Directed by John A Keris
Written by Anthony E. Zuiker, Ann Donahue, Carol Mendelsohn, & Trey Callaway
"Communication Breakdown" is the 19th episode of Season 5 and the 111th overall. It originally aired March 25, 2009.
Mac and the team try to determine the cause of death of a Chief of the Native American tribe who were the first to inhabit Manhattan. Meanwhile Danny is trying to narrow down his choices of a boy name for the baby, while Lindsay remains in Montana.
Tropes for the episode:
- Agonizing Stomach Wound: The Chief is killed by a technique used by the tribe to injure wolves' intestines. It causes severe abdominal pain and sepsis.
- Artistic License – History: The in-universe Montequan tribe never existed. The inhabitants of Manhattan when European settlers arrived were the Lenape.
- Debating Names: While Lindsay is on maternity leave, Danny is trying to decide what to name their child, which he assumes is a boy. The team gathers at the end of the episode and get in on it. Flack suggests "Crocket," while Sheldon prefers "Tubbs." Stella adds "Mac" into the mix, which Adam immediately laughs out loud at. As Mac gives him a stern look, Danny's phone rings. It's Lindsay... saying the baby's a girl.
- Everything Sounds Sexier in French: Flack overhears Angell questioning a witness in the man's native French and whispers as he passes behind her, "Sexiest thing I've ever heard."
- Contrived Coincidence: Lampshaded by Flack after a bullet fired by an angry father at his daughter's boyfriend, whom he discovers had spent the night, hits the Chief while he's on a passing elevated train.Flack: You mean to tell me the bullet hit the only guy on the train who was already dead?
- Native American Casino: A gambling scheme involving an online casino owned by the tribe figures into the plot.
- Time-Delayed Death: It takes the Chief a few days to die from the killer's technique.
