See Also: 'Rio' Episode Guide

Horatio Caine (David Caruso) and company make a good impression.

Visually speaking, CSI: Miami "has the most individualistic look on television: hyper-saturated color, blazing contrast, and brightness to an almost eye-searing degree," according to Matt Hough from the Home Theater Forum. The reviewer at Blogger News Network agreed, saying that the "Miami iteration of the CSI franchise just may be the most visually distinctive of the lot. I am pretty sure that anyone surfing channels would identify CSI: Miami in a glance, even if none of the stars are in the shot." CHUD.com reviewer Eileen recognized the premiere episode as the most impressive of the season:

"Rio" is by far the most beautiful episode (possibly the most expensive) I've ever seen on television and it was also one of the most exciting. The breathtaking scenery of Brazil combined with some intense action scenes involving Horatio made for a very satisfying episode.

Moving from the presentation to the episodes themselves, Jeff Swindoll from Monsters and Critics said that the fifth season had "enough thrills, chills, and mystery to keep the fan on the edge of their seats." The fifth season was Eileen's "favorite mainly because it covered a lot of ground and this was done without letting things go stale." The CHUD.com reviewer also praised the cast of the show:

The main reason I started watching CSI: Miami was because of David Caruso but after five seasons I have grown to enjoy the other actors on the show as well. The series works best when the entire main cast is involved in solving a crime together and this strength is mainly due to the fact that all of them have worked together for several seasons.

The fifth season of CSI: Miami contains a number of special features sprinkled throughout the set, including five episode commentaries. Adam Rodriguez (Eric Delko), Jonathan Togo (Ryan Wolfe), Eva La Rue (Natalia Boa Vista), director Sam Hill and writer Corey Miller are among the cast and crew members who take part in discussing the episodes. The other features include a segment that shows the makeup and special effects directors explaining how they give "the corpses, the injured, and the survivors the looks they need to make the crimes on the show believable," according to Hough. Hough also described another of the DVD set's featurettes:

The longest of the set’s featurettes is "The Real MDPD" which features co-star Jonathan Togo visiting the actual Miami-Dade Police Department and exploring various departments (which, of course, look nothing like their network TV counterparts). He interviews workers in the evidence lab, the DNA lab, the ballistic unit, the marine patrol unit, and the Special Response Team (Miami’s version of SWAT). It’s an engaging 25-minute tour of the real-life setting where actual crimes get investigated and solved.

The fifth season of Miami can be purchased at Amazon.com.

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