Ray finally has his showdown with Nate Haskell, and the rest of the team have to find the evidence to prove he acted in self-defence, or was it murder.
In a dark, dark house, a struggle ensues between Ray (Laurence Fishburne) and Haskell (Bill Irwin). Ray subdues and cuffs him using regulation issue flex-cuffs. (Important for later.) He then cuts the cuffs and they go head-to-head. Obviously Ray would come out the victor. Before all this, Haskell taunts Ray saying he's killed many. Ray doesn't want to shoot him. Ray would beat Haskell up in that way, with such violence and rage; partly for himself and mostly for Gloria (Tracee Ellis Ross). He knew how to play Ray and that's exactly what Ray did, he went for the taunts. Haskell says they "share something special." He assaulted Gloria, including torturing her and that got Ray's goat. Brass (Paul Guilfoyle) had to arrive first at the scene, so he could help Ray. That's why the camera focused on the cuffs which Ray left on the floor. Brass advises Ray to refrain from speaking with anyone.
Greg (Eric Szmanda) and Sara (Jorga Fox) process the CS and the rest of the house. Sara commenting serial killers "always go home." Greg adds that Arvin Thorpe, the farmer, (Raymond J Barry) was lying. Brass: "He's still lying, face up." Dry wit from Brass, he's in no mood to be funny though. Brass insists Ray acted in self-defence. IA will be working the case and they need to help Ray. This could have been interpreted in two ways, either they help Ray since he's one of them, or they find the evidence vindicating Ray and proving it was murder. Greg tells Sara that Ray "had more to fight for." Not only in terms of trying to stay alive, but also fighting who he is inside.
Catherine (Marg Helgenberger) arrives at the hospital with Nick (George Eads) and she will process Gloria. Nick would hug Ray, but he's evidence. Nick tells him Ray saved her life and that's all that's important. He notices white trace on Ray's hands and blood stains on his T-shirt. Ecklie (Marc Vann) tells Brass he'll handle IA Det. Schultz (Jay Karnes) and the process should be straightforward. Greg and Sara measure the distance that Haskell fell from the banister. Sara comments plenty of force would have been needed. David (David Berman) finds a contusion on his back from the railing. Greg mentions the GSW to Thorpe's head. He was beaten and stabbed 13 times; indicating he was Vic number 13. There should be blood from all four of them.
Catherine comforts Gloria, she survived and Haskel''s dead, so she beat him. Gloria has the same white trace on her hands as Ray. Haskell hooked her arms to the walls. Greg finds the 9mm gun used on Thorpe and probably on Tina (Amanda Wyss) too. Sara, they'll "let the walls talk." She finds large amounts of blood spatter on the walls, hidden beneath the wallpaper. This was Haskell's room as a boy. Sara: "Nate Haskell died in the house, but I think a serial killer was born in this room." She determines the first blood sample wasn't human but animal. Nick surmises Thorpe knew what Haskell was doing, so Ray was more likely dealing with more than one killer. Greg's done his research and tells Nick that this was Thorpe's main residence until 1976, then he brought the house across the road, so he didn't want anyone to know what was going on here. Nick thinks the more bodies they find, the better it will be for Ray.
Gloria's mother, Nora Parkes (L Scott Caldwell) loses it with Ray and blames him for everything Gloria went through. Determining whose blood was where and how much, Sara finds most of the blood belonged to Haskell. Greg tries to make sense of it by saying Ray got some punches in but it doesn't mean he could have gotten Haskell under control. Ray's shoeprints are in the blood, so he must have picked Haskell up. Greg says he was fighting for his life. Sara posits one man can dominate the other. "We're looking for the truth here." Outside, Nick, Hodges (Wallace Langham) and Henry (Jon Wellner) find pets in graves; which increase in size. Hodges digs up human remains. Ecklie gets dirty and helps out.
Catherine has to deal with Schultz, who'll get her report when it's finished. He comments they've been through this before with Warrick (Gary Dourdan). By the way, should they have even been on this case, since Ray's one of their own. Doc Robbins (Robert David Hall) tells Catherine, Thorpe was the only justifiable murder as Haskell suffered childhood abuse. He suffered blunt force traumas in a fist fight, you could "call it karma." Also there are marks on Haskell's wrists from the cuffs. None of the injuries will affect his final COD, which is what he also told Schultz. Catherine advises Ray against looking at Gloria's SAE (Sexual Assault Exam) results. Ray need to do this and he's clearly distraught and angry at the same time.
Hodges finds an adult male with a crushed skull in one of the graves wearing a Superlux logo on his overall. Henry recalls his grandmother used to have a Superlux pink oven. Greg shows Nick the Superlux mini-fridge. The Vic was a salesman and his name was Douglas Nathan Haskell. Missing since 1976. Haskell took his name. One remains belongs to Lois, Haskell's mother. Thorpe beat and killed her. Haskell used to hear everything that happened in his room, which was next to theirs.
Sara tells Catherine, from the blood evidence Ray dominated the fight. Catherine says Ray should have cuffed him and the marks were from flex-cuffs, department issue. They didn't find any at the scene, unless Ray cut them off. Catherine decides they must "let the evidence speak, no cuffs present, no cuffs used." Catherine visits Gloria in hospital wanting to ask her what happened; but changes her mind and asks how she is. Mrs Parkes tells her Gloria made her dream to play music come true. Ray was scared of having a baby with her because of what he'd pass onto the child. That's why their marriage ended.
Sara checks Ray's kit and finds 3 cuffs. Greg asks if she'd do the same if he were in Ray's place. Sara explains they've 'all had their dark moment where they had to fight our way out and up to the rest of the team to shine a light on it.' Sara needs to know what she's dealing with. We know that Brass replaced the cuffs. Catherine confronts Brass as there was no mention of cuffs in his report. Ray had all three in his kit. Brass: "I look out for my team, how about you?" Catherine already signed off on the report. Brass has come a long way since season 1 and the Pilot episode and the second episode, when he berated Warrick for getting Holly killed. Brass also knows how to stock a kit, he was in charge of the team in the Pilot episode. Then again there's always that line that isn't meant to be crossed and Brass has crossed it as far as Ray is concerned. Understandable Haskell was a monster as everyone keeps saying, but was it up to him to watch out for Ray. He hasn't known him that long and not as well as Doc and Nick. Anyway did Ray even have his kit with him. He went into the house alone, and it's not really procedure to carry cuffs with him on his person, but Ray did since he'd have to hold Haskell, if he got the chance.
Mrs Parkes apologizes to Ray, it's not for her to judge his actions. Ray goes back to the house, where Brass admits he covered for him. If Ray admits what he did to anyone, he'll be taking him down too. Though he doesn't refer to himself by name. Brass says he killed in self-defence and Ray says he did what he did for Gloria. Ray finally giving in to his dark side which he's been rebelling against for years. Flashback to what really transpired. Ray beating up Haskell. He's going to take Haskell's kidney like he took Ray's Then throws him over the banister. Brass finds him at the house and wants what happened to stay between them. Brass took the cuffs (as we know). The white trace on both their hands was chalk from the floor. Gloria was writing music on the floor. Another flash to her playing The Swan by Saint-saens, on the cello. She doesn't think it's appropriate music for their first date. Ray: "The music saved her life." Brass adds she knew Ray would come for her.
Doc Tells Ray he needs some reflection, that Haskell wanted him at the house to turn Ray into a helpless child, just like Haskell was. Ray says Haskell saw Ray as his reflection. Ray's father was on the other side of that wall, but Ray trained himself to be good. Doc: "You are good."
Ray attends the IA interview saying, "fact is that I killed a man." Schultz asks if it was self-defence or murder?
Now that Laurence Fishburne has left CSI, the writers have more leeway as to how they want to conclude this story next season. Also Marg Helgenberger and Paul Guilfoyle were negotiating their contracts too, so if they do return it will be interesting to see how next season develops. Especially Brass's relationship with Catherine, who is certain Brass had a hand in replacing the cuffs and removing the other cuffs from the house. If Ray replies he murdered Haskell, then effectively he'll be taking Brass down with him. They're kind of bound together in their pact, which wasn't really of Ray's choosing.
Well there was nothing more left than to see Ray go down the route he did, fate was written for him and he conceded to it, more so for Gloria. That's not justification for turning into something he's fought against all his life. His actions weren't right, but they were understandable. If he had been an ordinary member of the public, self-defence wouldn't have to have been questioned so rigorously, since he 's a CSI, that line has been crossed by him. As Doc reminds Catherine, he'd have done the same for his own wife. Sara was the only one striving for the truth, aside from wanting Ray to be innocent, she was looking for evidence to prove this, not rely on friendship or instinct. She was the only one doing her job. Catherine wanted to but as she said they didn't have any evidence to prove it wasn't self-defence. Catherine wasn't happy with Brass.
Greg wanted it to have been a fair fight. But that Ray got to overpower Haskell shows the difference in their physical stature. Haskell remained the weak boy he always was, using drugs to subdue his victims and terrible torture to act out his childhood abuse onto them, before killing them. Catherine says Ray could have cuffed Haskell and left it at that.
Catherine questioning Gloria, at least attempting to, was almost as if Gloria could tell her something to "save" Ray and prove the case of self-defence for him. Nick, strangely, had to focus on the 'other' storyline: that of digging up Haskell's past. Never giving up on Ray though and knows the more they find, the easier it will be to vindicate Ray. Even Ecklie mucks in, which he hardly does, but he was on Ray's side too. Maybe he's going soft in readiness for his daughter, Brody's (Elisabeth Harnois) arrival in season 12.
A shame Laurence Fishburne decided to leave and concentrate on movies, as there would have been a wealth of personal stories arising from the fall out. At least there'll be no more Haskell, so it was good they ended that part of the story when they did. Though Haskell will leave his mark and legacy on the entire team. We'll have to wait for January 2012 in the UK for the new season!
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