The Compass Killer Returns To ‘New York’ This Week

Former Jericho star Skeet Ulrich first appeared as the “Compass Killer”, Hollis Eckhart, in the CSI: New York episode “Lat/Long” earlier this season. The character returns this week as the New York team tries to unravel the latest mystery. (Spoilers after the jump!)

As CSI Files previously reported, the team starts to close in on Eckhart in the next episode, “Cuckoo’s Nest”. “What becomes very apparent in Episode 8 and even more frustrating is that everything we thought about this guy was wrong. We really completely take a left turn. Nothing is what it seems,” explained executive producer Peter Lenkov. “When we sort of discover who this guy is, it just … makes it even more of a challenge to get him.”

Ulrich was cautious about taking the role “because he didn’t want to play a villain of the week,” Lenkov shared. “What he really responded to was the character. I think he felt that this was a character in the world of CSI … that wasn’t explored. This was a really psychological exploration into somebody’s mind.”

“I never really wanted to do guest spots on other people’s shows but it was such a compelling idea,” Ulrich said. He spoke with “Lat/Long” writer Trey Callaway in the beginning to get a sense of how to portray the character. “I felt that he needed to be a mostly kind of normal person, scarring aside, in most of his mentality,” Ulrich added, referring to the scars that mar the right side of Eckhart’s face. “I’ve always felt it needed to be somebody that this [scarred face] aside, you could walk down the street and not necessarily know.”

“He’s very interesting because of the reasons he does what he does,” the actor said of his character. “Once you think about somebody who’s lost everything and has no love in his life, it’s not necessarily a justification but you can sort of wrap your head around it a little more.”

Hollis is “not a one-dimensional character”, Ulrich explained, and that kept him “interested” in the role. Despite the fact that Hollis is “no hero”, Ulrich added, “I think he was a very decent human being who did some pretty despicable things.”

Source: Zap2it and TVGuide.com