Directed by Eric Laneuville
Written by Anthony E. Zuiker, Ann Donahue, Carol Mendelsohn, Pam Veasey & Zachary Reiter
"To What End?" is the 11th episode of Season 7 and the 151st overall. It originally aired January 7, 2011.
A clown shoots a bakery owner and a gun is found at the scene. By the time police arrive, clowns are showing up in droves. Jo's ex-husband Russ, an FBI agent, arrives and provides some information that connects the case to an old one of Flack's.
Tropes for the episode:
- Amicable Exes: Jo and Russ get along fine. He even flirts with her a little and it's obvious he wouldn't mind them getting back together because he keeps referring to their "separation." Jo has to remind him more than once that they're divorced and mentions that it's because he wanted her to be a stay at home mom.
- FBI Agent: Russ Josephson, Jo's ex, is an FBI agent. The two worked together in Virginia before Jo moved to the NY Crime Lab.
- Flash Mob Cover Up: The first clown puts an ad in the paper offering to pay anyone who shows up dressed like a clown at the time and location he gives. Two dozen or so show up, most are dressed exactly like the perp.
- The Maiden Name Debate: Jo says she'd kept her name when she & Russ got married because "otherwise my name would've been Jo Josephson...please."
- Monster Clown: Turns out he's trying to protect himself from a hitman, so possibly a case of Justified Criminal?
- Needle in a Stack of Needles: The ad offers a bonus if the clowns are in the man's same costume...most of them are.
- Squirting Flower Gag: Defied. While questioning one of the clowns, Flack notices him touching a fake flower on his chest and exclaims, "If you squirt me with that thing, I will shoot you; I'm not kidding!" The guy wisely chooses not to.
- Witless Protection Program: In spite of being sent all the way to Memphis with a new identity while in the Witness Protection Program, an informant is tracked down by a relative of one of the mooks he testified against, and an attempt is made on his life.
- Witness Protection: Russ confirms Jo's suspicion that the guilty man is a part of the Witness Protection Program.
