Summary

• CSI used real Crime Scene Investigators as advisors, allowing fans to learn about the reality of investigating a crime.
• The time it would take to solve all the CSI cases portrayed on the show is unrealistic, with operations often condensed for entertainment purposes.
• The relationship between Grissom and Sara can be viewed as problematic upon rewatching, with elements of harassment and possessiveness.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation was a big hit when it debuted 23 years ago and changed the face of procedurals, but there are some aspects that can't be ignored on a rewatch. Focusing on a group of forensic investigators in Las Vegas, it ran for 15 seasons with three main supervisors leading the graveyard shift, beginning with William Petersen's Gil Grissom, followed by Laurence Fishburne's Dr. Ray Langston, and ending its run with Ted Danson's D.B. Russell. of the team included Nick Stokes, Julie Finlay, Sara Sidle, Greg Sanders, and Morgan Brody, who worked closely with Captain (and former detective) Jim Brass, and medical examiner Dr. Al Robbins.

Las Vegas has one of the busiest crime labs in the country, and when it came out, the series blended some of the most modern forensic techniques with dynamic storylines to create CSI completely changed policing and television but even its biggest fans can celebrate its influences while being critical of some elements.

10 The Fake Science In The CSI Cases

Creative License Was Taken With Tech

While it's true, most procedurals, whether they involve criminal, legal, or medical cases, are going to stretch credulity a bit with creative license. However, watching CSI again shows just how convenient use of the "zoom to enhance" tool as well as being able to cross reference a particular paint job with a handful of local cars really was. The series suffers from plenty of logical leaps, but some of the tech used in the show came from real Crime Scene Investigators acting as advisors, so fans ended up learning a lot more about the reality of investigating a crime than they might have otherwise.

9 The Time It Would Take To Do So Many CSI Cases

Investigating & Analyzing Time Tables Were Very Condensed

Something that becomes abundantly clear on a rewatch of CSI is the amount of time it would actually take to do all the CSI cases and jobs at once. There are often several operations going on at once, with characters in laboratories doing double duty in many instances, with hours spent analyzing recordings, data, and other forms of evidence. Of course, fans wouldn't want to sit through the most tedious parts of the episodes, but it's hard to imagine sometimes that they're so tidily ended with everything happening on time and in accordance with every proper legal channel.

8 The Relationship Between Grissom & Sara

It Was Frustrating

Their history made them one of the top couples in crime shows, but there's no denying that 23 years later, the relationship between Grissom and Sara can be viewed as problematic. One of the harshest realities of rewatching CSI means either viewing Sara as a relentless opportunist pursuing Grissom to the point of harassment, or viewing Grissom as a vindictive authority figure who used his position to play fast and loose with her feelings, becoming jealous and possessive when she "got a life" and started a relationship with Hank. The dynamic created a lot of melodrama but can be difficult to root for.

7 Langston Never Geled With The Rest Of The CSI Cast

Laurence Fishburne Was A Great Actor But Miscast

Laurence Fishburn was the biggest name on the roster when he ed the cast of CSI, automatically getting top billing before his character Ray Langston had even made an impression. Long before he would perfect his detective archetype in series like Hannibal, his stoicism and reserved demeanor never quite mixed well with the rest of the cast. Langston went from being out of his depth in the field to being an expert, and his investigating scenes never seemed to flow as naturally as Grissom's, whose depth of knowledge around profiling felt authentic and natural.

6 How CSI Deals With Pathogens

The Global Covid-19 Pandemic Showed What Really Happens

Watching how the world coped with the Covid-19 Pandemic from 2020 to 2023, it's hard not to look at the "pathogen" episodes of CSI like "Bad Blood" with impunity. All the episodes dealing with contamination from something like Ebola seem unrealistic now that almost every country on Earth has experienced what measures need to be taken to stop the spread of a contagious disease. Now, it's possible to look at the pathogen plot device, which was used numerous times, as a lesson in how not to handle the spread of something deadly and viral.

5 CSI Became Criminal Minds

CSI Became Too Serious

After Sara left, Warrick died, and Gil Grissom left, CSI seemed to get very serious and the tone of the series shifted to something more like Criminal Minds. At the time, Criminal Minds had been on for a few years and was popular, so it the pivot made sense at the time, but for every case to suddenly be about serial killers implied there was some sort of proliferation. The Haskell storyline might as well have been ripped directly from Criminal Minds, particularly when CSI went from exploring the complexity of using forensics in murder investigations to suddenly focusing more on serial killers in gimp masks killing couples for fun.

4 The Slow Pacing Of Each CSI Episode

They Started Out Slow-Burns

What might strike fans returning to CSI after 23 years is just how procedural each episode actually is. Not only is there a lot of information to take into consideration, but there's also a pace to each episode that some fans might find to be a slow-burn. Filming and editing techniques change over time as the series acquires a different tone based on serious situations, traumatic events, and character development, but what felt at first like face-paced, edge-of-your-seat excitement could feel a little more methodical until halfway through the series.

3 The Characters Changed Drastically Over 15 Years

From Intriguing To Serious & Finally To Goofy

Over the span of 15 years, CSI had three leads; William Petersen, Laurence Fishburne, and Ted Danson, and with the changing of the guards came changes in how the rest of the CSI team, from in the field to in the lab, worked together. Characters like Greg, who started off fairly humorous, became very serious towards the end of the series, and at a certain point, seasons just started to get sillier and sillier by the time the finale arrived.

2 CSI Inspired Way Too Many Copycats

It's A Problem When A Standard Gets Set

When CSI debuted in 2000 it was new, slick, and polished, and as it went on year after year, it seemed to usher in myriad copycats. Criminal Minds took cues from CSI with its "mind hunter" FBI teams in 2005, and even 2013's The Blacklist and 2018's FBI can trace their roots back to CSI's with their plots, characters, and development. Unfortunately, this means that fans who have watched all these other series over the years might go back and watch CSI thinking it's derivative when in actuality, it set the standard for everything else.

1 CSI Got Too Many Spin-Offs

The Franchise Was Hard To Keep Track Of

It didn't take long for CSI to become CBS's most valuable property, and it soon launched a fleet of spin-offs to rival Law & Order. CSI: Miami aired from 2002 to 2012 alongside CSI: New York which ran from 2004 until 2013, both showing the power of the brand. But after that, CSI: Cyber only ran from 2015 to 2016, possibly indicating that the franchise was losing its way trying to develop the next focus. Fortunately, related series like Cold Case and Without a Trace ran for 2003 to 2010 and 2002 to 2009, respectively, giving a slightly different perspective to the investigations outside of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.