It's rollout week for CBS' arsenal of fresh material for many of its popular crime/police/forensic dramas and procedurals.  Criminal Minds leads the charge with its episode entitled “Damaged,” which is the show's first new episode since the conclusion of the three-month long writers' strike.  “Damaged” airs tonight at 9.

Immediately following the all-new Criminal Minds is CSI: NY's own first original post-strike offering.  Tonight's feature picks up the trail of the case the team originally faced in “Down the Rabbit Hole” back in October.  Yes, the CSI franchise is officially back!  CSI: Miami kicked things off with a wedding-set murder last week, followed by this week's back-to-back, two-part cliffhanger.

Tonight on the returning CSI: NY, an anonymous tipster leads Mac (Gary Sinise) and his crack Big Apple team of crime scene sleuths to an abandoned warehouse, where they hope to corner one of the city's most notorious criminals.  Tonight's CSI: NY dubbed “DOA For A Day” also brings closure to a storyline first introduced in “Down the Rabbit Hole.”

In “Down the Rabbit Hole,” which first aired in October, our New York CSIs were forced to dive into the world of virtual animation.  Mac and his team were summoned to the garment district to investigate the death of an attractive Jane Doe dressed in bondage wear and sporting punked-out plastic tresses with a bullet lodged in her head.  A scan of her image through the databases had her matching a popular Avatar in the virtual world of Second Life.

Tonight's guests include Emmanuelle Vaugier as Jessica Angell, Kam Heskin as Suspect X, Bryan Anderson as Russ McHenry, Joshua Pence as the bartender and Nip/Tuck, Prison Break and Heroes' Jessalyn Gilsig making the first of a possible recurring appearance on the show as Jordan Gates.

Don't miss the start of all-new CSI: NY with “DOA For A Day” at 10 tonight.


-Rosario Santiago, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: CBS, Film.com
(Image Courtesy of CBS)