CSI

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Sobell: B | 409 USERS: C+
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The Thin Blue Line Got Thinner

Previously on CSI: The couple that slays together stays together, even in death; Nicky blabs about the case to someone he barely knew in college; Catherine's case gets tossed on its ass thanks to her unorthodox evidence-collection measures; Sara finally realizes she should be uncomfortable around the boss she asked out; Gil gets ear surgery, and an apparent personality augmentation.

And now...we pretty much pick up the show where we left off. Gil and Brass are in the Klinefelds' darkened house, shining their flashlights down at the victims. As Gil stares down at Cameron Klinefeld, we get a TMIcam shot of the wound. Brass is standing over Mandy's prone body. He looks over at Gil and asks if he's carrying. Gil says, "No," in as close to a Duh! tone as he ever gets, and Brass says calmly and tersely, "Then get the hell out of here while I secure the room." Gil scoots.

Brass cases the house. I always think it's weird that these victims never bother to turn on their lights at night. I know there's always some reason -- maybe the killer turned them off, maybe Gil wants to see things as they were, maybe the victims wanted to cry alone where nobody could see them -- but I suspect it really comes down to providing an excuse for the director to get one of those spooky blue-lit sets and have the actors wave flashlights around. Anyway, that's what we're doing here. Brass calls it in, adding, "Send rescue. There's no rush."

Gil's on the front stoop, watching two slobs stand in front of a van across the street. One guy is smoking; the other is performing the vital task of keeping the bumper pressed into the front of the van. As Brass comes out, Gil asks him, "Are those your guys?" Brass allows that they're undercover cops, yes. They're looking pretty nonchalant for two people who hung out while a double murder took place. Gil asks how long the policemen have been sitting on the house; Brass tells him, "Oh, about the time judge didn't sign the first warrant." Gil points out, "Two undercover guys outside, two dead bodies inside?" Brass replies, "Makes you feel a little paranoid, doesn't it?" Gil shoots back, "Not paranoid enough."

And The Who get all paranoid and demand our identification.

Commercials. What the hell happened to Mary Tyler Moore? Was Promises about the hideous tragedy that befell her?

After we come back from commercials, we learn that a horrible broadcast mistake has caused us to get the feed for CSI: Portland. There can be no other explanation for the lush, old-growth deciduous trees, privet hedges, and grassy swards that line the street filled with cop cars. I mean, unless someone has put a bubble around Las Vegas and turned it into Biosphere III, there's no way we'd see this kind of neighborhood in a desert, right? Right?

CSI