The Franchise Has Some Questions To Answer

CSI has some 'splaining to do.

The June 2 issue of TV Guide tackles some of the burning questions posed by the season finales of all three members of the CSI franchise. In the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation finale, Warrick Brown (Gary Dourdan) was shot in the final moments of the episode. "We thought that if we ever lost Warrick (Dourdan), this was the way he would go," said executive producer Carol Mendelsohn. She went on to say, "We knew where we were going with Warrick long before Gary went to the Coachella music festival [Dourdan was arrested for drug possession shortly after attending the festival], and that it would be a truly classic battle -- a battle to the death."

Mendelsohn described Undersheriff McKeen (Conor O'Farrell) as "one of the most worthy adversaries that the team has ever gone up against because he is so smart, because he is so trained, and he can think of all the angles." And what's coming up for next season? "The premiere [of Season 9] is the last time you will probably see our entire cast together. Our original cast. And that means Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox)," Mendelsohn said.

CSI: Miami also ended its season with a bang. Horatio Caine (David Caruso) was shot, and the list of possible suspects includes his son Kyle Harmon (Evan Ellingson), his ex Julia Winston (Elizabeth Berkley), his nemesis Ron Saris (Kim Coates) and, perhaps most surprisingly, one of Horatio's own CSIs. "Let's just say that Ryan Wolfe (Jonathan Togo) may be playing both sides," writer Corey Miller told TV Guide. "He may be taking an opportunity here to get ahead." Miller continued, "I think we'll have a pretty good sense of what happened pretty early on in the fall, but as far as the ramifications of what happened, that should last through the season. A couple of our characters are going darker, Horatio included."

For CSI: New York, the big question fans were left with at the end of season four is what's going to happen to Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise). The finale ended with Mac held hostage by the mysterious "Joe" (Elias Koteas), and he'll still be in that sticky situation when the new season starts in the fall. "The question will be, where on the eastern seaboard is Mac Taylor? Watching the lead CSI be a victim of a crime and have to deal with the aftermath of that just makes our family closer. And what happens to Mac is going to make him even stronger," explained executive producer Pam Veasey. Veasey described "Joe" as "a very smart criminal who pushes emotional buttons to get what he wants. He's quite a worthy adversary for Mac and the team."

In other news for New York, Ausiello has reported that One Tree Hill star Michaela McManus will be making an appearance in the Big Apple next fall. The actress is set to guest-star as a flight attendant who helps Mac out when they both find themselves caught up in a hijacking scheme. Based on other spoilers, this will be during the third episode of season five, "Turbulence".

For more information about the finales--and premieres--of the CSI shows, check out the June 2 issue of TV Guide. The original information about McManus's appearance on CSI: New York is from Ausiello. Thanks to Rhonda from TalkCSI for the TV Guide spoilers.

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