Perhaps it's the thorough saturation of film and media in my life, but there is something magical about Christmas, or the holiday season, in New York. The lights, decorations, snow, the constant hussle and bussle and people everywhere, it all culminates in presenting this idea of a special time of year. The cold opening of this week’s episode Shop ‘Til You Drop exuded that sense of awe and wonder as Jo happily flitted her way through the crowds, excited to participate in one of the City’s holiday traditions. Seeing Mac’s curmudgeon Scrooge attitude was funny and well juxtaposed to Jo’s childlike excitement. Watching as a pickpocket moves through the crowd with Mac’s hawk-like gaze following him seemed very old school, and Jo’s humor had me giggling. It reminded me why I prefer CSI:NY over the other shows in the franchise. Unfortunately, the magic ended there, and the episode went down hill so fast I headed straight for the checkout line (and I happily ignore your collective groan at my pun!)
With the exception of usually a season finale/premier, it is often a bad sign when four people are credited with writing an episode--Trey Callaway & Aaron Rahsaan Thomas were credited with the teleplay, while Adam Targum & Christopher Silber were acknowledge with the story. The reason this is a bad sign is because it usually means too many cooks in the kitchen--or too many clerks behind the counter (I swear that was the last joke). This was made apparent as four very different writing styles clashed to give us a disjointed, choppy, and (more often than not) lack-lust dialogue and a story so trite that I can already hear the Hallmark Channel scrambling for the rights to this episode.
The episode was plagued by awkward moments of silence, like the cast was wondering around, not really sure what was going on. It reminded me of negative space in art. Even something as simple as shading can take a picture from being so one dimensional to being engaging, all by proper use of negative space. The show just keeps the negative space empty, showing a misuse of time and talent. I think I’ve decided an episode that does too little is more heinous than an episode that does too much.
The biggest surprise though is that with four writers not one of them chose to think outside the box. The show has become so formulaic that I can confidently predict each episode; Mac & Jo have a conversation where she teases him and Mac shuffles his feet, blushing, while at the same time solving all the crimes ever committed in New York, Danny & Don chase some idiot suspect and lay down some lame/cheesy lines that are meant to be funny, Lindsay & Adam work in the lab, Hawkes & Sid just appear at random times--they all have their assigned parts and they ain’t budgin’! When they become so transparent it’s hard to care, or stay focused on the story.
However, to contrast repetitive narrative style, we are also bombarded with characters who never seem to act like themselves. A few weeks ago Mac was moving hell and high water to go after Chief Carver, but this week he flippantly tells Don that there is nothing they can do about keeping Alena (Lisa Brenner), the woman suspected of the murder, because of some new District Attorney. Then we’ve got Jo filling in all the blanks for Danny. The scene at the make-up counter is a great example of this. Four pages of dialogue for Jo later, we are meant to understand Danny can no longer use his brain. He’s a pretty good CSI. He figured out that the Hollys used glass-shattering sound waves in It’s Not What It Looks Like, and he did it all by himself (excluding the dog of course) just like a big boy. But thank goodness Jo is on the scene now. Yes the audience needs help through the story, simply because most of us have no background in criminology and usually limited knowledge of science, but for crying out loud, I don’t need a color-by-numbers explanation--especially one that comes at the cost of the integrity of the characters I love.
I had hopes that with the season of giving right around the corner, we would be favored with a delicious cast episode, the likes of Manhattenhenge, or even in some part like Second Chances, but family was sorely neglected to instead give us the story of a dieing stranger. I didn’t know that girl, I didn’t care about that girl, which makes the “emotional” ending to the episode seem forced.
There’s not much more I can say that I haven’t said in prior weeks--Don and Danny are preparing to send out wedding invitations, Super Mac now has Super Jo to sit with him atop Mount Olympus, and every one else just kind of floats by. I’m being very critical because I am so disappointed, but I don’t think it's wrong to want something good to watch, particularly if I’m being asked to give up a chunk of my Friday night. Despite all that, I’m still not ready to give up on the show. I love the characters too much, I love what they represent in my life, the good times I’ve spent watching and discussing the show. I am a fan through and through, which is why the frustration is so severe. I usually will watch an episode 2 or 3 times before I write a review, to try and be as meticulous as I can, but I’ll be honest, I couldn’t really bring myself to watch it a second time, it was just too boring (which is also why this review is so short^_^) This episode just wasn’t good enough.
I want my money back (ok, so I had one more pun left in me)...what’s that? But I don’t have a receipt...Fine, I’ll take the store credit, or rather, how about the next new episode just be super awesome? I’d stand in line for that!
Highlight of the Week: We got an obscure, fleeting reference to Lucy! (This is getting sad)
Guilty Pleasure: Howie the pickpocket. He was entertaining and humorous, and wearing an awesome sweater!
Monday, December 6, 2010
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