They Finally Found Brass
Carol Mendelsohn specifically mentioned Brass when she talked about this episode in TV Guide. I was kind of surprised she remembered he was a character on the show. She rarely, if ever, mentions him. But she did and she said it was "personal to Brass" so I was looking forward to it. It's becoming customary that Brass gets a "very special episode" at the end of the season. In the past it's been Hollywood Brass, then there was Bang, Bang and Way to Go (well, that one kind of got overshadowed by other events) and last season it was Hog Heaven. I guess this is payback for ignoring him all season. Let me just say, he needs to be paid back more often.
I had high expectations for this episode and except for one place where they totally dropped the ball, it didn't disappoint. Actually, I think this was one of the best CSI episodes in a long time and I put it down to Elizabeth Devine writing the episode. She's old school CSI and for the most part, it showed. I actually didn't figure out who did what until the very end.
ER Doc was played by the same guy who worked on Jim when he got shot. I was hoping for a throwaway line about that but that would have been way too much to expect.
Took me a minute or three to place the actress playing Janet. She was the wife of the Trinity Killer on "Dexter".
Contrary to what all the Nick fans say, no one does sad like PG. He cries better too, although there was no crying in this particular episode.
Brass flashback was funny. They put a ball cap on him to hide his gray hair. They also have him looking down a lot.
Since when does a cop ask a CSI if he can talk to a victim? I hate how they've turned the CSIs into these all powerful beings. I blame this on the writers and possibly the lack of Billy Petersen to call bullshit. It wasn't this bad when he was still on the show.
Jim's friendship with Janet was sweet. He was very protective and it's obvious he cared about her. He gives her a ride home, he takes her out to lunch, and he knows his way around her house. She knows about Ellie and it's obvious by the way she calls him "Jim" that she knows him pretty well. Interesting.
Ellie mention!!! It's the first time her name has been mentioned since S6. Of course it takes someone who hasn't written an episode in 6 years to bring her up. I liked Brass's resigned, "I never gave up on her but I think she gave up on me" line. Oh Brass, no one beats you up more than you do.
When Brass hugs Janet after telling her they found Andy, he's wearing his completely freaked out look. He wore the same look in Hog Heaven when he realized he had been boinking a married woman--and married to a cop, no less.
Because this was a VSBE (very special Brass episode) he got to go on a road trip to Reno and wear his very cool shades. Usually it's one of the CSIs.
At the end, when he's wearing his very sad expression and realizing that yet again, a woman he's gotten close to has been arrested for murder, I was yelling at him to call Ellie. That's the part where I felt like the totally dropped the ball. It would have been nice to end the episode with him dialing a number and saying, "Ellie, it's your dad". But nooooooooo!
One of the other things that bugged me about this episode/season: last season we got lots of Brass/Catherine friendship. This year I can't even recall if they've spoken outside of a few perfunctory police conversations. I HATE when the writers do this! They did it with Brass/Sofia as well. After giving us all kinds of hints about Brass and Sofia in S6, they suddenly pull back completely and give us maybe two Brass/Sofia scenes in S7. It's like the writers have this rule that no one can be close to Brass (unless it's a woman who kills/is responsible for the death of someone else) so if they write Brass getting close to Catherine or Sofia in one season, they quickly cut it off in the next season. When all the shooting started, I'd have thought Brass and Catherine might have had a word or two. Nothing. Brass and Catherine didn't even acknowledge each other in this episode. I guess now that Catherine is with Vartann, she can't look at or speak to Brass?
Oh, and can I just reiterate how scary George Eads perfectly tweezed eyebrows are? No manly man should have eyebrows like that.
I had high expectations for this episode and except for one place where they totally dropped the ball, it didn't disappoint. Actually, I think this was one of the best CSI episodes in a long time and I put it down to Elizabeth Devine writing the episode. She's old school CSI and for the most part, it showed. I actually didn't figure out who did what until the very end.
ER Doc was played by the same guy who worked on Jim when he got shot. I was hoping for a throwaway line about that but that would have been way too much to expect.
Took me a minute or three to place the actress playing Janet. She was the wife of the Trinity Killer on "Dexter".
Contrary to what all the Nick fans say, no one does sad like PG. He cries better too, although there was no crying in this particular episode.
Brass flashback was funny. They put a ball cap on him to hide his gray hair. They also have him looking down a lot.
Since when does a cop ask a CSI if he can talk to a victim? I hate how they've turned the CSIs into these all powerful beings. I blame this on the writers and possibly the lack of Billy Petersen to call bullshit. It wasn't this bad when he was still on the show.
Jim's friendship with Janet was sweet. He was very protective and it's obvious he cared about her. He gives her a ride home, he takes her out to lunch, and he knows his way around her house. She knows about Ellie and it's obvious by the way she calls him "Jim" that she knows him pretty well. Interesting.
Ellie mention!!! It's the first time her name has been mentioned since S6. Of course it takes someone who hasn't written an episode in 6 years to bring her up. I liked Brass's resigned, "I never gave up on her but I think she gave up on me" line. Oh Brass, no one beats you up more than you do.
When Brass hugs Janet after telling her they found Andy, he's wearing his completely freaked out look. He wore the same look in Hog Heaven when he realized he had been boinking a married woman--and married to a cop, no less.
Because this was a VSBE (very special Brass episode) he got to go on a road trip to Reno and wear his very cool shades. Usually it's one of the CSIs.
At the end, when he's wearing his very sad expression and realizing that yet again, a woman he's gotten close to has been arrested for murder, I was yelling at him to call Ellie. That's the part where I felt like the totally dropped the ball. It would have been nice to end the episode with him dialing a number and saying, "Ellie, it's your dad". But nooooooooo!
One of the other things that bugged me about this episode/season: last season we got lots of Brass/Catherine friendship. This year I can't even recall if they've spoken outside of a few perfunctory police conversations. I HATE when the writers do this! They did it with Brass/Sofia as well. After giving us all kinds of hints about Brass and Sofia in S6, they suddenly pull back completely and give us maybe two Brass/Sofia scenes in S7. It's like the writers have this rule that no one can be close to Brass (unless it's a woman who kills/is responsible for the death of someone else) so if they write Brass getting close to Catherine or Sofia in one season, they quickly cut it off in the next season. When all the shooting started, I'd have thought Brass and Catherine might have had a word or two. Nothing. Brass and Catherine didn't even acknowledge each other in this episode. I guess now that Catherine is with Vartann, she can't look at or speak to Brass?
Oh, and can I just reiterate how scary George Eads perfectly tweezed eyebrows are? No manly man should have eyebrows like that.