In the 12th season of CSI introduces the three new characters, Elisabeth Shue, Elisabeth Harnois joins in as the new CSI's Julie Finlay, and Morgan Brody. Also joining in former "Cheers" star Ted Danson joins in as the new CSI Supervisor D.B Russell. After 12 seasons, 263 episodes, Marg Helgenberger returns in her final season of the show as Catherine Willows. The 12th season of CSI contains 22 episodes!! And thank god that it's coming back for it's 13th season!!

CSI is an innovative, type of crime drama (starring Ted Danson as CSI Supervisor "D.B. Russell") because the characters use cutting-edge forensic tools to examine the evidence to solve the case. This series focuses on the 'howdunnit' rather than on the 'whodunnit' (investigating witnesses/suspects, although there is a small measure of that; because that is natural in police work.). CSI is about to enter into its amazing 13th season. Here is a preview of what we will have to look forward to with this season release:

The episode list is as follows:

1. 73 SECONDS - Under the direction of new boss D.B. Russell, the team tackles cases involving a wild shootout on a Las Vegas tram car and the death of a deer hunter.
2. TELL-TALE HEARTS - The task of solving the grisly quadruple homicide of an entire family becomes more complicated when three people confess to the crime.
3. BITTERSWEET - A sadistic killer from Sara's past who recently got out of prison appears to have struck again, while another dead body appears to have drowned in chocolate.
4. MAID MAN - The former Las Vegas mayor is shot during the grand opening of a new mob museum, and a maid is killed in the hotel room of a chauvenistic Middle Eastern prince.
5. CSI DOWN - Morgan's life may be in danger when an injured man, who is also a suspect in the murder of two gang members, hijacks his medivac helicopter and demands to be flown to Mexico.
6. FREAKS AND GEEKS - The murder of a popular side show performer sends the team behind the scenes at a carnival freak show. Rachel is found sadistically slain, and the team are on the hunt to find her killer.
7. BRAIN DOE - The CSI crew is stumped when they discover a disembodied brain at a crime scene where all the other brains are accounted for.
8. CRIME AFTER CRIME - When the CSI investigates three seemimgly unrelated murders, they discover someone is getting revenge for cold case murders that were never solved.
9. ZIPPERED - As CSI and FBI work together to solve the murder of a gunrunner working for a private defense firm, they discover that hundreds of very dangerous black market weapons may be out on the street.
10. GENETIC DISORDER - When a genealogist is found dead in Dr. Robbins' bed, the team works on a theory that his wife may have been cheating even though she maintains her innocence.
11. MS. WILLOWS REGRETS - Catherine's friend Laura's mogul husband Mark has a lot to hide behind his successful international corporation, and he's hired a crack team of assassins to carry out the murders of anyone who might be aware of what he's doing, and that includes Laura's lawyer and Laura herself.
12. WILLOWS IN THE WIND- Cathrine goes into hiding with D.B. after Mark Gabriel's hitmen try to kill her, but they soon come to the realization that Gabriel himself may not be calling the shots.
13. TRESSED TO KILL - When a woman is found dead and her hair is done up '70 style complete with vintage clothes, the CSI team discover clues that point to a killer with a hair fetish.
14. SEEING RED -D.B. turns to a "blood whisperer" from his past to help solve a crime involving a gun shot victim who has lost his short term memory.
15. STEALING HOME - Three dysfunctional siblings fight over ownership of their stolen house, which contains a lot if secrets - and dead bodies.
16. CSI UNPLUGGED - The team works against the clock to find a kidnapped boy - which becomres even more difficult after a blackout shuts down the entire city.
17. TRENDS WITH BENEFITS - The team discovers that a WLVA student notorious for his gossip video blog was killed because he was about to exposr a major campus scandal.
18. MALICE IN WONDERLAND - While the team tries to figure out a team of wedding bandits' next target before they strike again, Morgan pretends to be David's girlfriend to impress his mother.
19. SPLIT DECISIONS - The task of trying to figure out who shot and killed a pediatrician in a casino becomes more difficult when the team discovers that the killer is one of three identical triplets.
20. ALTERED STAKES - A killer is about to go free because of a dirty cop, so the team tries to connect him to an earlier crime to keep him in jail.
21. DUNE AND GLOOM - A vehicle explodes during an off-road race, and the team discovers that it may have been connected to a plot to kill an oil executive.
22. HOMECOMING - As the team investigates a drug-related triple homicide, they uncover a complex web of corruption in the sheriff's department that leads all the way back to a long-forgotten, unlikely source.

Very enjoyable series!

CSI is the long-running CBS procedural drama about a group of crime scene investigators in Las Vegas. The show was a big hit for most of it's run and eventually became one of the most watched TV shows in the world. However, the show had to go through some changes after original star William Petersen left midway through season 9. They brought in film star Laurence Fishburne as the new lead and the transition appeared to go smoothly. However, I think most fans can say the show eventually went into a rut creatively and viewership started to drop in seasons 10 and 11. It was no longer the top show on Thursday nights. After Fishburne decided to leave after a low rated season 11, CBS brought in long-time TV star Ted Danson as the new lead. He played DB Russell, the new night supervisor and a former Seattle CSI. Honestly, after I heard that Danson was cast, I wasn't in love with the choice. But, to my suprise, Danson brought new life to an aging show. I think the Russell character added some fun and quirkiness that had been missing in the Fishburne years and I think he gelled immediately with the cast. I also think some of the stories in season 12 felt really fresh and the cast appeared rejuvinated. The show also made the move to Wednesdays at 10pm and ratings were up. It performed quite well against Law and Order SVU and was neck to neck with the new ABC drama Revenge for the top spot in the timeslot.

Unfortunately season 12 also marked the final season for long-time star Marg Helgenberger, who played CSI Catherine Willows. Helgenberger left the show midway through season 12 and I think the writers did the character justice and gave Catherine a proper and memorable sendoff. The Producers managed to work their magic once again and brought in veteran actress Elisabeth Shue as Marg's replacement. She played CSI Julie Finlay, a former colleague of Russell's who has a conflicted past with him. I also think Shue gelled right away with the cast and made the transition very smooth.

I'm not going to go into lots of details about the plots in season 12. I will say this, it's a solid, well-crafted season and they utilize Danson and Shue really well. There's a few multi-episode arcs and a very exciting cliffhanger to wrap up the season. If you haven't seen season 12 yet, I highly recommend it.