CSI: NY
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[edit] Cast and characters
- NYPD CSI Head Investigator Detective 1st Grade Mac Taylor, played by Gary Sinise, is the leader of the CSI team. The death of his wife, Claire Conrad Taylor, in the 9/11 attacks troubles him to this day, causing chronic insomnia. He served in the USMC, once saying that he had wanted to serve the country more than anything else in the world. He served in Beirut in 1983, from which he still bears a scar over his heart. Mac will protect three things at any cost: the honor of his country, the safety of his city, and the integrity of his lab. This is why he chose to fire Aiden Burn (see below) after she tampered with evidence. Mac has a close friendship with Stella Bonasera and plays bass guitar at jazz clubs during his off time. This talent was discovered by Lindsay Monroe when she observed, during an investigation, that he knew how to hold the instrument. In season three, he is revealed to have been dating Dr. Peyton Driscoll, played by Claire Forlani. He also discovered that his late wife Claire had given birth to a son before she met him, only after the boy, now a teenager named Reed Garrett, was found to be shadowing Stella, thinking that she was Claire.
- NYPD CSI Detective 1st Grade Stella Bonasera, played by Melina Kanakaredes, is absolutely devoted to her job due to her strong personality, determination and intelligence. She is a half-Greek, half-Italian orphan, who grew up moving throughout foster homes. She is very close to Mac and constantly worries about his physical and mental well-being. In episode 221 ("All Access"), Stella was held captive in her own home by her unstable boyfriend, Frankie Mala, and was forced to kill him. Because of her close relationship with Mac, she was mistakenly thought to be Mac's late wife, Claire, by Reed Garrett, a child that Claire had given birth to and put up for adoption before she had met Mac.
- NYPD CSI Detective 3rd Grade Danny Messer, played by Carmine Giovinazzo, is arguably the most complex of the main cast. He grew up in a family under surveillance. Danny formulated his own set of hybrid ethics, blending the world of law-breakers with the world of lawmakers. Mac personally selected Danny to join his team, which is an honor and responsibility that Danny attempts to live up to every day. He doesn't trust people easily, as shown in episodes: "A Man a Mile," "Rain," and once again in "Hung Out to Dry". In episode 220 ("Run Silent, Run Deep"), Danny was implicated in a 15-year-old cold murder case. His brother Louie, who was involved with the infamous Tanglewood gang, was severely beaten and left in a coma after acquiring evidence exonerating him in the case. Danny has developed a crush on co-worker Lindsay Monroe, who declined his advances, albeit reluctantly ("Love Run Cold").
- NYPD CSI Detective 3rd Grade Dr. Sheldon Hawkes, played by Hill Harper, was formerly a Medical Examiner with the NYC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME). He was a child prodigy who graduated college at eighteen, and by 24 he was a fully board-licensed surgeon. He had several years experience in the ER (episode 202, "Grand Murder at Central Station"). After losing two patients, he abandoned surgery in favor of the medical examiner's office. At the start of season 2, Hawkes has moved from the autopsy room out into the field. In episode 311, "Raising Shane," Hawkes is arrested as the prime suspect in a robbery and murder, but the rest of the team, despite being removed from the case, end up proving his innocence through a seemingly unrelated case.
- NYPD Homicide Detective 1st Grade Don Flack, played by Eddie Cahill, comes from a long line of law enforcement officials. He bridges the gap between old school NYPD and the new generation of CSI. He is a witty homicide detective who has very little patience with the "bad guy", and his techniques are sometimes considered somewhat borderline, though effective. He is good friends with Danny Messer, and is always willing to lend an ear to Danny's problems (as in the episode "On The Job"). Flack has to arrest his former police mentor, Gavin Moran, when it comes to light that Moran had concealed evidence in episode 117 ("The Fall"). During the season 2 finale, Flack was severely injured in a bomb explosion, and ended season 2 still in a coma. As of the season 3 premiere, he is fully recovered and back on duty with CSI, chasing down suspects with all of his previous endurance. He is also very protective of his "guys" ("Consequences"), sometimes to a fault; he was reluctant to help Mac when the evidence suggested that one of his men was the killer.
- NYPD CSI Detective 3rd Grade Lindsay Monroe, played by Anna Belknap (season 2 - present), worked as a CSI for three years in Montana and finally realized her dream of moving to a big city like New York. Her Midwestern work ethic and willingness to roll up her sleeves and tackle any job is a welcome addition to the team where she is quickly put through rookie training by Mac on their first case. Excited and always willing to learn, Lindsay offers a fresh perspective to the lab, rarely hinting at the dark and devastating secret that originally motivated her to dedicate her life to being a CSI. She often does little experiments with science and the evidence, which has endeared her to Stella and Mac. When she first came to New York, she was typically given all of the dirty jobs, like sifting through tiger dung ("Zoo York") and recovering evidence from a pool of lubricant. In "Love Run Cold", after Danny presses her, she admits that she has feelings for him, but reluctantly declines the chance to deepen their relationship, saying that she has old issues she has to take care of.
[edit] Former characters
- NYPD CSI Detective 3rd grade Aiden Burn, played by Vanessa Ferlito (seasons 1- episode 202). Aiden was a Brooklyn native who had the ability to adapt to new situations very quickly and had a love and drive for her job similar to that of Sara Sidle on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. She was dismissed from the team in season two, episode 2 ("Grand Murder At Central Station") after becoming obsessed with a rape case concerning her friend and considering planting evidence to implicate a suspect, D.J. Pratt, who had allegedly raped the same victim previously (the victim did not seek to press charges then). She did not actually plant the evidence, but broke the seal on an evidence packet containing one of Pratt's hairs. Because of this, Mac felt he had no choice but to fire her to preserve the integrity of the CSI lab. Aiden agreed with Mac's decision because she didn't know if she would resist the temptation in the future, but before leaving, managed to extract a promise from Mac that he would get Pratt for his crime. After her dismissal from the crime lab, Aiden was apparently working on getting her private investigator's license while she was trying to find evidence that would conclusively tie Pratt to the rape case. In the penultimate season 2 episode "Heroes", she was lured,ambushed, and brutally murdered by Pratt and incinerated inside a stolen car. In the heat of the moment, she left behind critical evidence that she knew would help her former colleagues close in on Pratt. Aiden's murder devastated Mac and the rest of the team, particularly Danny, to whom she was especially close (at one time, she joked that she was way out of his league).
[edit] Recurring characters
- NYPD Homicide Detective 1st Grade Jennifer Angell (Emmanuelle Vaugier, season 3 - ), a new detective who helps the CSI's, while Detective Don Flack is recovering from his injuries. She debuted in season 3's premiere and is affectionately called "Angel" by Danny and Hawkes ("People With Money"). [1]
- New York Medical Examiner Dr. Sid Hammerback (Robert Joy, season 2-), a Medical Examiner described as an "off-the-charts genius" who only recently traded in a career as a chef to become medical examiner. He has mentioned once that he has a young daughter, when a young female victim was bought onto his table (episode 302, "Not What It Looks Like"), and has been divorced at least once (episode 304, "Hung Out to Dry"). He also has a habit of overtalking and oversharing, which former ME Sheldon Hawkes refers to as "going to that creepy place."
- New York Medical Examiner Dr. Peyton Driscoll (Claire Forlani, season 3 - ), a new Medical Examiner from London who is a love interest of Detective Mac Taylor. She used to work with both Sid and Hawkes and is proclaims herself to be "a little protective." She debuted in season 3's premiere, "People With Money." [2] She walks out on Mac after he, during a heated talk about the status of their relationship, accidentally calls her "Claire."
- Laboratory Technician Jane Parsons (Sonya Walger), head of the DNA Lab.
- Laboratory Technician Zack Shannon (David Julian Hirsh, season 2- ), a tech in the Trace Lab.
- Laboratory Technician Adam Ross (A.J. Buckley, season 2-), a jack-of-all-trades lab tech. His specialty is trace evidence. He sometimes accompanies the CSIs to crime scenes to aid in reconstruction.
- Shane Casey (Edward Furlong), season 3 - ), a young man embroiled in a case where a serial killer uses the codes and stories found on a series of trendy t-shirts as inspiration for his grisly killings. He is believed to be targeting Hawkes and the prosecutors who put his brother away for a crime that Shane thought he was innocent of. On the day of the sentencing, Shane's brother hanged himself. Introduced in the fourth episode of season 3, "Hung Out To Dry." [3]
[edit] Former recurring characters
- NYPD Homicide Detective 1st Grade Kaile Maka (Kelly Hu, season 1-2), sometimes accompanies the CSIs on investigations.
- Laboratory Technician Leonard Giles (J. Grant Albrecht, season 1), head of the tech lab, former runner now paralyzed from the waist down.
- Laboratory Technician Chad Willingham (Chad Lindberg, season 1), a lab technician.
- New York Medical Examiner Dr. Evan Zao (Ron Yuan, season 2), who was supossed to replace Dr. Hawkes as Medical Examiner after he took field work, but only appeared in 4 episodes.
[edit] Plot
CSI: NY is an American police procedural television series which premiered on September 22, 2004. The series was the second spinoff from CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and was introduced during an episode of CSI: Miami when Horatio Caine journeyed to New York City in pursuit of a murder suspect who fled Miami. It is much bloodier than the Miami version, and was filmed in a hard blue light until Season 2, when CBS President Les Moonves wanted to make the show appear "less cold".
