Directed by Steven De Paul
Written by Anthony E. Zuiker, Ann Donahue, Carol Mendelsohn, & Peter M. Lenkov
"The Ride-In" is the 17th episode of Season 3, and the 64th overall. It originally aired February 21, 2007.
Synopsis:
Out in Rockaway Beach, a man is found dead on a pile of cash in his house and a replica of Noah's Ark is found in his backyard, complete with animals and 8 "passengers." Back in the city, a man wearing a cigarette costume is found burned to death outside a tobacco company. Stella tells Mac she was exposed to HIV and is waiting on test results.Tropes for the episode:
- Counterfeit Cash: The money in "Noah's" house turns out to be counterfeit.
- CPR: Clean, Pretty, Reliable: Averted. Stella has to give Sid CPR when he collapses from anaphylactic shock because no one else is around. She's very worried about having possibly passed the virus on to him and tells Mac, and later Sid, about it. They both reassure her that even if she has it, it's extremely unlikely that it could've been passed through saliva.
- The End Is Nigh: "Noah" distributes a video explaining why he believes the world is coming to an end, and invites those who view it to join him on his ark.
- Man on Fire: The second victim is shown running off of a balcony while engulfed in flames. Ironically, this comes about because someone tosses a lit cigarette at him while he's dressed in a cigarette costume which isn't flame retardant.
- Noah's Story Arc: "Noah" has delusions of saving the world from a coming apocalypse, namely a flood which he predicts will happen on the following Sunday.
- Room Full of Crazy: Passages from various religious texts are written all over the walls of the room where "Noah" is found.
- Plot Allergy: A mild example. It's never revealed exactly what Sid eats that causes his anaphylactic shock, just that he didn't check his meatball sub carefully enough.
- Subliminal Advertising: Discussed. A cigarette company executive complains that one of their competitors had subliminally inserted a naked man into their commercials in order to attract female smokers.
- Weird Trade Union: The costumed victim is approached by someone trying to start a "mascot union," not realizing that isn't the man's occupation.
- You Are Already Checked In: "Noah"'s killer is found out after impersonating a detective sent to extradite him from New Orleans back to NYC. When the real detective shows up the next day, "Noah" has already been released; unfortunately for him, the person who showed up was a former partner of his out for revenge for being cheated in a previous scam they'd worked together.
