Miller joined Miami at the beginning of the current season, and he feels it was the right choice for his career. “When Jerry Bruckheimer gives you a ring, it’s kind of a no-brainer,” the actor joked to USA Weekend. “Let’s be honest about it, I’m not Will Smith or anything. At the same time, I do take a lot of concern, interest and detail in the things that I do in my career. That’s why I’m able to be proud about what I’ve done to this point. I really had to take a close look at what it was I would be doing, and what it was potentially that I would be sacrificing as far as being out of availability for the film world. I felt like this is a good place for me right now.”

The actor also has a film role in Blood Done Sign My Name, which is now in theatres. The movie is about racial injustice in a small North Carolina town during the 1970s. Miller doesn’t have a large role in the film, but he feels his part is important nonetheless. “I have what I like to call a very poignant role,” he said. “I come in, I do my job and I keep my moving, but I add to the story, and hopefully my presence will be felt in the film. It’s very important that people don’t go to the movies or watch TV and feel like they’re watching an actor. I want people to feel like this is real, and for that, I want to bring the reality. That’s what I feel like I can do.”

February is Black History Month in the United States, which means a lot to Miller. “It is of the utmost importance to me,” the actor said. “Racism and this ugliness have gotten so deeply embedded into the American culture that it’s seeped into our subconscious and our subculture. It’s almost like a demon that needs to be exorcised, in my opinion. The more light we can shed on this, let’s get it out and let’s move forward because it’s going to need to die out physically. And the more people who grow up in diverse areas and kids who grow up playing with other kids, it doesn’t matter what color they are, that’s how we eliminate this ignorance of racism. That’s all it is—a bunch of confusion and ignorance. We’re all the same people.”

The Miami team is shocked to discover their latest case involves a victim who appears to have been in space when he died.

Synopsis:

A carjacking in progress is interrupted when a man’s dead body falls on the car, crashing through the windshield. The CSIs quickly determine he crashed through the trees above, rather than falling from them, and the case gets more perplexing when Calleigh determines he was falling at terminal velocity–120 mph, meaning he fell from at least 2000 feet. She suspects he might have been a stowaway on a plane, but her theory is shot when air traffic control reports that only one helicopter was in the vicinity at the time the body fell. Calleigh and Ryan track down the helicopter and question its owner, Beau Lendell, who says he doesn’t recognize the victim when shown his picture. When Horatio and Ryan ask him why the helicopter was in the air without a flight plan, Beau says he thinks someone took it for an unauthorized ride, and claims he wasn’t the one piloting it. Horatio and Ryan examine the helicopter, and Ryan finds knuckle imprints on one of the seats. Back at the morgue, Dr. Loman has some shocking news: the victim’s blood cells indicate he was in zero gravity at the time of his death, suggesting he died in outer space. Jesse contacts NASA, but all of their astronauts are accounted for, causing him to turn to a private space tours company based in Miami: Prime Mover Aerospace. The owner of the company, Keith Palmer, recognizes the victim as Sam Gardner, a participant in the last ten-day tour into space. Palmer shows Horatio and Ryan the Lear jet he uses to take people into space, and Ryan notices a bullet-sized hole in the plane’s hull, which Palmer tells him was the result of micro-meteor damage. Horatio asks Palmer who else was on the flight with Sam, but he claims the passenger list is confidential.

Back at the lab, Calleigh shows Sam’s wife, Janet, a video that Sam made for her from the trip. Janet, bitter that her husband spent two million dollars on the extravagant trip, doesn’t want to see it, so the CSIs use the video to identify the other passengers: movie star Dominic Cross, and Beau Lendell, the helicopter pilot they questioned earlier. Dr. Loman is finally able to determine a cause of death: explosive decompression. The coroner tells Horatio that somehow Sam got out of the shuttle and into space. The CSIs question the three men who went up into space with Sam: Dominic claims he was sick and sleeping at the time, while Palmer asserts the airlock alarm came on—and that Sam had accidentally locked himself in the chamber and opened the airlock. Beau admits he pilots all of Prime Mover Aerospace’s trips, and claims that what happened to Sam was an accident. He took Sam’s body up in his helicopter and was going to dispose of him over the Atlantic—until a flock of gulls hit his helicopter and Sam’s body was thrown from it. Horatio tells Palmer the shuttle is now his crime lab, and sends Jesse and Calleigh to go over the ship. The two CSIs quickly discover the airlock can’t be opened from inside the chamber, invalidating Palmer’s story about Sam opening the airlock doors from inside the chamber. Calleigh lifts a print from the control pad in the main cabin, and it proves a match to Dominic. Dominic claims Sam was wearing an EVA suit to protect him from space, and that he locked himself in the airlock and insisted he wanted to be let out. Dominic reluctantly opened the airlock and Sam went outside—but apparently something was wrong with his suit. Calleigh decides to hold him for negligent homicide.

Horatio and Walter go over the EVA suit Sam was supposedly wearing at the time of his death, but they find no radiation on it—inconsistent with Dominic’s claims that he was wearing it when he was launched into space. Horatio and Walter discover a blood stain on the suit, and a looking at it under the black light reveals further splatter. Horatio and Walter head over to the shuttle, finding blood splatter all over the main cabin. Horatio sends Jesse and Walter up in a plane to recreate the zero gravity conditions aboard the shuttle to determine what weapon could have been used to create the blood splatter, while Ryan examines the hole in the ship caused by the meteor and discovers that it hit the air tank… and that the air would have been drained out of the shuttle in twelve minutes. Up in the air, Jesse and Walter try fruitlessly to recreate the pattern using a dummy, until Jesse thinks to fire his gun, which causes him to slam back into the wall but does create the splatter pattern. Though they can’t recover the bullet that hit Sam, the CSIs line up the three men to examine them and find a bruise on Beau’s lower back. Horatio puts it together—there were only three EVA suits, and four men on the shuttle. The three men turned on Sam: Beau shot him, Dominic opened the airlock and Palmer closed it again once Sam was dead, insisting they needed to bring four people back. Calleigh sits with Sam’s wife Janet and shows her Sam’s final message to her, in which he tells her he loves her and wants nothing more than to come home to her.

Analysis:

Sometimes, I think the CSI: Miami writers really have fun with the show’s reputation as the zaniest, most outlandish of the three CSI shows. Take, for instance, some of the goofy and hilarious titles of some of the later season episodes. Who can help but chuckle at the phonetic humor of “CSI My Nanny” or “Smoke Gets In Your CSIs”? Or enjoy the winks at pop culture with titles such as “Chip/Tuck” and “Dude, Where’s My Groom?”? This entry, “Miami, We Have a Problem” falls into the latter category, a play on the famous “Houston, we have a problem” transmission from the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission. The titles are fun, and really, what other CSI show could delve into space tourism with the same zest as CSI: Miami does? Part of the fun of watching the CSI shows is seeing cutting edge technology and watching the CSIs utilize equipment or run experiments real labs probably couldn’t dream of doing, if for no other reason than most labs aren’t nearly as well funded. What lab could afford the zero gravity experiment Jesse and Walter partake in just to explain the blood splatter? Probably very few, if any.

There are only three possible suspects in this case, and in a novel twist, it turns out all three are guilty. Once Palmer realized there were only enough EVA suits and back up air for three people, not four, it was clear one of the passengers would have to go. Dominic, the cowardly action star, protests that he’s too famous to go missing without notice, so that leaves poor Sam, who emerges as a sympathetic character through the recorded video messages to his wife. One logic quibble: Palmer insists that Dominic not open up the airlock and send Sam out into space, saying that four people went up, so he had to come back with four. But if he was going to have Beau dump Sam’s body in the Atlantic anyway, why not abandon him to space, where there was a lot less chance he’d be found?

The scene with Jesse and Walter in zero g is a treat because it’s obvious how much the characters are enjoying themselves. Or at least Walter is until he gets nauseous and ends up throwing up, providing a crucial clue but losing his lunch—or at least a morning’s worth of water—in the process. (Kudos to the crew for staging the least gross vomiting scene in recent memory; the only contents of Walter’s stomach seem to be water.) The projectile vomit splatter leads Jesse to make the leap to realize that the blood shot out of Sam’s body, indicating he was shot rather than bludgeoned or struck with a weapon. Walter is just such a fun character, with such a zest for what he does infused into every scene he’s in. Adding Omar Miller to the cast this season was a great move.

My favorite Walter quote of the episode is his comment Dr. Loman when he wonders if Loman is covering up the fact that their victim is an alien. “Unless Tom is an alien, too,” Walter reasons. “That would explain a lot.” Indeed, Christian Clemenson’s coroner is delightfully weird, on par with CSI: NY’s Sid Hammerback… and perhaps even a little stranger. Loman is clearly thrilled by the puzzling case, and the excitement coming off of him as he shows Ryan that the victim died in space is palpable. What coroner wouldn’t be more than a little intrigued by coming across a case where a man died of exposure to space? Like Walter, the oddball coroner is a great addition to the team.

Is it just me, or is Ryan Wolfe really copping a downright bitchy attitude this season? It’s a blast to watch, but sometimes it seems like Ryan has a bit of a chip on his shoulder. He’s awfully snide with Keith Palmer when he goes to cordon off the shuttle, telling the nervous businessman that he can’t fit “the whole ship in my crime lab” and promising to be “gentle” before removing the section of the shuttle damaged by the small meteor. Ryan also opts out of taking the zero g ride with Jesse and Walter, telling Travers, “I didn’t go up with them because it’s called the vomit comet.” Ryan definitely seems sassier this season than he has in the past, and his lines usually elicit a chuckle.

Miller and Cibrian took Entertainment Tonight behind the scenes as they filmed a portion of the episode that takes place in a weightless environment. “We find a dead body in Miami and it fell from the sky,” Cibrian explained. “We don’t know if it fell originally from a tree, if it fell from a plane, or if it fell from space.” He added, “They figured out that the only way this guy could have died was if he was weightless. Four guys went up and three guys came back. How did that happen?”

The episode finds the team looking into space tourism. “I think it was inevitable,” Cibrian said. “Well, you finally run out of ideas, and you have to come up with new ideas, and I think this is the first time anyone’s thought, ‘Well, maybe there was a murder in space.’”

“I don’t know if it was inevitable,” Miller countered, “but it’s really clever. I think our writers do a really good job of coming up with interesting ways to put spins on what seems like an endless amount of murders…I think this is really creative in the way that it unfolds.” Miller recently read an article about space tourism, which is very real. “If you have enough money, you can get up there,” he explained. “This might make a couple people think twice about it.”

Although people really can experience the weightlessness of space, Miami achieved the effect using harnesses. To add some more reality to the situation, Miller’s character ends up getting a bit nauseous. “It is the ‘Vomit Comet’ and somebody’s got to give it up,” Miller said.

You can watch the behind the scenes video below:

Synopsis:

An SUV slams into a Bentley, sending the car careening. A man runs up to the SUV and sees a woman dead in the front seat. He calls 911 and the CSI arrive at the scene. A teenage boy, Greg, is pulled from the car, and his younger sister, Lily, is found, alive, a ways from the car, leading the CSIs to conclude she was thrown from it during the accident. The woman in the front seat, their mother Karen, is dead. The driver of the Bentley is nowhere to be found, and when the team runs the plate they learn it belongs to a man named Billy Jones who reported it stolen the day before. Jesse and Walter examine the car and note that the front seat is pushed far back, indicating the driver was tall. The two take a look at the 6′4″ concerned passerby that called 911, Victor Emparo, and realize he was the driver of the Bentley. Victor admits he was the driver, but fearing litigation, he didn’t want to admit to it. Victor notes that he was lucky and wasn’t injured in the accident. Jesse brings him in to the station, and Victor’s sister, Marta, shows up, demanding to see her brother. She tells Jesse that she stole the car: Billy Jones is her ex-boyfriend and she fled his house the night before in the Bentley, and Victor was driving it back to Billy’s house when he got in the accident. Jesse takes her to see her brother, but before they can get to him, he collapses and dies in holding. Dr. Loman examines him and determines his brain was fatally shaken up in the accident, causing cracks and fissures to appear; Victor was basically a walking dead man.

The CSIs turn to figuring out the cause of the crash and, based on the tire patterns, determine the SUV struck the Bentley. But what caused the SUV to swerve into it? When Calleigh learns Karen Ballard had a .115 BAC, she gently questions Karen’s husband, Andrew, about whether his wife had a drinking problem. Andrew, who says he was at work at the time of the accident, insists his wife wasn’t an alcoholic. Dave Benton is able to recover data from the Ballards’ GPS, which shows that Karen was at a bar before she went to pick her children up. The waitress recalls Karen–and remembers that she met a man who wasn’t Andrew there, but only saw Karen with one drink. Karen was having an affair, but it seems she perhaps wasn’t drunk. Horatio posits that a bacteria buildup in Karen’s system could have resulted in a false positive, and suggests Calleigh test the viscuous fluid from one of Karen’s eyes. Calleigh goes back to the scene to hunt for Karen’s eye, which was severed in the crash. She finds it and confirms in the lab that Horatio was right: her BAC was only .02, well below the legal limit. Ryan finds a shoe tread pattern on the break pedal that doesn’t match Karen’s shoe. The pattern proves to match the shoe of her son, Greg. Greg insists he hasn’t driven the car in two weeks; the last time he drove it, he was busted for drag racing with his friends–and for having pot in the car. He claims his mother was driving the car. The CSI team gathers to determine who was driving the car based on fiber deposits from the various passengers’ clothes, which were left during the accident. Their results confirm that Greg was in the back of the car during the collision–and fibers found on the steering wheel match the pants of his sister Lily–not their mother.

In the hospital, fourteen-year-old Lily tells Horatio and her father that she was driving because her mother forgot her glasses. Lily swerved to avoid hitting an alligator, and feels terrible that she caused the accident, but Horatio isn’t so certain it was her fault. Horatio and Ryan go over the car again, and Ryan discovers a hose on the SUV has been cut. Horatio and Tripp interrogate Andrew Ballard, asking him why he lied about being at work during the accident. Andrew admits he was watching football, but denies having anything to do with sabotaging the car. When he learns his wife was having an affair, he’s shocked and saddened by the news. The team turns back to the car and Calleigh notices the smell of marijuana coming from under the hood. She realizes Greg must have hidden the pot in the body of the car, and inadvertently cut the hose when he did. Greg is devastated when he learns he accidentally caused the accident that killed his mother, and asks that his sister Lily be told it wasn’t her fault. Marta Emparo thanks Jesse for talking her ex out of pressing charges and tells him how terrible she feels about letting her brother return the car in light of what’s happened. Jesse tells her that her brother saved a kid’s life–that he was a hero.

Analysis:

Miami goes for a simpler story and comes out a winner in this latest installment, which highlights team interactions and believable turns rather than non-stop action and over-the-top twists. For the most part this season, Miami has taken it down a few notches–and that’s a very good thing. Miami might be known for its high-octane action sequences, but the show is at its best when its team is working at unraveling a complex mystery rather than getting into shootouts with gang members. This particular story is powerful in part because there are no real bad guys–just a bunch of people trying to protect their loved ones not because they did something completely terrible, but because a series of small mistakes has led to a terrible tragedy. Greg covers for his mother, who lost her glasses, and his sister, who was driving at fourteen. Victor covers for Marta, returning the car she took from her ex-boyfriend so she could flee his house. Even the secrets here aren’t that scandalous–Andrew doesn’t answer his phone because he’s watching a football game, Victor doesn’t want to admit to driving the car but doesn’t leave the scene. The one that is–Karen’s affair–doesn’t end up being a big factor in the accident at all, which is a pleasant surprise.

The result is characters that are wholly sympathetic, which is a refreshing change of pace from the one-note sleazeballs who pop up on Miami all too often. Indeed, Andrew Ballard is one of the most sympathetic guest characters I’ve ever seen. Played with incredible depth by Henry Simmons, Andrew is a man we instantly feel sorry for–and continue to sympathize with as the episode goes on and he discovers his wife had a lover–and one of his children might be responsible for the accident. Simmons, who spent several years on NYPD Blue, gives a dynamite performance, making the audience feel Andrew’s shock and devastation as he grapples with the loss of his wife, his guilt over not answering her phone call when he was watching football, and the news that his wife was having an affair. Simmons is just brilliant in the role, a real standout.

Of course, the big guest star news generated in this episode was from LA Laker Pau Gasol, who played the ill-fated Victor, who walked away from the accident only to drop dead later. Gasol gives a passable performance; stunt casting rarely results in the dynamite guest turns, unless the person cast is actually an actor, and not a singer or athlete (the memorable franchise exception was Taylor Swift on CSI last season). Gasol’s height factors into the case usefully, though, and Paloma Guzman gives a sympathetic performance as Victor’s forlorn sister. I can’t help but wish we’d seen more of Sherri Saum, who portrayed the ill-fated Karen Ballard, but she only appears in flashbacks. Saum and Eddie Cibrian shared the screen once before, in the Aaron Spelling daytime sudser Sunset Beach.

The writers are working in more humorous moments with the characters this season, and that too is a welcome development. Newbie Walter gets teased a lot about his size, but he’s more than willing to give as good as he gets. When Jesse points out that the driver of the Bentley is a “big guy” like Walter, Walter retorts with a correction: “tall guy.” Walter gets in a joke at Ryan’s expense, wondering as he watches Ryan slide out from under the SUV, “How do you fit under there?” The writers are definitely getting a lot of mileage out of the noticeable difference in height between Ryan and Walter, and Jonathan Togo and Omar Miller bring good humor and a sense of fun to their interactions. Ryan loves jousting back, too: later in the episode he jokes that Walter’s promotion to the night shift has made him think he’s “god’s gift to forensics.”

If not forensics, certainly CSI: Miami: Walter is offering the show some much needed comic relief. I can’t remember laughing out loud so many times during an episode of CSI: Miami since Speed and Delko bantered back in the early seasons of the show. Calleigh gets to have a little fun with Walter when he insists she keep the eyeball away from him if she does find it. “Eyeballs are my Kryptonite,” he shudders. Of course, this prompts Calleigh to gleefully bring her finding over to Walter after she’s boxed it for transport, prompting the poor lab tech to jump at the sight. Walter is just a fun character, and Miller a fount of charm and charisma. He’s a welcome addition to the show.

On a more serious note, Calleigh actually opens up to Andrew Ballard about her father’s alcoholism when trying to get him to confront the possibility that his wife was an alcoholic. Despite her sunny demeanor and warm, open smile, Calleigh is not a person who shares those kind of personal details readily. Andrew insists he knows his wife, but Calleigh makes clear she knows what she’s talking about when she tells him, “I have an alcoholic in my family.” She knows the tricks and the way alcoholics try to hide the addiction. But when the science proves Andrew right, Calleigh is quick to tell him flat out that she made a mistake and apologize. Emily Procter makes it clear that Calleigh takes the apology seriously–she of all people knows the gravity of the implication she made earlier.

Synopsis:

A frantic woman named Brenda Tanner comes to the police station to report the disappearance of her daughter, Ashley. Her daughter left her a message the day before, crying and saying she’d be home in an hour–but she never showed up. The team locates her car and finds the tires are off the rims. Jesse finds a valet slip from the Town South Hotel, while Calleigh notes two sets of footprints and surmises Ashley was abducted by one man. Walter Simmons goes to the hotel and jogs the valet’s memory, but all the man says is that Ashley left the hotel in a hurry. The hotel’s concierge recalls seeing Ashley with a guest of the hotel: Jimmy Burris. The CSIs find Burris enjoying cocktails by the pool. Ryan and Natalia drag Burris up to his room, where they find a bottle of tequila, a cigar and a plastic bag with marks from a woman’s lipstick on it. Natalia posits Burris was hurting Ashley, but Burris shows her a video on his phone revealing Ashley putting the bag over her own head in a teasing way. The team matches DNA on the cigar to a man named Nick Cooper, who is in town for a golf tournament. Cooper says that Burke promised to get him a girl, but left when he saw the girl was “just a kid.” Dave Benton gets a hit on someone using one of Ashley’s credit cards. Horatio and Tripp find a young woman who is definitely not Ashley and a young man using the card. The girl, Madeline Briggs, claims she found the card in a purse at a rest stop at Exit 14. Horatio and Tripp arrest Madeline and the man, Tyler Goodman. The team mounts a search at the rest stop and finds a severed arm and a severed leg. The arm proves to be Ashley’s, while the leg shows signs of decomposition, indicating it doesn’t belong to Ashley.

Dr. Loman finds evidence that Ashley was alive when her arm was severed. The same is not true of the girl whose leg the team found; he points out an identifying butterfly tattoo on the leg as well. Calleigh brings trace from the girl’s foot to Michael Travers, who analyzes the compound and finds it contains salt from a salt flat as well as iodine and plutonium, leading Calleigh to deduce that it came from Nevada. Calleigh places a call to the Las Vegas crime lab and is connected to Ray Langston, who recognizes the butterfly tattoo from a missing persons case. He IDs the girl as Stephanie Matthews, who was reported missing ten days ago. Calleigh invites Langston to Miami to assist on the case. Horatio greets Langston when he lands and takes him first the scene, where the search is expanded, and then to the morgue, where Langston quickly notes the two limbs were severed by different tools. Langston observes that the tool used to cut up Stephanie was likely a commercial grade cleaver, possibly belonging to a butcher. Dave Benton finds a lead: a steakhouse with locations in both Las Vegas and Miami. Horatio and Langston go to the restaurant and confront the head chef/owner, Nathan Cole, who was in Vegas two weeks ago. Langston tests Cole’s knife for blood and gets a positive hit. Though the DNA results are inconclusive, a test from a cut on Cole’s own hand provides the link. Cole tests positive for Hepatitus C–the same strain Stephanie Matthews had. Horatio and Langston interrogate Cole, whose restaurant was bankrolled by a powerful gang known as the Zetas. Cole finally admits he got a call to go the salt flats and cut up a girl who he insists was already dead. He cut himself when he was cutting up Stephanie’s body, and some of her blood mixed with his, giving him the infection. He insists he didn’t kill her, but he refuses to give up the name of his contact in the Zetas.

Langston and Calleigh turn back to Ashley’s remains and the Vegas CSI notes that whoever cut up Ashley was in a hurry. Ryan and Walter run across a bear out in the field–and more remains. Once they’re brought back to the lab, Langston is able to determine Ashley’s killer used two weapons, one of which was a handsaw. Horatio notes that he must have put a lot of effort into cutting her up, and thinks to test Ashley’s bones for DNA from sweat. The DNA proves to be a match for Jimmy Burris. Horatio and Langston confront the man, who admits that he has been working as a pimp for the Zetas. Any girls who try to escape them are brutally killed. Burris is defiant, telling Horatio and Langston that they won’t be able to touch the Zetas. They may have gotten two criminals off the streets, but both CSIs realize that the case is far from over. At a Miami rest stop, Madeline Briggs escapes Tyler Goodman for a few moments. She leaves a desperate message on a paper towel in the bathroom: “Help me. He’s going to kill me.” To be continued…

Analysis:

The much publicized CSI trilogy kicks off in Miami with a decent if unspectacular outing. I admit to thinking right off the bat that the CSI franchise as a whole has gone to the sex trafficking well a few too many times. Four entries over a combined twenty-one seasons might not sound like a lot, but the episodes follow a pretty predictable pattern, from the victimized, sullen girls to the unrepentant, sneering villains to the big save at the end where the women blink up into the light as the CSIs heroically come to save them. While the best entry of the four, CSI: NY’s “She’s Not There” elevated the fare with Stella taking the lead and development for some of the victims and their families, the other three entries–Miami’s “Legal” and “Won’t Get Fueled Again” and CSI’s “Disarmed and Dangerous” followed the more predictable path. And while Miami’s entry is more about murder and dismemberment than actual sex trafficking, the shadow of the storyline looms over the episode and makes the whole thing feel familiar. I’ll reserve judgment until I see the whole trilogy of course, but for a three-episode crossover that’s the first of its kind, it would have been fun to see the shows venture into newer, fresher territory. It’s not that sex trafficking isn’t topical; it’s simply that the franchise has yet to give this crime an interesting villain. And in a trilogy that allows the leads of all three CSI shows to partner up, the villain is important. Would the first Miami/NY crossover (“Felony Flight” and “Manhattan Manhunt”) have been as interesting if villain Henry Darius hadn’t been a compelling bad guy? Probably not.

That being said, there’s a lot of great material here, and the meeting of Horatio Caine and Ray Langston doesn’t disappoint. Horatio has always been warm and open with anyone who shows up to help him solve a crime or catch a killer, and he and Langston hit it off right away. Horatio endearingly refers to Langston as “Dr. Ray” and the two fall into a natural camaraderie. There’s even a reference to the very first CSI: Miami episode, the backdoor pilot “Cross-Jurisdictions”, with Horatio greeting Langston with a reference to Catherine and Warrick, the two CSIs he worked closely with in that episode. “Tell Catherine I’m sorry about Warrick Brown,” he says, a nod to the death of Warrick at the beginning of CSI’s previous season. Like a good host, David Caruso exudes a welcoming warmth in his interactions with Langston. It’s a credit to both writer Barry O’Brien and Laurence Fishburne that Langston feels absolutely in character in this episode. Writing for a character from another show is a tricky challenge no doubt, but Langston fits right in with the Miami team–and feels consistent with how he behaves and speaks on CSI. For his part, Fishburne proves he absolutely has a handle on the character of Langston here.

The episode–as I imagine all of the trilogy will be–is heavily plot driven, balancing two linked but separate murders. The first, the murder of Ashley Tanner in Miami, is perpetrated by one of those stereotypical moustache-twirling baddies: slimy pimp Jimmy Burris. Though he’s played with sniveling aplomb by Louis Mandylor, all we really learn about Burris is that he’s a shameless sleaze, completely unapologetic about essentially abducting young women and forcing them into sexual slavery. At least Amaury Nolasco’s Nathan Cole seems somewhat repentant; Nolasco gives his character an edge of desperation that gives him a bit more depth than Burris has. Though Cole’s actions are plenty reprehensible, at least he wasn’t cutting up a living girl.

Ashley Tanner’s murder is wrapped up neatly, but Stephanie Matthews’ killer remains at large. I suspect her murder won’t be solved until the trilogy concludes in Vegas–most likely it will be the element that bookends the whole venture. After Burris’ guilt is revealed, Horatio laments to Langston, “This doesn’t end here, does it?” No indeed, not with the threat of the Zetas looming large. I can’t say the idea of another gang feels particularly thrilling either–the problem with gangs is that, again, they tend to feel like collectives of interchangeable baddies who come off as evil for evil’s sake. Because the CSI shows are largely episodic and can’t delve into the complex gang politics the way serialized shows like Homicide: Life on the Street or The Wire did, the gangs come off as largely stereotypical and flat. They’re far less interesting than individual murderers whose psyches the shows can delve into.

The cliffhanger isn’t exactly one that leaves viewers breathless either. Madeline dares to leave a note in the bathroom at a rest stop, but didn’t think to make an impassioned plea to anyone after she was arrested–and presumably separated from Tyler Goodman for at least a little while. Oh, sure, she casts an intensely sad look at Calleigh, but I find it hard to believe she didn’t interact with anyone who she could have told her story to in lock up. How is it that she’s willing to leave a note in a public restroom but not talk to the police when she’s literally in their custody? Hopefully that will be explained at some point in the remaining two episodes.

The episode has a winning bit of comic relief when Ryan and Walter encounter the bear near the rest stop. In a downright hilarious scene, the two men freeze upon seeing the huge bear and Ryan whispers to Walter: “Just make yourself small and non-threatening.” The tall, far-from-diminutive Walter counters with an emphatic “I can’t!” and sure enough, attracts the bear’s attention. The two men let out yells that could rival any scream queen’s before Jesse swoops in to save the day, gallantly saying, “You’re safe, girls!” as he shoots the bear with a tranquilizer dart. The whole sequence is laugh-out-loud funny, and played to perfection by Jonathan Togo, Omar Benson Miller and Eddie Cibrian.

The episode continues in CSI: New York, though at this point there’s no indication of exactly what will bring Langston to New York. He’ll certainly be raking in the frequent flier miles on this expedition, though one of the requirements for enjoying the crossover venture is the suspension of disbelief that the Las Vegas crime lab would pay to fly a CSI around the country in the hopes of solving what at the outset at most seems to be a double homicide–with only one victim actually having a connection to Las Vegas. That suspension of disbelief might be a little easier to come by if the CSIs were tracking a single, memorable sinister villain–rather than a faceless gang we’ve been told is evil. Hopefully the trilogy will pick up some steam as it goes along, but for now it feels distressingly pat and predictable.

The CSI Miami co-executive producers discuss the big CSI crossover kicking off in Miami tonight, a deadly situation for three CSIs and what brings Eric Delko back–on the opposite side of his former colleagues. Spoilers inside!

CSI: Miami’s eighth season has been one of many changes for the show, with the departure of Adam Rodriguez (Eric Delko) from regular rotation and the addition of several new characters, including Jesse Cardoza (Eddie Cibrian), a CSI who worked with Horatio years ago. Co-Executive Producers Marc Dube and Barry O’Brien share some insight about the cast changes this season, what fans can expect to see in the Miami episode of the three show crossover and the status of Calleigh (Emily Procter) and Delko’s complicated relationship.

CSI Files: The big CSI crossover is set to kick off in Miami this week. What can you tell us about the Miami installment?

Barry O’Brien: The first installment of the crossover begins in Miami, Monday at ten. It’s a compelling story with noir elements — we open on a young girl, seemingly terrified, behind the wheel of her car, fleeing the city of Miami. Her tires have worn down to the rims, sparks are flying, which give evidence to her desperation. Meanwhile, the girl’s mother makes a frantic plea to Horatio Caine (David Caruso)– find her daughter. She’s missing. Our CSIs embark on what begins as a search for a missing person. Unfortunately, when they find body parts strewn off the side of the freeway, their search turns to a murder investigation. Our CSIs find parts to a second body that connects us to a missing girl in Las Vegas. Calleigh Duquesne (Emily Procter) reaches out to the Las Vegas CSI’s. As a result, Dr. Raymond Langston, played by the legendary Laurence Fishburne, flies to Miami to join the investigation. Dr. Langston and Horatio work side by side to solve both murders. In the course of their investigation, Horatio and Dr. Langston uncover a deadly conspiracy involving the Zeta Gang and long haul truckers. That story continues as we follow a young girl, kidnapped and forced into the back of an eighteen wheeler, bound for New York.

CSI Files: How will Horatio and Ray Langston get along?

O’Brien: The relationship between Horatio and Dr. Langston mirrors the relationship between David Caruso and Laurence Fishburne. These two legendary, iconic actors are truly friends. Theirs is a friendship based on a shared history as actors and the mutual respect afforded performers at the very top of their games. Watching them work together was a lot like watching professional athletes. There was a camaraderie and electricity between them like nothing I have ever seen.

CSI Files: The big news this season in CSI: Miami seems to be all the cast changes! How is everyone adjusting? What’s the biggest challenge going into the eighth season of the show with the departure of one regular and the addition of three more?

O’Brien: The cast has certainly gone through some changes. We all feel it. Actors, writers, crew. After eight seasons, the show functions as a true family. We saw the fabric of that family transition a bit this year. Adam Rodriguez left to pursue other career options. Eddie Cibrian, Omar Benson Miller and Christian Clemenson came in to fill the void. That shows you the power of Adam. It took three people to try and fill his slot. The happy truth is, Adam isn’t gone. He’ll be back for a ton of episodes this season and, hopefully, will rejoin the family full time. So, we have the amazing benefit of Eddie, Omar and Christian and have Adam as well!  Eddie Cibrian as Jesse Cardoza is an exciting addition to the show. He has a mysterious back story that we’ll be exploring in upcoming episodes. Omar is a great talent from the feature world who gives us both solid comedy elements as well as a sense of authenticity to his role. And, the Emmy-winning Christian Clemenson as ME Tom Loman… he’s a gem!

CSI Files: Was the introduction of Jesse Cardoza planned before Adam Rodriguez decided to leave the show?

O’Brien: Adam’s departure took us all by surprise. Thankfully, Eddie was available and immediately gave us all a sense of confidence that, yeah, we’d be okay. With Adam’s return… you won’t believe the electricity between these two actors once they’re playing opposite one another. Stay tuned!

CSI Files: Jesse mentioned a mysterious woman in “In Plane Sight” but told Calleigh “it’s not what you think.” Can you tease anything about this woman’s identity? Will we get to meet her at some point?

O’Brien: Jesse did, in fact, mention a mysterious woman from his past. The subject came up between both Walter and Natalia (Eva La Rue). The most I’m able to tease at this point is — it’s a mysterious woman from Jesse’s past. Trust me when I tell you, the mystery will unfold in a surprising and compelling way. And soon!  And, yes, the audience will definitely be meeting her!

CSI Files: Are there sparks flying between Jesse and Natalia? Is there a possible romance there?

O’Brien: Jesse and Natalia are great in scenes together, aren’t they? Sparks… well, let’s just say they push each other’s buttons. Natalia is on to the fact that Jesse may be hiding something. And, she’s determined to find out what that something may be. Natalia Boa Vista has a bit of a mysterious past herself. I think that enables her to see some of the damage behind Jesse’s stoic demeanor. Suffice to say, all is not what it seems with either Jesse or Natalia. When the truth comes out, new vulnerability will be revealed for both characters. And, that’s the stuff of great drama.

CSI Files: Fans have noticed Natalia is around less than some of her co-workers. Is there a reason for this? Can we expect to see more of her in future episodes?

Marc Dube: We certainly have a larger cast to contend with this season. Which is a great thing. More story possibilities. However, as a result, we have to shuffle around some of our players on the field. By season’s end, we really make a conscious effort to be sure every character has faced some kind of personal or professional challenge. Natalia Boa Vista’s turn is certainly coming. She will be facing a personal setback in the workplace, which forces her to conceal a harsh truth from colleagues.

CSI Files: What’s on the horizon for Ryan Wolfe (Jonathan Togo)? He and Delko had a rocky start that ultimately resulted in a friendship; will Ryan and Jesse become friends as well?

Dube: Ryan and Jesse are forging a unique relationship. They’re definitely not afraid to bust on each other. Jesse was quick to point out that he was a member of CSI long before Wolfe showed up. And Wolfe is extremely curious about Jesse’s elusive background and is not afraid to put him on the spot about it. Jesse plays it off, but how long can he keeping the probing questions at bay?

CSI Files: What exactly is the status of Eric and Calleigh’s relationship? Are they still together, or is their relationship over?

O’Brien: The frayed ends and emotional unfinished business between Calleigh and Eric Delko will remain a driving force roiling just under the surface of season eight at CSI: Miami. As my daughter, Delaney, often asks me… will Calleigh and Eric ever get together? The answer is — I can’t say. But, that very question and the emotional power behind it, will inform every time these two characters are in a scene together. I can tell you this– I’m very confident you will not expect the surprising turns this subtextual story takes.

CSI Files: Delko left the lab, but we’ve heard he’ll be back on the show. What are the circumstances surrounding his return?

O’Brien: Delko makes a powerful return to the series in episode 811 when he becomes a forensic expert for the defense… opposing our CSIs in a pre-trial hearing in court over a shocking murder case.  Delko finds himself head to head against both Horatio and Calleigh on the witness stand as he counters forensic evidence our team presents for the prosecution. When the judge in the case refuses to take the case to trial, Delko finds himself “monitoring” his old team as they go back to the scene to find more compelling evidence. As you can imagine, the dynamic between the characters is turned on its ear and tested as its CSI versus CSI. Delko and his old team ultimately join forces to find the real killer. And, the outcome is a shocker!

CSI Files: Will there be any emotional fallout for Calleigh over his departure?

O’Brien: As I mentioned, the fallout for Calleigh and Delko will continue and deepen in complexity as the season progresses. Just as Locard says… one always leaves evidence on another. So, it goes for Eric and Calleigh. They’ve left an indelible mark on each other and this is the year they confront that.

CSI Files: Miami has something of a revolving door for lab techs. Is Walter Simmons here to stay?

Dube: We love the guy. He sells the science and he makes us laugh. His interaction with the rest of the cast feels fresh. We’ve really enjoyed his involvement in the show and are looking forward to seeing how it evolves.

CSI Files: We’ve heard that there will be a showdown between pals Jesse and Walter in which Jesse is aiming his gun at Walter. Can you tease anything about that situation?

Dube: Yes, you will see Jesse and Walter take each other on in an episode entitled, “Count Me Out.” You’ll see their friendship, but also their rivalry, and how they respond to a split-second life threatening decision. A near death experience can bring out the best and worst in people. For these two, it’s fight or flight. Which do they choose?

CSI Files: Rumor has it that two CSIs are caught in an explosion in a future episode. Can you tell us which two CSIs?

Dube: There are plenty of plot spoilers out there. We’ll let them do the heavy lifting. Two of our people do get in harm’s way — and a third has little choice but to do the same. Will they survive? Can’t say. But one thing’s for sure. Things will not be the same for one of them as a result. How’s that for a cliffhanger?

CSI Files: “Bad Seed” featured a great moment with the team all gathered together to discuss the case at hand. Can we expect to see more of that?

Dube: We’re really pushing to do more of that this season. It’s difficult to achieve from a production standpoint. More set-ups for our crew, more syncing of schedules. But it really is great to see the whole gang in a scene together. It reinforces the TEAM aspect and lends a greater sense of urgency to the stories we’re telling. It gives us a real “all hands on deck” feel.

CSI Files: Is Horatio’s son Kyle (Evan Ellingson) still working in the morgue?

Dube: Kyle could be working in the morgue… In your imagination. Maybe he’s working the graveyard shift. Either way, we’re not featuring him this season. We’ve elected to pursue other story lines for Horatio. That’s not to say the winds won’t change. We enjoyed exploring that side of Lieutenant Caine. Never say never.

CSI Files: Fan favorite Stetler (David Lee Smith) has been around quite a bit to butt heads with Horatio. Will he be showing up again anytime soon?

Dube: Stetler is the guy that stirs the pot. If our CSIs get angry on the job or at each other, it’s quite often because Stetler has stepped on somebody’s toes, made bold accusations, or questioned CSI operating procedure. He’s a valuable tool. If we want to lob another obstacle in front of our CSI’s, he’s our man. You will, most certainly, see him again.

Synopsis:

After repo man Tony Connor is caught trying to steal a plane belonging to crooked Miami financier Howard Burgess, the CSIs are surprised to discover the body of Howard Burgess himself stashed away in the plane’s toilet. Tripp notes bitterly that Burgess swindled half of Miami out of their life savings–including Tripp himself. While Walter Simmons goes about retrieving Burgess’s body, Calleigh questions Connor, who insists Burgess must have already been dead on the plane when he went to retrieve it. Walter recovers a hand-rolled marijuana cigarette on the floor of the plane. The team traces Burgess’s ankle bracelet to his house, and finds his teenage son Daniel there. Daniel admits the cigarette was his–he partied on the plane a few weeks ago. Tripp notices cuts on Daniel’s hands that match a bloody file he and Horatio found in the front hall of the house. When the teen admits to helping his father saw off his ankle bracelet so that Burgess could go pay back his investors, Tripp arrests the teen. At the station, Horatio tells Daniel he’ll probably get off with just probation. Daniel tells Horatio his father wasn’t a bad man–he made some bad investments, but he intended to pay back what he could. Horatio asks where the money is, but Daniel insists he doesn’t know. When Horatio asks about his mother, Allison, Daniel tells him she’s at the mall. Horatio and Tripp find her at the tony Miami mall, but she isn’t shopping–she’s working. Though she was the VP of her husband’s company, she claims it was an empty title, and that she had no idea what he was doing with the investments. When the crowd catches wind of who she is, they start heckling her, and Tripp makes one arrest: a man named Carlos Guzman who is particularly aggressive. Horatio helps Allison to safety, taking her away in a police car.

Jesse questions Carlos, who tells him that he invested his life savings with Burgess after losing his job–and lost everything. He’s been living out of his car with his wife and young son. After Carlos’s wife picks him up, Jesse makes a call to the Coastline Plaza building. Horatio and Ryan search the Burgess’ house and find Howard’s ledgers hidden beneath the floorboards. Ryan goes over them back at the lab, finding several entries tabbed with the word “noise” but is unable to link the clue with an actual trail to the money. In the morgue, Dr. Tom Lowman shows Calleigh and Walter that Burgess was strangled, apparently with a chain. Lowman shows the CSIs that Burgess’s vertebrae were crushed, indicating the killer used a machine to murder him. Calleigh and Jesse return to the hanger and find the device used to kill him: a winch near the plane. They’re shocked to discover yet another repo man trying to steal the plane, and manage to stop him. This repo man was hired by a man named Gary Archer, who tells Horatio that he’s the rightful owner of the plane. Using the papers the first repo man presented, Cynthia Wells is able to recover the signature of the person who hired him: Allison Burgess. Tripp and Horatio confront her, and she tells them she truly thought the plane belonged to her husband. She insists that she doesn’t know where her husband stashed his money, but the two remain suspicious of her. Jesse and Walter return to the scene to search the septic tank of the toilet. Walter recovers a contact lens which the two suspect belongs to the killer. Walter recalls that Carlos wore glasses, but when he’s brought in for a comparison the prescription on the lens doesn’t match that of his glasses.

The team gets a new lead when Burgess’s car is discovered abandoned at 5th and Clover. Horatio notices motorcycle tire treads by the car and recalls that Burgess’s son Daniel owned a motorcycle. Horatio confronts the young man, who admits that after he freed his father from the ankle bracelet, he discovered his father’s passport missing. Realizing Burgess was fleeing rather than going to repay his investors, Daniel chased after his dad, confronted him and slashed the tires of his car. Calleigh turns back to the ledgers and discovers that Gary Archer was also a client of Howard Burgess–and that his company lost tens of millions of dollars to Burgess. Calleigh and Jesse bring him in and are able to match his contacts to the one found at the scene. Archer admits he ran into Burgess when he went to retrieve his plane, and was livid to find Burgess about to flee. When Burgess attacked him, Archer lost it–he fought back and killed him in a fit of rage. The murderer is arrested, but Calleigh and Horatio are troubled by the lack of leads on Burgess’s hidden money. When Horatio catches sight of the call letter of Archer’s plane–NO153–and sees how closely it resembles the word “noise,” he realizes the money is on the plane. The team rushes there and finds Daniel Burgess on the plane, emptying it of copious amounts of money. His game is up: he admits that his father promised him half of the money. Burgess double-crossed his own son, which is the real reason Daniel slashed his tires. Horatio has Daniel arrested, and consoles a distraught Allison Burgess as her son is led away in handcuffs. Outside the lab, an excited Carlos tells Jesse he got a call from the Coastline Plaza offering him a job as a manager–and free room and board. Walter asks Jesse if he made a call for Carlos, but Jesse demurs.

Analysis:

Miami takes a page from the Bernie Madoff scandal (story) by making this entry’s victim a man half of Miami would like to get their hands on. Even the acerbic but normally somewhat detached Frank Tripp is personally affected by the financier’s underhanded dealings: when Howard Burgess’s body is found, Tripp tells Horatio that he lost his 401 K to Burgess. Tripp’s comment immediately gives the audience a touchstone: if even the shrewd Tripp was swindled by this guy, he must have been really, really good at fooling people. Unfortunately, Tripp’s involvement isn’t taken any further than that, and we don’t find out much else about the swindling. Is Tripp hard up for money now? Fretting over his retirement? It would have been great to see the story taken a step further, to even see Horatio offer to help Tripp out with a loan or something along those lines.

The idea that Burgess scammed half of Miami is a bit over the top, as is the scene where Allison Burgess is heckled by the crowd once they realize who she is. Though the angry mob builds awfully quickly, the scene is incredibly well shot by director Larry Detwiler, who manages to build so much tension in the shots of the crowd that the audience is bracing for a shot to ring out. When something is fired at Allison, it proves to be a piece of fruit rather than a bullet, but it’s jarring enough to make viewers jump. The scene is incredibly effective, and has more of an impact than it might have otherwise because it does defy expectations so deftly.

Allison is played by the gifted Andrea Parker, who is very convincing as the downtrodden wife and mother trying to pick up the pieces of her life in the wake of her husband’s machinations. Shawn Pyfrom, who plays the Burgess’ son Daniel, has a much trickier role, and isn’t quite as successful at pulling it off. Though he’s incredibly good at pulling the wool over both the audience’s and Horatio’s eyes, he doesn’t quite nail the shift at the end, when Daniel is revealed to be just as bad as his father–exactly what Horatio warned him against becoming in their previous scene. The scene in which Daniel is discovered tearing up the plane to get at the money doesn’t quite pack the punch it should. Daniel gives up easily–after all, it’s not like there’s really another option–but he isn’t quite smarmy enough to really hate. It is nice to see that for once Horatio’s instincts were off about someone, and it gives the audience a chance to really sympathize with him. It’s refreshing to see even Horatio can be wrong about someone–it humanizes him.

Jesse Cardoza becomes more endearing with each appearance. He immediately sympathizes with the downtrodden Carlos Guzman, to the point that he’s clearly reluctant to bring the man in again once the contact is discovered. Jesse believes in Carlos’s innocence–and unlike Horatio, he turns out to be right. Jesse goes above and beyond for Carlos after he finds out the man has been living in his car, calling up someone he knows at what sounds like a tony apartment building and securing Carlos a job offer. Ever the modest hero, Jesse says nothing about his involvement–not even once Walter Simmons asks him about it. Eddie Cibrian is definitely playing Jesse as incredibly low key and humble–and also as someone who plays his cards close to his chest. There might even be a little mystery to him: when Calleigh asks if a woman is what brought him back from L.A. to Miami, he replies yes–but not in the way she thinks. This immediately intrigues–is the woman his mother? A sister? An ex-wife? A daughter? My curiosity is definitely piqued.

Ryan Wolfe might be feeling a bit territorial, though. He tries to establish a pecking order in the beginning when he tells Jesse he gets to fish Burgess out of the toilet–”first come, first served,” he says, a bit snidely. Jesse rises to the challenge, bristling a bit himself when he picks up on Ryan’s attitude. He challenges Ryan to a game of Rock Paper Scissors for the task, claiming it’s the L.A. way. Ryan promptly beats him, smugly claiming it’s the “Miami way.” Jesse snarks him right back, telling him that it’s good Ryan didn’t lose the challenge; he “wouldn’t want to get that sweater vest dirty.” It’s a fun little in-joke for longtime viewers of the show, who have no doubt taken note of Ryan’s penchant for wearing bright colors and sweater vests. Ryan has never been the most easy-going guy, and he’s clearly in the process of sizing Jesse up–while making sure that Jesse knows his place. Jesse obviously doesn’t appreciate Ryan’s attitude, and counters it with some of his own, which makes me wonder if we’ll see the same kind of friction between them that we saw between Delko and Ryan early on.

Jesse and Walter are on their way to becoming something of a delightful odd couple. As soon as Ryan wins the Rock Paper Scissors challenge, Walter shows up–unlucky timing for him, as Jesse immediately passes the task of fishing Burgess out on to him. The genial lab tech takes it well, teasing them and promising next time one of them needs to get a beaker from a high shelf, he won’t offer assistance. Jesse takes it good-naturedly, while Ryan grimaces a bit, illustrating the differences in their personalities. Walter and Jesse spend a fair amount of time together in this episode, as they did last week, and there’s an easy chemistry between Cibrian and Omar Benson Miller. These two are just fun to watch, and bring a unique, and notably different, dynamic to the show.

The same is true of the ghoulishly funny Dr. Tom Lowman, played with zeal by Christian Clemenson. I love the way he used a banana to illustrate the way Burgess’s vertebrae were crushed. Lowman is obviously a little quirky–something we see all too little of on CSI: Miami, where the characters tend to be straightforwardly earnest rather than slightly oddball. Miami could use a little more oddball behavior–it’s what makes characters like Greg on CSI and Adam on CSI: NY so endearing, and it spices up procedurals more than a little bit. It’s no coincidence that NCIS is the highest procedural right now–the show mixes the right amount of quirky humor in with its mysteries. I hope this episode isn’t Clemenson’s last.

Longtime viewers may recognize lab tech Cynthia Wells, who hasn’t been seen in an episode since season five’s “Triple Threat”! Unlike CSI, which has built up a really solid group of lab rats, and CSI: NY, which has a great character in A.J. Buckley’s lab tech Adam, Miami has something of a revolving door when it comes to lab techs. Even Boti Bliss’s Valera, who has gotten some juicy material to work with in the past, hasn’t been seen in a while. Brian Poth’s Tyler essentially disappeared; at least Brendan Fehr’s Dan Cooper got a proper exit, albeit an ignominious one. I hope Walter Simmons sticks around in a more permanent capacity.

Synopsis:

Four handsome young men play volleyball on a Miami beach in front of an appreciative audience comprised mostly of older women. The game turns into a tragedy when three out of the four players collapse and die on the sand. The CSIs come in to investigate, and Jesse Cardoza discovers blue crystals comprised of copper sulfide in the sand. The owner of the beachfront property, Dean Collins, is more concerned about his liability than the fallen players, while his wife Amanda tells Horatio that the boys were former classmates of her daughter Hailey, who is now in college on a golf scholarship. In the morgue, Dr. Tom Lowman tells Horatio that each victim died of a different cause: Troy Billings asphyxiated, Randall Garber had a subdural hematoma, and Peter Markham died of a heart attack. Horatio looks at their feet and finds a connection: they were all electrocuted. Jesse and Calleigh head back to the beach, discovering a length of cut wire beneath the sand but find it’s not connected to anything. Back in the morgue, Natalia and Horatio notice a unique bite mark pattern on Troy’s chest, and Horatio recalls Hailey Collins wearing invisaline braces that could have made the marks. Natalia and Ryan question Hailey, who admits that she hooked up with Troy–and then caught him hooking up with her mother. She tells the CSIs that her mother is a “cougar”–an older woman who beds younger men. Calleigh asks Ryan about the case in the locker room, but they’re interrupted by Delko, who has come in for his IAB interview. Stetler questions both CSIs, trying to pit them against each other, and throwing Calleigh off balance by telling her Delko referred to himself as her former boyfriend.

Dr. Lowman tells Horatio that Peter Markham was actually electrocuted through the chest–the charge exited rather than entered through his feet. Horatio finds black residue on Peter’s chest, which he turns over to Jesse and Walter Simmons, a lab tech who normally specializes in crime scene photographic evidence. Jesse and Walter determine the substance is a highly conductive black body paint, usually used in performance art. Looking at the video footage of the game, the two are able to discover that Peter had “Property of JP” painted on his chest. “JP” turns out to be Jacqueline Parsons, a beautiful older woman who doesn’t take kindly to being labeled a cougar. She claims she had no idea the paint was conductive, and that she had real feelings for Peter–feelings Amanda Collins trampled on when she bedded the young man. In the lab, Horatio posits that the electrical charge that killed the young men could have come from a lightning strike and sends Jesse and Natalia out to canvass the area again. Jesse discovers electrical tape atop a lifeguard stand and theorizes that someone could have set up a rod to attract lightning to the conductor beneath the sand. Natalia finds a piece of women’s jewelry which Jesse recognizes as part of Amanda Collins’ necklace. Natalia sends Jesse, with Walter as his wingman, to talk to the voracious Amanda, who immediately hits on Jesse. Amanda tells Jesse she lost a piece off her necklace a few days ago on the beach during a tryst with Peter. Jesse asks her about her hook ups with the other young men and if her infidelities bother her husband, and she counters that her husband has as many of his own. Jesse and Ryan pay Dean Collins a visit on his boat, and he confirms that he, too, has dalliances–and points out his latest one, Tiffany, as his alibi for the murders.

Tripp calls Ryan–he’s found their lightning rod, hidden underneath a lawnmower. Ryan examines the pieces of the rod and determines it’s a golf club–and recalls that Hailey Collins has a golf scholarship. Horatio obtains a warrant and finds several of Hailey’s golf clubs missing. Amanda tells him that her daughter moved out and that she doesn’t know where she’s gone. She tells the CSI that she lost her husband long ago–she can’t lose her daughter, too. In the lab, Jesse discovers Hailey’s clubs aren’t a match for the ones used for the lightning rod. Taking another look at the clothes collected from the Collins family, he finds a serrated cut and blood on the leg of a pair of Dean’s pants. He goes to collect the man’s shoes and finds metal shavings on them, indicating Dean sawed the golf clubs up to turn them into a lightning rod. He claims it was just meant to be an accident to send his wife a message, prompting Jesse to remind him that it’s impossible to control nature. Horatio finds Hailey on the golf course where she’s gone to find some solace. The CSI tells her what’s happened with her father, and that she and her mother need each other now. Delko is cleared by IAB and returns to work. He encounters Calleigh and the two agree that Stetler twisted some things they’d said in their interviews. The two come to a truce, and exchange smiles.

Analysis:

“Cougars”–older women who date younger men–are all the rage these days, especially on television. Between TV Land’s reality show The Cougar and ABC’s new comedy Cougar Town, there’s never been more focus on women pursuing men younger than they are. There’s something more than a little insulting about the term–as Jacqueline Parsons points out, there’s no derogatory term for a man who pursues younger women. The double standard is stamped all over this episode: while Dean Collins pursues affairs with abandon, when his wife does the same, he resorts to murder to teach her a lesson. What’s okay for him isn’t for her, at least in his mind; it’s okay for him to engage in dalliances, but for his wife to do so shames him.

The message doesn’t come through as clearly as it could in the episode, in part because the CSIs seem to find the concept more amusing than anything else. Miami has never been a champion of feminism and though writer Melissa Scrivner gets a few sharp points in through Jacqueline and Dean Collins’ motive, the main “cougar” in the episode, Amanda Collins, is about as stereotypical and two dimensional as they come. Amanda beds young stud after young stud and isn’t dissuaded from adding Troy Billings to her list of conquests despite the fact that her daughter genuinely had feelings for him–and slept with him first. While under investigation for murder, Amanda attempts to lure Jesse in by using Sharon Stone’s classic move from Basic Instinct. Then, improbably, she has a late in the game change of heart after her daughter moves out, telling Horatio she can’t lose Hailey, too. Cheryl Ladd does what she can with the one-note role, but she never becomes sympathetic. At best, she’s an object of curiosity.

The opposite is true of Jesse Cardoza, who I like more and more with each appearance. Eddie Cibrian is refreshingly low key in a show that often tends to be over the top, but he fits in wonderfully with the cast. Jesse is easy going and affable and so far seems to get along with the rest of the CSI team. He’s the object of a bit of teasing from various members of the team, and seems to be garnering a few nicknames as well. Lab tech Walter Simmons dubs him “Die Hard” for his heroic antics in “Hostile Takeover”. Jesse seems somewhat modest about his role in the situation, not really responding to Walter’s comments. Later on, Natalia refers to him as “Tarzan” after he scales the lifeguard station to look for signs of a lightning rod. Despite his good looks and physical prowess, Jesse is remarkably ego-free thus far. He’s not cocky or overly self-assured; indeed, Jesse seems like a go-with-the-flow type. It’s nice to see a new character that fits in well with the existing team right from the get-go.

The same is true of Walter Simmons, whose humor makes him another welcome addition to the show. Played by the engaging Omar Benson Miller, Simmons is a genial and warm-hearted presence, as well as a capable lab hand. Miami cycles through lab techs more than any of the other CSI shows, but word is that Miller has been made a regular, and indeed, he gets to share more of the spotlight than most Miami techs would when he accompanies Jesse to question Amanda as a “wingman” slash bodyguard to ensure that Amanda doesn’t put the moves on the comely CSI. Amanda makes an attempt anyway, in a particularly squeamish moment that was probably intended to come off as sexy. It doesn’t, and indeed, if the episode was going for sexy, that’s one place it really falls short. Both Amanda and Dean come across as slimy and sleazy. Poor Hailey–no wonder she flees home for the golf course!

Dean is played by the excellent John Terry, who has quite a presence and manages to make his one-note character more interesting than he might otherwise have been if played by another actor. The CSI shows really need to coordinate a little better on their guest casting; just last week, Terry did a stint on CSI: NY as Mac Taylor’s father in “Blacklist”. With three CSI shows on the air, it’s only natural they’d recycle guest stars, and there are plenty of actors who have two or three of the shows on their resumes. But having the same actor–and a memorable one at that–show up in two of the shows in the space of a week is a bit much. And Terry is far from a low profile guest star: many viewers probably recognize him as Jack’s enigmatic father, Christian, on Lost.

Stetler is up to his old tricks again this week, this time trying to suss out what exactly went down in last season’s finale “Seeing Red” when Calleigh shot at Eric. Granted, Stetler’s job is to get to the bottom of the shooting, but he’s downright devious about trying to pit them against each other, going so far as to tell Calleigh that Eric referred to himself as her “former boyfriend.” Stetler is definitely in adversary mode in this episode, and he grills both CSIs, trying to get Calleigh to admit that Eric was fleeing the scene of a crime with a known felon. Delko’s memory of the day is hazy due to his injuries and the fact that the bullet fragment in his brain moved, but Stetler tries to get him to admit he was engaged in some sort of criminal activity, which Delko staunchly denies. As so often happens when Stetler’s intentions are less than noble, he doesn’t end up getting anywhere with getting the two CSIs to incriminate each other.

Though things seem pretty chilly between Calleigh and Delko when they run into each other in the locker room early in the episode, Calleigh explains to Ryan after Delko leaves that they’ve been forbidden to speak to each other until the case is cleared. Calleigh is less matter-of-fact about it than she was when explaining it to Natalia in “Hostile Takeover”–it’s clear the separation is wearing on her. But by the end of the episode, Delko is cleared–and just about ready to return to work. Rather than letting Stetler’s ploys get to them, Delko and Calleigh clear the air rather quickly, while not avoiding what happened. “You shot at me,” Delko says, while Calleigh counters, “You drove a car at me.” After a cute little back and forth, they finally agree to a truce and exchange smiles. Is everything okay? Can their relationship get back on track after what they’ve been through? Time will tell–but given that Adam Rodriguez is set to leave the show sometime this season, the outlook isn’t so sunny.

Miller will play Walter Simmons, a man who transfers to Horatio’s team from the night shift. The character is from Louisiana, and he is an art theft specialist. Miller was originally added as a guest star, but the network recently picked him up as a series regular.