I want to be careful how I phrase this, because I don’t want you to think I’m knocking Laurence Fishburne, an actor I admire. Here’s what I’m wondering: Do you think he’s been a good fit for CSI since taking over for William Petersen?
I’m a regular CSI-watcher, and for the past few episodes now, I’ve felt as though Fishburne’s Dr. Ray Langston isn’t quite gelling — even when Langston is one of the central figures, such as the March 12 case in which he and Riley Adams (another character CSI doesn’t seem to know what to do with) were held hostage. Really, my problem has little to do with Fishburne himself, but rather with the way his character is being written. I understand that you have to ease a new regular into this tight-knit ensemble slowly. Langston can’t, three episodes in, suddenly be all chummy and super-knowledgeable. But enough time has passed now for us to have a fix on Langston, to understand how he thinks. So far, however, I never get any sense of his opinion of anyone on the CSI team. Yeah, it’s been established that he knows Hodges is kind of a jerk — who doesn’t? — but do you get any vibe from him how he feels about, say, Catherine Willows or Nick Stokes? I don’t.
Partly this has to do with the fact that Dr. Langston is an academic, and one prone to be reticent, cautious. But if the producers wanted an outsider who’d be a new way for viewers to learn about CSI technique, well, the aura of dignified observer is not an especially exciting one for the center figure in a weekly TV drama. Petersen’s Gil Grissom was aloof, but Grissom had a wryness to him, a warmth glowing beneath his icy exterior, that made the character intriguing. And he had it from the show’s very start. (I looked at the debut season’s first few episodes recently.)
So far, CSI’s ratings have remained strong, and I wish Fishburne nothing but the best. But he also deserves the best — in this case, a better delineation of Langston’s character: a few quirks, a few more flashes of humor, perhaps. The April 2 episode contained a nice moment when Langston got angry at the cosmic injustice of the murder of someone he knew and, off-camera, kicked or hit something in frustration. That was interesting; in fact, it was one of the moments that made me think, hey, why don’t we see more of Langston’s behavior, at one extreme or another? Let’s flesh this guy out a little.
What do you think? I’ll bet you’re still missing Grissom, but are you also enjoying Ray Langston?
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Let me begin by saying I love Laurence Fishburne. I’ve felt he was someone to watch since ‘Apocalypse Now’. I began watching CSI almost from the beginning and thought the show was great. However, the show’s quality has declined in recent years, and I was planning on eliminating it from my viewing schedule. When Fishburne was announced as Petersen’s replacement, it made me re-think my plan to stop watching after Grissom left.
That’s not how it worked out. Yesterday, I finally deleted all the episodes (8) that had stacked up since February.
I agree that Fishburne is excellent as Langston, but the show has lost that cohesive gel that made it so compelling. The most glaring flaw now is Langston’s character. He feels like a sketch, rather than someone fully fleshed out, shoehorned into the cast. I’d hate to think Petersen was the sole reason I was watching, but my enjoyment of CSI has all but disappeared.
After watching the first two shows after Grisson left and Fishburne came in, I just didn’t get that “warm & fuzzy” I did when I first became a CSI fan. While Grissom did have that wry humor and yes he was aloof – his overall ‘different’ characteristics made you want to try and get to know him better and to try and understand why he was the way that he was. I love Fishburne as an actor in general and he’s outstanding at his profession, but I just don’t think he’s a good fit for CSI. *shrugs* Maybe it will get better next season once the writers put their heads together, but for now, I’ve passed on all the episodes except the first two without Grissom.
I admit I haven’t watched the last few episodes…and I NEVER would have missed it before this season. I really miss Grissom and although LF is a fantastic actor, I was never that excited about having him on the show.
My problem isn’t L. Fishbourne, it’s the new girl. I just don’t care for her. I havne’t found anything that I hate about her, but I also haven’t found anything I like about her. To me it would have been better to bring Louise Lombardo back then to bring in the new girl. I miss William Peterson tremendously, but I don’t think it’s hurting the show. I would however like to see more of Katherine being a leader like Gil was.
I totally miss Grisson. He made the show complete. While I like LF’s character, the show just isn’t the same. Grissom is gone, Sara is gone, Warwick is gone…and Catherine does not get much screen time. I still watch it, but really miss Grissom.
I totally miss Grisson. He made the show complete. While I like LF’s character, the show just isn’t the same. Grissom is gone, Sara is gone, Warwick is gone…and Catherine does not get much screen time. I still watch it, but really miss Grissom.
I really miss Grissom. I haven’t been able to get excited over an episode of CSI since he left. I thought Lawrence Fishburne was wrong for the part from the first episode we met him. I also cannot stand Riley Adams, she comes off like a pompous know-it-all at times, and it’s just disconcerting. Both of these characters are ill fitted for central roles in CSI. I would have much preferred if Hodges and Wendy, Mandy or Archie moved from lab rat to CSI like they did with Greg. LF and RA should be relegated to lab scenes where they don’t have many lines, and the character can develop to mesh better with the crew. CSI changed to much, too quickly for many of the regular viewers with Sara, Warrick and Grissom all disappearing within a few short months. Sara and Grissom were by far my favorite characters on that show, but I was attached in some way to all of them.
I think the problem is Catherine was only interesting when she was interacting with Grissom or Warrick. Now they’re gone..there’s nothing interesting about her. Nick has always been vanilla to me. I cannot understand what they were thinking about with this Riley character who bores me to tears!! I agree that Ray needs more humor or quirk (like the aforementioned characters) but I see deep character under quiet waters with him. He commands my attention by his facial expressions. He doesn’t have to say something witty to engage me. I like his moments with Hodges (who along with Greg & the coronor) are greatly underused. I like Ray’s interaction with them because they are all the most interesting characters on the show. They need to focus more on them if they want to keep the show interesting. Or else finally breakdown and give Chatherine, Nick & Riley something of ineterest. They need it more than Ray.
I do miss Grissom and agree that the show feels different. I like LF and his character though and I think the writers did a good job bringing him in (much better than other shows bring in their new characters) I don’t like the new girl however and my biggest complaint right now would be please dear god no more shows centered on Hodges. He is annoying and can’t carry a show.
The show has completely lost its spark since William Peterson left. And while Fishbourne is indeed a fine actor, his character is a bore. I’m afraid it’s time to put CSI down…
I actually enjoy Fishburne on the show, he seems genuinly interested in his co-workers and a really good guy. Riley does need more development (I thought I read somewhere we were supposed to learn more about her, but that never happened – Ausiello?). I think they need to have more of Greg’s old quirky ways, anyone remember his old hairstyles? It seems the problems are with the writers, not the characters. I’ve felt a decline in writing ever since the miniature killer storyline, something seems to have changed after that.
I like Laurence Fishburne’s character; however, something has happened since Grissom left. The past few episodes have been almost cheesy. Something is definitely off but I think it has more to do with Grissom’s departure rather than Langston’s arrival. To be honest, I don’t think they’ve focused on him enough.
For me, the problem in recent weeks has been the episodes– holistically. They’ve been gimmicky or campy to the point of stupid. So I haven’t had a chance to warm to his character with all the junk surrounding the episodes.
Guess I’m in the minority, but I like Fishburne better than Petersen. I’m not talking about their acting ability, it’s no contest there. But I’m talking about their charachters. The show is much better now.
I’ve only watched a handful of episodes after Grissom left. It’s a completely different show now. Grissom was the backbone of CSI and without him show just feels flat. Laurence Fishburne just doesn’t have that special quirky quality that makes a character compelling to watch. Maybe the acting that works well for movies doesn’t translate well for TV.
I like Langston’s character, but this show definitely misses Grissom. It just hasn’t been the same.
The only epeisode I enjoyed was the last one, when the focus was off Langton, and on some of the older character. That’s the key. We need more Catherine, more Nick, more Greg…and the “lab rats”! We need to see more of why we love CSI so much.
On the bright side…grissom will be back….
http://tvdonewright.com/2009/04/21/csi-movie-coming-featuring-the-return-of-grissom/
I was worried about the show. When you change a major character like Grissom the show can collapse. But like Law & Order and NYPD Blue taught us before, a central character change CAN work. The shows have a new feel to them and the attempt to make the show work from the material and not the actors is even better. The William Friedkin epsiode was awesome. The odd duck out I feel is not Fishburne but Marg Helgenberger here. They don’t seem to know what to do with this great actress anymore. The upgrade of the minor characters into the spotlight also makes sense. I look forward to the show more and more actually. Tucker, I think you need to think again.
I would also like to add, one of the things that is a little odd though about the show lately is that there is no clear steady rudder for asigning cases. Katherine Willows is in the Grissom role now, but there seems to be a more casual assignment structure to the cases. But I must say, Grissom and Jorge Fox’s storyline brought me back and Fishburne made me a regular viewer after a couple seasons of being bored with the show.
I don’t dislike Langston, or LF, I just think the whole team chemistry is missing. For me, it started when Jorja Fox left. Not only did I like her character, I liked how she interacted with the rest of the cast, especially Greg and the Sara/Grissom scenes. When Petersen left, this became an even bigger problem. I also miss the Warrick/Nick interactions.
Most of what they are trying to do with the team chemistry seems forced to me. They are trying to create chemistry; it can’t be done.
Also, I don’t like the way they have written Langston. He seems to be able to do anything relating to being a doctor or a CSI. Pretty unrealistic, I think. I don’t want a perfect ‘hero’; that’s too ‘Horatio’ for me.
I like the character, but I don’t understand how he’s doing CSI work ALONE as a LEVEL 1 CSI already??? Shouldn’t he still be an ‘apprentice’? Remember when Greg was a Level 1? Someone was always with him. Makes no sense to me! However, I do like Morpheus on CSI, he fits in very well. However, I don’t like the Riley character at all. She’s just ‘there’. They need to do something with her to make her interesting. As much as I diliked Sara, at least she had a story to her.
LF is doing a good job and brings something new and fresh.That said it seems Catherine has taken a back seat even though she’s in charge.I agree with some comments that suggest the writing has been angled to help LF get serious air time and story lines and do find that to be more than probably is needed.I look at this point for CSI as a starting over not a change and so far so good plus it needs time to gell just like the show did when it started.
Complaint of the day:No police station would ever have glass walls.
Both LF and Lauren Lee Smith are great talents, but they already seem stale. It feels more like the writing than the actors, that needs adjusting.
…answer your question. I stopped watching this show when Grissom left. I have nothing against Fishburne, but Grissom was one of the main reasons I watched CSI. There were a couple of episodes that featured both Petersen and Fishburne, but Fishburne’s character didn’t interest me. I haven’t watched any episodes since Grissom left.
I haven’t watched CSI since Grissom left either. I like LF and LLS but I’ve never liked it when shows have a bunch of ppl leave and then replace them with new actor’s. It really all started to go downhill when Warrick died. The premier was heartbreaking and it was also heartbreaking to realize that Gill would soon be gone as well
I agree with Ken. I have nothing against Langston but the show has lost something. Even in last weeks episode (which I thought was good) Nick was a jerk to Hodges & Wendy. There no longer seems to be a connection between the characters and I think Grissom had a lot to do with that. Miss you Gil…
I imagine that the character of Nick Stokes appeals to younger females, but as a middle age guy, I’ve always found his character written as moody an sullen (even before being buried alive). Nick does not play well as a stand alone character. He interfaced well with both Grissom and Warrick but without them, he seems a bit of a priveleged jerk. . .if only in his mind.
I hope that the show moves more in the direction of the lab rats and some of their activities. Hodges is an interesting character and he plays off against Wendy well. The character of Ray seems a stretch at times. I agree with the author above that they don’t know for sure how to write for him and also for Riley.
Question: Whatever happened to Sofia. She seemed to have the more charisma of any of the late arriving regulars?
Miss you Grissom! Wish you were on some island with Lady Heather instead of gap-toothed Sara! Regardless, you presence is so missed on this show!! Come back, will ya?
I watched CSI after Grissom left for couple of weeks and as much as I tried I could not take it anymore. The show has changed. I’d rather to have the show without Grissom and LF than have his character in it. I sort of look the trailers to catch the ones that LF is not focused. He is not FAMILY.
The writers haven’t put Langston in with Willows or Stokes very often so its tough to get a grip on how Langston fits in, but yeah, something is missing. I still think the loss of Grissom is going to kill the show. It would have been terrific to see Langston and Grissom play off each other.
There has only been one post-Grissom episode I liked and that was the one involving the sci-fi convention. Something is definitely missing. The only reason I continue to watch is to see Liz Vassey.