Before seeing this episode, basically all I knew about Taylor Swift had more to do with the Kanye debacle than anything else. I'm not a particular fan of her music, her videos or much anything else she's done, in spite of the Mack-truckload of awards she won last year. And when I first heard about this episode, I glumly thought, "Oh, GAWD! More 'stunt casting' to draw in the tweener audience. Just PEACHY."
But you know what? Not only did Taylor NOT suck in this role, she was actually pretty damn good, as a girl whose unfortunate destiny is already set in stone before Nick Stokes even knew of her existence. She gets to show some range as a character with more than just a "Polyanna" side, and you do feel for her when the awful and inevitable happens.
Good thing for Taylor that she leaves a great impression, because the "closer" here is not her, but George Eads. Nick hasn't really had a chance to show his more "sensitive" side since the trauma he went through about two seasons back, in that unforgettable Quentin Tarantino two-parter. The entire CSI team has to build up emotional calluses in order to do an effective job, but for each one of them, there is still that one case that comes along that reminds them that they still have feelings - they're still human, not super-human. And this one definitely brings home another wake-up call for Nick. REALLY good episode.
But you know what? Not only did Taylor NOT suck in this role, she was actually pretty damn good, as a girl whose unfortunate destiny is already set in stone before Nick Stokes even knew of her existence. She gets to show some range as a character with more than just a "Polyanna" side, and you do feel for her when the awful and inevitable happens.
Good thing for Taylor that she leaves a great impression, because the "closer" here is not her, but George Eads. Nick hasn't really had a chance to show his more "sensitive" side since the trauma he went through about two seasons back, in that unforgettable Quentin Tarantino two-parter. The entire CSI team has to build up emotional calluses in order to do an effective job, but for each one of them, there is still that one case that comes along that reminds them that they still have feelings - they're still human, not super-human. And this one definitely brings home another wake-up call for Nick. REALLY good episode.