The Roush Review of CSI (From TV Guide Magazine)
(From the TV Guide for February 3-9, 2001)
When Gil Grissom (William Petersen), the high-tech Sherlock of C.S.I., is presented with the unnerving puzzle of a severed femur with no body attached, he reacts with characteristic morgue humor: "So, Watson, the game’s afoot."
Is it ever. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation has added a real kick to this season, with its viscerally visual approach to fascinating forensic science. CBS is impressed enough to have boldly moved this freshman hit from a safe Friday perch and paired it with Survivor on Thursdays (9 pm/ET), taking on NBC’s powerful lineup.
Don’t laugh this one off. CSI has improved steadily, capitalizing on the tantalizing strengths that were evident even in its overstuffed and clichéd first episode, in which a rookie was shot during her first tour of duty and later died. Never seen that one before.
Since then, however, the show more often has taken us someplace new: inside the evidence, using cutting-edge "toys" to reveal what the untrained eye can’t see. As we watch these Las Vegas–based scientist-cops at work, the camera gives us their point of view, with graphic close-ups of hair follicles, bullet entry wounds and, in one case, a tooth chip in a steering wheel. Sounds gross, but it’s more of a wow than an ugh.
Whether the crime scene is a home where a family lies slain or a first-class airplane cabin where an unruly passenger may have been killed by fellow travelers, these sleuths always know when something’s awry. Figuring out what’s wrong with the picture is what’s so right about CSI.
The crimes are mystifying, and the criminalists are fun to watch in their competitive zeal. "I’m stoked. We got the best case," says Marg Helgenberger (a feisty favorite since China Beach), as a former stripper who, unfortunately, is saddled with a schmaltzy subplot about being a single mom.
As drama, CSI can be clumsy, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a terrific TV show. Petersen, refreshingly unfussy as the obsessive forensics guru and insect expert with a bountiful knowledge of the arcane, says of his work: "Everything applies. That’s the beauty part."
When he applies his knowledge, unearthing grim secrets from unearthly situations, that’s CSI’s beauty part.
this story is copyright TV Guide and News Corporation 2001 (published here for informational purposes- actual story can be found on the TV Guide site here)
Below is an image of the story
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