CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (season 5)

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (season 5)
Starring	William Petersen Marg Helgenberger Gary Dourdan George Eads Jorja Fox Eric Szmanda Robert David Hall Paul Guilfoyle
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	25
Release
Original network	CBS
Original release	September 23, 2004 (2004-09-23) – May 19, 2005 (2005-05-19)

The fifth season of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation premiered on CBS on September 23, 2004 and ended May 19, 2005. The series stars William Petersen and Marg Helgenberger.

Plot

Greg begins his journey from a lab rat to a field mouse, as the Las Vegas Crime Lab faces a personnel overhaul ("Ch-Ch-Changes"), during the fifth season of CSI. The teams final days together are plagued with more investigations into the insane and the unusual, including the discovery of an alien corpse in Area 51 ("Viva Las Vegas"), a body washed up in a thunderstorm ("Down the Drain"), the kidnapping of a thirteen-year-old girl ("Harvest"), a death at a fumigation ("Crows Feet"), a swingers party ("Swap Meet"), the return of the Blue Paint Killer ("What's Eating Gilbert Grissom?"), and a kidnapping at a hotel ("Formalities"). It's the appearance of evidence mid-trail, however, that causes Ecklie to separate Grissom and Willows' team ("Mea Culpa"), with Catherine, Nick, and Warrick delving into cases such as brain death ("No Humans Involved"), a body in a car ("Who Shot Sherlock?"), a severed head containing a snake ("Snakes"), the death of a bear ("Unbearable"), and a murder involving sports betting ("Big Middle"). The loss of one of their own, however, offers to unite the team once again ("Grave Danger").

Cast

Main cast

Main article: List of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation characters

• William Petersen as Gil Grissom, a CSI Level 3 Supervisor
• Marg Helgenberger as Catherine Willows, a CSI Level 3 Supervisor
• Gary Dourdan as Warrick Brown, a CSI Level 3
• George Eads as Nick Stokes, a CSI Level 3
• Jorja Fox as Sara Sidle, a CSI Level 3
• Eric Szmanda as Greg Sanders, a CSI Level 1
• Robert David Hall as Al Robbins, the Chief Medical Examiner
• Paul Guilfoyle as Jim Brass, a Homicide Detective Captain

Recurring cast

See also: Minor characters in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

• Archie Kao as Archie Johnson
• David Berman as David Phillips
• Wallace Langham as David Hodges
• Aisha Tyler as Mia Dickerson
• Louise Lombard as Sofia Curtis

Episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	U.S. viewers (millions)
93	1	"Viva Las Vegas"	Danny Cannon	Danny Cannon & Carol Mendelsohn	September 23, 2004 (2004-09-23)	30.57
Grissom works on a nightclub shooting with Greg Sanders, who has finally found a replacement in the lab and now only has to pass his final proficiency test. Catherine investigates a stripper found dead in a hotel room. Warrick investigates a man found electrocuted in his bathtub. Sara and Nick are called in when an 'alien' is found in a shallow grave near Area 51.
94	2	"Down the Drain"	Kenneth Fink	Naren Shankar	October 7, 2004 (2004-10-07)	28.43
The CSIs investigate when a thunderstorm washes up a body in the city storm drains. Murder is soon ruled out but the team makes another disturbing discovery: human bones that may have come from a murder. The only problem is locating where the body was dumped.
95	3	"Harvest"	David Grossman	Judith McCreary	October 14, 2004 (2004-10-14)	28.89
The CSIs investigate the kidnapping of a 13-year-old girl at the parking lot of a convenience store, which turns into a very disturbing murder. Catherine attempts to re-assert her role as a mother when her daughter Lindsey is picked up by the police for hitchhiking.
96	4	"Crow's Feet"	Richard J. Lewis	Josh Berman	October 21, 2004 (2004-10-21)	26.54
When two apparently unrelated women die under the same circumstances, Catherine and Nick discover that both women underwent various cosmetic procedures at a local spa. Meanwhile, Grissom, Sara and Greg investigate when a man is found dead in a house fumigated for termites.
97	5	"Swap Meet"	Danny Cannon	Carol Mendelsohn & David Rambo & Naren Shankar	October 28, 2004 (2004-10-28)	29.60
Grissom, Sara and Greg investigate when a woman is found dead in the fountain of a gated community, after visiting a neighborhood swingers party. Meanwhile, Warrick and Nick investigate the murder of a landlord in a video arcade, which develops into a double homicide. Catherine requests the position of day shift supervisor from Grissom.
98	6	"What's Eating Gilbert Grissom?"	Kenneth Fink	Sarah Goldfinger	November 4, 2004 (2004-11-04)	30.58
While investigating a chopped up body in the university grounds, the team finds out that they're dealing with the "Blue Paint Killer" again. The case gets confusing when the team discovers that the victim was male. Shortly after that they find another body, that of a female. Can they stop the killer before he kills again?
99	7	"Formalities"	Bill Eagles	Dustin Lee Abraham & Naren Shankar	November 11, 2004 (2004-11-11)	29.64
Grissom has to work with Dayshift CSI Sofia Curtis when a high school student is found dead in a hotel room after a party. Assisted by Catherine, Nick and Warrick, they find out that another girl had been kidnapped from the party. However, the father of this girl doesn't seem overly concerned about his daughter's disappearance.
100	8	"Ch-Ch-Changes"	Richard J. Lewis	Jerry Stahl	November 18, 2004 (2004-11-18)	31.46
The CSI team investigate when a woman is found stabbed to death. They soon discover that the woman underwent a sex change operation and have to delve into the world of the Las Vegas transgender community to find the killer.
101	9	"Mea Culpa"	David Grossman	Story by: Josh Berman & Carol Mendelsohn Teleplay by: Josh Berman	November 25, 2004 (2004-11-25)	24.38
When an unknown fingerprint suddenly appears on a piece of evidence in court, Grissom must re-open the case and find the real culprit. However, this unexplained phenomenon causes Ecklie to doubt Grissom's handling of the case. Ecklie then opens an inquiry on Grissom, and questions each of the CSIs about his effectiveness as supervisor. Meanwhile, Sara and Greg investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of a man who shot himself in the leg. After the investigation, Ecklie decides to split up the team. He gives Catherine the role of Swing Shift Supervisor despite Catherine applying for Days and assigns Warrick and Nick to her while Grissom's team consists of Sofia Curtis, Greg and Sara.
102	10	"No Humans Involved"	Rob Bailey	Judith McCreary	December 9, 2004 (2004-12-09)	29.83
Grissom and his team work on a case of a young boy found dead in a dumpster while Catherine and her team try to find out why an inmate was left brain dead after an action by police.
103	11	"Who Shot Sherlock?"	Kenneth Fink	Richard Catalani & David Rambo	January 6, 2005 (2005-01-06)	28.86
Greg is doing his final proficiency test and he has a case to solve. Ironically, he investigates the death of a Sherlock Holmes wannabe who is obsessive to the point of recreating the great detective's living room in his home, who died from a close-range gunshot wound. The murder weapon is not found at the scene, although all of the other pieces of evidence suggest that it was a suicide. Working under Catherine, Nick and Warrick work on a case of a dead man found in his car which veered off the highway. Dr. Robbins cannot find the cause of death and it is left to the two detectives to solve the mystery. The episode ends with Greg passing his test, resulting in him being promoted to CSI Level 1, thus finally fulfilling his dream of going out into the field.
104	12	"Snakes"	Richard J. Lewis	Dustin Lee Abraham	January 13, 2005 (2005-01-13)	27.55
Catherine and Nick investigate a case when a severed head containing a snake is found in a newspaper stand. Warrick, Sofia and Greg investigate a shooting in a van.
105	13	"Nesting Dolls"	Bill Eagles	Sarah Goldfinger	February 3, 2005 (2005-02-03)	24.95
When two bodies covered in tar are found, the CSIs must try to uncover their identities and that of the murderer. Sara is reprimanded by Ecklie for improper conduct.
106	14	"Unbearable"	Kenneth Fink	Josh Berman & Carol Mendelsohn	February 10, 2005 (2005-02-10)	27.85
Catherine and her team investigate when a hunter and a Kodiak bear are found dead in the mountains. Meanwhile Grissom's team look into the death of a young mother.
107	15	"King Baby"	Richard J. Lewis	Jerry Stahl	February 17, 2005 (2005-02-17)	30.72
When Grissom's and Catherine's teams work together to investigate the death of a famous casino owner, their investigation leads them to the bizarre world of infantilism.
108	16	"Big Middle"	Kenneth Fink	Story by: Dustin Lee Abraham Teleplay by: Judith McCreary & Naren Shankar	February 24, 2005 (2005-02-24)	28.11
Grissom and his team are looking for a murderer of a man found dead in a hotel room, leading them to a convention for plus-sized people. Catherine and her team investigate the world of sports betting when a man is found dead in the woods.
109	17	"Compulsion"	Duane Clark	Josh Berman & Richard Catalani	March 10, 2005 (2005-03-10)	29.40
Grissom and his team investigate a case where a stewardess has been violently raped and stabbed to death in her hotel room, in which Ecklie discovers parallels to a five-year-old cold case. Catherine's team assists Detective Cavaliere in the investigation of a young boy beaten to death in his own bed, but Nick and Cavaliere get into a bitter disagreement over their methods of finding the culprit.
110	18	"Spark of Life"	Kenneth Fink	Allen McDonald	March 31, 2005 (2005-03-31)	28.22
Greg, Sara and Grissom investigate a scene of a bush fire which led to the death of a man and the 3rd degree burns of a woman. Catherine, Nick and Warrick solve a case involving the death of an entire family. The father is found dead on his bed, apparently from suicide. The mother was shot while running downstairs and their little daughter drowned to death in the pool.
111	19	"4x4"	Terrence O'Hara	Story by: Sarah Goldfinger & Naren Shanker Teleplay by: Dustin Lee Abraham & David Rambo	April 14, 2005 (2005-04-14)	27.54
It's a busy night in the lab as the CSIs investigate four cases: A hit and run involving a stolen Hummer, the murder of a Convention Girl, the death of a body builder and the death of a boy found on a bench.
112	20	"Hollywood Brass"	Bill Eagles	Sarah Goldfinger & Carol Mendelsohn	April 21, 2005 (2005-04-21)	27.02
Captain Jim Brass travels to LA after Ellie asks for a favor in investigating her friend's disappearance. There, with the help of Warrick, who is in LA for a conference and a friend in LAPD, Brass finds his investigation interrupted by higher powers. While he and Warrick are ultimately able to find Ellie's friend's murderer, Brass is unable to bring the perpetrator to trial. Disappointed, he leaves LA and returns to Las Vegas.
113	21	"Committed"	Richard J. Lewis	Sarah Goldfinger & Richard J. Lewis & Uttam Narsu	April 28, 2005 (2005-04-28)	23.68
Sara accompanies Grissom to a mental hospital where one of its inmates has been murdered in his room. Interviewing patients proves to be harder than usual as most of them are mentally unstable. While the two CSIs are there, they uncover more than just the crime. One of the most shocking discoveries involves a patient with a dark childhood, which is still haunting him and a nurse with a secret.
114	22	"Weeping Willows"	Kenneth Fink	Areanne Lloyd	May 5, 2005 (2005-05-05)	26.65
After an exhaustive day, Catherine stops by a bar where she is chatted up by another customer. As she is leaving, he gives her his number on the bar's match box and lashes out when she doesn't want to kiss him. Later on that night, Grissom calls her in for a favor, as he is short on staff. A woman has been murdered and prior to her death, she was seen with the same man who was hitting on Catherine in the same bar. A similar match box with a phone number inside, found on the victim, further points to this man as the main suspect.
115	23	"Iced"	Richard J. Lewis	Josh Berman	May 12, 2005 (2005-05-12)	26.46
Sara and Greg investigate the death of two students in a dorm room. Nick, Warrick and Catherine investigate a man found dead in a 'crop circle'. Ecklie has to find out what happened to the corpse in the case he was working on, when it goes missing.
116	24	"Grave Danger (Part I)"	Quentin Tarantino	Story by: Quentin Tarantino Teleplay by: Carol Mendelsohn & Naren Shankar & Anthony E. Zuiker	May 19, 2005 (2005-05-19)	30.73
CSI Nick Stokes is kidnapped while investigating a crime scene and buried alive in a glass casket by his kidnapper. The Las Vegas Police Department receives a package with a tape and a USB key which allows them to watch Nick inside the casket, together with a request for one million dollars in cash to release him. The mayor refuses to pay the ransom, but Catherine convinces her wealthy father to provide the money. Gil Grissom schedules a meeting with the criminal to deliver the money and be informed where Nick is.
117	25	"Grave Danger (Part II)"	Quentin Tarantino	Story by: Quentin Tarantino Teleplay by: Carol Mendelsohn & Naren Shankar & Anthony E. Zuiker	May 19, 2005 (2005-05-19)	30.73
After Grissom gives the kidnapper the ransom money, the kidnapper blows himself up without revealing where Nick is buried. The team must then use all their knowledge and resources, as well as race against time, to find Nick before he runs out of air.

External links

• DVD Release Dates at TVShowsOnDVD.com.