Directed by Jeffrey G Hunt
Written by Anthony E. Zuiker, Ann Donahue, Carol Mendelsohn, Christopher Silber & Adam Targum
"Life Sentence" is the 21st episode of Season 7 and the 161st overall. It originally aired May 6, 2011.
A sniper opens fire on the Crime Lab, wreaking havoc in Mac's office and injuring several individuals. Raymond Harris continues his rampage against Mac and his old partner, Bill Hunt. As the case draws to a close, Mac discovers what really happened 17 years earlier.
Tropes for the episode:
- Broken Pedestal: Mac has to arrest his training officer/first partner for murder and grand theft.
- Crime After Crime: Hunt stole money from evidence and killed Harris' girlfriend to cover it up because she caught him stashing it at the original scene.
- Dirty Cop: Hunt stole $200,000 because he didn't think his police pension was enough of a retirement, given all the years he'd put in on the force.
- ISO-Standard Urban Groceries: Hunt spills a grocery bag containing a baguette, paper towels and oranges to lure Harris into an alley.
- Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: Hunt beats Harris to a pulp in the alley, then tells Mac they don't have to worry about him anymore. Apparently he was known for this, because Mac angrily asks him if he gave him a just tune-up or a major overhaul. A bruised Harris later goes to the precinct and reports to Flack that someone is trying to kill him.
- Forged Message: Harris sends Hunt a fake text message from Mac to get him to the Lab.
- Police Lineup: Harris goes to Flack's precinct to report an attempt on his life and names Hunt, who gets put in a lineup, but Harris then refuses to identify him.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Harris is out for revenge against Mac and Hunt (thinking they were both guilty of the theft and killing his girlfriend), as evidenced by the barrage of bullets he fires from a building across the way; when that doesn't kill either of them, he later t-bones Mac's Avalanche at an intersection, fatally injuring Hunt, then tries to shoot Mac.
- Smells of Death: The badly decomposed body of a man is found tied to a canopy bed which has a great many car-type air fresheners hanging from it. All the first responders are wincing at the smell and Jo remarks, "Not even lilac and lavender can cover up *that* stench."
- Super Window Jump: Wall version. As bullets are flying, Mac barrels through the glass wall of the lab Lindsay is in, grabs her and pulls her to safety. Neither is injured by the glass... or the bullets.
- Surprise Car Crash: Harris t-bones Mac's vehicle as he and Hunt are headed to the precinct. Mac escapes with cuts and scrapes, but Hunt dies from internal injuries at the scene.
- You Know What You Did: In a flashback to when Harris was first locked up, he's in a group being led down a prison hallway when he spots Mac and shouts, "You know what you did!" At the time, Mac had no idea what he was talking about, but as this episode progresses, he learns that Harris assumed Mac had been in on everything that Hunt had done.
