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Feb 15

Miniature killer returns: When Grissom received yet another miniature crime scene in the mail, he realized that Ernie Dell might not be the killer. He picked apart the miniature — even discovering the victim's dead cat behind some books, and blue mascara on a pillowcase. A tiny newspaper let him know the murder would take place in two days. At first he thought the victim would be smothered, but then settled on poison.

Finding the victim Warrick and Nick quickly tracked down the potential victim: Dr. Barbara Tallman, who seemed a bit woozy when she opened the door. The guys were sure that this former high-profile psychotherapist was going to be the victim of one of her own patients.

Dead decoy: Sofia sent a cop to pose as Barbara Tallman in order to trap the killer, but little did she realize that the miniature killer had set up a timed trap that released carbon monoxide into the room and killed the cop. “I was watching her die and I didn’t even realize it," Sofia said, heartbroken.

Mercy killing: The cop's death didn't prevent Barbara Tallman from being killed. Tallman's brother, Peyton, took the opportunity to pose as the miniature killer so he could help her die. She suffered from Parkinson's and didn't want to live. “She wanted to die in her own home," her brother said.

Catching a monster: Sara found old videotapes that belonged to Ernie Dell. They led her to his biological son, Lionel. But when Sara told him that she thought Ernie killed himself to protect Lionel, he scoffed. Turns out they were estranged and that there were 13 more suspects: Ernie Dell's foster children. So the miniature killer is still on the loose.

Many loves of David Hodges: Best line of the night came when Hodges mentioned a former girlfriend. "The one with the water-retention problem?" Grissom asked. Hodges merely seemed flattered that his boss remembered.

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Feb 22

Everybody loses: If there's an opposite of the perfect crime, tonight's episode illustrated it. High school basketball star Ryan Lansco and his girlfriend, cheerleader Megan Cooper, disappeared one night after a game. But a pool of blood made the team quickly realize they didn't run off together.

Revenge gone awry: Megan had been struck by a car, but was still alive. It turned out that she, along with best friends Sheila and Charlie, were trying to punish Ryan for being a cheating dog by making an embarrassing tape of him to put up on YouTube. When he got away from them, Megan pushed him into a tackling sled, killing him. The three of them loaded up his body in a van. Though Nick determined Megan was the killer, the DA decided not to press charges.

Did someone say crabs? When Catherine found evidence of the STD on Ryan's sleeping bag, she and Grissom realized that Ryan had slept with Megan, Sheila, photography teacher Diane Kentner, and a whole host of others. “I’m buying Lindsay a chastity belt,” Catherine said. But Grissom reminded her that the crabs could actually get through the belt. “You are so creepy sometimes,” she told him. Sheila didn’t fare quite as well as Megan. Ryan threw something at her head during the struggle and she died not long after Megan's body was found.

Losing his touch: Warrick let photography teacher Diane slip right through his grasp. The bipolar woman not only struck Megan with her car, she took Ryan's body from the van where it had been left and brought it to a makeshift photography studio. She posed her body next to it and then took an overdose of pills, with an automatic camera snapping away all the while.

The doctor of love is in: Greg took one look at the equipment shed where Megan and Ryan met to make out and declared it a "love shack." He told Nick that when he was in high school, the back seat of his car just wasn't big enough. "I was getting so much play my senior year, I considered getting a hearse," he said.

Clean shave: Sara told Warrick a story about how once she had dated a guy who had accidentally handed her another woman's underwear after sex. "Let’s hope your taste in men has improved since then," Warrick said. Well, Grissom is certainly a step up. Sara prepared to shave his beard and mustache at the end of the episode. “Do you trust me?” she asked “Intimately,” he replied.

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March 29

No night off: When five showgirls were murdered, the CSIs showed up to investigate. Sara was supposed to have a date with Grissom, but since he was working, she decided to join him. As she searched the rooms, she was shocked to find another victim, Cammie, whose throat was not as thoroughly slit as the others. She delivered a garbled message about a wine stain to Sara and then died. Sara was haunted by the way the life went out of her eyes, and determined to find her killer.

Homing in on the target: Catherine discovered bloody paper towels in the bathroom trash. Each one had only one victim's blood, so she was able to determine the order the victims had been killed. The killer had even wiped off his knife between murders. The last girl to be killed was Rebecca, who had also been raped. Doc Robbins noticed something strange about her stab wounds. The blade was partially withdrawn and re-thrust, and the tip of the ceramic knife was still in her body.

Lucky break: Fingerprints led the team to local lothario Chris Mullins, who had slept with two of the girls. When the team went to his house to collect him, an assault report came over the radio. Brass and the CSIs thought it might be connected. They found a victim, Marlon Frost (Walton Goggins), who'd been stabbed in the throat. "Shield" fans out there must have known immediately that anyone played by Goggins was most definitely the killer.

Losing perspective: Sara was immediately sympathetic to Frost. She held his hand as they rode to the hospital in the ambulance. But when she went to take his fingerprints, she noticed something strange. They were smudged from calluses on his fingers, just like the ones at the crime scene. And there was a port-wine-colored birth mark on his chest. "I held his hand," Sara told Grissom. "Just like I held hers. I lost perspective." Grissom wiped the tears from her cheek

Stone-cold killer: When Brass asked Frost why he'd killed the girls, he just said, “I watched the life go out of their eyes. Life drains.” Then he told Brass that he'd given Rebecca "the party of her life" by raping and murdering her. Brass asked him why he was smiling and what he felt. "I don’t feel anything. Nothing."

Back to the neighborhood: One of the victims, Emily, just happened to be Warrick's next-door neighbor from when he was a boy living with his grandmother. It was his difficult job to break the news to her grandmother.

Hard day for Hodges: Even Hodges got pulled into the murk of this week's brutal crime. When victim Libby's cell phone rang, Hodges answered it and ended up having to deliver the difficult news to her mother. “Do you ever do the right thing and still feel guilty about it?” he asked Sara. “Yeah, it sucks, right?” she replied.

More bad news: The city decided to settle Greg's civil case — to the tune of $2.5 million. “That’s like saying I’m guilty,” Greg said to Grissom. “So they did throw me under the bus.” Grissom just replied, “Comes with the job.”

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April 5

Welcome back: The only good part about last season's "Poppin' Tags" was Drops (Method Man), and he was back tonight, riding in the same limo as his buddy Champs when Champs was shot. “We go back like your hairline,” Drops told Brass about his relationship to Champs. Watching these two spar with one-liners was the most fun part of this episode.

More than meets the eye: Nick had the pleasure of collecting Drops' bloody clothes. “I see we’re in between bad haircuts," Drops said to Nick. Nick also discovered that shots had not only been fired into the limo but out as well. Drops claimed that Champs had been the shooter. But the only one with a registered .38 was Drops.

Mistaken identity: Warrick and Catherine's case involved a young woman named Simone who'd been dragged from a car until she died. At first they thought she was her friend Melissa (whose ID Simone was carrying). Warrick had the good fortune to be able to let Melissa's mom know that it wasn't her daughter who'd been killed.

Two crimes come together: Catherine found a thingytail napkin in the shape of a rose in Simone's purse, which led them to ladies' man Carey. After calling Sofia and Catherine "the hottest chicks I’ve seen all week," he denied having anything to do with the Simone's death. He said his friend Scott could provide an alibi. Sofia went to check, and it turned out Scott had died from a gunshot wound. And the bullet was from the .38 from Drops’ limo.

The plot thickens: After Greg found a $100 bill in Drops' limo, he had it tested for DNA. Not only did it come up as a match to Simone, it also matched Aaron James of the James family, who had just been awarded $2.5 million by the LVPD. It was Sofia's tough task to go and talk to Aaron. Mrs. James was not pleased to see her. She threw a glass of red wine on her. But the undersheriff liked the way Sofia stayed calm under pressure. “You have a big future in this department," he told her.

Pieces fall into place: Sara found a bone fragment in Aaron James' jacket that put him in Drops' limo. During interrogation, it came out that Champs had booted Simone from the car because she wouldn’t have sex with Aaron. And that the shootout had occurred because Scott and Carey were upset that Simone had gone off with Drops, Champs and Aaron.

Lucky man: Brass wanted to charge Drops with Scott's murder. Drops claimed that Champs had done the shooting, but there was no way to prove it. “Forensics be jamming a brother up,” said Drops. His attorney came to the rescue, calling it a classic case of self-defense. Drops couldn't have looked more grateful. “And all this time I thought I was paying you too much,” he said. (Note to CBS: Please bring Drops back in a future episode.)

Guilty conscience After being pulled off the case, Greg ran into Mrs. James in the hallway, and she laid into him. “What do I owe you?” Greg finally shouted back, telling her that her sons' problems were not his fault. She told him she just wanted her boy back. So Greg asked the DA to go easy on Aaron. He was released on his own recognizance. “If the kid’s brother hadn’t died, would you have done the same?” Grissom asked him.

Shout-out to the gossip queen: Hodges, who did a small stint in the field, said he needed to get back to the lab to catch up on Perez Hilton.

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April 12

Taking over the asylum: With all the CSIs busy with their own cases, Hodges convinced lab techs Archie, Mandy and Henry to take another look at the miniature cases, claiming that they had Grissom's permission. Riiiight.

'Red dog barks at midnight': Toxicologist Henry thought the crimes might be connected by music, flowers, and mail. But the chicken-plant miniature was always the anomaly, so the techs decided they needed to focus on that scene in particular.

Calling his bluff: Hodges noticed something strange on an oil drum in the chicken-plant miniature, which he managed, much to Wendy's chagrin, to break off. She realized that the container was for bleach, and that bleach was at both Izzy's crime scene and the fourth crime scene. But Wendy suddenly realized that they didn't actually have Grissom's permission. "I’m a little tired of your delusions of grandeur," she said.

Who, me? Wendy asked Sara if the miniature killer had been keeping Grissom up nights. “How would I know?” she replied. Wendy explained that Hodges said Grissom told him. “Do you really think that Grissom would confide in him about anything?” Sara asked.

Lucky day: Hodges decided to examine the miniatures because this was his lucky day. He'd found a dollar; been smiled at by a beautiful girl; received three bags of chips out of the vending machine when he only wanted one; and won an eBay auction for the "Three's Company" board game. He focused on the Penny Gardner miniature, imagining himself inside, picking up the different items. Finally, he stumbled upon a coupon she'd clipped for bleach.

Key to the case? Grissom caught Hodges with the Gardner miniature and Hodges explained his bleach theory. Bleach was the "specific object or word that triggers the urge to kill," Grissom mused. “Good job, Hodges, really," he said. And as Hodges left his office, he smiled and pumped his fist in the air.

Rats: In one of the many B-stories that floated around while the techs were investigating, Robbins and Grissom were autopsying a drowned man. When his skin suddenly bubbled, they thought it was gas. But no, a living rat plunged out of his stomach and escaped the morgue. It even managed to get into the fuse box and cut the power. When the lights went out, Grissom joked, "I think he’s on to us, Doc."

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April 26

Boxer down for the count: This week’s murder victim, Lorenzo “Happy” Morales, was a has-been boxer who lived in a trailer next to a brothel called the Sugar Cane Ranch. He was found dead in a pool, but the cause of death didn’t seem to be drowning. The brothel was run by “pillars of the community” Binky and Doris, who even offered a “cop’s special”: a girl, two drinks and an appetizer for free.

Was it the crowbar? Catherine and Warrick noticed an imprint of I N C H, which led them to a crowbar with the words "made in China" under “pleasure provider” Dreama Little’s bed. She admitted to hitting Happy, but just as Brass was getting ready to close the case, Robbins called and told him the blow wasn't the cause of death.

An arrow, perhaps?: When elderly neighbor Milton told Nick and Sara about an arrow that was shot into his wife’s picture, they wondered if this caused the puncture in Happy’s neck. Bartender Conner admitted that he was the one that shot Happy. And again, just as Brass was about to close the case, Robbins called: The arrow wasn’t the cause of death, either.

Blame the seafood? It turned out that Happy was going into anaphylactic shock from seafood. Greg and Hodges found shrimp tails, which led them back to Binky and Doris. Binky had fed them to Doris, counting on the fact that she would give Happy some oral pleasure. But guess what? That wasn’t what killed him either. Happy was able to get to his epinephrine and quell his reaction to the allergy — and the arrow gave him the emergency tracheotomy he needed to clear his airway.

Snake bite? Greg also found a syringe. It turned out that it contained rattlesnake venom. Dreama and Conner had conspired to inject Happy together. Dreama told Brass that her dad was a “serpent handling preacher,” so she knew how to milk a snake. But guess what...

Death by chair: After being injected with snake-bite venom, poisoned through oral sex, and hit with a crowbar, Happy sat down next to the pool, lit a cigarette and the chair collapsed beneath him, landing him in the pool. Robbins filled out the paperwork, and under cause of death he put: “Unknown/Cardiac arrest” and then listed everything that had happened. Turned out: No one did it.

GSR moment of the night: Sara asked Grissom if he’d ever paid for sex. “No,” he said. “I find the whole idea very bleak. Sex without love is pointless. It makes you sad.” Sara contemplated that and said, “Well, I’m pretty sure I don’t make you sad.” Grissom replied, “No, you make me happy.”

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May 3

"Men are snakes:" Tonight's murder victim, China De Vere, was found on Hank Connors' property. Connors shot himself when the police arrived, but Grissom and Warrick found China's head — mounted like a trophy — next to deer heads in the barn. It turns out that Connors was part of a group that believed that aliens had invaded Earth — they were secretly reptilian.

In a pig's belly: If the mounted head wasn't disgusting enough, Nick found China's femur bone in the pigpen. “I’m so glad I’m a vegetarian,” Sara said. Nick and Warrick found another bone in a fire pit along with wedding rings belonging to China and her husband Preston. They assumed he'd been killed as well.

Tough day? Try tough year: Connors' friend Shannon (the lovely Ally Sheedy) bit Greg when he tried to get her DNA. In the understatement of the season, he told Catherine, “I’m having a pretty bad year.” In a search of Shannon's house, Catherine and Brass found a sword, and Greg and Catherine matched it to the laceration in Shannon's skull.

COD, not so fast: Once Doc Robbins and Super Dave reassembled China's body, they found a bullet lodged in one of her vertebrae. It was a match to Connors' gun. Robbins’ best moment of the night came when he shared a story with Grissom about how his dad once used the same knife to remove a deer’s head as he did to carve the Thanksgiving turkey. Yum!

Anne Heche, is that you? Preston (also known as Veronica Mars' dad) finally turned up, naked in the desert, claiming he'd been abducted by aliens. Shannon had told Brass that Preston was 4,000 years old — and that his cells couldn't die. "4,000 is the new 50," Brass said. But Preston did provide a more earthly alibi in the guise of Clarissa, another disciple who claimed he cured her cancer. The CSIs found Preston's wallet, clothes and the steam-cleaner he'd used to clean up China's blood in Clarissa's car. He finally confessed, and told Brass that he was glad that China had a long, painful death. What a guy!

Stick with Nick: While it looked like Super Dave married the perfect woman, things weren’t so rosy with Tina and Warrick. He asked Nick if it would have been better to marry someone he worked with. But Nick (obviously in the dark about Sara and Grissom), said it would be awful, because of all the time you would have to spend together. “You mean like you and me, baby?” Warrick cooed. “Exactly, honey,” Nick replied.

About that letter: While watching "Gorgo" in bed with Grissom, Sara stumbled upon the rather intense love letter he'd written, but never sent, while he was away. And surprise, surprise, she did not look over the moon. (In real-life events, TV Guide is reporting that Jorja Fox wants more money to come back next season. Death could be in the air.)

Hey, wait a sec: It's no surprise that Grissom was fascinated by the reptilian conspiracy theorists, but there was a shocker at the end. Was Grissom working on a ... miniature? What gives?

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May 11

Wild West, indeed: Lady Heather returned as tonight's first victim. She was found strangled but not dead at the Old Western Town theme park. Catherine couldn't figure out why a dominatrix would have a rope around her neck. But she was also quick to speculate on Grissom's relationship to Lady Heather, telling Sara that she Heather’s “the only woman I’ve ever seen rile Grissom.” Sara did not look pleased.

Welcome to her nightmare: Sara was curious about Lady Heather, but wasn't happy with the interest Grissom instantly took in her case. He even knew Heather had diabetes. But maybe the two women have more in common then they realize. “I don’t respond well to men who judge me solely on the basis of my profession,” Heather told Sara. “I get that too,” Sara replied. “Law enforcement.”

Blackmail gone awry: When the Old Western Town security guard Vernon turned up dead a day later, Brass immediately suspected Heather. Grissom provided her with a handy alibi, because he'd been at her house that night — platonically. Upon hearing this, Catherine told him, “I’d slap you, but I think you’d enjoy it too much.” Brass and Catherine realized that Vernon probably just saw Heather's "date" and was blackmailing that person. That led them to the Oakleys, the father-and-son team who ran the park. They found son Ben's prints on one gun, but not the one used to shoot Vernon.

Knight in shining armor: Grissom realized immediately that something was off with Heather. He found out that Heather was denied custody of her granddaughter, Alison, but had set up a trust of over $800,000 for her. She’d made the money by selling Jack Oakley the right to sadistically murder her. “Too bad you spent the million. You could use it on your defense,” Brass told Jack. In the end, Grissom convinced Heather's ex-husband Jerome to bring Alison to see her. He also did a little more work on his miniatures, telling Catherine, “It keeps my hands busy.”

Murder No. 2: The second victim of the night was pickpocket Faith Maroney, who was hit by a car and received a fatal head wound when she hit the pavement. Nick and Warrick found paint chips that led them to the Friendly cab company, which employed a couple cab of drivers who weren't too friendly with each other.

Too little, too late: Faith had ridden in Dru Kambhatla's cab, stolen his wallet, and stiffed him. But he wouldn't have hit her with his cab if a rival cabbie, Gus DiFusco, hadn’t slammed his cab into Dru's, pushing him into the girl. Gus told Dru that the accident was his fault and he would be deported, so Dru didn't say anything. Nick told him that now he was guilty of obstruction of justice, being an accessory and fleeing the scene. Not a good night for Dru.

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May 17

Bleach was the key: Hodges was right. Natalie Davis (a.k.a. the miniature killer) was one of Ernie Dell's foster kids. Turns out that Natalie started out fairly twisted. After her mom died when she was six, she killed her little sister Chloe by pushing her out of a treehouse. When Natalie viewed the scene from above, it looked "miniature." And her dad cleaned the stain with bleach, and subsequently shipped her off to a foster home.

The fake victim: Grissom tracked the foster kids one by one, which led the CSIs to Trevor, whom they found dead in his apartment. Nick and Catherine also found a doll of Trevor and assumed he was one of the killer's victims. But in fact, his neighbor (a.k.a. fat naked man in bathtub) inadvertently electrocuted him while trying to steal electricity.

DNA evidence: The CSIs found a fingerprint on Trevor's doll (not surprising since it was a gift from his sister) and also some of Natalie's DNA. It was Wendy who discovered that the killer was a woman. Natalie was no stranger to the lab, having been on the janitorial staff for a month. She told the hiring manager that she had "exceptional attention to detail," proving it by reciting everything on the receptionist’s desk. Very creepy.

It got creepier: Natalie's dad was a ventriloquist who still performed his act with a doll — named Chloe. We also found out that when Natalie was in her first foster home, she pushed a girl out of a bunk bed. One more piece of information: Ernie Dell knew that she was the killer. He made her promise that she wouldn't kill again before committing suicide.

Tonight's real victim: Sara had no idea what was waiting for her in the parking lot. But just as Grissom came upon Natalie’s miniature of Sara underneath a car (but still moving, due to a battery pack), Natalie was abducting her. In the final scene, Sara, too, was still moving, but how long will she last?

Catching a killer: The team realized that the car in the miniature was from a crime scene that Sara had worked. Natalie was in one of the crowd shots from the scene. Luckily, through a miniature hobbyist community that Grissom found on the internet, the team was able to track her down. Warrick and Nick brought her in.

Revenge turns sour: Grissom realized that Sara was abducted because Natalie was trying to get back at him for Ernie's suicide. "I took away the only person she ever loved. So she’s going to do the same thing to me," he said, outing his relationship with Sara. He tried to use flattery to get Natalie to open up. But when she realized he was more upset about Sara, she got angry and started to sing her father's song, “I got a pain in my sawdust,” in a baby voice.

Wait till next year: Brass had other thoughts about interrogating Natalie. He said he wanted to drip bleach (her biggest fear) on her until she gave up Sara's location. We'll have to wait until next season to see if he employs that method.