Naren Shankar Movies

As season four of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation drew to a close, it appeared as though a contract dispute would rob the series of two of its most popular characters, Las Vegas PD forensic specialists Sara Sidel (Jorja Fox) and Nick Stokes (George Eads). At the last moment, however, a suitable financial arrangement was worked out, and both characters -- and the actors who played them -- were retained for the whole of season five. Reiko Aylesworth stars in the first episode ("Viva Las Vegas") as Chandra Moore, a dedicated, no-nonsense lab tech who is to replace Greg Sanders (Eric Szmanda) when Greg is promoted to CSI field duty. Both Chandra and Greg prove to be worthy of their new responsibilities, though both are somewhat nonplussed by being dropped head-first into a whole new world of investigation. (Aylesworth's character was dropped after Fox and Eads resolved their contracts.) In a major mid-season development, a storm of controversy attending the apparent bungling of a murder investigation prompts CSI boss Ecklie (Marc Vann) to split the forensics bureau into two teams, with senior officer Gil Grissom (William L. Petersen) heading one team, and his former assistant Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger) heading another. The arrangement is hardly to the liking of either party, especially when the efficiency their investigations is compromised by radical and often arbitrary budget cuts. Other demons plaguing the CSIers this season include the return of a particularly vicious (and brilliant) serial killer from the earlier episode "The Execution of Catherine Willows," the revelation that a man with whom Catherine flirted in a bar is the prime suspect in a high-profile murder case, and the unpleasant childhood memories of Sara Sidel. The Grissom and Willows teams are reunited for the season's unbearably suspenseful finale, "Grave Danger" (a two-parter directed by Quentin Tarantino) as the combined officers search for their colleague Nick Stokes (George Eads), who has been buried alive in a casket filled with red ants by a maniacal murderer. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The man who has just won 400,000 dollars at one of Sam Braun's casinos has a foolproof "system": he cheats. Later on, the man is found murdered, along with his accomplice. Inasmuch as Braun (Scott Wilson) is a prime suspect, Grissom (William L. Petersen) takes Sam's biological daughter Catherine (Marg Helgenberger) off the case -- as if that would stop her from trying to get Sam off the hook. More friction occurs within the CSI staff when Nick (George Eads) beats out Sara (Jorja Fox) for a promotion. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Grissom (William L. Petersen) receives a grisly special-delivery package: a severed head, found in the woods near the remote Nevada village of Jackpot. Arriving in the town to find the rest of the body -- and, hopefully, the killer -- Grissom runs up against an impenetrable wall of silence. Back in Vegas, Catherine (Marg Helgenberger) is far from happy when she is given a huge check by her father, casino owner Sam Braun (Scott Wilson), presumably for her "help" in getting his murder charge dropped. She doesn't want the money -- and she certainly does not welcome a subsequent visit from Sam. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Things get personal for the CSI's Warrick Brown (Gary Dourdan) when he heads to his old neighborhood to investigate a particularly tragic drive-by shooting. The victim, who was sleeping in her own bedroom, was the nine-year-old daughter of Warrick's old friend and mentor, Matt Phelps (Keith David). When the grieving Warrick presses a little too hard in putting the heat on the primary suspect, Grissom (William L. Petersen) is forced to take him off the case. Elsewhere, Nick (George Eads) investigates the murder of the much-despised CEO of a dot com, whose skull was crushed at his job site. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A decomposed body is found in a chemical-waste drum abandoned in the mountains. Their subsequent investigation leads Catherine (Marg Helgenberger), Nick (George Eads), and Sara (Jorja Fox) into the wacky world of robot "demolition wars." And in another development, Warrick (Gary Dourdan) and Grissom's (William L. Petersen) probe of a murder in an alley is complicated when the medical examiner "misplaces" the evidence -- for well over a week. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The press box at a small high-school football field yields the strangled body of Nebraska woman Alison Carpenter. The CSI's investigation reveals that Alison died an hour before her corpse was found, and that she may have perished during a session of rough consensual sex. Among the suspects are meth addict Jason Kent (Max Martini) and a pair of ex-convicts (Luis Antonio Ramos and Raymond Cruz) who were in the same street gang. On a more personal note, the entire CSI team works overtime to find out the source of an explosion in their own DNA lab, in which a technician was badly injured. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Did middleweight boxing champ Laroi Steele die accidentally from the beating administered in the ring by his hated rival Javier Molina (Greg Serano)? Or was this accident actually premeditated murder? Grissom (William L. Petersen) leans decidedly toward the latter option. Meanwhile, Catherine (Marg Helgenberger) investigates the shooting of an L.A. gang member, while Nick (George Eads) looks into a violent jewelry-store heist. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation entered its third season still riding high as network television's top-rated drama program. There was, therefore, no need for CBS to change its time slot, nor to make any major cast changes. There were, however, two significant additions to the cast lineup. A romantic interest was created for series regular Jorja Fox (Sara Sidle) in the form of Hank Peddigrew (Christopher Wiehl), a handsome paramedic. Also, the recurring character of Detective Lockwood (Jeffrey D. Sams) was seen on a more frequent basis. Both of these characters, however, would be effectively disposed of by the time season three was over, with the demise of Lockwood leading to a powerful season finale. In addition, the off-and-on domestic travails of the CSI's Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger) were intensified when her husband was killed and her daughter seriously injured. The season's most significant story development involved CSI head man Gil Grissom (William L. Petersen). After a few instances in which he noticed that he was experiencing a hearing loss, Grissom was diagnosed with otosclerosis, a hereditary disorder which threatened to culminate in total deafness. As the third season's final episode drew to it conclusion, Grissom was undergoing surgery to correct this problem -- with the result of the operation remaining unresolved until the beginning of season four. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

One of several government-espionage series unveiled during the 2001-2002 TV season, UC: Undercover detailed the exploits of the Special Operations Group, an elite five-person team answerable only to the Justice Department. Using up-to-date technology and advanced martial arts skills, the Group was dedicated to tracking down and capturing supercriminals and terrorists (though several episodes dealing with the latter were toned down in the wake of the World Trade Center tragedy). Described by several observers as the Wiseguy of the early 21st century, the series found its regulars adopting all manner of disguises and new identities in order to infiltrate the illicit organizations which they'd targeted for extinction. Originally cast as group leader John Keller, Grant Show was replaced in the second episode by new leader Frank Donovan (Oded Fehr); other regulars included Jon Seda as Jake, Vera Farmiga as Alex, Bruklin Harris as Monica, and Jarrad Paul as Cody. Executive produced by Steve Salerno (one of the writers of the movie hit Armageddon), UC: Undercover began its weekly, 60-minute NBC run on September 30, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

An old PeaceKeeper surveillance recording offers proof that an all-female Pleisar Regiment was responsible for the murder of Moya's original Pilot. Even worse, among the members of the regiment was current Moya crew member Aeryn (Claudia Black), who claims to have no memory of the killing. It is up to Crichton (Ben Browder) to probe Aeryn's subconscious and find out the truth before his outraged fellow crew members turn into a lynch mob. Alternately titled "The Way We Weren't" and "Forgive and Forget," this episode was first broadcast on April 14, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this second episode of the three-part story "Liars, Guns and Money," Jothee (Matt Newton), son of D'Argo (Anthony Simcoe), is purchased by Scorpius (Wayne Pygram) at the slave auction. To rescue Jothee, Moya and her crew must retrace every incident that they've experienced in the Unchartered Territories. Exacerbating the situation, the boranium ingots stolen from the Shadow Depository turn out to be carrying deadly parasites, causing potential fatal problems in Moya's inner workings -- and the cure may be far worse than the ailment. "With Friends Like These" first aired on January 12, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Created by Anthony Zuiker, the CBS cop series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, which first aired on October 6, 2000, could be described as "Quincy for the 21st century." Set in Las Vegas, the weekly, 60-minute series focused on the activities of that city's Crime Scene Investigations Bureau. Working the overnight shift, the principal characters deployed state-of-the-art forensic technology to solve unsolvable crimes. Whenever scientific analysis failed, however, the lab's "criminalists" relied upon good, old-fashioned logic -- logical to them, if not to their superiors. So efficient was the CSI team that it was rated the number two such crime lab in America. The series' main protagonist was Gil Grissom (William L. Petersen), once the youngest coroner in the history of the L.A. police department, who after 15 years with the Vegas PD, was put in charge of the crime lab when its former skipper, the mercurial Captain Jim Brass (Paul Guilfoyle), was transferred back to the homicide division. Grissom's elite ensemble included his second-in-command, onetime exotic dancer Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger), who juggled her professional responsibilities with her home duties as a single mother; ex-grave digger Warrick Brown (Gary Dourdan), the only member of the team who was born in Vegas and, as such, the most savvy member when it came to the ins and outs of the casino industry that figured so largely in the proceedings; Warrick's friendly rival, the warm and outgoing Nick Stokes (George Eads), late of the Dallas PD; and the brilliant but somewhat distant Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox), who was initially brought in from San Francisco to investigate the murder of her predecessor, rookie criminalist Holly Gribbs (a case that had lost Captain Brass his position as head of the lab). Each of these worthies brought a distinct specialty to their work: Willows was a blood-splatter analyst, Brown an audio-visual expert, Stokes a hair-and-fiber specialist, and Sidle a materials-and-element analyst.

The criminalists generally worked in sub-teams to investigate the myriad of baffling cases which came across their desk in each episode (usually two crimes were depicted and solved per week). During the series' first three seasons on the air, there were no significant cast changes, though former recurring characters Greg Sanders (Eric Szmanda) and Dr. David Robbins (Robert David Hall) were gradually elevated to weekly-regular status. In many ways, however, there was an unbilled "major character" in the form of the series' fluid camerawork, deploying quickie montages, juxtaposed images, and dreamlike scene transitions -- all complemented by a driving but low-key background music score. Cinematographers like Michael Barrett and Frank Byers and editors like Alex Mackie and Alec Smight were as responsible for the "look" of CSI as were the series' producers, directors, and stars. As of 2002, the highly rated series had been nominated for a myriad of Emmy Awards, scoring one win for makeup artists Nicholas Pagliaro, John Goodwin, and Melanie Levitt. 2002 was also the year that the producers cooked up a spin-off series, CSI: Miami. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The police arrive at a murder scene where two people lie dead. The only witness, a man named Gerard (Michael Riley), claims that one of the victims shot himself after killing the other. Gerard also insists that the crime is actually the handiwork of an alien energy being who takes up residence in human hosts, forcing them to commit even more grisly crimes -- and that he, Gerard, has been chasing this being for centuries. This episode utilizes excerpts from such earlier Outer Limits installments as "Ripper," "Heart's Desire," "A Stitch in Time," and "Living Hell." Originally telecast August 20, 1999, "Better Luck Next Time" was the final episode of The Outer Limits' fifth season. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi