Site Columns
By KristineAugust 9, 2004 - 4:41 PM
Hello World!
So the net is abuzz with the latest CSI rumor (who said the summer is slow): the death of a character on CSI: Miami. If you've been reading the stories here, you know who it is and how he leaves. If you haven't, and don't want to know, look away now.
So Speed (Rory Cochrane) is going to die in a shootout. It's not uncommon for a character to be killed off when the actor decides to leave, but is it really the best way to write the person out? After all, what if the actor eventually changes his or her mind? I believe the most famous example of this was when the actor playing Bobby Ewing on Dallas was killed off, and then decided to come back a year later. The whole previous season was just a dream--literally.
Denise Crosby, who played Tasha Yar on Star Trek: The Next Generation wanted out in the first season, so the writers killed her off on an away mission gone wrong. Crosby then presumably regretted her decision, and made several more appearances on the show, first as an alternate universe version of Yar, then as a child produced by that alternate version when she went back in time. Certainly, there would have been less awkward ways to bring the actress back had her character merely transferred off the ship instead of being killed on a planet. But Trek can pull that kind of stuff.
A CSI show obviously can't. Sure, Speed could decide to up and leave the department or put in for a transfer or leave in some other anti-climactic way, much like Kim Delaney did halfway through Miami's first season. But on a show that occasionally features the officers in dangerous situations, it would almost seem to be a lost dramatic opportunity if the writers didn't kill the character.
After all, in Miami, the characters are not just CSIs but police officers, too. They carry guns, and have been involved in shootouts (as in "Dispo Day," "Money for Nothing" and "Rap Sheet," to name a few). In just two years, Speed's been caught in a club fire (with Delko), escaped an explosion (with Delko and Horatio), and been shot at point blank range (thank goodness for the Kelvar vest). The guy may not have used up his nine lives yet, but the fact remains that these officers are often in dangerous situations. That one of them might die in a shootout is completely believable, and probably on a crime drama, the best way to go.
Trek BBS Today
Below are some of the topics about Cochrane's exit currently being discussed at the Talk CSI Files BBS:
-So it's true...R.I.P. Speed *sob*
-will speed's exit be an ugly and grousome death?
More topics can be found at the Talk CSI BBS!
Poll Results
Below are the results of the most recent TrekToday poll:
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35.2% - (368
Votes),,
Today's Television Listings
Tonight, CBS will air the CSI: Miami episode "Grand Prix". Here is TV Guide's description of "Grand Prix":
Horatio suspects foul play when a pit-crew fuel man at a qualifying race in Miami is burned to death after being engulfed by invisible flames shortly after refueling his team's race car. The investigation leads the CSIs into the ultra-competitive, high-stakes world of open-wheel racing, where they discover teams will do anything to get ahead.
On Thursday, CBS will show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation's "Fur and Loathing". TV Guide describes the episode:
The writers at CSI have come up with some strange and kinky cases to investigate in the past (think the scuba diver in a tree or Lady Heather). But in this truly bizarre episode they've outdone themselves,which makes you wonder: do they have vivid imaginations or does stuff like this really happen? A man dressed in a full raccoon suit becomes roadkill after he's hit by a car on a dark stretch of highway. When Grissom and Catherine arrive, they discover he has also been shot. It turns out the dude is part of a weird group that believes in acting on animal instinct.
Discuss this news item at Talk CSI!
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