There’s just something about Las Vegas, isn’t there?  CSI, the breakthrough television hit that spawned several spin-offs and numerous rip-offs, returns to DVD with the complete Eighth Season, wherein a lot of big changes occur…but, before I get to hinting at any possible spoilers (although I don’t see why I should say “Spoiler!” since nobody else on the ‘Net does!), let’s go down the list of our crack crew of investigators…

Gil Grissom (William Petersen).  Male.  White.  The boss.  Somewhat intricate, a bit eccentric, definitely intelligent.  Captured the Chesapeake Ripper long before bus driver Ed Norton did -- no, wait, that was someone else.  Kinda-sorta secretly dating Sara Sidle.


Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger).  Female.  White.  Bit of a MILF.  Secretly has the hots for Warrick Brown.


Warrick Brown (Gary Dourdan).  Male.  A brother.  Looks like Chris Cornell from Soundgarden.  Has a lot of personal issues.

Nick Stokes (George Eads).  Dude.  Texan.  Big meaty hunk of a feller with an equally big meaty heart that always seems to get the dumbest proverbial post-mortem pre-credit puns.

Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox).  Chick.  Vanilla.  A troubled kid.  Has a gap between front teeth that is slightly erotic-looking in a weird fetishistic way that I’m not going into.

Capt. Jim Brass (Paul Guilfoyle).  Guy.  From New Jersey.  Carries a gun.  Don’t say anything to upset him.

Greg Sanders (Eric Szmanda).  Has penis.  Caucasian.  Lab geek turned field agent.  So playful that he once accidentally killed a man.

Dr. Al Robbins (Robert David Hall).  Gent.  Old fart.  Chief Medical Examiner.  Plays in a band.  Runs furniture store on the side.

David Phillips (David Berman).  Geeky white boy.  Assistant Medical Examiner.  Huge Rainn Wilson fan.

David Hodges (Wallace Langham).  White and nerdy.  Lab tech.  Socially awkward.  Lives with his mother.  Probably still a virgin.  Has it bad for just about every single woman in the workplace.  Frequents DVD discussion forums under the username ‘Monterey Jack’.

Wendy Simms (Liz Vassey).  Has vagina.  White.  Hot.  Busty.  Brunette.  Has vagina.  Woof.

Archie Johnson (Archie Kao).  The token Asian A/V guy.  Cute.  Loves movies.  My kind of person.

**Spoilers Ahead**

OK, so the Season Seven Finale had Sara being kidnapped by a female serial murderess nicknamed The Miniature Killer, which is where the Season Eight Premiere kicks off (the rather “Eh?” Ep, entitled Dead Doll).  From there, it’s the usual “CSI” fare (which means better writing than “CSI: NY” and a whole hell of a lot better writing than “CSI: Miami”): murders, suicides, decapitated go-carters strolling down the desert highways, exorcisms, dead hermaphrodites, dogfights, deceased deer in dresses, another guest-starring role for Method Man, the whole lot.

Several standout “highlight” episodes include The Chick Chop Flick Shop, where a murder at a B-Horror movie studio is committed; Who And What (guest starring Anthony LaPaglia), the first part of a crossover episode with sister-series “Without A Trace”; Good-Bye And Good Luck, where we bid adieu to CSI Sidle; the more lighthearted You Kill Me, wherein lab nerd Hodges introduces his board game, Lab Rats (giving some of the series’ more minor performers, including Sheeri Rappaport and Jon Wellner, a chance to strut their stuff); and Cockroaches, the beginning of the end for CSI Warrick, whose downward spiral ends with the Season Finale, For Gedda.

Presentation
Like just about every series from the 2007 to 2008 year, “CSI” met up with the Writer’s Strike, which cut the usual amount of twenty-some-odd eps down to 17.  Despite the fact that a bunch of union assholes took some time off to say “Oh, we want more money to write crap!”, CBS/Paramount nevertheless brings all 17 episodes home to you with some great 1.78:1 anamorphic transfers on 5 Discs.

The English 5.1 soundtrack is good, but doesn’t always succeed in wowing the viewer (or listener, if you will).  A Spanish Surround track is also available.  There are no Subtitles included, but Closed Captioning is provided.

Extras
Disc One has the usual handful of Previews for other TV shows.

Disc Two features the “Without A Trace” episode Where And Why, the follow-up to Who And What.  A nice addition (especially considering they’re released by different companies), since, without it, we’d all be wondering whose dumb idea it was to just up and end Who And What with the murderer/kidnapper boarding a bus with his son/victim.

Disc Three has two Audio Commentaries: one for You Kill Me (Episode 808) with writer Naren Shankar and actors Wallace Langham, Liz Vassey, Archie Kao, Sheeri Rappaport, and David Berman; and the other on Episode 809 (Cockroaches) with writer/producer Dustin Abraham, actor William Petersen, and director William Friedkin (yes, the William Friedkin).  Also included are two Featurettes: While The Cast’s Away, The Rats Will Play, and William Friedkin: A Different Take.  Both Commentaries are a fun listen (although my money’s riding on the first one with all the Lab Tech cast members), and each Featurette is related to those two episodes as well.

Disc Four only offers us a Deleted Scene from Ep#812, Grissom’s Divine Comedy.  The clipped segment doesn’t really add anything to the episode (other than a reference to Sara), so it’s easy to see why it was left out.

Disc Five wraps up the fun with several more Featurettes: So Long, Sara Sidle, What Happened In Vegas…, Shot In The Dark, and TOD: A Bug’s Life.  The first two bits are cast-based, while the second two are more behind-the-scenes oriented.

The Bottom Line
Fun?  Yes.  Farfetched?  At time, sure…but at least the writers in this series have the decency to acknowledge it, such as in Ep#816, Two And A Half Deaths, wherein the entire writing staff takes a playful jab at Hollywood.