By Pam Glazier · September 24, 2011
The premiere episode of the 8th season of CSI: New York’s acted as a retrospective eulogy for the events that took place in New York on September 11, 2001. Landing right around the ten year anniversary of the attack, this was the only direction the show could have logically taken. This episode follows the characters that we’ve come to know and love as they remember their specific small, personal moments within the tragedy that affected a nation. Of course, there is a crime to solve, and they’re on it, and they’re efficient (as always)—but it is still background to this, a day of remembrance.
The writers of CSI: New York created a piece of drama that shared the pain of the event, but at the same time respected the dignity of those who were actually involved. This episode was tactful, and seemed to serve more as a tool of healing and unification than simply another random hour of television.
The first thing we see is detective Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise) shaving in his bathroom. After some affectionately loving banter with his wife, she kisses him and smudges away some left over shaving cream by his ear and asks, “What would you do without me?” Cut to Mac, today, in his bathroom alone. He wipes away some excess shaving cream from his ear with sadness, and we hear on the radio he is listening to that it’s the ten year anniversary of September 11th.
Obviously, attitudes regarding the attack and its aftermath vary from person to person depending on their views on life and what they’ve experienced. This is captured in the show as the writers explore the many different memories and responses of various characters, from the regulars on the show down to the single-use character who is in this episode only. We see Detective Flak (Eddie Cahill) remember first meeting Danny Messer (Carmine Giovinazzo) as they try and save a young woman amidst the sky-darkening toxic cloud that hovered over New York that day. Conversely, we see a girl, as she’s getting booked, explain how she’ll never be able to forget the face of her victim. A detective tells her that that reaction is especially fitting because of what day it is. The girl then asks, “Why? What’s today?”
The many views and reactions allow for a wide net. There is something relatable for everyone in this episode because of the varied types of memories shown. It’s powerful, and it captures us all in a respectful muted appropriateness. There is no grand terror or provocation of thought. This is a meditation on grief and moving forward without violent reaction-ism or revelation. It is as it should be.
Of course, because it is as it should be, it is not gripping. But that was intentional, by design.
This would be a good work to study if you are looking for examples of stories that address a deeply anchored pain within an environment of the present and how that relates to characters as they go about everyday life.
In the end, it was well-crafted, watchable, and somewhat cathartic. No clichés or theatrics were resorted to. And accomplishing catharsis while also avoiding clichés and theatrics can be one of the most difficult tasks one can be confronted with when writing a story that deals with subject matter such as this.
Pam Glazier · September 24, 2011
