (chad leaves)
Grissom (to Brass): So?
Brass: ah, kid didn’t give up a thing... except the tape that’ll break the case open.
Grissom: did you let him you that you were recording him?
Brass: yeah, the guy has no idea what you science types can do with a little audio tape.

From this moment:
Brass & Grissom are trying to explain to Jack Garris that they don’t want to rush things and hurt the chances of getting Laura back.
- Grissom: Mr Garris, it’s my experience that in situations like this, if you want to go fast, go slow.
It’s another poignant statement about the world of forensic science – which is really about being slow & methodical, as well as looking for small and smaller clues.

Meow!
Catherine’s case with the young girl hit by the car while on her scooter brings her thoughts of Lindsey. It’s interesting to see her change from the beginning where she calls the unknown hit & run driver a “bastard”, to the end where she feels compassion for Mr Moore & James, whom she sees as ‘good people in a bad situation’, and has thoughts of allowing Mr Moore to do the jail time. We also see how she views her life through the eyes of Lindsey – as a person who works all the time, no time for friends or fun.

Quick on the draw!
The only guns drawn in this episode are when the police surrounded Chip when he picked up the ransom money at the golf course.

Case solved/unsolved/pending:
S1: The kidnapping of Laura Garris & extortion plot by both Laura & Chip is solved when the audio tape proves that Laura was with Chip when he made the ransom call.
S2: The hit & run death of Renda Harris is solved when James Moore is arrested for the crime, even though his grandfather was willing to take the punishment in his place.
S3: a third case is solved at the end as well – Catherine’s question of why Lindsey doesn’t want a birthday party with her friends is answered when Lindsey says she just wants to spend time with her mom. Awwwww!

Add this to the case file:
- An interesting thing to note here is that when Sara initially arrives at the Garris house, she’s got other people with her and is giving them instructions on what to take photos of and what to dust for prints. This is about the only time in the series that the writers do things this way. After this, we’ll see the CSIs doing all of those tasks themselves. I’m wondering if the writers just wanted to make Sara sound like she was “in charge” here and got negative feedback for it.

- there’s a great undercurrent in the storyline with Catherine worried about Lindsey not wanting a party, and wanting a scooter. This ties in well (or too easily?) with the case of a young girl hit by a car while riding her scooter. The case even brings more depth to it by having Warrick working with Cath on the case. They’re just coming off the sorrow of losing a team member, and it’s changed Warrick’s thinking that his co-workers are part of his family as well.

1x02 Cool Change

Case File:
1x02 Cool Change

Gathering evidence:
A couple is in a casino and the woman is begging the man to go put some money in the GigaMillions slot machine where a man has just left the machine, opening up a space. The man grumbles, but eventually concedes and goes to put some money in the machine. He’s sarcastically taunting her that she just wasted his $20. As he plays his third try, he starts walking away. The woman is watching the machine turn to “$$$” and starts screaming with excitement. They’ve just won over $40 million. We see the couple being showered with confetti and holding a huge check while celebrating. They’re escorted to a VIP suite. The woman is looking out on the balcony when the guy comes up behind her and says “take a hike. Get lost.”. There’s a knock on the hotel door.

Gil Grissom is on the phone, telling someone to page him with any kind of update on Holly Gribbs’ condition. He goes under the crime scene tape as he hangs up his phone. A detective is waiting there for him. The new millionaire man is lying dead face down on the sidewalk in front of the hotel. The detective tells Grissom it’s a curse – the past four GigaMillion winners have ended up either dead or missing. Grissom says it’s just coincidence. The detective says the man’s girlfriend is upstairs in police custody and asks Grissom if he wants to talk to her. Grissom tells the detective that he’ll let the dead body talk to him. The detective is confused by that. Grissom picks up the dead man’s broken glasses and tells the detective that the guy just told him that he didn’t commit suicide. Most suicide jumpers take off their glasses before jumping as they aren’t brave enough to “watch” their own death.

In the lab, Grissom is walking by the reception desk & casually asks for messages, not expecting any. The receptionist hands him a large stack of them. He takes them and continues walking through the lab, glancing at the employees who are working in their labs. They seem to be watching him as he walks by. He walks into Brass’ office. Brass is packing up his things. Grissom tells Brass that he just got done talking to the Sheriff, who wants him to run the CSI unit. Brass has been moved back to the homicide division at PD.

The rest of the CSIs (Catherine, Warrick & Nick) are in the break room, watching the news story about Holly’s shooting. Cath & Nick ask Warrick what happened. He said he left her to go hook up with Grissom on the toenail case. Grissom comes into the room and runs down the information that they know so far. He tells them of Brass’ relocation and that he’s been given command of the CSI unit. Grissom hands out assignments. He says he’ll take the leaper from the Monaco (dead gigamillions winner). He gives Nick the “Holly case”. Catherine is adamant that she wants Holly’s case, so Grissom relents and tells Nick to help him on his case. He also tells them that he’s bringing in Sara Sidle to help them out because they’re short handed. Sara is a CSI from San Francisco and someone that he trusts. She’ll be handling the internal investigation into what happened with Holly. Cath & Nick leave to begin their cases. Warrick asks what his assignment is. Grissom tells him that he’s on administrative leave until the investigation on Holly is complete.

Catherine arrives at Holly’s scene. She finds Holly’s gun and sees that some bullets are missing. She is relieved thinking that Holly shot back. Then she hears a few short beeps. She finds a pager underneath a cabinet. It’s got a low battery.

In the morgue, Dr Jenna Williams is instructing Nick & Grissom to pull the dead guy’s arm down. It’s “stuck” because he’s in rigor mortis. They get his arm pulled down and Grissom notices bandages on the guy’s arm, covering what appear to be defensive wounds. Small pieces of black glass were found on some of the wounds.

Nick & Grissom are now in the hotel room, looking for evidence. There is a trail of blood drops leading to some bloody towels. Nick finds a broken black champagne bottle. Grissom gives Nick a chance to “call it” – giving his initial theory on what happened. We see in flashbacks, the woman hitting the guy with the champagne bottle after he tells her to get lost. Now Nick & Grissom are talking to the woman in a PD interrogation room. They decide to clear her when they see that the record of entries into the room showed only the initial one where the security guy checked them in. They’re wondering if he didn’t fall from his balcony, he might have been on the roof.

At the lab, Warrick is on the phone checking out Holly’s status. His phone call is interrupted by another incoming call. It’s Judge Cohen. He’s irate that Warrick placed his bet on the wrong team. He tells Warrick to meet him in 15 minutes.

Grissom & Nick are executing “Operation Norman”, throwing simulation dummies off the roof in various ways – jump, push and fall. The crowd that’s gathered around the crime scene area applauds. Grissom takes pictures of the various ways the dummies lie, verbally noting each one: “Norman pushed. Norman jumped. Norman Fell”. That final saying prompts a female voice to chime in with “Wouldn’t you if you were married to Mrs Roper?”. The voice belongs to Sara Sidle, the San Fran CSI whom Grissom called to run the internal investigation. Grissom tells her that his conclusion is that the deceased was pushed off the roof.

Warrick meets Judge Cohen in a parking garage. The judge wants his $10K. Warrick says he only has $4K and he’ll need a day to get it. The judge gives him an hour.

Catherine is in a lab working with the pager that she found at the crime scene. Sara walks in and asks where to find Catherine Willows. Catherine says she’s out in the field, but Sara doesn’t buy it. Catherine gets defensive about giving up her case to Sara. Sara tries to appease her by suggesting that they work together. Catherine relents. The info from the pager brings up a fake name, leaving a dead end to that trail of evidence. Sara asks where she can find Warrick. Cath says maybe one of the casinos on Blue Diamond Road.

Grissom & Nick are in the surveillance room at the casino looking over video around the time that the guy won the jackpot. They notice that a guy was sitting at that same machine for the previous 11 hours and coincidentally the jackpot gets hit on the machine immediately after he walks away.

Catherine is in the Ballistics lab with Bobby, the tech. She test fires Holly’s gun into a vat full of water, then they retrieve the bullet. They compare the striations from that bullet to the one that shot Holly. It’s a perfect match. Holly was shot with her own gun.

A casino employee has found Grissom & Nick’s possible suspect that was on the video tape. Grissom sits down next to him and casually mentions that he’s a murder suspect. He notices roof dust on the guy’s clothing, an indication that the guy was on the roof. As they’re leaving, Grissom cashes out his machine and playfully tells Nick to gather his winnings – as a CSI 3 initiation.

At a quieter casino, Warrick is playing blackjack and has a substantial pile of winnings of $11,000. The dealer asks him to hit or stay. Sara comes up behind Warrick and says “stay”. They talk at a table in a café at the casino. She’s asking him about the things he bets on. He mentions that he bets sports from time to time. Sara then starts to run down the specifics of what he did prior to Holly’s death. He says he went for coffee and there was an officer at the scene, so it was no big deal. Sara intuitively asks if he went for coffee before or after placing his bets. Warrick is defensive saying that he was left alone many times at a crime scene when he was a rookie. Sara tells him that Holly died a few minutes prior. Warrick is stunned. We see a montage of all of the CSIs, plus Brass, having a moment of disbelief.

Sara walks into the break room to get a soda from the fridge. Cath is there looking a bit haggard. A pager beeps and both ladies check theirs. The beeping is coming from the pager on the table – the one that was found at Holly’s crime scene. Catherine decides to call the number on the pager. It’s the owner of the pager. Cath entices him to meet her and he gives her his address.

Grissom & Nick are now interviewing Red Carlson, the guy who had been sitting at the GigaMillions slot machine for 11 hours before the next guy won the big bucks. He admits he was on the roof, but is adamant that he didn’t push the guy off. Grissom & Nick have a list of Ted Salinger’s (the dead guy) purchases at the gift shop – bandaids & antiseptic. Later, he made a purchase of a $30K watch. A bit later, Ted & Red started drinking together in the bar. After a couple hours, Ted ordered doubles & Red switched to coffee. Red said he was depressed and was thinking of killing himself, but chickened out. He said he was a “born failure”. Grissom tells Red that he believes him. Grissom says they’ll go back and check Ted’s clothes to see if he has roof dust on them. If there’s no roof dust on the clothes, then Red is cleared.

An operation is in place to bust into the motel where Holly’s potential killer is staying. Cath & Sara are waiting on the stairway for the operation to commence. Brass comes up the stairs. He tells Catherine he’s there for “guilt therapy”. The officers bust in and arrest Jerrod Cooper with minimal resistance. He’s got a big scratch under his eye. Sara says that to make a conviction, they’re going to need a DNA sample. They take one and Cooper is ushered away. Catherine calls on the walkie to all of the others that Holly’s suspect is in custody.

Warrick hears Catherine’s announcement just as he’s meeting with Judge Cohen to give him the money. The judge says it’s not that easy and he still “owns” Warrick. The judge says that they’re going to do “business” together.

Catherine arrives at the morgue to take a DNA sample from Holly to hopefully get a match. Grissom is waiting for her outside the door. He gives her a bit of moral support before she goes in. Catherine takes scrapings from under Holly’s fingernails. When she’s done, she takes a moment to tell Holly that she’s sorry.

Nick & Grissom are in the lab examining Ted’s clothing, looking for roof dust. They don’t find any, thus clearing Red as a suspect. Grissom opens a packet that contains other evidence from the victim. He examines the new watch & notices some white fibers stuck in the band. Nick decides to go and get a sample of the carpet from the guy’s hotel room. Jenna calls Grissom down to the morgue and shows him new evidence – a diamond shaped wound on the guy’s head. It appeared to be the fatal blow, indicating that he was killed before he was pushed.

Greg gives Cath & Sara the DNA results, which match the suspect, Jerrod Cooper as Holly’s killer.

Nick compares the fibers found in the watch to the carpet sample from the hotel suite. Grissom is examining the hotel and finds a candle holder that has a suit from a deck of cards on each side – including the diamond. He checks the balcony of the hotel room & discovers blood that someone had cleaned up. The bloody area has a handprint void in it. Grissom does a little experiment with the security guy. When the keycard is stuck in the slot, the door opening doesn’t register with the security logs.

They’re now interrogating the girlfriend again. They talk out their theory with her. As the boyfriend stumbled through the door, she whacked him from behind with the candleholder, killing him instantly. Then she dragged him across the carpet & out to the balcony, and then dumped him over the side. The girlfriend isn’t remorseful at all. She just holds out her hands to be cuffed.

Grissom & Nick are leaving the PD when they see Warrick sitting on a bench. Grissom tells Nick to go on ahead and he talks to Warrick. Grissom has been told that he has to let Warrick go. Warrick tells him that he went to lay a bet. Grissom decides against that and gives Warrick back his gun, saying that everyone was partly responsible for Holly’s death.

The team is standing outside, watching as Jerrod Cooper is being led away by Brass. After the van drives away, they all start leaving individually.


The Geek Squad:
Grissom: He’s just become leader of this fractured unit, trying to focus on a new case while a co-worker’s life hangs in the balance. Thankfully, he’s allowed his giddy moments – like sitting down at a slot machine & playing a bit before informing a suspect that he’s under arrest, or executing his “Operation Norman” experiment with the dummies.

Catherine: Cath shows many sides to her personality in this one, first demanding to be in charge of Holly’s case, then standoffish at the first meeting with Sara, followed by a bit of humor with Sara & the suspect on the phone. After that, we see & hear her triumphant call on the walkie that the suspect has been caught, followed by the quiet, remorseful moment with Holly in the morgue, and ending with the sigh of relief that the DNA evidence was a match, meaning case closed. There was even a moment of pride at Holly when she murmured that Holly gave her “just enough” evidence to catch the killer.

Warrick: Warrick is on a fast train into a brick wall in this episode. He’s immediately suspended after the news of Holly being shot. He’s in big trouble with Judge Cohen for placing the bet on the wrong team, and even worse trouble since the judge won’t let him off the hook. He had Sara correctly deduce his whereabouts when he was to be shadowing Holly. The only thing that kept Warrick from ending up as a crash-dummy into that brick wall was Grissom’s intuition that Warrick learned his lesson.

Sara: It’s interesting to note from the start that Sara was given a bit of humor to her character. It was quite charming. Strangely enough, that humor was taken away very quickly as the series went on. If Cath & Sara’s initial meeting was considered a bit prickly, then Sara & Warrick’s introduction can be considered porcupine-esque. From the beginning, we see that Sara is a great detective. She immediately knew how to placate Catherine, and in meeting Warrick, she surmised quickly that he had been placing a sports bet when he was to be watching Holly.

Nick: After two episodes, Nick seems to be the only main character who doesn’t have much depth yet. So far, he’s basically been a “Yes, sir.” man, quietly doing his job studiously. The focus has been on the others, so far.

My Girls:
the ladies meet for the first time in the lab, and we immediately see Catherine’s reluctance at this “outsider” coming in and taking over things. It’s great to see how Sara immediately placates her with an invitation to share. Thankfully, later on we see some humor between the two when Cath makes the phone call to the suspect in Holly’s case. It’s a shame that in the rest of the series, we’ve very rarely seen that humor between them again.

Cath also takes a brief moment to say “I’m sorry” to Holly in the morgue. It’s a nice character beat for Catherine.

The Boys’ Club:
The boys in the ‘club’ this time are Nick & Grissom. As they take Red away from the slots as a suspect, Grissom cashes out his machine & tells Nick to collect his winnings, saying it’s a CSI 3 initiation. He’s acting like a giddy schoolboy. Another ‘Boys Club’ moment is when they initially go into the hotel room, Grissom lets Nick be the first to “call” the scene, and testing his CSI ‘theorizing’ skills.

Oh ‘Rats’!
We’re introduced to Bobby, the ballistics technician here. He helps Cath compare the bullets from Holly’s gun to the one that shot her. Greg is also included briefly in this episode, giving the DNA results to Cath & Sara.

You’re mine tonight:
Grissom & Nick are teamed up on the case of the dead mega-millionaire. Catherine takes Holly’s case, getting a little bit of help from Sara along the way. Sara’s main assignment is to figure out where & what Warrick was doing when Holly was shot. Warrick was not on a case as he was suspended pending further investigation into his situation.

My crime scene is where?
Standard crime scenes for this one – mainly the hotel/casino roof, room and casino floor. The scene of Holly’s murder was the same place that she was assigned to the burglary in the previous episode.

You’re under arrest:
Brass has been reassigned to homicide and is starting out by joining in the ‘guilt therapy’ and arresting Holly’s killer. The episode begins with a new young detective (whom we never see again) who seems to never have worked with a CSI before, considering his awe at the details Grissom is pointing out to him about the victim not committing suicide.

I know how to hide the body!
No annoyances in this one, other than maybe the killer girlfriend who seemed to have no remorse at taking the life of her boyfriend.

What’s up, Doc?
In this episode, we see a new M.E. – Dr Jenna Williams. I enjoyed her much better than the gruff old guy that we saw in the pilot. The new evidence (diamond-shaped wound) that Dr Williams brings to Grissom late in the case is a big key to solving it.

It’s personal:
Having Holly’s life on the line makes this case personal to everyone, with the exception of Sara. Even Nick, who really had no contact with Holly, is affected by her situation in that it’s “one of their own” and that at any point, what happened to her could happen to any of them. Catherine is the one who makes it known that it IS personal to her when she states matter-of-factly that Holly’s case is hers, and she’s partly responsible because she told her to stay. Grissom also mentions the personal aspect of Holly’s situation when he re-instates Warrick, saying that they’re all culpable.

Who are you? Who? Who?
Tim DeZarn was great in his role as Red Carlton, the self-proclaimed “born failure” who just missed out on being a mega-millionaire.
I enjoyed Judith Scott’s appearance as Dr Jenna Williams. She’ll appear in a few more episodes in season 1 before eventually getting replaced. I wish she would have made some guest appearances in later seasons, just for some continuity.
Timilee Romilini plays an interesting non-remorseful character as Jamie, the spurned girlfriend – and eventual killer.

Hey, I know you!
Harrison Young continues as the unscrupulous Judge Cohen, who not only has Warrick pay him back for his losses, but also uses it to his advantage to keep Warrick “under his thumb” for the future.

Person of interest:
Sara is the main person of interest in this episode. Her arrival brings out various emotions from both Cath & Warrick. From the beginning, we see that she’s witty, bright, and a good detective. She learned instantly how to placate Catherine (two sharp women are better than one), giving her a verbal pat on the back (nice work, Catherine), and keeping a CSI perspective during an adrenaline rush (reminding that a DNA sample from the suspect would be needed for comparison during the apprehension of the suspect). With Warrick, she was able to sum up the situation very quickly – that Warrick was placing a bet. I’m guessing some of her intuition on this came from Catherine’s comment that she could probably find Warrick at a casino.

Micro/mini/gadget:
Grissom & Nick use the dummies to determine how the victim was dropped from the roof. Catherine uses the pager nest to try and find the owner of the pager. Catherine test fires the bullet into the water vat and compare striations from the bullets. Nick & Grissom search through video surveillance tapes to track a possible suspect. Greg runs DNA samples and makes a match. Grissom uses luminol to discover blood on the balcony floor.

Do you wish to change your statement?
I’m not really seeing much for continuity errors here (since we’re only in episode #2!), however… (see the next segment)

I don’t get it:
I don’t really think that jumped, pushed, and fallen dummies would actually land only a few feet from each other the way they were arranged on the ground after Grissom & Nick’s experiment. The physics of this really seem out of place.

What did you say?
- Grissom: Was he in town with anybody?
Detective: His girlfriend. She’s upstairs in police custody. Do you want to talk to her?
Grissom: Not yet. Right now, I want to talk to him.
Detective: How do you talk to a dead body?
Grissom: I let him talk to me, actually. In fact, he just spoke. (picks up some broken eyeglasses) Didn’t you hear him? He just told me that he didn’t commit suicide.
Detective: you lost me.
Grissom: this man fell to his death wearing prescription eyeglasses. Jumpers take their glasses off. Suicide is the ultimate form of selfishness, detective. It’s unlikely that anyone cowardly enough to take his own life would be brave enough to watch his own death.
Detective: You can tell all of that just by looking at a pair of eyeglasses?
Grissom: You have no idea.

- Brass: I guess this might put you and me at odds.
Grissom: Cops vs scientist. Interesting, huh?
Brass: yeah.
Grissom: You got any advice for me?
Brass: yeah…cover your ass…and hide. … they’re all yours, pal.

- Sara: Do you know where I can find Catherine Willows?
Cath: She's out in the field. …. Let me guess ... Sara Sidle?
Sara: I know who I am. I think you're a little confused.
Cath: If you think you're taking my case ... forget it.
Sara: Look, we can stand here and argue ... or ... we can get out there and find out who did this to Holly Gribbs. (beat) Two sharp women are better than one.

- Warrick: do you know how many times I’ve been left alone at a crime scene when I was a rookie?
Sara: well, this time is different.
Warrick: yeah, why is that?
Sara: Holly Gribbs died on the operating table twenty minutes ago.

- Sara: nice work, Catherine.

- Grissom (to Warrick): you know what? If I let you go, I gotta let me go to, and Catherine & Brass. We’re all culpable in this. I don’t care what the book says. I lost one good person today, I don’t want to lose another. … Here.
Warrick: I won’t let you down again.


The joke’s on you:
- Grissom: Norman pushed. Norman jumped. Norman fell.
Sara: Wouldn’t you if you were married to Mrs Roper?

- Sara: Mind if I get a soda?
Cath: oh…yeah, I’m sorry.
Sara: You want one?
Cath: is there anything in there with alcohol?
Sara: root beer.
Cath: no.

- Sara (to Cath as she’s dialing the phone to call the number that paged): what are you going to say, “Hi, I’m a criminalist. I was in the neighborhood..
Cath: shhhhh. It’s ringing.
Guy: hello?
Cath: Uh…hey.
Guy: Who's this? I just dialed my own damn beeper.
Cath: Uh-uh. It's my beeper now. I found it.
Guy: It ain't your beeper, girl. It's mine. … I do a lot of business on that beeper.
Cath: What kind of business?
Guy: You know -- slinging a little something-something.
Cath: Oh, a little something-something. Or maybe a little bling-bling?
Guy: So what you know about some bling-bling?
Cath: Well, invite me over to your crib, baby and you might find out.
Guy: It's on. Three Aces Motel, Room 202.
Cath: Three Aces Motel, Room 202. *sighs* See you soon. (hangs up)
Cath (to Sara): Did I just do that?
Sara: What's a "bling-bling"?
Cath: Got me.

- Cath (to Brass): what are you doing here?
Brass: guilt therapy

- Grissom: nice swatch, Nick. Pizza box size.


From this moment:
Cath & Sara’s initial meeting in the lab is kind of a precursor to their push-pull relationship throughout the series. Catherine is immediately confrontational and possessive of her case. Sara is successful in diffusing the situation calmly (something that actually doesn’t occur very frequently after this). I would have enjoyed seeing more scenes between the two like the one in the break room, where there was a bit of humor involved. Unfortunately, the writers decided that the female cat-fights would bring in more viewers, so that’s what we got stuck with seeing more as the series continued on.

Meow!
Catherine divides this episode between many personalities, like her fierce “wildcat” persona, as she immediately declares that she’s taking the Holly case, as well as her initial reaction to Sara’s arrival (“if you think you’re taking my case…forget it!). Then there’s her “CSI/work” mode, where she gives in to Sara’s proposal to work together, and relays the info about the pager. We’re also treated a bit to Cath’s “flirty” side, where she’s on the phone to the suspect and trying to get him to give up some pertinent information on how to track him down. Her flirting brings success.

Quick on the draw!
Catherine: 1 – she test-fires Holly’s gun to compare bullets.

Case solved/unsolved/pending:
S1: Holly’s case is solved as Catherine enticed the suspect to give up his location by flirting with him on the phone.
S2: The mega-millionaire’s killer (the girlfriend) is apprehended by following the evidence (carpet fibers, bloody floor, diamond-shaped head wound), and ruling out other suspects (no roof dust on victim’s clothes).

Add this to the case file:
- I adore Jorja’s curly hair in her few early episodes. I was bummed that they had her with the straight hair for all of the prior seasons.
- There’s a cute Grissom moment when he decides to sit down next to the suspect at the slot machines & starts to play and acting like a giddy mini-winner. Then calmly tells the guy he’s under arrest for murder. Then when he’s leaving, he tells Nick to gather his winnings.
- In the many times I’ve watched this episode, one thing I’ve never noticed until now is that at the beginning of the scene where Catherine is walking to the morgue where Grissom is waiting outside the door, Sara is also waiting in the background at the end of the corridor.
- I actually like this episode better than the pilot. This one wasn’t as jam-packed with too much information as the previous one. The writers were able to settle things down and let the viewer follow along better with each case. This case also brings a bit more forensics into it than the Pilot did.

1x01 the Pilot

Case File:
1x01 Pilot

Gatherine evidence:
A gun is being loaded. A male voice is giving detailed information about himself – his name is Royce Harmon, lives in Las Vegas, and is 41 years of age. , ending with a statement that he’s going to kill himself. We see a man with a gun walk down a hall & into a room. Cut to a handful of police cars gathered outside a residence at night. An SUV drives up. Captain Brass and CSI Gil Grissom arrive at the crime scene. Brass is grumbling about doing more ‘legwork’ and is hoping for a promotion soon. The two arrive at the bathroom where there is a dead guy in the tub. Grissom starts processing the scene and notices a maggot on the body. He states that the man has been dead for seven days. He also finds a mini-cassette recorder with the same recorded message we heard at the beginning. Now, Grissom is playing the message back for the deceased’s mother & sister to hear. The message ends with a gunshot. Mrs Harmon says that the picture Grissom showed her is that of her son, but the voice on the recorder wasn’t.

A young woman drives up to the Crime Lab and goes inside. She goes into Grissom’s office and notices many dead animals and insects in various types of preservation. Grissom startles her and they introduce themselves. The woman’s name is Holly Gribbs. She’s starting her first night of work on the grave shift at the crime lab. He talks her into giving him a pint of her blood.

A “solved” marker goes up onto crime #99 on a ‘Crimes Solved’ board by CSI Nick Stokes. Another CSI, Warrick Brown also arrives and places a “solved” marker under #99 for his name as well. Warrick wants to bet that he’ll solve his next one by the end of shift. It seems that he bets on a lot of different things.

Back in Grissom’s office, he’s just finished taking Holly’s blood. He has her sign paperwork to begin her new job. She’s still feeling a bit lightheaded from the blood donation, so Grissom goes to his fridge and pulls out a jar of chocolate covered grasshoppers to give her. She’s a bit squicked out by it. Grissom takes one and pops it in his mouth.

Brass is heading up a briefing to all of the CSIs, and handing out assignments. Nick gets a ‘trick roll’. Warrick is assigned a home invasion. He asks if anyone has seen Catherine Willows.

An SUV pulls up outside the Crime Lab. A women gets out and says goodbye to her young daughter, who is in the back seat, and to her sister, who is driving. She goes inside and the SUV leaves.

Brass is talking to Holly and Grissom. Brass doesn’t seem to be too pleased that Holly’s mother, who’s a cop in the ‘traffic’ department, pulled some strings to get her the CSI job. She retorts that a good investigator reserves judgement, and that she has the credentials to earn the job. Brass still isn’t impressed. Holly leaves. Grissom tells Brass that he might have been a bit rough on her. Brass reminds him that he’s scheduled to be at an autopsy at 12:30am and says to take Holly with him.

Catherine & Warrick arrive at the scene of the home invasion. There’s a dead man lying outside the door. A husband & wife are just inside the door, trying to console their young child. According to the husband, his wife invited her drunk friend to stay with them for a while to get back on his feet. He’s been there for six months. The husband said he kicked the guy out, but the guy came back & tried to bust down the door. The husband says he shot the guy out of self defense. The couple leave to go put the baby to bed.

Catherine asks Warrick his thoughts. Warrick says the guy is lying. The two are processing the body & the area – taking tape lifts from the dead man’s clothing, snapping pictures of other evidence. Catherine tells Warrick to print the shoe impression on the door. The husband comes back & questions what they’re doing. Catherine notices that one of the shoes is tied differently than the other. The husband tells Catherine that he never touched the body or ever wore the deceased’s shoes. Catherine asks the husband about the injury on his pinky toe. “I tripped over a rattle” was the husband’s response.

Grissom, Holly, and the coroner are in the morgue for the autopsy of the first victim. The coroner says right away that it wasn’t a suicide. The wound from the gunshot is too big. The person who shot the gun was standing farther away than where the deceased’s hands would have reached. The coroner starts the “Y” incision on the body and Holly gets nauseous. She runs off to find the restroom. She ends up in the wrong place and finds herself in a room with multiple covered dead bodies on gurneys. After she notices this, she gets freaked out and can’t open the door to get out. In the other room, Grissom & the coroner continue with the autopsy, unaware of Holly’s freak-out. Grissom finally comes to her rescue & lets her out.

Nick arrives at his scene in a hotel. The victim of the ‘trick-roll’, Mr Lafferty, is sitting on the bed, dismayed at his predicament. Mr Lafferty said the woman took his wallet, ID, and wedding ring. He says he was down in the lounge and a pretty brunette came on to him, then they were up in his room where he passed out, then she was gone. Nick notices some discoloration on the man’s gums. He swabbed the substance for analysis.

Grissom & Holly drive up to X.O Liquors, a place that had just been robbed. He’s letting Holly do this one solo. He tells her to dust for prints, take photos, check video tape and he’d be back in an hour.

Back at the crime lab, Warrick is examining hair fibers from his home invasion case. An apprentice, Bo, comes in to watch him. Warrick has him look at the hairs through the microscope. Bo says he sees little ‘seeds’ at the end of the hair fibers. Warrick says you only find them when someone has pulled a hair out. Warrick leaves to go back & talk to the husband.

Back at the liquor store, Holly is dusting the register for prints. The owner lady from the store is being obnoxious and complaining that it’s taking too long and she’s losing business.

Warrick is in an interrogation room talking with the husband. The husband is now saying that there was a bit of a struggle and that the deceased’s shoe fell off. He said he put the shoe back on the deceased after he shot him.

Holly is now on her walkie requesting backup at the liquor store. Catherine answers her request, asking if she’s in danger. Holly says it’s getting close to that. We see the owner pointing her own gun at Holly.

Nick is back at the lab with Greg Sanders, the DNA technician. Greg is doing analysis on the swab of substance from Mr Lafferty’s gums. The substance is run through the GCMS, but results are inconclusive. It only brings up saliva and denture adhesive.

Catherine arrives at the liquor store and, seeing the situation, immediately draws her gun. The owner relents and keeps complaining about losing money and now having a dirty counter. Catherine tells the lady that if she doesn’t care, they don’t care. Cath & Holly leave.

Back at the lab, Warrick checks in with Grissom, who’s trying to prove a theory on a different case – one with a disgruntled wife at a country club. His experiment involved a gel dummy, a golf club, and some of the blood he got from Holly. As he’s talking with Warrick, he’s writing down stats from his experiment. Warrick tells Grissom how the husband changed his story and now Warrick doesn’t know what to think. Grissom reminds him that it’s all about the evidence. He tells Warrick to go back and search the evidence, which in this case, is now the victim’s shoe. So Warrick examines the shoe and finds a piece of toenail that was stuck inside.

Grissom is now in the print lab. Print tech, Charlotte, has results of the prints found on the mini-cassette recorder from the first case. There are latex flakes imbedded in the prints, possibly from latex gloves. Further analysis from Charlotte showed that it’s from a chemical normally found in cooking spray.

Catherine & Holly are taking a lunch break. Holly is bemoaning the fact that this job wasn’t really her choice. She was pushed into it by her mom who is a lieutenant in ‘traffic’. Catherine isn’t standing for that. She tells Holly about how she loves the job and compares it to being a kid and working on puzzles. She encourages Holly to stick it out – at least until she solves her first case. Their break is interrupted by a call from Brass telling Catherine that she has another case to work on.

Warrick is in Brass’ office. Brass is upset that Warrick wants him to call a judge at 4am to issue a warrant based on just a toenail as evidence. Brass gets heated and continues denying Warrick’s request. Grissom calls in the middle of their conversation, telling Brass that he’s got a possible suspect on the original homicide case and the guy is local. Brass immediately says he’ll call the judge for a warrant. Warrick isn’t pleased at that request. Warrick leaves & Brass makes the phone call to Judge Cohen.

Nick is now at a traffic accident on Fremont Street. A woman crashed her car into a center pole. She seems to be drugged or intoxicated. She says she doesn’t remember passing out. Nick sees nothing wrong with her and tells the cops to take her to the hospital and get her checked out.

It’s the middle of the night and Warrick is sitting in his car. He gets out and goes up towards a house. Cops come driving up immediately, telling him to stop and get down on his knees. The officer is being harsh. Judge Cohen comes running out of the house and berates the officer for stopping Warrick, telling the officer that the guy is from the Crime Lab. The officer apologizes to the judge, saying there was a report of a black man snooping around the judge’s house. Judge Cohen sends the officer away.

As the officers drive away, Warrick tells the judge why he’s there. He also makes a deal with the judge and gives him a ‘hot tip’ on a sports bet in exchange for the warrant. The judge wants Warrick to put $5,000 down on the Packers.

At the police department, Sargent O’Riley is interviewing Paul Millander. He’s a suspect in the first homicide of the night. Grissom comes in and asks to take over. He asks Millander whether he’d have access to latex. He said he does at his job. So they go to his warehouse. He makes lots of rubber body parts – including a rubber hand, which he claims he used his own hand for the mold, which means it would be his fingerprints that would show up if someone used it.

In the hospital, Nick is talking to a doctor who asks him about a rash of trick rolls where the girl mysteriously is knocked unconscious. They also have a mysterious skin discoloration on their nipples. This brings Nick back to talk to the lady involved in the car accident. She’s currently in the hospital getting checked out. Nick asks to see her discoloration. She asks him if he has $20. He asks her if she wants to do time. He makes a deal with her to give the guy back his belongings, tell him what substance she’s using, and he won’t have her charged with murder. She hands him a bottle of eyedrops. Nick is now in the lab checking with Greg on the contents of the eyedrops bottle. It’s scopolamine, a chemical used for motion sickness.

Grissom is talking with Mrs Harmon – the mother of the homicide victim. He says they’ve ruled out suicide as cause of death. He assures her that they will find the killer, that there’s always a clue. She is comforted in the knowledge that her son didn’t take his own life.

Catherine arrives at the hospital for a child sexual assault case. The victim is a young girl named Laura. She is able to point at a drawing of a person where a man touched her. It was in her ‘private’ area. Then Laura asks Catherine to hold her doll for her, and not just hold her doll, but wants Catherine to take the doll to her own house so the man won’t do to the doll what he did to her.

Brass is furious at Warrick going behind his back to get the warrant from Judge Cohen, and he kicks Warrick off the case. He gives him the assignment of shadowing Holly on a new case – a robbery. Brass tells Grissom to make sure Warrick shadows Holly for the next three weeks or until Nick makes his 100th solved crime and gets the promotion.

Warrick takes Holly to the robbery scene and drops her off. Then he drives off.

Grissom arrives back at the house from the home invasion crime. He tells the husband he has a warrant for his toenails. The guy says he already clipped his toenails and flushed them in the toilet. Grissom uses the ALS machine to look for any errant clippings. He finds one.

Catherine drives up to a residence and goes inside. On her walkie, she tells dispatch that she’s taking a short break. We see her enter a room with a set of bunkbeds. Her daughter, Lindsey, wakes up as she enters. Catherine motions to be quiet so they don’t wake up Jeremy. Cath tells Lindsey that she had a rough night and just wanted to see her and give her and say “I love you”.

Back at the lab, Grissom and Bo, the intern, are trying to make a match on the toenail clipping he found by the toilet to the one that was in the shoe. They get a match.

Warrick is pulling up to a drive-up window and places the bet from Judge Cohen. Grissom calls Warrick on the walkie & tells him that they made a match on the toenail. This distracts Warrick and he tells the guy in the window to put the money on the 49’ers.

Grissom & Warrick watch as the husband is taken away by officers. Grissom questions why Warrick isn’t shadowing Holly. Warrick tells him that “it’s cool”, that there is an officer there and she’s just lifting prints at the scene.

We see Holly at the scene, dusting for prints. A young man walks in the door behind her and asks if everything is okay. He says he just saw the cop car leave. She tells him everything is fine. As she turns back to continue dusting for prints, we see him take a gun from the back of his belt.

Nick is back at the hotel and brings Mr Lafferty his personal belongings that the hooker had taken from him. Mr Lafferty is very relieved.

Back at the lab, Grissom presents Nick with his ID badge as a CSI Level 3 with the successful wrap of his 100th case. The CSIs cheer and Catherine says they need to celebrate with her buying breakfast. Brass comes in to breakup their little party by saying that the Grave Shift needs to pull a double. Holly Gribbs has been shot at her crime scene. She’s in the hospital, but they don’t think she’s going to make it. Brass puts Warrick on suspension pending an investigation into his whereabouts when he should have been watching Holly.


The Geek Squad:
Gil: He’s the senior CSI here, but still taking orders from Jim Brass. His apparent suicide case turns to homicide very quickly and more investigative work is needed. He also gets the task of training in newbie Holly Gribbs.

Catherine: It seems to be a busy night for Cath. She starts out with Warrick on the home invasion case, then goes to help Holly at the liquor store before getting the case of the abused young girl.

Warrick: He’s trying to solve his 100th case and earn a promotion before Nick does. He starts out with the home invasion case before getting Brass’ wrath and relegated to supervising Holly’s first night. We see Warrick clashing with Brass, who takes him off the home invasion case. We also see Warrick’s demons emerge – by placing a bet while on duty and ignoring his assignment of shadowing Holly.

Nick: As with Warrick, Nick is trying to solve his 100th case first and get the promotion. He seems to be doing things by the book – with the exception of flirting with a hooker.

Holly: the newbie is starting her first night of work at the Crime Lab – and what a night it ends up being. She gets berated by Brass, has to begin with viewing an autopsy, working a liquor store burglary solo, needing help with that as she gets a gun drawn on her, then she’s assigned to do another case by herself as Warrick leaves her to “go for coffee”. She is attacked as the original suspect comes back, and is not faring well in the hospital.


My Girls:
Cath & Holly are introduced to each other at the liquor store. The two eventually have lunch together. After Holly whines about the job not being her choice, but rather her mother’s, Catherine gives her a pep talk and says to stay at least until she solves her first case.

The Boys’ Club:
Nick & Warrick both going for their 100th solved case, and Warrick wants to bet on it.
Nick & Greg talk about the newest video game while waiting for evidence results

Oh ‘Rats’!
Greg is our main lab rat here. He does analysis of Nick’s evidence swab. We also see Charlotte, the print tech, who gives Grissom fingerprint evidence taken from the tape recorder.

You’re mine tonight:
- Grissom is handed the task of training in the new girl, Holly. His case is the possible suicide, turned homicide. He is also continuing work on a case of blunt force trauma at a country club. He eventually takes over the home invasion case when Brass takes Warrick off the case to go shadow Holly.

- Warrick is paired up with Catherine on the home invasion case before Brass gets pissed and takes him off the case and puts him on ‘babysitting duty’ to watch over Holly.
- Cath also goes to the hospital to take the case of the sexually abused young girl. Plus, she helps Holly out of her mini-dilemma at the liquor store.
- Nick has a solo case this time around in the hotel, followed by a traffic accident on Fremont Street. The two end up being related.

My crime scene is where?
Many crime scene locations for this initial episode. We start out at the house with the dead man in the tub. Then it’s the house in Summerlin with the home invasion. Nick goes to a hotel room for the trick roll. Holly is at the liquor store for the burglary. Catherine goes to the hospital for the young assault victim. Holly then goes to the house for the robbery.

You’re under arrest:
Brass is head of the Crime Lab, but he’s still a cop. At the very beginning we also see Sergeant O’Riley waiting at the house for the ‘nerd squad’ to arrive, and later again with the beginning of Millander’s interrogation.

I know how to hide the body!
The annoying person in this one is definitely Captain Brass. From his gruff demeanor to Holly on her first night of work, to his loud verbal sparring matches with Warrick, he seems like someone who is very hard to work for.

What’s up, Doc?
The gruffy old M.E. does the autopsy on Royce Harmon. He mentions right away by looking at the size of the gunshot that it’s definitely not a suicide. He has a fun moment with Grissom when he asks what time limit Brass set to get rid of Holly. (8 hours)

It’s personal:
This episode is personal for many of the CSIs. Warrick & Nick have their contest to see who will get the promotion & pay raise. Things get personal for Catherine after she takes on the case of the young girl who was assaulted. She ends up making a quick trip to her sister’s house to give a hug to her daughter. Captain Brass seems to take everything that comes up as a personal assault, in one form or another.

Who are you? Who? Who?
Even though it’s small, Nancy Fish, has a great part here as the brash liquor store owner. Another nice guest appearance is Susan Gibney as Charlotte, the fingerprint technician. She has a cute scene with Grissom as they discuss their unromantic date.

Person of interest:
The main person of interest here is Holly Gribbs. This episode chronicles her struggles on her first night of work on the grave shift at the #2 rated crime lab in the U.S. She gets dressed down by Captain Brass, who doesn’t like the fact that her mom pulled strings to get her the job. On her first assignment, she gets a gun drawn on her and needs a little bit of a ‘rescue’. She complains to Cath that the job really isn’t for her, but for her mom. In turn, Cath doesn’t coddle her, but gives her some valid reasons why it’s a great job to have. Holly also has herself put in the middle of a power struggle between Brass & Warrick, ending with Warrick being given an order to “babysit” her at the scenes. End with the problem of the officer leaving her alone at her crime scene and having the suspect return with a gun and shoot her, leaving her life in jeopardy. Yes, in all, it’s a very eventful night for miss Holly Gribbs.

Micro/mini/gadget:
We see the CSIs dusting for fingerprints, lifting shoe prints, and examining hair folicles – all of which will become standard forensics work as the show continues on. Greg runs evidence through the GCMS for analysis. Grissom uses the ALS when looking for the husband’s toenail clippings. He also uses the microscope to match the toenail clippings to the one found in the shoe.

Do you wish to change your statement?
As Grissom enters the bathroom to look for the toenail clippings, we see that the main toilet seat cover is up, but the seat itself is down. After Grissom walks up to the toilet, we see that both the cover and the toilet seat are up. As Grissom squats down towards the toilet, he lifts the seat up.

I don’t get it:
- Why was there not a parent or guardian in the hospital room with Laura, the young sexual assault girl? It seems odd that there would be no one there to be in charge of her. This girl has just been sexually assaulted by a man and yet Catherine, who’s unknown to Laura, just comes in and starts asking questions? Seems very odd.

- One thing that really confuses me in this episode is Brass’ hostility towards Warrick when Warrick asks him to call the judge for a warrant. I realize after that, the hostility is about Warrick going behind Brass’ back and seeing the judge himself to get the warrant. But to begin with? A bit confusing.

- we have no resolution to Cath’s case with the abused girl? It seems that nothing was mentioned about it after Cath left the hospital.

What did you say?
- Cath: I can sit here and I can baby you and I can tell you to quit but I'm not going to do that, because I really love my job. We're just a bunch of kids that are getting paid to work on puzzles. Sometimes there's a piece that's missing. Sometimes we solve it in one night.
Holly: So you think I should stick with it?
Cath: Stick with it? The cops? Forget it. They wouldn't know fingerprints from paw prints and the detectives ... chase the lie. We solve. We restore peace of mind and when you're a victim, that's everything. Stick with it. At least until you solve your first and if after that you don't feel like King Kong on cocaine ... then you can quit, but if you stay with it my hand to god, you will never regret it.

- Warrick: Dammit, Grissom. I had his ass too.
Grissom: Yes, you had him, and the minute you started thinking about yourself you lost him. There is no room for subjectivity in this department, Warrick. You know that. We handle each case objectively without presupposition regardless of race, color, creed, or bubblegum flavor. … Okay?

- Husband: I already gave you my statement.
Grissom: A statement is just a public record of your version. We still need proof.

The joke’s on you:
- Gil (to the dead bodies through the window): you assholes!

- Gil (to Charlotte): If latex rubber & cooking spray went on a blind date, how would the night end?
Charlotte: A lot better than ours did.
Gil: I know. Pink Floyd’s not your thing.
Charlotte: I have on cowboy boots. I work in a lab. What makes you think “Dark Side of the Moon” synched to the “The Wizard of Oz” is gonna warm a damn barn.
Gil: I just thought it would be something different.
Charlotte: You wanna be different? Pin me up against a wall and lay one on me like you mean it. … you’re slacking, pal.

- Officer: Sorry judge, we got a call from a neighbor about a black man outside your house. We reponded.
Judge: Alright, you caught him. Congratulations. Clear out of here before you wake the neighbors.

- O’Riley to Grissom: Oh, you want a whack at him, Grissom? Be my guest


From this moment:
- Grissom’s conversation with Warrick: “Forget about the husband, Warrick. Forget about the assumptions. Forget about your promotion. These things will only confuse you. Concentrate on what cannot lie – the evidence. Follow the reason we’re having this conversation.”

That statement is the basis for this entire series. It’s all about the evidence.

Meow!
From her first appearance, we’re given the information that Catherine has a young daughter who stays with Catherine’s sister while Catherine works the night shift. She really likes her job because it allows her to solve puzzles and find the missing pieces. Through the episode, we also see Catherine’s mothering instinct appear frequently – encouraging Holly to give the job a chance, working the case with the young girl who was assaulted (which prompted her to take a few minutes to go and get a hug from her own daughter).

- Cath: Let me tell you something, lady. If you don’t care about catching the suspect, neither do we. We’re out of here. … You can pick your gun up tomorrow. Holly: You can do that? Cath: (snorts) No!

Quick on the draw!
Cath: 1 – she pulls her gun on the liquor store owner as the lady is pointing her own gun at Holly.

Case solved/unsolved/pending:
S1: with the home invasion, the husband intentionally gunned down the bum that was staying at their house. With the guy yelling outside, the husband told his wife to open the door. When she did, he shot the guy three times. After shooting him, he put on the guy’s shoe and kicked in the door to make it look like the guy had kicked it in. Then he put the shoe back on the dead guy.
S2: Nick connected both of his cases – the ‘trick roll’ with the guy in the hotel and the hooker who passed out and crashed her car. She used a drug, disguised in an eyedrop bottle, on her nipples which caused the guy to pass out when he came in contact with it. She was easily able to grab his valuables and leave without him noticing.
U1: The case of the dead guy in the tub, staged as a suicide. One suspect interviewed, but cleared.
U2 (or P): the outcome of the case of the sexually abused girl is unknown. It was never brought up again.
U3: The case at the liquor store remained unsolved as the owner apparently didn’t care about catching the thief and was only worried about getting the store re-opened for business.
P: The case of Holly being shot is still pending.

Add this to the case file:
This one is pretty typical as far as pilot episodes go: get in as much information and as much action as possible in the allotted time. This being an ensemble show, it’s even more difficult with everyone needing some screen time, and the scene needs to be set. Brass is in charge of the unit; Grissom is the head CSI with Catherine next in line. Warrick & Nick are in a fight to get a promotion. Then there’s the new girl on her first night of work. Add to the mix the true purpose of the show: the world of forensic science – the many gadgets, science, and all things small and smaller. It’s a lot to put into 43 minutes of television.

However, I think the main theme of this episode is politics. Especially with Brass constantly going half-cocked throughout the episode, there was a constant feel of being in the middle of a political war. The redeeming factor of this episode is that it’s only half over. Having things end with Holly being shot and barely hanging on to life gives the viewer the sense that the ‘continuation’ in the next episode will allow us to catch our breath.