Review of C.S.I.: New York Season 3 Part 1

Introduction

These boxsets are getting harder to review, and it`s all my fault. With Season 1, I had never let the CSI franchise inhabit my television. I came to the series fresh, with no expectations and no preconceptions. With Season 2, I watched a couple of the episodes on TV, but had missed most of them. Still, I found watching those particular episodes again a rather wearying experience, as I already knew whodunit. That may say something about what I think of these discs` replay value. Anyway, CSI: NY had me hooked by the end of the second series, and I have been following this third series with interest as and when it has been broadcast. In fact, I have only missed half of one episode when I was too doped up on painkillers to stay awake. I just hope watching the series again so soon after broadcast, I`ll be able to keep as positive an attitude.

CSI, in case anyone is unaware refers to Crime Scene Investigation. It`s what we enlightened Brits simply refer to as forensics, wisely foregoing the temptation to use a jumble of letters where a word would suffice. It`s those weird suited people who set up tents outside would be bomb-making factories. They suit up as if they were going into Chernobyl; only it is to stop them from contaminating the crime scenes, as they sift through the evidence for clues. They are the people, who are able to deduce from your toenail clippings, that you are a left-handed violinist, partial to pomegranate juice, drive a Lexus and that you killed Professor Plum in the library with a battery powered toothbrush. Of course this is Hollywood, so the only concession our tanned and toned heroes make to the sanctity of evidence is a pair of latex gloves, but the idea is the same.

In CSI New York Detective Mac Taylor leads a dedicated team of Crime Scene Investigators. His second in command is Stella Bonasera, and with them are Danny Messer, Lindsay Monroe, and Sheldon Hawkes. Support from the man on the beat comes from Detective Don Flack. This third season introduces a love interest for Mac, in the form of Medical Examiner Peyton Driscoll (Claire Forlani), the silver shield of the NYPD is tarnished, there`s more of the personal lives of CSI`s finest, and naturally plenty of corpses to examine and murders to solve, oh, and John McEnroe.

The first half of Season 3 is presented here on three discs, with the first twelve episodes from the run listed below. Extras appear in the form of two bonus episodes.

People With Money
Not What It Looks Like
Love Run Cold
Hung Out To Dry
Oedipus Hex
Open and Shut
Murder Sings The Blues
Consequences
And Here`s To You Mrs Azrael
Sweet 16
Raising Shane
Silent Night

Video

CSI: New York gets a 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer. It`s a recent television programme, so there are few complaints, if any about the image quality. It`s clear and sharp throughout, and any grain seems to be a stylistic choice. This does result in the occasional jaggie, and hint of moiré, but the picture looks superior to that broadcast by Channel Five. New York certainly plays a big part in the feel of the episodes, despite them being shot on both sides of the US. The cityscape is very much a character in the show, and informs the mood and feel of the stories. The show also benefits from a muted autumnal palette. Colours are subdued and the show has a very cold impersonal feel that matches the metropolis it is set in.

Audio

A splendid DD 5.1 soundtrack makes the best of this television show, with atmospheric use of the surrounds both for ambience and spot effects. There is plenty of use of the LFE too. The Who provide the theme tune, `Baba O`Riley`, and the show`s music is generally of high quality. If there is one reason to buy this set, despite the show`s constant exposure on television, it`s the sweetener of a multi-channel soundtrack. The dialogue is clear throughout, and there are English subtitles for all of the episodes.

Features

On each disc, you`ll find a copyright notice warning you that Baba O`Riley is the property of The Who, and their record company. New for this set are the episode synopses. Mostly they boil down to a listing of corpses, but occasionally other story developments are mentioned.

Last year I had a big whinge about Season 2`s 7th episode, Manhattan Manhunt. It was the second part of a story begun in CSI: Miami, and while the crossover may have been cool on television, the fact that the S2:P1 boxset omitted the Felony Flight episode meant that only half the story was available to fans who preferred CSI: NY alone.

That has been rectified with this release. Two bonus episodes are here, Felony Flight and Manhattan Manhunt, giving CSI: NY fans the whole Henry Darius story without having to buy a CSI Miami boxset. This was probably a corporate decision planned way back, but if anyone asks, it was my review last year that did it!

For my next challenge, I shall use my powers to finally get the CSI: NY pilot, MIA/NYC - Nonstop onto a UK boxset. Fingers crossed, eyes tightly closed, bouncing on the balls of my feet, "Please, please, please, please, please, please."

Conclusion

Ok, so I lied about John McEnroe. You`ll have to wait for the second half of the season for that pleasure. But when a series attracts stunt casting, you know that it has `arrived`. Joining the tennis wonderbrat as murder suspects this season are Nelly Furtado and forefront of the US zeitgeist, the Suicide Girls, but fortunately the stories are never compromised. This season also features appearances by Edward Furlong and Joey Lawrence, in episodes worth watching out for. Here I am referring to episodes in the second half of the season, which have no relevance in this half.

Why split them in half? That question keeps bugging me. I can see no good reason why these seasons should be bifurcated. It certainly isn`t money. While we can reasonably expect 26 episodes for just a few notes, the early days of DVD proved that you could charge three figures for a season of television, and fans would still buy. The thing about CSI New York thus far is that it has been a series of two halves. The first half of the season would invariably consist of the two corpse whodunit episodes, while the latter half of the season would showcase the character episodes. It meant that the first boxset of each season would just not be as good as the second, and I had actually dismissed CSI: NY on the strength of the first boxset, before I had to review the second.

This 3.1 boxset begins to buck the trend. The first episode introduces a love interest for Mac in the form of Peyton Driscoll, a medical examiner with whom Mac has a hard time balancing his career and his personal life, and he`s never the most demonstrative of people. As usual in situations like this, his past rears up to throw a spanner in the works, in this case the son his dead wife gave up for adoption. The other characters are also developed over the season, and small plot points are laid out that have greater meaning later. While most of the episodes feature a regularity of corpses and mysteries, we get something exciting relatively early on. The fourth episode introduces the Shane Casey storyline, a particularly imaginative serial killer who has lined up Sheldon Hawkes as one of his targets. Danny and Lindsay have a will they won`t they thing going on for much of the season, with Lindsay drawing back because of her past. It`s been hinted at in season 2, with a certain squeamishness around certain types of crime scene. That is developed further here as we learn just what dark past Lindsay harbours. Stella`s arc follows her through the consequences of an accident at a crime scene, but that is mostly covered in the second half, and the big storyline starts in episode 8 here, when Mac`s insistence on following procedure and adhering to his oath leads to the heavy end of the political hammer being lowered on his department. The loser in all these story developments is Danny Messer, but considering the focus that character got in season 2, he gets a good enough showing here.

While the routine corpses and forensics episodes are never far away, this first half of the third season does have more than its fair share of stand out episodes. Not What It Looks Like does follow this superficial formula, although its trio of Audrey Hepburn robbers makes for an interesting story. It does start Lindsay`s storyline moving, and Mac tangles with city hall, not for the first time. The show really finds top gear with Hung Out To Dry, only the fourth episode into the run. This is the first episode in the Shane Casey story, a killer with a grudge, targeting Sheldon Hawkes. He`s also an imaginative serial killer, and the clues that the team have to unravel make for compelling television. The story concludes in episode 11, Raising Shane, which is a worthy follow up. Consequences sets up much of the second half of the season, with the CSIs on the trail of a crooked cop. And Here`s To You Mrs Azrael is memorable just for the chilling conclusion, while Silent Night has an interesting story, which also adds to Lindsay`s thread. In a show where most of the episodes are flashy but forgettable, this first half of the season is loaded with memorable episodes. Also in a show that I don`t really rate for rewatchability, I found watching these particular six or seven episodes again quite edifying.

I really appreciated getting both halves of the Henry Darius story in the extras. The crossover episodes from the previous season were originally split across the series releases, but it makes sense to have them together. It also has me scratching my head. CSI Miami and CSI New York are two series in the same franchise, following the same formula and same premise. Yet one of them I can`t watch with a straight face. One seems cliché ridden and cheesy, while the other is snappy and cutting edge. It`s amazing what difference a lead actor can make.

While CSI: NY really impressed with the strength of the writing and production values in the first two seasons, this third season is where it really comes into its own in terms of the characters. The writing is sharp and intelligent, while the cynical New York frame of mind really suits the material well. My reservations with the show will always remain, it`s slick, glossy attractive television, filled with good-looking characters and light on real substance. It`s chewing gum television that is in no way going to provide any real substance or nourishment for the mind. But then again, it is one of my favourite flavours of chewing gum. The real problem is that Channel CSI, I mean Five have some incarnation of this show on their channels every night. This week Season 3 concludes, and the following week they start from the beginning again with People With Money. You certainly won`t buy this set for exclusivity. The improvement in image and the multi-channel soundtrack may make it worthwhile though.