After a two-week hiatus, CSI:
Cyber returned with an episode that was equal parts heartwarming and weird.
The baddie of the week was a sadist with an auditory fetish named Leo Finch.
Finch gets off on listening to the distressed pleas of people reaching out to
the 911 call center in New York where he worked before getting fired. He
becomes obsessed with three particular recordings and decides to recreate them
to satiate his odd desires. To achieve this, he creates an airborne computer
virus that is transmitted from cell phone to cell phone through unsecured
wireless internet routers. This virus prevents people from being able to call
911, thus allowing Finch to carry out his crimes.
The team’s investigation is complicated by the mayor of New
York’s discomfort with Nelson working on the case. During his black hat hacker
days, Nelson hacked into the New York Stock Exchange. Although Nelson was
caught, $8 million went missing, causing the mayor to distrust the young
hacker. Nelson doubts his ability to help the team because of this, but at DB’s
urging, he decides to put all that aside for the greater good. Eventually,
Nelson comes through by creating code that acts as a remedy to the virus.
Eventually, the team is able to track down Finch as he heads
to recreate another crime. The criminal ends up in a standoff with Elijah in an
alleyway. The team is able to stop Finch by playing one of his favorite 911
calls to him, thus feeding into his addiction. However, as he surrenders, Finch
grabs his knife, causing one of the responding officers to shoot him. The case
comes to a close with Finch bleeding, a smile washing across his face as he
makes a plea for help, just like the people he fetishized.
In this week’s C-plot, DB mistakenly receives a text message
from someone looking to meet up with an old lover. He is not sure whether to
respond, but is intrigued by this mysterious stranger. Eventually, he decides
to go to the bar where the person wants to meet their lover. While there, he
approaches a woman named Greer Latimore (played by Kelly Preston), who he believes
to be the texter. As it turns out, Greer is not the woman DB is looking for,
but the episode ends with the pair hitting it off and having a drink together.
Overall, this episode was a bit of a mixed bag. The use of a criminal with a weird fetish is nothing we haven’t seen already on Criminal Minds. However, the idea of
being unable to call 911 because of a virus that can’t be stopped is truly
terrifying. I think the episode would have benefited more from focusing less
on Finch’s weird obsession, and more on the effects of the 911 virus. With
Finch and his fetish, the writers weren’t breaking any new ground, but the same
can’t be said for that which prompted Avery’s investigation into this issue,
the cyber contagion.
We’ve seen Nelson struggling with his black hat hacker past enough in
previous episodes. It would’ve been nice had the episode taken the character in a new direction. Fortunately, the future seems promising,
as the episode’s conclusion finds Nelson vowing to take down the person who
implicated him in the theft of the missing $8 million from the stock exchange.
Hopefully, this plot is expanded upon in the future.
I was pleased to see DB taking a chance on love in this week’s
episode. I’ve always been bothered by the fact that the writers decided to split
up DB and Barbara. Although we don’t know too much about Greer, I think she
seems like an intriguing character. Further, Kelly Preston is a great actress
who will undoubtedly bring something to the role.
Overall Episode
Rating: 7 Megabytes Out of 10
