CSI: Cyber—The First Season

As a franchise, CSI is just not going gently into that good night of snazzy TV crime procedurals. The formula wears a little thin in this third and likely last spin-off from CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, the boffo CBS anchor series that ended its 15 season run in September 2015. In spite of the timely exploration of cyber-crime and the elite cadre of FBI specialists working the field, CSI: Cyber often feels derivative, lackluster, and disappointingly superficial. The marquee honcho here is Patricia Arquette as behavioral science agent Avery Ryan, a former victim of cyber-crime who has devoted her life to cracking malware, busting blackhat hackers, and shutting down evildoers who lurk in the frightening corners of the deep, dark web. Arquette is reliably appealing, leading a typically motley crew of sleuths, including alterna-hip ex-con hackers (Shad “Bow Wow” Moss and Hayley Kiyoko) who now wear white hats for the Feds, a superhunk/superagent weapons expert (James Van Der Beek), an ultra-geek schlubby nerd (Charley Koontz) whose skill at analyzing code makes his hat the whitest, and the dedicated, pencil-pushing boss (Peter McNicol) who wrangles the team. Even with the usual CSI bells and whistles—digital wizardry, flashy cuts, kinetic motion, techno-cool sets—the team rapport feels forced, while the simplistic stories are laden with logic gaps. Which is not to say that this won't be enjoyed by the many fans who still have the jones for a CSI fix. Presenting all 13 episodes from the 2015 debut season, extras include audio commentaries, a CSI crossover episode, behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, and a gag reel. A strong optional purchase. (T. Fry)