Two and a Half Deaths

Infobox Television episode
Title = Two and a Half Deaths
Series =


Caption =
Season = 8
Episode = 16
Airdate = Start date|2008|05|08
Production =
Writer = Chuck Lorre Lee Aronsohn
Director = Alec Smight
Photographer =
Guests = Katey Sagal Diedrich Bader Constance Marie
Benjamin King
Episode list =
Prev = The Theory of Everything
Next = For Gedda

Two and a Half Deaths is the Sixteenth episode in the eighth season of the popular American crime drama "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" which is set in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. It was written by Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn in a crossover between "CSI" and "Two and a Half Men". The character of Annabelle is based on Roseanne Barr, whose anger and bad behavior Lorre suffered under while running her eponymous blockbuster TV show; the title font for the show-within-a-show "Annabelle" is even identical to the one used for "Roseanne". In addition, elements of the character reflect Brett Butler and her character on "Grace Under Fire". Lorre was the original producer for that show until he was pushed out.

Plot

When the death of a well-known TV star, Annabelle (Katey Sagal), is reported in Los Angeles, the CSI team is sent to investigate.

Annabelle's co-star, Megan, is interviewed, saying what a tragedy it was. Warrick points out to Grissom and Willows that a woman's high heel print can clearly be seen in the blood from Annabelle's room. When Grissom gets a phone call that something has turned up on the television set, he heads to Los Angeles.

When Grissom arrives, he finds Natasha, dead from a car accident. Minutes later, Megan screams out as her dog lies dead in front of her. Back in Vegas, Hodges shows Willow footage of Annabelle with Bud, that is actually Natasha. Grissom and Brass search Bud's office and find alcohol, which he has been giving to Annabelle. They also let him know that semen was found on Natasha before she died, trying to pin her murder on him. Bud doesn't answer any questions but is led away by police until he's ready to talk.

Willows finds out that a writer visited Annabelle's room and had the same water bottle on him that she found at the scene of the crime. That writer has not been seen since the show filmed in Vegas. The bottle is dusted for prints and the CSI team come up with the name Richard Langford, an actor and street performer. As the teams hands out pictures on the street to find him, Richard is performing on the street as a robot and tries to get away. Warrick and Stokes arrest him.

Stokes interviews Richard, who says that he was going to become a regular on her sitcom but was canned when he wouldn't sleep with Annabelle. He went to Vegas to get a second chance and decided to sleep with her after all. She fell backwards, hit her head, and died, which was an accident, according to him. He said that the rubber chicken stuffed down her throat was not an accident, but intentional since she was already dead.

Annabelle tests positive for blood thinners and the team realizes that she had been poisoned for quite some time prior to her death. The same drug is found in Natasha's blood. Grissom and Brass figure out that the only other person besides Bud who knew about Annabelle hiding her alcohol in mouthwash bottles was Megan. She confesses hypothetically by placing her actions on a fictional character in a script. In it, she reveals that she had help from an Italian uncle, "Guissepe", who taught her how to sabotage Annabelle's car in exchange for what she called "unsavory favors". She later asserts that there is only circumstantial evidence implicating her. She later reveals that she has a new TV series called "Megan's Family". She then introduces her lover/executive producer, one of the show producers who was constantly humiliated by Anabelle and Bud, who appears on cue. So with no proof, they do not arrest her. While shaving, Bud cuts himself and bleeds profusely from the neck as the screen cuts to black.

Connections with "Two and a Half Men"

* Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones, all stars of the CBS series "Two and a Half Men", make a cameo appearance in this episode.
* The title of this episode is a parody of the "Two and a Half Men" name. That series' creators, Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn, have also written this episode.
* To reciprocate, the writers of CSI wrote a "Two and a Half Men" episode, "Fish In A Drawer", which aired on CBS on May 5, 2008.

External Links

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