Amazon.com DVD Review - Murder, and its tale-telling aftermath, is the compelling subject of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Since it premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000, CSI was a ratings triumph, spawning a spinoff (CSI: Miami) and positioning itself for long-term success. As the first season demonstrates, creator Anthony Zuiker's foolproof formula was established early on, bolstered by a fine ensemble cast and requiring minimal tweaking as the season progressed; its Las Vegas-based "criminalists" eventually became "CSI" steeped in the scientific minutiae of forensic investigation, but the series arrived essentially intact, with an irresistible (and seemingly inexhaustible) supply of corpses and the mysteries that surround them. Influenced by the graphic precedent of movies like Seven and Kiss the Girls, CSI matches morbidity with dispassionate methodology; viewers are so fascinated by the investigative process that they're unfazed by intimate autopsies and internal (i.e., digitally animated) views of traumatized flesh, bone, and sinew.
While keeping abreast of cutting-edge technologies, CSI combines the ingenuity (and fallibility) of villains with the appealing humanity of its heroes. CSI director and entomologist Gil Grissom (played by series coproducer William Petersen) is introverted but ethically intense; he's both mentor and moral compass for his night-shift team, including a former stripper-turned-CSI (Marg Helgenberger); a recovering gambler (Gary Dourdan); an eager ace (George Eads) with room for improvement; a workaholic (Jorja Fox) who can't always remain emotionally detached from her cases; and a chief detective (Paul Guilfoyle) who's a necessary link to police procedure. Like The X-Files, CSI supports its characters with feature-film production values, employing a Rashomon structure that turns murder into a progressively accurate study of cause and effect. Script quality is consistently high ("Blood Drops" and "Unfriendly Skies" are exceptional), direction is slick and sophisticated, and the mysteries are complex enough to invite multiple viewings. Despite a regrettable shortage of DVD features, CSI's inaugural season remains addictively worthy of its lofty reputation. --Jeff Shannon

CSI DVD Review - The second season of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation consolidates the show's well-deserved popular appeal, while beginning to explore (gently at first) beneath the slickly professional surface of the investigators themselves. Gradually we learn more about what makes Grissom and his astonishingly gifted forensics team tick, beyond merely that they are workaholics who seem to require no sleep at all. The show's trademark reveals of vital evidence--be it on the autopsy slab or under the microscope--add a fresh spin to what is, at heart, a good old-fashioned whodunit series. William Petersen brings the requisite air of antiquarianism to a character whose meticulous demeanor and love of order consciously inherits the mantle of Sherlock Holmes (whose vast collection of tobacco samples and bottles of chemicals are the ancestors of CSI's high-tech crime lab). This is a series in which scientific evidence-gathering is elevated to the status of a religion. "When a tree falls in the forest, even if no one is around to hear, it does make a sound," affirms Grissom with the calm assurance of a yogi on the path to Enlightenment.

And just when CSI starts to seem a little too pat, just when the trail of clues seems a little too neat, the show always seems able to throw a surprise or two at us: perhaps there has been no crime after all; perhaps the evidence concerns a completely different crime altogether; or perhaps, as in one brave episode concerning brothers implicated in multiple murders, the evidence simply isn't good enough to convict the right man, even when Grissom knows which one really is guilty. As a result, every episode is simply compulsive viewing. --Mark Walker

Amazon.com DVD Review - Now firmly established as the top-rated television drama, by its third year CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is a show positively glowing with confidence. Even when individual cases seem either too contrived or too easily resolved, the indefatigable night shift at the Las Vegas PD crime lab always look the part, solving conundrums and discovering microscopic damning evidence while, apparently, never shedding their own loose hair or skin cells all over the supposedly quarantined crime scenes. In reality, Catherine Willow's flowing blonde locks would contaminate any evidence she collected, but in the world of CSI only the bad guys leave body parts behind--the CSIs themselves are so good they're positively pristine.  The 23 episodes of season 3 on this five-disc set present more deliciously bizarre situations for the problem-solving sleuths: cannibalism, snuff movies, dwarfs, death while drag racing, bodies falling from the sky, and various dismemberments all tax the team's acumen. These are all double or multiple-case episodes, though in a characteristic trick of the writing sometimes apparently unrelated murders turn out to be connected (or vice versa, as in "Blood Lust," in which a road-accident victim is not what he seems, and the death of the driver at the hands of an angry mob is made all the more tragic). The mix of genuine forensic science with the glossiest Jerry Bruckheimer production values, plus the virtues of a good ensemble cast headed by William Peterson's modern-day Sherlock Holmes, remains as compelling as ever. --Mark Walker

Amazon.com DVD Review - The nation's top-rated program got back to basics for its fourth season. The personal lives of the Las Vegas crime scene investigators would take more of a backseat to the stories themselves: the victims, the cases, the criminals. After a successful operation, William Peterson's Gil Grissom has regained his hearing--and his Manhunter-era beard--and is back in fighting form. "You're like your old self," Captain Brass (Paul Guilfoyle) notes in "All for Our Country." Just in time, as he'll soon be promoting one of his staff to lead CSI, and it's between Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox) and Nick Stokes (George Eads). He also has a new politically minded sheriff with which to contend, Rory Atwater (24's Xander Berkeley). The latter will make his first of several appearances in "Invisible Evidence," while the results of Grissom's lead CSI decision will be revealed in "No More Bets." One CSI will enjoy a bit of a personal life this season--Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger), who'll begin seeing nightclub owner Chris Bezich (Nicholas Lea, Krycek from The X-Files) in "Early Rollout." The other CSIs, particularly the re-energized Grissom, will remain as married to their jobs as ever--although the latter's unspoken interest in Sara will be tested in "Butterflied."

Other episodes of note include "Feeling the Heat," with Stacy Edwards and Arye Gross, "Jackpot," with Henry Czerny and Re-Animator's Jeffrey Combs, and the instantly infamous "Fur and Loathing," which was written by Jerry Stahl (Permanent Midnight) and centers on the death of a "furry." As Grissom explains to Willows, "furries" are a "tribe of people who prefer to interact as furry animals." Stahl also penned "Getting Off," about the death of a clown, and continues to come up with some of this still-groundbreaking series' most colorful scenarios. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

CSI Video DVD Review - Relaxing at the top of the Nielsen ratings, C.S.I. Crime Scene Investigation: The Complete Fifth Season stretched its legs a little to wander into the more grisly, more disturbing, and altogether more personal. "Down the Drain" showed the first overt romantic moment--in the form of a near-kiss--between Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger) and Warrick Brown (Gary Dourdan), which was discussed at length in the commentary and behind-the-scenes featurette as "a big moment." After that tease, the series pulled back and plunged into some of its most disturbing crimes yet. In "King Baby," a wealthy, middle-aged murder victim turns out to have lived as a baby, complete with adult-sized nursery; in "4x4," a personal trainer's face is eaten away from the inside out due to toxic mold in his house; in "Compulsion," a teen boy kills his younger brother for revealing that the older brother wets the bed.
The biggest change in this season is an HR one: new director Conrad Ecklie (Marc Vann) splits up the team, making Willows a shift supervisor and causing friction between she and Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox). He also adds a new member, Sofia Curtis (Louise Lombard), to banter with Gil Grissom (William Petersen)'s team. The move doesn't dampen the show's pace, as most cases break the team into twosomes anyway. But it does add a new villain in Ecklie, all politics and PR versus Grissom's heart to protect his team. Meanwhile, other cases dig deeper into the personal demons of Sidle and Willows; and the season finale, a slam-bam two-parter handily directed by Quentin Tarantino, focuses on the kidnapping of Nick Stokes (George Eads), buried alive with fire ants. This episode, the most emotionally charged yet, brings the entire team together and shows why it's still the No. 1 show on television. --Ellen A. Kim

Amazon.com - A perennial Nielsen ratings topper, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation shows no signs of losing creative momentum in its sixth season. The 24 episodes are taut, fascinating, and gruesome; that killer combination fulfills the promise this CBS series has shown since its inception. In its sixth year, the show delves into the characters' personal lives more so than in previous seasons, adding more dimension and truth to the roles. We see the looks exchanged between head investigator Gil Grissom (William Petersen) and his underling Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox) and learn the true nature of their relationship. Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger) works on a case involving her estranged father that may land him behind bars. And partially in response to Nick Stokes' (George Eads) kidnapping last season, Warrick Brown (Gary Dourdan) impetuously marries his girlfriend, much to the chagrin of Catherine. The personal vignettes are never at the expense of the twisted cases, which include a murder attempt on a fading Vegas beauty (Faye Dunaway), siblings affected by hypertrichosis (excessive hair growth), and the return of Lady Heather (Melinda Clarke) in a startling episode penned by author Jerry Stahl (i>Permanent Midnight. But the season's most compelling storyline features straightforward detective Jim Brass (Paul Guilfoyle), who is embroiled in a shootout in a poor, Hispanic neighborhood. The racial tension between the police and the residents is thick and menacing, and no one is sure who is in the right.
The main problem with CSI also is something that can't be prevented. In order to clue viewers in to some of the complicated procedures the investigators are undertaking, the characters habitually explain to each other why they're performing a certain test or checking for other components. They're scientists and already know why. The special features include audio commentary on six episodes. One of the most interesting (and funny) featurettes is the sound editor explaining how he utilizes vegetables to enhance autopsy scenes--and then later uses the leftovers for snacks. --Jae-Ha Kim

Amazon.com Review - The seventh season of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is as solid as any of the series' previous years. The stories are strong, the actors share potent chemistry, and the characters are believable because they are flawed human beings. This year, CSI delves into the complicated romance between head investigator Gil Grissom (William Petersen) and his underling Sara Sidle (Jorga Fox). The two are reticent to let their colleagues in on their relationship, and the season finale offers a gasp-inducing prospect of their future together. Earlier on, though, there's even a bit of a triangle when Sara learns about Gil's prior romance with dominatrix Lady Heather (Melinda Clarke). The normally steely Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger) faces her own dilemmas when she wakes up in a motel room, unsure if she has been sexually assaulted. And fellow CSI Greg Sanders (Eric Szmanda) finds himself the victim of a gang beating after he witnesses a brutal attack. In a nice homage to the Who--whose song "Who Are You" serves as the theme song for the series--singer Roger Daltrey makes a guest appearance in an episode called "Living Legend." Daltrey portrays a man who may or may not be responsible for a series of modern-day murders--even though he reportedly had died in the 1970s. The Who frontman, who has some acting credits under his belt, is perfect playing an enigmatic (and possibly crazy) man who is never quite what he seems. Throughout the season, Grissom and Co. are plagued by a serial killer who taunts the CSIs with clues left at the scene of the crime, whose calling card is a series of painstaking miniatures replicating his atrocities. The season finale deals with the Miniature Killer going after one of the CSIs. Whether the investigator lives or dies won't be known until the eighth season, but it's a breathtaking finale befitting this quality drama. --Jae-Ha Kim

Amazon.com DVD Review - The eighth season of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation begins with the answer to the previous season's cliffhanger: Yes, CSI Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox) survives. But fans of this top-rated crime procedural won't be able to breathe a sigh of relief. By the end of the 17 episodes--which originally aired during the 2007-2008 television season--two fan favorites will be gone. This year, CSI explores the complicated romance between Sara and head CSI Gil Grissom (William Petersen). But the storyline is weaved in so well with the gruesome cases that their relationship is never overpowering to the viewer. Though the show was truncated due to the Writers Guild strike, the flow of the series doesn't lose any momentum--not even with the loss of cast members or even episodes that center on peripheral supporting characters. Fellow CSIs Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger), Nick Stokes (George Eads), and Warrick Brown (Gary Dourdan) return to help solve seemingly unsolvable cases. But not all of the best moments involve whodunits. Some of the most compelling vignettes revolve around Warrick, who is battling a nasty prescription drug addiction as he tries to navigate his way through a messy divorce. Longtime fans of the series may remember child genius Hannah West (portrayed chillingly by Juliette Goglia), who helped get her brother acquitted of a murder charge in season six. She is back after her brother is once again charged with homicide. Sara--who had wrongfully believed that Hannah was just an innocent little girl--finds herself unable to distance herself from this case. There is a crossover ratings stunt episode with Jack Malone (Anthony LaPaglia) visiting from CBS' other drama Without a Trace. While both LaPaglia and Petersen are formidable, there really isn't room for both of them on one show. And let's face it, Petersen's our guy. --Jae-Ha Kim

Season 1 through Season 8 bundle of the  popular hit television series, CSI on DVD.