Shankar: The Theme This Year Is Family

With the new season less than two weeks away, spoilers have emerged that give fans a glimpse at what is in store for all three members of the CSI franchise.

In the ninth season finale of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, “All In”, Dr Ray Langston (Laurence Fishburne) shot someone for the first time. “The shooting has really driven home a couple of things for him,” executive producer Naren Shankar explained to TV Guide. “You’re going to see a much more confident, much more driven Dr Langston.” Shankar added, “I think the audience is hungry for Langston to kind of take the Sherlock Holmes mantle and be the guy who solves these crimes.”

“The theme this year is family,” he continued. “Catherine [Willows, Marg Helgenberger] is dealing with her new level of responsibility. Nick [Stokes, George Eads] is finding his place as more of a leader in the field. Greg [Sanders, Eric Szmanda] is still dealing with the fact that when you start out as somebody’s assistant, there’s still a tendency for people to treat him like he’s just the DNA guy with the goofy hair.” Shankar also revealed that the “little geeky romance” between Wendy Simms (Liz Vassey) and David Hodges (Wallace Langham) is going to continue during season ten.

With Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox) back in town after the departure of Riley Adams (Lauren Lee Smith), fans will find out what happened between Sara and Gil Grissom (William Petersen) after he left the show last season. “You definitely get some clues as to how things have been going in Grissom and Sara Land,” Shanker explained. One person that fans won’t be seeing, however, is Sofia Curtis. Despite the recent report that Louise Lombard would reprise her role during season ten, a CSI insider tells Ausiello that such a return “hasn’t been discussed.”

Over on CSI: Miami, Ausiello reports that Adam Rodriguez (Eric Delko) is committed to doing seven episodes of the eighth season before saying goodbye to the series. Delko’s girlfriend, fellow CSI Calleigh Duquesne (Emily Procter), shot at him in the season seven finale “Seeing Red” when he was trying to help his father, Russian mobster Alexander Sharova (Rade Serbedzija). Both characters will have to deal with the repercussions of their actions as the new season gets underway. “She’s upset that her boyfriend is hurt but has no remorse,” Procter told TV Guide. “I shot a scene the other day where she was like, ‘Look, he was not doing right, and I shot him. You’d shoot him too.'”

The end of Calleigh and Eric’s relationship might be on the horizon, Procter revealed. “It will only work out if he’s physically capable of continuing the relationship, which he may or may not be,” she said. “Calleigh may once again have to move on.”

While Delko is injured in the season premiere, the episode will flash back to his memories of 1997. Procter explained, “The story line is showing how everybody meets, and his first view of everyone–I was new on the force; Adam’s character was working as a tow truck driver; Horatio [Caine, David Caruso] had his same job.” In order to appear younger, “I sucked my stomach in really hard,” Procter said with a laugh. More seriously, she added, “And I tried to make Calleigh the way she would have been before the damage of her job–more Southern and light–less protected and more enthusiastic about everything. I’m hoping that it’s going to work. Either that or I’m just going to look really amped up.”

Newcomer Eddie Cibrian will join the team as Jesse Cardoza at the start of season eight. “He is utterly charming, absolutely gorgeous,” Procter said of her new costar. “Eddie’s really going to add a kind of sex appeal that we haven’t had. A little bit more open sexuality. Which is good!” She added, “In the second episode Eddie takes his shirt off, and maybe people are excited by that, and by people, I mean me.”

The third member of the franchise will also deal with a shooting in the season premiere. CSI: New York‘s sixth season will jump forward in time after the shootout that ended the season five finale, “Pay Up”. “In the premiere, we’re trying to figure out who was responsible for the shooting,” executive producer Pam Veasey told TV Guide. “It’s approximately a month later, and we haven’t solved that crime.”

The premiere will answer the question of who, if anyone, was wounded by the flying bullets. “People are wondering who got hit, and someone did,” Veasey revealed. “There is a surprise.” She continued, “All of our characters are struggling with what happened [during the shooting], but Mac [Taylor, Gary Sinise] is really driven by finding the answer.”

Mac is driven to find the answer, but he isn’t the only one affected by the shooting. Newlyweds Danny Messer (Carmine Giovinazzo) and Lindsay Monroe (Anna Belknap) will face “a change as a result of that shooting,” Veasey promised. “It’s worth tuning in for, big time.”

Meanwhile, Don Flack (Eddie Cahill) is still dealing with the death of his girlfriend and fellow detective, Jessica Angell (Emmanuelle Vaugier). “His relationships with everyone are a little strained,” Veasey said. Dr Sheldon Hawkes (Hill Harper) will also deal with a personal problem during season six, but his troubles come in the form of “financial issues”, Veasey revealed.

Miami will be the first member of the franchise to air its season premiere on Monday, September 21 at 10:00pm ET/PT. New York will follow that Wednesday, September 23 at 10:00pm ET/PT. Rounding out the week will be CSI, which will debut the first episode of its tenth season on Thursday, September 24 at 9:00pm ET/PT.

The original spoilers are from the September 14th issue of TV Guide and Ausiello. Thanks to SpoilerTV for information and perlnoir from TalkCSI for the heads up.