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Charge of this Post
Charge
Season 2
Number 24
Writer Timothy J. Lea
Director Rob Bailey
Original Airdate May 17, 2006
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Charge of this Post is the twenty-fourth and Season Two finale of CSI: NY.

Synopsis[]

As Mac investigates a routine crime scene, he stumbles upon a bag containing C4 explosives and is unable to evacuate the building quickly enough to get all of his team out of harm's way. In a race against the clock, they work with local agencies and government authorities to locate the bomber and narrow down the next trigger among the city's six million cell phones before he strikes again. While a member of the team is rushed to surgery, Mac struggles with the memories of the last person he was unable to save, a fellow Marine killed during the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing.

Plot[]

It is a beautiful day in New York City, but what the citizens don't know is that bomb is about to go off. Someone is inside a building, busy getting a bomb ready to go off from a cell phone. Flack and Lindsay are informed about a security guard that missed his scheduled check in. The blood trail that Mac finds leads to the bomb that is hidden above the ceiling panels in the building. The trail also leads to why the guard was killed. Mac phones Lindsay about the bomb, and she gets everyone outside away from the building as fast as she can before the bomb goes off.

Mac and Don however are delayed with a straggling civilian and are still inside when the bomb explodes. Lindsay, Stella, and Danny frantically wonder if Mac and Don survived the blast. Stella feels confident that Mac did because he was a Marine. Stella gets help from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, who have special forensic capabilities to help solve the case. When Stella is meeting with the DHS rep, she meets a man named Dean Lessing, who recognizes her from when they both attended a certain seminar on bomb physics.

Mac regains consciousness and finds the civilian in good health. Mac asks the man about a blue powder surrounding them, and he explains that a copier machine used to be on the floor above their position and that it must have fallen through. As Mac finds Don covered in debris, he immediately tries to save his friend's life by trying to stop the serious blood flow inside Flack's open chest wound. As he does this, he flashes back to 1983, where he is in Beirut telling an similarly injured Marine to hang on. The civilian assists Mac and is amazed that he knows what to do.

After the three men are rescued, Stella begins updating Mac on what they're currently doing with the evidence. She also tells him that they will soon start getting images together to see if they can find any more bombs. Mac is worried about Flack and whether he will be okay. Stella also notices not only Mac's current injuries, but an old one that she's never seen before. After the pictures are sent to the rest of the team, Danny finds out that the bombs are made with C4, which is a military grade explosive. Sid tells them that the security guard was killed with a knife that twisted the aortic wall, which is a military technique. After Flack has his operation, Mac has the unpleasant task of taking pictures of his friend as a part of the investigation. Mac is determined to get his friend through this tragedy.

After Mac asks Lindsay about her condition (as she had been slightly injured by blast), she shows him what the bomb simulation looks like on a computer with sound included. The bomb stimulation also shows everyone's positions. Dr. Hawkes is a bit frustrated because everybody went through that crime scene with a fine tooth comb and still can't find the trigger mechanism that set the bomb off. Mac says that it may have ended up as the shrapnel that caused Flack's chest wound. They get evidence that came from Flack's chest during his operation. Mac, Lindsay and Dr. Hawkes all hope that the trigger is contained within that debris. After they discover that the debris is a cellphone that was used to remotely receive a number to set the bomb off, Mac Taylor gets some very strange calls. The bomber indicates that another bomb will be set off at 1600 hours. That will give the team three hours to find it before it goes off.

To get an idea of how to find the exact number that triggered the bomb, Danny and Lindsay remove the SIM card that stores cellphone numbers as well as who called them from the bomb's cellphone. This particular card contains a number that goes into a reader which gives them all the information, such as to whether the cellphone has restricted access. What they find is that the number has restricted access: the DHS rep's cellphone.

Mac believes that someone from DHS may have triggered the bomb. The DHS rep tells him them that government laptops were stolen two weeks ago, and they would contain certain numbers and codes that DHS agents are required to respond to, such as responding to a pager. The rep suggests they could shut down the secure lines to see if they could stop the bomber that way. Mac retorts that the secure lines aren't the problem, it's the cellular network; you don't need a secure line to respond to a page: any cellphone in New York could trigger the bomb. Mac gets what turns out to be a third pager call from the bomber to try to trick him to set off the bomb. He looks at his cellphone he sees a particular date, 10-23-83. He explains to Stella that it's the date of the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing, which he was injured in. Mac takes the bomber's next cell call, but they are unable to get enough time to trace it. Mac however realizes that they can now override the bomber's cellphone and they turn it back on.

The signal leads them to the garage of an abandoned house. Inside, Mac and Stella are accompanied by Dean Lessing and find the bomber's workshop; in it are one of the government laptops, photos of potential target buildings, several automatic weapons (with an assault rifle notably missing) and Mac's complete military service record. Mac finds reports of the bomber's attempts to enlist with the Marines three times, but he couldn't pass the psychological requirements. The bomber calls Mac, commending the idea of overriding of his cellphone, but tells Mac that he is simply a part of the bomber's demonstration and not the intended target. In the meantime, the bomb's cellphone is traced to Chelsea University. Along with Danny Messer and several members of the Bomb Squad, they find the bomb, cellphone and all, in the university library. Mac and Danny suit up in bomb squad gear, and Mac cuts the wires to separate the cellphone so that the bomb doesn't go off.

They believe the bomber could be schizophrenic and very dangerous because he stopped taking his medication. Mac asks for backup in looking for Dean Lessing who is at the library and tells everybody that there are more bombs set to go off. To get Lessing to let go of his weapon, Mac gives the him a chance to do what he has always wanted to do: be a Marine. Mac uses his rank as a superior officer in the Marine Corp to order Lessing to secure his weapon. Lessing is arrested without further incident.

While they await word on Flack's condition, Stella congratulates Mac on the way he handled the bomber and how no one got hurt. Mac then tells Stella about an important day in Beirut when a Corporal died in his arms. Mac believes that the bomber didn't really want to kill anybody, but that he wanted to prove that he was able to be a Marine despite his rejection letters. Mac goes in for a private moment with Flack and asks him to squeeze his hand for reassurance that he will be fine. To his relief, he does.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Cast[]

  • Robert Joy as Dr. Sid Hammerback
  • Sonya Walger as Jane Parsons
  • Eion Bailey as Dean Lessing
  • Tembi Locke as Ellen Fielding
  • Marc Casabani as Dr. Jim Barnes
  • Steve Braun as Smith
  • John Dove as Det. Scagnetti
  • Carol Kiernan as Rita
  • Carlos Alvarado as Tommy Diaz

See Also[]

CSI:NY Season 2
Summer in the CityGrand Murder at Central StationZoo YorkCorporate WarriorsDancing with the FishesYoungbloodManhattan ManhuntBad BeatCity of the DollsJamalotTrappedWastedRiskStuck On YouFare GameCool HunterNecrophilia AmericanaLive or Let DieSuper MenRun Silent, Run DeepAll AccessStealing HomeHeroesCharge of this Post
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