This week’s episode of
CSI:
Cyber adopted a
Law & Order-style
ripped-from-the-headlines approach. Based on the events that unfurled in
Ferguson, Missouri, following the shooting of Michael Brown, this episode’s
case saw a Pennsylvania town dealing with civil unrest following the supposed
shooting of a black man by a white police officer. Things are not quite as they
seem, though, as the leaked body cam video that captured the attack turns out
to have been doctored by a sociology professor. The professor’s plan is to
incite racial violence in the community as part of a study he is conducting on
the cleansing of society. Choosing to kill two birds with one stone, he also
plans to use the situation to implicate his cop brother in the “death” of the
victim. Fortunately, Avery and her team are able to track the professor down,
but not before violence threatens to destroy the community. The episode ends on
an interesting note, as the victim comes forward to reveal to a rioting crowd
that he is alive and that the video was doctored. His words are drowned out,
however, by the multitude of voices weighing in on this complicated topic.
Although this episode does not come close to matching the
brilliance of Scandal’s ripped-from-Ferguson
episode “The Lawn Chair,” it does an adequate job of approaching a very tough
and polarizing issue. At times, however, the topic of racism seemed to take a
bit of a backseat to the investigative and technological aspects of the
episode. Although the episode approached the topic respectfully, it would have
been nice to see Nelson’s struggles with race, for example, come to the
forefront in this installment. It seemed as though the writers treated this
plot as more of a B-story, when, in fact, the investigation plot should have
been the narrative to take a backseat this week. Granted, I am aware that this
is a procedural and a certain formula has to be followed. If it ain’t broke,
don’t fix it, I guess.
Shad Moss’ performance as Nelson this week was particularly
powerful and transcendent. As made clear by the emotion on his face and the
tears in his eyes at various points in the episode, Moss takes this subject
very seriously. It was wonderful to see a more serious and thoughtful side to
this usually playful character.
Although the episode did end rather abruptly, with the
victim in the faux-shooting video trying to alert the rioting crowd to the fact
that he is still alive, it absolutely worked. The ending reflects the fact that
there is no easy solution to this issue. Like this episode, the fight for
racial equality is never-ending. This episode presented that idea in a truly
unique fashion. For that, the writers of this installment should be applauded.
Overall Episode
Grade: 8 Megabytes Out of 10
About the Author - Liam Dacko
Liam Dacko is a student at Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts. He is majoring in mediated communication and minoring in journalism. In addition to writing for SpoilerTV, Liam also serves as editor-in-chief of Stonehill's biweekly student-run publication, The Summit. He is a lover of all things related to television. Some of his favorite shows include Arrow, The Flash, Criminal Minds, Scandal, The Middle, Homeland, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. He continues to have many sleepless nights over the cancellation of TNT's Dallas reboot.
