Review of C.S.I. Miami 1.1

Introduction

I`m a sucker for a good murder mystery, and CSI Miami fits all the bills. Like many modern homicide procedurals, the backbone of the show is forensic science, often to the point of semi-Trekkian technobabble. The Ew or Ick factor of the show is typically high, so it`s no Miss Marple outing, but compared to some of our home-grown product, it isn`t hardcore grue.

This set includes the first twelve episodes of the series and introduces us to the brilliant, hardworking detectives of the Miami-Dade Crime Scene Investigation team. The team is headed by the gloriously named Horatio Caine, played by David Caruso (formerly of NYPD Blue. He was also Kit-Kat in cult adventure flick Hudson Hawk). His second-in-command is Megan Donner, DNA specialist played by Kim Delaney. Donner is returning to the team after six months` bereavement leave. Ballistics expert Calleigh Duquene is played by Emily Procter. Eric Delko and Tim Speedle (played by Adam Rodriguez and Rory Cochrane respectively) are lab wizards and expert evidence collectors, and the team is rounded off by medical examiner Alexx Woods, played by Khandi Alexander, who has an alarming tendency to talk to her work.

The series pilot, part of the original Crime Scene Investigation series, is not included in this set (unlike the R1 version). There are the first twelve episodes of the series, and some cracking stories:

Episode 1: Golden Parachute
The series opens with a jetliner crash in the Florida Everglades. Mysteriously the body of one of the passengers has ended up five miles away from the crash site, and the only survivor claims the woman opened the hatch to kill herself. The evidence suggests that story just doesn`t add up, so Horatio Caine and his team start digging deeper.

Episode 2: Wet Foot/Dry Foot
When a torso is recovered following a shark attack, the CSI team become suspicious discovering the victim had been shot first. A matching bullet on an abandoned boat with a secret smuggling bulkhead and the corpse of a Cuban refugee points Horatio and his team towards a bid for freedom gone wrong.

Episode 3: Just One Kiss
A girl is brutally attacked on the beach and the man with her murdered with a broken bottle. Caine and his team find the trail leads to one of Miami`s most prominent families.

Episode 4: Losing Face
Horatio Caine becomes a man with a mission when his mentor is killed defusing a bomb.

Episode 5: Ashes to Ashes
Two cases to perplex the CSI team - a Catholic priest is gunned down in his vestry and the prime suspect is one of the altar boys, and the charred remains of a pregnant woman turn up in a burned out wreck. Neither case can come to a satisfactory conclusion.

Episode 6: Broken
The murder of a child is the worst form the crime can take, and the CSI team soon learn the depths to which perpetrators can sink.


Episode 7: Breathless
Another double case to stretch the resources and resolve of the CSI team - a male stripper with an obsession turns up dead, as does a deep-sea diver with a knife in him.

Episode 8: Slaughterhouse
A toddler wanders across town, her babygros soaked in the blood of her mother. When CSI trace back to the scene of the crime they find the whole family slaughtered and only the father has survived with a gunshot to the back. Has it been the work of a crazed intruder, or did the mother go completely off the rails with post-partum depression?

Episode 9: Kill Zone
A sniper picks off three people during rush hour. When a fourth victim is found there are puzzling differences, but the CSI team have little opportunity to scratch their heads as the sniper`s nest is discovered and a race begins to identify the killer before he strikes again.

Episode 10: A Horrible Mind
Tortured and hanged from a tree, a history professor from the local university appears to be the victim of a practical lesson in medieval torture. Meanwhile a drowned body is discovered in the boot of an abandoned car.

Episode 11: Camp Fear
The body of a girl is found near a juvenile rehabilitation camp. Tracks lead from the camp to the crime scene, but there is nothing to link the dead girl to the camp. Meanwhile the horribly burned body of a swindler turns up.

Episode 12: Entrance Wounds
The body of a hooker is found stuffed under a hotel bed. An arrest is made on the evidence of a bloody fingerprint, but Horatio suspects the real killer has fixed the crime scene to his own ends, otherwise why was the entire room wiped down to eliminate all fingerprints other than the incriminating one, and why wash the victim after the killing? Meanwhile, an attempted car jacking appears to have had a fatal conclusion.

Video

A gorgeous, colourful 16:9 anamorphic widescreen picture that frequently takes advantage of the Miami scenery. The show is impeccably transferred to disc with zero artefacts.

Audio

The show boasts a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix of cinematic standard. The episodes are frequently scored with rock music bringing back memories of Miami Vice.

Features

Extras aren`t all that thick on the ground, but then tv series box sets tend to be extras-lite because of the sheer amount of basic material involved - twelve episodes and you want extras as well? The set comes with a CSI: Miami trailer; Audio commentary on the `Golden Parachute` episode; `Creating CSI: Miami` featurette; `CSI: Miami Uncovered` featurette. All episodes are fully subtitled.

Conclusion

Beautifully filmed and stylish homicide procedural from the Jerry Bruckheimer stable, starring David Caruso as Crime Scene Investigator Horatio Caine. If like me you`re a bit of an old-fashioned murder mystery fan and you can`t quite get into the strong meat of shows like Taggart, Prime Suspect or Cracker, this show might just win you over to the genre.