CSI: Crime Scene Investigation – Season 3 Part 2 DVD – David Berman, Gary Dourdan

The second half of CSI’s third season serves up generous amounts of the bizarre and depraved for our voyeuristic viewing pleasure: a man driving with a wooden spike in his head, ultra-violent Robot Wars, decomposing bodies in toxic waste drums and violent death during foam-soaked debauchery all add up to a typical night’s work for the Las Vegas crime lab. Standout episodes include the 90-minute special, “Lady Heather’s Box”, in which Grissom renews his acquaintance with the sultry bordello madam and her world of S&M. But is the delightful dominatrix the murderer? In “Night at the Movies” the plot hinges on a reworking of a Hitchcock classic and in “Play with Fire” an explosion in the lab has disastrous consequences for the team. Personal concerns come to the fore in these 12 episodes more prominently than ever before (a contrast to the show’s original single-minded focus on the cases). Here, Sara Sidle’s paramedic boyfriend unwittingly reveals a guilty secret when he is involved in a devastating car accident (“Crash & Burn”); Warwick witnesses his boyhood mentor falling apart when the older man’s daughter is killed in a drive-by shooting (“Random Acts of Violence”); Catherine Willows’ daughter and ex-husband are caught up in more violence and mayhem; and Grissom finally has to admit that his hearing problem can no longer be ignored. A welcome development is the expansion of the CSI unit and the introduction of some new, albeit secondary, team members. Guest stars include Elizabeth Berkely (“Lady Heather’s Box”) and Bobcat Goldthwait (“Last Laugh”). The show remains unrivalled for slick, fast-paced entertainment. On the DVD: CSI, Series 3 Part 2 is a three-disc set with a handful of minor extra features. It has two frankly rather uninspiring episode commentaries featuring the directors, scriptwriters and other crew. Better are the two small featurettes–“Making It Real” and “The Writer’s Room”–that shed more light on the making of the show. –Mark Walker