CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (TV Series) Still Life (2005) User Reviews

Who's Your Mommy?

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 14 March 2007]

Here's another odd case: a mother reporting her son kidnapped from a park....and then, as the manhunt ensues, we find out the kid has two moms, and the other - originally from New Jersey - is the real mom, according to DNA. She and her husband have the kid but the other "mom" says it's her kid....and, one look at her home confirms the kid lives there.....or does it?

What is going on? How can this be, especially since we meet the grandparents of the boy whose mother called in the kidnapping. Sound confusing? It is, but there is an explanation.

This episode was very different in that there really doesn't involve a crime. There is no blood, not guts, nothing disgusting. In other words: not the normal CSI show.

Well Orchestrated Bizarre Case

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 8 February 2021]

A mother looks up from her picnic food and sees that her child, who was on some swings in a park, had disappeared. Because CSI is not a typical detective show,, there is going to be more to this. The mother is quite neurotic. When the boy is found, a whole bunch of questions come forward. It's another show where a person with a mental illness makes an investigation and adventure.

The Vanishing Boy

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 29 January 2023]

When Jesse Matthews vanishes from the playground of a park, his mother Karen call the police. She has only and old photo of Jesse with her and the CSI team investigate the scene. They learn that a man wearing a baseball hat with the number 51 becomes the prime suspect. Catherine goes to Karen's house and sees pictures of Jesse on the walls. When they locate the suspect, they bring him to the precinct with his wife and the boy. However, Jesse does not recognize Karen as his mother. Now the team is investigating the DNA and comes to a surprising conclusion that will affect their investigation.

"Still Life" is a weird and intriguing episode of "CSI". The plot begins in one direction, with the information of the kidnapping of the six-year-boy Jesse in a park. But then it shifts to another direction, with a great twist in the story. The final scene, with the woman in the prison, shows that she should be indeed in a mental institution. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Still Life"

Too smart for real life?

[xbatgirl-30029 · 7/10 · 11 August 2023]

This episode is constructed like an intellectual puzzle that mostly works itself out by the end. The twists and turns are fun to watch. Yet the ending is empty, because there is no closure. We don't know what happened to the boy. In real life, I doubt the killer would ever even be convicted for murder. Obviously her kid is gone, but all they have in the end is what would get called circumstantial or too vague. So in the end, she's shown getting locked up. But in real life, that might possibly happen for falsely reporting a crime and stalking (if Nevada even has stalking laws), but then she'd be back on the street. Her neighbor better keep a good eye on his new dog.

One thing I kept thinking was "why not have a psychologist question her?" That was super silly to leave out. Anyway, this is yet another example of "tv crazy", which CSI uses frequently and has little to do with actual mental illness. Someone is so completely delusional, for months if not years, yet every other aspect of their life is perfect, neat, and well maintained. All of her stories were perfect. She could even trick one of the best crime labs in the country into believing a little boy lives in that house. This sort of thing only happens in fiction. Yet it shows up so often in media, most people believe it could be real.

Part the of emptiness that I felt after watching this was probably was due to the story lacking authenticity. Part of it might have been due to the actress cast as Karen. I'm sure things may have hit differently with someone else in the part. Enough said there.

Speaking of acting, Kevin Durand gave possibly the best performance of the episode, all in the single scene he got. Creepy & menacing. And scary while towering over Warrick.