You all know that I love my share of procedural crime dramas, but I'll be the first to admit that they are a bit formulaic in nature, which can make them a bit stale from time to time. This is why I love it when they break from the mold every now and then and give us something completely different. Without a Trace did it with the episode from earlier this season where we saw everything from the missing child's parents' perspective, Law & Order: SVU did it with an episode that took place over the course of just a few hours while Benson tried to help a possible kidnapped child and Cold Case did it with an episode that worked from the inside out when the detectives attempted to prove that an imprisoned man was innocent in the murder of a deli worker. Last night, it was CSI's turn to tweak with the formula and allow us to see the crime through the eyes of the killer. Like the shows that have done so before it, the tweaking worked wonderfully. I'll admit that when it first started I was a little concerned that the show just wasn't going to be able to pull it off because we all knew that Brass' interview with a "suspect" was fruitless considering we already knew who did it. I also found myself wanting to scream through the television that the two murders were connected. Ah, me of little faith, though. As the episode continued, I realized that it was pulling off something that this particular show never does -- it was allowing us to understand and humanize the murderer. I found myself understanding why he did what he did and feeling a little, tiny bit bad for his family and their situation. This is something that only happens to me when I watch Cold Case because that show deals heavily with the gray area of crime, whereas all other crime shows (CSI included) deal more with the black and white areas of it. Overall, it was an interesting experiment that worked really well and proved that this show seems to have an endless vault of ideas.
Of course, you don't have to tweak with a formula to produce a compelling hour of television, especially when the procedural formula seems to be working. And it was working last night on Without a Trace. As you know so well by now that you're probably repeating it in your sleep, this episode was partially filmed on location in Tokyo, but would it had mattered if it hadn't been, really? I mean, it was cool to see the authentic shots of the streets of Tokyo, but there were only like two of those shots! The rest were inside buildings, which more than likely, were shot on the Warner Bros. studio lot in California. The story behind the whole Filmed! On! Location! promotion was that series star Anthony LaPaglia was heading to Tokyo on personal business and decided to turn it into a working vacation. Anyway, the episode was pretty solid, if not a little predictable. It seemed obvious from the beginning that the missing former Marine was innocent and trying to clear his name, but the twist that his current employer was the actual man responsible for the rape caught me off guard. Of all the episodes where the missing person turns up dead, this one seemed the least likely because I really didn't see the justification behind it. So what if the tape was released? The girl never said who really raped her on it, so Mr. Autoshop's secret would have been safe. Even if it did come out that he was responsible, which our missing former Marine didn't even realize, why would he trade a rape rap for a murder rap? I don't understand why he thought killing someone was better than possibly serving a few years for rape. The only logical reason I can come up with is that the writers wanted to have that scene between Elena and the victim's mother. I did like Jack's answer to Elena's question about whether telling the victim's family gets any easier ("Unfortunately, yes").
WB, come on down! It's your turn to tell us all about your sweeping plans for this month! That's right; today we're going to take a look at what the WB has in store for all your favorite shows this month. As always, I will try to keep the following as spoiler free as possible, but be warned that it might contain minor spoilers. All dates are subject to change.
Gilmore Girls - Rory is suddenly in need of new living quarters after Paris kicks her out of the apartment on February 7. On February 14, Rory and Logan invite Lorelai and Luke to spend a romantic weekend at Logan's house on Martha's Vineyard. Finally, on February 28, Rory learns how Logan spent his time during their recent breakup.
Beauty and the Geek - The geeks and the beauties head to Las Vegas for a game of strip poker on February 9th.
One Tree Hill - Fall Out Boy returns to the show on February 15th as the time capsule gets released on Tree Hill High.
Charmed - Someone gets engaged on February 19th and Phoebe gets up close and personal with Cupid on February 26th.
Smallville - Clark befriends a half-human/half-machine cyborg who was held captive at LuthorCorp on February 16th.
Other sweeps highlights for the WB -- Nick Lachey will guest star on Twins (Feb. 24th), 7th Heaven celebrates Valentine's Day (Feb. 13th) and the network airs Just Married (Feb. 23rd). For more on the WB's sweeps plans this month, visit The Futon Critic.
About Last Night... ABC and CBS split the first hour of the night with the former's Dancing with the Stars getting the higher total in households and the latter's premiere of Survivor: Panama -- Exile Island getting the higher total viewers for the hour, followed by NBC comedies Will & Grace and Four Kings. At 9, CBS was the clear winner with CSI, followed by the last half hour of ABC's Dancing and Crumbs and NBC comedies My Name is Earl and The Office. The final hour of the night went to CBS's Without a Trace, followed by NBC's ER and ABC's Primetime. For more on last night's ratings, visit Zap2it.
~Primetime Pass~
@8 p.m. - We find out which team is eliminated on ABC's Dancing with the Stars results show. Over on Fox, The Bernie Mac Show celebrates its 100th episode.
@9 p.m. - Annabeth works to convince a mother to testify against her son on CBS's Close to Home. Over on ABC, Swain's romantic involvement with a former prosecutor may hinder the National Justice Project's latest case on In Justice.
@10 p.m. - An expensive DNA machine is stolen on CBS's Numb3rs.
SUNDAY EDITION
@6 p.m. - ABC airs Super Bowl XL.
@10 p.m. - ABC's Grey's Anatomy gets the prime spot after the Super Bowl broadcast concludes (actual start time may change). On this well-guarded episode, Christina Ricci and Kyle Chandler guest star as a life-threatening situation enters Seattle Grace and puts everyone's lives in danger.
QUICK CUTS
*Actress Amanda Peet is the latest to sign onto Aaron Sorkin's new project, tentatively titled Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Matthew Perry signed onto the NBC pilot last week. The show will delve into the behind-the-scenes antics at a sketch comedy show ala Saturday Night Live. Peet is set to play the new president of the network according to the trades. The show is considered a lock for NBC's fall schedule.
*And finally, NBC is making history with its latest project announcement and you'll have a chance to be part of the program's decision-making process. Launching this summer is a new, exclusively online talent competition that the network is calling StarTomorrow. Viewers will see all the episodes online each week and vote for the contestant that they want to see win a recording contract with legendary music executive Tommy Mottola. The 16-week series will debut sometime this Summer on nbc.com.
That's all for today. Be sure to tune in Monday for a special Super Bowl commercial extravaganza! Find out my picks for the best ads in all sorts of categories. Afterall, you all know the ads are the best part! Plus, all the latest television news.
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1 comment:
I agree with you about Without a Trace. I really didn't see the whole need for killing the victim. Plus I found him to be a very likable character. His death was a real bummer. I had decided to watch wat instead of ER last night because ER story just looked too sad and then WAT ends up being a bit of a bummer too.
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