Review of C.S.I.: Tarantino Episodes - Grave Danger

Introduction

The fifth season of CSI saw things being shaken up a bit. Gil Grissom`s team was effectively split up and Grissom was given reduced leadership responsibilities after the promotion of a previously unseen Ecklie into the position as head of the CSI Lab. The tensions raised by this action by the `new` man run right through Season 5, leading us to this point, the fabled two-parter written and directed by Quentin Tarentino.

Nick Stokes (George Eads) is on his way to a suspected crime scene, singing along to a Christmas country track (I would never have pegged this character as a country fan, but hey…). Arriving at the scene, the Officer who called him in shows him a pile of entrails before making his excuses and going off to throw his guts up. A small trail leads Nick further away from his escort, and the lure of a Styrofoam cup in a sealed evidence bag is the final bait in a trap that is sprung by a person unknown, and a CSI has been kidnapped.

Grissom, Willows and the rest of the team arrive swiftly to get to the bottom of their colleague`s disappearance. Stokes, meanwhile, is driven to an unknown location and buried in a Perspex case. Ransom instructions arrive via courier, but will the team be able to find their customary evidence, raise the necessary ransom and be able to reach Nick in time.

Tarentino has already directed an episode of the US medical series ER and here he is allowed to return to the small screen and place his mark on another quality franchise series. Although the scripts were inevitably altered by the in-house script team, Tarentino wrote the story (and it shows) and also made such a good job with the direction that he was nominated for a 2005 Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series.

Video

The main feature is presented in a wide anamorphic 1.78:1 aspect ratio with a picture that has never looked better. The picture is sharp, the colours look good (even with a lot of night scenes), and it`s virtually a movie standard picture for a TV show. Probably the best that CSI has looked on DVD.

CSI 1.1 - the picture is presented in a 4:3 aspect ratio and looks more than a little grainy in places. Adequate as an extra although I wonder if the original DVD release was not a little better (I don`t own it so I can`t check).

CSI: Miami - back to an anamorphic 1.78:1 picture with some very bright colours that reflect the theme and contrast of this show against the darkness of the graveyard shift of CSI.

Audio

The main feature has a rather impressive 5.1 soundtrack that has plenty of ambient noise appearing across your surrounds. Very nice.

CSI 1.1 - Only a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack on this one. The familiar theme tune is missing from the credits, which is a little odd as an instrumental piece of this track appears in the opening scene and is also credited as per normal in the end credits (unlike the song used in it`s place).

CSI Miami 1.1 (Golden Parachute) - a return to a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack on this later release from the CSI franchise. Annoyingly some of the subtitles run over the opening credits, which is a little sloppy.

Features

Suitably claustrophobic menu`s more in line with Tarentino than CSI, but no chapter selection which is a bit odd (just a choice between episodes 5.24 and 5.25).

CSI 1.1 (Pilot) - The very first episode of `the Nerd Squad` (a line made by one of the cops at the opening murder scene as Gil Grissom (sans beard) steps from his car for the first time). Nick and Warwick battle it out for their 100th case closure and promotion to the elusive CSI Grade 3, whilst Jim Brass is much grumpier than normal and doesn`t like Warwick much. Meanwhile Grissom persuades new recruit Holly Gribbs to donate a pint of blood so he can place in the head of a dummy before he whacks it with a golf club. Oh, and there are a couple of cases to solve as well.

CSI: Miami 1.1 (Golden Parachute) - Introducing Horatio Caine and a very grumpy Megan Donner (ex-NYPD Blue-er Kim Delaney), the former replacing the latter after an as yet unspecified incident that led to her going on extended leave. The Miami team must solve a case involving a crashed jet in the Everglades, a faulty door, an expensive red shoe, and the mysterious appearance of one of the passengers miles away from the crash.

Conclusion

This is a superb two part story for the original CSI franchise, and an apt closure for the fifth series. The Tarentino connection was telegraphed ages before it transmission and there was a certain excitement to it. It was scheduled for transmission on 13th July 2005 and was inexplicably pulled due to developments in the investigation into the 7/7 bombings the week previously. The cliffhanger ending of this episode, when screened a week later, brought home why this postponement had happened, and anyone affected by those events should think carefully before watching this.

So how does it compare with the usual run of the mill CSI episodes? Well, the emphasis changes and we effectively get Tarentino`s take on the `race against time` story. I`m not a Tarentino fan as such, I only own a couple of his films, but it`s noticeable how much dialogue he writes for his characters; some of it banal, some of it interesting. Here we find some characters talking much more than usual, along with some pop-culture references. Note the locker room conversation between Warwick and Nick in a flashback scene, note the banter between Hodges and Greg over a Dukes of Hazard board game. The first is slightly unbelievable, the second just perfect in its execution. Also of note is a superbly macabre autopsy scene with banter flying forth between Dr Al and assistant David, where the two are clearly having a lot of fun.

The problem I have with this release is that it clearly isn`t aimed at CSI fans. Those die-hard fans will already have the episodes given as extras, and will wait for the series boxset for the main feature. So who is it aimed at? The packaging and the on-screen menu`s makes it quite clear that this is aimed at Tarentino fans in the hope of pulling them in to the CSI franchise. Will it work? To an extent I`d guess, but maybe not in the numbers the execs are hoping for. The problem for me is that there is nothing outside the main feature to attract Tarentino fans; no commentary, no featurette (whether the bland EPK stuff or anything-else). All you have is the main feature and two `normal` episodes. I don`t think it`s enough, which is why my overall mark is lower.

That said, if I repeat what I said at the top of the page, this two part story is superb and must rank as one of the best CSI episodes to date. Superb stuff, even if it is of limited appeal.