We are NOT detective…
We are detective
We are select
We are detective
Come to collect
Somebody’s after me
He left his footprints by the garden tree
Last night when I got home
I got the feeling I was not alone!- Thompson Twins – We Are Detective (circa 1982)*
A little ditty of clarity came over me, as I watched Lawrence Fishburn’s Raymond Langston stumble through his first few hours as a level 1 CSI. Just a small piece mind but it was enough to leave a wry smile on my face.
Thinking back, on a number of occasions, I have heard Mac Taylor in CSI:NY state that he’s not a policeman – he’s with the Crime Lab. Of course he’s right & in retrospect, Gil Grissom was no more the detective than his NY opposite.
This brings me to CSI Miami & it’s here where the problems arise for me with this show. David Caruso’s Horatio Caine was a former NYPD homicide detective before becoming a CSI Day Shift Supervisor but he’s character seems to have forgotten that he no longer represents the NYPD. Too much of the swagger & too much to much, I told you so – the characterisation, for me, is too heavy handed & it’s way too cheesy for the CSI franchise. This is why I tend to steer clear of this now when it comes back for another season – at least until the producers decide to replace H with a new face.
My worry was that with the departure of the Grissom character in CSI, Lawrence Fishburn would burst through the Las Vegas based CSI, playing a similar ham-fisted, cheese-ridden character that would ultimately spoil the feel I have for the show.
Luckily, I can report that Dr Langston is no detective & it looks likely he’ll never be one either.
To fill Gil’s boots? I doubt he’d dare too.
DM∞
*Some of the worst lyrics to come out of the '80s but somehow, I love this song...
On the whole they managed the transition a lot better than I expected, since I’ve been a William Petersen fan ever since Manhunter, whenever that was. They didn’t try a plain replacement, which would never have worked. (Yes, I was all primed to go “No! Never! You’ll never be Gil Grissom! Shoo!” — and instead, they just acknowledged that and moved on.)
As for CSI: Miami… a (UK, I should add) friend called it — and him — “the Sunglasses of Justice” and I’ve never been able to call it anything else since. Caruso is best at humourless paladin types anyway (NYPD Blue…), and probably far too loath to let anyone else have much of the limelight. Or so I imagine. CSI: Miami is sterile, empty, oversaturated and about people whose shallow, botoxed lives I don’t give a rat’s arse about. (Same for CSI: NY, though for slightly different reasons.)
THE CSI, on the other hand, has kept its irreverence in the face of death, its morgue humour, and the occasional touch of the grotesque which (IMO) is de rigueur if you’re filming in & about Las Vegas.
Ysharros
March 31, 2009 at 12:39 am
Manhunter = 1986! Can you believe 24 years have passed?
As William Petersen has stayed on in his producer role, I can imagine he’ll still have some influence over the feel of the show. I do agree that Fishburn hasn’t been cast in an obvious replacement role & instead the whole show’s remaining cast may be seen to be adjusting for the rest of the season.
Sunglasses of Justice is such a great tagline! HAHA!
Shallow is definately the feeling I get from the Miami spin-off, although I do have more time for Gary Sinise in NY.
dmosbon
March 31, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Gary Sinise is lovely. In fact, the cast of CSI: NY are all rather good, but something is missing, and I’m not sure what. Maybe… a touch of humour (apart from the splitty-glasses coroner), a little more about THEM as people (killer boyfriends notwithstanding)…
Dunno. It has some of the things I feel it’s missing, so maybe it’s in the quantity or the execution. Or maybe it’s just not CSI: LV.
Ysharros
March 31, 2009 at 8:21 pm
I like CSI:NY. It’s dry and the actors sometimes overact (big facial expressions), but it’s better than most other serious stuff on TV.
Aaron
April 1, 2009 at 6:42 am
The Wire has just started it’s 1st season run in the UK – did you catch that one Aaron? Heard nothing but praise for it…
dmosbon
April 1, 2009 at 5:24 pm
I was really bummed that William Peterson was leaving the show, but the writing was on the wall, so I wasn’t surprised. I do think that the Dr. Langston character has really grown on me and fits in well. He adds a whole new dimension to the show because of his back ground and that he seems to be a bit more emotional that Grissom was.
I love CSI: NY, think the show is great. To me it’s what would happen if CSI and CSI: Miami had a child, it’s sort of a mix between the two.
I liked CSI: Miami the first season, but the Horatio Cane character just annoys me too much now.
xXJayeDuBXx
April 2, 2009 at 4:32 am
But would replacing Cane make Miami a better developed show, re storylines & character development?
dmosbon
April 4, 2009 at 10:16 am
No, I suspect it would be worse. They need to make the other chars a little more than cardboard cutouts, and give Horatio a little life back too (he was at his best when he was being all protectory of the innocents, they being his brother/sister in law / brother’s mistress / brother’s mistress’s daughter). Sound like a soap opera yet?
I’m also rabidly *against* the current pairing of lovely Calleigh and yucky Eric, who is one step up from a sulky snotling. Pouting and scowling does not an actor make you, Mr Eric.
And finally… who on EARTH thought putting little miss the-4400 in to replace Khandi Alexander (the previous ME) would be ideal? Yes, they’re both cocoa-coloured and skinny and have long hair, but I just can’t suspend my disbelief enough to see this born-yesterday slip of a girl as chief-ME material. Come on, she’s not even out of diapers yet, and medical school takes a few years, let alone growing a career to the point at which you can be chief ME of Miami-Dade county.
Oh dead, is the froth showing?
Last thing, I promise — I just saw the William Friedkin-directed 200th CSI: LV and was not impressed. Not that Friedkin is bad, just that his attempt at making a movie out of a one-hour show does a disservice to both. That it, no other spoilers.
Ysharros
April 4, 2009 at 1:57 pm