Father of the Bride | |
Season | 11 |
Number | 20 |
Writer | Evan Dunsky |
Director | Frank Waldeck |
Original Airdate | April 28, 2011 |
Navigation | |
Previous Episode: Unleashed | |
Next Episode: Cello and Goodbye |
Father of the Bride is the twentieth episode in Season Eleven of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
Synopsis[]
After serial killer Nate Haskell escapes from prison, he resurfaces after he emails a disturbing video to the father of one of his brides, whom he is threatening to kill.
Plot[]
Victims: Graham Kole and Teagan Murphy (both deceased)
On the case: Catherine Willows, Greg Sanders, Nick Stokes, Raymond Langston, Jim Brass
Langston and Nick are called out to a rural farmhouse, where a headless and handless body has been discovered under a pile of hay. The body is female; however, the CSIs quickly conclude that the chopped-off hands in the nearby hay belong to a male victim. Insect activity indicates that the body has been dead for at least four days. Langston gets a call and immediately leaves the scene, leaving Nick without a ride.
Back at the station, the CSIs have received a video from serial killer Nate Haskell. Langston walks in to see Haskell mocking him the video; he finds out that it came from the parents of Vivian Tinsdale, Haskell’s fiancée. The video, which the Tinsdales received four days ago, shows Vivian tied up and bruised. Vivian’s parents are hesitant to cooperate because Vivian has mental problems and she only comes to them when she wants money. They don’t think that the video is real, but they agree to work with the police just in case Haskell tries to contact them again.
In autopsy, Doc Robbins tells Nick that the hands found near the body were cut off postmortem and that the tool used was likely a hand axe. The injuries to the female body are consistent with the same weapon being used.
Archie finds that the video camera's clock and GPS were turned off, making it impossible to tell when or where it was shot. Langston gets a visit from former CSI Sofia Curtis, who is now a Deputy Chief. She tells him that she's calling in the feds, as there's reason to believe Haskell has crossed state lines. Langston notes that the Tinsdales live in Vegas, which makes this case local. When Haskell uploads the video he shot, Archie pinpoints the location to a spot near the Vegas Motor Speedway. Meanwhile, the police have intercepted a call from Haskell to the Tinsdales. In the call, Haskell tells Avery Tinsdale to go to a park at a specified time. The police don't get enough information to trace the call, and they have two hours to close in.
Back in autopsy, Doc Robbins has no ID for the female victim yet, but informs Nick that she has a myriad of ailments, including an appendectomy scar, a liposuction scar, and an old fracture to the femur. Nick finds out that the chopped-off hands belong to Dr. Graham Kole, a plastic surgeon. He and Greg visit the doctor's office and find evidence of two separate blood events, likely meaning that they've found their primary crime scene.
At the park, Avery sits down on the bench Haskell directed him to. Using the earpiece in Avery's ear, Langston, Brass and Archie listen from a nearby van. A cell phone rings under the bench, and the operation is immediately blown when Avery removes the earpiece to speak. Haskell directs Avery to a pink bag on the playground that contains a box with a bow. Langston can see that Avery is being directed and soon spots one of Haskell's brides, Tina Vincent, standing close by. He runs from the van and is eventually able to tackle Tina to the ground; when he asks her where Haskell is, she laughs maniacally.
Under interrogation, Tina says that she admires Haskell and believes Vivian to be a bad influence on him. Tina is released, as her lawyer tells Catherine that a cop beating up on an innocent civilian is a crime. As she leaves, Tina adds that Langston won't catch Haskell until Haskell wants to be caught.
Langston and Henry process the box and bow. Henry uncovers a fingerprint on the tape under the bow, but Langston believes that Haskell left it there intentionally as a way of signing the package. The box contains a photo that's been ripped in half, and Avery later identifies the man in the photo as Jack York, Vivian's first husband. Langston and Brass question Avery about the phone call in the park, but he's very unhelpful as to what the conversation was about. Now fed up, Langston hands Avery a warrant to search his computer and bank records.
Greg and Nick continue to process the scene in Dr. Kole's office. The dried blood on the floor indicates that it's a few days old, which matches up with the timeline of the two victims. Since there are no bone chips or fragments in the blood, Nick guesses that the dismemberment took place somewhere else. Greg finds an empty patient file with the patient's name ripped off the front, while Nick finds a tissue-covered bullet in the wall. Based on the evidence, the CSIs wonder if the two victims are Dr. Kole and his nurse.
Nick questions Dr. Kole's wife, who mentions that her husband did plastic surgery work on some shady characters. She says that she last saw her husband five days ago and didn't call the police, figuring that he was busy having an affair with his nurse, Teagan Murphy. Meanwhile, Greg runs the bullet from the doctor's office and finds that it was fired from the same gun used in aiding Haskell's escape from prison. That gun was fired by one of Haskell's brides, meaning that they were in Dr. Kole's office—and where the brides go, Haskell goes. Greg and Nick wonder if Haskell went to Dr. Kole to get his face changed and later had Dr. Kole and Teagan killed to cover his tracks. If so, they're now looking for someone who doesn't match Haskell's original appearance.
The team meets to discuss the case. Langston notes Vivian was one of the two brides who aided Haskell in his escape. When it's asked why Haskell is holding her hostage, Langston replies that the timeline is off—while the Tisdales got a video of Vivian begging for her life, she was actually out killing Dr. Kole and his nurse. He concludes that the kidnapping is fake and that Haskell and Vivian are working together. It's unknown why the meeting was arranged in the park, but Langston believes it has something to do with the photo of Jack York.
Archie goes through Avery's computer and discovers that he got another video message from Haskell a week before the other one. In the video, Haskell (who is hiding in the shadows), mentions that Vivian told him some secrets. He asked Avery for $2 million, proving that the whole case is about blackmail. It also explains why Haskell made no ransom demand and why Avery didn't show interest in getting his daughter back. Langston believes that Avery came forward with the video because Haskell wanted him to. Greg interrupts and says that Avery's bank records show that he withdrew $2 million in cash five days ago.
Langston angrily leaves to seek out Avery, but Catherine stops him and tells him he's doing exactly what Haskell wants him to do. She mentions Jack York's photo, and Langston realizes that Jack came between father and daughter, as he disappeared shortly after his marriage to Vivian. They wonder if Avery killed Jack, and if Vivian knew about it and told Haskell. Catherine tells Langston that Haskell was talking to him in the video, not Avery. They vow to go after Haskell together.
When the CSIs head back to the Tinsdale Residence, a bloodied Jean Tinsdale answers the door. She directs the CSIs to the study, where Avery has killed himself. Langston wonders why Avery would kill himself after paying the $2 million and notices a new laptop nearby. On the laptop, another video from Haskell plays. In it, Haskell mentions a video of Avery sexually abusing Vivian, which he says he's going to send to the police. In the kitchen, Jean tells Catherine that she knew about the abuse, but claims that Vivian was the aggressor.
Greg informs Nick that the blood pools from Dr. Kole's office belong to the doctor and his nurse. Interestingly, though, the torso found in the barn belongs to another female. To make matters even more complicated, blood collected from the operating table in the doctor's office belongs to an unidentified male and not Haskell.
Greg and Nick head back to the farm and talk to the farmer, Alvin Thorpe. When shown a bunch of photos of people involved in the case, he recognizes Tina as his cousin's daughter. He doesn't recognize Haskell from his photo, but does say that Tina has been staying at a nearby house with a man who has a bandaged face.
In front of the house, the CSIs find evidence that a yellow sports car left the scene in a hurry. They note that not much water or electricity is being used, but spot electronic gear inside—they've found where Haskell was making his videos. Upon entering the house, they hear cello music coming from upstairs. As they make their way up the stairs, they start to smell decomp and find maggots on the floor. They follow the trail of maggots into a bathroom. There, they find a bathtub filled with four dead bodies—Dr. Kole, his nurse, Vivian, and a male eventually identified as a Calvin Frost. Calvin had rented a yellow Porsche and, based on the evidence, he was Dr. Kole's last patient.
In Dr. Kole's office, Catherine locates Calvin's chart. It shows that Calvin was a new patient whose first visit was on the day of the murders. Langston concludes that Calvin was in the wrong place at the wrong time, as he was on the operating table when Haskell and Vivian showed up. He also figures that the empty chart they found is Haskell's, as he took it to cover his tracks.
Langston visits autopsy and tests Vivian's dismembered hands for lead. The test is positive, meaning that she was the one who shot Dr. Kole and his nurse. Langston figures that Calvin wasn't killed on the spot because he was needed to help move the bodies. Then, at the farm, both Calvin and Vivian were shot with the same gun and dismembered. Langston knows that chopping up body parts and leaving the job unfinished isn't Haskell's M.O. He figures that Tina is the one helping him and that she's his new number one.
Prints on the empty patient file come back to Tina, and Archie discovers that all of the videos Haskell sent to the Tisdales were sent eight weeks ago, the day after he escaped from prison. Curiously, not a single print of Haskell's is found in Dr. Kole's office. Langston concludes that neither Haskell nor Tina are still in Vegas and that the team was being played.
He goes through the timeline with the rest of the team. Haskell escaped from prison and went to Dr. Kole to get his face changed. He then sent Tina and Vivian to kill Dr. Kole and his nurse. There, they removed Haskell's chart and kidnapped Calvin. The two brides then took Calvin back to the farmhouse and shot him. However, Tina then turned the tables and shot Vivian. When all was said and done, Haskell ended up with a younger bride, $2 million, and a new Porsche. The team questions where Haskell and Tina are now, and Brass suggests calling the Los Angeles Police Department.
In Los Angeles, Langston's ex-wife, Gloria, plays a cello solo in front of an adoring crowd. As her new husband, Phil, stands and applauds, both Haskell and Tina compliment him on how lucky he is. Haskell's smile turns to anger as his stare fixates on Gloria.
TO BE CONTINUED flashes across the screen...
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Laurence Fishburne as Raymond Langston
- Marg Helgenberger as Catherine Willows
- George Eads as Nick Stokes
- Jorja Fox as Sara Sidle (credited only)
- Eric Szmanda as Greg Sanders
- Robert David Hall as Dr. Al Robbins
- Wallace Langham as David Hodges (credited only)
- David Berman as David Phillips
- Paul Guilfoyle as Jim Brass
Guest Cast[]
- Archie Kao as Archie Johnson
- Jon Wellner as Henry Andrews
- Bill Irwin as Nate Haskell
- Larry Sullivan as Officer Andy Akers
- Bruce Davison as Avery Tinsdale
- Roxanne Hart as Jean Tinsdale
- Louise Lombard as Sofia Curtis
- Tawny Kitaen as Lydia Kole
- Terry Bozeman as Attorney Brad Lewis
- Kate Blumberg as Vivian Tinsdale
- Raymond J. Barry as Farmer Arvin Thorpe
- Shy Pilgreen as Nurse Teagan
- Shelli Bergh as Officer Shelley
- Amanda Wyss as Tina Vincent
- Tracee Ellis Ross as Gloria Parkes
- Dean Norris as Phil Baker
Episode Title[]
- The title is a reference to the 1991 movie of the same name, which starred Steve Martin, Diane Keaton and Martin Short.
Notes[]
- Jorja Fox (Sara) and Wallace Langham (Hodges) are credited but do not appear in this episode.
Trivia[]
- Louise Lombard returns and makes her final appearance as Sofia Curtis after last being seen in Dead Doll from the Season Eight premiere. Her exit from the series had never been been explained until this episode.
See Also[]
- List of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episodes
- CSI:Crime Scene Investigation Season 11
- Category:Images from Father of the Bride
CSI:Las Vegas Season 11 | ||
Shock Waves • Pool Shark • Blood Moon • Sqweegel • House of Hoarders • Cold Blooded • Bump and Grind • Fracked • Wild Life • 418/427 • Man Up • A Kiss Before Frying • The Two Mrs. Grissoms • All That Cremains • Targets of Obsession • Turn On, Tune In, Drop Dead • The List • Hitting for the Cycle • Unleashed • Father of the Bride • Cello and Goodbye • In a Dark, Dark House |