Directed by Rob Bailey
Written by Anthony E. Zuiker, Ann Donahue, Carol Mendelsohn, & Trey Callaway
"Time's Up" is the fourth episode of Season 4 and the 75th overall. It originally aired October 17, 2007.
Synopsis:
A naked man claiming to be from the future bursts into the precinct, confesses to a crime that hasn't happened yet, collapses and dies on the floor. A seemingly healthy young woman dies in a diner after inadvertently drawing attention to herself. Mac encourages Stella to start dating again, then receives a heart-breaking letter from Peyton.Tropes for the episode:
- Asthma Peril: The second victim is an asthmatic who dies after the Alpha Bitch in the sorority she's pledging replaces the canister in her inhaler with an experimental sexual enhancement drug and exposes her to flower pollen to deliberately trigger her asthma so she'll use it. She just wanted the girl to loosen up and lose her virginity, but the heavy breathing the sex drug triggers, combined with getting no relief from the asthma, causes her to basically choke to death from a massive orgasm.
- Backstory of the Day: A chalk-drawn chart made of squares on the sidewalk provides a clue. While examining it, Lindsay tells Mac she was the hopscotch champion in her hometown back in Montana. This never comes up again, even though chalk dust and/or drawings do come up in subsequent episodes.
- Clock Tower: The time machine is located in the clock tower of a downtown building. A young man assisting with it crashes through the clock and plummets to his death when the machine malfunctions.
- Deadly Prank: The episode's B-plot revolves around a young woman who died when her tampered inhaler worsens her asthma attack. The idea of the Alpha Bitch who tampered the inhaler (with an experimental sex-enhancement drug) was to help the victim get laid. Mac does not mask his anger when he arrests her.
- "Dear John" Letter: Peyton breaks up with Mac via a letter she air-mails from London to his office.
- Dying Clue: The naked man knows he's bleeding to death. Seeing some kids playing hopscotch, he stops long enough to grab some chalk and draw a clue on the sidewalk in case he doesn't make it to the precinct.
- The Immodest Orgasm: Everyone in the diner gawks at the young woman while she has an orgasm at her table. The witnesses disagree as to whether she was faking it ala When Harry Met Sally... or if it was the real deal.
- Laser-Guided Karma: The man's killer accidentally electrocuted himself to death with the Time Machine because he doesn't know exactly how to use it, but got greedy in trying to see the outcome of future sports events so he could place winning bets on them.
- Medication Tampering: Someone replaces the young woman's asthma medicine with a sexual enhancement drug.
- Paranormal Episode: The Time Machine and its dead inventor lead to the CSI team wondering whether or not time travel is possible. Turns out that the machine is just a hodge-podge of computer parts and the inventor's capacity to predict the future is more mundane…ishnote , but he still was able to predict the time his murderer would meet his own end down to the minute and leave it behind as a clue.
- Scenery Censor: Scenes of the naked man running down the street are shot very tactfully...only from the waist up or knees down, having objects or people blocking certain body parts, etc.
- Shower of Awkward: Flack does a welfare check on a guy whose life has been threatened. He calls out for him as he walks thru the guy's apartment but gets no response. Hearing the shower running, he enters the bathroom with gun drawn and pulls back the curtain. The naked guy screams and attempts to cover his privates while Flack hastily looks away in disgust.
- Shout-Out:
- Back to the Future:
- The first male victim's name, Dr. Martin Browning, is a combination of those of the franchise's two main characters, Doc Brown and Marty McFly.
- The building where the Time Machine is located has a tower with a clock that is not only shown prominently a few times, it stops when the second male victim crashes through it.
- Doctor Who: The TARDIS sound is used in a flashback when the time machine is "travelling."
- The Twilight Zone (1959): Flack hums the theme tune.
- Back to the Future:
- Stock Scream: When Kevin Murray crashes through the clock interrupting the Columbus Day parade, the classic "Wilhelm Scream"' can be heard.
- Stopped Clock: When Murray crashes through the clock's face, falling to his death on the sidewalk below, that clock naturally stops. Arriving at the scene moments later, Mac looks at his own watch and declares, "Right on time."
- Super-Intelligence: The dead man is revealed to have been a brilliant scientist.
- Title Drop: After impatiently waiting for a suspect to explain his actions, Mac tells him, "Time's up" and has him escorted to a cell.
- Voice Over Letter: Slight variation. When Mac reads Peyton's letter, only her voice is heard. Justified in that he is alone in his office, reading it to himself.
