Belinda (left), Paulie (middle), and Jason (right, head turned away)
Directed by Naren Shankar
Written by Shankar & Anthony E. Zuiker
The CSI team investigates when a mild-mannered support staffer kills a coworker, but the motive for the murder is surprising.
- Asshole Victim: The victim, Jason Deverro, was fond of snooping into the files of others, which is how he learned Paulie Krill was upset enough to concoct a plan to steal from the company but not enough to put it into action. He then bullies Paulie into actually going through with the scheme, uses connections from his former job to get the best tools for the plan, and threatens Paulie's life when he's thinking of backing out.
- Butt-Monkey: Paulie is constantly ignored or belittled by his managers and coworkers, and never stands out until the scheme is concocted.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: The heist doesn't go as planned and Paulie gets impaled through his midsection by a metal door.
- Hard Work Fallacy: Paulie was raised to believe that hard work was the path to success, and is upset at reality proving him wrong, with Jason being highly respected and able to pawn his work off to others by using his good looks and charisma.
- Imagine Spot: The episode ends with Paulie blowing the door off the high-tech safe of the company he works for, grabbing piles of money, and successfully escaping...before he sees metal flying at him, and realizes he only imagined the escape, and is actually bifurcated and pinned to the wall by the safe door.
- I'll Kill You!: When Paulie gets cold feet about actually going through with their plan to rob the company, Jason decides to do it on his own, and threatens the staffer if he tries to stop him.Jason: Fine! You want out, you're out! I don't need you to carry this off anymore anyway! ...Breathe a word of this to anyone, anywhere, and I will hunt you down and put a bullet in your head! I swear...Empty space. That's all you are.
- In Medias Res: The episode constantly flashes back to Paulie and Jason at various earlier points, working on the plan to rob the company.
- Meaningful Name: Krill is the "small fry of fish", and Paulie Krill is the meekest worker at his job.
- Office Romance: Paulie has a crush on Belinda, a female coworker that gets sexually harassed by their boss, but he ends up trying to frame her after learning she's already slept with Jason.
- Rage Breaking Point: Being called "empty space" by Jason is the last straw for the ordinarily meek Paulie, and he murders his co-conspirator in response.
- Salaryman: The main plot involves figuring out what an office worker is planning before he can get away with his crime.
