CSI Miami DVDs, Books and Videos

«Eye-Popping Visuals, Interesting Stories»

This is a series I thought, especially in the first three years, that got better and better. This third year was an outstanding season and got very intense, on a personal level, in the last three episodes when Horatio discovers his brother Ray is still alive. He had long-been considered dead. "Why" he's alive is good, too.

On DVD, these CSI-Miami episodes really shine (and more so on Blu-Ray, which is forthcoming) because of the fantastic, bright Florida colors. I've always thought this was the best-looking of the stylish CSI shows. Not only does the cinematography of this program look better on DVD, so is the surround sound.

The stories are interesting and the eye-candy is irresistible. The visuals in here, alone, make this worth the purchase.

[Friday, February 26, 2010]

«Well done, but starting to feel like the same old thing»

The third season of CSI: Miami kicks off with the episode "Lost Son", in which the team of criminologists races to find an abducted child while dealing with the loss of one of their own people. It's a good start, and the rest of the season continues in much the same way. The audience learns more about the characters' backgrounds, and we finally find out what really happened to Lt. Caine's little brother, who disappeared while working undercover.
The biggest problem with the show is its repetitiveness. Five minutes of each show are spent just watching the team members looking through microscopes and examining fingerprints. This was interesting the first few times I watched the show, but after a season or two I'm familiar with the way the team collects and examines evidence, and I wouldn't mind if less show time was spent in the lab and more was spent on the story itself. That being said, I do understand that the CSI franchise is about people whose job in real life is to analyze every piece of evidence, and no one is forcing me to watch the show, so I shouldn't complain too loud.
Although the level of sex, drugs, and violence make CSI:Miami an inappropriate choice for families with young children, the stories are interesting and the actors are well-cast. The show would be a good choice for anyone who enjoys crime/cop drama, but if you're not a fan of the genre, then it would be a good idea to watch a couple of episodes and decide whether or not you like CSI:Miami before spending money on a whole season. It would also be best to begin with the first season, since many of the show's story arcs start there.
For people who have seen some of Miami and are interested in purchasing some of the DVD's, I can only say that seasons two and three are my favorite thus far. The characters are well-developed, but the show wasn't so old at this point that it had lost its freshness.

P.S. Most of the products I review online (not just on Amazon) are books, so please don't be disconcerted by the fact that I'm critiquing a TV show, but my profile nickname has the word "reader" in it. :)

[Monday, December 21, 2009]

«CSI: Miami - Season 3: Very Good, but could be better»

Just watched my copy of CSI Miami Season over the course of a couple of weeks.

On the whole, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed watching Seasons 1 and 2 (seen within the past 18 months or so), because (for me) Miami has generally been my least favorite CSI franchise. I think, with season 3, some of what's bothered me historically has started to crop up.

Now, on the whole, the stories are as good as ever. And we're still earlier enough in the series that the only really improbable bit of tech they're playing with is the interface to their system itself (I give them a pass on that, as they need something that can be broadcast well, more than something that someone would actually use). The tech they're using today makes me wonder when the taxes in Miami went up to 90% to pay for the crime lab's doodads.

But, as others have noted, the additional of Ryan Wolfe has been somewhat problematic. We do have a throughline of character development with Ryan; his personal style develops throughout the season, with his dress sense growing sharper until he gets to his current "copy the boss" look (which I think he doesn't quite reach until season 4). And, he can come across as something of a brown-noser. But, even 5 years later, his relationship with his co-workers is inconsistent. They can't quite seem to decide how well they all get along. I mean, over in the Las Vegas show, David Hodges can be consistently obnoxious and annoying, while still being a useful and usable member of the cast. With Ryan, they can't quite decide what they want him to be - and this tends to make the cases where he does rub Delko and Calleigh the wrong way stand out.

Moving beyond Ryan, there's the dropped plotlines. It's never entirely clear to me what happens to Suzie and Madison (I think that's her name) after the episode where she needs a transplant from Ray Jr. They've disappeared, and aren't even mentioned anymore. Similarly, the heating up of the standing conflict between Horatio and Rick from IAB (initially aggravated by his becoming involved with Yelena, then getting worse when it looks like Rick's abusing Yelena) is basically dropped. We're never sure what happened. While that can be the point of a story, in some cases, it doesn't really feel like that here. And Rick is still around today....

Then, there's the general sense of limited continuity. We don't see Eric having problems with work or his personal life until he loses his badge during anonymous outdoor sex; he goes to see a counselor, a fact which is mentioned at most once again. Horatio's relationship with the prosecutor seems to come out of nowhere, and then dissolve almost as quickly. In future seasons, Ryan's gambling problem is handled similarly.

We know they can do better, especially in future seasons. Follow-ups to Ryan's opening his mouth a bit too wide around a reporter, for example, are picked up in several future episodes.

Still, all in all, I enjoyed seeing these stories again, and do recommend them.

[Tuesday, July 14, 2009]

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