CSI Review: Jumping the "Pool Shark"

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For a show based around science, there have been some fairly unbelievable plots in CSI over the last 11 seasons. But "Pool Shark" may have given us the episode that forces viewers to declare the drama has jumped the shark.

Ever wonder how many shark and fishing metaphors you can fit into 42 minutes? The answer is “too many.” I knew this episode was in trouble when there were several dozen people in and out of the water at the “pool club” and the only person to notice a twenty-foot shark swimming around them was the “Hot Blonde” (I wish I was making that up, that’s how she was listed in the credits) played by the very recognizable Holly Madison.

Catherine and Sara

Of course, you can’t have a shark without a shark attack, so at the exact moment the shark is finally spotted, it pulls some poor woman off her raft. Which lead to panic, mayhem, boredom, and clichés for the rest of the episode (in that order.)  Ignoring the fact that the chlorine in the pool would have poisoned the shark fairly quickly, the chlorine would also have neutralized the “drop of blood” that Dr. Robbins and Langston determined caused the shark to attack this individual in the first place.

I know how naysayers are going to respond: “But they said that it was a fresh water pool, so the shark could have survived a while and why it smelled the blood.” Seriously, have you ever been to a public pool (especially in a hotel) that was 100% tap water?

The ridiculous shark plot aside, this episode was also the last one for Wendy (Liz Vassey). In the most atypical way to write out a character, Wendy got a new job in Portland, where she gets to be a Field Mouse instead of a Lab Rat, as she has always wanted. So, Wendy leaves, breaking Hodges' heart (and mine) in the process.

I was so hoping they would have had Wendy “off stage” because she and Hodges had finally decided to date and they couldn’t work together if they were. After several years of watching Hodges and Wendy get so close it would have been a little bit of satisfaction.

Sadly, it was not the way they went. I do have to give a special nod to the music choice of Cee Lo Green. The song they played when Hodges was bouncing back (the radio version is called “Forget You.”) was exactly how I felt towards the writers/producers about Vassey leaving.

Honestly, the only redeeming thing I could find in this episode was Elliott Gould as Earnest “The Booz” Boozell (which was eerily reminiscent of Reuben Tishkoff from Ocean’s Eleven.)  The Booz knew Catherine’s father and pointed out how she was a much better person than he was at the end of the episode.

Overall, that wasn't enough to mask my disappointment in the episode. They seriously should have saved this episode to run during “Shark Week.” That would have given a reason for a completely unrealistic, concocted storyline like this one.

What did you think of the episode? Do you feel it the show has jumped the shark or am I just throwing chum in the water? Browse through a few CSI quotes from the hour as you decide.

Pool Shark Review

Editor Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
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User Rating:

Rating: 2.3 / 5.0 (23 Votes)

Jim G. is a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow him on Twitter.

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CSI Season 11 Episode 2 Quotes

So our shark is only guilty of biting a dead woman, our killer is still out there.

Langston

Nick: So that is Ernest Boozell, "The Booz."
Catherine: The biggest shark in town.