Directed by Skipp Sudduth
Written by Anthony E. Zuiker, Ann Donahue, Carol Mendelsohn & Adam Targum
"Party Down" is the 13th episode of Season 7 and the 153rd overall. It originally aired February 4, 2011.
When a semi-truck with 20 people locked in its trailer hurtles headlong into the Hudson River, the team must figure out what went wrong...all the while contending with a mobster out for revenge because his daughter was among the victims.
Tropes for the episode:
- Deceased Fall-Guy Gambit: The killer attempts to frame one of his victims despite the latter being dead.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: A victim who was thought to be a suspect is discovered to have a horn from the truck's hood ornament rammed through his head.
- Nasty Party: The perp attempts to kill at least twenty people on a party truck, succeeding with four.
- Never My Fault: The killer's main Fatal Flaw, to the point that when confronted by Mac and Jo, he still denies responsibility.
- They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: The killer is described as a male with "dark hair, light skin and a bit of a stutter."
- Trapped in a Sinking Car: The party truck is deliberately driven into the river with its trailer locked and the emergency exit welded shut. Fortunately for (most of) the victims, the welder wasn't very good at it.
- Vigilante Execution: The mobster who lost his daughter shoots the killer in the episode's final moments.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: The killer pretends to be one of those who almost drowned to throw suspicion off himself.
