Jasmine Sahu is well suited with this new American drama exclusive to Dave.
Lois Cameron explains why this series is much more than your average cosy period drama.
The last episode of this series sees Sherlock and Moriarty attempt to solve the final problem with devastating consequences.
With major cast changes afoot, Jacob Martin ponders whether Being Human can live up to its own scarily high standard.
Last night was the first part of a trilogy that, for the first time, sees a story span across all three CSI franchises. We start in Miami, from where we’ll go to New York and end up with the original crew in Vegas.
CSI: Miami has always been the weakest of the three, unintentionally hilarious for its cheesy writing and, particularly, for its main man Horatio Caine (David Caruso), a man for whom sunglasses are always appropriate. Bizarrely, however, its international success is phenomenal, once being named the ‘World’s Most Popular TV Show’ based on top ten programmes from various countries.
One can only assume that people are attracted by the glamour. Miami is constantly bathed in an orange glow, with sweeping shots of the skyscrapers clinging to the beach and the luminescent blue sea. CSIs turn up to crime scenes in tailored suits and low-cut tops, and it wasn’t unheard of for the previous pathologist, Alexx (it’s Miami, she has to have the double ‘x’) to turn up in a white suit – hardly the most practical clothing for crime scene investigating. Miami is also the CSI with the wackiest camerawork, with split screens, slow-mo and repeat shots, probably to dazzle us with the visuals in order to cover up the weak writing; and, in this episode, the soundtrack included a bizarre remix of ‘The Flower Duet’ from Delibes’ Lakmé.
But whatever its faults people still watch it for an hour of glossy entertainment, despite the dead bodies. Horatio is a character that could only exist in CSI: Miami, a world where the fate of suspects is decided as much by gut instinct as by evidence; viewers love his one-liners and sunglasses acrobatics. He can appear out of nowhere as the saviour of some poor soul as soon as the immortal lines are uttered, “Will somebody please just help me?!” Case in point: the first scene of this episode, where a frantic mother is being told by a policeman that he can’t look for her missing daughter until 48 hours has elapsed. Enter Horatio, shining halo behind his head, standing side on, ready to provide his services. Even when he’s delivering bad news, he can do it with a half smile, embracing the recipient of this news as if that will make everything all right.
Halfway through this episode, upsettingly called ‘Bone Voyage’, appears Dr. Raymond Langston (Laurence Fishburne) on webcam from Vegas, greeted with a huge Chesire cat grin by Calleigh Duquesne (Emily Proctor). Turns out their cases are related (what luck!) and he’s soon on his way to Miami to lend a hand, where everyone starts calling him “Dr. Ray” (welcome to the Southern U.S.) Having two of CSI’s three ‘heavyweight’ leading men in one shot can seem a bit excessive at times, but their combined gut instinct is a formidable duo for any foolish criminal to face.
Another tool up the Crime Lab’s sleeve is their impossibly high-tech equipment, some of which I bet the real crime labs of the U.S. wish they could get their hands on. Amid all this space age equipment however is something that was truly innovative when it arrived on our screens ten years ago with the original CSI. The microscopic camera work and CGI that allowed us to pick out a hair, or go inside a person’s body to see a bone-breaking, is still used to great effect; other shows have picked up on this too, especially medical shows such as House.
The odd scheduling of this episode means that for those who follow CSI: Miami during its normal run on Five, this episode might give away some of the plot that was left hanging at the end of Season 7 – there are several new faces, and one old one that’s conspicuously absent. But this trilogy episode doesn’t interfere with the main story arcs on Miami, and will leave it unscathed as we move to CSI: New York on Saturday, where the fun continues.
You must log in to submit a comment.
