MSNBC

[nhmystix]

Sept 21

Cirque du Grissom: Season seven starts off with not one but two dead bodies. Cecelia was a dancer and a big fan of Cirque du Soleil, such a big fan that she went to see every show in Vegas (who know there were that many), but in her eagerness to get up close and personal, she got hit in the head by some of the massive behind-the-scenes mechanicians that made the show run. But wait; there were actually more than two bodies. Toward the end of the episode we stumble on to yet another mystery. A tiny doll-house-like replica of a crime scene that's left there. Could that be Danny Bonaduce on the kitchen table? We'll find out next week.


About your ex-wife: Actually Warrick didn't mention her at all. He and Sara were too busy with the second victim, Robert O'Brien, found shot in the head at a celebration for Sam Braun's ground-breaking on a new casino. Though they suspect O'Brien's partner of handing a hand in his marriage, it turns out to be a simple suicide. And it turns out the partner was more than a business partner.


Drugged: While spending a fun night out with Nick, dancing to John Mayer, Catherine gets drugged and wakes up in the morning in bed in a strange motel room. Though her money and credit cards are still in her wallet, it seems fairly certain that she's been raped. Was she taking her own crime scene samples or erasing the evidence? And did she stay and take a shower at the seedy motel? Why?


Shame over last season: Brass is not happy when Sheriff Burthingy suggests him to the mayor for a medal of honor. “Brass looks like he’s about to puke,” Warrick said watching the scene on TV. “Or punch someone,” Sara astutely added. Later Warrick wondered why Brass didn't display his plaque. "What’s with all the modesty?" he asked. Brass said he was ashamed that Cutler played him. "What’s the dumbest thing you ever done? You want to make a poster of it. Want to hang it on your wall?" he asked Warrick. This is not a happy man.


New season, new haircut: After getting so many complaints about last year's mustache and bangs, George Eads does the sane thing and shaves his hair back. Nice new look! And those sexy dance moves should satisfy the Nick fans out there.
Evidence of GSR: It's hard not to examine every glance that passes between Grissom and Sara. Tonight Grissom was nice enough to bring her a veggie burger. Warrick innocently asked, "What about me? Where’s the love." Obviously he doesn't realize it's between Grissom and Sara. Other great GSR moment of the night: Sara telling Grissom, "According to my supervisor, we’re not really in the business of why."


Even ME's make mistakes: This may mark the first time Doc Robbins has ever gotten mad at Super Dave. His poor assistant forgot to tape shut Robert O'Brien's wound and he bled out in the bag contaminating any chance to find gun shot residue on his hands. Finding that GSR would have solved the case a whole lot quicker. Super Dave wasn't so super tonight.


Only a mother could love: When Hodges cut open the oven mitt that held Robert's gun he told Warrick how he learned his technique. “Perfected my butterfly technique on chicken breasts ... Drives the women wild. Well, my mom.”


She made the credits! Back off haters, Sofia is now a full fledged member of the CSI team.

[nhmystix]

Sept 28

A bad day for Catherine: After being drugged last week, Catherine finally called Sara to tell her what happened. She ran labs and found out she wasn't raped, but when she picked up daughter Lindsay from dance practice, a car plowed into hers, and someone grabbed an injured Lindsay out of the back seat. When her dad, Sam Braun, revealed that he'd received photos of both incidents, she realized she was being targeted because of him. "I blame you, I blame you for this," she screamed at him. "You’re a thug in thousand dollar shoes." Luckily, the were able to find Lindsay safe. The evidence led them back to last week's suicide victim Robert O'Brien and his partner Joe Hirschoff who were cheated out of $20 million by Braun. When Catherine went to confront her father, Hirschoff surprised them both by shooting Braun. Is he dead? We'll find out.

Unsolved case: Danny Bonaduce was spectacular as this week's dead body, has-been rock star Izzy, who was known for biting the heads off birds on stage. Though his current wife and ex-wife both had money for a motive, they also each had an alibi. Annie the nanny was sleeping with Izzy and selling pictures of him to Scandal Pages, but the CSI’s just couldn't link her to the scene. His model-making son, Sven, was also crossed off the list when Grissom proved he faints at the sight of blood. So who done it? Grissom found one clue: On the back of one of the miniature photo there was a tiny picture of a doll's head.

A song in his heart: Who knew doc Robbins had a singing voice. Not only did he and Grissom know all the words to one of Izzy's songs, he also sang out the cause of death. Robbins and Grissom also found the key to Izzy's safe safely tucked away in his stomach. Crafty Annie the nanny used his X-Ray to get a copy of the key made.

GSR of the night: Does Ecklie know about Grissom and Sara? When he wanted to release details about the tiny crime scene replica, Grissom was against it. So he asked Sara's opinion and she agreed. "Of course you do," Ecklie said. The two of them instantly exchanged, "Do you think he knows" glances.

Feeling guilty: Nick apologized to Catherine for leaving her alone in the club and she instantly assured him there was nothing he could have done. However, many of you who wrote in last week didn't agree. Was Nick partially to blame for Catherine's being drugged?

Did Colonel Mustard do it? When Greg described Izzy's crime scene as "The aging rocker, bit in the kitchen, with the marble rolling pin" it was hard not to think of the game Clue. Will this case be solved or is this a chance for a crossover episode with "Cold Case”?

Best line of the night: Sara, not usually known for her zingers, had a couple good ones tonight. Particularly when she looked at the crime scene replica and declared, "I think Malibu Barbie did it."

[nhmystix]

Oct 5

Class is in session: Grissom led a group of students on a tour through the morgue. The corpses reminisced about how they'd been killed. After we heard their stories, Grissom had plenty of lessons for the aspiring CSI. He advised them not to rely on being certain. He also told them, "Don’t just look for what you think you’re going to find." Finally, he said, "If the evidence changes, your theory must change as well." When he asked for questions, one student piped up with "How do you get used to the smell?" But another young female student, who seemed more inspired, asked, "Why do you do it." To which Grissom gave his standard reply, "Because the dead can’t speak for themselves." Well, except in this episode.

Lesson one: Don't take a bath in your boss' tub: Donna Bassett was an off-duty cop, moonlighting as personal security for high-rolling Hong Kong architect Mr. Hsing. Unfortunately, she decided to take a dip in his tub while he was out gambling. Mr. Hsing liked things to be just so (including having all the furniture in his suite Feng Shui-ed), so he was not too happy to find her there and killed her. But on the plus side, when he went back to gambling he started winning. "I changed his luck, and he took my life," said Donna. Catherine was a bit distracted as she worked, obviously thinking about Sam, who must have died in the previous episode. When Brass asked her if she was back to work too soon, she said, "I think that working helps."

Lesson two: Nice guys are overrated: Warrick and Greg investigate the death of Rebecca McGill who seemed to have fallen off a cliff. Her brain also popped out of her head in one piece -- thus the subtitle "No Brainer." Warrick noticed that she had broken fingers, which led him to suspect mild mannered, Gavin McGill (also know as Steve from "Sex and the City"). McGill claimed that Rebecca was depressed and jumped. But a video that Warrick found on her cellphone told a different story -- it showed Gavin pushing her off that cliff. "Finally found a guy who liked me for my brains, turns out he thought I didn’t have any," said Rebecca. Warrick also tried to connect with wife Tina, but she wasn't returning his calls. But when the new lab tech interrupted him, he also said, "Work comes first." Yeah, that marriage will last.

Lesson three: And the street name for PCP is: Embalming fluid. Who knew? Poor Jack Stone. The guy gets back from his second tour in Iraq only to be stabbed in the chest by Russell Caris who just happened to be tripping on marijuana that had been dipped in actual embalming fluid. Grissom said that dipping the joint in embalming fluid would create a longer-lasting high. "I would imagine," he added. Jack didn't seem too despondent about ending up in the morgue. "This is the best week of my life," he told the other corpses. "I got to hold my baby girl."

Lesson four: If you're left-handed, please be careful: Sara and Grissom teamed up for the final case of the night, two men Lou and Ray, who had been cut to pieces with chainsaws, along with a bunch of appliances and furniture. "I thought this only happened in the movies," said Sara. It turns out that poor left-handed Lou had been angry at his wife for leaving him and so had decided to cut up everything she was going to get in the divorce settlement (points for creativity). Unfortunately, the chainsaw was a bit awkward for a lefty and Lou accidentally killed Ray and then the kickback from the saw killed Lou. "25,000 people die each year using products designed for right-handed people," Grissom said. On the GSR front, Sara recalled the first time she'd seen Grissom lecture. She'd heard he was a dull speaker. "But you can’t rely on the first blush," she said, smiling.

[nhmystix]

Oct 12

What a pig! Harkening back to last year's appearance by Travis Barker, Kevin Federline appeared as Pig, king of the "fannysmackers." Fannysmackers are people who get a kick out of beating up tourists. They started with casino dishwasher Vasco Ruiz, who they killed (and who was no tourist), then moved on to recently single Jessica, and finally hit Mr. Tanner, who was just looking for a cab. As for K-Fed's acting. I would say, "Don't quit your day job." But if the day job is singing, maybe he should.

What a beating: After having a wonderful day testifying in court, Greg was told by Grissom to "ditch the monkey suit" and head out to a liquor store robbery. On the way there he ran across the fannysmacking gang. He tried to stop them, first by honking and sounding his siren, but when Demetrius wouldn't back down, Greg hit him with his truck. The mob came running back and beat Greg unconscious. When Grissom came to see Greg in the hospital, Greg worried about telling his parents. "They still think I’m in the lab," he told Grissom. "I think she’ll be very proud of you," Grissom told him. Greg ended up saving Mr. Tanner, who thanked him, but he killed Demetrius. All in all, a very rough night for Greg.

Don't mess with Nick: When Pig came back to the scene of Greg's beat down and actually mocked the police, Nick and Warrick were not happy. Though they didn't realize Pig was the culprit, Nick did realize he was a punk and gave him a much deserved punch in the face. It was oddly satisfying to watch.

Calling all cops: Not only did Sofia and Brass have to deal with three crime scenes, they also had a false report to deal with. When Dean came in yelling, "I need a cop." Sofia and Brass both looked at each other and said, "He's a cop," "She's a cop." Grissom quickly determined that Dean was a fake. It turns out he was just trying to raise money to pay off a debt. Sofia was quick to inform him that he also owed $1,000 for a false report.

Swarm theory: Leave it to Grissom to use insects to determine the way humans act. "Humans have always adapted behaviors from insects," Grissom said, explaining that humans swarm the same way insects do and they never backtrack, which is why Dean couldn't have been a victim of the fannysmacking mob.

The softer side of Sara: Though she's usually all-business, Sara was pretty shaken by Greg's beating. When she showed up on the scene, he began to tell her about all the evidence the mob left, from the spit on his clothes to the skin under his fingernails. "I came here for you, OK?"

Hard time: Brass threatened Pig's friend Tara with jail if she wouldn't write down a fake text message to get the group to gather for a fannysmacking so the police could catch them all. "It’s funky in there," he said, telling her about jail. "No Posh Spice. Not parties or pedicures or pasta primavera." Sounds rough!

Today's youth? Nick was disgusted by the way the kids acted. Warrick said that he'd grown up in Vegas and a whopping from his grandmother was enough to keep him in line. Sara thought they were wrong to blame the parents. Grissom go the last word, "A moral compass can only point you in the direction, it can’t make you go there," he said.

[nhmystix]

Oct. 19

Have a little faith: When murder victim Charlotte Summerville was found crucified in a church, all signs started pointing to her secret lover, Father Frank. He even confessed. But Grissom, raised Catholic, believed a priest would never use crucifixion as a murder method, and realized the priest felt guilty because he'd caused Charlotte's death, not committed the crime. It turned out that Father Frank had stolen her away from his best friend, car salesman Cody "Big Hombre" White, who had given Charlotte a car (that matched the color of her eyes) and a condo.

Oh, ye of little faith: The happy couple hit a tiny bump tonight. It turns out that Sara's an atheist. "I’m not sold on the notion of a higher power," she told Grissom, who, while not a practicing Catholic, enjoys the rituals and spirituality religion offers. While she was speaking, Grissom simply left the room. “Did I say something offensive to you as a Catholic?” she asked. Turned out that he just went to get his mother's rosary, which matched a pattern on the victim's neck. That desk drawer, strangely enough, also contained an animal skull and what looked like a model of a brain.

Remembering the dead: When she checked Charlotte’s sheets for fluids, Catherine discovered Father Frank's secret affair. She and Sofia even speculated on whether Charlotte had been pregnant. It turned out that she was. But the baby wasn't Father Frank's; it was Cody White's. He killed his own baby. Speaking of dead relatives, Catherine found a bit of time to light a candle for Sam.

Break out the snappy patter: Brass was the king of the one-liners tonight. When Cody went to the church to confess his crime to Father Frank, Brass walked in on Frank hitting him. "What sins did he commit to earn the punch-out penance?" Brass asked. And when Sister Bridget tried to save Father Frank by confessing to the crime herself, Grissom told her she didn't weigh enough to lift the victim up on the cross. "It was a miracle," Sister Bridget said. "The only miracle is that I’m not charging you with obstruction," Brass replied.

Back in the game: Greg still looked a bit battered, but he was back investigating cases. When Catherine asked why he wasn't still working the desk, he said he was "starting to get a serious case of trucker-butt." He even managed to be the one to give Cody White the bad news, saying "Well Big Hombre, looks like you’re going to the hoosegow."

[nhmystix]

Nov. 2

Burn out? As you may have heard, actor William Petersen will be taking a little break midway through the season, with Liev Schreiber coming on as a new CSI while Grissom's gone. This episode laid the groundwork for that departure. Grissom fought migraines and his own disgust as he tried to solve the case of two missing boys. He played cat-and-mouse with local child molester Carl Fisher, whose home was burned down the same night. Fisher tried to convince Grissom that he wasn't responsible for the death of one of the boys. "You had choices," Grissom said. "You made the wrong ones. And now this little boy is gone."

Grandpa of the year, he's not: Sofia and Catherine discovered that Jason's grandfather had beaten the boys, giving young Lucas a concussion that would eventually kill him — when combined with aspirin and alcohol provided by Fisher. The grandfather had the nerve to claim the beating was self-defense, but Sofia was having none of it. When he complained about his car being taken by the cops, she said coolly, “There’s a bus stop down the street."

Good job, gas-hopper: Greg proved once again that legwork gets the job done, when he collected gas samples from stations all around the neighborhood where Fisher lived. Who even knew there was such a thing as gasoline DNA? By finding out that Fisher had purchased two extra gallons of gas than his car could hold, Greg realized that he had burned down his own home to hide evidence.

Hold the mushrooms: Not only did Sara find the whiskey cap and the fruit punch cup in the back of Fisher's car, she also found a napkin full of mushrooms. This led her to the pizza place where Fisher bought pizza for the boys. “If you are an adult and you don’t like mushrooms, you don’t order them,” she said. Well done, Sidle! But there was a bit of tension in GSR-land tonight. Not only did Sara blare music that bugged Grissom; she also chided him for being too hard on Greg.

The man with the plan: Before there was even a scrap of evidence against Fisher, Brass knew he was the perp. “Let me guess — the kids all love you,” he snapped at the ex-teacher. He also delivered the best line of the night when a stripper told him he was violating Lucas' dad's rights. “Somebody get Ben Franklin out of here," he growled.

[nhmystix]

Nov 9

Excusable, but not justified: Greg faced a tough inquest in the death of Demetrius James. James' mother and brother just couldn't fathom that their son would have been part of that violent mob. And questions from the gallery included: "Is it OK to run over black guys in the street?" Though Nick, Robbins and Sofia were quick to testify in his defense, Greg seemed to sink into himself. Stanley Tanner, the man who he saved, still considered Greg a hero, but Greg was no longer sure. "I think they may have it right," he said of the jury's verdict. And then to make matters worse, he got served with a wrongful-death suit in the parking lot. Greg's ordeal isn't over yet.

Tiny mystery: Another miniature crime scene turned up after the death of Penny Garden, who seemingly was pushed through the window by an assailant who wanted her vast supply of pain meds. Grissom discovered that the miniature crime scene had been changed. The murderer thought that Penny was going to die in her chair of a liquid-nicotine overdose; when he had to use a different method, he changed the position of the doll.

One more clue: The other big mystery: What connects the murders of Penny Garden and has-been rocker Izzy? Sara went through their phone records and found one pertinent number in common. Unfortunately, it was for a disposable cellphone. It looks like we may get more miniature crime scenes this season.

There goes the neighborhood: Brass was quick to hone in on a neighbor who might have been the perpetrator, but it turned out he was buying drugs from Penny, not stealing them. Penny's nephew told Sara that his aunt was using the money to fund her video-poker habit.

To the rescue: When Nick and Warrick realized how bad things were going in Greg's inquest, they decided to recreate the crime scene so the jury could see how little time Greg had to react. The recreation worked well until the judge brought up the fact that Greg had had wine with dinner — luckily Greg's lab-rat background allowed him to explain how half a glass of wine would have already been out of his system before the crime occurred.

Dancing fool: Who would have thought Hodges had rhythm? He did the robot as he processed Penny Garden’s cherry liqueur. At least the man enjoys his job. Maybe Greg should have stayed in the lab.

[nhmystix]

Nov 16

Seeing double: Identical twin sisters, Amanda and Jill, who knew nothing about each other, were killed a couple hours apart. Catherine was sure that their murders were connected. A murder-suicide, she surmised to Grissom. He thought she was jumping to conclusions too soon. But it turns out that both CSIs were a little bit right.

Suspicious minds: Jill was the single, go-getter newspaper editor, who had OCD-related depression. She realized Jake the photographer had Photoshopped pictures from the Iraq war together to make a more compelling image. Jake wanted to stop her from outing his misdeed, and so he shot her in the parking lot of a dry cleaners. Or so he thought. When he went back to her apartment, there she was again. So he strangled her and made it look like a suicide by hanging. The first woman was Amanda. The second was Jill. Jake was so baffled that he thought he'd actually killed the same woman twice.

Sing it: Nick found an envelope with fingerprints, but before lab tech Mandy agreed to give him the test results, she made him sing Barry Manilow's "Mandy" to her. The prints belonged to the twins' natural mother. Her other daughter, Tiffany, had intercepted a note from Amanda. She would sit in her car and watch Amanda and her son play in the yard and fantasize about being part of her life. “She’d make me tea, we’d go over my college applications, we’d talk about boys. It was like a TV commercial.” But she didn’t kill her.

What a woman!: Nick and Sofia also suspected Amanda's husband's would-be lover, Natal. Natal had access to a gun and a reason to kill Amanda. Nick surmised, “Nothing quite says 'I love you' like ‘I killed your wife so we can be together.’” But Amanda's doctor husband assured them he hadn't been interested in Natal. They have a name for women like Natal, he said, "Bed pans: Shiny, full of crap, best when dumped." Yikes.

Two times Robbins: Turns out that Dr. Robbins was also a twin, but that his sibling died in the womb. He said his mother thought the reason he became a coroner is because he spent so much time next to a dead body in utero.

Don't touch those handles: Warrick noticed that Amanda's car had been keyed. Hodges said, "I almost keyed a car once ... in the end I couldn’t go through with it. So I peed on the door handles instead." He did this because a professor had given him a B instead of an A. Good thing he didn't get a C.

Walden Pond-bound: Grissom received an offer to teach an entomology seminar at Walden Pond. He was even reading Thoreau's "Walden" at the end of the episode. Say goodbye to Grissom, at least for a while. But don't worry, fans, Petersen isn't gone for good — he just wants to do some theater.

Romance going south: Sara noticed that Grissom had missed "misanthrope" on his crossword puzzle. Then she left, saying, "I won't wait up." Uh-oh.

[nhmystix]

Nov 23

Who are you? Who singer Roger Daltrey became the man, if not of a thousand faces, well, at least of four. He played Mickey Dunn, a 1970s mobster who mysteriously disappeared one night and was assumed dead. When four men — Kenny Billings, Mason Carter, Derek Paul and Johnny D'Angelo — featured in a photo with Dunn were murdered one after the other, it seemed as if Mickey's ghost must be behind the killings. But it wasn't a ghost at all. Just Mickey, who after being shot in the chest by Derek and having his car pushed into the lake, actually survived. He had changed identities with a motorcycle cop he murdered. Thirty years later, thinking the bullet in his chest would kill him, he went back to seek revenge, using a multitude of disguises to do it. The joke was on him though, because it turns out that modern doctors are savvier than mob doctors. Mickey gets to live out the rest of his life in prison.

Don't I know you? Sixteen-year-old Catherine had once been propositioned by Mickey Dunn. He had proposed at 2 a.m. rendezvous with the teen. Luckily for her, Sam Braun stepped in and put the kibosh on it. Even while he was confessing, Mickey still found time to flirt with Catherine. Mickey wore disguises to commit his revenge murders and used the names of movie serial killers — Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers and Pamela Vorhees — as his aliases. We found out that Catherine likes a good horror movie, though as she told Archie, "They never get the blood spatter right."

Ghost rider: Warrick remembered a story that his grandmother had used to scare him into being good when he was a boy. It was about the last person to see Mickey before his "death" — a motorcycle cop named Eddie Sanchez who disappeared into thin air. Sanchez' bones were found in Mickey Dunn's Cadillac, after Dunn had killed Sanchez and switched places.

A way with words: Brass had a brilliant description of Ken Billings' murder: "Homicide-related road pizza." Let's hope it doesn't come with anchovies.

Foot-in-mouth disease Greg made the mistake of calling Sam Braun one of the "original mob guys." Catherine defended her father, and Greg quickly apologized for speaking ill of the dead.

House has nothing on Robbins: When a paparazzo snuck into the lab to shoot pictures of what he assumed were Mickey Dunn's bones, Robbins caught him in the act and managed to knock him to the ground with his cane. Don't underestimate the good doctor.

[nhmystix]

Dec 7

Sweating the small stuff: Grissom seemed more disgruntled then ever as he investigated a third miniature-killer crime scene. Raymundo Suarez was found in the stun bath of a poultry plant. Key evidence led Grissom and Brass to plant manager Ernie Grissom, who just happened to be a model-train enthusiast. As he watched Ernie's Webcam confession, Grissom seemed to see himself in the killer. Just as Ernie will always have more people to kill, Grissom will always have more bodies to find. Grissom fans, prepare, the actor's temporary break is coming sooner than you think. Cool actor note: You may recall Ernie (Dayton Callie) as Charlie Utter from "Deadwood."

Follow the Jello: When Warrick and Nick found Aloyna Ivanovna with her head in the oven, Warrick knew right away it wasn't a suicide. Turns out she'd had her head smashed by the phone and then been stuck in the oven to cover up the crime. Lime Jello drips led the boys to the apartment of Max and Paula Sullivan, where they found evidence of yet another murder scene. In a very cute interview with little Suzy, Warrick discovered that Max had cleaned up blood and Jello while Suzy, who was there for daycare, sat and watched TV.

Born unlucky: How would you feel if someone found you buried up to your waist in cement? It happened to hapless Max Sullivan on his very unlucky day. He later refused to identify himself or his wife (whom he'd accidentally killed with a shard of glass after dropping Jello on the floor). He even bet Brass $10 that he couldn't figure out who he was. But once again, it was little Suzy to the rescue. "Hi Max," she said when she saw him at the station. And Brass grabbed his $10 back.

What's so funny? Catherine couldn't stop laughing. From finding Max in cement to hearing his story about buying his daughter a puppy, she giggled. Brass thought Max had backed over the puppy, but no. "I ran over my daughter," he said. "She still walks funny." Grissom didn't find it funny at all, instead seeing Max as a tragic figure whose real suffering was just beginning.

Save the chickens: Sara found a key piece of evidence when she made the connection between Raymundo and Ernie's first victim, Izzy. Turns out Izzy had done some animal-cruelty reports about the chicken plant. It was the key to the case and at first Sara kept it to herself, saying to Grissom, "See how it feels?"

[nhmystix]

Jan 4

Always gets her man: When Catherine saw Jay Finch go free after killing his mother, she was determined to find his other two victims. Her search led her to a small town sheriff, a three-year-old double-murder scene, and an innocent man, Robert Guffey, in prison. With help from Nick she proved that Finch committed both crimes. Best part: Catherine got the imprisoned Guffey to answer questions by offering to undo a button on her blouse for each right answer. Finch's attorney was her old nemesis Adam Novack (played by Marg Helgenberger's real husband Alan Rosenberg) from "Weeping Willows." Hard to deny the sparks between these two.

See you soon? Hope you enjoyed your glimpses of Grissom tonight, because you won't be seeing him for a while, as he'll be off at Williams College (Hodges’ alma mater) teaching a class on the Walden Pond swamp mosquito. Nick was sure that Grissom was leaving for good, but Grissom denied it. "I’ll be back in four weeks, stop hugging me," he said. Does the mysterious box at the end mean we haven't seen the last of the miniature killer?

Her man Friday: Nick was quick to defend Catherine when Novack called her a "man hater," saying, "Catherine and I get along great. Maybe it’s you." Nick also got Catherine to reveal a little secret. She didn't inherit any of Sam's money — it's all tied up in litigation. "I got no dogs in that fight," she said.

Parting is such sweet sorrow: Sara and Grissom didn't say much when they parted. "I'll miss you," he said. But Sara, looking sad, didn't reply. Doesn't she realize that he shaved his beard off for her?

Mr. Gibraltar: Warrick was also surprised to hear the news about Grissom. "I’m a teacher without any students," Grissom told him. But Warrick said he still has a lot to learn, adding "having you around keeps me honest." Grissom assured him, "You're the rock of the team."

Ever deluded: Even Hodges is going to miss Grissom. He told him that college was the one place he really fit in and that even though Grissom was his buddy at work "sometimes I feel like the others don't get me." Oh Hodges, who does?

[nhmystix]

Jan. 18

New guy on the case: Tonight's victim, Veronica Sorenson, was found without much evidence to lead the CSIs to the killer. Keppler and Catherine looked for similar unsolved crimes, which led the CSIs to three Jane Does from 1975, 1989 and 1999. Once they'd exhumed the bodies, Keppler noticed that they had similar dental work, which led them to seemingly harmless Dr. Dave (Ned Beatty). "I don’t feel bad about what I’ve done," said Dr. Dave said, confessing in a chillingly cheerful voice. "I feel disappointed that I’ve been caught." Though Keppler tried to get Dr. Dave to reveal the names of the first three Jane Does so he could notify their families, the good doctor refused. So far Keppler seems pretty interesting, but who is this mysterious Frank who keeps leaving him phone messages?

Reserving judgment: Ecklie asked Catherine's team to break in Keppler. And though they seemed to get along fairly well, Catherine didn't like that Keppler was more profiler than CSI. "What's the difference?" Keppler asked. "Evidence," said Catherine.

Ray's Original Vegas-style? The only person Keppler instantly connected with was fellow East Coaster Brass. When Keppler said he'd heard Vegas had the highest murder rate in the country, Brass replied, "Yeah, we’re competitive." About Vegas, Brass also told Keppler, "The pizza’s terrible, everything else is paradise." Hometown girl Catherine couldn't figure out what was wrong with the pizza.

Who knew? According to Dr. Robbins even medical examiners can be hacks. Robbins once saw the one who was supposed to work on Jane Doe '75 do an examination with a hot dog in one hand and a scalpel in the other. Appetizing, no? Turns out the hack ME didn't even do an autopsy. “That’s criminal malfeasance,” Warrick complained. “Well, if you want to tell him, I can dig him up, too,” Robbins offered.

Rats: When Nick went to find the evidence that the CSI from 1989 had on that Jane Doe, he had to search through a warehouse full of boxes. When he finally found the right one, a family of baby rats had made it their home. "Are you familiar with the Hanta virus?" Hodges asked when Nick asked for help with the evidence. "If I start dripping blood from my eyeballs, I’m blaming you."

[nhmystix]

Jan. 25

Can you keep a secret?: Substitute CSI supervisor Keppler put Catherine in an uncomfortable position. To catch a politician's murderer, Keppler wanted to try “reverse forensics.” The politician's body was found in the desert, slumped in his car and surrounded by drugs and photos of the man snorting cocaine. The main suspect is recurring bad guy Thomas Simon, who was nowhere to be found. Keppler’s scheme was to flush Simon out by faking an identical crime scene, arresting a patsy, and thus making Simon comfortable enough to come out of hiding. To prevent leaks, Keppler said that the rest of the team could not know the second crime scene was a fake. “If we do our job right, nobody’s gonna remember the rest,” Keppler told her. “I’ll remember,” she replied.

When you're strange: Keppler revealed more of his creepy yet compelling personality at a diner meeting with Catherine, Brass, and Undersheriff McKeen. “My eggs are runny, I could have been more specific with the waitress,” he responded when asked a direct question about the dead politician case. Plus, he and Catherine were totally double-entendre flirting! When Catherine complained about setting up a fake crime scene because she’s not used to faking it, Keppler asked, “When’s the last time you had to?”

Suspicious minds: With Keppler around, Hodges is no longer the weirdest guy in the lab. Maybe that’s why he’s so obsessed with Grissom’s temporary replacement. The quirky lab technician was certain Keppler is an Internal Affairs agent sent to spy on CSI. He retaliated by running his own investigation on Keppler; making phone calls, printing out documents, and no doubt Googling Keppler’s name.

Greetings from Walden Pond: Grissom sent Sara a cocoon on a stick, but no note inside the package. Her disappointed frown suggested that he’s not e-mailing either. But there was no time to get misty-eyed over the maggot-infested corpse of Monique Carter, a lawyer-turned addict, shot full of the same drugs found on the dead politician. Cause of death went from overdose to murder when Dr. Robbins found blunt-force trauma to her head. Catherine attempted to hide the matching drug evidence from Sara, but the team was starting to catch on.

Won't get fooled again: Nick called a secret caucus in the parking lot, lot, and shared his suspicions that Keppler and Catherine were keeping the others in the dark. The CSIs compared notes, sneaked into some files, and realized that the second crime scene was a fake. It also turned out to be a big waste of time because it wasn’t cleared by the D.A. Simon was freed, but later arrested for Monique’s murder when the team found his fingerprints on Monique’s pull-out couch. Keppler explained “reverse forensics” to the team, and Catherine apologized for deceiving them. But despite Warrick’s suggestion to Nick to just “let it go,” Nick will be holding a grudge for a long time – or at least until Grissom gets back.

[nhmystix]

Feb 1

Invasion of the body snatchers: Tonight's first victim was seemingly ex-con Ross Neddy, but it turned out that Ross had dug up a body, taken it to work and torched it so that he could have a fresh start in life. Nice try, Ross. The body turned out to be Roger Lapinsky. Bones and tissue were missing from his body and had been replaced by PVC pipes and an umbrella. The umbrella's logo led the CSIs to Longevity, a company that specialized in selling tissue and bone replacement, run by the smarmy Ty Miloni. Turns out that Miloni and a very unsavory mortician had a deal to change the cause of death on diseased bodies (Lapinsky had died of leukemia but the mortician changed it to cardiac arrest) so that they could sell the diseased bone and tissue. Nick was thoroughly disgusted with Milander and promised to go over his clinic "piece by piece" until he found the evidence to link him to the crime.

What women want: Margo Dorton was tonight's second body. Her death by champagne bottle led Sara and Warrick to the Over-Under Club, where women like Cotton Candy danced downstairs for the men, and men like Jesse (John Hensley, aka Matt from "Nip/Tuck") had "relationships" with woman upstairs that involved being pampered and swept off their feet. But Margo wasn't interested in the typical relationship with Jesse. Instead, she surprised him with the news that she was his long lost mother. Jesse, sure she was trying to manipulate him with lies, killed her with the champagne bottle. "Don’t tell me I have a mother," Jesse said. "Because I don’t. I never did. And I never will."

About Amy: If you go to Keppler's bio on CBS, you will learn that Amy is Keppler ex-girlfriend who killed herself, and the mysterious Frank is Amy's father. Tonight Keppler pondered an invitation to a memorial service for Amy. He also imagined her on the slab in the lab before hearing his name mysteriously whispered. Is there a mystery surrounding Amy's death? Is there something Keppler feels guilty about? Maybe Grissom can solve this puzzle when he gets back.

Dear Sara: We got a much-needed glimpse of Grissom, who was sporting a very scruffy beard. He was working on a letter to Sara that we were shown glimpses of. The "awkward parting" was mentioned. And it looked as if he wrote "I'll miss you." Could these two be splitting or are those pesky editors trying to mislead us?

Strippers unite: Catherine was sympathetic to Cotton Candy's life as a stripper, but couldn't understand why she would pay Jesse for a "relationship," and why she thought of him as her fiancé. "I am more than a piece of meat to Jesse," she told Catherine. "He makes me smile. He heals me when I’m down. He makes me feel like I am Mrs. Steve Wynn.” That doesn't sound half bad.

[nhmystix]

Feb 8

Tough way to go: When Frank turned up in the diner, paying for Keppler's meal and wanting a favor, it was a sure sign of trouble. But when his friend Dennis, a retired Trenton cop and a hooker were found dead in a hotel room, Keppler suddenly realized just what that favor was. It turned out that Keppler had once killed a drug dealer back in Trenton that he thought had raped his girlfriend (and Frank's daughter) Amy. Frank and Dennis covered the crime up, but Dennis was about to come clean, so Frank shot him and the hooker (and removed her hand so they wouldn't find the DNA under his nails). The worst part: turns out the guy Keppler killed wasn't Amy's rapist. Frank was. When Keppler realized this, he went to confront Frank and protect the other hooker, Susie, who he knew Frank was going to kill. But Frank accidentally shot him and Keppler died in the ambulance. On a purely, editorial note: This was one of the best episodes of the season.

Standing by her man: Keppler and Catherine bonded during his weeks with the team. She even wanted to recommend to Eckile that he stay with the gang instead of moving to day shift. She was the only one to believe in him when all the evidence was pointing to the fact that he was dirty. And he called her when he realized that the gun Frank had left on his bed would implicate him in the old Trenton crime. Catherine cried hard when he died.

He's back: Of course, this week's real news is that Grissom is back at "CSI." He has yet to open the box from the miniature killer, but it looks like he’ll do that next week. He seemed suspicious of Keppler from the moment he met him, but was quick to comfort Catherine when he saw how upset she was over Keppler's death.

Betrayed, but vindicated: Nick had also become friends with Keppler — enough so, that he poked fun at him for wearing suits. But he was dismayed to find Keppler's prints on the gun. When Keppler's cellphone led Warrick and Nick to the cooler with Courtney the hooker's hand, you could sense Nick's relief that Keppler was really trying to do the right thing.

Quick to judge: Warrick never really liked Keppler, and was quick to tell Grissom about the "reverse forensics." Worse news: Is former gambling addict Warrick making bets again? This could be trouble.

Happy he's back: Sara seemed overjoyed to see Grissom, and embarrassed that she smelled like garbage. “I’ll see you later” he told her. “Yeah you will,” she replied.

A for effort: Turns out Hodges took Grissom's mosquitoes of Walden Pond seminar online. "Oh, you’re Spanky," Grissom said. Let's hope he's named for the kid in "The Little Rascals."