CSI
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Main Character: Las Vegas
Al
Name Albert "Al" Robbins
Gender Male
Birth Date January 19, 1952
Family Judy Robbins (wife)
Pam (daughter)
At least two unnamed children
Callie (niece)

Buffalo Bill (Ancestor)

City Las Vegas
Job Coroner
Rank Chief Medical Examiner
Specialty Autopsy
Status Alive/Retired
Portrayed By Robert David Hall

Albert "Al" Robbins is the Chief Medical Examiner (Coroner) of the Las Vegas Police Department, working in close conjunction with CSI Supervisor D.B. Russell and his nightshift team of CSIs.

Personality[]

Robbins is Grissom's intellectual equal – the two often carry out academically acquired banter – and, like Grissom, Dr. Robbins seems neither nonplussed nor disturbed by the actions and habits in the various subcultures and miscarriages of humanity.

Although he has a Siamese cat which had kittens in season five (saying "which is why I prefer cats"), in Cats in the Cradle he stated he is more of a dog person. He is terrified of rats as they are hazardous hygienically and suits up in a HazMat suit (and forces David Phillips to do the same) when they go hunting for an escaped rat in the mortuary in the season seven episode Lab Rats.

Robbins has a fondness for coffee, specifically macchiatos (Table Stakes) and plays guitar in a band he has formed with the day shift coroner. He also keeps an album of autopsy photos of celebrities who have died in Las Vegas and wound up on his table, including Tupac Shakur and The Who bassist John Entwistle.

He is apparently fairly skilled at baking as he brings the lab a homemade strawberry-rhubarb pie in Dog Eat Dog. He is also a blues fan, as he is seen listening to a blues song in The Gone Dead Train. He walks with a limp and uses crutches because of his prosthetic legs.

Early Life[]

Al was raised by his mother, who was also a registered nurse. Consequently, Al spent most of his childhood in hospital environments. From a very early age, he was able to understand the cycle of life (healing, birth and death) and as a young man graduated with a Masters Degree in Physiology from Johns Hopkins University.

At a young age, Al was hit head-on by a drunk driver and lost both of his legs. He walks with the use of prosthetic limbs and a crutch. Al's accident runs parallel to a similar accident that Hall had at age 18. Al took his first job as a coroner in Arlington, Virginia, where he remained for several years before moving to Las Vegas, Nevada, with his wife and three children; he has since remained there as the Chief Medical Examiner of the graveyard shift at LVPD CSI.

Little is known of Robbins's personal life. He was a twin, though the other was stillborn. His mother attributed his career choice to "spending so many days next to a dead body." He is married with at least three children; according to the episode "Overload", the youngest child was born in 1987.

Robbins has a fondness for coffee, specifically macchiatos ("Table Stakes") and plays guitar in a band he has formed with the day shift coroner. He also keeps an album of autopsy photos of celebrities who have died in Las Vegas and wound up on his table, including Tupac Shakur and The Who bassist John Entwistle. 

In the Season 6 episode "Dog Eat Dog", Robbins brings in a vegan pie he had baked for his co-workers, although he has never stated he is vegetarian, like coworker Sara Sidle. He tells Warrick the pie is "low fat, low sugar, low carb." Warrick replies around a mouthful of pie that it is also "low taste".

In "The Theory of Everything", he mentions that he suffers from bradycardia and subsequently wears a pacemaker.

In the season 12 episode "Genetic Disorder" his wife Judy reports a murder that happened at their house, which suggests to Jim Brass  that she had an affair. Robbins tells Brass that his past with Brass's ex-wife makes him assume the worst of the case and calls in a lawyer to help Judy. After the case is closed, Brass apologizes to Robbins for making such an assumption. It is revealed in the episode that Robbins and his wife have been married for 25 years. Judy had engaged the victim, a genealogist, to present Al with a family tree. At the end of the episode Al can finally take a look at the gift and find out he is a direct descendant of William "Buffalo Bill" Cody.

On the job[]

Al often works very closely with the CSI team, giving them valuable advice which often leads them to figuring out a case. Due to his age and disability he usually sends his assistant David Phillips to examine the body on site, though he occasionally goes himself.

After Grissom left, Robbins developed a similar sort of friendship with new CSI Raymond Langston. He offers his office space in the morgue when he arrives at the lab, and the pair are occasionally seen singing together or exchanging "medical banter" about their hospital experiences while examining victims and conducting investigations.

In Genetic Disorder, a man is found dead in his bed, which implicates him especially when it looks like his wife has had an affair with the man. However, all of the CSIs, even new supervisor D.B. Russell, jump in and declare his innocence. The CSIs figure out that Al wasn't the cause of the man's death and is released.  

Hodges This section is a stub and requires expanding

Appearances[]

CSI:Crime Scene Investigation
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 #
Season 1 - - - - - X X X - X - - X X X X X X X X X X X N/A 15
Season 2 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X N/A 23
Season 3 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X N/A 23
Season 4 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X N/A 23
Season 5 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 25
Season 6 X X X X X X X X X - X X X X X X X X X X X X X X N/A 23
Season 7 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X N/A 24
Season 8 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X N/A 17
Season 9 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X N/A 24
Season 10 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X N/A 23
Season 11 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X N/A 22
Season 12 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X N/A 22
Season 13 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X N/A 22
Season 14 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X N/A 22
Season 15 X X X X X X X X X X X X - X X X X X X X N/A 19
Total 327

Appearance Notes[]

  • Albert became a main cast member at the beginning of the third season.
  • Although credited in the opening titles, he doesn't appear in episode Still Life from season six and The Greater Good from season fifteen.
  • Dr. Robbins has appeared in more episodes than any other character in the series or the franchise.

Notes[]

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