I fell out of watching CSI: MIAMI about three seasons back and by watching this final season (aka season 10), the show really works when the writing is great and it is mediocre when the writing isn’t on target.  The strongest episodes are the season opener, LOOK WHO’S TAUNTING and DEAD RINGER, and when they have a good guest star like Raquel Welch (REST IN PIECES)  or Bo Derek (LAST STRAW) to a lesser extent.  I do feel the show does end on a below average note for the main plot (Ryan Wolfe (Jonathan Togo) being framed for murder in HABEAS CORPSE) while wrapping up some personal threads for the characters. 

I feel the show is at its strongest when it focuses on main characters like Lt. Horatio Caine (David Caruso) and Eric Delko (Adam Rodriguez).  Unfortunately, other characters like Calleigh Duquesne (Emily Proctor) and Ryan Wolfe never seem to quit mesh with strong character writing.   Natalia Boa Vista (Eva La Rue) Caine didn’t feature enough in the final episode of the series and the strongest season finales of the show either focused on Caine or Delko where HABEAS CORPSE is drawn too much on a storyline revolving around Wolfe without effective enough writing.   One of the most effective character arcs were in season four and five when Caine got married to Delko’s sister (and Caine and Delko go to Rio to avenge her murder).  I wanted to see a moment where Caine faced another challenging case as he walks once more into the sun with his sun glasses on and striking the Caine pose.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Audio commentaries-

LOOK WHO’S TAUNTING by Jonathan Togo, Krystal Hougton Ziv, Marco Black, and Ken Glassing

LONG GONE by Rex Linn, Marc Dube, James Wilcox, and Barry O’Brien

Featurettes-

MIAMI MEETS MOTHER NATURE (Disc 1)- how the show creates the wrath of a big storm on a TV budget

The rest of the featurettes are on disc five-

A PERFECT TEN- the cast and producers talk about the various storylines and characters for the final season.

A TRIPP TO THE SET- Rex Linn gives a tour of the various sets and departments for CSI MIAMI including Rex asking the writers why his character Detective Frank Tripp never gets a girlfriend

THE MIAMI LOOK- a behind-the-scenes look at the production design and how the episodes get dressed from props they pull from a props warehouse.

Also on the set is a gag reel (disc 5) and deleted scenes for over half the episodes.

FINAL ANALYSIS:  CSI: MIAMI’s final season is a mixed bag with a few strongly written episodes where other episodes suffer from average writing and poor character writing for some of the cast.   The extras are a good look at the production side while it is nice to see many of the scenes that didn’t make the cut for various episodes.

This DVD review is (c)10-3-2012 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com