CSI: Miami Season 1 Discussion

bgnogan

Hit and Run
Someone on the Vegas board made a thread discussing each season of CSI so I figured we should get one started here. This show has changed A LOT so I think this could be interesting. Let's discuss our favorite/least favorite episodes, things we liked/disliked about this season.



First I have to say without a single doubt in my mind that season 1 is my favorite of Miami by far! The cases and the writing were top notch, great team interaction, a much more human Horatio and none of that split-screen madness. I really loved Megan and her interactions with Horatio. Too bad they got rid of her.


I liked EVERY SINGLE EPISODE from this season so it's gonna be tough to pick favorites.:lol:

Season 1 episode guide
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1-01 - Golden Parachute
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1-02 - Losing Face
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1-03 - Wet Foot/Dry Foot
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1-04 - Just One Kiss
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1-05 - Ashes To Ashes
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1-06 - Broken
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1-07 - Breathless
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1-08 - Slaughterhouse
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1-09 - Kill Zone
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1-10 - A Horrible Mind
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1-11 - Camp Fear
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1-12 - Entrance Wound
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1-13 - Bunk
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1-14 - Forced Entry
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1-15 - Dead Woman Walking
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1-16 - Evidence Of Things...
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1-17 - Simple Man
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1-18 - Dispo Day
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1-19 - Double Cap
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1-20 - Grave Young Men
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1-21 - Spring Break
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1-22 - Tinder Box
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1-23 - Freaks And Tweaks
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1-24 - Body Count
 
Season 1 was a good start for the show.I'm so happy they kicked Megan out of the show as I can't stand her at all.Horatio was at his best as he was more human than ever and even working in the lab with others.
My favorite episodes from this season are Golden Parachute,Losing Face,Slaughterhouse,Kill Zone,Dispo Day and Body Count.
We also have the introduction of Suzy,an key character for the next seasons,as well as the introduction of Yelina.
 
Everything that has been said about the whole show and their characters along with the storylines of this seasons and the following 2 has been miserabely screwed up in the last 5 years and I still can't believe it....it's incredible.

During this season we got to know just a little bit about our fav. characters and everything we learned about them was pretty cool even some of their stories were sad especially H and Calleigh's ones....after all they're the ones who came from a terrible familylife. Horatio was still grieving his brother's loss (he had to learn it was fake yet) and Calleigh had an alcoholic as a father. Also Tim was a very interesting character at the time, it was pretty clear that something had happened to make him become a CSI (don't recall whether his friend's death because of one of his scientifice experiments was addressed or not, though I believe it wasn't ;)). We also know that Delko comes from a rather strange combination (Latin mother and Russian father :wtf:)

Megan was a pain in the ass ehm neck, I must say, but she was interesting to see especiallly her interactions with both H and Speedle.
Everyone's interaction with the others was incredibely good, something we can't see anymore (some interactions got screwed up over the years :rolleyes:) especially Caleligh with Horatio and Speedle with Delko....ah how miss both of them especially the last one...there was an incredibely good banter...they made you chcukle more than once in every episode. They were all incredible.

Also the recurring cast or the guest cast were incredible especially Yelina (I still can't believe that Sofia Milos is Italian like me) and Suzie.
Sofia Milos was an incredible actress and gave a lot to her characters...I think Yelina was one of the best characters this show has ever had till the desaster of Rio when they finally got rid of Ray Senior. In all honesty, I would have preferred not to come back mainly because, to me, it's rather insulting they way Horatio uses Yelina whenever he needs a favour :p.
But yeah s1 Yelina was great!!!
As I mentioned before, we also got to know Suzie...the only real family storyline for H, along with Yelina, to me ;)

As for the episode, they yet had to be developed but some of them were amazing...especially "Dispo Day" which remains a favourite of mine. Everyone in there was professional, semirealistc and, above all, a smartass not dumb as some of our CSIs have become all over the last five years ;)

Yeah s1 definitely was one of the season I would re-watch rather than what we're facing lately :lol:
 
Looking back, this season had a lot of good episodes. Off the top of my head, Slaughterhouse, Spring Break (Which featured future lab rat actor Wes Ramsey), Camp Fear (Great ending) and Dead Woman walking (Good banter between Horatio and the victim. Shame she died)

Like many of you, I didn't care for Megan. She came off bland unlike the other characters. This season had several homicide detectives like Sevilla, Bernstein (wonder where they ran off to?) and of course Frank Tripp who would later go on to become a regular
 
CSI-AJ said:
Like many of you, I didn't care for Megan. She came off bland unlike the other characters. This season had several homicide detectives like Sevilla, Bernstein (wonder where they ran off to?) and of course Frank Tripp who would later go on to become a regular

It'd be nice if Sevilla and Bernstein made a comeback on the show, even if it was just for one episode. I didn't care for Megan, but she seemed like more of an experimental character than anything anyway. I suspect the original idea was to have Calleigh and/or Speed as Horatio's 'right-hand man' but injected Megan to test the waters. Suffice it to say, she didn't last but the dynamic was interesting.

My favourite episodes in season 1, had to be:

-Broken

Probably one of the creepiest baddies we've seen (Stuart Otis) with a story that had a lot of heart and disturbance to it. I like that Miami wasn't afraid to 'go there' with the death of a child, and more yet the culprit being a sex offender. I thought the episode was handled beautifully and it's remained one of my favourites out of the entire series.

-Dispo Day

One of the few episodes where Speed gets some actual character development and we gain insight into his emotional side. It's probably the first time we see him upset, guilty and frustrated with himself. Also, the fact that he made a mistake showed how human the characters could be and they didn't all need to be heroes and saviours.

-Tinder Box

I believe it was Corey Miller's first episode and I thought the storyline was relevant, had heart and one of the few times we saw our characters out of the walls of the lab. A really well put-together episode, in my eyes.

-Body Count

A good way to round out the season. It had action, suspense, continuity and it showed our characters doing what they did best.

While season 1 wasn't my favourite, it's still the roots of the show and everytime I watch it, it reminds me why I became a fan and why I'm still a fan.
 
-Broken

Probably one of the creepiest baddies we've seen (Stuart Otis) with a story that had a lot of heart and disturbance to it. I like that Miami wasn't afraid to 'go there' with the death of a child, and more yet the culprit being a sex offender. I thought the episode was handled beautifully and it's remained one of my favourites out of the entire series.

Forgot to mention that one. That guy was pretty twisted.

The same could be said for Slaugtherhouse. Not only did an infant die but there was blood all over the place! I think they were pushing past PG-13 with that one.
 
Another thing I noticed is that the earlier seasons felt a lot more like Miami than they do now. I know they shoot the show in California mainly but I heard that back then they actually shot more of it in Miami.



Is that true?
 
You are right, bgnogan. They do shoot a lot of the scenes in California, but back then, Miami involved a lot of things that were unique to Miami. Can't remember which episode, but I saw mountains in Florida! :wtf:

Everything about the early show was a lot more down-to-earth, too. Agree or disagree, the early Miami was unabashedly political--pro-church, pro-family, anti-Castro, anti-abortion, anti-porn. You may have disagreed with them, but you knew where they stood. You also knew that you were dealing with Miami--Little Havana, the Florida canals, Spring Break, etc.

All of the characters, even the bad guys, seem to have a lot more substance back then. You could wrap your mind around Stuart Otis, the Cuban refugees, Horatio and the team. The forensics was much more detailed. The music, the lighting, and the special effects were better too, I think. And NONE OF THOSE DARN SPLIT SCREENS! The CSI's had multiple skills--Delko flew a helicopter and did underwater recovery. Calleigh did ballistics and tool marks. Horatio, Delko, and Calleigh all spoke Spanish, and Delko spoke Russian. I guess what I'm trying to say is, you could figure them out.

I loved the DuCaine banter, especially in Kill Zone ("What do you get when a six-foot man lies down with a three-foot weapon?" "Hot flashes. But that's just me.") God, I miss the old DuCaine!

Above all, I miss Delko/Speed banter. Those guys had me laughing! Speed and Delko were going through garbage on a barge. Delko picks up a dead rat by the tail and says to Speed "I just wonder how this got from your apartment to here."
 
S1 will always be my favorite season. The show was actually a crime procedural drama as opposed to what it is now. The writing was sharper, the team was better balanced (Eric and Speed were quite a good comedy pair and like Jag Lady, I also miss the old DuCaine.)

"Kill Zone" will always be my favorite ep. I also liked "Breathless" (Calleigh: Personally, leather chaps ... nothing else. That was a joke. Horatio: I know.) and "Simple Man."

I have hard time watching "Broken" or "Slaughterhouse" b/c I have a young child. It's hard for me to stomach those types of stories, but the episodes as a whole were powerful.

I love Frank, but I miss Detective Sevilla. I couldn't stand Megan. Kim Delaney's delivery always seemed very choppy and forced to me so I was glad when Megan "resigned."

S1 was definitely the good old days.
 
"Breathless" (Calleigh: Personally, leather chaps ... nothing else. That was a joke. Horatio: I know.)

Thank you! I was trying to remember where that quote was from! :guffaw: The look on H's face still cracks me up to this day!

Dispo Day--That IA guy played by Nick Searcy--now THAT'S an IA guy you could really hate! Somehow I don't remember Rick Stetler being that obnoxious.

I liked Megan just fine, but hey, that's how it goes.

And who could forget that scene in Spring Break when Delko had to take off his shirt and dive into that pool to get the drowning vic? (Delko: "Cute girls. Think they like me?" Calleigh: "They wanted to know if you had a brother")

The writers were so much more detail-oriented about EVERYTHING back then, especially in Wet Foot/Dry Foot. Personally I've never dealt with Little Havana or its politics, but I can imagine there's a lot of political tiptoeing.

And back then, Yelina was still a tough, kick-butt detective. Admittedly I had a soft spot for the last scene in "Simple Man."

I think it was in Freaks and Tweaks that we got to learn a little more about Alexx. Was that the one in which her best friend set up her own husband's murder, staged as a carjacking? And that scene in the finale of Broken. You could really get the feeling that Mom needed a big hug. Seems like Khandi Alexander really got to prove herself in S1.
 
Season's 1 and 2 were the best. Even when they weren't in Miami, I was still convinced. They've lost that special Miaminess that kept me intrigued and I just liked the chemistry of the actors back then as well. The only thing I would disagree with were those wardrobes. Season 2 was better, but Season 1 has pretty bad with that.
 
CSI-AJ said:
Like many of you, I didn't care for Megan. She came off bland unlike the other characters. This season had several homicide detectives like Sevilla, Bernstein (wonder where they ran off to?) and of course Frank Tripp who would later go on to become a regular

It'd be nice if Sevilla and Bernstein made a comeback on the show, even if it was just for one episode.

After what happened to Rick, I think they best keep them out lest they suffer the CSI Miami Hatchet job to their characters.
 
There was one scene in S1 (I think it was in "Bunk" but I'm not sure) where Horatio whips out his phone and calls Sevilla. The dialogue was: "Adele, Horatio. Road trip." (Or something like that.) I just LOVED the way DC delivered that line. It was win. :lol:
 
I was just watching "Freaks And Tweaks" and there was a scene where a perp was trying to get under Horatio's skin by trash talking his brother. H got a little angry and grabbed the guy, but then he did the right thing and told Frank to get the guy out of his sight, because he didn't want to soil his reputation. Back then he knew where the line was and he didn't cross it. It's a shame the way they're, in my opinion, completely destroying his character.
 
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