CSI Miami 2011 Reviewer: Richard Tara Director: Sam Hill Cast: David Caruso, Emily Procter, Adam Rodrigues, Rex Linn, Eva La Rue

CSI Miami (Counter Measures) - Season Premier Fall 2011

Unlike the original CSI (Las Vegas) which premiered the week before with a feeble story line and even a more pathetic performance by Ted Danson and the regular crew, CSI Miami's season premier got off to a great start.  In the Cliffhanger episode at the end of Season 9, the maniacal serial murderer Jack Toller (Callum Keith Rennie) escapes from an airplane carrying him back to Miami and disappears.  The detectives find out that he is in possession of a set of genuine US currency plates and is looking for a buyer.  He murders one woman during his escape and makes contact with another cellmate Randy North (Ethan Embry) who helps him evade the police dragnet. Randy is bitter and angry at the police and blames Natalia (Eva La Rue) for losing custody of his children.   Randy tricks Natalia into a trap and locks her inside an old taxi's trunk. As Horatio arrives on the scene, the taxi is let loose by Randy who also shoots Horatio in the abdomen. The taxi careens over the pier and plunges into the water and as it sinks deeper, the trunk gradually fills with water.

In the season premier, we pick up the pieces as a badly wounded Horatio, who is already hallucinating dives into the water and rescues Natalia from drowning.   They are taken to the hospital but, a bleeding Horatio and a dazed Natalia walk out of the hospital to try to capture Jack Toller, the serial killer and Randy who locked Natalia into the trunk so sadistically.

This episode has more elements of a drama than the usual CSI Stories.  Sam Hill who directed this episode has been with CSI Miami for quite some time and has directed several episodes.  This is his best yet. There are no autopsies and no dead bodies. There are no pretty girls prancing around on the beaches of Miami or dancing in the nightclubs waiting to be picked up. This is the most realistic episode thus far. It is taut and thrilling.  David Caruso has delivered one of his finest performances yet.  He seems and acts tired. He looks old and exhausted and yet he carries on trying to find the psychopath who has kidnapped another victim and is about to set her on fire.   I actually thought maybe after all these years of CSI he was really burnt out.  Maybe this is his last season also.  It would be a shame. Ever since film noire was created nearly 80 years ago, the best characters have been the tired worn out old geezers. The characters in Raymond Chandler stories depict those guys best.  David Caruso has just graduated to being a fine performer.  No more cocky gestures with hands on his hips standing before the camera for the final shot.  At the end when asked if he is ok, his response is that of a tired artisan “No, I don't think so!”

1/2