arun’s blog

CSI, Crime Scene Investigation, as many of you might already know, is one of the best featured TV-shows of its genre, Crime/Drama/Thriller. It comes in three flavors, CSI – Las Vegas, New York and Miami. I have seen only a couple of episodes in Miami, up-to-date on Las Vegas and catching up on New York. Las Vegas was the first and arguably the best, this bias may be because I saw it first. Usually the show consists of a team of 5-6 CSIs. The distinction that sets this show apart is its uniqueness in handling crime scenes by relying only on evidence. Gil Grissom, the head in Las Vegas and Mac Taylor in New York, whose characters are understood to be complex but personable with distinguished intuitiveness and acumen, and immaculate rationality. They don’t connive to violations of law nor do they truckle to threats. In this 1 hour featured show, it doesn’t always result in solving 1 or more crimes within the period. At times, it gets personal putting the lives of CSIs themselves into jeopardy.

The CSI characters each are developed in an unique and exquisite manner with each having their own issues, dark periods, test of endurance, flash backs etc… The show uses state of the art technology in addition to intricate attention to details, in particular, it has a keen inclination towards microscopic particles, fibres and glasses. It deals with numerous fields covering almost all aspects of science and arts which begs the question regarding the voluminous and universal knowledge the CSI team possesses. The show also uses a lot of technical expressions (a result from an analysis or experiment) which remains gobbledygook to one with limited or no knowledge in that field. One thing, if I understood from this show is that, a dead body speaks more than the one alive! From the multitude of episodes, you will be caught no matter how intelligently you plan the crime. Why? Because you have no freaking clue of how many things are unique!! There is no perfect crime!

But at times, clues in context to technology related to electronics/computers which is my area of expertise relatively in opposition to say, biology, I find them ridiculous and funny (not always). For example, in CSI – New York, Season 03, Episode 02, a man is found dead in a jewelry store which is robbed by 3 women clad in same outfit and hard to distinguish between. On analyzing the crime scene (where all the glasses are broken and jewels are looted), they come to know that, the broken glasses doesn’t have any stress marks indicating directionality (when you strike a glass, the broken glass shows a pattern denoting the direction of impact). From a witness in the crime scene who claimed that a dog barked just before the glass shattered, they discover that they used a “frequency device”. Now comes the funny part.

I know! People from engineering background, I need not even explain this. You are already ROTFL. The concept is very true, using high frequency vibration, you could break a glass. But, for a student studying in engineering and physics, writing their own code of a sine wave “program” will take less than 10 seconds rather than placing an online order!! OMG! cracking the case with an online order for a sine wave program purchased by engineering students… it must be a real dull college.

There may be some similar technicalities in other fields too. Otherwise, the show is wondrous, one of a kind. Awe striking graphics & animation, good continuity, the reality in posing the dead bodies, the action, car chases, bomb blasts, internal story line, very little provocative content, character development, technology etc… are inexplicable. Also the details they analyze including finger prints, DNA, blood spatter, fibre particles, glass particles, even sand, paints, acids and drug tests, bugs, weapons including guns for their mm calibers and other instruments resulting in death by stabbing. Anything and everything on the Earth is analyzed!! Its therefore impossible to escape… BEWARE!