The popularity of the CSI franchise is astounding, ensuring that even this, the least popular of the shows, has lasted six series and is now going into its seventh in the US. It also turns out these Season 6 episodes will be the last we see of CSI: NY stalwart Melina Kanakarades, who plays Det. Stella Bonasera, as she left the series over the summer, and has been replaced by Sela Ward as new character Jo Danville.
However we don’t get to meet Danville yet, as Stella is still around for these 23 episodes, which take in everything from a house that’s booby trapped to kill people to Hawkes having to pretend to be a prisoner during a jailhouse riot. Probably due to feeling the need to compete against its older CSI siblings, CSI: NY has always had a tendency to get a little more far-fetched than is perhaps advisable, but thanks to Gary Sinise and the rest of the cast, it usually works. The season picks up a month after the dramatic Season 5 cliffhanger, where Mac Taylor (Sinise) and his team were in a bar when the place was riddled with bullets. The fallout from this, including Danny (Carmine Giovinazzo)being in a wheelchair, unsure whether he’ll get the use of his legs back, and Don still reeling from a tragic death, ricochet through the ensuing episodes.
Unfortunately though, the series’ major recurring strand for the first half of the season, the search for the Compass Killer (played by Skeet Ulrich), isn’t that great, largely because the murderer isn’t really that interesting, and much of it is more than a little silly. That said, the last Compass Killer episode, which sees the team running around the old New York World’s Fair site in Flushing Meadows (best known as the location of the climax of Men In Black), is quite fun. Likewise the final episode of the season, which sees the return of killer Shane Casey (Edward Furlong), isn’t that good, once more because the character, who first appeared in Season 3, isn’t really worth returning to, despite being a nemesis for the team. However, away from this, it’s another pretty good set of mysteries, and works extremely well when it sticks to the basics - murder and forensics.
You also get some pretty good bonus features. The featurettes are better than normal, with a decent range of topics covered. However the real centrepieces are bonus episodes of CSI and CSI: Miami. The reason it’s more than worth having these, is that they act as a major crossover for all three series. The bonus episodes, along with the CSI: NY Season 6 episode, ‘Hammer Down’, tell a continuous story, starting with CSI: Vegas’ Ray Langston (Laurence Fishburne) heading to Miami on the trail of a missing girl, where he meets up with Horatio Cane (David Caruso) and his team. They begin to uncover a major cross-country human trafficking ring, where girls aren’t just used for sex but also have their organs harvest. This takes Ray onto New York and an encounter with Mac Taylor’s squad, before he heads back to Vegas for the finale. While not without its flaws, overall it works a treat, and it’s great to see the shows do a proper crossover, although we’re still waiting for the day when the leads from all three shows t
urn up in the same episode. As well as the complete ‘CSI Trilogy’, there are also several featurettes taking a look at the crossovers, which really make you appreciate what a hectic time Laurence Fishburne must have had. After all, all three episodes all three episodes initially ran in the same week in the US.
After a rocky start in its first Season, CSI: NY has been very consistent, and overall Season 6 continues this run. There may be a few low points, but it balances out so that it’s still a very entertaining series. It’ll just be interesting to see how the show will do without Kanakarades, who’s been excellent as Mac Taylor’s right hand.
Overall Verdict: Although the recurring plots aren’t that great, Season 6 of CSI: NY is still a winner.
Special Features:
Audio Commentaries
‘Better Than Botox’ Featurette
‘CSI: Miami Crossover – Bone Voyage’ Episode
‘CSI Crossover – The Lost Girls’ Episode
‘East Coast Heroes’ Featurette
‘A Killer House’ Featurette
‘A Close Examination: Dr Sid Hammerback’ Featurette
‘Creation Of A Crime Scene’ Featurette
‘Seeing Stars’ Featurette
‘Leaving Las Vegas: Langston Heads East’ Featurette
Reviewer: Tim Isaac
