I continue to be amazed at shows like this, that seem to be popping up more and more. The original CSI was, for the most part, good and gripping television, with a unique look at law enforcement procedure. Whether it was necessarily realistic was a question that was easily avoided. For the most part, the original CSI stuck to the premise of evidence gathering and processing as a key factor in developing a criminal case. The bits with crime scene technicians questioning suspects while the assigned detective (who actually has investigative authority over the case) sat silently by was a little much, but didn't seem to overwhelm the overall show. That is clearly not the case with CSI:NY, nor it's sister show, CSI: Miami However, with CSI: Miami, and this show, the plots seem ridiculously contrived, and the technicians carry themselves with an overblown, overbearing authority that doesn't really seem to fit their actual role. In CSI:NY, we have a technician whose "New Yawk" accent has seemed to steadily increase with each succeeding episode, and also seems to come and go, with varying degrees of thickness. He has also cultivated the goateed look, probably to enhance his look of business-like toughness. We have a female technician whose prime acting ability seems to be puffing her lips out; another female technician who, in one episode, handles weapons like a deranged Rambo figure, to convince us of...what, exactly? Gary Sinise, normally an excellent actor, as a blank-faced, authority figure (the obligatory former-Marine).
Any white male suspects get talked down to, and treated with humiliation at every opportunity, to convince us of...what, exactly? Any character who hints at white, lower-class criminality is treated with utter contempt, unless the character is a soft-spoken white female, who is a victim of a lower-class, white male petty criminal; thus the violins start, and she then becomes the "victim", regardless of any choices she herself made which put her in this position. It's someone else's fault. Meanwhile, the drug-gang, car-jacking, street-thug world is strangely absent, or treated with kid gloves. Is this supposed to show us how "diverse" and "not racist" we fancy ourselves to be? This show, along with CSI: Miami, are not network dramas made to entertain. These are shows produced and written with someone's political and social agenda in mind. This is not the business of these television dramas. I find myself cringing at some of the ridiculous dialogue; the moral posturing, cheesy one-liners, mock-hip slang and insulting behavior of the characters. You end up having to question the motivations of the characters: did you pursue this line of work to genuinely help people and society, or to take advantage of the power and authority your position gives you over people you clearly see as beneath you? There isn't anything remotely likable about these characters, nor is there anything interesting about the ridiculous coincidences and bent and twisted science which allows these characters to neatly wrap cases up. I don't believe for a second this is even a decent, realistic look at crime scene procedure. There seems to be an underlying attempt to socially "educate" us.
Any white male suspects get talked down to, and treated with humiliation at every opportunity, to convince us of...what, exactly? Any character who hints at white, lower-class criminality is treated with utter contempt, unless the character is a soft-spoken white female, who is a victim of a lower-class, white male petty criminal; thus the violins start, and she then becomes the "victim", regardless of any choices she herself made which put her in this position. It's someone else's fault. Meanwhile, the drug-gang, car-jacking, street-thug world is strangely absent, or treated with kid gloves. Is this supposed to show us how "diverse" and "not racist" we fancy ourselves to be? This show, along with CSI: Miami, are not network dramas made to entertain. These are shows produced and written with someone's political and social agenda in mind. This is not the business of these television dramas. I find myself cringing at some of the ridiculous dialogue; the moral posturing, cheesy one-liners, mock-hip slang and insulting behavior of the characters. You end up having to question the motivations of the characters: did you pursue this line of work to genuinely help people and society, or to take advantage of the power and authority your position gives you over people you clearly see as beneath you? There isn't anything remotely likable about these characters, nor is there anything interesting about the ridiculous coincidences and bent and twisted science which allows these characters to neatly wrap cases up. I don't believe for a second this is even a decent, realistic look at crime scene procedure. There seems to be an underlying attempt to socially "educate" us.