CSI and Tarantino by Lezah

Thursday night's season finale of CSI was directed by Quentin Tarantino, and attracted 30.1 million viewers. The fifth season of TV's highest rated drama was a two hour long thriller that did not follow the usual CSI crime/evidence collection/science lesson/problem solved format; Tarantino not only directed but also conceived of this particular episode, and it showed.  This episode did start with a crime, but was light on clues, so there was little in the way of evidence collection/science lesson; in addition, even though the show was two hours long, there was a finite time frame in which the problem had to be solved, and this tension and urgency was translated very well to the viewer.  

There were also some typical Tarantino touches in the use of cameo appearance from older actors (Tony Curtis et al.),the scene where two characters played a board game, discussing the rules in lengthy and nerdy depth,  and the quirky, evocative music (The Turtles) used during the discovery of key evidence scene.  Some of the shots were pure Tarantino as well, especially the scene where Grisson stands outside of the shed; he is off-centre and the use of negative space speaks to the isolation of a person in a situation such as this. Likewise, Tarantino directed the character Warwick in a very different way than he is normally portrayed, both in actions and in delivery of dialogue.  

In the Lower Mainland, where I live, a huge storm swept through that evening during the show which only added to the mood; chilling, suspenseful, and more than a little twisted, I enjoyed this episode immensely and look forward to seeing it again in reruns, because I always find that Tarantino packs so much in that I often don't catch it all the first time around.  

Lezah