Directed by Christine Moore
Written by Anthony E. Zuiker, Ann Donahue, Carol Mendelsohn, Peter M. Lenkov & Sam Humprey
"DOA for a Day" is the 15th episode of Season 4 and the 86th overall. It originally aired April 2, 2008.
A body believed to be that of notorious Serial Killer "Suspect X" is found in an abandoned warehouse. However, it is soon discovered that the killer faked her own death.
Tropes for the episode:
- Actor Allusion: Gary Sinise's real-life support of severely wounded veterans is nodded to when a triple-amputee referring to his own injuries asks Mac, "What do *you* know about it?" and he replies, "More than you think."
- Artificial Limbs: The Navy Seal discharged after becoming a triple amputee in combat is played by US Army Sgt. Bryan Anderson, who has prostheses for both legs and his left hand, all of which he lost in the Iraqi War.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Invoked word for word by a triple-amputee former Navy Seal who's a suspect, when he sees Flack looking him up and down:Russ: Don't you *dare* pity me!Flack: It's not pity, Russ. I'm just wondering if you could've done it.Russ: [gesturing toward his prosthetic limbs and scoffing] With these? At least 20 different ways, Detective.
- Hammerspace: Suspect X enters a building dressed in tight jeans, a shirt and heels, but produces a large caliber weapon complete with silencer from somewhere. Later, Flack says she had a PDA on her as well.
- Hand Wave: The Lab being quickly rebuilt after the explosion in the Season 3 finale is finally addressed... somewhat. Mac thanks the person responsible, saying, "I don't know what strings you had to pull, seemed like it happened overnight." She responds only that Chief Sinclair said if Mac ever blows the place up again, it'll come out of his salary.
- Janitor Impersonation Infiltration: Flack dresses as a sanitation worker while undercover.
- Kill and Replace: Suspect X kidnaps a young woman and forces her to have multiple plastic surgeries to look just like herself, then kills her and leaves her body to be discovered so that the authorities will stop looking for her.
- Let X Be the Unknown: "Suspect X" is an unidentified assassin.
- Psycho for Hire: Suspect X is an assassin who takes pleasure in profiting from murder.
- Rhyming Title: "DOA for a Day" is a title which rhymes two phrases of three syllables each.
- The Spook: The assassin "Suspect X's" background and identity remain unknown.
- Seeing Through Another's Eyes: A literal variation. The killer places a small camera into a victim's eye socket to remotely view the detectives' progress in tracking her down.
- Sequel Episode: Concludes the story begun 10 episodes earlier in "Down the Rabbit Hole."
- Surgical Impersonation: Suspect X captures a woman, subjects her to inhumane conditions, and has a disgraced plastic surgeon make the captive look like her before she kills her lookalike.
- Varying Competency Alibi: The judge's son, who is a former Seal, calls the detectives out for suspecting him because, while admitting that he is capable and would've done it if he'd known who killed his father:Russ: C'mon, leaving my knife behind? That's just sloppy. And if you know anything about Navy Seals, we're not sloppy.
