Directed by Eric Laneuville
Written by Anthony E. Zuiker, Ann Donahue, Carol Mendelsohn, & Aaron Rahsaan Thomas
"Brooklyn 'Til I Die" is the 12th episode of Season 8 and the 174th overall. It originally aired February 3, 2012.
While involved in a live-action role playing game, the son of a hedge fund billionaire is kidnapped and his girlfriend is shot and killed. Can the team find the young man before he meets the same fate? Meanwhile, Mac is invited out for coffee by his new social media friend.
Tropes for the episode:
- FBI Agent: FBI Agents offer their assistance and phone tracing equipment when the billionaire's son is kidnapped.
- Finger in the Mail: The kidnappers send the billionaire his son's finger, complete with a family heirloom ring as proof that it's his.
- Jurisdiction Friction: Subverted with the FBI. Some agents show up and, naturally with there being a kidnapping, everyone expects them to take over. However, they acknowledge that the Crime Lab is in charge and offer their services as well as the use of their call-tracing equipment. Mac welcomes the help.
- LARP: This particular game has the participants role-play as spies in a seedy underground gambling casino. The billionaire's son and his school-teacher girlfriend joined in to add some excitement to their mundane lives.
- Loud Sleeper Gag: The kidnappers hold the billionaire's son at one's apartment, which he shares with his mother. She snores so badly that the gang can hear her above her loudly-playing tv while they're in another room. He son shouts, "Ma! Shut up!" but she doesn't even flinch. She does, however, wake up immediately when the cops burst through the apartment door.
- Money to Throw Away: The man tosses a bunch of poker chips into a casino crowd as a distraction as part of the game.
- The Reveal: Mac's messager at the end of the last episode is revealed to be Christine Whitney, the little sister of his old beat cop partner who was killed in the line of duty.
- RPG Episode: Downplayed, as it's the victims-of-the-week who are playing "Brooklyn 'Til I Die," not the main characters.
- Title Drop: One of the casino actors tells the investigators it's the theme of the current week's version of the game.
- Wannabe Secret Agent: The game's participants are acting as spies. The couple are dubbed Boris and Natasha.
- You Can Keep Her!: The kidnappers send the father his son's finger, still wearing a ring with the family crest, as proof they have him. The man astounds both the investigators and the FBI agents involved when he refuses to pay, saying, "They're not getting a dime of my hard-earned money!" Determined to save the victim anyway, the two agencies pool their resources to come up with enough actual and fake cash to get him back safely.