David Hodges (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation)

David Hodges
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation character
First appearance	January 9, 2003 (CSI 3x11, "Recipe for Murder")
Last appearance	December 8, 2021 (CSI: Vegas 1x10, "Signed, Sealed, Delivered")
Portrayed by	Wallace Langham
City	Las Vegas
In-universe information
Occupation	CSI Technician
Rank	Trace Technician
Duration	2003–2015, 2021
Seasons	3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15
Other Appearances	Immortality , CSI: Vegas

David Hodges is a fictional character portrayed by Wallace Langham on the CBS crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and its sequel, CSI: Vegas . Hodges is known for having a habit of giving far more information than anyone wants to hear while explaining things and is very afraid of germs.

Character

In the April 9, 2007, edition of TV Guide, Langham described his character as a "pain in the ass" who "kisses up" to his superiors. Langham said Hodges considers himself superior to the other laboratory technicians and wants to be like Gil Grissom. While Grissom was on a sabbatical during the seventh season, Hodges used an alias to sign up for an online class that Grissom was teaching. Grissom, however, appears to find Hodges annoying and often tells Hodges to report his findings to other CSIs or asks him to leave his office. Yet Hodges seems to be under the impression that he's held in much higher regard by the senior CSIs than he truly is and doesn't note his own character flaws (He once told co-worker Wendy "no one likes a kiss-ass"). These traits become less apparent during season 9, though they are still used for comic relief and he is more often portrayed as someone with poor social skills than a genuinely annoying character.

Hodges sometimes redeems himself. In the fifth season finale, "Grave Danger", he saves the entire CSI team by noticing explosives rigged at the bottom of a container that they are about to open.

Hodges features in the seventh season episode "Lab Rats", in which he persuades his fellow laboratory technicians to surreptitiously work with him in an attempt to identify the Miniature Killer. Hodges concludes at the end of the episode that bleach might be a common factor linking all four murder scenes. Grissom praises Hodges for his work. Then, returning to form, Grissom again asks Hodges to leave his office, in which Hodges had been studying the miniatures without permission.

At the beginning of the eighth season, David Hodges becomes a main cast member. In the episode "The Case of the Cross-Dressing Carp", he tells Grissom he misses working with him on the Miniature Killer cases; Grissom says he misses it, too.

Hodges has an acute sense of smell and is able to identify many chemical compounds by their odor alone. In one case, he was asked to verify if a person's stomach contents had traces of cyanide, which requires a specific scent-related gene.

Due to a shortage of CSIs at the beginning of season 9 due to Warrick's death, Hodges was rotated onto the field at least twice—three times overall, counting an appearance on the field in season 8. He is known for his disdain of working on the field. Despite this, he almost lazily discovered crucial evidence in a matter of seconds during one outing.

In "One to Go", Hodges becomes especially upset upon hearing of Grissom's departure, telling him, "The bad guys will win more if we don't have you," and asking, "Who was Watson without Sherlock Holmes?" This prompts Grissom to respond, "Watson was a genius in his own right." Perhaps because of this, he is unfriendly toward his would-be new colleague, Raymond Langston.

CSI: Vegas reveals that he still worked in the lab when Joshua Fulsom and Allie Rajan were starting out, and told the former about Grissom and Sara. Since then, he has left the lab and become an expert witness. In "Legacy", the person who mandated the attack on Jim Brass also rented a storage unit in Hodges's name, which they equipped like a miniature crime lab, leading to Hodges getting accused of faking evidence.

Personal life

Hodges is apparently an avid fan of the 1970s TV sitcom Three's Company , winning an online auction for a fictional Three's Company board game in the episode "Lab Rats". He is also apparently an aficionado of country-soul singer Willis; in the seventh-season episode "Post Mortem" Hodges is seen dancing in the laboratory to a down-tempo cover of the song "Word Up!" while waiting for the results of a test.

Hodges is a go-kart enthusiast. ^[1] Jujubes are his gummy candy of choice. Pistachios are his favorite nut because they are "easy to open".

Hodges has a cat named Kobayashi Maru, a Star Trek reference.

In the episode "Wild Life" from season 11, Hodges confesses to Sara he is ornithophobic (afraid of birds).

In season 12 episode 4 "Maid Man" he confesses to Catherine that twice he failed to pass the driving test and received a license only the third time.

Relationships

In early seasons, the character showed an interest in Sara, but his principal love interest has been fellow tech Wendy Simms. Hodges has a crush on Wendy that sometimes distracts him from his work. For example, in the season 8 episode "You Kill Me," Hodges shows his coworkers a board game of his own creation, in which a pretty playable character is based on Wendy. The pair bond after running into each other at a science fiction convention. Wendy first kisses Hodges at the end of "Field Mice."Their relationship ends when Wendy transfers to a CSI unit in another state, much to the displeasure of many fans. ^[2]

Hodges also had a relationship of sorts with Morgan Brody. For a time, she pretended to be Hodges' girlfriend so that his mother would not complain to him. Hodges eventually ends the ruse after a trip to Italy with his mother. Hodges remains friends with Morgan, supporting her when her father is hospitalized.

In later episodes, Hodges dates Elisabetta, a woman he met in Italy while on vacation. The two become engaged, but wind up breaking off their engagement after his fiancée insists that once they marry, they'll move back to Italy to work on a relative's vineyard. Hodges tells his fiancée he's a scientist and can never do that. The two part ways amicably.

It is revealed in CSI: Vegas that he is married to a woman named Emma, who " mellows [him] out", and that they were expecting. Their son, Cooper, was born in the season finale.

See also

• List of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation characters

References

1. "A La Cart". CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
2. Eammon Jacobs (February 11, 2022). "The Most Heartbreaking Hodges Moment From CSI". Looper. Retrieved October 1, 2023.