Miami rantage...

Well from what I can gather, alot of people have been really unhappy with Season 4. And Season 5 looks set to be H-centric as well- this can be severly detrimential to shows... Miami started as an ensemble show and shows that change thier formats (ie: going from emsemble to revolving entirely around H) is often the death knell for series.

 

Alot of people have indeed been very unhappy with Season 4 (including me!), but the show still seems as popular as ever ratings wise. I do get the impression that although the H-centricity of the show grates on many people, alot of fans tend to overlook it and enjoy other aspects of the show instead. Eg. Ryan and Eric had lots of screentime in Season 4 and I think their fans enjoyed that side of things - especially the Ryan fans judging by the popularity of his character - and his thread on this forum!

Thing is, since the cameras started rolling in Season 1, the show has always revolved around Horatio. The formula does seem to work, even if we grumble about it.

 

I agree totally that it's become very Horatio centric, unnecessarily I think, because he doesn't even do anything anymore. Ryan, Calleigh and Eric do all the work and he seems to take credit for it. And it really annoys me when he keeps taking his sunglasses on and off. He always does it at least once before the titles run. It's sort of become a cliche now. And his voice really grates. He seems to have a kind of monotone most of the time.

I've not been a big fan of Miami since season 2, I think NY and Vegas are much better and more compelling. The mind boggles as to how this is the most watched show in the world. I only watch now because of Ryan. Before he came into the show I considered not watching anymore.

 

CSIM has always been Horatio centric. Personally, I don't mind too much, but I can understand why some people might. As for his voice, I love it!

 

But this is a fantastic basis for a drinking game You get a double drink if he's got his sunglasses on and he's posing hands-on-hips.

Seriously though, as much as I love H, I have to question what his point is a lot of the time. Horatio doesn't actually do any work anymore. I've been rewatching the first two series and you see him in a lab coat, doing something. Now he mainly seems to do the heroic thing. I'd take the character a lot more seriously if he at least carried a kit, or appeared to be a CSI in more than name only. It's becoming more like Captain H and his amzing band of crime scene people, than CSI Miami. They're meant to be a team.

And I'm agreeing over the lack of Calligh. I'm suffering withdrawal here.

 

Well anyone with a brain will know that I'm a huge Calleigh/Emily fan!

I was talking to my Miami-obbsessed aunty who agrees with me about to much-H.

Believe it or not, I am starting to warm to him again- watching him with Yelina. He really cared for her. But I still think that he's around too much. There's so much potential in the show- and its just become H,H,H... and it gets boring after a while.

 

I agree with you, MikeW... I thought I was the only one complaining, but now I feel less alone! :lol:

TV stations even favors David Caruso too. I'm halfway through S4 here... and I was surprised when I saw a commercial for Nailed, it was all about Horatio. Not that I hate the guy, but for God's sake, Ryan gets shot with a nailgun in this episode, and the promo doesn't even show him AT ALL! I wouldn't know it was Nailed if not for a few shots of nails around the DB

Being Ryan's fan, I feel dissapointed. Is Ryan that overlooked? Last week had been Horatio-centric episode, Under-Suspicion, and I thought, okay, it's H's turn. But c'mon, be fair to Ryan, he gets a nail in his eye and that's still not enough to get him screentime in the commercial?? What more the poor guy should do?

Sorry for the rantage... I just need to let it out. I was ranting in Jon's thread too

And I agree with what you people say about H needs to do some investigation... I mean, Grissom does, Mac does, why not H?

 

csi m had turned into a one man show. it was built on horatio all the time. the germans call it csi:horatio. it gets boring, that's right, especially that s4 drama stuff with marisol and co. *würg* i hope it'll get better and the others... ryan and alexx esp. get more screentime.

ryan's been through such a lot through season 4 as far as I know... because of his eye and stuff, but nope... that stupid drama around marisol and H is much more important.

maybe it sounds rough but now that M died, maybe H starts to use his brain again and acts like he did before.

tptb should stop smoking what ever they just find and use their brains again to make CSIM what it used to be in s1 and s2.

we'll see s4 from tomorrow on. i'm excited, but know i won't watch couple of epis...

 

I basically agree with everyone here, the show is very much Horaito's , but at the same time, I don't think that it takes away from it. I've notice how someone said that he tends to get overlooked, which is true. When I see him on screen, I just laugh for the required thirty seconds and keep watching. In my opinion, it makes for great entertainment. And as for the head tilt, it's ingrained it's apart of him, it's apart of the show. It's probably going to stay. Again, looking over.

I will also agree with whoever said that he seems inhuman. When does this guy sleep? And am I to beleive that even though he didn't do anything,he knows everything about a case? There is a reason for a team.

And I will say, that it's criminal how they grossly missuse Alexx ( whom I adore tremendously) . All of the cast has the potential to do excellent, if they only had the exposure. I just wish that the writer's can put down what ever drugs they are smoking and get back into the same vein they were in for s1-2 ( season three started going down hill for me.) At least in those seasons, we got to see how Horatio became such a kick ass lieutenant, save the posing.

When it comes down to it, I love the show. I mean if I could watch the travesty of s4 and still say that, there's got to be something to it(either that or I'm just one sick obsessed fan).

I have to believe that s5 will be better. It's very encouraging that Calleigh is getting some screen time,let the rest of the team join in the fun as well. And for God sakes, PUT H BACK IN THE LAB!!!!

 

I'm going to go against the grain here and say that, while I completely agree that Horatio dominates Miami in ways that neither Gil or Mac dominate their respective shows, I do think that it makes for completely compulsive television that is unique from its predecessor and successor. I know people who really didn't like CSI - hated it with a passion - but like Miami, because it's a bigger show (scope-wise), with higher quantity of action. For a show like that to work, the hero at the centre of it needs to be someone to root for, and thus it's conceivable that the writers may feel somewhat obligated to push Horatio's nobility to the fore at every turn. This may be a controversial thing to say in this thread, but I also think that Caruso's ensemble lack the presence of the Vegas and NY supporting casts. Regardless of what some may think of Caruso, there's no denying he hits the right notes with large sectors of TV audiences (his year-long stint on NYPD Blue made him a huge star nine years before Miami came along).

I read a review - may have been on Amazon - that said Miami was the middle child of the franchise, and one that the writers haven't ever quite figured out. I agree with this to a degree - if you go back and watch the first two discs of Miami season one on DVD, you can sort of see that the characters aren't as 3-dimensional as they perhaps should have been in the early stages. But at the centre of it all was a recognisable and compelling persona in Horatio Caine. Not to everyone's taste, but he - more than any other CSI character in my opinion, with the exception of Mac Taylor - is the kind of police officer I wished existed in the real world, in my neighbourhood, and I believe that that is the core of the reason why Miami has the big audience that it does, and why Miami doesn't suffer from it's H-centricity.

This is, of course, merely my own opinion. Hope I haven't irked anyone... =/

 

Oh I agree completely, Speedcochrane. Horatio is definetly someone I love, but as you said, it could get a little annoying. But no matter what I still go back to it.

It was interesting to mention character development, JimJiminy81 . I have always thought that Miami got off to a slow start with the characters, even now ,we still don't know much about some of the characters( I blame the writers for that). But as I said, I love the show and will go through all types of changes with it. I will also venture to say that the writers have some continuity issues as well, which could've hindered the character progression. S4 was about getting into the personal lives of the characters, (even though, as always it was more about Horatio's personal life). I just wish they would give equal time to the team as well. I would love to see something in regards to Alexx, how she deals with the job more and the things that go on around her. That's just my wish, and my opinion.

 

I love David Caruso in the show but i have to agree he does get more screentime that any of the other characters.