CSI: Miami

This article is about the television series. For the computer game, see CSI: Miami (computer game).

CSI: Miami
CSI: Miami title card
Created by	Anthony E. Zuiker Carol Mendelsohn Ann Donahue
Starring	David Caruso Emily Procter Adam Rodriguez Jonathan Togo Rex Linn Eva LaRue
Opening theme	Won't Get Fooled Again by The Who
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	142 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	40–45 minutes
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	May 9, 2002 (on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation) September 23, 2002 – present

CSI: Miami (aka. Crime Scene Investigation: Miami) is a spin-off of the popular CBS network series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. The show trails the investigations of a team of Miami-Dade Police Department forensic scientists as they unveil the circumstances behind mysterious and unusual deaths and crimes committed.

CSI: Miami is produced in partnership with the Canadian media company Alliance Atlantis and CBS Paramount Television. On May 16, 2007, CBS renewed the show for a sixth season. CSI: Miami's sixth season began airing on September 24, 2007.

Production

CSI: Miami is filmed primarily in the United States. Location shots are filmed in the South Florida/Miami-Dade area.

Music

Like CSI and CSI: NY, CSI: Miami uses a song by The Who as its theme song, the song "Won't Get Fooled Again," with lyrics by Pete Townshend and vocals by Roger Daltrey from their 1971 album, Who's Next.

All throughout the series music plays an important role, with popular music often playing during the course of an episode. Musicians who have lent their music to the show include Lynyrd Skynyrd, Paul Oakenfold, Audioslave, Nine Inch Nails, Ill Nino, Sigur Ros, Prince, Oasis, M.I.A., Seal, Damien Rice, Lemon Jelly, Eminem, Chamillionaire, Mogwai, Drowning Pool, Black Eyed Peas, Chemical Brothers, Finger Eleven, Kylie Minogue, Papa Roach, Interpol, Chronic Future, Death Cab for Cutie, Foo Fighters, Amy Winehouse, Kasabian, FC Kahuna, Linkin Park, Paolo Nutini, Evanescence, and many more.

CSI: Miami: The Soundtrack was released on September 24, 2002 by Hip-O Records.

Crew

Creators: Anthony E. Zuiker, Carol Mendelsohn, and Ann Donahue
Executive Producers: Jerry Bruckheimer, Anthony E. Zuiker, Carol Mendelsohn, Ann Donahue, Jonathan Littman, Danny Cannon, Nancy Miller, Sam Strangis

Plot

Like the original CSI, CSI: Miami is a police procedural about a team of forensic scientists who serve the Miami-Dade Police Department. It is set in present-day Miami-Dade County (which mainly includes unincorporated Miami-Dade, as well as Miami, Kendall, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Opa-Locka, Key Biscayne, etc.).

The team investigates mysterious and unusual deaths to determine who killed whom and why, and also solves other serious crimes (such as rape). The show frequently focuses on a single case in each episode as opposed to the two-cases-per-episode storytelling of its sister shows, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and CSI: NY. Many of its characters have appeared on all three CSI related shows because of the two-part episodes.

Characters

Main characters

Main article: List of CSI: Miami characters

File:CSI Miami Season 1 Cast.jpg

Season 1 promotional photograph of the CSI: Miami main cast.

• Lt. Horatio Caine (David Caruso): the Head of the Miami-Dade crime lab, a forensic analyst and former bomb-squad officer. In season 1 episode 2, Caine revealed that everything he knew had been taught to him by his mentor, Al Humphreys (played by Lou Beatty, Jr.), who is killed by an explosion while trying to defuse a bomb in the episode. Caine was briefly married to Eric Delko's sister, Marisol Delko (Alana de la Garza), which ended when she was murdered by a Mala Noche sniper. As of the season 6 premiere, Horatio has discovered that he has a sixteen-year-old son named Kyle. Kyle was going to be tried as an adult for kidnapping, but his mother paid off the star witness and the episode ends with Kyle choosing his mother, saying "I have to give her a chance." Horatio was present at the death of fellow CSI Tim Speedle, and that of his own brother (Ray). Caine appears to have a good sense for how to communicate with children who have just experienced traumatic ordeals, obtaining information from them quickly and gently. As a child, Horatio was a victim of domestic violence (his mother was killed by his father). Horatio is shot at the end of the season 6 finale; though he appears to be dead, his status is currently unknown.

• Calleigh Duquesne (Emily Procter): a ballistics specialist. Her father is an alcoholic attorney who has tried to rehabilitate himself several times. She has a brief relationship with John Hagen in season 2; in the season 3 finale, Hagen shoots himself while she is getting a different gun, after having pulled a gun on her earlier in the episode. It has been hinted that romantic interests have sprung up between her and others, including Special Agent Peter Elliot, fellow CSI and best friend Eric Delko and (currently) Homicide Detective Jake Berkeley. She follows the letter of the rules at all times (except once with her father).

• Eric Delko (Adam Rodriguez): a fingerprint and drug identification expert of Cuban and Russian descent. In episode 410, "Shattered", Delko's job is endangered when he is arrested for drug possession, but it is discovered that the marijuana was for his sister (Marisol) to ease the pain of her leukemia treatments. Marisol was murdered by a Mala Noche sniper after she married Delko's boss, Horatio Caine. Eric is also the team's underwater recovery expert. While trying to rescue a woman kidnapped by escapee Clavo Cruz, Delko was critically wounded by one of Cruz's henchmen. He survived and is now back on the team.

• Ryan Wolfe (Jonathan Togo) (Season 3-): Ryan was working as a police officer at the time he was hired by Horatio, who noted with approval that Ryan kept his firearm immaculately clean (his predecessor, Speedle, died in the line of duty as a direct result of his poor gun maintenance). He first appeared in the episode "Under the Influence", but did not become a regular cast member until "Hell Night". Ryan appears to believe in curses ("Curse of the Coffin"). Ryan was impaled in the eye with a nailgun in the episode "Nailed". At the end of the episode "Burned" (#522), Ryan was fired for being directly linked to a murder suspect and lying about it. Seeking jobs as both a crime-scene expert, an expert witness for the defense, a firearms range technician and applying to work as an ME Investigator while applying for reinstatement, he was later reinstated. In the season 6 finale, Wolfe receives a text message saying "It is done" right after Horatio is shot and presumed dead, giving a hint that he could have been involved. This may be because Horatio and Ryan intentionally staged his death so that Caine could go after Ron Saris under the radar. Another possible theory is that Ryan Wolfe was in possesion of the cellphone used to call in the hit.

• Det. Sgt. Frank Tripp (Rex Linn) (Season 5-; Recurring Seasons 1-4): a Texan homicide detective who regularly accompanies the team to the crime scenes. He has a gruff appreciation for the capabilities of the CSIs and their excellent results. He has a good working relationship with all the CSIs, particularly Calleigh. He is divorced, with three kids (episode 118, "Dispo Day"). After passing the Sergeant's Exam, Tripp was required to spend some time in uniform on a patrol rotation, but soon returned to the homicide unit and plainclothes duty (episode #611, "Guerrillas in the Mist").

• Natalia Boa Vista (Eva LaRue) (Season 5- ; Recurring Season 4): a DNA analyst who upon first arriving, was only allowed to work on cold or unsolved cases due to the restrictions of her federal grant. She and Delko dated briefly, which ended abruptly after a pregnancy scare. She escaped an abusive marriage before joining the department, when her association with a society for battered women was key to helping the team solve the murder of a woman (who had been killed by the victim's ex-husband) assuming an alias for protection. In season 5, much to her distress, she discovered her abusive ex-husband (Nick Townsend) was out of prison when he served her with a restraining order. He was working for a private company that cleans up crime scenes, forcing her to make terms with him to get the restraining order dropped. The two shared a tense professional relationship until Nick's murder, a crime for which Boa Vista was briefly considered the prime suspect.

Past characters

• Megan Donner (Kim Delaney) (Season 1): Horatio's predecessor who went on indefinite leave from her job following the death of her husband. She briefly returned to work alongside Horatio, who has since been promoted to head investigator of the CSI unit, but later resigned, finding the pressures of the job to now be more than she could handle. The character was reportedly written out due to the lack of chemistry between Delaney and Caruso.

• Tim "Speed" Speedle (Rory Cochrane) (Seasons 1-2; Guest Star Season 6): trace evidence and impressions expert; originally from Syracuse, New York, with a degree in biology from Columbia University, Speed was killed in the line of duty in the third season premiere, Lost Son; he had not maintained his firearm diligently, and was shot by a suspect when it misfired during a police shoot-out. The character was written out at the request of Cochrane, who wanted to pursue a career in film and reportedly disliked the long, arduous shooting schedule for CSI: Miami. The actor later reprised his role as a hallucination of Eric Delko's.

• Det. Yelina Salas (Sofia Milos) (Season 3; Recurring Seasons 1, 2, 5, & 6): a Colombian homicide detective frequently attached to CSI investigations, and the widow of Horatio's brother Raymond. She later starts a relationship with IAB Sergeant Rick Stetler, Horatio's personal nemesis. After her husband Raymond was revealed to still be alive, she left with him and their son for Brazil, where they planned to keep a low profile for Raymond's safety. She reappears in Season 5, starting with "Rio" (the season opener). Caine and Delko are in Rio de Janeiro to hunt down Antonio Riaz, who murdered Caine's wife (and Delko's sister) Marisol at the end of Season 4. Riaz is killed in a fight with Horatio, but not before killing Raymond Caine and enlisting Ray Jr into drug running in the shantytowns of the area. Yelina and Ray Jr wind up back in Miami, and Yelina goes into business as a private investigator (episode 522, "Burned"). Yelina investigates a suspect for Horatio, and she locates a birth certificate that reveals that the parolee is in fact Horatio's biological son (episode 601, "Dangerous Son").

• Dr. Alexx Woods (Khandi Alexander) (Seasons 1-6): a Miami-Dade medical examiner. Alexx began her medical career in New York as a physician and became a medical examiner with the CSI team after moving to Miami for personal reasons. She is a very emotional person, and often talks to the dead bodies as she examines them. She is married with a young son and daughter. Alexx is not the Chief Medical Examiner, as noted in one the episodes when she was offered a transfer to the night shift by the Chief Medical Examiner, but rejected the position. In the episode "Rock and a Hard Place" (#619), her son is named the prime suspect in a murder; this causes Alexx to rethink her job in the M.E.'s Office (and her place on the team as well as her friendship with the other CSIs), and she quits - "I need to spend more of my time taking care of the living."

Recurring characters

Main article: Minor characters in CSI: Miami

CSI: Miami has utilized an extensive cast of recurring characters on the show. Recurring characters can be found as technicians in the crime lab, as homicide detectives, as family members of main characters, and as villains, among others. Horatio Caine. (David Caruso)

Episode list

See: List of CSI: Miami episodes

Crossovers

CSI: Miami was spun off from an episode of the original CSI entitled "Cross Jurisdictions." In this episode, Catherine Willows and Warrick Brown of the original CSI travel to Miami while investigating the murder of Las Vegas' ex-chief of detectives.

In addition, CSI: Miami has twice crossed over with spin-off CSI: NY. Characters from CSI: NY were originally featured in the second season CSI: Miami episode, "MIA/NYC NonStop." The shows crossed over a second time in the CSI: Miami season four episode, "Felony Flight," in which Det. Mac Taylor from New York came to Miami to assist Horatio in tracking down a common nemesis. The story was continued in the second season CSI: NY episode, "Manhattan Manhunt," when the murderer flees to New York and Horatio returns to New York with Mac to continue the investigation.

Reception

CSI: Miami has been named the World's Most Popular TV Show following rating studies of 20 countries worldwide. The survey, which was conducted by Informa Telecoms and Media, showed that CSI: Miami was featured in more top ten viewing charts than any other show. Also, in the same survey, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation was shown to have high popularity coming in at sixth place.

Franchise

Main article: CSI franchise

Like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami has spawned a series of comic books, novels, and video games based on the show. In addition, the show CSI: NY was based on a second season episode of CSI: Miami.

U.S. television ratings

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of CSI: Miami on CBS.

Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, or occasionally early June, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.

Season	Timeslot	Season Premiere	Season Finale	TV Season	Ranking	Viewers (in millions)
1st	Monday 10:00PM	September 23, 2002	May 19, 2003	2002–2003	#14	16.57
2nd	Monday 10:00PM	September 22, 2003	May 24, 2004	2003–2004	#9	18.06
3rd	Monday 10:00PM	September 20, 2004	May 23, 2005	2004–2005	#7	19.00
4th	Monday 10:00PM	September 19, 2005	May 22, 2006	2005–2006	#9	18.13
5th	Monday 10:00PM	September 18, 2006	May 14, 2007	2006–2007	#11	17.1
6th	Monday 10:00PM	September 24, 2007	May 19, 2008	2007–2008	#9	14.10
7th	Monday 10:00PM	Fall, 2008	Spring, 2009	2008–2009

DVD releases

DVD name	Release dates
	Region 1	Region 2			Region 4
	Full season	Full season	Part 1	Part 2	Full season
CSI: Miami season 1	June 29, 2004	February 21, 2005	September 6, 2004	February 21, 2005	November 10, 2006*
CSI: Miami season 2	January 4, 2005	February 20, 2006	September 12, 2005	February 20, 2006	February 7, 2007*
CSI: Miami season 3	November 22, 2005	October 23, 2006	August 22, 2006	October 23, 2006	October 16, 2007
CSI: Miami season 4	October 31, 2006	October 15, 2007	July 2, 2007	October 15, 2007	July 9, 2008
CSI: Miami season 5	October 30, 2007	TBA	30 June, 2008		TBA

The CSI: Miami Region 2 DVD releases have followed a particular pattern whereby each season is progressively released in two parts (each of 11 or 12 episodes, with special features split up) before ultimately being sold as a single boxed set.

* The Region 4 releases of the first two seasons were initially divided up into two parts of 11 or 12 episodes before being released in full season DVD "fat packs", with large cases compared to the slimline cases DVD distributors opt for now. The release dates detailed here are for the re-released seasons in slimline cases. The two-part releases as well as the "fat pack" full season releases of the first two seasons were released much earlier than these re-releases. The subsequent seasons were first released in the slimline cases.

U.S. broadcast history

• First Run: September 23, 2002–present -- Mondays 10:00pm/9:00pm central
• Repeats: "CSI: Miami" was rerun on A&E Network in 2005. Both A&E and Spike TV share the rerun rights to the crossover episodes (with CSI: NY), Felony Flight and Manhattan Manhunt.

See also

• CSI franchise
• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
• CSI: NY

External links

• CBS CSI: Miami official site (Flash required)
• CSI: Miami Official wiki at CBS
• Watching CSI
• "CSI: Miami" at Yahoo! TV
• Brendan Bernhard (February 6, 2007). "South Beach Riot". New York Sun Newspaper. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
• CSI: Miami - Full episodes (For US only)