In a scene from September 11 2001, Mac (Gary Sinise) cuts himself shaving and Claire (Jaime Ray Newman) calls 911 for help, as a joke (she doesn't really call - they're just fooling around like a married couple). Mac's taking John to the opera: that's John from the robbery squad. She then sees two tickets to the opera behind her. Claire: "What would you do without me?" What he's always done before they met and after he lost her, muddle through somehow, with his mind on the job and getting no sleep whatsoever.
The radio reports on September 11 2011, the tenth anniversary of the attacks. "We will never forget." At the lab, Adam (AJ Buckley) calls Jo (Sela Ward) 'boss.' She corrects him, she's "interim boss" until Sinclair finds a replacement for Mac. In the meantime, she puts Mac's nameplate back on his desk. Adam reminds us he's been gone four months. Danny (Carmine Giovinazzo) calls Jo to inform her about a shooting at a bar, that of a bouncer, Sean. He asks her, "Remind me why I wanted this promotion." Which Jo just did, as she called him sergeant and then he also mentions the promotion. Flack (Eddie Cahill) is already at the scene.
The bartender didn't see what happened at the door. Sean was probably outside and they didn't have to kill him. There was a small amount of cash as Devon (Cassidy Freeman) left with he tips. Mac on the bus, displaying his ID for all to see, don't know why people do that. He notices a woman with earplugs and has a flashback to Claire on the bus, making him listen to music. They say goodbye and she sticks her tongue out at him as he watches the bus drive away. Hawkes (Hill Harper) and Lindsay (Anna Belknap) process the CS and take photos. She notices the blood spatter on the wall, but she doesn't analyze it later.
Devon left five minutes before the robbery, conveniently, and saw two men standing outside. One white and the other black. Danny asks why someone would let them in. Sean smoked and Flack posits they should have been long gone and why shoot Sean outside after the fact? That being the crux of the investigation and the clue, since they really were gone. Mac is working at a lab as a DNA analyst for 9/11 victims and a woman questions him about losing Claire. Mac: "Victims are not just DNA profiles, they have names." He's helping develop new techniques for the 1,121 victims who remain unidentified, as a way of providing some sort of closure for their families and "I know how that feels." She says they have only identified one Victim in the one and a half year she's been here. Mac replies if she saw what it means to their families she wouldn't question why she does it.
Mac sits in the room with a suspect and writes down the date: September 11 2001 when he heads to see what the commotion is about, as they watch the news of the attacks. Claire calls Mac. She's okay and got out, but she doesn't leave. Mac knows she'll want to help. Another plane is heard hitting the South Tower. The attacks were not portrayed graphically or visually. All we hear are the sounds and the expressions of horror and shock on the peoples' faces.
Adam imitates Jo in a horrible, high pitched version of her accent and Lindsay has to hear him. There were some moments of comic relief added into the episode. She says the medium velocity blood spatter was scanned and Hawkes says Sid (Robert Joy) found something from the Vic's forehead. Adam gets a hit on the phones stolen from the bar (some phones can be remotely turned on by the carrier and gets a hit on the address of the robbers). Danny and Flack arrest two perps, with a little fighting (as in season 7, though they didn't get beaten up this time round.) Flack notices blood on a grey hoodie. Danny: "technology." Flack: "Gotta love it."
Flack tells Jo about the suspects, Mike Black (Bug Hall) who is the white guy, but his street name is White Mike and then there's the black guy, Mike White (Brandon Fobbs), whose street name is Black Mike, they have to keep the names straight. which is the hard part. Another funny scene. Flack tells black Mike, "Can't imagine what that withdrawal thing feels like." Black Mike replies, "kind of like a cop who can't do without his donut" which Flack finds amusing. He can't tell him a fake murder story and fool him into confessing to a murder and Flack and Jo both show them photos of the murder. Flack tells him he's been watching too much TV. Mr White tells Jo they didn't shoot anyone. Hawkes finds the test fire didn't match the bullet. They either threw the gun away or another person was involved. They go with the gun theory since no one saw anyone else.
Mac calls Joe, (Robert Forster) a fireman who lost his policeman son, Jimmy , a first responder. He tells Mac he already got his event pass. He tries to recall Jimmy's voice, but his memory fades. Mac answers that's why they did this project, "to keep those memories alive." Mac calls Joe a friend for life. He wouldn't do this without him. Mac describes himself as "charismatic, charming cop who came together to help build something that will last forever." Mac picks up the passes for the CSIs and sees Joe's pass is still there.
Mac has another flashback when he sees the firemen, he arrives at the scene ten years ago and helps a woman when the Tower falls. Again this was done with the use of sound effects and dust clouds. Jo has her flashback when she sees a truck outside polluting the air with smoke. She sees the Pentagon in flames from her office window and hears about a plane hitting the South Tower and a flight striking the Pentagon. She calls her mother to take the children home. Mac meets her to give them passes and they would love to see him. Jo thought the case was over. Mac imagines how cluttered her desk would be. He's not coming back. He tells her to "measure twice and cut once." Look again at the evidence.
Jo analyzes the blood spatter which Lindsay noticed but didn't bother analyzing closely. Hawkes notices contact was made with the blood about 5-7 minutes later. Jo says it was ten minutes later when someone brushed up against the wall. Another photo shows the blood was smeared after it was deposited on the wall. There was no skeletonization. Someone left the bar soon after Sean was shot. This is what she tells Flack and s explains the skeletonization. Flack asks why they don't just call it a ring as it would be more "interesting if you guys uses smaller words." Flack has his flashback when he sees Danny's badge, when he helped an injured woman and Danny comes running to go help... Flack: "They're all gone." So Danny and Flack met on 9/11 and they've known each other for ten years. Again that scene was filmed with just the sirens in the background and the dust and debris lying around them.
Mac convinces Joe to change his mind, at least he tries to convince him. Mac knows he belongs there. Joe did this for the families. Mac believes Joe needs to find a better way to let go of his pain and they were both there, "digging, searching and hoping." When they met he was moved at seeing the same faces at the sight. Mac tells Joe he did it for the families and he's one too.
Devon doesn't know the two men. Flack tells her she told them when she'd be leaving and about the money in the safe. Jo adds something went wrong. Devon confesses they arrived at the door too late and Sean knew. She smeared blood on herself when she left and was meant to be a witness. Why bother having a witness? White Mike gave her the gun. She saw Sean and shot him and no one saw her. She was using and owed money. Jo: "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." She asks what day it is.
Sid has his flashback whilst in the lab, tying name tags onto the Vic and helped the firemen along with Hawkes. When Mac reads a prayer for a dead fireman. Jo says she and Flack have known each other for a year and he's "one hell of a detective." Flack jokes, "The jury's still out on you, interim boss." As Jo fixes his tie. Well it's been a long time since Flack wore a tie, so he was rusty with tying it! Adam needs help tying one and Lindsay comments it'll be the twenty year anniversary before he gets it done. That wasn't a nice line to say. Adam confesses he slept through 9/11 and was too embarrassed. Lindsay having to ask, "through what?" has she not been listening. She felt useless and had to come down to New York and help.
Mac dedicates the Brooklyn Wall of Remembrance to the fallen heroes of 9/11 with the real families of the first responders. Joe finally turns up. Mac says another farewell to Claire at the beach and lets the opera tickets drift away in the ocean. He recalls her on the bus - the last time he would ever see her.
The episode opens with Mac having a flashback to Claire. Then the CSIs have a routine case, investigating a robbery at a bar and the murder of bouncer, Sean. Well it was Danny's case as he's called in and Flack is already there. We finally get to see Danny in uniform, but not much of a view, more of a glimpse. Also the flashback with Flack back to 2001, had some good continuity to 7.22 Exit Strategy. Where Mac had his crucifix, Danny his photo of Lucy and Flack had his badge, for luck. It's always about the job with him and back then was no exception either. We also got to see Flack in his uniform back then, all dirty, showing he was there a long time before Danny made it down. Danny was too late and Flack must tell him the awful news of no one being left alive.
Danny also told Flack he was "on the job" an episode title which goes all the way back to season 1.21 On the Job, when Danny had that whole shooting fiasco to tend with. It took Flack to look at Danny's badge when he saw him in the car and not at the beginning of the episode, for him to remember. We got to see what Danny was doing through Flack's flashback, as we did with Hawkes, whom we saw though Sid's flashback. Jo being in Washington with the FBI of course and it was very reassuring to see her thoughts were with her children and their safety, her maternal instincts showing.
Though many were expecting to see Mac's pain and loss he suffered, along with so many others, his first thought was also about his loved one, Claire and wanting to keep her safe, but Claire stayed. It was hinted that Claire died in the actual Towers that day, but we get to see she got out and was there when the first Tower came down and she was a casualty of the collapse.
The episode did have some light-hearted moments with Adam impersonating Jo. Jo keeps Mac's nameplate cos she knows he's going to come back. Think Lindsay arriving on a firetruck from Montana to be part of the 'bucket brigade' was just written in to tie her to New York and actually being here at the time. Maybe that was the reason that prompted her to to return here for good. Although she appeared a bit dim when Adam chose her to be the one to open up to when he tells her where he was and she has to ask about what. His guilt of having to lie about where he was when asked, when he really slept through it all. He was probably not the only one that happened to. Yet we can all remember where we were and what we were doing on that fateful day. Can't say much for Lindsey's outfit either.
Good to see them all formally dressed and Danny in a suit, as well as Flack wearing his suit too, if only for a while. Then again the episode belonged to Mac and his grief, the time he would never get with Claire. The little things that reminded him. Sharing his feelings with Joe, getting to change his mind about coming to the ceremony at the Brooklyn Wall of Remembrance.
Mac saying a prayer again shows his religiousness and that's how we met him in season 1's Blink episode, in church. That was an idea put forward by Gary to Anthony Zuiker. This episode also had Mac looking across to the empty skyline. Now he goes to the beach to remember and to say another farewell with the opera tickets which he had kept for ten years. Mac still suffers with the pain of losing Claire, also the monologue in season 1 where he spoke about the beachball containing Clarie's breath. Maybe another reason why he went to the beach, but this wasn't alluded to. Neither was the beach ball.
Also in 1.22 The Closer, he thinks it's time to move on, he tells Stella, "When the Towers fell and Claire died, it was the clearest definition of what is unjust and unfair in this world, and I was powerless to do anything about it. All those innocent lives - but here I just need to do this." (He helped a convicted wrongly by re-examining his case.) He also added he liked the possibility of being able to change things. But his moving on should happen now, as he's able to see some closure.
Mac went to the opera with Peyton (Claire Forlani) in season 3.7 Murder Sings the Blues. So from that episode we saw that he still used to go, perhaps he just needed someone to go with. But things didn't work out with Peyton. Here was a bit of continuity again with Mac having tickets for the opera for Claire.
Hawkes was attending the wounded and injured along with Sid. When we met him in Blink, Hawkes didn't venture out of the morgue until much later, a direct consequence of 9/11. As for this week's case, that was practically open and shut. Devon was the most apparent suspect, heck she was the only suspect, as it was an inside job. She was so immaculate in recalling the details of what the robbers were wearing, not to mention being away at the time of the robbery. The way she shot Sean, so callous, did she believe he would turn her in? They could have spoken about it but she was too high. Also the way she didn't recall what day it was, showing she was so caught up in her own insignificant problems. A little like Lindsay when Adam speaks to her and she asks him, "What about?"
Jo and Flack sharing a moment when she tells him he's a great detective, isn't he just!! Hints of a possible romance there, then again maybe not. But remember where you heard it first, ha. An excellent, poignant episode with the amount of time available to the writers/producers and the reconstruction of the aftermath in the street scenes was so hauntingly realistic. Gary's scene was filmed at Coney Island. Gary's thoughts on the anniversary of 9/11, "The more I gave, the more I healed." He was instrumental in getting the Wall built. "The efforts to support the building of the two 9/11 memorials. The pentagon and the Brooklyn Wall of Remembrance were a special privilege."
He wrote in the Daily Beast last year, "I 'd been pitching an idea to the writers about doing an episode that would focus on the 9/11 anniversary and feature the Brooklyn Wall of Remembrance...when we left each other we said; 'If we come back, our season premiere has to be this episode since it's the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks'. It's time to do this episode." He continued, "It's a very personal episode and it's our way of paying tribute and honouring the men and women who sacrificed that day in service of the city of New York."
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