“CSI: Miami” is a well-produced and well-written show that unfortunately suffers from first season jitters.
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"CSI" (the original series), together with "The Shield", "Nip/Tuck" and more recently, "Rescue Me" are television staples that give my VCR a workout every week (sorry, no TiVo). "CSI: Miami" was on this prestigious list of mine during its first season run but I recently reluctantly removed it. Why, you ask? Well, let me explain.
I am a big fan of "CSI" and have never missed a single episode--thanks to the fact that my VCR has been a pretty reliable piece of machinery. When "CSI: Miami" was announced, I was quite stoked at the prospect of getting a double dose of original "CSI" episodes a week. And the excellent crossover episode, "Cross Jurisdictions" during season two of "CSI" that introduced the cast of "Miami", further fueled my interest. Even the debut episode of "Miami" was engaging--where the team investigated a plane crash in the Everglades. Then things begin to shift around. First, actress Kim Delaney, who played Detective Megan Donner, was pulled from the show after just ten episodes. Delaney´s role was in fact a last minute inclusion by the producers, hoping to add some star power to a new series. Her departure did not really surprise me, as her character did not fit in well and seemed a little detached from the rest of the cast. In short, Delaney´s role on the show was just simply made redundant by improper planning.
Secondly, the chemistry is lacking between the show´s main casts of characters. Maybe we can chalk it up to just growing pains but the cast members seem ill at ease with one another. Funny thing is, I could immediately respond to the cast of the original "CSI" from the get go but it is unfortunately not that simple with the "Miami" cast. On the plus side, it is a good thing that the producers made sure that the characters on "Miami" are not just a direct copy of "CSI"´s. For instance, David Caruso´s character, Horatio Caine is somewhat like Peterson´s Gil Grissom, but has a totally different approach to solving crimes. Both of them are highly intelligent but just as Grissom generally keeps to himself and likes to bury himself in his books, Caine is more outspoken and prefers to analyze problems by talking it out. Also unlike Grissom, Caine is a police officer by training and is as adept at handling a firearm as well as a test tube.
Contrary to popular belief, the idea for a spinoff show based on "CSI" was not hatched by the show´s famous executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer but by the president of CBS, Leslie Moonves himself. Usually, the process of getting a show on the air happens quite the opposite way, where people pitch ideas for shows to the networks. CBS, looking to capitalize on the wild success of "CSI", wanted a spinoff series right away, starting during the third season of the original show. I don´t think a spinoff show has ever been produced so quickly after the recent introduction of the original. Of course, by now everyone would have heard about yet another "CSI" spinoff series, "CSI: New York", starring Gary Sinise, starting this fall. I guess CBS is trying its very best to make as many strikes possible when the proverbial iron is still red-hot.
"CSI: Miami" takes the original series´ successful concept of using forensic science to bust crime to the southern U.S. city of Miami, FL. Unlike the rather dark and dank characteristics of the Las Vegas show (remember that the Vegas CSI crew works the graveyard shift), the city of Miami is just the opposite--sunny, tropical, culturally diversified and chock full of beautiful people (read: lots of sexy women in bikinis). Even the crimes themselves take on a more decidedly local and colorful flavor such as the discovery of a partially digested body found inside a shark and the illegal smuggling of human cargo and drugs from South America. The Miami CSI unit is made up of Horatio Caine as the lead criminologist, Tim Speedle (Rory Cochrane) the trace expert, Eric Delko (Adam Rodriguez) who specializes in water recovery and southern belle Calleigh Duquesne (Emily Procter, who had a brief stint on "The West Wing"), the ballistics expert. Supporting the team is coroner Alexx Woods who is played by veteran "ER" actress Khandi Alexander. Woods takes the cake when it comes to creepiness, as she loves talking to the corpses that come into the morgue as if they are still alive! Also making several guest appearances this season is Cane´s attractive sister-in-law, Detective Yelina Salas (Sofia Milos). For those in need of some background information, Cane´s brother Ray, whom Yelina was married to, died under suspicion of taking drugs while he was an undercover officer not too long ago. Look for Detective Salas to feature prominently in future seasons.
Even though I am not too hot about this series, I must admit that Season One of "CSI: Miami" features some very well written and compelling episodes. Following "Law & Order"´s "ripped from the headlines" theme, you will find episodes that feature a sniper randomly shooting innocent people on the streets, the discovery of dozens of uncremated bodies at a local crematorium and a deadly fire at a nightclub. I do not have a single favorite episode but two that come close are "Broken", which is about the death of a 5-year old girl who was found inside the bathroom of a children´s fun park and "Slaughterhouse", with a shocking opening sequence where a blood-drenched 2-year old girl is found wandering on a street not far from where the rest of her family lay slaughtered in their home.
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