We start with a body, then an SUV that leads to another body, which turn out to be related murders, but then you knew that from reading the network capsule description. The real villain behind all of this is the gas company, which is cutting corners, using an unsafe methodology to begin with, and silencing not only their employees but their employees' families with nondisclosure agreements and the threat of loss of benefits, pensions, insurance, and the like if anyone speaks out of turn. The CSIs must investigate two murders that lead them to groundwater contamination from hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, a method of getting natural gas out of underground shale deposits long known to cause massive environmental damage. Unfortunately, as Ray points out, gas companies have been exempt from impact studies and the laws that protect our environment for the last five years. In the end, as in far too many cases, the CSIs can only deal with the crimes that are in their jurisdiction. Kudos to the production staff of CSI for having the guts to put this very serious issue out in front of the public in such a graphic and readily understood way.
8 Reviews
Realistic Story
claudio_carvalho7 October 2023
Three teenagers find the body of a man in the lake, and Langston and Nick investigate the murder. The victim is the rancher in Cable Springs Walter Burns. During the autopsy, Dr. Robbins realizes that the victim had several diseases. They also find that Walter had had several phone contacts with the journalist Rosalind Johnson, also from Cable Springs. Jim Brass and Langston interview her but she does not disclose her article to them. Soon the security engineer Richard Adams is found murdered by Nick and Det. Frankie Reed, dumped in the garbage of a motel, and they learn that he worked for the gas company Conservo Solutions. The further investigation of the CSI team leads them to the rancher Bill Gibson, who commits suicide in front of Langston, Nick and Det. Reed to show what is happening to his water. Now the CSI investigators have evidences that Conservo Solutions is responsible for the deaths; but how to prove it?
"Fracked" is an episode of "CSI" with a realistic story. Corporations are powerful and hardly is possible to prove their responsibilities in crimes. The plot that recalls Erin Brockovich's story, with a fictional corporation responsible for spreading cancer and other diseases through the water to the resident of Cale Springs. But the team is not capable to proceed their investigation and prove the truth. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "Fracked"
"Fracked" is an episode of "CSI" with a realistic story. Corporations are powerful and hardly is possible to prove their responsibilities in crimes. The plot that recalls Erin Brockovich's story, with a fictional corporation responsible for spreading cancer and other diseases through the water to the resident of Cale Springs. But the team is not capable to proceed their investigation and prove the truth. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "Fracked"
A crackling environmental drama
dpieri19 November 2010
Warning: Spoilers
A well written episode, well directed by Martha Coolidge. As pointed out by fellow IMDb "Fracked" reviewer "andrew-ragland," the CSI staff should be commended for taking on the issue of corporations running roughshod over private citizens and whistle-blowers who stand in their way. Set within a complicated mystery in which mortal disparate events finally come together into a mosaic that ultimately makes sense, this episode is underlain by a subtext which illustrates the typical, and increasingly common collision between environmental conscience and big money. Astonishingly, in the process, the viewers are exposed to a fair amount of related engineering geology. Given the rarity of non- didactic solid science, especially earth science, in dramatic story lines, this episode is a gem. The producers had a chance to teach and entertain and they took it, from which Coolidge's solid directing did not flinch--rather, she emphasized and enhanced the interplay of forensic pathology and geology. Tragically, fellow IMDb "Fracked" reviewer "pepethedog" apparently can't perceive such symphony, however, the disparaging tenor and content of his review graphically illustrate the compelling need for writers, directors, and producers to take seriously their obligation not only to entertain, but where they can, to educate by maintaining verisimilitude, while remaining true to the story. Kudos!
Oh Those Mean Environmentalists
Hitchcoc11 March 2021
This is a crime drama. Whether you agree with fracking or love fossil fuels taking away our futures, the characters in this episode did illegal things and did do damage to the people in that area. The episode is about trying to put a stop to the worst of the worst, not an indictment. That's like saying that someone dying in a parachute accident is trying to end the use of parachutes. If a guy tampered with the parachutes, that is a bad guy. If there is such a person in this episode, he or she is a criminal. That's called a plot. By the way, I'm sure CSI will miss you when you stop watching.
What, did they let the Luddites that made GasLand write their script for them?
gblaylock6 March 2011
Here we go again. Another example of Hollywood trying to preach ignorance at us. It is pretty obvious that they were influenced by that bit of Oscar nominated propaganda called GasLand when they wrote this episode. They even repeated a number of the lies perpetrated by that movie. In the episode, they claim that natural gas exploration has not been subject to specific environmental regulations since 2005. This claim is based on a lie in GasLand in which they claimed that Dick Chaney forced legislation through in that year to exempt the natural gas industry from this law. In reality, these industries ARE regulated under all of the regulations cited. The second lie is the claim that the fracking fluid is this mix of toxic chemicals. It is not. If you want to know the truth about what is actually involved in fracking, then you might want to check out the following source. Its assertions are pretty well documented. http://www.energyindepth.org/2010/06/debunking-gasland/
Environmental Propaganda
ccthemovieman-121 December 2011
This was basically an environmental agenda episodes with a company "fracking" and not being careful enough to monitor the quality of water in the area. People in this small rural area outside Las Vegas are getting sick and are dying from the water. A local editor of a weekly rag is one step away from proving her case printing it in her newspaper.
With two violent deaths come investigations from the CSI team as they try and put two-and-two together on what or who is causing these deaths and why these people died. It appears they were about to blow the whistle on this company which was poisoning the local water supply.
Along the way, we learn what the term "fracking" means.....if CSI had that correct.
Overall, however, as what happens when you bring an agenda to the table, it gets overwrought with the points you are trying to make. How they handled the character of the newspaper editor, and Ray Langston's responses to her, is Exhibit A.
With two violent deaths come investigations from the CSI team as they try and put two-and-two together on what or who is causing these deaths and why these people died. It appears they were about to blow the whistle on this company which was poisoning the local water supply.
Along the way, we learn what the term "fracking" means.....if CSI had that correct.
Overall, however, as what happens when you bring an agenda to the table, it gets overwrought with the points you are trying to make. How they handled the character of the newspaper editor, and Ray Langston's responses to her, is Exhibit A.
The single worst episode in CSI history. What happened.
pepethedog-112 November 2010
The single worst episode in CSI history. What happened. I'm the only one left in my home still willing to watch CSI. With this episode I leave as well. I can't believe it was written by the show's creator. The writing is so overwrought that it reminds me of the sort of thing one finds in student written high school plays. I have sat through a few, much better written than this.
My only hope is that Zuiker had to step in the last moment and just couldn't save this mess. The only other result is that no one was willing to tell him how it read.
I hope they cancel this show before they ruin the legacy of the first great nine years.
Btw your spell checker rejects csi unless capitalized
My only hope is that Zuiker had to step in the last moment and just couldn't save this mess. The only other result is that no one was willing to tell him how it read.
I hope they cancel this show before they ruin the legacy of the first great nine years.
Btw your spell checker rejects csi unless capitalized
You Know An Episode Is Bad When...
lnzbyl16 May 2020
...you're bored watching it within the first 10 minutes.
I was only marginally interested in this episode during that time and, unfortunately, nothing happened to boost my interest.
What DID happen was that I was "treated" to a 45-minute diatribe on the dangers of the practice of fracking, a controversial method of extracting oil and natural gas from the ground.
Is there anything worse than TV writers who feel the need to "educate" viewers? As usual in such situations, this episode is heavy-handed and preachy. What's worse, though, is that even the episode is slow-moving and as dull as dishwater.
The writers of this particular episode managed to waste 45 minutes of my time with this tripe. Safe to say that it will be the first and last time that this episode will waste any more of my time. I will definitely be skipping it on my next CSI go-round.
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