CSI: Miami - Television Season 1 & 2 Review
Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of taking a crime scene investigation course for college, which inspired me to go back and check out the massive CSI series. Out of the numerous spin-offs, my ongoing love affair with the city of Miami made me decide to go with CSI: Miami. I imagine that I, like most people, have seen plenty of episodes throughout the numerous spin-offs, but I never actually sat down to watch it as a series. Unlike my previous TV review, I’m going to post a review of the first two seasons of this particular show as the series is quite long and I want to make sure to capture my thoughts on the show without forgetting the starting point (it’s a lot of fingerprints and DNA “samples”).
*
General Information
CSI: Miami is a police procedural that first premiered on CBS on 23 September 2002. It is a spin-off from the highly popular CSI: Crime Scene Investigation series (don’t ask me why the show repeats the name, I’m puzzled too). The show spanned ten seasons and concluded on 8 April 2012. The show won a series of awards and nominations throughout its run, however the first two seasons are fairly minor in their acclaim. Based on my experience though, this is pretty typical as many procedural shows need a bit of time to get their bearings and figure out their characters.
The Setting
Like its original series, the show centers on criminologists who support Miami-Dade Police Department on homicide investigations by analyzing crime scene evidence. The team is led by the legendary Lieutenant Horatio Caine (acted by the equally legendary David Caruso). If you’re looking to catch a glimpse of Miami, you’ll definitely get it on this show as it not only covers the standard Miami staples like South Beach and Little Havana, but also more exotic locales like the Everglades and even boats off the Florida coast.
Something that bothered me in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, which also persists in this show is the aspect of criminologists conducting witness/subject interviews/interrogations. Look, I get it, this is television and anyone remotely interested in crime scene investigation knows that none of the CSI shows perfectly capture what life is actually like as a criminologist, however this has always been a bit of a raw point for me. As far as seasons One and Two go, I’d say that CSI: Miami is better than its predecessor on this issue as Horatio Caine is an actual detective so he’s legitimately qualified to do interviews/interrogations. Despite that, there’s still plenty of times where the criminologist is the only one in the room performing the interrogation. This sticking point is only worsened as the show actually points this out in one of its early episodes and then seemingly ignores it a few episodes later. The show has detectives in it (one of which is played by the stunning Yelina Salas), so I was a tad disappointed that the show failed in using them properly.
The Acting
As expected, this show is pretty hit-or-miss when it comes to the acting in this series. I’m not sure who was in charge of writing Horatio Caine’s behavioral mannerisms, but I would like to both applaud them and vehemently demand answers for why he’s so strange. Having seen David Caruso play a different kind of detective in NYPD Blue, I think Caruso nails this very unique persona and makes Caine a memorable figure in a long line of police procedurals. Thinking on it, the only two characters in the entire CSI franchise that I can immediately think of off the top of my head are the original’s Gil Grissom and Horatio Caine (and the show has been over for years). Caine may not be the most realistic character in television history, but he’s clearly memorable.
**
The supporting actors do a decent job with some being better or worse than the rest. I particularly liked Khandi Alexander’s portrayal of the soft-hearted Dr. Alexx Woods and Adam Rodriguez as criminologist Eric Delko. Alexander’s performance brought an incredible amount of humanity to the show through Dr. Woods’ empathy with the corpses she autopsied. Rodriguez’s Delko brought a level of earnestness and sincerity that I actually found quite endearing as the show went on.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Emily Procter and Rory Cochrane who played criminologists Calleigh Duquesne and Tim Speedle respectively. Proctor’s Duquesne seems to get nearly as much screen-time as Caruso’s Caine, however her character comes off as a bit flat. I’m not sure if this is due to the writing, but the only emotion I recall seeing from Duquesne throughout the first two seasons was slight enthusiasm, which frankly began to become a bit unnerving as the show progressed. Speedle quickly became my least favorite character as he’s entirely unremarkable. He comes off very wooden and unmotivated throughout the show. There’s even a point in season 2 where he states that being a criminologist “is just a job,” which is fine I suppose, but we never see anything else going on in his life. By the end of season two, I could understand why his character would be later replaced.
***
The Story
As this is a police procedural, each episode is a self-contained story that retains a fairly rigid formula. A crime occurs; Horatio Caine says something witty, which is immediately followed by The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again;” evidence is analyzed and witnesses are interviewed; and the group catches their bad guy. Throughout both seasons, there was rarely ever any deviation from this formula, which is frankly okay considering it is what it is. Within the confines of that formula, the show demonstrates on more than one occasion that a good mystery story can be told. I really recommend Slaughterhouse and Broken for Season One and Grand Prix and Blood Moon for Season Two.
A major problem I noticed with both seasons is its utilization of guest stars. The show has a steady stream of C-list and B-list guests that all do a good job with the roles they are given, however the guest star is almost always the killer in each episode. It got to a point near the end where I think I became as omniscient as Horatio Caine in that I could tell who the killer was before the opening credits even rolled.
****
There is a small amount of ongoing story elements that carry from episode to episode, however this is all largely forgettable. There’s this sub-story involving Horatio’s dead brother’s widow and a secret affair with a meth addict. Duquesne also has a small sub-story that involves her alcoholic father trying to get sober. Unfortunately, neither of these storylines seem to really go anywhere and became annoyances when they did take center-stage.
The Best of the Best: Horatio Caine. He’s a damn national treasure and as close as Miami will get to having its own Batman.
The Worst of the Worst: Speedle attempting to look cool and edgy by listening to modern rock while running tests on a cheek-swab.
*****
*Where You Can Find It: I reviewed this series via the CBS All Access (now known as Paramount +) streaming service.
General Information
CSI: Miami is a police procedural that first premiered on CBS on 23 September 2002. It is a spin-off from the highly popular CSI: Crime Scene Investigation series (don’t ask me why the show repeats the name, I’m puzzled too). The show spanned ten seasons and concluded on 8 April 2012. The show won a series of awards and nominations throughout its run, however the first two seasons are fairly minor in their acclaim. Based on my experience though, this is pretty typical as many procedural shows need a bit of time to get their bearings and figure out their characters.
The Setting
Like its original series, the show centers on criminologists who support Miami-Dade Police Department on homicide investigations by analyzing crime scene evidence. The team is led by the legendary Lieutenant Horatio Caine (acted by the equally legendary David Caruso). If you’re looking to catch a glimpse of Miami, you’ll definitely get it on this show as it not only covers the standard Miami staples like South Beach and Little Havana, but also more exotic locales like the Everglades and even boats off the Florida coast.
Something that bothered me in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, which also persists in this show is the aspect of criminologists conducting witness/subject interviews/interrogations. Look, I get it, this is television and anyone remotely interested in crime scene investigation knows that none of the CSI shows perfectly capture what life is actually like as a criminologist, however this has always been a bit of a raw point for me. As far as seasons One and Two go, I’d say that CSI: Miami is better than its predecessor on this issue as Horatio Caine is an actual detective so he’s legitimately qualified to do interviews/interrogations. Despite that, there’s still plenty of times where the criminologist is the only one in the room performing the interrogation. This sticking point is only worsened as the show actually points this out in one of its early episodes and then seemingly ignores it a few episodes later. The show has detectives in it (one of which is played by the stunning Yelina Salas), so I was a tad disappointed that the show failed in using them properly.
The Acting
As expected, this show is pretty hit-or-miss when it comes to the acting in this series. I’m not sure who was in charge of writing Horatio Caine’s behavioral mannerisms, but I would like to both applaud them and vehemently demand answers for why he’s so strange. Having seen David Caruso play a different kind of detective in NYPD Blue, I think Caruso nails this very unique persona and makes Caine a memorable figure in a long line of police procedurals. Thinking on it, the only two characters in the entire CSI franchise that I can immediately think of off the top of my head are the original’s Gil Grissom and Horatio Caine (and the show has been over for years). Caine may not be the most realistic character in television history, but he’s clearly memorable.
**It takes a special kind of person to instantly become a meme
The supporting actors do a decent job with some being better or worse than the rest. I particularly liked Khandi Alexander’s portrayal of the soft-hearted Dr. Alexx Woods and Adam Rodriguez as criminologist Eric Delko. Alexander’s performance brought an incredible amount of humanity to the show through Dr. Woods’ empathy with the corpses she autopsied. Rodriguez’s Delko brought a level of earnestness and sincerity that I actually found quite endearing as the show went on.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Emily Procter and Rory Cochrane who played criminologists Calleigh Duquesne and Tim Speedle respectively. Proctor’s Duquesne seems to get nearly as much screen-time as Caruso’s Caine, however her character comes off as a bit flat. I’m not sure if this is due to the writing, but the only emotion I recall seeing from Duquesne throughout the first two seasons was slight enthusiasm, which frankly began to become a bit unnerving as the show progressed. Speedle quickly became my least favorite character as he’s entirely unremarkable. He comes off very wooden and unmotivated throughout the show. There’s even a point in season 2 where he states that being a criminologist “is just a job,” which is fine I suppose, but we never see anything else going on in his life. By the end of season two, I could understand why his character would be later replaced.
Behold, the only expression Calleigh Duquesne is capable of displaying...
The Story
As this is a police procedural, each episode is a self-contained story that retains a fairly rigid formula. A crime occurs; Horatio Caine says something witty, which is immediately followed by The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again;” evidence is analyzed and witnesses are interviewed; and the group catches their bad guy. Throughout both seasons, there was rarely ever any deviation from this formula, which is frankly okay considering it is what it is. Within the confines of that formula, the show demonstrates on more than one occasion that a good mystery story can be told. I really recommend Slaughterhouse and Broken for Season One and Grand Prix and Blood Moon for Season Two.
A major problem I noticed with both seasons is its utilization of guest stars. The show has a steady stream of C-list and B-list guests that all do a good job with the roles they are given, however the guest star is almost always the killer in each episode. It got to a point near the end where I think I became as omniscient as Horatio Caine in that I could tell who the killer was before the opening credits even rolled.
****Looks innocent to me...
There is a small amount of ongoing story elements that carry from episode to episode, however this is all largely forgettable. There’s this sub-story involving Horatio’s dead brother’s widow and a secret affair with a meth addict. Duquesne also has a small sub-story that involves her alcoholic father trying to get sober. Unfortunately, neither of these storylines seem to really go anywhere and became annoyances when they did take center-stage.
The Best of the Best: Horatio Caine. He’s a damn national treasure and as close as Miami will get to having its own Batman.
The Worst of the Worst: Speedle attempting to look cool and edgy by listening to modern rock while running tests on a cheek-swab.
Calhooey Score: 7/10 - Good
Would I Recommend?
*****Completing this review requires me putting on my sunglasses
If you liked the original CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, I think you’ll like this one too. I’d even argue that this is the best criminal forensics TV show, however, overall this is probably just a good show to have playing in the background while gaming or folding laundry.
-------------------------------------------------Spoiler Comments-----------------------------------------------------
- How does Horatio see in the dark while wearing sunglasses? Is this a learned skill, or must you be born with it like some type of mutant super power?
- I was sad to see Kim Delaney's Lieutenant Megan Donner leave the series so abruptly in Season One. I liked that she challenged Horatio, however I suppose I could've seen a problem in the future with her constantly being viewed as a nuisance since Horatio is never wrong.
- The preview notes for Episode One of Season Three hints at a member of the CSI team getting killed in the line of duty. I'm guessing this is where Speedle meets his untimely (yet absolutely necessary) demise? Who's going to go party with Delko now...
----------------------------------------------------References--------------------------------------------------
*Wikipedia. (2020, June 25). CSI: Miami (season 1) image. Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSI:_Miami_(season_1).
**Serenadoherty. (2011, August 24). Horatio Caine meme. Insightful Waffle. Retrieved from: https://insightfulwaffle.wordpress.com/2011/08/24/feature-writing-exercise-horatio-caine/.
***Rotten Tomatoes. (n.d.). Calleigh Duquesne image. Retrieved from: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/csi_miami/s01/e07
****Imgur. (n.d.). Michael Rooker CSI Miami image. Pinterest. Retrieved from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/563653709610054648/.
*****Replygif. (2012). Horatio Caine gif. Retrieved from: http://replygif.net/380.
Slight correction I noticed. In some of the Wikipedia articles, it seems at least some of Caine's team are detectives too. This seems a little strange to me as lab geeks and detectives should be typically separate (from what I learned). I'm now trying to envision Masuka from Dexter trying to conduct an interrogation...
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