I've been waiting patiently for an episode to come along that would echo the promise I felt at the very beginning of this season, and - pardon me for saying - I was hit by "Smooth Criminal."

Finally, the missing balance found its way back into CSI: New York with a story that had emotional grounding and a thrilling mystery. The contrast between the police investigation and the scenes between the hit man and his captive were enticing and made me really have to think about what was going on.

Even the overused device of making the audience believe the police were knocking on the hit man's door instead of some random suspect achieved its goal.

Ne-Yo was excellent as the hit man, listed in the credits only as the Handsome Man. He was cold but cool, and I admit I was sort of rooting for him. I wanted the Handsome Man to make a clean getaway. He was a villain, but the sort that has an obvious code otherwise he would have killed his target, Camille, at the end.

I suppose it could be argued that he didn't shoot her because he had developed an attraction to his target in the short time they spent together. I believe it's much more likely that he spared Camille because Dr. Kumi ended her contract once she sent a secondary assassin to finish the job.

Speaking of Dr. Kumi, I had fan girl moment when I saw Adrienne Barbeau. She's one of my favorite Catwomen, and knows how to spin an evil character.

I knew that Dr. Kumi would probably have a bigger hand in the story than her first interview with Danny and Flack suggested. The character's true motives were played close to the vest, and it was a genuine surprise for me when Dr. Kumi turned out to be the mastermind behind the fake medication.

I had been quite convinced that Camille was more sinister than Dr. Hawkes wanted to believe.  The history between the two characters helped to strengthen the sense of urgency for the CSIs to find where Camille was being held captive.

My lingering complaint is one I've had for a while, but it's really starting to bug me more and more. Jo needs some fleshing out. She needs a character flaw, and the tiny tidbits of information she always just happens to know need to be given to another character.

A story involving the character showing there's more to her than being a perfect ex-FBI superwoman would do the trick.

What did you think of last night's CSI: NY? Comment below!