An opportunity was missed tonight on CSI: New York to field a very powerful and sensitive topic Tough questions were raised, but left to the viewers' discretion to answer.

In "Vigilante," a clear stance seemed to be drawn about vigilante justice, but left me wanting and wishing the writers had picked a better way to address the subject.

I'm sure the sense of unease I feel regarding the story is exactly what the writer's wished to induce. Uncomfortable topics can lead to discussion, but like some of the CSIs themselves, I feel a bit caught between a rock and a hard place.

I understand that the law can never be taken into one's own hands. That the death of a predator that hurt someone I loved would likely just lead to more problems, but - and that's the important part - there's that part of me that thinks it would do a whole lot of good.

The problem this episode has is that it spent more time reasoning why this sort of justice is wrong, than it did to explain how victims of sexual assault could find a way to live their lives again. So, all the pep talks from characters like Lindsey and Jo fell on deaf ears.

It didn't matter to me if the murderers were caught, because I had no sympathy for the men they killed or the law they broke. All I could think was how awful for these women that in their minds there was no better way to ensure some semblance of justice.

Performances all around were solid.

Even though I didn't quite agree with Lindsey's lawful good rhetoric the character's struggle was easily felt. She clearly learned from her exchanges with Kate Price, one of the rapists' victims, to be a little more sensitive, and the importance of taking the time to really listen.

Overall, this wasn't a bad episode. I wouldn't be surprised if many viewers gave it a much higher rating than I did. It just hit too close to home for me. For an episode that was meant to focus on taking the law into one's own hands it missed the mark by trying to cover two topics at once.

Its message lost as mere preachy condolences, with no answers or sage advice.