CSI 14.8 "Helpless" Review

                                                 
As a couple wait for their friends to arrive for wine, the man notices a large ball coming towards them, stopping in front of them, with a bloodied man inside.  Cue DB (Ted Danson) and his jokes of whatever happened to him, spinning, how he saw one of these hamster balls at the state fair, and David (David Berman) needs to collect all the evidence which is inside the ball, so has to take it back to the lab.  Brass (Paul Guilfoyle) commenting on how snags at the fair was no fun for the DB and telling David, "he'll have a ball."  Great to see Brass getting back to his one liners.  Or rather getting his one liners back.

Back at the lab, Finn (Elisabeth Shue) and David collect evidence and trace.  Hodges (Wallace Langham) analyzes the fauna he found and again makes a joke, but then that's just Hodges and well, he's allowed.  This leads them to the DB's house where they find all sorts of other items which show Zach (Gabriel Sunday) was into claustrophilia.  Meaning he liked tight spaces.  Looking at his video album they find he had a female playmate and the lack of oxygen and confinement led to all sorts of inhibitions being lost and arousal.  Finn finds trace on the statue which was used to hit the DB causing the blunt force trauma that David mentioned in the beginning.

The doorbell rings and a large package is delivered which DB can't lift. No, seriously it was only a woman inside, what was he implying, she was that heavy! Ha.  Doc (Robert David Hall) finds that rigour already had set in, hey that actress kept a perfectly still composure with her arms and legs in the air, usually you can still spot them shaking.  Anyway her husband is brought in and he says how she wanted to do this as she needed her own space, or confined space, rather and he agreed to save their marriage.  She said Zach was just a friend and yet they were both together, which he didn't like.  Brass asks him what he does for a living and he replies he looks after horses.  Thus incriminating himself cos the trace Finn found was from their feed.  He hit him with the statue and he rolled away from him.

A bit of a silly and obvious case which was so boring, that it seemed it had been done before but using a different scenario.  You know all the fetish eps, such as Fur and Loathing, oh let's not forget nappy man! 5.15 King Baby.

The second case was more interesting, as this involved Morgan (Elisabeth Harnois) investigating a rape of a woman in her own condo.  Apparently this was investigated by Dawn Banks (Sherry Stringfield) from swingshift and Morgan introduces her to Greg (Eric Szmanda).  Funny Greg didn't know her.  Anyway, the assailant, raped two other women and had the same MO, like leaving the TV open, but the Vic, Amy (Noell Coet) adding she did that herself as she falls asleep to the news.  (Ironic? Ha)  Also in the first two rapes, there was an open window which the rapist didn't use to gain access and made mistakes like that.  Leading Morgan to determine that she was the actual target and the other two were just like practice runs.  That was a bit obvious.  The Vics were all brunettes.

Amy thinks it was her ex Jared (Mark Famiglietti) as she recalls she faintly smelled him.  Jared is brought in with his father, Ken (Christopher Cousins) who is quite adamant Jared is innocent, but is unwilling to let his son 'man up' as Brass puts it.  Jared leaves but Dawn tries to antagonize him by wanting his DNA, hoping that he'll spit at her or something, though he does attempt to go for her juggler.  It backfires.  CSI trying to get back to season 1 with Nick and that pro ep 1.15 I-15 Murders, where the security guard spat on her and they used his DNA in that way to show he assaulted her.

Dawn tells Morgan that his father refuses to let him own up cos that'll show he's a failed parent.  More lilely cos he's the main suspect as far as I was concerned.  Also her comment is a reflection of her own personal life, as she hasn't seen her son, Tyler (Adam Hicks) in a while.  Greg and Morgan go to Dawn's apartment as Dawn doesn't run up for work and find she was working.  She takes a photo of an email open on her computer which shows there was smog absorbing material found at the CS, which Morgan links to a trailer park.  They find Tyler there and he just came in for food, but he doesn't know where his mother is. Morgan adding that Dawn is worried about him.

At the lab, Sean (Matt Davis) comes in and he's heard about Dawn being missing, so he accompanies Morgan to the trailer park.  Where he hears Dawn's phone ring when Morgan calls her and she finds it under some trash.  DB lets Hodges and Henry (Jon Wellner) search the trailer park and Henry finds a trailer with a security camera.  Inside it's not wired, but they find a jacket belonging to Jared, as well as porn videos and Hodges notices a white hair on the jacket.  Thus leading it to be Kevin who is the rapist.  That was a giveaway since as Dawn said, he wouldn't really man up either and take responsibility for his actions.  Having a pathetic excuse too for not only being a perv but also a rapist!  Anyway they find him in photos, clinging  a little too close for comfort to Amy and since Jared lost her, he wanted her.  Walking in on her in the shower, hiring call girls who looked like her.  Then finally getting his chance to attack Amy.  What a twisted man he was!

As Brass questions Tyler about his mother since Dawn's abandoned car is found off the route to Reno, Morgan believes she had evidence that the rapist is Tyler.  However it appears the Reno police informed Dawn of her son's death, as he was homeless and they found his driving licence.  Brass realizes he's not a suspect in a rape but she had his clothes for DNA purposes.  On the way she took a detour after stopping at a truck store and brought pills and booze.  Morgan asks where she would most likely be and why that spot would be important.  Tyler finally helping by replying they went camping there.  Dawn is found barely alive and is taken to intensive care.  Tyler realizing his mother's love for him after all.

So really the CSIs had three cases this ep.  Though Sara (Jorga Fox) disappeared after one scene and Greg didn't feature much either, once again allowing Sean to take an active role on screen and in Morgan's worklife again.  But it was good to see some good come from the story when Tyler agrees to stay with Dawn as he feels for her when she believed he would have died so young.  Also Hodges telling Dawn how much he likes her was a good scene.
Dawn: I can look into it. You're busy.
Hodges: Did I mention my fondness for you? I like her.

Marl Famiglietti was also in the CSI season 1.4 ep, Pledging Mr Johnson. Who could forget that ep? ha.

CSI 14.7 "Under A Cloud" Review

                                              
Greg (Eric Szmanda) drives back to the lab in the rain and Sara (Jorga Fox) calls him to pick up a veggie burger for her, Morgan (Elisabeth Harnois) asks him to do the same and a grilled cheese for Finn (Elisabeth Shue).  When he arrives back, a sinister looking man waits for him in the rain and serves him! Of course we had to think something more dramatic was about to happen, having known already what the ep was going to be about! Sara and Morgan talk about Greg getting food and Henry (Jon Wellner) thinks he can pick him up some soup too.  DB (Ted Danson) walks in to assign another case and it's Sara's turn to go out.  She arrives at the hospital with a man barely alive, or seems to be.  He was found in the flood channels and his satchel caught him from going out any further. Opening his satchel, Sara finds a bomb inside and it activates.

For what appears to be the longest time holding it, the bomb disposal expert, Anthony (Jason Gerhardt) arrived and helps her to give him the satchel.  It's destroyed as a controlled explosion outside and Sara barely gets her legs and her breath back, asking for the bomb parts.  At the hospital she processes his fingerprints and receives a match on AFIS, but it's a fake ID, showing the photo of a black man.  With a fake address, Snowdrift Drive in Atlanta.  Brass (Paul Guilfoyle) asks Sara how she is and it's good to see the old team still have such concern for each other, cos they've been through so much together over 14 years.  Sara also uses her App to find out what he's repeatedly saying over and over, saying 'pearl', the rest of it is not clear.

DB introduces Finn to the investigator, Jennifer Rhodes, a defence criminalist  from the Innocence Project, she's going to be assisting to investigate a case Greg was assigned CSI on, when he was still new back in 2006.  Gus spent 7 years behind bars for a crime he didn't commit and Greg is accused of planting the blood evidence collected from Gus and planting it on the crowbar.  Finn hates she has to investigate Greg cos she was under the same IA investigation in Seattle and DB investigated her, hating every minute.  That's why he assigned her to it and tells her to get over it.  Later evidence which wasn't available at the time, Jennifer calls it, 'touch' evidence, identified another suspect who raped women and killed them.  Gus was seen as a voyeur and was seen by the women when he peeked it through their windows.  It was claimed he took it further with the Vic as she actually reported him to the police.

Finn ignores Greg cos she can't speak to him and he takes that as personal.  Greg just wants access to his notes from back then, but he's not allowed to and DB puts him onto desk duty.  When looking through the evidence, they see Greg took photos of the bedroom first where the DB was found, then the rest of the house, then returned to the house again.  Finn says she processes the serious CS first as well.  Then notices that the photos of the crowbar indicate it's been moved in the second picture he took.  It also has blood drops on it now.  Greg received a sample of blood from Gus to check and eliminate him.  They think he returned to the CS again in the bedroom and planted the blood on the crowbar.  Yet the question they didn't ask is why he would do that and what exactly would he have to gain, especially since he so desperately wanted to be a CSI out in the field and the trouble he went to, to ensure he made it.  Also he was a lab rat before, so if there was evidence planting to be done, sure he'd have had several opportunities there and also in other cases.  So as a plot point in the ep, it was a little obvious he wasn't guilty and secondly we all know Greg by now and how he's not a corrupt CSI!  Oh perish the thought.

Jennifer notices blood spots on the pavement outside the house in photos, which aren't there in the first photo Greg too.  Having decided he's guilty since he head enough time to take blood from the sample tube and also reseal the bag.  Wendy was the lab rat who analyzed the evidence and signed that the bag was sealed when she received it.  Henry does an analysis of the blood from Gus and says there are traces of EDTA in it, but then it's found in most other things too, including, soap, etc.  He wants Finn to include it in the report, adding he's known Greg for along time and he's the most honest person he knows.  Then saying he'll add it to his report himself.  Finn replying she will do that too.  The blood drops were found to be gravitational.  Also there was blood on Gus's handkerchief, found in his pocket, with Finn positing Gus doesn't look like the type to carry one.

They talk with the officer assigned to the case, Yancy Langer (Derek Smith) he said Gus had a nosebleed, which he helped Gus with, putting his hand on his nose and then giving him his own handkerchief.  Why would you use your fingers to stop a nose bleed, for all sorts of health reasons.  He snuck in to take a look at the DB, since he hadn't seen one before and he tripped, but he put everything back.  Thus explaining that's how he repositioned the crowbar.  So he was responsible for an innocent man going to prison for seven years.  He's sorry but he didn't follow the case and didn't realize what had happened to Gus.

Greg is cleared as we know he would've been, and Finn tells Sara about her own investigation and how she still hasn't forgiven DB for it.  She might be new but she cares about him too, which she needs to tell him. She apologizes to him and she knew all along he was innocent but had to remain impartial and go along with Jennifer.  So what would Finn have done if Greg couldn't be exonerated.  Anyway they go for grilled cheese and she offers to pay for it.  Yeah as if that'd make up for it.  Also loved how Sara brought him Baklava from the bakery (love Baklava! ha.) Where she also found out what Agakian (Scott Connors) was saying.
Greg also gets to mention Gil Grissom again and how he followed everything he was trained to do, cos he loves this job and wanted to carry on doing it.

Great to see Sara support Greg since they've been through so much and it's so much like a brother/sister relationship with them.  She tells him how tough this job is and they've all been under scrutiny before, but before she can say anything else, she's called away by Brass.  He's found the hotel where the man was staying.  After they went public with his photo on the news.  Here Morgan finds his passport, identifying him as Agakian, a US Armenian and Sara finds a flashdrive in the toilet roll, well if he was meant to be a professional, it wasn't a very good place to put it.

Sara finds Doc (Robert David Hall) brought him back to the lab since the hospital weren't able to run tests on him and finds he's got ceramic fillings, meaning he's been in the US for along time.  He keeps repeating the same words over and over.  They find Agakian planted a bomb at the Mediterranean Casino since Greg is 'picked up' by the new chemist, Terri Royce (Deirdre Henry) to help with some evidence, reassuring him, they've all had their fair share of investigations, asking him if he did it, cos if he didn't then he'll be fine.  Greg IDs the mark as a grease mark and finds oil was spilled at the casino.   Terri was good, very sassy, being from New Orleans, hope we get to see more of her in future eps!

Sara takes Anthony to help at the casino and she finds there's blood on the fence where it was cut to get into the flood channel.  She takes a sample back to her SUV, but doesn't find any results.  Officer Mitchell (Larry Mitchell) tells her Agakian is dead.  At the hospital morgue, David (David Berman) is greeted by the FBI, who take his DB, as it's their investigation now.  They also return to the lab for the remaining evidence and Morgan accesses the password on the flashdrive after Sara tells her to use the address of the fake ID. Agakian was FBI and was infiltrating an Armenian ring.  He had to get inside by planting bombs but they were fake.  This being determined by Hodges (Wallace Langham) who reconstructs the bomb, much to Henry's disapproval, after first trying to make it go off, using bulbs instead of explosives, the bulbs explode. Then Henry notices the white substance in the tube which should've burnt out if the bomb had gone off.  It's not real, so the bomb was never meant to go off.

Agakian planted the first bomb and then was planting the second one when he slipped and fell into the channel.  The FBI would've removed the bombs and this would've got him into the ring.  But had to abort the investigation now.  Loved the banter between Hodges and Henry when Henry tells him of his life flashing moment, when he had dental surgery to remove his wisdom teeth.  He had a reaction to the drugs and told the dentists he loved her.  Which is more than just an awkward moment for him.  He's still got his wisdom teeth.  Hodges doesn't tell him about his own experience, preferring to leave that until later.

Was that an indictment on Wendy's ability as a lab rat, seeing as how she didn't check all the evidence and especially on the handkerchief, why dismiss all the evidence like that, it didn't necessarily have to be Gus's, could've been someone else's.  Great to see Greg and Sara get centre stage in this ep, but would've been good if Greggie had gotten a much more meatier storyline in terms of getting more screen time, since a frame up was just too pretentious,   He'd never do that, as said before.  But it did serve to show some friction between Sara and Finn and Greg, for having to do this, which was a little too easily explained away, cos it happened to Finn and she was loathe to do it. Anyway don't much like Finn, she always comes across as smug to me.

Jennifer wasn't bothered about nay personal vendettas and just wanted to get to the truth, even if it was at the expense of a good CSI.  Funny Morgan finally getting that veggie burger for Sara who will eat when she gets her appetite back.  But shame Morgan wasn't shown to have any words with Greg over his predicament, in the same way he's been there for her in the past, like when she was kidnapped.  Greg being frustrated at having to go through this, but as Sara tells him, he's dealt with hundreds of cases since then and won't recall this one.

Recall CSI:NY doing something similar in season 1.23 The Closer, when Mac had to reopen a case he investigated when a bloody hammer was used to convict a man who turned out to be innocent. turned up.  CSI:NY 7.3 Damned if You Do involved a crowbar, also been done in CSI in the past, such as 7.21 Ending Happy.

CSI 14.6 "Passed Pawns" Review

                                                 
Jeremy Sikes (Eric Frentzel) a homeless man enters Pike's Casino and goes on a winning spree.  The pit boss, Bobby (Steven Bauer) thinks he's cheating and replaces the dealer, Kristi (Shannon Lucio) but Jeremy decides he wants to quit now.  Should've quit while he was ahead.  Bobby offers him a room where he can clean up and then come back and play again but he wants to cash out.  Jeremy is later found in an alley, apparently stabbed.  Morgan (Elisabeth Harnois) is at the CS when Sean Yeager (Matt Davis) turns up from Dayshift, telling her it's his case since her shift was over two hours ago.  He wants to get in touch with her Supervisor, cue DB (Ted Danson) who is called by his wife, Barbara (Peri Gilpin) as he needs to pick her up from the airport.  He mentions Sean being CSI 2 and he needs one more case solved for promotion.

They work together and Sean finds a bloody briefcase in the dumpster.  David (David Berman) says there wasn't a wallet and Sean says he already looked which riles him up cos he can't touch the DB without his say so.  Sean just looked and there weren't any bulges.  Back at autopsy, Doc (Robert David Hall) finds the wounds look familiar as two of them seem to be bigger than the others and thinks it could be a familiar pattern.  Greg (Eric Szmanda)says he'll check the cases to see if there's anything there.

Morgan processes his clothes and finds a pawn ticket for Ruby's pawn shop.  It's called Ruby's but is run by her sons, Kyle (Max Adler) and Zeke  (Harrison Thomas).  Here she finds that Jeremy pawned a watch and a ring. Zeke knows the name and address of Jeremy from memory and what he pawned.  The watch is found to belong to Simon Holt who happens to be Kristi's husband.  She also has disappeared, so Morgan and Finn (Elisabeth Shue) posit that Jeremy and Kristi were both cheating together at the poker table and she killed him to take the money. Stabbing him in the back.  Morgan doesn't believe in coincidences and she doesn't believe in luck either. Sean saying they should call it destiny then or fate.  Also adding that he's Rizzoli and she's Isle's.

So Hodges (Wallace Langham) and Henry (Jon Wellner) analyze the cards at the casino and the shuffling machine and find that everything was in proper order.  Hodges agrees with Morgan however that Jeremy must have been cheating.  They also watch the video from the casino but she's not cheating.  Also noticing that Bobby talks with Alonso Pierce, thinking he was sent to kill Jeremy.  Especially since Jeremy wrote 'De' with his own blood.  Kristi's husband was killed in a home invasion and they believe she hired Jeremy to kill him. Considering she didn't report the expensive watch as stolen.  However video also shows that Kristi was being interrogated by Bobby at the time of Jeremy's murder.

Kristi is found and interviewed by Brass (Paul Guilfoyle) as she says she was hiding out from Bobby.  She claims she found her husband dead when she returned home and she bought the watch for their anniversary. His life insurance paid off his debts.  Of course it had to be a woman cos in their flashbacks, the outline of the killer is that of a woman, not many women were in this ep, aside from Kristi and Ruby (Illeana Douglas) narrowing down the suspects.  So if Kristi was with Bobby, that leaves Ruby.

Alonso  is seen on footage from the pawn shop, bringing in some speakers and a stereo.  Zeke gives them to Morgan and she finds money inside.  He's impressed she can use a drill.  Sara (Jorga Fox) walks in and watches Morgan and looks at the photos.  She notices Alonso doesn't have any blood on him and he didn't have time to change his clothes from the time stamps on the videos.  Instead, Brass finds Bobby with a gun, having shot Alonso and stuffed him into the boot of the car.  Bobby admits he did it cos he was old school, it's not like the days when Sam Braun used to run the casinos, where they'd threaten the players.  He didn't tell Alonso to kill Jeremy but just rough him up and get the money back, but he stole from him.  Also it's a question of honour. He tells Brass he wants to be put in prison with the old boys, out of honour.

Greg tells Morgan that Doc found the tip of the knife was actually a bullet, so Jeremy was shot twice and the killer made it look like he was stabbed, thus trying to hide the actual method of killing.  There was an old case like this where an informant was stabbed after being shot and the suspect was Delgado (Jason Manuel Olazabal) a member of the Mala Noche who has moved here from Miami.  Well they had to get that name mentioned in Vegas, as an homage to CSI:Miami possibly, ha.  Delgado was involved in a home invasion a few months ago and was shot.  He survived and he is the owner of the ring Jeremy stole.

Delgado runs a strip club and tells Brass he didn't report the ring stolen, thus he can't have it back.  Also saying he couldn't have shot him cos he was with his elderly mother.  DEA surveillance shows this is true.  It transpires there were similar home invasions, where one member was found dead.  Jeremy was actually being hired to kill them and then was given the unreported items as payment.  A search of the pawn shop reveals all the items that were stolen and in all cases, an item wasn't reported as stolen by the owners.  Kristi admits she hired him to kill her husband who was cheating on her and also used to beat her up as DB surmizes.  But she never knew that Jeremy was the man who had done this for her.  As Morgan puts it, that was just dumb luck.  She mentions the pawn shop and that Ruby had set up the hits from there.

The pawn shop has been shot up by Delgado and he's taken Zeke in return for the drugs that Ruby stole. Kyle is killed and Brass confronts Delgado telling him the drugs are gone and he's never getting them back. Brass shoots one of his men in the knee and he then says it's up to him if he wants to die.  Zeke is found safe and Sean tells Morgan she has a fan.  She replies he's just impressed with her power took skills.  She and Sean will see each other around and he lets her have the case cos she worked on it and deserves it.  Oh look, potential love interest for Morgan in the form of Alaric from the Vampire Diaries.  Okay I had to get that in, ha. But don't tell Hodges or Greg! Obviously she and Sean were going to argue as soon as she got on the scene and it seems Morgan may follow Ruby's advice when she tells her he's a keeper.

Elsewhere things looked to be prickly between DB and Barbara as she arrives at his office.  She knows he's busy and she tells him that Charlie has been offered a scholarship at East Indiana, but wants to tell DB in person.  At the end they find time for dinner, as Finn is covering for him.  She tells him she knocked on the door of the house in Seattle they always wanted to buy.  She's ready for that now cos he can't work forever and it's getting to him and something's bothering him.  He denies this but also says they have a house here. He promises when he's ready they'll knock on the door together, but for now he's staying.  She says he's got a family in his CSIs.

Brass also had some hairy moments this ep as if he was goading Delgado into making the first move, so he could have a shoot up.  Telling Delgado, "we all gotta die sometime."  Seems he is still affected by the events with Ellie.  Showing the differences between DB and Brass in terms of his doing the job for so long and maybe it's about time he calls it quits. Whereas DB still wants to continue, he's still go so much to do.  Brass is very much a man from the old days of Vegas and one reason why I think producers wanted to bring in some changes and have his character bow out.  Still a shame though cos he had the best one liners in many of the eps!

Somehow I didn't really enjoy this ep that much, it was mostly done before and used a tried and tested storyline of a casino winner getting killed apparently for his takings and then uncovering some other plot twist which wasn't that interesting.

CSI 14.5 "Frame By Frame" Review

                                                
CSI goes back to solving a cold case for its 300th ep, a cold case which didn't really happen 14 years ago, but for the purposes of the story/plot, it did. But it was actually meant to be 13 not 14!  Gwen (Kiersey Clemons) is found dead in Jack Witten's (Jason Priestly) house. He's a suspect in the murder of Darcy (Bethany Joy Lenz)14 years ago, but they couldn't prove anything.  Catherine (Marg Helgenberger) and Sara (Jorga Fox) investigated when Catherine was supervising in Grissom's absence.  The clue that probably ties them to Darcy's case is that the current DB was also hit over the head.  Glass is found nearby and Greg (Eric Szmanda) and David (David Berman) talk about The Premiere, a casino that Jack was going to build years ago.  Greg also saying he could write another book on how many buildings weren't built in Vegas that should have been.  Ooh do I sense another book from Greg.  Better not, it'll vanish from our screens and we'll never hear about it again.  Also being the 300th, it was a reference to Greg and his writing prowess.  Jack pretty much became a recluse.

There was camera footage of Jack and Darcy leaving the club together and coming back to his house.  They found she had been roofied as well as other drugs in her system.  This case is close to home for Sara again, not leastwise she investigated it, but cos these ones usually are.  She finds a carpet fibre from the rug in Jack's bedroom and she thinks it might be a match to the fibre that was found in the boot of Jack's car 14 years ago.  It had Darcy's blood on it and also there was blood in the boot of his car when her dumped her DB.  What they can't understand is that if he was guilty back then, then why would he call for help now.

Jack says he was in his preservation room and was watching movies that's why he didn't hear what happened.  Having a knack for always getting my suspects right, I knew Jack didn't kill Gwen or Darcy back then, it would have been too obvious for starters! Greg and Finn (Elisabeth Shue) search for evidence in Jack's house and Greg finds a piece of desiccant and cork.  It's what's used to preserve pills in bottles and if his father had artwork which Jack would have inherited, then it would have come from that.  But the walls have movie posters on them.  Greg thinks there's a secret room where the artwork is kept and finds a split in the skirting boards.  Inside he hears a woman shouting for help and he manages to enter the code correctly, guessing the year the movie would be released.

Inside Emily (Lindsay Bushman) is bound and saying Jack killed Gwen, as she heard her screaming.  Sara and DB (Ted Danson) question her in hospital and she tells them they met him, got drunk and came back here.  Sh needed the loo and so he tied her up in her whilst she heard him killing her.  Which was a lie since Greg couldn't hear her from outside and didn't until he actually found the secret panel.  DB has his doubts too and tells Sara not to rush into things for the same reason.

Doc (Robert David Hall) recalls the case and how Grissom had gathered a select team, it's not about the winning but it's the losses that they remember.  Adding that Morgan (Elisabeth Harnois) is also a part of that team now.  Doc finds the piece of glass isn't from a wine glass so it could be from the lamp instead.  But Finn thinks since it had a broad lens, it could be from a flashlight, so where is the flashlight.  They find that Gwen and Emily have a record for burglary and Morgan thinks they were at Jack's house to steal and he wasn't aware of their presence.  Greg finds the light hidden in a crate.  Greg calls Sara and she tells him that Emily has died.  Doc tells her not to make any Smurf jokes as she's all blue.  Apparently she swallowed some silver and inside her stomach contents he finds a roll of film.  They think that they were looking for the film when Emily got a text and realized she was cheating with Emily's boyfriend.  Emily hit her with the flashlight. Emily staged the scene and tied herself up, making it look like Jack had done it.

Hodges (Wallace Langham) works on the film and finds a frame with Darcy, Sara adding that she's flirting to the camera.  But Jack claims he didn't take it or had seen the photo.  Hodges tries to find what sort of camera the picture was taken with and gets Henry (Jon Wellner) to do some posing for him while he films, some sexy Marilyn, Blue Steel, pouting shots and a silent film one.  Hodges finds the camera matches and this was used by a Geer (Adam Johnson).  Who owns a photoshop.  But Sara and Officer Mitchell (Larry Mitchell) finds him dead.   Emily found the film and swallowed it so Geer hired her to retrieve it.  Geer worked for Jack and they were tying to build the casino together.

Jack admits he was trying to help Darcy since they had the same problems and were at NA together.  She was like a daughter (he didn't look that old!) and he had problems with women and couldn't control himself. So he woke up next to Darcy but she was dead with blood all over her.  Geer had a photo showing her like that.  So why again would he need the other photo if he had the bloody one.  Geer offered to clean up the CS in return for money, of course.

Greg and Sara need to clean up the photo and see why it's relevant which Greg has them do and he notices the bank building in the background in it was from 2001, when Bush won Florida (and we all recall the controversy surrounding that.)  Darcy was meant to have been dead already. Sara waits for Darcy at the airport and shows her Geer's phone records where he was warning her that her photo had been found, as she says she was defending herself and she hasn't had much luck with men.  She's a wife and mother now and claims that she's not a cold blooded killer.  She had to escape her father who would molest her.  Sara doesn't know if she's telling the truth but she knows Darcy is troubled and that's cos Sara's been through the same herself, but she doesn't believe Darcy's changed. DB tells Sara he's glad she pursued this one and didn't give up.  Her father is getting a lawyer for her.

Ecklie (Marc Vann) apologizes to Jack and he thanks him for giving him back his life.  He's still concerned about Darcy and wishes he could have done more to help her back then.  Sara and Greg put away the evidence and she thinks Jack could still build The Premiere, but Greg thinks it's too outdated now.  Sara finds that dancer's head dress that Greg wore from the Table Stakes ep and he tells her to put that away.  That was a sweet moment between Greg and Sara and they've really got this brother/sister vibe going on between them.

Catherine didn't appear to the team in person, but as flashbacks showing how she had an influence on them, including Greg when she told him not to give up on any lead especially since she knows he wanted to be out in the field.  But back then Greg wasn't interested in being a field CSI.  Also when Ecklie gives the case to dayshift, you know that's what he was like back then and Sara accuses him of being too political.  Recall Catherine telling Grissom in an early ep that he wasn't politic enough, showing their differences.  But in 3.2 The Accused is Entitled, she says he is politic now, so "Ecklie must be rubbing off on you."  Very consistent. Still it was good to see Marg especially since George wasn't able to be in the 300th.  A milestone which he was unfairly excluded from.  SO at least he was in the montage of clips at the end of the show, showing just how far we've come with this show (and how old we've all grown! ha).

As for the case, it was interesting enough and as I said Jack wasn't guilty of Darcy's murder.  It was a nice change watching Jason not playing a bad guy.  It was also good that Sara and Greg got to take the lead in the 300th as they've been around the longest in the show, but Brass (Paul Guilfoyle) only managed to get two scenes.  They do seem to be downsizing his scenes in preparing for giving him the old heave ho at the end of the season.  Though I have no idea why in terms of his character still having plenty to do in the show.

Did you notice the scenes where the number 300 figured, some in more prominent places than others. Including the car number plate of Jack's car.  There was also a 300 above the number in the right corner showing the expiry date.  The computer was a Nosumi 300.  There was a 300 on the clapperboard.  Also behind Sara with the poison sign.  There was an inverted 300 when Sara and Greg were talking about the photo in the lab.  The camera Hodges pointed out had a 300 on its side.  300 in the cage when Ecklie took Catherine and Sara off the case.  One on the wall when Ecklie was apologizing to Jack at the end of the ep. 300 behind Hodges in the lab showing 300 days without 'a lost time accident.'  300 on the spine of the book in DB's office when he was speaking with Ecklie.   As well as on the bank statement. Also 300 frames were mentioned a few times in relation to the frames of Darcy on the film. Phew.  There were also two less visible 300's, one behind Sara on the board when she goes to meet Darcy's father and the second one was on the label of the bust next to Finn when she's talking with Greg.

As well as the movie posters in Jack's house being the names of CSI eps, Blood Drops, Burn Out. The montage had clips from Living Doll, Gumdrops, Fur and Loathing, Scuba Doobie Doo, Anonymous. Started watching this from the Pilot ep back in 2000 and have stuck around ever since!  But it was funny how they hairstyles were 'disguised' and their clothes too as they didn't dress like that back then.
Some good quotes too.
Sara: "All this evidence, all these years.  You ever think you've had enough?"
Greg: "Are you kidding. I'm just getting started."

Spenser For Hire, Jesse Stone, Longmire: Books Brought to Life

It's been said that some of the best mysteries and films come from books, and plays which is true, since I said it, ha.  Take the Raymond Chandler books and his eponymous character of Philip Marlowe, Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade.  Turned into some of the best movies going in terms of film noir and the '40's and brought even more closer to life by portrayals from Humphrey Bogart to Robert Montgomery, Dick Powell and James Garner.

This trend continued way into the 1980's and beyond to present day.  Spenser For Hire, based on the novels of Robert B Parker was another show with intelligence and aplomb. The books have been likened to pulp fiction.  Brought to life so wonderfully and amiably by the late and talented Robert Urich.  You may recall him from shows such as Vega$ and the early and original TV series of S.W.A.T. from the '70's.  Spenser was a private detective in Boston who had a knack for getting to the heart of the case and solving the mystery, as well as living and suffering his own personal problems.  Helped along the way with Hawk (Avery Brooks) Wonder if anyone asked Avery about his time on the show at all those Star Trek Conventions?  Something I would have done.

                                            

Spenser had charm, wit and intellect, accompanied by an on screen narrative, which was poignant at times, funny at others.  Thing is Spenser was once a cop and we even got to see how he lost his badge in 3.21 Haunting when he investigates a kidnapping case, which was very close to home.

Spenser For Hire truly has become a classic in its own right.  DVDs are available if you missed this first time round on TV.  Writing this listening to the theme tune of Spenser For Hire (of which there were many variations) very inspiring and great for reminiscing too!

Following on from this, adapted for movies was the other Robert B Parker novels, of Jesse Stone.  Starring Tom Selleck in a role which was far removed from his earlier stint as Magnum PI.  As he now played a former cop too with a drinking problem, divorced, who now moves to Paradise, Massachusetts as its new Police Chief.  Met by hostility from the locals and the officials alike, it's hard for him to garner any form of respect or support from the locals.  He's even removed from his job too when he gets too close to home in one of his cases.  That's small town politics for ya!

                                                          

 The storylines are gritty, where everyone seems to be hiding secrets.  Though not all the books have been filmed since Tom is on Blue Bloods, but once again the casting was just perfect, as he realistically portrays hardened Jesse, who still has a heart and just can't seem to let go of his ex wife.
Jesse: "I'm the Police Chief I know everything."

Some of the characters from the Spenser novels do manage to make it into the Jesse Stone books too, such as Gino Fish who was originally played by Vincent Guastaferro in Spenser, played here by William Sadler. DA Rita Fiore, played by Catherine McCormick in Spenser For Hire first appeared in the book, Spenser: Pale Kings and Princes and played by Mimi Rogers in Jesse Stone.  Captain Healy was also a character from Spenser.

2012 saw another incarnation of a character from novels in the TV series, Longmire, adapted from the novels of Craig Johnson.  A fabulous read and a smart and fitting (thinking of fit here, ha) exemplary casting choice in Robert Taylor, as if he walked right out of the pages of the novels.  The Western genre has long been on our screens in some form or another, but these books and the show take that one step further into a more modern and in many ways, realistic setting.  The themes are relevant.  There'll always be friction between cultures and communities, no matter how far we may have come with Equality legislation.  People are people and no laws will change them or their behaviour.

                                               

Walt Longmire is sheriff of fictional Absaroka County, Wyoming.  But is filmed in New Mexico.  He suffers a broken heart with the death of his wife and even though it has been a year still struggles to come to terms with it.  So being back at work is tough, especially with the cases that he must investigate.  Walt prefers to use the old fashioned method and is loathe to rely on forensics.  We can relate to the characters and their surroundings, understanding their lives and woes and of course everyone has secrets.  With just a hint of romance.

If you loved the books, you'll love the show even more. Or if you haven't read the books yet, well what's stopping you?  There's plenty of conflicts, underhandedness and problems which are more shades of moral ambiguity than just one easy ride into resolving issues and personal hardships and rivalries and that's just from Walt's Deputy, the ambitious Branch Connolly (Bailey Chase) who's also vying for Walt's job by being in the running for elected sheriff himself, so the gloves are off.  That'll prove hard for him since Walt is exceptional at his job.  Yet so strong, silent and stoic.  Rob's so great in the role, he can convey so much emotion by just a look or a stare!  Who needs words when facial expressions are just as good, if not better.

Walt's right hand gal is his other Deputy Vic Moretti (Katee Sackhoff) who stands by Walt through thick and thin.  Aided along the way by rookie, Ferg (Adam Bartley) who's eager to impress and to learn at the same time.  Not forgetting Walt's daughter, Cady (Cassidy Freeman) who's headstrong and has given up a year of her life to help him too.  She's a chip off the old block in many ways.

So a brooding Walt's gotta have a best friend who is humanized in the form of Henry Standing Bear (Lou Diamond Phillips) always there to keep him in check and offer valuable advice.  After all, "it is what it is!" Right? Ha. With a nearby Indian reservation, there's bound to be untold trouble and here Walt also has a nemesis in the form of Mathias, Tribal Police Chief who's not shy about being vocal.  Animosities run high and boil over.  Just a few of the multi-faceted characters which grace our screens in this excellent show.

I like that unmistakable twang in the short opening credit music, it's just so atmospheric, you know you're in for something special and in it for the long haul too.  It's a breath of fresh air to actually watch something where we go back to grass roots and little or no technology is involved, in a rapidly changing world where high tech is everything.  It's good to sit back, relax and take the scenic route into solving crimes.

Miss it and there'll be pistols at dawn!

Also check out  http://mila255h.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/robert-taylor.html