Episode #608: 'Permanent Vacation' ***CONTAINS SPOILERS***

Re: Episode #608: 'Permanent Vacation' ***CONTAINS SPOILERS*

Great Episode, better then last week.

I really hope Ryan got dressed in the dark.
(who wears lime green on purpose?)

the case was pretty interesting.
I think Natalia expected the body to get up and tell her who killed him.

H was being H again and finding a way to make life better for everyone. LOL but no major drama from him (for once)

I was worried about Eric for moment but he knows better then to go in alone.

I wondered why they didn't check the elevator shaft in the first place, especially with a missing bullet, but it a drama.

And it looks like our sweet little Calleigh is in big trouble next week.

 

Re: Episode #608: 'Permanent Vacation' ***CONTAINS SPOILERS*

Hate to go against the grain, but I wasn't too fond of this episode..

I felt like it lacked a lot of character developement in the bad guy department and the case was pretty predicable...I kept having flashbacks to pieces of other epis that seemed to make up this one.

Second, what was with everyone's wardrobe? Okay, I'll admit Alexx looked great tonight with her hair like that and yellow does wonders for her skin tone, but other than that I felt like it was a trip back to a previous decade. As for Ryan's lime green sweater, Greg Brady called, he wants his clothes back! :lol: And for Calleigh, where'd the color go girlfriend? I'm getting really tired of the all black look..bring some of season 4's clothes back!

For Natalia this was a good episode, she got to show a little emotion although I think they overplayed the first scene where she was moved by being the first one on the scene....

For me CSIM has really gone downhill this year..I feel like the cases are weak, the characters are getting too one dimensional, and the special effects take away from what used to make this show good, the science and intellect combined skillfully with believeable characters. It isn't about all the flashy bells and whistles, it's about a team working together to bring justice to a family, a loved one, to anyone who cares. I feel like a good deal of that had been lost for the sake of "keeping up with the times" and making the ratings soar. The fans were drawn to the show, not because it was the #1 show in the world, but because it was entertaining and fresh and and an escape on Monday nights. Keep that alive and you'll keep the fans. CBS, help us remember why we fell in love with this show in the first place.

 

Re: Episode #608: 'Permanent Vacation' ***CONTAINS SPOILERS*

A numbered list for tonight's Miami; whaddya know...

1. Natalia first at the body. My thought was she was looking for Frank to play Captain Exposition.

2. Great... another episode where everybody (it seems) ends up guilty of something; except the bellhop.

3. Speaking of the bellhop, did they ever explain why he was looking through Brian's bag?

4. Did H even think of that before, say.... offering to help the bellhop find a new place to live?

5. Delko going to arrest the killer, ahead of his backup. He musta known the Horatio Super God Shield would protect him long-range. But really, TPTB, did we really need that scene just to see H kill someone, however heroically?

6. I must applaud the special effects team and the crew of the Enterprise; we didn't hear the slightest hint of a transporter when Horatio materialized in front of Dean Cain in front of the crime lab?

7. Natalia going over to talk to Ryan at the end... was that strictly so Natalia could get out of the way so Ms. Partney could shoot the killer?

8. This has been said before; but where and how did a Canadian tourist get a gun?

9. If I were the Miami Dade crime lab, I'd stop parading suspects and perps on the front steps. It seems to be a popular hangout for vengeful victims and their families. If you were waiting for news on the investigation of your case, why not wait inside the building? I think I answered my own question...

10. I know it would have been less dramatic, but they could have found out who clubbed the bellhop simply by looking for splinters in everyone's hands.

11. Two suspects with gang connections. Both involved in the crime. Talk about all the mystery and suspense of playing hide and seek with a three year old.

12. Leaving the gun in the car. In the passenger door compartment, no less. Of a convertible. With the top down. The world wonders.

13. "Who is the man standing by your wife?" Um, H, you knew his wife was there, but you didn't know he had two sons? Wait, you did, from talking with Natalia, or was it Alexx... doesn't matter, you knew that.

14. No Valera. Was it something I said?

15. "Are you going to tell my parents?" Um... Shane... how old are you again? You look old enough to realize that clubbing someone with a 2x4 equals criminal.

16. While we're at it, Shane, how in the world did you know to follow the bellhop to his second job at the construction site?

17. The same construction site where only one person works "after hours". After hours? The whole episode was in daylight!

18. When the Mrs. Partney killed the killer on the steps of the police station, and the fertilizer hits the fan... why were police sirens going off? Wouldn't the cop cars already be there? Were they driving off to other crimes? When shots range out, did someone reach into the nearest squad car and hit the siren?

19. My thought, when Shane was led away in cuffs? "Hey, maybe he can meet up with Kyle in prison." I have no shame.

I'm gonna stop there... part of me thinks the writers do it on purpose.

Next week looks Veddy Interesting, though.

 

Re: Episode #608: 'Permanent Vacation' ***CONTAINS SPOILERS*

vs

 

Re: Episode #608: 'Permanent Vacation' ***CONTAINS SPOILERS*

That's hilarious - I almost did a "spit take" when I saw that picture!

Yea, this episode was very strange - felt like a commbination of other stuff CSI:Miami did in previous years. And the ending - I thought my TV was on the fritz, too! It felt like an incomplete episode - wonder if they're gonna follow up? (And it reminded me of that scene in "Rio" where Nat messed up, but she didn't really mess up here I don't think ...)

Did anyone else think H's past w/his abusive father might come into play when Dean Cain was yellin at his son? I was disappointed that didn't develop more...that's one "drama" in H's life that I wish would be hashed out ...

OK, so why did Eric tell Nat that the guy was gonna walk b/c there were no prints on the gun - he owned the freakin' gun, he had motive - I'd say they could build a pretty convincing case, even if it's not air-tight. Not every case is air-tight, you know, except in Miami apparently. BTW, when was the last time a guy "walked" or got away with a crime on this show? It happened a few times in Seasons 1-2, and brought believability to the show, I thought. I think it's time for H to lose one of the bad guys for once...

Another thing - H arrests the dad, but the dad didn't do anything, as it turns out. How come that wasn't addressed? If I was the dad, I'd sue H for all he's worth! I mean, H 'had a feeling" , but then he never followed up about the "abuse" possibility.

So now H is helping a guy who, for reasons unknown, sifted through the victim's luggage? Why? Cause he feels bad for this kid b/c he reminds him of Kyle? I too was thinkin it would be great if these kids met in lock-up. Now Kyle can have a buddy

I really don't like this whole "i'll help you if you help me thing - hope it comes back to bite H in the ass.. I'm tired of him being "Mr. Perfect" - although his criminal radar was off in this episode.

Oh, and Eric alone in the warehouse - ummm.... dude, seriously? Who did not think H would save the day? I HATE IT when H kills people - his body count over the last three years is INSANE! I really freakin' hope this comes up in court when he's trying to get custody of his son - "Sorry, sir, but you're a homicidal maniac who refuses to go to counseling or deal with the traumatic events that have ruined your life. Case dismissed."

Oh, and for those of you who care, that 's 24 episodes w/out H and Cal interacting, (an entire season!) so... yea, this is gettin' rediculous. On the up side, Calleigh's gettin' in some trouble next week, so H should at least address her presence... right?

 

Re: Episode #608: 'Permanent Vacation' ***CONTAINS SPOILERS*

Wasn't the bellhop working night shifts which meant daylight would be after-hours

 

Re: Episode #608: 'Permanent Vacation' ***CONTAINS SPOILERS*

Sooo, did anyone else think that H offering to help the bellhop move/get another job was interferring with a witness or bribery??? Seems to me a DA would find this rather interesting... even though he didn't come right out & ask him to drop the charges it was sure implied...

 

Re: Episode #608: 'Permanent Vacation' ***CONTAINS SPOILERS*

Umm, you know I didn't think about that, but I knew that scene didn't sit right with me. I guess that could be considered offering a bribe. I just don't understand where H gets all this money from, that he can just give it away to the next "poor soul" that crosses his path.

I mean, is he still supporting Suzie and Maddison, and that prostitute's kid from last season? Where does he live, in a box or something? I don't know how he affords to help all these people with these huge expenses. (wonder what his salary is) Very weird...

 

Re: Episode #608: 'Permanent Vacation' ***CONTAINS SPOILERS*

The pluses for me for this episode – I enjoyed this episode because it was intricate and a little complex. It also expanded from the initial murder, which introduced several other suspects for those crimes. I also enjoyed the fact that Tripp was in this episode without having to put up with Jake sidelining him all over the place. I love Tripp, no nonsense, funny guy – and despite his considerable lack of screen-time this season, which I think has been a big mistake, Rex Linn and David Caruso still bounce off each other really well.

Now the bad – There were two things that seriously bothered me about this episode and they are specifically to do with characterisation and continuity. One was Boa Vista doing ballistics and the other was the deal Horatio made at the end.

It really rankled me to hear Boa Vista talking knowledgably about something that would also have been a piss in the ocean for Calleigh. Boa Vista was employed as a cold case officer and yet it seems that without any training whatsoever we have her talking knowledgably about something that she would, in my opinion, have little idea about.

So what was Calleigh, ‘Bullet Girl’, doing while this was all going down? For a while I could understand her being out in the field and what not because of her No2 status, however, ‘Ballistics’ is something she excels at, and enjoys – even Megan deigned to enter her own realm of expertise when an investigation was going on. This was not good at all in my opinion.

Anyway, on that, I think this is where the ‘team’ side of things is really going to pot to be honest. Characters are being given things to do, such as Boa Vista and her ballistics, that are not their specific areas of expertise, where in the earlier Seasons of CSI Miami there were characters specifically assigned to these specific jobs, which, in my opinion, defined the ‘team’ aspect of the investigation.

Now, I don’t have a problem with Calleigh and Horatio not sharing scenes, (though I do find it weird that when they do share a scene there’s no interaction between them at all) and I don’t have a problem with the characters going out into the field a lot more than they did. It’s nice. However, what I do get annoyed at is when a pretty much superfluous character such as Boa Vista is showing an expertise of someone else's job that she really doesn’t have, and especially when one essential character, Valera, has been MIA for a bit now.

The biggest grindy-teethy moment for me in this episode, but only because Horatio is my favourite character, was his deal at the end of the episode. It really pissed me off to be honest, because it damaged the Horatio character for me.

I remember a man whose business and home had been taken away from him by the IRS and it turned out that his two young boys (possibly 8 and 14?) had been directly involved in the death of an the IRS agent who had been forced to take their home and their dad’s business away.

I distinctly remember Horatio telling the father, who had rightly pointed out that they were just boys, that the court would take that into consideration, and yet here we have Horatio at the end of this episode making a deal for a teenager so that he doesn’t go to court and be tried for attempted murder. Things like this, the inconsistency concerning the core issues of a character, really piss off!

Horatio and the Father – It seemed to me that Horatio got Tripp following the Father not because he suspected him, but because he was afraid the father was going to go vigilante on them all, hence his “because he’s dangerous” comment... and in all honesty, he had every right to keep a hold of the Father until they could finish their investigation. Notice that Horatio did not say that the Father was under arrest, the Father came to that conclusion all by himself and, in my opinion, it was the wrong assumption.

As for the ending, I thought it was a great ending with the blackouts, but again, Vista letting slip about a suspect, been done before and this time it shows that she doesn’t learn from her mistakes. I wish Valera was back in the fold and that Boa Vista would go back to being the cold case expert, if only because I think the character is damaging the program a little, at the moment.

Anyway, all in all, I did enjoy the context of the episode and how it panned out, but what I didn’t enjoy was how an episode like this really does high-light the complete lack of overall teamwork that used to exist almost naturally in the earlier Seasons of the program. I also don’t like to feel pissed off and I am concerning the slate on the Horatio character and also over the fact that Boa Vista suddenly had somewhat expert knowledge that she shouldn’t have had.

But, still, I did enjoy it, though not as much as any other episode this season Let’s hope it’s one of those hiccups and not the beginning of something bigger.

 

Re: Episode #608: 'Permanent Vacation' ***CONTAINS SPOILERS*

Yea, that "deal" was totally out of character for Horatio, if only b/c he's dealt w/a youth being charged for murder before. Remember "Murder in a Flash?" The girl accidently killed the guy, and yet the justice of it was that she was going to stand trial for her actions.

H had always been a defender of the justice systemm, letting the evidence speak for itself. Now, he's throwing the evidence to the wind - but that's not surprising b/c he doesn't even do anything but interrogate people anymore. If I wanted to see a cop interrogating someone, I'd watch "Without a Trace" or "Cold Case."

I didn't even notice that Nat was spewing ballistics info - nice catch. Guess the whole ep. was boring for me - I pegged the murderer from the time we met him.

As for H and Cal not interacting, yea, I'm biased, but I think that's part of the lack of continuity. In Season 1 and 2, H was always interacting w/Cal and watching her back, and vice versa, such as the scene where H asks Cal "How worried should I be about you?" , referring to her problems w/Hagen and her dad. I miss that Horatio, who cared for his team and pressed them on things.

The fact that the team is a TEAM, and not some disjointed bunch - the fact that they have close relationships and are friends (even Eric and Ryan are getting along now, it seems) is what makes the show unique. If you watch the first four seasons, you'll see the camaraderie that is obviously lacking now, and I think that's part of the reason these characters inconsistent.

TPTB need to take a page from NCIS - they do things right - the characters are GREAT and all of them interact and bounce off each other well. It's a pleasure to watch that show, and I remember feeling that way when I started watching CSI:Miami. Now, it's just another "forensic" show with bells and whistles. The character continuity is shot to hell, and things don't get resolved. It's upsetting.

 

Re: Episode #608: 'Permanent Vacation' ***CONTAINS SPOILERS*

The first four seasons are my absolute favourite of this show, vying between 2&3 as being my ultimate Favourite Seasons.

On that, I could understand Horatio gradually pulling away from his team during Season 5 and why there's been little interraction between him and his team thus far in Season 6 (what with Kyle and his still coming to terms with the loss of Speed, Marisol and Ray).

However, I had hoped that the ending of S6 ep6's episode, Horatio's words to Ryan about if we don't hang together, we'll die alone, had been a signal that he'd reached the end of his healing period and would therefore be making strides towards re-establishing contact with his team, but nothing's changed, and worse still, the PTBs managed to damage the Horatio character at the end of this week's epsiode.

I thoroughly enjoyed (and still do) the interaction between Calleigh and Horatio, especially in the first two seasons of CSI Miami, and I do miss that terribly, but more so between the team as a whole.

For me, at the moment, it seems there has been a split where Delko is playing piggy-in-the-middle between Horatio and Calleigh and Ryan and Boa Vista are the periphery members who fill in when Delko can't be with either Calleigh or Horatio. In other words, they are just not a team at all and, as you say, it really is upsetting to see.

Apart from Tripp when was the last time there was a joke shared between the team? It might have been recent, but it really doesn't feel like it to me and I miss that too.

Hopefully, from what I've heard about the ad for next week's epsiode, we'll get to see a minor explosion from one of the characters which will, again hopefully, clear the air a bit and help things move on from there, so that we begin to get a semblance of what made this such a complete joy to watch in the first place.

All in all though, I'm not really complaining too much, because this episode for me was the first almost total glitch this season. I don't think it will be the last glitch, every season has them, but I hope the next one doesn't hurt any major character establishments along the way.

All I can say is bring back the team as a whole, where they share their own little flirtations and good humour amongst themselves. I suppose, in other words, "Bring back the SUN" to CSI Miami

 

Re: Episode #608: 'Permanent Vacation' ***CONTAINS SPOILERS*

Ok, remember Phoebe from "friends" in the scene where shes screaming "my eyes! my eyes!!"?? That was me last night when I first saw Ryan appear in that godawful sinus infection green sweater. Maybe he was promoting Shrek III dvd release.

I actually really liked Natalia having all this knowledge. She was processing the gun, not the bullet...Calleigh still did that. It is highly possible that in between Tuesdays & Sundays she learns more w/ out us actually seeing it!! Not to mention that she is learning to shoot right now so shes probably studying up on her gun facts. I liked it. With all due respect, I can recall in one epi where Eric was reconstructing a bullet.. instead of Calleigh; & even in last night's epi Ryan having the knowledge about the motorcycle when that is Eric's expertise.

The overall epi was reaallly good. Lots of excitement!! Dean Cain was great but my main Kudos has to go out to the actor who played Shane. He played the emotions so well...the tears, the snot, ...thats good acting! The ending was brilliant, totally unexpected when the mom shot the killer. Minus the 'blackout' moments when I found myself blinking uncontrollably wondering why on earth my tv was breaking. But That was refreshing opposed to the typical CSIami ending w/ Horatio & his beloved sunnies giving his 'thought of the day'. He should have one of those little calenders made up.

My only beef was where the hell is back up? Eric already has one bullet in his brain, isn't that enough?

 

Re: Episode #608: 'Permanent Vacation' ***CONTAINS SPOILERS*

I don't mind any character gaining knowledge at all and you don't have to see them 'go back to school' for the viewer to know that they've gained it, but, for me, there's been no indication of how Boa Vista could have gained this knowledge and so quickly.

I am sorry, but learning how to fire a gun and also to clean said gun would only limit Boa Vista's knowledge of guns to a 9mm Glock, (if that's the guns the CSIs use), andit would still be limited - not even a spit in the ocean of expertise that Calleigh has. In my opinion, Boa Vista learning to fire a gun would not suddenly supply her with a fountain of knowledge about any gun that came over the counter during an investigation.

Sorry, but I still think that Boa Vista is doing stuff that she doesn't have knowledge of and, for me, it's damaging parts of the program a bit.

To be honest though, I only mentioned Boa Vista this time around because it was so blatant to me.

 

Re: Episode #608: 'Permanent Vacation' ***CONTAINS SPOILERS*

I understand your point, I wasn't directing my post towards you personally. In my own personal opinion, I do agree that it would have only been natural for Calleigh to process the gun. However, showing that Natalia is going beyond her knowledge of DNA is exactly what she is supposed to be doing as a trainee. Ryan magically learned in 1 day.