Raymond Langston

Template:CSI character Raymond "Ray" Langston, M.D. is a fictional character portrayed by Laurence Fishburne on the American TV crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. He joined the show in the ninth season, after the departure of Gil Grissom, played by William Petersen.

Season 9

He is first shown teaching a course on serial killers in the episode 19 Down. He is a Medical Doctor (M.D.) specializing in Forensic Pathology--one of his former co-workers at a hospital was an "angel of death," who killed 27 patients. Langston saw all the evidence but "was unable to connect the dots", as recounted by Grissom. He later wrote a book on the case, which Grissom read and said he liked.

He is at first reluctant to help, and upset that law enforcement "hijacked his class for their investigation." He then reconsiders and begins to assist in the investigation, and aid Gil Grissom. At the end of "19 Down" he connects Grissom as a third party to a call he receives from a serial killer in prison, which allows Grissom and the LVPD to find the grave of one of his victims, as well as another dead body.

He is hired on by Grissom as a special consultant to the case in the episode One To Go. At the end of this episode, Grissom approaches him and offers him a job at the Crime Lab, telling him, "It's an entry level position, the hours are terrible, and the pay's bad." Langston, who goes on to accept the job, replies, "But money is not exactly the object, is it?"

His first day on the job, as chronicled in The Grave Shift, is less than ideal for him - he has trouble with retrieving a fingerprint (prompting him to overdust and ruin the print), drops a body and accidentally tears its shirt, gets his necktie stuck in the victim's blood, thus causing it to become evidence, and draws Riley Adams' criticism when he reprimands a man who strikes his son during an interrogation. He also receives a cold and uncooperative welcome from Hodges, who is still angry about Grissom's departure but warms up to Langston after the latter demonstrates a cornmeal bomb. He also attempts to reach out to a young boy whose addict mother was charged with robbery. Nevertheless, the team accepts him as one of their own, inviting him to a diner with them. He also finds evidence in a homicide/arson case that impresses Hodges, and helps identify the perpetrator of a break-and-entering (who, much to Langston's chagrin, cannot be charged with anything more than filing a false report - a misdemeanor).

In Deep Fried and Minty Fresh, it is revealed he knows some degree of Mandarin Chinese. Also, in this episode, he gets his own office, which seems to be off the morgue. He is shown to be developing a friendship in Dr. Al Robbins, who seems to be on his level intellectually, much like Robbins and Grissom. In A Space Oddity, Langston is shown conducting a forensic examination of a body in lieu of Robbins.

In No Way Out, Langston is held hostage in a lab in a basement with Riley Adams. A Space Oddity reveals that Langston is a fan of the (in-universe) TV series Astral Quest.