The biggest change in this season is an HR one: new director Conrad Ecklie (Marc Vann) splits up the team, making Willows a shift supervisor and causing friction between she and Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox). He also adds a new member, Sofia Curtis (Louise Lombard), to banter with Gil Grissom (William Petersen)'s team. The move doesn't dampen the show's pace, as most cases break the team into twosomes anyway. But it does add a new villain in Ecklie, all politics and PR versus Grissom's heart to protect his team. Meanwhile, other cases dig deeper into the personal demons of Sidle and Willows; and the season finale, a slam-bam two-parter handily directed by Quentin Tarantino, focuses on the kidnapping of Nick Stokes (George Eads), buried alive with fire ants. This episode, the most emotionally charged yet, brings the entire team together and shows why it's still the No. 1 show on television. --Ellen A. Kim