CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION
Honoring a Good Colleague
What You Need To Know
“For Warrick” is one of the more emotional, personal episodes in the original CSI series on TV. It is now available online for free viewing, but that could change.
This 2008 season opener begins where the last season ended, with a dirty cop shooting Warrick Brown, one of CSI nightshift director Gil Grissom’s best investigators. The dirty cop, a detective named McKeen, calls the shooting in and blames it on another dirty cop, named Pritchard, who was being investigated in the previous episode. Grissom is in the vicinity and arrives at the scene shocked to see that the victim is Warrick. Warrick dies in Grissom’s arms while the wily McKeen watches.
Grissom and his investigators begin to have suspicions of McKeen, however. They find a fingerprint on one of the empty shell casings that matches McKeen’s, but Mckeen and Pritchard are hastily making their way toward the Mexican border. Or so McKeen tells his partner in crime.
“For Warrick” ends with an emotional funeral scene at a Christian church, where the pastor reads Psalm 23, and Grissom delivers a powerful eulogy for Warrick. There is another scene where Grissom watches Warrick deliver a passionate statement about the positive mentoring that Grissom has given to him. Ultimately, “For Warrick” celebrates a life of goodness devoted to service, with a Christian spin that is not preachy but which could have been stronger. Even so, any time a major TV show can read part of Psalm 23, which refers to God, in a setting that’s clearly a Christian church, is a positive sign. Too bad there are not more such scenes on the boob tube.
“For Warrick” also honors good policemen, diligent police work, forgiveness, fairness, correcting the wrongs that one does, loyalty, love, and risking one’s life to do what’s right. It also rejects violent revenge out of anger.
This episode contains light, brief foul language and some violence. The medical scenes and violence are not as gruesome, however, as some other CSI episodes, but there are strong images of human blood.
