CSI: Immortality

The finale was a promised ending to the last network show I have faithfully watched. I was not the least bit disappointed.

We were given the return of the beloved characters: Catherine Willows, Jim Brass, and Gil Grissom. For any true fan of the show there were nods to past episodes, from the pilot to Boom to Lady Heather's Box and more. It was a wonderful Easter Egg hunt of such connections. Viewing the shows numerous times I am still finding these little gems.

For those who wanted a major case, that is not what this movie was about nor should it have been. It was about giving fans such as myself chance to say goodbye, and envision the future for some of our favorite characters.

A man wearing a jacket full of explosives goes to the cashier of the Eclipse casino and blows-up, killing three people and injuring several around him. In Los Angeles, Catherine Willows tells her director that she owns the casino and will travel to Las Vegas. Russell assigns his team under the command of Sara to process the casino. Catherine meets Jim Brass, who works at the Eclipse now, and the employee Romina Gonzalez, who dies before reaching the ambulance. Then she asks Sara to work in the case, despite the conflict of interest. The wife of the bomber, Aisha Karmimi, tells Sara that her husband was not a terrorist and had only gambling problem. He was under therapy and got worse when the therapist quit her job. Morgan processes the surveillance tape and notes that a metallic object flying from the bomber's jacket. The object has the letters" LHK" and Greg identifies as Lady Heather Kessler. Russell brings Gil Grissom to help him to find the whereabouts of Lady Heather. He is welcomed by Catherine's daughter Lindsey, but he does not recognize her. Grissom and Sara go to Heather's house and find blood and the furniture overturned. Soon the CSI's learn that Heather quit her therapist practice when her granddaughter died three months ago hit by a car. Catherine and Sara return to Heather's house and find bombs in her secret Red Room. Meanwhile, in a school, the audience is watching a school play when a woman wired with explosives walks to the stage, one parent sees the bombs and cries, and people leave the theater with their children. A technician from the bomb squad comes to help the woman but she triggers the explosives killing them two. The woman was a teacher from the school that was under therapy of Lady Heather. Sara and Brass return to Heather's house, and she finds that the tapes with the last three months of session are missing. Out of the blue, a woman runs to Heather's car that explodes, injuring Brass. Grissom brings Lady Heather to the station, and she tells the CSIs that someone is framing her. But who and why?

"CSI: Immortality" is the finale of "CSI" that most of the fans were expecting to see, showing the fate of the characters. Russell is moving to east to another challenge. Sara will be the new Laboratory Director, replacing Russell and working direct under the command of Sheriff Ecklie. Finn is gone, killed by the Gig Habor Killer. Nick now is in San Diego as the Laboratory Director. Catherine is thinking about returning to Las Vegas, since Lindsey is working in the laboratory. Grissom and Lady Heather return and he opens his heart to Lady Heather, saying that he loves Sara, and she helped him. Dr. Robbins, David Phillips, Greg, Morgan, Hodges and Henry will stay in the laboratory. Last but not the least, Brass now works in the security of the Eclipse casino. Therefore, a nice conclusion for a fifteen-year show. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "C. S. I.: Investigação Criminal - O Filme" ("C. S. I.: Criminal Investigation - The Movie")

The story is complete and utter nonsense. Really, just nonsense. It is beyond contrived and just... There's no substance to any of this. No science, no nothing. This finale is more of a soap-opera story than anything else. Plausibility and rational thinking have no place in the story. The writers should be sent back to school. Or maybe just sent to school, because I'm not sure they ever went.

Honestly, I wish the show had ended before Danson and Shue joined the cast, because those two were the death knell for the series, and it has only gone downhill since.

I can understand why George Eads wanted no part of this story. I just wish I'd been wise enough to skip it.

I could criticize this for being far fetched, but that's what all fifteen years has been about. The reintroduction of Grissom and Lady Heather worked quite well. There were the usual twists and turns. It would have been nice to get Lawrence Fishburn ein there too but let's not get carried away. Of course, the unresolved romance between Sara and Gil was left hanging. Good show. Thanks to all of them.

There is a thing called CSI Effect. People *expect* ultra fast DNA tests, they expect "scientific evidence" very far from reality. This final chapter brings conclusion to the show. But the new case lacks original ideas, it is just as tired as the worst seasons of the show, and and it manages to inherit all the issues the CSI series had.

Old stars and characters return to a "yet another" important and big scene that can showcase it all, but as the show tries to amaze us with "detective fantasy" it manages to serve us more nonsense and an uninteresting plot.

When we watched the show the tale about individual characters added a bit of spice to this bland soup of scientific nonsense. The characters and how they performed added a lot to the "drama" in this series. But as a "service to old fans" they wanted to add conclusion to the show, and brought back (revived) old characters in an attempt to please most of us. Too bad it meant: We lost continuity.

And events in the team and continuity were one of the key redeeming qualities of the original show.