B.Y.O.B. Bring Your Own Broom 8X10 Review (***out of 5)

What to say about this week’s episode of CSI:NY? Hmm…truthfully I don’t have a lot. Clean Sweep felt exactly that, like a bit of a chore, a bit of a bore and a bit of tidying up. This wasn’t a flashy episode, nor was it particularly inspiring or emotional (not really, despite the attempts to force it on the audience). And neither was it glaringly awful. It was just…meh…

The case was fine, the characters were fine—it was all fine. Like a type of movie where one would say, “Don’t waste money seeing it in a theater but spend a $1 and rent it from Red Box.” I just wish the show wasn’t so blindingly obvious sometimes. Argue what you want about the show but the fact that it adheres to a formula cannot be denied. The reason I say this is because I can predict nearly ever aspect of every case/episode. This isn’t because I have some Sherlockian ability to capture details; it is simply because the show never strays far from its own self erected narrative fences. For example, when Lisa Richards (Laura Breckenridge) reveals she is pregnant this tells the audience that Ryan Richards (Alex Nesic) is not dead. Because the show always places the out of the ordinary right under the nose this becomes a “tell.” Unless I’m playing for money I’d rather not know the opponents give away, it makes for a very laborious viewing process.

I physically cringed when Adam zoomed in on the photo and the image magically became clearer rather than dealing with that silly pixelation issue. Sorry, that’s just a pet peeve of mine. I hate it when any show or movie does that. Moving on.

I was interested in Jennifer Walsh (Vinessa Shaw) and her purpose; not as Mac’s love interested but what she was inquiring about: officer misconduct. I’m curious if that is going to be a potential storyline or if it was just a convenient way to work her character into Mac’s life. I did, however, laugh out loud at Flack’s prank on her. That was a nice character moment for Don and I appreciate the show giving it to us (though poor Mac, between Danny and Don he never gets to meet someone without their interference). I also thought it was very telling when Walsh made the comment about people believing Mac to not be so “strict” with the rules. Seems I’m not the only one who’s noticed his willingness to bend his code of ethics when the story needs it. Gary Sinise played the scene well and he and Shaw had some nice chemistry. It was fun to see Lindsay giving Mac a hard time—another nod to some character continuity.

Bits and pieces were interesting, but again nothing really grabbed my attention or piqued my interested. The pacing, directing, and dialogue were all adequate. The episode flowed nicely. I could have done without the Jo/Mac recap at the end but then Mac’s “Flack is dead line” was so hilarious I’m willing to forgive. I do disagree with Jo about doing anything for love, I felt the episode had more to do with the criminally under prosecuted issue of stalking in the USA, but I understand her sentiment. And good for Gary Sinise using his show as a platform for Veterans' issues. It can feel awkward in an episode but if he's got the power and he's willing to use it for good then I say go for it. Otherwise the episode just doesn’t garner much scrutiny, so I’ll leave it at that. (Am I drunk? I don’t think I’ve ever had a review this short before…wait a second, I don’t drink…what’s wrong with me?!)

What do you think? Wedding bells for Mac on the horizon?

Up Next: A couple’s “divorce-stand-off” even The Ref would have found challenging!