For most of my life I have been a big fan of television crime dramas and high tech scientific gadgets. This leaves me a little torn considering one of the latest popular trends for TV, the crime scene series. In the days of our youth there was the traditional lone, dedicated detective pounding the pavement searching for clues and interrogating suspects and informants in order to bring the easterly criminal to justice. This has been replaced by a team of highly trained forensic scientists bringing the best in cutting edge technology to bear tracking down and collecting evidence from tiny specs of material left behind at the scene of the crime. The change occurred fairly rapidly but crime series now seem to be science fiction set about a decade in our future. Most of what they show in forensics is real but they do fudge the time and cost involved for dramatic effect, currently series based on forensic science are proliferating at an increasing rate but one remains the flag ship of the modern trend: ‘CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’. Sometimes the series is just referred to as ‘CSI’ or since it has resulted in several city oriented spin-offs ‘CSI: Prime’. One of the primary reasons that this trend caught on so readily is the quality inherent in this original series. It quickly cemented a reputation for excellence in acting, writing and direction. So far the show has had an amazing run of eight years and will be starting number nine. With the DVD for season eight now out it is a perfect time to catch up and prepare for what is ahead. Paramount CBS once again has come up with an extra packed DVD set.

This was a very pivotal season for the series. After nine years it change has to be expected and if handled properly by the cast and crew it can help a long running series remain fresh and interesting. With several series currently active in the CSI franchise what sets them apart from each are two factors; the city used as the location and the character heading up the local team. For the last nine years the setting for CSI Prime has been Las Vegas. This city set in the Nevada desert offers a wide cross section of humanity ranging from the rich and famous to those desperate for one wining bet to save them. As a twenty four hour city the night and day shifts find more than enough crime to keep their investigative skills sharp. For all this time the senior supervisor has been Gil Grissom, PhD (William Petersen). His primary field of expertise is as a forensic entomologist. Just by looking at the insects crawling around a crime scene he can tell more about a crime than any old school detective. Grissom is a polymath whose expertise extends to a vast number of subjects. This season marks the last for the character although Peterson is staying on in the capacity of executive producer. The last couple of season Grissom has been in a romantic relationship with a co-worker, Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox). After being kidnapped and almost murdered by a serial killer Sara eventually left the crime lab for research in the jungles or Peru, ultimately Grissom (joins her there.

The other supervisory level CSI is Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger). She is a single mother of a teenage daughter and worked her way through school as a showgirl. Another regular who is sticking around is Nick Stokes (George Eads). He is the assistant supervisor just below Catherine in rank. This season marks the end for Warrick Brown (Gary Dourdan) who runs afoul of a local mob boss and is murdered by a corrupt cop. The vacancies in the lineup permitted the writers to introduce some new characters potentially providing some fresh interactions. Dr. Raymond Langston is a medical doctor who met Grissom during the investigation of a serial killer. Langston enjoyed the change of getting out of teaching and into the field so he joined CSI as a junior member of the team. This offers a new dynamic having the new guy an accomplished physician. It also avoids any criticism that he is replacing Grissom. Also new to the team is CSI level 2 Riley Adams (Lauren Lee Smith). She fits right in with the team even though she has a bit of a rebellious tendency. This season is a major rebuilding time for the series. The new characters were introduced over the span of several episodes so by the end of this season the revisions to the energy of the cast is still in progress but it is hopeful.