Directed by Alex Zakrzewski
Written by Anthony E. Zuiker, Ann Donahue, Carol Mendelsohn & Bill Haynes
"Keep It Real" is the 2nd episode of Season 8 and the 164th overall. It originally aired September 30, 2011.
A young man is found murdered in his apartment. His girlfriend has blood on her clothes and his roommate is missing. The team discovers that all is not as it seems.
Tropes for the episode:
- The Bet: There is an office pool about when Mac will return to the Lab.
- Counterfeit Cash: The deceased's roommate is into counterfeiting and gives the young man some of the fake cash to purchase an expensive gift for his girlfriend. This ultimately results in his death when the business owner finds out and angrily comes to collect what is rightfully owed to him.
- Feet-First Introduction: Actually, RE-introduction. It's how Mac is first shown arriving at the crime scene.
- Real Award, Fictional Character: Toward the end of the episode, Mac is shown setting up a plaque he received as a "thank you" for his participation with the Brooklyn Wall of Remembrance project and ceremony. Aside from the two men's names, it is an exact replica of the one Gary Sinise received for his real-life assistance.
- Shout-Out: To The Shawshank Redemption. Upon Mac's first return to the morgue, Sid tells him "You're institutionalized now," then directly quotes Morgan Freeman's line, "These walls are funny. First you hate 'em, then you get used to 'em. Enough time passes, you get so you depend on them."
- 10-Minute Retirement: Mac is leading the team again, having been absent from the Lab itself for only one episode.
- Unprocessed Resignation: Mac tells Sheldon he had Chief Sinclair pull the retirement papers he'd turned in upon leaving (during the summer hiatus) to work at Piper Laboratories, where he was employed during "Indelible."
