Shock Waves

CSI EPISODE
Shock Waves
Season	11
Number	1
Writer	David Weddle, Bradley Thompson
Director	Alec Smight
Original Airdate	September 23, 2010

Shock Waves is the first episode of the eleventh season of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Summary

Langston fights for his life after being stabbed by psychopath Nate Haskell, while the other CSIs attend a funeral that turns deadly.

Plot

After Langston is stabbed by Haskell (as shown in the 10th season finale), Haskell is tased by the other cops and Langston is taken to the hospital along with Haskell where he hallucinates that Haskell is poisoning him through his IV tube. The CSI’s assure Langston that he’ll be okay.

Later, they attend the funeral of Franklin Clark, an LVPD officer that was killed by Charlie DiMasa (Dr. Jekyll). Nick wants to watch the funeral, but Brass tells him to leave because the family seems uncomfortable around him. As Nick is leaving, he notices some cockroaches attracted to a ticking sound coming from a van. Nick discovers a time bomb wire attached to the van. Before Nick tries to warn everyone, bombs go off in the casket and the surrounding tombstones. Everyone in panic rushes to the van, but Nick warns them to stay away before the van explodes, knocking him and everyone else down.

When Catherine asks Nick how he knew about the bomb on the van, Nick explains that it’s odd for cockroaches to move around during daylight and his curiosity led him to discover the bomb. Greg takes Nick’s suit jacket as evidence and Nick is sent to the hospital once again. Brass believes that Haskell is responsible for the bombing and then goes to visit Langston, who lost a kidney due to Nate Haskell stabbing him. Brass interrogates Haskell about the bombing, but doesn’t get anywhere and Haskell is sent back to prison.

Nick returns to work on the scene and meets bomb specialist, Kasey Monahan and together, they discover the three bomb residues along with a cell phone detonator that’s buried underground. Catherine, Brass, Ecklie, and Langston (by video chat) go over the evidence together. Langston suggests that the bombs were placed strategically and the bomb in Officer Clark’s casket was placed there to cause fear and make sure that the police took cover behind the tombstones. The tombstone bomb was placed there to injure the policeman that took cover behind them and leave them in only one direction accessible to the police which was the direction of the van. The bomb in the van was placed there to kill the officers that were heading in that direction. Haskell, because he only murdered singly and slowly, is ruled out as a suspect and Catherine thinks that the bomber has a "grudge against cops".

Catherine tries to convince Nick to go home, reminding him that he got shot and nearly blown up within the last few days, but Nick insists on working on the case. Catherine leaves Nick with a psychologist’s card and tells him it’s department-mandated that Nick should talk to someone about the shooting. At the morgue, Doc Robbins examines Officer Clark’s body (which was mutilated from the bombing) and discovers a SIM card that’s consistent with the cell phone detonator as well as evidence that the bomb was small, meant only to cause panic.

Sara is able to recover a phone number from the SIM card which belongs to Thomas Rand, a young military man that was killed in action a month before. When Brass talks to Mrs. Rand, she tells him that she donated Thomas’ cell phone to a local community center. At the community center, a group of free-thinking Americans are holding a rally where a man named Dr. Hucksbee is stirring up the crowd against the government and against governmental enterprises. The police arrive to break up the rally that leads to a fight which causes the police to use force in order to contain the situation.

While in the hospital, Langston looks over photographs of the cemetary before and during the bombs’ detonation. He notices a small remote-controlled plane flying over the site. Realizing that the bomber used the plane to watch the bombing, Langston sends Greg over to the cemetery to get the plane. After Greg discovers a print on the plane, Kasey says the bombs were detonated by the plane’s radio controller. The print on the plane matches 21-year-old Alex McCann, who is the older brother of 16-year-old Jason McCann, one of Dr. Huxby’s followers that were brought in. Jason tells Nick that he bought the airplane for Alex and Alex wanted revenge because after their foster father was arrested, he snapped. Jason stated that Alex only intended to scare the police, not kill them. Nick is able to convince Jason where Alex is and Jason warns him that Alex has something else big planned for them.

Nick and Kasey enter Alex’s house cautiously. They discover a trip wire, 9 empty bomb cases, and triacetone triperoxide, an ingredient when it’s placed in the empty pipe bombs would create an explosion large enough to destroy a casino. They also discover an empty canister of hydrochloric acid. Realizing that Alex went to the store to restock, Nick, Catherine, and Vartann rush to the store to discover Alex coming out. When Alex pulls a gun out at them, Nick shoots him several times until he’s dead. Catherine calms a shaky Nick down and they discover that Alex was planning on bombing the LVPD.

Meanwhile, Doc Robbins visits Langston and gives him a walking stick. Nick decides to schedule himself for some therapy sessions. Catherine gets a call about a homeless man’s murder. Sara is sent home by Catherine, so Catherine takes Greg along instead. The homeless man died of blunt force trauma and was dragged into another room by the killer. Greg and Vartann follow the blood trail from room to room while Catherine and another inspector, David, looks over the body. Vartann’s flashlight goes out and he has to borrow batteries from Greg. He drops one of them and it rolls toward a set-up tent in the room.

Catherine senses that something is wrong and she notices a trip wire under the homeless man. She screams at Greg and Vartann not to touch anything. Everyone is able to get out of the way just in time as the tent explodes. Catherine says it’s a sign and the bombings are not over yet. The episode ends with Jason in his jail cell, smiling towards the camera before bowing his head down.

Cast

• Justin Bieber as Jason McCann
• Sienna Guillory as Kasey Monahan
• Jude Ciccolella as Dr. Huxbee
• Lindsay Pulsipher as Sally Rand
• Larry Sullivan as Officer Akers
• Bill Irwin as Nate Haskell
• Pete Gardner as Dr. Scott
• Larry M. Mitchell as Officer Mitchell
• Jeffrey D. Stevens as Paramedic
• Paris Tanaka as Doctor #1
• Gene Patrick Smith as Bomb Squad (uncredited)
• Arne Starr as Protester (uncredited)

Trivia & Facts

• This storyline would be concluded in the later season 11 episode, "Targets of Obsession."
• This episode marked series creator Anthony E. Zuiker's return to "CSI" on a day-to-day basis since the end of season 4 when he left to become the show-runner of the second CSI spin-off, "CSI: NY."
• Although listed in the opening credits, Wallace Langham does not appear in this episode.
• Jorja Fox rejoins the cast.
• Langston lost one kidney in the stabbing by Haskell.
• Goof: When Greg gets the SIM card from Sara he puts it in a card reader with the chip up and only halfway in. The chip is not making contact with any of the electronics in the card reader and it wouldn't be possible to read it.

See Also

• List of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episodes
• CSI:Crime Scene Investigation Season 11
• Category:Images from Shock Waves