Directed by Skipp Sudduth
Written by Anthony E. Zuiker, Ann Donahue, Carol Mendelsohn, Steven Fidler & Aaron Rahsaan Thomas
"Tales from the Undercard" is the 20th episode of Season 6 and the 137th overall. It originally aired May 5, 2010.
A body dressed in gladiator gear is found buried in concrete at a construction site. The investigation leads the team to an underground boxing league.
Tropes for the episode:
- A Truce While We Gawk: A fistfight atop recently hardened concrete screeches to a halt when one worker threatens another with a jackhammer and blood shoots up, spraying all over them. The rest of the workers gawk along with them.
- Backstory of the Day: Mac is revealed to be a fan of the victim. As Sheldon itemizes the man's many long-healed fractures, Mac tells him the opponent he'd been up against when he'd received each of them. This is the only episode in which Mac mentions being a boxing fan.
- The Boxing Episode: The victim is a successful boxer who had been forced to retire due to too many blows to the head. Flashbacks are shown to bouts from the victim's prior career and more recent matches; other boxers are shown sparring in present day.
- Constructive Body Disposal: The body of a retired boxer is found in freshly laid concrete on a construction site. CSI eventually determine that he had been participating in illegal underground fights. Thinking that he had died during his latest one, his trainer and the fight organizer dump his body in the concrete to keep the death quiet. Mac drops the bombshell that the victim had still been alive when they buried him.
- Cool Shades: Justified by Mac & Stella who both wear stylish shades at the bright, outdoor crime scene. Lindsay, on the other hand, squints into the sun as she's speaking with them.
- Shout-Out: To Star Wars. Once Sid & Sheldon have the body partially extracted, they bring Mac in, saying "You've GOT to see this." They hoist the body & hunk of concrete to a standing position, and the man is clearly poised the same as Han Solo was when Jabba the Hutt froze him in carbonite.
