Directed by Eric Laneuville
Written by Anthony E. Zuiker, Ann Donahue, Carol Mendelsohn & John Dove
"Nothing for Something" is the 20th episode of Season 7 and the 160th overall. It originally aired April 29, 2011.
A murder investigation leads to a missing persons case. Meanwhile, Mac gets pickpocketed by an ex-con who turns out to be someone he and his first partner put away 17 years earlier.
Tropes for the episode:
- Back to Front: The entire opening sequence is shown in reverse.
- Dead Man's Chest: A husband kills his wife and stuffs her in her own suitcase, then throws it in the lake where they'd first me. Once he's caught, he tells the detectives he put her back where he found her.
- Forgets to Eat: Jo has Flack usher an exhausted Mac out of the murder scene after this exchange:[Mac yawns as Jo approaches.]Mac: I know what you're going to say. It's not the way it looks. I'm fine.Jo: It's exactly the way it looks. That's the same suit you had on yesterday, if not the day before. You haven't even been home in two days.Mac: This isn't the first time one case has rolled over into another. I'll be fine.Jo: When's the last time you had something to eat? I don't want to hear about that trail mix from the vending machine last night.Mac: [a tad defensively] It was a granola bar.
- Give Me Back My Wallet: Subverted. Mac realizes who stole his wallet, and how he got it, but the pickpocket brings it back to him at the Lab, having removed nothing.
- Pun-Based Title: It, like the opening, is reversed.
- Sequel Episode: The story continues over to the next episode, "Life Sentence."
- The Sleepless: Mac, who was revealed to be an insomniac all the way back in Season 1, continues his trend here:Jo: You promised me you were going to go home and get some sleep.Mac: I was working on some cases. I dozed off on the couch, then this came in.Jo: Boss of the Crime Lab or not, you're no good to anyone if you're running on fumes.Mac: Look, I am not walking out of a homicide investigation.Jo: [waving Flack over] No, Don is driving you out.Flack: Yo.Jo: It's all been arranged. You're going to go home and get a couple hours' sleep. And if you're lucky, a toothbrush and a shower might make it feel like eight.Mac: Don can't just leave.Flack: Sure I can. I'm on my way back to the precinct anyway. Your place is on the way.Mac: [matter-of-factly] Sid will be expecting me in Autopsy.Jo: It's covered. Your work is done here, Mac Taylor. Don's gonna take you to that diner you love for breakfast, and then take you home and tuck you in.Mac: Will he be giving me milk and cookies and singing me a lullaby?Flack: The lullaby thing's a little weird. But milk and cookies could happen.
- As is to be expected, they never make it to Mac's apartment.
- Talking Down the Suicidal: Jo uses her FBI profiler training to talk down a murder suspect who's threatening to jump off a roof rather than go to prison, and gets him to turn himself in instead.
