Directed by Rob Bailey
Written by Anthony E. Zuiker, Ann Donahue, Carol Mendelsohn, Peter M. Lenkov, Zachary Reiter & Norman Siopis
"Hostage" is the 21st episode of Season 4 and the 92nd overall. It originally aired May 21, 2008.
A lone gunman enters a bank, holds everyone inside hostage, then demands a CSI's assistance when the manager's body is discovered in the vault area. Mac volunteers to go in. Later the man takes him hostage personally in an escape attempt.
Tropes for the episode:
- Bank Robbery: The perp intends to rob the bank for money to escape to Canada with his family, only to discover that he was beaten to it. The original robbers had shot the manager and fled before he arrived.
- Bizarre and Improbable Ballistics: Features a gun that fires two successive rounds so quickly and accurately that they pierce the victim through the exact same entrance wound. Played as a real thing in-universe.
- Feet-First Introduction: As the episode opens, only a pair of feet climbing some stairs are shown. The camera pans over & up to the perp opening a door, then back, revealing Mac as the guy forces him inside at gunpoint.
- Hostage Situation: Times three. See synopsis above for the first two. The bank manager's wife was also Bound and Gagged in their home.
- How We Got Here: The episode actually begins when Mac first enters the bank. The audience is brought up to speed after the opening credits.
- Pregnant Hostage: One of the bank tellers is three months pregnant. Mac is instrumental in getting the gunman to release her early.
- Sequel Episode: Season-ending Cliffhanger. Concludes in the season 5 premiere, "Veritas."
