Enemy of Entropy
Crime TV
I’ve been on a video spree over the last month or so, getting caught up with all three C.S.I. shows. We also finished watching season 2 of Torchwood, and realized that some of it wouldn’t make sense unless we get caught up on Dr. Who.
Annoyingly, all three C.S.I.s ended on cliffhangers. I do hate that. I would keep watching next season anyway, so why the tease? They’re all very well established. And one episode of C.S.I. Miami had a “special scene” that was only available on the official website – and it isn’t there any more! What are all the viewers who didn’t view it in real time supposed to do? I found a description of the scene, but it wasn’t as good as actually watching it.
Sam is always amazed that I can watch that stuff. Honestly, the violence and blood do bother me, especially when there are random crimes. For some reason, it doesn’t bother as much as some other things, maybe because I take off my headphones so that I don’t have to hear some sounds, and I generally avoid looking at the bodies too much.
The part I like is the puzzle, figuring out how a crime was committed and who did it. I know the shows are incredibly unrealistic in many ways, from the fact that real crime scene investigators almost certainly do not go running around with guns to arrest criminals to the reality that nobody can be proficient in every single type of forensic analysis that needs to be done. Actual forensic labs are almost always underfunded, so getting evidence gathered, processed, and analyzed in hours (as the shows often depict) is pure fantasy. Real forensic labs don’t usually get the equipment they need regularly, and they certainly don’t have the latest and greatest toys of every sort in handy forms that every single tech can carry in his kit “just in case” he ever needs it at a scene.
I can suspend my disbelief that much. And I can almost ignore the nonsense of “tracing an IP address to an email address” to get a criminal’s identity in seconds. It’s Hollywood.
I watched the first episode of The Closer tonight, since I’ll have to wait until fall for more C.S.I. I don’t like cop shows as much as forensics shows, but I was intrigued by Kyra Sedgwick’s performance in some promos I saw a few years ago. Her “Atlanta accent” is atrocious, but the character is interesting. I don’t know why the “big plot twist” that was obvious to me in the first few minutes of the show would take a bunch of professionals days (apparently) to figure out, though. Maybe they’re too gender-bound? Who knows.
I suppose that if we had cable and I happened to run across The Closer, I would watch it again. I think I’ll find another forensics show the next time I’m bored enough to go looking for viewing matter, though.
4 Comments »
The part about the CSI shows that finally led to me giving up on them was that the forensic people don’t investigate the crimes, don’t interrogate people and don’t bust down doors. I also totally agree with you on the “I just got this cutting edge new gadget” annoyance, too.
I just finished the first season of Torchwood, since I had to wait to get the DVD’s. Have you heard when season 2 dvd’s will be available?
No Trisha, I’m afraid I haven’t. We got recordings from friends.
Actually, Alice, I can understand that part of the fiction, because it would cost so much more for them to produce the shows if they really showed the number of people who are involved in every investigation. It would also be nearly impossible to get viewers to care much about any character if there were that many on a show.