“Two thousand cases...now...two thousand suspects.” Queue The Who’s “Won’t get fooled agan”. CSI Miami is back.
CSI Miami returned to channel Five this week, basking in the glory that it is the most watched show in the world. Clean, sunny and brightly lit, the show highlights the grisly murders that take place each week within the glam of Miami, with a team of good looking, attractive forensic experts solving the case, with the usual twists and turns. It evens makes the science look sexy – something that is very difficult to do!
Now, in my opinion, Miami is the weakest CSI in the set. The original CSI has a better cast and a better lead in William Peterson’s Gil Grissom and CSI: New York is better written, darker and edgier. This doesn’t mean Miami is a bad show, but just doesn’t measure up favourably to the others. And the big problem with Miami is that it can be difficult to take seriously. This is due solely to David Caruso’s Horatio Caine.
Horatio is the perfect police officer (or cop): he is squeaky clean and has the morals of a saint whilst is perfectly pained at the same time. However, he comes across as a comic figure, mainly because of his cheesy lines and his stance (hands on hips, looking onto the horizon). The lines are acted in a dry, almost camp way, with Horatio making some fantastic title lines. In America dramas, we have the “tease,” which is a piece from the feature lasting 3 minutes or so before the title sequence. In CSI, this is used to show the murder that has taken place and introduce our intrepid team of investigators. Just before Roger Daltrey’s voice come in, Horatio can make some wise remark, which will always bring a smile to the face of a TV viewer.
It’s not just the start he dominates: it’s the end of the show too. After catching the villain of the piece, he stands up, puts on his shades, and places his hands on his hips, staring into the distance of a gorgeous Miami sunset. He also brings a smile to my face when he talks to one of the other members of the cast, a character named Ryan Wolfe, when Horatio calls him “Mr Wolfe” (probably just the suppressed Trekky in me). Caruso is man who carries the show – the rest of the actor’s are not so well known and do not get as much screen-time, as Horatio dominate the show. It is reminiscent of James Wood’s carrying Shark, another show in which an ageing famous actor gets (basically) his own show.
Horatio is the white knight in the piece (now if you want to see a good film, go and watch The Dark Knight), always saving the damsel in distress, or making a promise to the victim in the piece. One storyline had him pretending to everyone that a women’s young daughter were his so that his (dead) brother’s wife would never find out about her husband’s affair. There have been moments when Caruso does put in a show-stopping performance, such as in (perhaps Miami’s best ever episode) “Witness to Murder” when Horatio helps a developmentally challenged character, whose death at the end of the episode alongside Caruso’s acting brings a tear to the eye of even the most hardened TV viewer.
CSI Miami is not a bad show – far from it. Every week it offers an entertaining scenario which millions around the globe love. Maybe it is because of its superficiality and glamorous setting that people love it. The problem is that there are plenty of hour long dramas that have died within a season or a few episodes. These include the fabulous Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip starring Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford as well as the emotionally captivating Firefly starring Nathan Fillion (now of Desperate Housewives fame). I’m not saying these shows should be bought back, but they show that strong and clever writing alongside good acting does not mean that a show survives in the US TV world.
Perhaps Miami is the cleverest of the CSI’s, relying on the superficiality of real people to create a show that appeals to its superficial audience. In that capacity, maybe the show is perfect imagery of real life, which is becoming increasingly superficial, as we see these beautiful people struggle in real life, as how they look and how they dress is the most important thing. For what it’s worth, I think this is a reflection upon a society like that in Miami, where the rich and gorgeous (usually the same people) look for the perfect fan which will bring them the perfect life. Perhaps I’m just a cynic and a hypocrite, as despite my diatribe about the show, I’m quite happy to tune in every week.
And there lies the rub. CSI Miami isn’t bad. It’s even better than average. It’s just a sad reflection on American (and world) society. In the mean time, I’m quite happy to watch David Caruso painfully prance around as Horatio Caine, Miami’s super cop who will stop at nothing (well, perhaps he might to put on his sunglasses) to catch Miami’s most dangerous criminals. And long let him continue...
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