I was rather savage in my review of the fifth season of “CSI: Miami”, but it really deserved it as it had completely given up on telling a story in favor of over saturated visuals in an effort to be cool rather than interesting. The principal cast was more on display rather than used as actual characters. The sixth season doesn’t exactly depart from the idea of making an hour-long music video in which a crime must be solved, but it does manage to tone it down just enough to make it tolerable for the show’s 21-episode shortened season.
Fortunate to only be affected by the writers’ strike to the tune of missing only three episodes, the sixth season of “CSI: Miami” is once again bathed in bright orange and highlighting the greens and blues of the cityscape as Horatio Caine (David Caruso) stands slightly askew and leads his team as they investigate and solve crimes in the sunny city of Miami, a place where it seems to never rain, but if you need a wet runway for an iconic season finale shot you got it.
Caruso once again is as annoying as he has ever been, but a pair of good moves come out of the sixth season that lead me to believe the seventh may be even better. First off, Jonathan Togo is slowly coming back into more of a featured role as Ryan Wolfe and Khandi Alexander is gone as the lab’s Medical Examiner. More Togo and less Khandi is a good thing in a show that has become insistent when it comes to trying to showcase its female stars for their looks rather than their character’s skill. Don’t get me wrong, I think Emily Proctor, who plays detective Calleigh Duquesne, is incredibly cute and I originally fell in love with her as Ainsley Hayes in a limited role on “The West Wing”, but “CSI: Miami” is more of a crime solving fashion show when it comes to its females as Eva La Rue continues the trend and Khandi Alexander’s character was the worst of the bunch considering she said “Baby” more often than a pediatrician would.
Caruso’s ability to act is still in question and I would love to meet just one person with a personality like the one he has given Horatio Caine, but the season finale actually is quite interesting and has me wanting to see the season seven premiere without waiting for the DVDs. Perhaps the premiere will also do something about eliminating the show’s ability to continually bring back Elizabeth Berkley in a guest starring role as the baby mama to Horatio’s son. Berkley is an awful actress and a pain to watch.
In terms of special features this one comes equipped with two commentaries, a featurette dedicated to the directors of the show, an interesting look at the actors and how they play a dead person (much more interesting than it sounds), a look at the real women of the Miami Dade Police Dept. and an analysis of the sixth season (a feature that basically replaces any additional audio commentaries). It does have a limited feeling in terms of special features and doesn’t really have that special feel Paramount always gives the “CSI” releases, but I can only assume that has a lot to do with the writers’ strike and the havoc it played on getting things together.
I can tell you the sixth season is better than the fifth, but not to the extent I would recommend a purchase. The sixth season will be a much more valuable commodity should the seventh season live up to the final image in the sixth season’s finale. Should that end up being the case this season will be a far better purchase because it really does open up the possibility to this “CSI” offshoot to being called “good” rather than “mediocre”.
