Although I had my early doubts, “CSI: NY” has turned out to be yet another great addition to the expanded “CSI” line-up.
Les Moonves, President and CEO of CBS Television, certainly knows a golden goose when he sees one. And he´s not afraid to strike while the iron is hot and make the goose lay as many golden eggs as possible. After the original "CSI" series (now in its 6th season) became a surprise smash hit by storming to the top of the Nielsen ratings for weeks on end, Moonves persuaded the creative team behind the show to immediately create a spin-off series. This came as "CSI" was only into its second season and the network wanted the spin-off show to premiere the following season. The speed in which the eventual show, "CSI: Miami" was conceived, cast and filmed was unheard of in network television. The fact that "Miami" quickly became another dependable hit show for CBS further emboldened Mr. Moonves to roll the "CSI" dice one more time. Like clockwork, talk of yet another new "CSI" series came onto the radar as "Miami" was airing its second season episodes and by the fall of 2004, we saw the debut of the second "CSI" series spin-off, this time set in the Big Apple.
Now, I can already hear a collective groan as soon as I mentioned the words "Big Apple". Another police procedural drama set in New York City? Come on! Haven´t we seen too many of those already (think "Law & Order" and "NYPD Blue")? Can´t people at least show some originality anymore? Well, the way I see it, Los Angeles is too similar to Miami in some ways, Washington DC is too political and frankly, not many other U.S. cities can boast of a more culturally diverse and character-driven city than NYC. Many of you I´m sure have plenty of other ideas on how the people in charge could have chosen a more desirable location for this new show ("CSI: Akron" perhaps?) but in my best put-on Brooklyn accent, let me tell you this: It is what it is, alright? Case closed!
The first thing that you notice about "CSI" NY" is its lead actor, Gary Sinise. This is certainly not the first time that a legitimate movie star has crossed over to the small screen but what is surprising to me is that Sinise would agree to a long-term commitment typical for a TV series while his movie career is nowhere near winding down. Whatever the reason, I´m glad Sinise took the job as he´s one of my favorite actors and the "CSI" shows are on top of my weekly TV must-watch list. Put them both together and you would be sure that I would be in front of my TV each week rooting for Detective Mac Taylor, Sinise´s character on "CSI: NY".
So, how different is "CSI: NY" from its other brethren, other than it is set in a different city? The one important thing that series creators Anthony E. Zuiker, Carol Mendelsohn and Ann Donohue try to inject into each of the three "CSI" shows is a sense of individuality and identity, especially in each of the shows´ lead actors. The underlying principle for all the "CSI" shows is still the same--the use of forensic science to solve crimes--but each of the three teams, firmly guided by its own pragmatic leader, takes a slightly different approach to nab the bad guys. While the original "CSI" introduced us to Gil Grissom (William L. Petersen), a bookish and sometimes socially inept forensic expert who has more of a passion for bugs than people, "CSI: Miami" is led by Lt. Horatio Caine (David Caruso), a brooding and sometimes overly dramatic do-gooder, whose dark disposition contrasts jarringly with the bright tropical look of the Florida setting. In the case of Detective Mac Taylor, an ex-Marine who lost his wife on 9/11, the intense sense of purpose in bringing criminals to justice trumps everything else, including his own personal life.
Taylor does his job based on a central principle and that is, everything is connected. Every piece of evidence, no matter how miniscule or ordinary will eventually connect back to the perpetrator. Helping him out in the field and in the forensic lab are CSIs Stella Bonasera (Melina Kanakaredes, "Providence"), Danny Messer (Carmine Giovinazzo) and Aiden Burn (Vanessa Ferlito, "24"), coroner Dr. Sheldon Hawkes (Hill Harper) and police detective Donald Flack (Eddie Cahill, "Miracle"). Surprisingly, I found that this cast gels very well together, even if the show is just in its first season. These talented actors make it seem as if they´ve been working together for years. Each of the characters on the show has an interesting background story and a little bit of it at a time is revealed throughout the season.
The strong-willed Stella, whose knack for speaking her mind and her unflinching desire to bring justice to the victims, suitably matches Mac´s own intense focus on his work. Danny, on the other hand, is himself a pretty competent and highly independent criminologist but has had numerous run-ins with his boss for disobeying orders, which is a definite no-no in how the military-trained Mac runs the lab. The only letdown among the cast is Vanessa Ferlito´s character Aiden, who has yet to develop in any interesting way in the span of the first season. This may probably be one of the reasons why Ferlito has chosen to bow out early in the current second season of the show. Apart from Sinise, the one standout in the cast has to be Hill Harper. As the Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Sheldon Hawkes, Harper brings an infectious enthusiasm to his character and the natural ease with which he spouts and explains complicated medical terms is a joy to watch. Like "CSI"´s own medical examiner Dr. Robbins (played by Robert David Hall), Dr. Hawkes is also very capable of injecting his own original brand of dark humor to his thankless and morbid job.
No show is perfect and mistakes are common, even for an established and proven franchise like "CSI". "CSI: NY" started off somewhat on the wrong footing by trying too hard to distinguish itself from "CSI: Miami". As a result, the look of the show was purposely made to be much, much darker than "Miami" and the tone, grittier. The color palette for "NY" consists mainly of dark blues and dirty browns, making it look like "Se7en – The Series". This was a nice change of pace for a "CSI" show but after a couple of episodes, it seemed as if New York City was constantly shrouded in shadows and gripped by a heinous crime wave. NYC quickly became a grim Gotham City with Batman nowhere in sight. Thankfully, halfway through the season, a course correction was initiated and "CSI: NY" significantly brightened up, from its look and its characters to its stories. This was an important turning point for the show as it slowly picked up more viewers and its ratings improved. On this DVD set, you can see how pronounced these changes are by watching an episode from early in the season and then comparing it to one of the later ones.
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