Directed by John Behring
Written by Anthony E. Zuiker, Ann Donahue, Carol Mendelsohn, Peter M. Lenkov & Jill Abbinanti
"Forbidden Fruit" is the 11th episode of Season 5 and the 103rd overall. It originally aired December 17, 2008.
A man is discovered disposing of the body of a young woman. The case leads back to a party with a very odd assortment of unappetizing foods. Meanwhile a pawn shop owner is found dead in his store. Ella McBride returns to present Mac with evidence in one of the cases and is revealed to be infatuated with him.
Tropes for the episode:
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: The first man runs from the cops, scales a fence and falls, getting skewered by a long piece of rebar sticking up through a hunk of concrete on the other side.
- Neck Snap: The pawn shop owner's neck and one of his fingers are broken in exactly the same way as a previous victim in the Greek antiquities theft arc.
- Not Good with Rejection: When Mac rebuffs Ella for interfering with his case, she attempts suicide in order to regain his attention.
- "Not Illegal" Justification: Stella takes it upon herself to have a criminal moved from an upstate prison to a closer one in order to get the man's brother, an ex-con himself, to aid a case of hers by making forgeries of some ancient Greek coins. The Chief of Police calls Mac about why the prisoner is being moved, blindsiding him. Mac confronts Stella, telling her that her actions could potentially harm the investigation. She emphatically tells him that nothing she's doing is illegal, but he responds that she IS in violation of Lab policy and tells her to stop immediately. She says, "Fine!" then storms out and continues with her investigation anyway.
- "Open!" Says Me: Mac kicks Ella's door in to rescue her after realizing that she had attempted suicide.
- Self-Surgery: Discussed. Mac walks up behind Sid while the man is examining a victim who died after drinking a bleach-laced smoothie and wondering out loud how that would feel. Mac says he wonders that every time he thinks about performing a live autopsy on himself. Intrigued, Sid turns around and starts to say, "You do that, too?" but stops short when he sees the grin on Mac's face.
- Stalker with a Crush: Ella engineers a "chance meeting" with Mac in a grocery store, and has made one of the "confession cards" she collects to add to her wall. It reads "I will make him love me."
- Wacky Cravings: Conversed. Mac meets Lindsay at a table spread with all kinds of food, and says, "Please tell me this isn't one of your weird cravings." She assures him its all from their case.
