by Moe Zilla

Created on: February 14, 2008

"Grave Danger" was a two-part episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" directed by Quentin Tarantino and broadcast at the end of the 2005 season. It features the team scrambling to find a kidnapper, but with a strange challenge similar to Tarantino's "Kill Bill: Volume 2" - investigator Nick Stokes is buried alive.

This time Tarantino adds a disturbing twist that involves other investigators: they can view Nick's coffin on the internet - but his location is unknown. It's Tarantino's way of provoking an intense gut-level reaction without showing any violence. (Similarly, one of the clues left behind is a coil of intestines in an alley.) And the tension increases when it turns out this case is unusually difficult to solve. "I don't think we're going to get lucky with this guy," says Grissom. "He knows how to work clean." In the first episode, the team review the difficult case, follow a false lead, and eventually struggle to assemble the ransom money.

Tarantino shows his trademark intensity in the scene where Grissom delivers the ransom. The camera follows him from behind, letting the audience follow his view of the high-stakes mission. There's long shots of the abandoned building, close-ups of the bag of random money, and eerie music as Grissom enters the dark interior. The kidnapper gives a taunting speech, his voice echoing mysteriously, their conversation only partially lit by flashlights. And there's one more exciting surprise. The kidnapper had no intention of releasing the buried investigator. Instead he's wearing explosives, and the first episode ends with him detonating himself, ominously blowing Grissom to the ground, and leaving the million dollars floating meaninglessly to the floor.

Other Tarantino touches include his use of pop culture artifacts. As the episode opens, the investigators are playing the "Dukes of Hazzard" board game, and the kidnapper's message includes an obscure song by The Turtles - "(You don't stand an) Outside Chance." Procuring the ransom money leads to a scene with cameos by Frank Gorshin and Tony Curtis. Even in the coffin, Stokes sings "Lucky Too," an obscure song by Bob Neuwirth ("It was Christmas in Las Vegas when the locals take the town...")

Tarantino's touch may be too grisly for some, but 35 million people watched at least part of this episode. "CSI" has always been an intriguing show, but Tarantino's unique direction ultimately made this episode even more interesting.

Learn more about this author, Moe Zilla.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.