I think Kim Delaney is a wonderful actress. I really wish both she and her character had been given just a little more time to catch on (I think Delaney just needed a little more time to find her place and settle in the part.) because I think that character's position was important. I think Megan kept Horatio on track and I don't think we would see him on some of the tears we've seem him on if she were still there. She kept him honest. The Horatio that told Megan that the science was his discipline has been lost to us for some time now.
Megan, as second in command (although I never got the feeling
she felt second - I always thought she still felt she was in charge
) was never shy about confronting Horatio if she thought he was losing focus or making a judgment without first having the science to back it up. While Calleigh is supportive, she hasn't shown an ability to actually challenge Horatio's decisions. Either she doesn't have that ability or she has no interest in doing so.
Horatio was written as someone who has amazing gut instinct. He relies a great deal on on his "feeling" and his ability to see all that is before him at the scene and reach a workable hypothesis. Then he finds the evidence to support the hypothesis. Megan was grounded in pure science and didn't believe in assuming anything. It was black and white to her. To her the evidence/science told the story and she didn't believe in speculation. Horatio really does need a strong character to pull him back and ground him sometimes and CSIM just hasn't had that since Megan left. I think her loss is one of the reasons Horatio has moved so far from what he once was. Giving Megan a little more time to find her place may have resulted in a wonderful yin/yang partnership.
I've stated before, and I'll reiterate it here, I think they need to add a strong female presence that provides not only support, but is the confidant that Horatio has never had (I always wondered why they didn't use Frank as a confidant for Horatio), who also provides the honest, in-your-face assessment of his actions. That's been missing since Megan left.
Yelina was there and strong in the beginning, and every once in a while she challenged Horatio, but they reduced her to playing games to get revenge when Horatio couldn't get past the fact she was his brother's wife and move their attaction forward. She began to date Stetler and flaunt it in his face to get even. That reduced my respect for that character.
Calleigh, has always supported Horatio, but I feel it was blind support. And the cold distance now, questionable actions on her part in the past few seasons, and her failure to stand up and challenge some of Horatio's more controversial actions, makes her a weak second in command, IMO.
Yeah. I'd love to see Megan come back - or bring on someone as strong as she was to offer up a counter to Horatio's powerful presence.
