‘CSI:NY’ Offers Closure And Explores Family In Season 8

Executive Producer Zachary Reiter offers some insight into what’s coming up during the eighth season of CSI: New York. (Spoilers after the jump!)

Tonight’s season premiere, “Indelible”, honors the 10th anniversary of September 11th by showing flashbacks to that fateful day. Mac Taylor’s (Gary Sinise) late wife Claire (Jaime Ray Newman) will appear in the flashbacks, and the episode will offer Mac a chance to move on. “You’ll feel and you’ll know at the end of the episode that he derives a certain amount of closure from the [anniversary]—and from the specific act that he makes at the end of the day,” Reiter told TV Line. Toward the end of the season, Mac might find that “he’s able to open up and have a relationship that is more meaningful than maybe some of the past ones he had, because these walls were up.”

Season eight will also delve into Jo Danville’s (Sela Ward) past, specifically the rape case she mentioned back in season seven’s “Vigilante” and why she decided to come to New York. “There is the history of that case, the DC rapist, where she felt compelled by her legal obligation to disclose certain information, and in doing so it resulted in the acquittal of a rapist,” Reiter explained. “She went through a lot of grief and condemnation, and that caused her to maybe make the move, and some of that history comes back.” Hopefully, Jo will find closure so she can put the past behind her.

Meanwhile, Danny’s promotion to Sergeant will explore the bond between NYPD officers working together. “[S]ome of the stuff that happens with Danny is about how he left one family, and when you become a sergeant and supervise a certain number of uniformed officers they become your new family,” Reiter said. “What we explore is what he learns about his new family, how that differs from his [CSI] family, and how that weighs on his mind.”

You can find the whole interview, with more information about the premiere and Danny’s promotion, on TV Line.