Dead Doll

"Dead Doll"

Dead Doll is the first episode from the eighth season of the popular American crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation which is set in Las Vegas, Nevada. This episode is the second part of the Season 7 finale episode Living Doll.

Plot

Grissom and the team are in a desperate search to find Sara, who was recently kidnapped by the miniature killer: Natalie Davis. Their only clue to Sara’s whereabouts is a mysterious miniature that shows Sara trapped beneath a flipped red Mustang somewhere in the vast desert surrounding Las Vegas. Every member of the team serves an integral purpose in the hunt, with Catherine surveying the initial kidnapping scene, Greg scanning the desert in a helicopter and Nick and Warrick tackling Natalie's bizarre and terrifying apartment.

Several flashbacks show what happened after Natalie kidnapped Sara: Sara was shoved into the trunk of the car, then freed herself and a brief scuffle between her and Natalie began as Natalie drove. Natalie manages to subdue Sara again, and as she lies captive in the back seat, she talks to Natalie about the miniatures, and Ernie Dell. When Natalie says that Ernie Dell loved her more than Grissom could ever love Sara, Sara realizes that Natalie is trying to get revenge for the death of Ernie Dell.

Meanwhile, Nick is frustrated with their lack of progress at Natalie's apartment. He sits down and remembers a conversation he had with Sara about recovering a body that Nick believed was still alive. Sara told him that most of the time, the case was that people were dead before they were rescued, but Nick reminds her that he was rescued. Sara went on to say that it wasn't his day to die, and that if it's someone's day to die, then they'd die. As Nick comes back to reality, he gets up to see a picture of Sara and, by a stroke of pure luck, the location of the auto yard where Natalie purchased the Mustang on the corner of the picture. That clue and the digital maps Natalie had stored on her computer provide the team a radius with which to narrow their search.

But a storm is raging in the Las Vegas desert, and floodwaters begin to rise on Sara as she struggles to escape from beneath the car. She manages to free herself from the Mustang just in time. When morning breaks, the weather is hot, and Sara has nothing to eat or drink. She's mobile, but with a broken arm and the other injuries Natalie inflicted upon her, it's rough going. She walks continuously, doing anything she can to stay awake and survive.

All the CSIs fan out across the desert, and as the hours pass, Grissom becomes more and more frantic. Meanwhile, although she's in bad shape, Sara has her wits about her. She carries the rearview mirror of the Mustang along with her, and when she finally collapses in exhaustion, it remains visible. Soon, Nick spots the glint of the sun's reflection on the mirror, and he sprints to her side. A medevac helicopter is called to the scene, and with Grissom next to her, Sara is carried away to safety. While on the medevac helicopter they are working on Sara as Grissom takes her hand. Her eyes flutter open, Sara sees Grissom's name on his vest and opens her eyes again to look at Grissom.

Reception

The episode was the most watched in America and got 24.8 million viewers, which, according to the New York Times, gives it "its largest margin of victory to date opposite ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy at 9 p.m. (with 20.5 million viewers)."

Production notes

• Wallace Langham who plays David Hodges is a regular cast member now and he is listed in the opening credits.
• Louise Lombard who plays Sofia Curtis is no longer in the opening credits. She does appear in this episode but is listed as "Special Guest Appearance."

See also

• List of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episodes

External links

• CBS Episode Guide
• Dead Doll at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com episode
• Template:Csiguide episode
• "Dead Doll" at CSI Files
• "Dead Doll" at Fan History