An elite team of
police forensic evidence investigation experts work their cases
in Las Vegas using scientific analysis and the frequent leap
in logic. Created by
Anthony E. Zuiker, CSI stars William
Peterson, Marg Helgenberger, Gary Dourdan, George Eads, Jorja
Fox, Paul Guilfoyle, Eric Szmanda, and Robert David Hall.
CRITIQUE
The fourth season of
CSI continues with success the established pattern of
telling intriguing stories with smart and researched scripts,
showcasing a cool and sophisticated visual style, emoting solid
performances from the main cast (especially Peterson with a beard
this time around!), creating a terrific music score from the notes
composer David M. Keane, using flashy and moody locations, and the
list goes on. Simply put, the formula for success remains the same
for Season 4, and the result is a solid season for one of the
hottest shows on TV.
Before the DVD
releases I didn't see the show on TV, but watched a good number of
shows from the fourth season. While watching the DVD I realized
just how many episodes I've already seen, so I skipped past them.
Long story short, I probably saw half of the season on TV, but I
don't remember watching all that much. There is a clear advantage
to seeing CSI on DVD, because the video is in widescreen
and commercials don't interrupt the show. The fifth season is now
airing on CBS, but I'll wait until next October for the DVD.
Certain episodes
stand out in the fourth season, and several also further the
character's lives, or allude to things. The dialogue is sometimes
stock and plain, but conversations about topics other than
forensics and such still work well, and overall the chemistry
between the characters is one major reason CSI works as
well as it does. And I guess because of this, there isn't one
clunker among the season's twenty-three episodes, but a few are
only average.
The really good
episodes are the two-part premiere Assume Noting and All
for Our Country, Feeling the Heat (a heat wave prompts
two cases for the team), Jackpot (Grissom visits the small
town to investigate a death), Invisible Evidence (the team
has 24 hours to find the evidence or the killer skips trial),
Butterflied (a tense investigation by Grissom into the death
of a person who looks like one of the CSI), Suckers
(Grissom, Sara and Nick investigate an apparent electrocution, but
then must solve a big heist of Japanese antiquities at the
adjoining casino), and Bad to the Bone (the death of
violent killer prompts an investigation into his past),
Other good episodes
include Fur and Loathing, After the Show, Eleven
Angry Jurors, Paper or Plastic, Dead Ringer, and
Turn of the Screws. The last two shows of the season, No
More Bets and Bloodlines, are quite good as well, but
not great. Grissom Versus the Volcano has some interesting
things going on, especially the opening, though Coming of Rage
is only average (despite an interesting sequence that reveals the
path of a suspect). Getting Off and Bad Words are
average also. Early Rollout presents an average homicide,
though the character stories are good.
THE VIDEO
Paramount presents CSI in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen.
The show's color palette is quite extravagant. Colors are
bright, sharp, and very well-saturated. Definition, sharpness,
and detail look quite good. The print image is clear except for
notable areas of grain in darker scenes. I don't mind the grain
that much as it adds to show's look and feel. A great-looking
show that looks even better on DVD. CSI looks terrific in widescreen.
THE AUDIO
Paramount presents CSI in English 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound.
The front speakers have their work cut out for them. Audio
quality is clear and easy to understand. Despite the lack of
subtitles, all dialogue and sound effects are clearly audible.
The music sounds really good, too. Overall, a very nice
presentation.
A Spanish Dolby
Surround dub is also available.
THE EXTRAS
This time there
are seven audio commentaries on select episodes, up one
track from the Season 3 DVD set. These tracks have some good
information and interesting trivia, but some of the discussions
are also obvious and quiet (there are many times when nothing is
said). Either way, the commentaries include: Assume
Nothing by Anthony E. Zuiker and Carol Mendelsohn, Homebodies by Naren Shankar and Ken Fink,
Feeling the Heat by Anthony E. Zuiker and Eli Talbert,
Jackpot by Danny Cannon and Naren Shankar,
Invisible Evidence by Danny Cannon and Josh Berman, Butterflied by Anthony E. Zuiker, Carol Mendelsohn,
Richard J. Lewis and David Rambo, and Bad To The Bone
by Eli Talbert.
The lone bonus
material on the sixth disc is
The
Evolution of an Episode From Concept to Completion
(50:48), a four-part documentary that covers the four main
stages of producing an episode (in this case, the focus is on
Suckers). You can play these individually or as one via the
"play all" option. Script looks at the writers room and
explains how an idea for a show makes it to the page. Josh
Berman and Danny Cannon are interviewed. Pre-Production
eavesdrops on a
roundtable script
read-through, and then shows the work that goes in in the
various pre-production departments. Production is the
longest of the four parts, and shows the viewer on-set footage
and interviews with Danny Cannon, the assistant director, Alex
Chen who tells us where the production goes next, and stars
Marg Helgenberger,
William Peterson and Paul Guilfoyle (Marg is interviewed by
herself). Lastly, Post-Production covers the editing
stage and scoring session, and that completes production of the
episode. While interesting and nice to look at, the documentary
wasn't all too educational for me - the viewers who don't know
the production process might get more out of it than I.
My only
complain about this set is the lack of scene selections, a "play
all" feature, and English subtitles. These features shouldn't have been so
easily overlooked. Each
episode runs approximately 44 minutes and is
organized into six chapters.
FINAL THOUGHTS
CSI's fourth
season is solid and commends the highest grade, even if it featured a
few shows that were only average. The video/audio quality is quite
good, and the extras are mostly informative.
