Sherlock Holmes in the Cash Cab

One of the most interesting aspects of CSI is the consideration the writers take for their audience's ignorance.  An episode begins with the illusive crime, in which the perpetrator and motive are unknown.  Then beginning with the investigators initial tour of the crime scene and concluding in the interrogation room, they begin to reveal the what was once unknown.  Information is revealed to the audience in three ways:

First are the specifics of the crime itself.  This is typically revealed through the investigators analysis of the crime scene and the subsequent experiments on the evidence.  Through this, they reveal exactly what caused the homicide, and how it was executed.  Although in reality, their theories could be held as pure speculation subjective to further investigation, the audience is trained to accept the destectives' telepathy as fact, without further question.  However, this still leaves the audience confused, as they are still ignorant to the rationale of the investigators' theories, and the nature/identity of the criminal in question, the writers proceed with their next method of educating the viewers. 

Second is the knowledge necessary to understand the crime. As the vast majority of CSI's viewers are not trained in forensic analysis, nor are they educated in the specifics of sharks, vampirism, tea party politics, etc., the audience learns this necessary information through the characters' everyday conversation.  While it might appear that a casual conversation between the characters regarding the history of vampires, or keeping sharks in captivity is designed as simple dialogue, it actually serves a more functional purpose.  These conversations are intended to supply the audience with the necessary information to understand what the investigators are thinking, and why.  By bestowing the viewers with these tidbits of information, they are placed on an equal level of intelligence as the investigators, and are better able to follow the investigation and formulate theories.  But once again, the nature of the criminal still remains a mystery.

In the third component of analyzing the crime, the writers must reveal the criminal.  This is done in the interrogation.  The specifics of the interrogation room are best explained in my previous blog but here are the key points.  When interrogating a suspect, the investigators/audience will either learn that they are the suspected criminal, or they will reveal information that will lead to the actual killer.  Regardless of whom the true mastermind is, their motive is revealed here.  Sometimes they narrate their intentions to the investigators, and sometimes the investigators narrate the motive to them as they exercise their 5th Amendment rights, but the interrogation room is where we meet the criminal, and we learn his/her true character.

CSI acts as both a mystery, and a trivia show.  We are invited to join in the investigation of a murder, and along the way we are provided with investigators and Discovery Channel buffs, whose function is to supply us with the information necessary for the suburban housewife and geriatric grandfather can understand the complexities of forensic analysis and crime scene investigation.