CSI STARS AND PRODUCERS TALK ABOUT THE EXPLOSIVE TWO-HOUR SEASON FINALE OF "CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION," AND ABOUT WORKING WITH DIRECTOR QUENTIN TARANTINO

Tarantino Discusses Directing the Finale

"Grave Danger," the two hour season finale of CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION, will be broadcast Thursday, May 19 (8:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. In the episode, the CSIs are in a desperate race against time to save a member of their team who has been kidnapped and buried alive.

Without revealing too much about the storyline in order to keep it a surprise for viewers, the series cast members and producers, as well as Quentin Tarantino, who directed and developed the story for the season finale, have this to say about this not-to-be-missed season finale:

"It's a thriller that involves us [the team] in the crime that's committed against one of our own, and we have to rally against the clock to save a life." -- William Petersen (Gil Grissom) on the season finale storyline

"There's just too much good stuff in there to try and slam it into 44 minutes with commercials." -- William Petersen (Gil Grissom) on making the season finale a two-hour episode

"I think his [Tarantino's] filmmaking style lends itself really well to CSI's in that, obviously, there's an enormous amount of close-ups, and it's a very visual show." -- Marg Helgenberger (Catherine Willows) on Tarantino directing the season finale

"I think that watching him work and seeing the shots that he's calling and the shots that he's choosing and what he's doing, I know that what we can expect is something very Tarantino-esque, in the way that he's really attentive to detail and he makes you sit there and stay glued to your seat during his films, and that's exactly what's going to happen in our show." -- Gary Dourdan (Warrick Brown) on what viewers can expect from the season finale

"I think that over the years, if any fan has felt like they've gotten to know the characters, now they're really gonna get to know them even better We're gonna take the next step in our relationship with our audience." -- George Eads (Nick Stokes) on what fans can expect from the season finale

"...I was really surprised at how emotional it [the episode] was. I mean, you read it, and it's intense, and it's action oriented and it's exciting There were a couple of times I just had to sort of like not cry, and I didn't ever imagine that I would get like that" -- Jorja Fox (Sara Sidle) on the season finale script

"Quentin's put his kind of musical stamp on the episode by picking a really good, kind of poppy, old classic hit by The Turtles That's the kind of thing you'd expect from him, a really good soundtrack, and something really catchy and that'll kind of haunt you, and this is definitely one of those songs." -- Eric Szmanda (Greg Sanders) on the season finale music

Quentin has used his filmic vocabulary to authenticate the Vegas environment and keeps the show provocative with characters that are iconoclastic Vegas personas grungy couriers, old west lawyers, showbiz legends His deft balancing of tangential reality with the gravity of the main story, in real time, is the essence of his style. -- Paul Guilfoyle (Captain Jim Brass) on Tarantinos style in the season finale

"There's a time element to this episode, and if you watch the first 10 seconds, you're going to be with us 'til the end of it, because someone that you care about is in grave danger." -- Robert David Hall (Dr. Robbins) on the season finale suspense

"They can expect the unexpected, they can expect great visuals. It's a thriller. Your heart will stop Every time you think you're zigging, you're zagging in a Quentin Tarantino finale." -- Carol Mendelsohn (Executive Producer, Writer) on what viewers can expect from the season finale

"One of our own is in trouble I think the most important thing is you really get a chance to learn a little bit about all of our characters It's the "Quentin-sential" ticking clock, if you will, and it really shows the family of our CSI team get together for one common cause." -- Anthony Zuiker (Creator, Executive Producer, Writer) on the CSI team coming together in the season finale

"This is a thriller, it's a flat out thriller. A CSI is grabbed up from a crime scene and our people have to pull him out, and it's tense, and it's taut and it really is a CSI action movie." -- Naren Shankar (Executive Producer, Writer) on how the season finale is like a movie.

"I'm a big fan of the show, and so like I know like the backstory of all the characters and everything it's great to meet them and work with them and I know their characters really, really well, and I know these sets from watching the show and stuff, so I feel strangely comfortable even though I haven't been here before." -- Quentin Tarantino (Director) on directing the season finale of a show of which he's a big fan

"something I really like about this episode is it's very story-oriented. It plays sort of, you know, not to be too grandiose, but it plays like a movie." -- Quentin Tarantino (Director) on his love for the type of episodic storytelling that is being used in the season finale of CSI