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Like most people,
I have those few favorite shows that I have
to catch every week. Unlike most people
I have waaayyy too many of these favorite
shows. So when I hear about a new show that
I ‘just have to watch’, I’m
generally very skeptical as I only have
so many hours in the day to get in some
quality viewing. In recent years I’ve
shied away from most ‘cop shows’,
because the few I had tried to get into
in the 90’s left me kind of cold.
They were all the same, with semi-interesting
characters, dull plots, car chases and shoot-outs.
“CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”
is original in that it avoids nearly all
the conventional action sequences that most
police dramas need to survive. It’s
a show that really makes you think, as each
episode is a puzzle waiting to be solved.
Some episodes have more than one plot, while
others take all the members of the CSI team
together to solve one big crime. The pieces
of the puzzle are presented in flashback
version of the crimes, based on suppositions
or lies.
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But more interesting is the way the physical
evidence is shown. Utilizing creative cinematography,
the camera often zooms in close to give us, at
times, a microscopic perspective of the smallest
items; hairs, blood drops, etc… Other times
we are given a ‘bullet’s eye’
view of the damage that can be done to the human
body.
Seeing as how a show simply cannot survive on
cool cinematography alone, I have to get to the
second reason the show is so good… the stories.
Each plot is intricately woven, and though constantly
moving forward is never rushed. The show’s
writers are careful in making sure no fact of
the case is missed in case you want to play detective
right along with the CSI team. So far, none of
the stories seem too far-fetched and are unfortunately
all too realistic at times. I say unfortunately,
because where some shows glorify the violence
they present; “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”
offers an unflinching view of how horrible, sadistic
and sickening acts of violence can be. And it
also goes beyond the physicality of the acts to
show the tragic effect it has on the victim’s
family.
Furthering my take on the writing is the simple
fact that the CSI team doesn’t always win;
this in itself brings an even more realistic feeling
to the show. When they win, it’s exhilarating;
when they lose it can be devastating. We also
have five main characters, and though one or two
are the obvious leads, over the course of the
series, and sometimes within a single episode,
all of them have the opportunity to come to the
forefront.
Speaking of the characters, these are by far what
really make the show tick. Heading up the cast
is William Peterson as Gil Grissom, the head of
the Las Vegas CSI Unit. I first remember seeing
Peterson in “To Live and Die In L.A.”
and he had one of those commanding personalities
that made you sit and watch. Over the years I
only saw him in a few other films, and for some
reason as good an actor as I thought he was, he
never seemed to cross over to ‘star’
status. This show has finally put him on the map,
and deservedly so. Grissom is easily one of the
most likable characters on Network TV. His easy
demeanor and quick wit allow him to easily bridge
the gaps between being a boss, father figure and
friend, the members of his team.
The series became so incredibly popular that in
2002, the producers decided go the route of “Law
and Order” and create a 2nd series utilizing
the style of the original. However, to make it
a bit different, they changed locations and some
of the style and “CSI: Miami” was
born.
“CSI: Miami” boasted the return of
David Caruso to network television after his foray
into feature films. He stars as Horatio Caine,
the head of Miami’s elite CSI team. The
rest of the team is made up of Tim Speedle (Rory
Cochrane), Calleigh Duquesne (Emily Proctor),
Eric Delko (Adam Rodriguez), Alexx Woods (Khandi
Alexander) and for a short time Megan Donner (Kim
Delaney – who left shortly after the series
premiered). Most of the cast had found limited
amounts of fame in other shows, most notably Khandi
Alexander in “E.R.” and Adam Rodriguez
in “Roswell.”
Two years ago, Paramount released the 1st season
of this new ‘spin-off’ on DVD, which
finally gave me the opportunity to see for myself
just how it compared to the groundbreaking original
series. And after watching all of the episodes
of the freshman season I came to the conclusion
that whether or not the show is as good is certainly
a matter of opinion, mostly on how you feel about
the cast. I found the episodes to be just about
as well written, but the characters were not quite
as compelling as those in “CSI.” I
tuned into that show specifically for the characters,
while “CSI: Miami” had me watching
in spite of them.
They followed this release with the 2nd and 3rd
seasons last year, and as the series seemed to
be improving towards the end of the 1st season,
the 2nd season took a giant leap forward, which
carried over into the 3rd. The stories became
even more compelling and the cast finally starting
feeling more like a real team. Plus the 2nd season
set included a ‘crossover’ episode
that introduced us to the characters for the third
“CSI” series. This one is set in New
York (my favorite city) and stars Gary Sinise
(one of my favorite actors). (I finally got to
see the 1st season of this series a few moinths
ago and loved it!)
This week, we see the release of the 4th season
of “CSI: Miami”, and as I watched,
noticed that the series was continuing on its
uphill climb towards standing apart from either
of the other two series in the franchise. The
characters all continued to become even more interesting
and having learned more about Horatio’s
past, his character came to the forefront more
than ever before.
I have in the past been impressed by the DVD releases
for “CSI” and am just as impressed
with this new release of “CSI: Miami: Season
4.” It has all 25 episodes, plus several
fairly good extras. There are a total of six commentaries
by various members of the creative team.
The seventh disc of the set yields three featurettes
that all tie together to show audiences how a
TV series like this comes together. The first
one focuses on the conceptual part of an episode,
from the script to what all has to be done in
the pre-production phase to get ready for shooting.
This is followed up by a look at what goes on
during the actual shoot itself, while the final
featurette gives us the skinny on the post-production
process.
The DVD packaging is similar to that of the ones
for the original series, with the book-like disc
holder signature “Crime Scene: Do Not Cross”
band around the box. Still very cool.
“CSI: Miami” is still my 3rd favorite
of the 3 different series, but this isn’t
to say that it isn’t a great show. It has
gotten much better over time, and as it has its
own look that sets it apart, I don’t feel
like I’m watching the same thing over again.
As a matter of fact, the best thing to do with
“CSI: Miami” is simply try not to
compare to the other 2 at all. If you do, it won’t
really satisfy you the way that “CSI”
does. However, as a stand alone series, it’s
still a far cry better than a lot of the garbage
that’s available nowadays.
Episodes:
From the Grave (Commentary by Elizabeth Devine,
Karen Gaviola and Cheri Montesanto-Medcalf)
Blood in the Water
Prey (Commentary by Corey Miller and Scott Lautanen)
48 Hours to Life
Three Way
Under Suspicion
Felony Flight (Commentary by Anthony E. Zuiker,
Elizabeth Devine and Scott Lautanen)
Urban Hellraisers (Commentary by Don Tardino,
Matt Earl Beesly and Eagle Egilsson)
Shattered (Commentary by Ildy Modrovich and Scott
Lautanen)
Payback (Commentary by Marc Dube and Sam Hill)
Silencer
Fade Out
Skeletons
Deviant
Collision
Double Jeopardy
Driven
Free Fall
Dead Air
Open Water
Shock
Rampage
One of Our Own
Starring: David Caruso, Emily Proctor, Adam Rodriguez,
Khandi Alexander, Rory Cochrane, Jonathan Togo
Extras: Audio Commentaries (listed above by episodes),
Creating Feature Television, Producing Feature
Television, Finishing Feature Television
Specifications: Widescreen Enhanced for 16x9 Televisions,
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Studio: Paramount
Release Date: 10/31/2006
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website
We'll give CSI Miami: Season 4 a B.
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