# CSI Season Finale thoughts? \[Spoiler discussion\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 17, 2005, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-season-finale-thoughts-spoiler-discussion/304179 "2005-05-17T01:53:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-season-finale-thoughts-spoiler-discussion/304179/81 "2005-05-20T19:40:28Z")
> [@Podkayne](#): > > I was a little disappointed that Grissom didn’t just _recognize_ the fire-ant, but I wonder if that was meant to tie in Eckley’s comment that Grissom’s entymology library wasn’t tax-payer funded, or whatever. Well, he was examining the ants through a crappy webcam under less-than-optimal lighting conditions. You can see him rooting for an ant to walk across the camera lens so he could get a good look at it, and only then did he recognize the specific type. Not knowing anything about entymology myself, I’m going to assume there about one billion ant species in Nevada, including many that bite humans, so Gris needed that closeup. The motivation of John Saxon to blow himself up, though, remains unclear to me. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-season-finale-thoughts-spoiler-discussion/304179/82 "2005-05-20T20:01:14Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > Well, he was examining the ants through a crappy webcam under less-than-optimal lighting conditions. You can see him rooting for an ant to walk across the camera lens so he could get a good look at it, and only then did he recognize the specific type. It’s not just that he needed a closeup—that makes sense to me. It’s that he had take the print-out and run off and look it up in a book. Usually he can just identify things off the top of his head. He did say that fire ants are rare in Neveda, but it’s also an invasive species that gets a lot of press. I don’t mean to dis Gil, or anything, it just seemed uncharacteristic. > [@](#): > > The motivation of John Saxon to blow himself up, though, remains unclear to me. I thought he was all about _control._ He was able to control Nick, leading him right into his hands with the chain false of evidence. The burial is _much_ more of a controlling move, I think, than just chucking Nicky in a locked room somewhere. And of course his ultimate goal was to control the CSI team. Remember when he asked Gil, “Am I a terrorist? Are you terrified?” In other words, “Am I in control?” He talked about how powerless and out-of-control he felt when they were prosecuting his daughter. But remember that he stopped visiting her in prison after 6 weeks.[sup]\*[/sup] He wasn’t taking revenge for her sake. He had already stopped caring about her except as a symbol for his own loss of control, a symbol he could no longer bear to face. And committing suicide was the last means for him to seize control of his destiny. If he gave up Nick’s location, he lost control. If he didn’t give it up, they certainly would have hunted him down and put him in jail, and again, he’d lose control (and even worse, suffer the fate from which he could not save his daughter.) So his final act was to be certain that when he went out, he went out in the manner of his choosing, in control. [sup]\*[/sup] Ack, or was it he stopped visiting her six weeks ago? ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-season-finale-thoughts-spoiler-discussion/304179/83 "2005-05-20T20:01:27Z")
> [@ronincyberpunk](#): > > how would the team dynamics be if Warrick got the promotion to replace Catherine on Swing and Catherine got night? I’m a bit ashamed of myself, but I am kinda hoping for Warrick swinging with Catherine at night. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-season-finale-thoughts-spoiler-discussion/304179/84 "2005-05-20T20:13:00Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > David the coroner has two fake artificial legs. He takes his job very seriously. As does the actor playing him. According to his IMDB bio: > [@](#): > > Had both legs amputated after suffering burns over 65% of his body, the result of his car being crushed by an 18-wheeler in 1978. He uses prosthetics. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-season-finale-thoughts-spoiler-discussion/304179/85 "2005-05-20T20:45:42Z")
Grissom’s unfamiliarity with the fire ant was a great touch, and gave him an excuse to pull out his copy of E.O. Wilson’s and Bert Holldobbler’s _The Ants_, probably the greatest book ever written on the subject. Nice touch of authenticity! ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-season-finale-thoughts-spoiler-discussion/304179/86 "2005-05-20T23:15:44Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > What was that song they played in the episode? “You Don’t Stand An Outside Chance” The Turtles. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-season-finale-thoughts-spoiler-discussion/304179/87 "2005-05-20T23:38:45Z")
> [@ronincyberpunk](#): > > how would the team dynamics be if Warrick got the promotion to replace Catherine on Swing and Catherine got night? I don’t think that would happen. This is a gov’t entity, after all, and there’s a strict hierachy and tenure. I could see Ecklie retiring and Gil taking his spot, leaving a hole for Catherine to fill, although she doesn’t want graveyard. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2005, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-season-finale-thoughts-spoiler-discussion/304179/88 "2005-05-21T00:09:31Z")
> [@](#): > > Ack, or was it he stopped visiting her six weeks ago? As I recall, the father visited her for the first six weeks she was in prison and then stopped because he couldn’t stand to see her in that condition. Then he unexpectedly visited her one time recently (either one week or one month ago) which is why the CSI’s thought she might know about his plan. ---
**Author:** ![Murcielago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Murcielago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Murcielago)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2005, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-season-finale-thoughts-spoiler-discussion/304179/89 "2005-05-21T04:20:10Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Okay, what was Nick saying that Gil could lip read that led Gil to say, “No, Nick, you never did.”. I had to watch that bit over, but I’m now certain he said “I hope I never disapointed you.” Great episode. Some of the dialogue in the first act tipped over from “Tarantino-quirky” into downright clunky. I also found the denouement a bit off, the last shot should have focused on Nick instead of the girl. Other than that, I can only second most of the praise above. Nick’s vision of his own autopsy was brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2005, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-season-finale-thoughts-spoiler-discussion/304179/90 "2005-05-21T04:33:17Z")
God, I love this show. God, let the other CSIs die a quick death. Okay, maybe not Miami. There are enough quirky folks on that show to keep it going, especially now that Raymond is back, and my daughter likes the lab tech. “But he looks just like Greg and you couldn’t care less about him.” “He looks like Greg’s _younger brother._ Remember I’m only fifteen.” Those shows have convinced her she wants to work in forensics in some way. Wife, who has done some (she of, “Do floaters really look that bad?” “Worse,” and the infamous, “You can’t photograph the smell.”), has been unsuccessful scaring her out of it. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2005, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-season-finale-thoughts-spoiler-discussion/304179/91 "2005-05-21T05:16:50Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > Well, he was examining the ants through a crappy webcam under less-than-optimal lighting conditions. You can see him rooting for an ant to walk across the camera lens so he could get a good look at it, and only then did he recognize the specific type. Not knowing anything about entymology myself, I’m going to assume there about one billion ant species in Nevada, including many that bite humans, so Gris needed that closeup. > > The motivation of John Saxon to blow himself up, though, remains unclear to me. The JS character was expecting to be captured, so he rigged the explosion to ‘escape’. Besides he was suicidal. His daughter was in prison and he blamed CSI for finding his daughter’s DNA on that cup. He saw that his daughter was slowly ‘dying’ in tight prison cell. So he decided to make a CSI pay in a similar way. When he deduced Grissom was like a father to Nick, he saw he got the analogy right. ;j ---
**Author:** ![Frankenbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c0e974/32.png) [@Frankenbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frankenbear)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2005, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-season-finale-thoughts-spoiler-discussion/304179/92 "2005-05-21T07:25:03Z")
The coroner’s name is Al Robbins played by Robert David Hall. The character David is the assistant coroner. I thought Stokes attended Texas A&M University. I vaguely remember it mentioned in an episode a couple of years ago. What was the deal with the flower on the inmate’s hand? It looked to me like a real flower under the skin. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2005, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-season-finale-thoughts-spoiler-discussion/304179/93 "2005-05-21T11:20:40Z")
I thought I saw a rug with a big T on it in Nick’s house when he was being stalked by Cable Guy. Maybe I’m remembering wrong. The flower on the daughter’s hand looked like one of those appliques you iron on a shirt. I don’t even want to think of how it got on her hand. :eek: **Lieu** , I think that’s the first time we’ve met ANY of the CSI’s parents. It was nice to see his father was a judge. Maybe that’s how Nick got interested in forensics and evidence and everything. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2005, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-season-finale-thoughts-spoiler-discussion/304179/94 "2005-05-21T12:57:07Z")
I also thought Nick went to school in Texas. Hasn’t he worn a Texas A&M t-shirt before? And I’m pretty sure this is the first we’ve seen Nick’s parent’s, or any of their parents for that matter, other than Catherine’s mom when she babysits Lindsey. And I was wondering about that flower thing on the girl’s hand - it didn’t quite look like a jailhouse tattoo. What was it? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2005, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-season-finale-thoughts-spoiler-discussion/304179/95 "2005-05-21T14:24:46Z")
Does anyone know the name of the country-sounding song about Vegas that Nick was playing in his vehicle in the opening? ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2005, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-season-finale-thoughts-spoiler-discussion/304179/96 "2005-05-21T19:26:12Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > That I think was T. I don’t know what that means. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2005, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-season-finale-thoughts-spoiler-discussion/304179/97 "2005-05-21T19:42:42Z")
Pretty darn good. One thing I noticed, though, was that all the CSIs were Tarantino-ized except Grisson. His dialogue was standard fare. I was also surprised there wasn’t a cameo of the director. Maybe as a clueless witness or something. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2005, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-season-finale-thoughts-spoiler-discussion/304179/98 "2005-05-22T15:09:09Z")
No one has mentioned the cameo of\*\* Frank Gorshin\*\*,(Riddle me this Batman) sitting with Catherine’s pop at the casino. He had just passed away the day before the airing, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![dare\_devil007](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@dare\_devil007](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dare_devil007)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2005, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-season-finale-thoughts-spoiler-discussion/304179/99 "2005-05-22T17:05:36Z")
I’m sorry, but did anyone else laugh during Nick’s “autopsy” where the coroner said to Mr. Stokes, “Your son had a good heart” and handed a floppy heart to him? Call me in need of tension relief, but…you know. And what are these “twins” everyone is talking about? I missed the first 30 minutes, so what happened with them? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2005, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-season-finale-thoughts-spoiler-discussion/304179/100 "2005-05-22T17:49:53Z")
> [@eenerms](#): > > No one has mentioned the cameo of\*\* Frank Gorshin\*\*,(Riddle me this Batman) sitting with Catherine’s pop at the casino. He had just passed away the day before the airing, I believe. They managed to put a tribute notice to him at the end of the episode, though. I have to admit that when that scene first came on, I thought, “Who are these guys?” Then I thought, “What does he mean that 15 years ago Vegas was safe, shouldn’t he be saying 35 years ago?” Then I thought, “What a lousy impersonation of Tony Curtis.” Then I got it. Then I was very sad. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-season-finale-thoughts-spoiler-discussion/304179.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/csi-season-finale-thoughts-spoiler-discussion/304179.md?page=6)