I don't know if anyone mentioned this yet but I really like the opening of the episode where it's night time they should do that more often!
Even after the Yelina thing, I think Rick has always been intimidated by Horatio somewhat. If you watch Rick make his debut in "Blood Brothers", you know there is some history between the two. The promotion to Lieutenant comes out later. I think these two are rivals and probably always will be. I'm still trying to figure out whether Ron Saris is playing the MDPD for something bigger. I have a hard time believing he's really changed. Kudos to Kim Coates. He's doing a fantastic job of playing a bizarre slimeball. My speculation on the Rick/Yelina thing. Rick probably knew all along that he was a stand-in for the man Yelina REALLY wanted. He's a tad insecure to begin with, but was willing to play along just as long as he was jerking Horatio's chain and Yelina was giving him something for his headache. While I believe there's NO excuse for hitting a woman (except to defend yourself), Rick probably went over the edge and lost his temper. But he was a live warm body for a widowed mother, and the two agreed to the "smacked my eye on the cabinet" story, hoping it would all blow over.
About the opening shots at night-I've been saying that for MONTHS-why did they stop showing nighttime stuff.Miami is soooo beautiful at night-all glittery and full of activity, esp. downtown/south beach area. You never see the team show up at night or the crime at night then the team arrive the next morning? I miss Horatio after dark..they almost never shoot any scenes of stuff happening at night..anybody else notice this and miss it from previous seasons? As for Ron Saris, he is doing something bigger for sure-he didn't stop being such a jerk-he went after Julia this last wk didn't he?he hasn't changed his spots one bit..