Alrighty, let me explain my choices.
Best Overall:
Season 1
Season 1 had diverse cases, great character interaction, fun banter, and so much that just said
New York. I miss season 1.
Best Cases:
Season 1
Seasons 2 and 3 concentrated too much on the high-class stuff, the bored rich people killing and getting killed for ridiculous reasons. It's not every case in those seasons that is that way, nor were all of season 1's cases better. Overall, though, I have to go with season 1.
Best Characters:
Seasons 1 and 3
The core team was best in season 1, but I picked 1 and 3 because there were other characters that were added that are great as well (Adam, Angell, Hammerback, Peyton). Adam and Hammerback were in season 2, but they really shine this season. I love Hawkes in the field, but the character was still there in season 1, and I loved him in the morgue as well.
Best Character Development:
Seasons 2 and 3
During season 1 it was necessary to set up the setting and the identities of the characters, so it's only natural that there be less character development then. However, there
was development then, and not all of the characters got developed in 2 or so far in 3. Honestly, I don't like choosing stuff like this because it's never cut-and-dry like picking a, b, or c.
Best Writing:
Season 1
For the same reasons that the cases were better in season 1, plus the fact that season 2 had Lindsay's multiple personalities and season 3 has the botched Lindsay storyline as well.
Funniest:
Seasons 1 and 2
Season 1 had great banter between the characters. Season 2 was funny in a
different way, partly because of the way they changed the show. I prefer the humor of season 1, though. Season 3 thus far has been bogged down by certain aspects of the storyline.
Best Acting:
All Seasons
Now, this one had me torn. On one hand, I didn't want to vote for a season with Lindsay in it because I think Anna's acting is sub-par;
however, that wouldn't be fair to the other actors who still hit it out of the park on a weekly basis. Main characters, recurring characters, guest stars--they were great as a general rule during all three seasons. Sure, we had crappy guest stars, and the Lindsay situation, but overall I can't neglect the great acting from seasons 2 and 3.
Sooo...those are my reasons for voting the way I did.