CSI: Cyber plugged into Internet’s dark corners
Characters prominent in new franchise
When the original CSI debuted in 2000, PlayStation 2 was must-have gaming, about a third of Internet users were still using dial-up connections and the Twitter bird was but a mere hatchling. Fifteen years later, the crime-fighting franchise has launched its third spinoff: the tech-savvier-than-thou CSI: Cyber.
Airing Wednesdays, the series left-clicks on a team of FBI cybercrime investigators including behavioural psychologist Avery Ryan (Patricia Arquette), ex-U. S. Marine Elijah Mundo (James Van Der Beek) and former black-hat hacker Brody Nelson (Shad Moss, a.k.a. rapperactor Bow Wow).
Whenever a franchise launches a new spinoff, it’s tough to know what will set the newcomer apart while remaining as comfortable as a worn-in La-Z-Boy. But for Van Der Beek and Moss, the writers — and prop masters — were key in shaping the show’s feel.
“No, they didn’t offer me any sunglasses,” says Van Der Beek, comparing Elijah to David Caruso’s CSI: Miami character, Horatio Caine. “I was jokingly coming up with catchphrases just to make the crew laugh and they decided not to use any of them. I guess they wanted to take the show seriously. As they should. So I had to settle for jumping over things and kicking down doors.”
The 38- year- old actor, most known for headlining the 1990s teen drama Dawson’s Creek, cites his training in jiu-jitsu and the Israeli military self-defence system Krav Maga for helping him rise to the physical challenge: “It’s fun to be able to pull the action out of the computer screen and into the real world as much as possible,” he says.
Moss, however, is relishing the show’s approach to character development. “In the other CSIs, they pretty much stick to cases. With this one, you get to see what goes on with these guys after work. James Van Der Beek’s character has relationship issues with his kid, and my character is trying to erase his past — we all have something outside of the workplace that we deal with.”
Viewers are responding. In Canada, CSI: Cyber consistently ranks among the Top 3 shows, snuggling up with ratings juggernauts such as The Big Bang Theory and NCIS. In the U.S. it ranks somewhat lower, but still manages about eight million viewers a week.
Butt-kicking sequences and character crafting aside, CSI: Cyber’s stock-in-trade remains online angst — the fervent brow-mopping over the Internet and its unregulated nooks and crannies. Episodes have dealt with, among other things, hackers who target baby monitors and roller coasters, and arsonists who light fires with the tap of a mouse.
“You think of a cybercrime and you think of someone nameless, faceless. But all these crimes start with an actual human being who has tendencies and idiosyncrasies. There are telltale signs left behind in a line of code or sentence syntax that will give a clue,” says Van Der Beek.
“I’m an optimistic person, so I tend to think of the Internet as a place where good people and good ideas can flourish and connect. And it is. But what I realized is just how deep the bad edge of that can cut, in terms of deviant behaviour also flourishing and finding other like-minded individuals.”
It’s enough to strike fear — or at least some modicum of malaise — in even the most casual tech user. Twenty-eight-Moss, who’s also working on a new album, counts himself lucky that his online habits are decidedly less transparent than those of his peers.
“I’ve always been a really private dude,” the Like Mike star says. “I never keep pictures of myself and I don’t do selfies, so this is perfect for me. Even when it comes to my phones — I delete stuff as soon as I put it up on social media, and I don’t like to store anything. I’ve been a weirdo when it comes to how I work my devices.”
But, says Van Der Beek, it’s nearly impossible to lead a tech-secure life in a time when news organizations pore over Twitter and Facebook profiles, and companies urge you to be more wired than a schoolgirl on Red Bull.
“The truth is that machines are hackable, human beings are hackable, corporations are hackable. But there are certain precautions you can take to keep yourself a little less exposed. I think the reality is you’re living in an age of full disclosure now, so it’s tough to keep secrets,” he says.