See Also: 'Lost Son' Episode Guide

One CSI's future remains uncertain as a window is opened into the past.

According to CSI Files sources, the premiere of CSI: Miami's eighth season will pick up where the season seven finale ended. Eric Delko has been found, but things don't look good for the CSI. He has a bullet fragment lodged in his brain, and the EMTs work hard to keep him alive in the ambulance as they rush him to the hospital.

Former ME Alexx Woods (Khandi Alexander) is in the emergency room, and she has to deliver the news: if they don't remove the bullet fragment from Eric's brain, he doesn't have much of a chance. But the surgery is risky, and Calleigh is reluctant to tell the doctors to go ahead with it. The decision is on her shoulders, and Horatio tells her to do whatever Eric would want her to do.

As the surgeons get to work trying to save Eric's life, the hands of the clock turn back to reveal how it all began for the Miami-Dade crime lab. It's 1997, and things look very different than they do in 2009. Eric can be found along a stretch of road in the Everglades, driving a tow truck rather than a Hummer. He pulls a car out of the water, and the trunk pops open on its own. Eric leans forward and spots a dead woman inside. Disgusted, Eric returns to his tow truck and uses the CB radio to get in contact with the police. He tells them he has something Detective Horatio Caine would like to see.

Horatio arrives with his partner, Detective Jack Sullivan. The younger Horatio is a homicide detective wearing a tie, and his trademark sunglasses are nowhere to be seen. The detectives start to investigate the murder once they have identified the victim as Amy Wallace. Her husband Steve is distraught, and he tells the detectives that he has been out of town on business. Jack, better known as Sully, isn't convinced by the husband's story. He can smell bleach in the house, and Steve can't provide a solid alibi for the last 24 hours.

Amy was killed by a gunshot to the back of her head. Alexx, still a coroner in 1997, removes the bullet and gives it to Horatio. The bullet is the same size and type as the bullets Horatio and Sully found at the victim's house. The husband denies owning a gun, insisting that he got rid of it at his at his wife's request--he just forgot to get rid of the bullets.

Horatio and Sully form very different opinions about the case. Sully is convinced that the husband did it, but Horatio has a different theory: he thinks the gardener looks good for the murder. Their differing conclusions about the case lead to even more divergent ideas about how they should investigate Amy's murder. Sully is happy with good old-fashioned police work, but Horatio wants to make use of some of the latest scientific advances to prove who committed the crime.

More familiar faces can be found around the department. Calleigh Duquesne is the new girl, freshly transferred from Liberty City and trying to keep a sweet smile on her face as the guys in the department give her a hard time for being a woman. She isn't pleased with the tiny, unimpressive ballistics lab, but she quickly finds her niche working with Horatio.

Tim Speedle (Rory Cochrane), the CSI that was killed in the season three opener, "Lost Son", is working with Horatio on the case when he runs into a teenaged Ryan Wolfe. Ryan is in the Junior Officers group, and he admits that he wants to be just like Speed some day. During the investigation, Speed calls on a woman he knows at the Miami Bureau of the FBI, Natalia Boa Vista.

Ausiello reports that Alexander has been confirmed to appear in the premiere, but it has not been revealed whether Cochrane will return to reprise his role during the flashback. "We're talking to Rory right now about coming back," executive producer Ann Donahue explained. "We don't know if it's going to happen yet." Kim Delaney was a series regular during Miami's first season, but her character Megan Donner is not scheduled to appear in the episode. "We love Kim [but] we didn't approach her to do this," Donahue said. "We [may] mention that Megan is on a task force in Tallahassee."

Please note that the above plot details have not been confirmed by CBS, Alliance Atlantis or Bruckheimer Films, and until such time you should treat this information as you would any other rumour. The above information comes from early script drafts and the details of the episodes are liable to change before the episodes are shown.

The season eight premiere of Miami will air September 21 on CBS. Ausiello's information about the casting is from here.

Discuss this news item at Talk CSI!
 Add CSI Files RSS feed to your news reader or My Yahoo!
Also a Desperate Housewives fan? Then visit GetDesperate.com!