CSI 12.20 "Altered Stakes" Review

The scene opens at a baseball game between the CSIs and LVPD Vice.  DB (Ted Danson) tells Finn (Elisabeth Shue) he brought her here for the team.  Where was Sara (Jorga Fox) I have to ask, would have thought since she was the one who worked with Carlos (Enrique Murciano) in his first appearance in season 10.4 Coup de Grace that she would have been in this episode too, but no, they chose to keep her out of this one.  I know CSI  makes a habit of having actors miss out an episode or two, but sometimes it just gets  a bit too full on. I like to see all of the cast every week.

Finn knocks the ball almost out of the park and stops to flirt with Carlos at third base.  She'd like a rubdown later for her leg.  DB suggests "maybe a cold shower."  Nick (George Eads) gets a call from Brass (Paul Guilfoyle) and as they don't have 9 players to play, they must forfeit the game.  Just as Henry (Jon Wellner) is about to bat.  Nick thinks Henry's been saved by the call.

DA Melvoy (Larry Poindexter) comments on Det Sam Vega leaving behind his dirty laundry and the Carl Bowden (David Atkinson) case is being overturned.  Nick recalls Bowden beat and killed a boy in the alley.  Vega apparently beat him into confessing.  They can't use any of the evidence subsequently obtained and need new evidence.  Nick adds they lost the game too. I'm glad that Nick gets these cases to investigate, cos apart from being one of my fave CSI characters, he also gets to captivate with his emotions and how seriously he takes his work and how much catching criminals means to him.  He really shows his sympathy and empathy for the Vics.

Finn tells DB she didn't feel any pain until she saw "that cute guy on third."  To which I will add there are plenty out there who will agree!!  Come on, it's Enrique!!  DB says he's a cop...so?  Nick opens up to DB and tells him he liked Vega and didn't think he was dirty.  DB: "No one starts out that way, but once you are, you are."  Nick recalls Vega questioning Bowden and he left the room.  When he returned Bowden had a cut lip and Vega alleged he came after him.  Bowden then confessed and led them to the body of Robert.  Nick didn't tell anyone what happened, it was about trust.  The killer is in prison and his mother got to bury her son.  DB's words of wisdom are that she would have got to do that eventually and the evidence would have led them to the killer.  DB: "...see if forensics could do what the police couldn't."

Greg (Eric Szmanda) ran the DNA and matched it to Robert's toothbrush.  They found the DB.  There wasn't any trial.  So Finn adds the evidence box remained closed.  DB takes the evidence off the board which isn't available: the confession, the autopsy and the DB.  Finn says they've worked with less.  DB wants to check out the alley.

Nick recalls the bloodpool near the dumpster (I'm thinking they would have had photos to document all this evidence) and a cinder block with blood, the murder weapon.  Greg matched the urine to Robert.  There was also the presence of low blood spatter. DB deduces he must have kept hitting Robert.  An eyewitness in the car saw Bowden leave the alley but without a body.  His car wasn't found.  Nick remembers a chemical smell, like a solvent, superglue-ish.

Carlos wants to work the case and asks Brass for permission.  IAB cleared him and Vega was his step father.  He needs to do this and Brass lets him work it off the record.

Morgan (Elisabeth Harnois) comments the trip to the alley by DB was to jog Nick's memory.  Greg mentions how Grissom taught them by the Socratic method.  With DB Morgan adds, "by the time you figure out what was happening, it's already over."

Bowden's car was in Impound for 7 years and was towed two blocks from the alley.  Brass notices it has front end damage.  Carlos finds it was involved in a hit 'n' run.  So Robert's DB was never in the car.  Seems they keep coming up with obstacles.

The chemical is identified as octo cyanoacrylate known as 'Invisiskin,' a liquid bandage.  This was found on the cinder block.  Bowden was a mechanic.  Ben (Brett Rice) his former boss recalls Bowden was a hothead and he had access to the shop and the keys.  Morgan talks to another mechanic (Justin Klinger) and looks at his hands.

Nick posits Bowden needed another car and Greg has brought in a customer's Buick.  Hodges (Wallace Langham) listens to Italian opera after his trip to Italy with his mother and speaks Italian to Morgan about Italian being the language of love.  Notice how Morgan and Hodges always speak about such things so openly.  He finds the same chemical on the leather steering wheel of the car.

Henry tells Nick he was at the batting cages with Finn and he was looking forward to batting.  So Nick asks if this will affect him doing DNA work for him.  The blood results were degraded, a 1 in 43,000 result.  The eye witness died 2 years ago.  Melvoy says they still don't have enough evidence.  Nick knows Bowden should have gotten life for the killing and DB says he'll do it again.  But he didn't think about how he might have done something similar in the past at this point.  Nick wants to collect reference samples from Bowden.  Bowden has been beaten up in prison but he always picks the fights, leading to the clue about looking for past cases with similar MOs.

Finn finds the case they think is the one.  A random attack on a female jogger in the park who was beaten with a log and the officers recalled a chemical smell.  But someone else was already convicted for the crime.  What no one's heard of innocent Vics being convicted.  April (Susan May Pratt) identified David, (Myk Watford) her best friend's husband.  He had wood splinters in his hand and was seen burning something in his yard. Nick is more interested in the chemical smell.

DB turns off Hodges' opera music when she speaks with him and  Nick finds Bowden's credit card was declined on the day of the attack across the street from the park.  Carlos asks Nick about Vega and wants the truth about him.  Nick replies there was no code of silence and he knew him to be an honest  cop.  Cos he sees the best in most people. Maybe he didn't want to know about the real Vega and Carlos mentions the same thing.  He wanted to be like him when younger.  Nick thinks he was a good guy and he was trying to protect him.  Bowden was fired on the day of the attack.

Finn wants to hear David's side and April insists David attacked her.  David wanted to talk to her about his wife.  He stacked firewood for the children and burned rags from the garage.  He doesn't think Finn believes him either.  Finn: "I never said that I didn't believe you."  Hodges found the trace of chemical on the log, meaning David never handled the wood or no sample was taken from the contaminated piece of the log.  DB tells Melvoy they've won cases on 'specks of evidence.'  The physical evidence contradicts April's claim.

Doc Robbins (Robert David Hall) explains there is a physiological explanation for the brain damage and she suffered repeated blows to her head.  In her traumatized state she could have misinterpreted who she saw.

Greg talks to the dog's owner, Ms Fowler (Kali Rocha) who found April.  Maggie, the dog swallows things and she kept the keys she swallowed. The dog interrupted Bowden from killing April.  Nick finds the keys fit Bowden's car.  DB says they should "arrest the dog for obstruction."  Bowden is arrested as soon as he is released.  Nick asks if he enjoyed his moment of freedom.

The LVPD finish off the match and Finn whispers to Henry that he's being watched by a girl.  Leading the CSIs to win naturally!  Leaving Finn to flirt some more with Carlos.  Oh how many wished they were in her place?!

In CSI episode 3.2 The Accused Is Entitled, errors in forensics from Grissom, well alleged errors cos hey Grissom never did anything wrong, lead to his mentor arriving on the scene for the defence and the CSIs having to re-assess the evidence.  4.4 Invisible Evidence concerns a bloody knife recovered at the CS being ruled inadmissable and the CSIs have 24 hours to come up with new evidence before the murderer is released.  In The Execution of Catherine Willows, a wrong man could be behind bars.  


CSI likes such episodes where the evidence is in conflict, where errors may have occurred  and they have little time to remedy the outcome.  Still as long as it's done in a good way I don't mind watching them.  This episode was particularly interesting as it focused on Nicky and also on Carlos, though not as much and had some character moments, which always add dimension to a show. Nick always gets emotional in most of the scenes where he's reminiscing or talking of a particularly sad subject which affects him profoundly, shall I say and that's one of the many facets that I love about him.

Also this is the first time such a case has been re-opened with newcomers, DB and Finn which also made it different.