While William Petersen left partway through Season 9 and Laurence Fishburne stepped into the breach, Season 10 of CSI is the first full season with Fishburne in the lead role. It also sees a somewhat surprising return for Jorja Fox as Sara Sidle, who left during Season 7, made a few guest appearances afterwards but is suddenly back at the start of Season 10. Apparently she was originally only signed for a few episodes as a guest star but is now back in the show full time.
Shes a welcome returnee, giving a further anchor to a series thats been losing quite a few of its original stars in recent years. But how does Fishburne do? While largely a successful addition to the series, it does feel like a different series since hes come onboard. Thats largely because William Petersen did a great job of mixing dark drama with a lighter tone to create a show that went to some very strange and bleak places, but never stopped entertaining. While Fishburne tries to do this too, hes more comfortable and convincing with the dark than the light. Indeed many of his lighter moments simply dont ring true.
The production team seem to realise this, using the rest of the team more to lighten the tone its particularly noticeable that while being slightly sidelined when Fishburne first came in, series veteran Marg Helgenberger is brought to the fore more this season while Fishburnes Dr. Raymond Langston feels angst and pain about everything, despairing about the darkness of the world. It may have taken them a while to get things right, but a few episodes into Season 10, and with Joja Fox back in the fold, the show hits its stride again.
It also starts off very strongly, with a fantastic two minute bullet time sequence that whizzes through the lab and out into the parking lot. Its amazing to think how only a decade ago we were stunned by what Fishburne was doing with bullet time in The Matrix, and now they can do effects that go well beyond anything The Matrix conceived of for a TV show. There are a fair few strong episodes too, with this seasons recurring plot being the search for a serial killer who likes to do strange things with organs and insert letters cut out of books into bodies.
Langstons tendency to take things personally ends up with him getting way too involved in the case and becoming a bit of a target for the killer himself, with dramatic consequences in the season finale. As this is the season that also saw the crossover with CSI: Miami and CSI: New York, with Raymond Langston on the tail of human traffickers across the country, the relevant episodes of the other CSIs are also includes in this release, so you get the full trilogy.
Its a pretty good season. While not going back to the series heyday and perhaps a little darker than it was, its good to see that while by their 10th season most shows are purely resting on their laurels, CSI is still striving to be at the top of its game.
Theres also quite a few decent special features. Leaving Las Vegas: Langston Heads East, about the three CSI crossover episodes was also included in the latest CSI: New York box set (and will presumably also feature in the relevant CSI: Miami set when thats released). Theres also a really interesting look at the making of the bullet time shot, showing just how much work went into that single, very impressive shot, while theres also a featurette on the annual lab rats episode (which this time sees Hodges and Wendy pretending to some kids, including High School Musicals Lucas Grabeel, that they are the CSIs and not the lab techs) and a retrospective look at the season.
Its a good set and definitely worth a look for fans of the franchise.
Overall Verdict: While perhaps not the best CSI season ever, the show still has what it takes, with Laurence Fishburne proving a decent addition to the team.
Special Features:
Frozen In Time: CSI Season Opener Featurette
CSI: Miami Crossover Bone Voyage Episode
CSI: NY Crossover Hammer Down Episode
Leaving Las Vegas: Langston Heads East Featurette
Getting Lost Featurette
Lab Rats: The Saga Continues Featurette
CSI: The Experience Featurette
Killer Tales: Season 10 Of CSI Featurette
Reviewer: Tim Isaac