DVDs in Review

CSI: Vegas Season 9

Title: CSI: Vegas Season 9 (2009)

Release date: March 1 2010

Certificate: 15

Format: DVD

DVD RRP: £49.99

Rating: 4/5

Setting a crime series in a big city with a constant intake of tourists, criminals and cops is a great idea that adds realism to larger than life scenarios, unlike for example a small town with a death rate higher than most cities ('Midsummer Murders' anyone?). In short, Las Vegas is as important as the characters in the brilliant 'CSI: Vegas'.

'CSI: Miami' has all the cheese and 'Miami Vice' inspired style, right down to bad one-liners and sun-bleached sports cars, but 'Vegas' is where its at for a gritty, night-time cop show. This season opens with the death of a long-running character, throwing the team into turmoil to uncover the mystery.

Obviously, this is huge news for a show still successful in its 9th season, but the biggest fumble is that they don't drag this plot line out enough. The case opens and closes in relatively quick succession when it could've been given far more juice and intrigue.

Check out the three-minute catchup of the last eight seasons here! (Warning: Contains some moderate violence)

In all, the murder of a team member is handled as quickly as any of the other more anonymous cases in the 'CSI' canon, which is a shame because the actors are all incredibly capable of emotion. Their day to day roles show this emotion being repressed. This plotline would've been a great catalyst to letting it all out.

Nevertheless, the individual cases that spread across the season are intriguing enough, albeit not very personally charged. Just watching the police-procedural approach to forensics is compelling stuff.

Always opting to explore instead of explode, 'CSI' tends to replace car chases with actual evidence and investigation, allowing the audience to participate that bit more, and when the brilliantly underrated William Petersen ('Manhunter') is fronting the show, it's a ride that's all the grittier even if the writers can't always sustain the tension.