So my verdict is still out on the new girl on CSI. I don't like her, but I don't entirely hate her either. I was prepared to hate her. I even called my mother during the first commercial and said, "I really don't like the new girl." When my mom asked me why, I told her it was because Riley was mean to Super Dave. My mom replied, "She wasn't mean. She was sarcastic. It was joke." I told her, "I know, but it's Super Dave. It's like being mean to a cute, little, fluffy kitten. You can't be mean to Super Dave."I thought about it for awhile after the show was over, and truthfully, Riley's humor is a lot like mine. I'm every bit as sarcastic as her, and sometimes people don't know if I'm joking or if I'm serious, especially online. However, I'm not a new character on an old TV show that TPTB are trying to force down the viewing audiences' throats in my very first episode. I think TPTB over did it just a bit in that department. They should have eased Riley into the show, not put her in 90 percent of the scenes with one deadpan, sarcastic joke or outrageous story after another. Not only that, but TPTB should have made her a little more unique character-wise. In my opinion, Riley is a lot like Sara was in Seasons 1 and 2 before she started acting all dark and depressed all the time. The resemblance would be okay if Riley wasn't (a) replacing Sara and (b) trapped in Sofia's body, but she is.
Seriously, did they have to hire someone who looked like Sofia? I've seen about five minutes of Lie with Me on Showtime, so I know that Lauren Lee Smith once had red hair. I guess they couldn't have two redheads on the show, especially when one of the redheads is the lead, and they've met their quota as far as female brunettes are concerned. Even with Sara gone, they still have a brown-haired Mandy, Wendy, and--here I go again gagging--Lady Heather. Nevertheless, did TPTB even consider who Lauren Lee Smith would look like with the blonde color and that ponytail? Or was the Sofia resemblance the whole point? If I remember correctly, they shoved Sofia down our throats on her first episode as well. Remember the whole stripping in front of Grissom moment? I do, a little too well. That's why I skip that episode when it reruns on Spike.
Anyway, I was going to call Riley Sporkette due to the Sofia resemblance, but they've been referring to her as Sporka over at Your Tax Dollars at Work (the "spork" for Sofia, the "a" for Sara), so I'll go with that moniker instead. If TPTB tone down Sporka some, I could end up liking her, but right now I just can't, not with so many original cast members leaving or having left.
As for Grissom, his admission, albeit through a cloaked reference to Hank, the dog, that he's listless and not eating, along with his screw up in the lab, makes me like him a little bit better than I did last week. However, knowing that the episode that is supposed to take place in Lady Heather's bed is less than two weeks way, I still think he sucks. He's going to have to do either some serious groveling or some serious growing up on the show before Sara or this fan girl takes him back.
As for Hank, the poor thing misses his mommy. Someone needs to give that dog a good back rub and a really big bone. Sara maybe? One can hope.
