"CSI" Recap & Review - "Dead Doll"

CSI
"Dead Doll"

Original Air Date: September 27, 2007

Jillyree - TwoCents Staff Writer

The scene opens with Sara shown in the same position she was at the end of last season: barely conscious, somewhere in the barren Nevada desert, pinned beneath the car as the rain starts to fall.

Back in Vegas, Catherine and Greg are still searching the parking garage where Sara was abducted. The fat kid from “The Sandlot” doesn't recognize Natalie, but knows Sara and says he last saw her around 7:30 PM.

Nick and Warrick are at Natalie's apartment searching for anything that might tell them where Sara is, and they find her sketchbooks full of drawings – they determine that she has a photographic memory. The call comes in that they've found Natalie's car, so Warrick leaves to process while Nick stays behind to finish up with the apartment.

At the Crime Lab, Brass tells a very distraught looking Grissom that Search and Rescue has been alerted, and that as soon as they get a general area of interest, they will be out in full force looking for her. Grissom's attention is diverted when he hears about the severe weather moving into the area, bringing with it flash flooding.

Meanwhile, Sara is fighting to keep her head above water.

Ever the scientist, Grissom anticipates with a beaker of water and the miniature what will happen to Sara if they don't find her in time, and it looks bleak.

OPENING CREDITS: YAY! Sophia is out of the credits! (I don't like her – useless plot device if you ask me) and Hodges is IN! It's about time!

Grissom is helping Warrick process Natalie's car while Nick calls with general information about possible dump sites. Grissom looks minutes away from tears as he thinks back on a time when Sara touched his face at a crime scene, stating that she was just trying to remove dust from his face, but knowing it was much more than that.

The Police psychiatrist is in with Natalie, and Hodges is brought in to collect evidence, as everyone else is already on the case. Sophia is there (Have I mentioned I don't like her?) and as Hodges takes his samples, Natalie tells him he's special. Hodges most likely gets a boner, because a girl actually talked to him without having his credit card number first.

Still at the initial crime scene, Cath finds a taser barb, and we flashback to Sara's abduction, which took place after a phone call with “Gilbert”. Grissom and Greg watch the playback of surveillance tapes that show Natalie was headed west on Imperial Boulevard.

We now find Sara in the trunk of Natalie's car, and Sara, being a graduate of the “MacGyver School of Escape” she frees herself using only a taser barb and her hands. She maneuvers her way into the backseat of Natalie's car and a struggle ensues, ending with Sara jumping from the moving car. Tired and beaten, Sara lays on the ground as Natalie circles back, gets out of the car, and gives Sara a dead, empty stare.

We jump back to Sara pinned beneath the car as the water rises.

The local news reports on mudslides and flash flooding in the area as Hodges hones in on a more specific area – Red Rock Canyon. Warrick finds evidence in the car that suggests that Sara escaped, but having the Geek Mind Meld that they have, Grissom knows better – he could see it in Natalie's eyes.

Natalie wakes Sara with water, and Sara awakes to find she's been bound again. As Natalie drives, Sara talks to her, and tells Natalie she knows how it feels to be alone – and that she knows Ernie loved her. Natalie, in a cold, dead tone announces to Sara that “Ernie loved me more than Grissom could ever love you.” Sara wonders why she's mentioned Grissom just as the drugs start to kick in. As she awakens again, the car is being lowered onto her as Natalie watches, a sadistic smile on her face, then turns to walk away as Sara screams her name. We then see Sara as the water rises around her still working to free herself.

Nick is still at Natalie's apartment, still looking for something; anything, and kicks the bed in frustration. Putting his head in his hands, he sits down to try and collect himself, and remembers the conversation he and Sara had while working the “Gum Drops” case. He smiles as he remembers Sara telling him it “wasn't his day to die.” Looking up at one of the drawings of Sara hanging on the wall, he notices the name of a tow yard..

Brass hauls butt to the Desert Diamond Tow Yard and questions the attendant. It's not until he threatens charges of accomplice to murder that the guy sings – Ice Box Canyon. A convoy of police vehicles head out as Greg flies overhead in a chopper, where he spots the car. Grissom and Nick arrive first, and begin to dig at the hardening mud as Grissom screams her name, but all they find is Sara's vest.

The search is on now, as Catherine arrives in the most obnoxious straw hat I've ever seen. It's even worse than Farmer Grissom's hat. I swear. Grissom notices footprints walking away from the scene, and he and Cath start to follow them.

We see in a flashback that Sara frees herself from the car by using the rear view mirror, hitting at the softening soil beneath the car. She climbs out from beneath the vehicle and begins to walk away. Does she not watch Survivorman? Collect water and stay put, woman! But no, she takes off walking.

We have several flashes between Grissom and Cath on foot searching, and Sara walking, now with her arm in a homemade sling, the rear view mirror still clutched in her hand. We also get a snippet of Nick and Sophia (I don't like her, ya know), then back to Grissom and Cath. Her fugly hat has now changed into a ball cap. I guess the continuity guy was off that day. Anyway, they notice that Sara has been leaving a trail using rocks. Grissom sees boots in his binoculars, and they run to find not Sara, but a missing hiker.

As others process this new scene, Grissom and Catherine ponder Sara's fate, and for once, Catherine thinks about someone other than herself.

As Sara wills herself to keep walking, she eventually succumbs to exhaustion and dehydration, passing out in the desert.

Nick and that girl I cannot stand are driving when they see a glint in the desert. They pull off the road and find Sara, barely alive and no recognizable pulse. They call for Med-Evac, and as Grissom and Cath pull up to the scene, the EMT's are doing their best to try and revive Sara. Grissom runs as fast as he can to be by her side, and as they load her into the chopper, he climbs in beside her.

His face sunburned, a look of sadness and terror covers his face. He reaches down to cradle Sara's frail hand in his, and as her eyes flutter open, she sees his name in her view. A small, sweet smile overtakes his mouth as he barely squeezes her hand.

4.5 of 5 stars.