Just like the complete CSI series being released in a single
set so too is this one coming out. Like the original we follow the forensic
unit of another police department, this time in Miami. We also find a group of
agents working together to corral the bad guys, to gather evidence and to
arrest said bad guys to put in jail. The same format was used but its own twist
was added.
To start with was the look. MIAMI had a golden tint to the
entire series, a yellow and orange palette that gave everything that sunny
Florida look to it. The flavors of the area were apparent in each episode as
well depicting Miami as a party town filled to overflowing with bikini clad
babes and T-shirt wearing muscle bound bouncers at clubs. Every week a party
was going on somewhere.
At the head of this team was someone completely unlike Gil
Grissom of CSI. Lt. Horatio Caine (David Caruso) was the calm, cool head of the
department, knowledgeable in the science needed but more inclined to take to
the street in pursuit of a criminal. Each episode usually opened with the crime
scene, the CSI team showing up and a double entendre dropped by Caine as he
slowly put his shades on only to have the quiet disrupted by the scream of
Roger Daltry and the Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again” blaring from the screen.
The catch phrases and sunglass slinging became so familiar
that it wasn’t long until they were pillaged. Memes began to break out online
showing a 4 panel set up for some political commentary or joke that always
featured the last two panels nearly alike, one with Caine and a catch phrase,
the last with YEAHHHH over a shot of Miami. Certainly there was some humor to
the scenes as the series went forward with it happening each year, but while the
show was hot few made light of it.
The cast here felt like it had more personal problems
presented than the original series though both featured storylines involving
their characters. Calleigh Duquesne (Emily Proctor) had personal issues
involving a romance with a fellow detective. Eric Delko (Adam Rodriquez) had a
minor substance abuse issue and his sister Marisol ended up marrying Caine
before she was shot down by criminals out to get Caine. Tim Speedle (Rory
Cochrane) always seemed to have issues with the way things were handled.
Rounding out the most long term cast member list was Alexx Woods (Khandi
Alexander) the pathologist who always talked to the corpses calling them “baby”
and looking for clues to help catch culprits.
The series ran for ten seasons and ran 232 episodes. There
were episodes where they crossed over with the other CSI shows both in Vegas
and New York. Those were always a treat because the first part would air on one
show and the follow up on the other. In a world where we’re growing accustomed
to a “Marvel Universe” this was the same sort of set up, a cross pollinating
world of forensic police officers determined to aide one another in search of
justice.
As with my review for the original series there was no way I
could honestly sit down and watch every single episode before writing this
review. So picking out a few here and there over the years, trying to get a
glimpse at the different casts that changed as time went on I found that the
series, like its predecessor, never grew stale. Each episode was top notch in
the technical department and the acting never failed to keep the bar high. I
imagine that after some time a person would tire of the same role but it didn’t
mean that the fans had lost interests. As with most series a shuffling of
schedules to accommodate the next big thing will lead to a ratings decline and
if memory serves me that’s what happened here. Still, ten seasons is nothing to
shake a stick at. As a matter of fact a BBC article noted that this series was
the world’s most popular series ranking in the top ten in a number of countries
in 2005.
One thing that’s interesting to note is that the show this
one was dropped so that there was room on the schedule for it lasted only one
season. Yet another great example of the poor judgement of executives in higher
offices. I wonder if they were the same ones that shuffled the series POLICE
SQUAD to different nights over a 5 week period and then canceled it never
realizing how popular it was until the NAKED GUN films came out and did huge
box office.
Fans of the show will be delighted to pick this set up. Not
only will you get the entire series in a nicely packaged edition but it will
take up less shelf space as well. In addition to that are hours of extras that
will please fans. Binge watching the series may take a few weeks but that’s
okay for those of us who enjoyed the show. Just don’t wake up the neighbors as
each show starts and you find yourself screaming out loud with Daltry as the
show opens.
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