The thirteenth season of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation premiered on September 26, 2012, on CBS, and ended on May 15, 2013. It stars Ted Danson and Elisabeth Shue.
Plot
D.B. and Finn hunt for missing Kaitlyn, while Sara convinces Nick to return to the Las Vegas Crime Lab ("Karma to Burn"), in the thirteenth season of CSI. Russell, Finlay and their team are met with the gruesome, the brutal, and the unusual, including a shootout at the CSI's favorite diner ("Code Blue Plate Special"), the murder of a runaway sex slave ("Wild Flowers"), a body in a piano ("It Was a Very Good Year"), the death of a police dog handler ("Play Dead"), the discovery of a mass grave ("CSI on Fire"), a plane crash ("Risky Business Class"), a news anchor killed on live TV ("Dead Air"), the murder of a tennis star ("Double Fault"), the murder of a Cuban singing sensation ("Exile"), a cheating scandal at a poker tournament ("Last Woman Standing"), a body near
a forest reserve ("Sheltered"), a ghost hunter's murder (Ghosts of the Past) a sole witness in the form of a 6-year-old girl ("Backfire") and a body in a mud-bath ("Fearless"). Meanwhile, things get personal, as Russell's sons coach is murdered ("Pick and Roll"), a body is found on Warrick's grave ("Fallen Angels"), Brass learns more about Ellie ("Strip Maul"), NYPD Lab Director Mac Taylor heads to Las Vegas ("In Vino Veritas"), Sara became a suspect in a homicide ("Forget Me Not"). Phillips heads to a high school reunion ("Dead of the Class"), and an investigation into a series of Dante's Inferno killings bring the CSIs face-to-face with Black Sabbath ("Skin in the Game"), before jeopardizing the life of one investigator.
Catrinel Marlon as Elisabetta, Hodges Fiancé ( Episodes 13 and 20)
Production
In episode thirteen of the season, CSI staged a two-part crossover with its spin-off show CSI: NY in which Gary Sinise marked his first appearance in CSI and as his CSI: NY character Mac Taylor; cast member Ted Danson subsequently appeared in the CSI: NY portion of the story. Former cast member William Petersen also returned as Gil Grissom for voice overs in the episodes "Wild Flowers" and "Dead Air", on the phone with Sara; these appearances were uncredited. On March 20, 2013, CBS renewed CSI for a fourteenth season, which aired in September 2013.[1]
Finley befriends a young man thought to be one of Jeffrey McKeen's henchmen; he took her to a night club where he hid Russell's kidnapped granddaughter, but she finds herself in danger as well. Russell and the rest of the CSI team go on an all-out hunt to recover the girl before time runs out on the ransom order. Meanwhile, Nick Stokes, soused after having a few beers, was literally drafted back into CSI by Sara Sidle; Morgan finds herself drawn closer to Hodges as she awaits news about her father, who was shot during last season's finale; and Russell contemplates taking drastic action against McKeen in order to draw information from him. Just as it was with Warrick Brown's murder, the perpetrator was one of their own, and there may be others of their own working for McKeen.
As the CSIs take a meal break at a local diner, they discover eight dead bodies, along with the owner of the restaurant locked in a fridge. A known stalker who had been harassing one of the victims immediately becomes their prime suspect, until an interruption from Witness Protection complicates the case, and leads them to suspect that someone close to the diner is not as innocent as they may appear. Meanwhile, things go extremely personal for Sara as she knew the prime suspect as Ronald Basderic, of whom she clashed with years ago in another stalking case. Also: Ecklie is discharged from hospital, anxious to get back to work - especially on this case.
A runaway sex slave is murdered during a rave in the desert and the CSIs are faced with hundreds of witnesses who saw nothing. The discovery of another runaway reveals the brutal torture she and the deceased girl suffered. When she found out that the victim's tongue was cut out, Morgan decided to take the case into her own hands. (This episode also featured Sara calling Grissom, but only got his voice mail.)
Brass and the CSIs examine an abandoned grand piano in the desert, which includes a dead woman inside. Greg recognized her as a journalist examining a cold case from the 1960s involving a lounge singer at a Las Vegas hotel. The trail would lead to a Frank Sinatra impersonator, who becomes a prime suspect not only in this case, but in a 1966 death of a lounge pianist who had incriminating information on Sam Braun and his organization. This was of special interest to Greg, whose book on Las Vegas history was recently published.
When a police dog handler is murdered, his canine partner becomes the prime suspect. Nick takes a personal involvement in the case, but can he, along with the rest of the team, prove the dog innocent before it is destroyed and bring the real culprit to justice? Meanwhile, Finlay and Morgan investigate the death of a high-profile divorce lawyer with an abundance of enemies.
Things get personal for D.B. Russell when he investigates the death of his son's basketball coach - with his son being one of the suspects, and his son's girlfriend as part of a love triangle that included his coach. As a second murder involving one of the team's significant donors complicate the case, Russell fights to keep his family, and his emotions, together. (Guest starred Michael Gross.)
The murder of a pastor at the burial site of the former CSI Warrick Brown result in the hunt for an insane man who lost his family years ago. The case hits too close to Nick Stokes, Sara Sidle, Greg Sanders and Jim Brass who start remembering Warrick. Further complicating the case was Warrick's ex-wife, who refuses to cooperate with the CSIs, despite living with the prime suspect and putting the life of her son in danger.
When Finlay discovered a rare necklace at a mass grave near a meteorite crash, its investigation becomes personal for her, when one of the victims is identified as a missing person who she investigated during her tenure in Seattle. However, Finlay's personal involvement with the case is called into question when she disobeys D.B. Russell's orders and travels to Seattle, but it is not long before she finds herself implicated in the investigation when a further body is found.
The CSIs lend a hand to local law enforcement on Fremont Street, but while arresting an assortment of criminals, Nick discovers a murdered man in a parked car, and the possible connection with some of the people they arrested. Meanwhile, things get personal for Brass as he learns some disturbing facts about his daughter Ellie, after discovering that one of the prostitutes they arrested had the wedding ring that belonged to his ex-wife. Also, Ecklie returns to work, with word that Sheriff Liston wants him to succeed her in that position. (First appearance of Kevin Crawford (Alimi Ballard), appearing in this episode as an officer who was promoted to detective.)
The CSI team is called to investigate when a plane crashes just off the Vegas strip. Genealogist Donna Hoppe (who first appeared the previous season in Genetic Disorder) helps Morgan create the Ecklie family tree, but gives some help to the CSIs when they discover a box amongst the plane wreckage that included a DNA sample. Also, the appearance of Sara's former love interest, working for the NTSB, puts a strain on her long-distance relationship with Gil Grissom.
During a thunderstorm, a TV news anchor was killed during a live broadcast when a power blackout affected the studio; the CSIs would work the scene, but would soon find themselves part of the story when it was covered by the station's competitors. Meanwhile, the reappearance of Sara's former love in the last episode leads to her to have second thoughts about Grissom when she repeatedly rejected his phone calls.
The CSIs investigate a case involving a rising tennis star, who the day after winning a tournament, was found dead in a tennis ball machine; the case would soon be expanded to her parents and her brother, who had disappeared years ago. Meanwhile, Hodges talks to the team about his new Italian lover, Elisabetta; Morgan, however, had concerns that she may be using Hodges only as an easy way to get her Green Card. (Guest starred Chris Evert.)
NYPD crime lab head Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise) arrives in Las Vegas to surprise his girlfriend Christine, who is supposed to be in town for an event and drops by the LVPD Crime Lab to visit his friend D.B. Russell before heading to her hotel, where she was supposed to be attending a conference. After he fails to reach her on her phone, he and Russell head to the hotel only to find her missing and her room the scene of a crime. This leads to a fast investigation by the LVPD and Crime Lab who eventually learn Christine has been kidnapped. Meanwhile, the rest of the team works to find the killer of a man found inside a wine barrel, connected with a very rare vintage of French wine from the 1930s, only to reveal that it was actually a "fake" vintage from the atomic age.
The team investigate when the sister of a Cuban singing sensation is murdered. Elsewhere, Hodges begins to get cold feet about his engagement to Elisabetta.
Sara becomes a suspect in an investigation when it is revealed she was the last person to see the victim alive, but she had no knowledge of committing the murder, despite the evidence connecting her to the crime. She would later discover that her ex-stalker, Ronald Basderic, was behind the murder, set up so that no one would believe the truth. During her ordeal, Sara has second thoughts of her marriage with Grissom, who was still away on assignment, realizing that long-distance relationships may not necessarily be sustainable. During the investigation, Sara's co-workers pictured her as a philanderer who was having an affair behind Grissom's back, though Russell, Nick and Hodges suspect that she was framed, with a potential to be a set up for Basderic to murder Sara in the end. (Guest starred Kay Lenz as Sara's mother, Laura.)
The team investigate the murders of several prominent poker players, who were linked to a cheating scandal at a prestigious tournament in the late 1990s. Each murder is related to a card in the questionable hand. Meanwhile, Ecklie accepts the offer to succeed Sherry Liston as sheriff. (Guest starred David Cassidy.)
The CSIs join David Phillips at his Class of 1998 high school reunion when he discovers that year's prom queen's been murdered, with her blood circulated as soap bubbles out of a bubble machine. Further investigation would reveal a bomb planted in the ceiling of the high school - 15 years earlier - along with a lesson that personalities change as one matures.
The CSIs discover a man from a hunting exposition found dead with his hands chopped off. The investigation later led to a bomb shelter decorated like a modern suburban home, with the suspect living there with his daughter. They later find out that they were both related to a cold case involving a murder several years earlier in Carson City; the latest murder might have been committed by that murderer.
At a spiritual retreat that Hodges' Italian girlfriend, Elisabetta, was attending with her ex-husband, they both discover a man who drowned in a mud bath. Later on, as a witness gave testimony at headquarters, she suffocated and died. The CSIs would determine an unusual murder weapon - allergies.
The CSI team investigates the death of a ghost hunter which links to a case from twenty years earlier, and Greg tells Morgan about his psychic inheritance from his grandmother. Meanwhile, Sara gets word that a suspect from her past in San Francisco is up for parole.
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"Skin in the Game"
Alec Smight
Story by : Christopher Barbour Teleplay by : Christopher Barbour & Don McGill
Magazine reporter John Merchiston (James Callis) tags along with Russell during the night shift as his team investigate a series of murders that relates to the sins of Dante's Inferno, with clues hidden inside marked wooden dowels hidden inside Bibles at each scene - the same type of Bible used at a homeless mission run by Brother Daniel Larson (Eric Roberts). To get closer to the murderer and better the police's chances of a capture, Morgan recruits herself in a perilous undercover mission. (Also guest starred Ozzy Osbourne (featuring his group, Black Sabbath) and Tim Matheson.)
