CSI - Crime Scene Investigation - New York - Season 6 [DVD]

I have to agree with the reviewer B.A.Vine on at least two counts --

The character of Sheldon Hawkes (played by Harper Hill) is not really successful. As you watch him, you're really aware of watching an actor playing the part - all very dramatic and full of overdone expressions. For the most part, the other characters have become believable and you're not really aware of them being actors, but Hill is just too obvious and unsophisticated.

Also, the storylines in this season aren't as gripping and the threads are less than enthralling. I suppose the benchmark for story arcs in the CSI set has to be the 'miniature killer' in the original CSI series. The arcs here in this season of CSI-NY just don't measure up. The whole compass-killer thing is OK, but in an attempt to create the mental state of the schizophrenic killer, the presentation is just far too tricksy and lets you into the 'secret' far too soon. This has the effect of engendering within you a feeling of some sympathy and with that, a lot of the tension evaporates.

The closed-room, da-Vinci Code episode (death house) has an air of such preposterous unbelievability that this erodes tension ... and as for how the girl who is saved from the hidden tank of water actually got into the tank - that little detail is ignored totally. It's all very false and smacks of a writing team becoming just a tad too self-indulgent.

Maybe I've just seen too many of these programmes, but I have to admit to a measure of dissatisfaction with season 6. It's good (in parts) but definitely not as good as previous seasons.

CSI New York S6

The complete season 6 of CSI New York consists of all 23 episodes along with a great amount of extras (and about time too).

Disc 1

- Epilogue - concludes the cliff-hanger episode from the end of Season 5 - starts after the drive by shooting on the bar where the CSIs were remembering their recently deceased colleague

- Blacklist (featuring Gravedigger) - a killer of healthcare workers mentions the name of Mac's father

- Lat 40° 47 N/Long 73° 58 W - two bodies killed by the same person are found at opposite ends of the city

- Dead Reckoning - a woman claims to have murdered her cheating husband, is she telling the truth?

- extra
- better than botox - relates to the second episode "Blacklist"

Disc 2

- Battle Scars - murder and street dancing

- It Happened to Me - murder at a "sploshing" parties

- Hammer Down - part 2 of the 3 series cross over

- extras
- 3-way crossover episodes
- part 1 - Miami - "Bone Voyage"
- part 3 - Vegas - "Lost Girls"
- East Coast Heroes - related to the 3-way cross over

Disc 3

- Cuckoo's Nest - compass killer strikes again

- Manhattenhenge - Conclusion to the Compass killer case

- Death House - Locked room mystery meets Da Vinci Code

- Second Chances - why is a reformed addict is literally run over in an alley way?

- extras
- commentary - "Death House" - Nortberto Barba and Vaughan Edwards
- A Killer House - relating to "Death House"

Disc 4

- Criminal Justice - a murder trial is interrupted because of tampered evidence

- Flag on the Play - murder in a Lingerie Football League (only in the USA!)

- Sanguine Love - woman's body is found drained of blood

- Formula - who tried to kill a legendary racing driver?

Disc 5

- Uncertainty rules - several people are hacked to pieces after a 21st birthday party

- Pot of Gold - sees the brief return of Mac Taylor's "stepson" Reed Garrett as the team investigate the death of a blogger

- Rest in Peace, Marina Garito - Sid and Stella have a difference of opinion on a case

- Redemptio - Hawkes is trapped in a prison cell block during a riot

Extra:
- commentary - Rest in Peace - Pam Veasey and Allison Liddi-Brown

Disc 6

- Tales from the Undercard - a body leads to an underground fight club

- Unusual Suspects - a teenager is robbed and shot in an alley way on the way home with his brother but why where they there and who did it?

- Point of View - Rear Window meets CSI NY - Mac (Gary Sinise) is injured in a chase and is left in his new apartment watching his neighbours

- Vacation Getaway - Danny and Lindsey decide to take a few days away, but Shane Casey is still looking for revenge

- extras:
- a closer examination - Dr Sid Hammerback
- creation of a crime scene
- seeing stars
- leaving Las Vegas - Langston heads east

Language track is English only.

Subtitles are again in English only, but at least there are subtitles something which many series don't bother with.

The story arcs in this season don't seem as strong as some of the previous seasons. There is the 3-way cross over, the compass killer and Shane Casey's reappearance (played by Edward Furlong).

There is more character development as well as the reappearance of Reed Garrett (Kyle Gallner) and Mac's former girlfriend Payton Driscoll (Claire Forlani) - even if only briefly. "Pot of Gold" introduces a possible new girlfriend in the form of another doctor called Aubrey Hunter (Madchen Amick). However, neither Payton Driscoll nor Aubrey Hunter have made an appearance in season 7 (so far, and they are now halfway through the run) so it looks like those ideas have been shelved.

Of all the episodes there was one I wasn't so keen on and that was the Hawkes centric "Redemptio" episode, but I don't really like the Sheldon Hawkes character (played by Harper Hill). Other than that an enjoyable season still showing great potential and the ability to look at, and as usual it ends on a cliff hanger.

Personally I think this is one of the strongest series of CSI NY and yes I have seem them all. Strong characters shown as having a human side. It is just a pity that the description still list Aiden Burn (Vanessa Ferlito) Who hasn't been in the show since series 2!! That somehow belittles Anna Belknap as Lindsay Monore, who I definitely prefer. If you like CSI NY get this it will not disappoint