See Also: 'Rush' Episode Guide

Synopsis:

After the body of movie star Brody Lassiter is discovered in the trunk of a stuntman's car during a film shoot, the CSIs question those associated with the film, including the assistant director, Rod Vickers, the stuntman driving the car and Brody's assistant, Eddie Corbett. The CSIs learn that Brody had been out clubbint with Ron, but Ron claims he dropped the actor off safe, sound and sober at White Sands, the rehab center where he was staying. The head of the clinic grants Calleigh and Ryan access to Brody's room where they discover a rope used to hang Brody. The CSIs question Jerry, a fellow patient who snooped around in Brody's room, but he insists he was just looking for hidden alcohol. Ryan gets a hit in CODIS on a hair found in Brody's bed that matches Holly Reese, an aspiring actress doing a stint in White Sands as well. Holly admits to sleeping with Brody--and faking her addiction--but nothing more.

When Ryan and Natalia discover a camera in Brody's room, their suspicions turn Peter Ashford, the head of the clinic. Ashford was selling pictures and videos of his clients, and he was the one who moved Brody's body, but he denies killing the actor. Delko traces the rope, which was made out of floss, to a patient named Jolene Kitt, who tells him that Brody confessed to her that he'd killed someone. Jolene confesses to Delko that she contemplated suicide, and he sympathizes with her plight and encouages her to get better.

Horatio and Tripp question Brody's assistant, Eddie, about an actress that disappeared off of one of Brody's movies, but Eddie denies any wrong-doing on either his part or Brody's. Alexx examines Brody's body further and points out that Brody received a blow to the head at some point shortly before his death. She also makes note of healed rib fractures, indicating he was hit by something. Delko and Natalia search the news records from Brody's hometown in Pennsylvania and learn Brody was in a car crash with a woman named Diane Corbett--Eddie's sister. As part of his rehab program, Brody confessed to Eddie that he was in the car with Diane, and had in fact been driving. He moved her into the driver's seat after he realized she was dead and fled the scene. Eddie killed Brody in a fit of rage and hung him with the rope to make it look like a suicide. After Eddie is led off, Delko goes back to White Sands to see Jolene check out of the program.

Analysis:

Oh, CSI: Miami, what do you have against assistants? Those hard-working toilers who get no recognition and even less love certainly aren't getting any of the latter from Miami. It wasn't even a month ago that Dominic Whitford's ambitious assistant killed Dominic's previous second-in-command to move up the food chain in "Triple Threat", and now in this episode the much more earnest, but equally homicidal, Eddie Corbett does in his boss. Granted, Eddie's got revenge, not ambition on the mind, but it's murder all the same. Assistants get no love, not even on television.

Men don't fare too well either, even the deceased ones. This season, dead men are also bad men. In "A Grizzly Murder", Dennis West killed a bodyguard before his buddies did him in, Doug Lansing in "Bloodlines" was a crooked politician and in this episode, Brody was responsible for the death of Eddie's sister. I guess the good aren't the only ones dying young; it seems as though the bad get cut down in their prime as well, at least on Miami.

The much-hyped Britney Spears head shaving moment didn't come until the very end of the episode, and didn't really serve much of a purpose save for cashing in on the publicity surrounding Britney's meltdown. Had the character served some purpose in the episode, or not been modeled directly off the troubled pop star, it might not have seemed nearly as cheap as it did. But, as a tack on at the end, it simply felt, well, tacky.

Holly Reese, the actress who is doing a stint in rehab not because she's addicted to drugs or alcohol but because it's the hip thing to do at the moment is a much more sly and clever parody. The bit at the end where Holly sells her story and gets the big role is much smarter satire than the Britney send up. Sometimes being bad--abusing illegal substances, lying, using a tragedy to one's personal advantage--pays off in the end.

The episode hits a more serious note with Jolene, the girl who's floss rope is stolen by Eddie to hang Brody. Delko connects with her, relating to someone who feels like she's lost everything and is afraid to start over. Adam Rodriguez has done a wonderful job of building a different persona since Delko was shot, and while it's hard to imagine the Eric Delko of old relating to someone who's confidence is shakey, the Delko we see now is much less sure of himself. Rodriguez does a masterful job of conveying Delko's compassion for Jolene in his scenes with her.

Emily Procter also gets a great moment when she questions Holly and listens to the girl's sob story, which includes the line that "rehab is like prison." Calleigh laughs and manages to respond--barely hiding her amusement--with "This is nothing like prison." It's a great, satirical moment, and Procter injects the right blend of humor and scorn into her delivery.

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