Jim Brass is a boss!! His character really came full circle in this episode..
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (TV Series)
In a Dark, Dark House (2011)
User Reviews
Review this title5 Reviews
Gotta Love Brass
My-Two-Cent6 September 2021
Jim Brass and the CSI Investigation
claudio_carvalho4 November 2023
Warning: Spoilers
When Haskell shots his father, Langston jumps at him and subdues the serial-killer. Langston puts flexible cuffs on him, but when he taunts Langston asking him why Gloria is still alive, he cuts his hand cuffs. Jim Brass comes to Thorpe house with two police officers and finds Haskell dead and a broken banister. Now the CSI team has to investigate the crime scene to understand what has happened and whether Langston killed Haskell in self-defense.
"In a Dark, Dark House" is the last episode of Season 11 of "CSI" that ends with the death of the notorious Nate Haskell. It is a shame how Sara looks for evidence to incriminate Ray Langston for his death of the evil serial-killer. Looking for the truth in this case is awful considering Langston's work and what Haskell has caused to the society. Fortunately, Jim Brass saves the day, proving that he is a great leader. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "In a Dark, Dark House"
"In a Dark, Dark House" is the last episode of Season 11 of "CSI" that ends with the death of the notorious Nate Haskell. It is a shame how Sara looks for evidence to incriminate Ray Langston for his death of the evil serial-killer. Looking for the truth in this case is awful considering Langston's work and what Haskell has caused to the society. Fortunately, Jim Brass saves the day, proving that he is a great leader. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "In a Dark, Dark House"
Not So Simple
Hitchcoc15 March 2021
I feel a bit vengeful at times. We as a nation have no trouble killing despots and mass murderers in cold blood. We seek out those we know have done horrible things and get rid of them. Should those who directed the killing of Osama bin Laden be charged with murder? It wasn't an act of war. How about the President of Syria, Assad? He kills children in hospitals and murders families in their homes. I know Haskell was a fictional character, as was Ray Langston, but Haskell killed in cold blood. He was responsible for the deaths of guards and drivers in his escape plans. He even tortured and killed people to suit his whims. What about those who have murdered thousands in the name of Christianity or other religions? My point is that things aren't so simple. We already know this guy has the ability to slip through the fingers of those in authority. We often talk about crimes of passion. If anyone could make such a case it would be Langston. I suppose we will be told what happened in the first episode next season.
Season 11: Glossy bubblegum TV but has very little beyond the excess and the effects (MILD SPOILERS)
bob the moo12 August 2011
Warning: Spoilers
I've watched the last few seasons of CSI without comment on them, but this year thought I may as well. I watch this show because my girlfriend likes it and generally we likes to have something for her to relax in front of when the day has been long – Burn Notice, White Collar, Psyche, all these shows fill that role and CSI is slotted in with them in regards our viewing habits. This isn't to say that it is dumb TV, because it isn't, but it is bubblegum stuff – it won't challenge you in terms of plot (the characters will frequently explain stuff to each other to help the viewer keep up) or in terms of content (despite a hint of darkness late in the season, this show has fairly simple morals within its characters). No, instead it makes for easy weekly viewing, with minimal links between episodes – this is one of those shows that (to a certain degree) the episodes could be shown in almost any order without any real problem.
As such CSI continues to do what it has always done – be an impressively slick crime show where the onus is on the all-conquering power of technology and deduction. It is nonsense in terms of reality of course, but it is all so well put together that one is never really bothered by reality, only the reality of the CSI world presented to us here. In its eleventh season now, the show has the success to continue to command the budgets and it uses them well, with plenty of gory effects and impressive visuals. Suffice to say that while some shows blow a budget on having one explosion in an episode, CSI has money to burn and burn it it does, the end result being a very slick and professional product.
The problems are not in the presentation though, it is in the content. CSI has never been a show to have simple, open and shut cases but this season appears to have really gone for it in terms of excessive violence and complexity of the crimes. So we have a couple of obviously comedy crimes (the cat and the bird one for example) but we also have excessively daft ones such as the stealth killer in the rubber outfit and a few others where one gets the feeling where they are struggling for ideas. Even where the crimes are quite straightforward, they tend to be spiced up with unnecessary detail/gore – so the credit card one starts with a brutal scene of a victim being force-fed a chopped up credit card for no real reason other than doing it. This is the same in a lot of episodes and it gives the impression that content is less important than impact of the plots. The writers never gave me anything with real heart in terms of content – it all seemed geared to towards supporting the glossy and expensive effects. The Haskell thread is interesting (particularly at the end of the season) but while the "events" of the plot offer interest, they are delivered so flatly and lacking in real emotional impact that it wasted the potential to go beyond the gloss.
The characters are much the same – and occasionally suggesting that Langston might have a dark side is really not the same as writing characters. Accordingly Fishburne sleeps his way through much of the season, looking bored with his character but happy for the work; it was no surprise to hear of him moving on. In support Helgenberger (also soon to leave), Eads, Fox and others all do their usual stuff and they are part of the cool glossy presentation – but never people or characters (unless the plot requires them to be as a device). The guest stars are frequently and clunky – suggesting cynically that some of the casting is to do with getting headlines. So we have Elliot Gould, Method Man, Ann-Margret, Carrot Top (no, really), Dita Von Teese, Christina Milian and, of course, The Bieber. None of them really add much beyond their names, while Sackhoff's main contribution as a reoccurring guest is to allow a Battlestar Galactica in-joke to be made about the mining process of "fraking" (a swear word from the sci-fi show).
This eleventh season of CSI is unsurprisingly glossy and easy to watch and enjoy as bubblegum television. There isn't really any darkness or complexity to it and nothing about it will challenge the viewer beyond the impact of effects shots or shock devices. I found it easy to watch in the main but too often I was distracted by either how daft it was, or just how unnecessarily flashy or elaborate the whole thing was; I guess like Vegas itself, the show seems to have become an experience of excess, rather than something you sit to watch for drama or character.
As such CSI continues to do what it has always done – be an impressively slick crime show where the onus is on the all-conquering power of technology and deduction. It is nonsense in terms of reality of course, but it is all so well put together that one is never really bothered by reality, only the reality of the CSI world presented to us here. In its eleventh season now, the show has the success to continue to command the budgets and it uses them well, with plenty of gory effects and impressive visuals. Suffice to say that while some shows blow a budget on having one explosion in an episode, CSI has money to burn and burn it it does, the end result being a very slick and professional product.
The problems are not in the presentation though, it is in the content. CSI has never been a show to have simple, open and shut cases but this season appears to have really gone for it in terms of excessive violence and complexity of the crimes. So we have a couple of obviously comedy crimes (the cat and the bird one for example) but we also have excessively daft ones such as the stealth killer in the rubber outfit and a few others where one gets the feeling where they are struggling for ideas. Even where the crimes are quite straightforward, they tend to be spiced up with unnecessary detail/gore – so the credit card one starts with a brutal scene of a victim being force-fed a chopped up credit card for no real reason other than doing it. This is the same in a lot of episodes and it gives the impression that content is less important than impact of the plots. The writers never gave me anything with real heart in terms of content – it all seemed geared to towards supporting the glossy and expensive effects. The Haskell thread is interesting (particularly at the end of the season) but while the "events" of the plot offer interest, they are delivered so flatly and lacking in real emotional impact that it wasted the potential to go beyond the gloss.
The characters are much the same – and occasionally suggesting that Langston might have a dark side is really not the same as writing characters. Accordingly Fishburne sleeps his way through much of the season, looking bored with his character but happy for the work; it was no surprise to hear of him moving on. In support Helgenberger (also soon to leave), Eads, Fox and others all do their usual stuff and they are part of the cool glossy presentation – but never people or characters (unless the plot requires them to be as a device). The guest stars are frequently and clunky – suggesting cynically that some of the casting is to do with getting headlines. So we have Elliot Gould, Method Man, Ann-Margret, Carrot Top (no, really), Dita Von Teese, Christina Milian and, of course, The Bieber. None of them really add much beyond their names, while Sackhoff's main contribution as a reoccurring guest is to allow a Battlestar Galactica in-joke to be made about the mining process of "fraking" (a swear word from the sci-fi show).
This eleventh season of CSI is unsurprisingly glossy and easy to watch and enjoy as bubblegum television. There isn't really any darkness or complexity to it and nothing about it will challenge the viewer beyond the impact of effects shots or shock devices. I found it easy to watch in the main but too often I was distracted by either how daft it was, or just how unnecessarily flashy or elaborate the whole thing was; I guess like Vegas itself, the show seems to have become an experience of excess, rather than something you sit to watch for drama or character.
Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right
ccthemovieman-119 March 2012
Warning: Spoilers
This is the worst ending to a CSI season I've ever seen....and that includes the two spin off series.
In the Los Angeles area, CSI's "Dr. Ray Langston" finally tracks down his nemesis, beats him up while the man is prone and in handcuffs, and then tosses him through a railing to his death. Great behavior for one of the "good guys," eh? Uh.....not exactly. Does Langston have the morality to tell the truth? No. Do his CSI workers - supposedly expert scientists - uncover the truth as they do in all other episodes? No.
The only CSI member who acts in a totally professional manner, not letting her emotions or ties to the boss affect her, is "Sara Sidle" (Jorja Fox). Good for her!
What a bad message to send the audience. I'm glad "Langston" (Laurence Fishburne) won't be back next season.
In the Los Angeles area, CSI's "Dr. Ray Langston" finally tracks down his nemesis, beats him up while the man is prone and in handcuffs, and then tosses him through a railing to his death. Great behavior for one of the "good guys," eh? Uh.....not exactly. Does Langston have the morality to tell the truth? No. Do his CSI workers - supposedly expert scientists - uncover the truth as they do in all other episodes? No.
The only CSI member who acts in a totally professional manner, not letting her emotions or ties to the boss affect her, is "Sara Sidle" (Jorja Fox). Good for her!
What a bad message to send the audience. I'm glad "Langston" (Laurence Fishburne) won't be back next season.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
