Review of C.S.I. Miami 2.2

Introduction

CSI: Miami is the second spin-off to the highly successful CSI franchise (three shows so far and counting). This formulaic show focuses on the forensic evidence behind the crime in a more slick and hip modern day version of Quincy.

Blood Moon - A Cuban cigar maker is found tortured and mutilated. When Horatio and the team dig into his past, it turns out that he isn`t quite who he seems.

Slow Burn - Temperatures rise in the Glades as fires rage. The discovery of a body leads Delko and Alexx to a bit of hot spot.

Stalkerazzi - A paparazzi is found dead after a car chase. The team discover that the victim was overlooking actor Brad Tustin`s house. What did he see that led to his death?

Invasion - A family night in front of the TV with popcorn goes horribly wrong when a group of armed raiders invades their home. Can the team work out what happened and why?

Money For Nothing - Caine gets involved in a heist of a security truck robbery, but it turns out that the $3.2 million stolen was fake. Where did the real money go?

Wannabe - A man is stabbed to death in broad daylight. Speed is working the case when someone steals evidence under his nose. Who is he and what was his motive?

Deadline - A journalist is caught up in a shooting whilst looking for a story. What is the story and whose is it really?

Oath - There`s a cop killer in town. Horatio pulls out all the stops to find his killer, but Stetler from IAB starts an investigation when the Officer is suspected of being crooked.

Not Landing - A plane crashes on a busy Miami beach. Only the pilot is killed and an investigation into his background uncovers some shady dealings.

Rap Sheet - A rapper`s bodyguard is killed during a concert, the rapper taking one in the shoulder. The rapper has some high-profile enemies within the rap scene, but did one of them pull the trigger?

MIA/NYC - A young girl comes home late from a club to find her parents dead. Horatio makes a promise to find the killer and the trail leads him to New York and CSI Detective Mac Taylor.

Innocent - A porn star is found strangled and the team discover that her boss is a registered sex offender. Meanwhile Stetler, already revelling over Caine by dating Yelina, jumps to conclusions after an accident in the lab.

Video

Good clear and sharp picture, you can really tell the difference between DVD and the original broadcast just by viewing the end of the opening credits. CSI: Miami uses a mix of live action and CGI effects as part of the attempt to push the story forward and explain any specific medical or forensic terms referred to by the actors. The CGI is top notch and works well, although it is clear most of the time just how `CGI` it is. This doesn`t really matter though as you`re watching a TV series where the budget is nowhere that of a Hollywood film so it`s acceptable.

Audio

Good sound, a nice mix of clear dialogue and music soundtrack. Clearly following the Miami Vice template, the music on this show is a mix of incidental music and songs, the latter generally used to layer yet more emotion to already highly charged situations. It works well and the use of the Who song `Won`t Get Fooled Again` will forever be associated with this show now, and a nice in-joke from the team behind it with the sequel-nodding lyric `meet the new boss, same as the old boss` which is never sung but is there in the background all the same.

Features

Visually Effective - A 17 minute examination of the visual effects provided by the ZOIC company for the show that is interesting without going into too much depth.

The Trace Lab Tour - A very brief (too brief) explanation of some of the equipment used in the Trace Lab. Shown in segments, each piece barely lasts around 30 seconds and gives you hardly any explanation of how it works. This extra requires two things: more detail and that handy `Play All` function.

Wannabe episode commentary - provided by the producers and technical consultant, this commentary is quite interesting; covers both plot development/explanation with a look at some of the various character traits on show.

MIA/NYC commentary - producer Ann Donahue examines the differences between Miami and New York in this `handover` episode, also talking complimentary about Caruso a lot.

Recalling Season 2 - a 12 minute retrospective on the second season, mainly EPK fluff but enjoyable enough as a `view-once` type extra.

Conclusion

CSI is now a franchise to rival that of Law & Order, three of the former currently in production. Initially centring on Las Vegas and William Petersen`s Grissom, the action has switched to Miami, Florida where David Caruso gets a second chance in TV following his career dip after NYPD Blue. Caruso apparently decided that TV was too lowly for an actor of his calibre and promptly disappeared into movie obscurity whilst allowing Jimmy Smits to take the limelight. Caruso`s role of Horatio Caine is almost an act of redemption, his long slog back after his NYPD Blue fall-out complete and the popularity of this show a testament to both his and the other cast members acting.

Horatio Caine is clearly the main focus of this series, most of the stories focussing around him confronting the bad guys at the end of each story or providing the necessary observation that move the investigation along. Part of his appeal is both his use of sarcasm when questioning suspects and the poignancy shown by his character with either victims or certain witnesses. The other thing to notice is that before any important pronouncements or going into action, Caine ALWAYS puts his sunglasses on. This is apparently his signature move.

The second series of any successful programme always tries to elaborate more on the back history and relationships of the main protagonists. This season we get to learn more about Horatio`s murdered policeman brother Raymond and the consequences of his actions both prior to his death and after. We also see and learn more about the relationship between Caine and Yelina, Raymond`s widow. This relationship, in a kind of Mulder/Scully way, is about unrequited love and sexual tension. In the second half of this season, we see the arrival of brother Raymond`s lover and daughter. Caine, ever the gentleman, tries to hide the truth from Yelina in a step that backfires on him when she assumes that the girl is his daughter. This causes her to back off and rebound to the ecstatic and gloating IAB man Stetler. Stetler, never one to allow truth to come before his feelings, also opens an IAB folder on Caine; a move that will hopefully be followed up on during the next season.

A key part of the script structure is the way that characters always appear in pairs when investigating. One will make an observation, the other will provide an explanation that will both move the investigation forward a little and provide another clue for the audience. Much of each episode is taken up this way, but with the amount of forensic information that needs to be processed by both the team and the audience, it doesn`t really feel as intrusive or obvious as, say, Star Trek techno-babble.

The structure of the scripts for each episode is fairly formulaic and is backed up by the writers themselves during the commentaries provided here. You know that Caine is going to put on his glasses and get the smart punch line (some more successful than others) out just prior to The Who blaring from your speakers. You know that the first guy fingered is not the one who did it. You know that any comparisons in the lab will always get the right result on the second attempt. You know that information is telegraphed in a mostly subtle way to let you work out who the killer is before the final act. And finally you know that Caine always has the final word and the killer always looks suitably chastised when this happens.

Despite all this, it`s engrossing TV that attempts to educate you whilst not being patronising. There is some smart US television out there and the CSI franchise is up there with the best.