Known for his pulpy cinematic visuals and highly stylized dialogues, Quentin Tarantino stands as one of the greatest writer-directors of all time. With a short career spanning only 10 films, Tarantino’s filmography is still enriched by his involvement in television – as an actor as well as a director.
In 2005, he helmed the eerie finale of CSI Season 5 after becoming an ardent fan of the show. The episode – Grave Danger – marked Tarantino’s final stint as a TV director. Riddled with motifs typically found in his work, the episode was ranked highly by critics as one of the best TV episodes of all time.
Quentin Tarantino’s Emmy-nominated CSI episode
CSI – which premiered in 2000 – was one of the first cinematic and slickly stylized crime procedurals that gave rise to the industry’s relentless obsession with the genre today. Its popularity could be attributed to the storyline, which was somewhat unprecedented at the time of its debut.
The plot involved crime scene investigators tackling unsolved mysteries by relying on science and technology. However, what made CSI so engrossing was its constantly interesting and innovative episodic storylines. The series was also emboldened by the strong performance of its cast, something Quentin Tarantino himself noted after admitting that he was a fan of the show.
The director – known for such films as Pulp Fiction and Inglourious Basterds – stumbled upon the show while shooting Kill Bill, a film that would go on to have an immense impact on Grave Danger‘s arc. The protagonist Gil Grissom finds himself in a similar circumstance as Uma Thurman‘s The Bride when he is buried alive in a glass coffin. Meanwhile, his team races against time to locate and save him before he runs out of air.
With a non-linear narrative that builds up tension, black-and-white hallucinations, and the panic that sets in when ants find their way into the coffin – every little element of Quentin Tarantino’s CSI episode worked toward creating a palpable atmosphere of imminent threat and danger from start to finish.
The episode got Tarantino a nomination for the 2005 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series.
NCIS needs to take a page out of the CSI playbook
It has been years since NCIS has made headlines with one of its episodic storylines. Although the overall series and its spin-offs remain as addictive as ever – including one of TV’s most fan-favorite on-screen pairings, Tony & Ziva, returning in a spin-off of their own – NCIS has become somewhat tedious in its 22-year run.
The series needs to break out of the mold, and there is no better example for it than CSI‘s Season 5 two-part finale. Helmed by Quentin Tarantino, Grave Danger was everything the audience needed as it jolted them out of monotony and inspired a renewed passion for the crime procedural.
With half a dozen spin-offs running parallel to the original series, NCIS is at an all-time high risk of becoming too saturated for the audience’s taste. Only a jolt to the senses can spark interest in the series by catering to a broader viewer demography.
NCIS is airing on CBS; CSI is currently streaming on Hulu and Paramount+.
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