Csi: Miami - Seventh Season [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

"Jumped the Shark" is a saying coined from the old Happy Days show. When Arthur Fonzarelli jumped a shark wearing his trademark leather jacket, it was a sign that the show had run out of ideas and had turned to lunacy. First I should say that I am a CSI Miami and David Caruso (Horatio Caine) fan. I thoroughly enjoyed Season 6 with the Brazilian twist. Who can forgot Caine shooting it up in Rio, and his one liner "That's how we do it in Miami." Cool stuff.

Unfortunately, something went terribly wrong in Season 7. The stories are not well written, the character's lines are awkward and simplistic, and things turn a bit pointless. I do not blame the actors, since clearly they have proven themselves capable of greater things. It is quite simply the writers... time to clean house and get some fresh talent. Or perhaps this was already done, and the new talent is simply lacking. Whatever the reason, Season 7 is not up the standards of previous seasons. One specific complaint I have is why does everyone have to be under 25 and gorgeous? The new medical examiner looks barely old enough to drive, let alone head up a major city's crime lab's medical lab. It is still beautiful eye candy... impossibly colorful sets, well dressed models doing the acting thing, things going boom, and lots of Caine's one liners. So it can still be a fun show. Just don't expect too much from this one.

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I used to enjoy this series, but, with Season 7, the flaws which were hidden away in the series have come perilously close to eclipsing the enjoyment factor. Primary wondering: Who is the intended audience? The series used to have some level of intelligence about it, but is steadily sliding into the vast void of clichés.

** All women must be of the cookie cutter variety. Stiletto heels? For crime scenes? Come on! It appears one plastic surgeon was contracted for the whole series. Make-up (and tons of it!) and hair styles the same. Beaches and pools filled with hordes of the same few bodies, done a hundred times over. Older lead guy can only be in relationships with pitiful, and/or neurotic, anorexic youngsters. This pretty much demeans everyone -- audience, actors, writers, producers.
** Appearance of Woodwork Family. Yawn. When shows are losing their edge, all of a sudden the previously non-existent family appears out of the woodwork. The characters are written in the absence of creativity, rather than as a part of creativity, and are pure filler material. About as interesting as packaging, except they stay around a lot, lot longer. Very long.
** Bad guys are pure evil. Granted, this particular problem runs throughout almost all TV series having to do with crime, so can't put this on this series alone. But it would be great to see some bad guys elevated to actually being interesting enough to do something beside be evil comic book villains. Saris, the Russian mobster du jour, etc., are so one-dimensional and boring, the best to hope for is they die (without coming back from the dead) and the show moves on.
** One story per episode. The series used carry its weight, by having the different CSIs working on different crimes, creating an energetic and interesting interweave of plots and characters. Now it is one story per episode ... or a story with an ongoing pure evil bad guy sprinkled on top.

~~ I like the Horatio Caine persona. Gutsy David Caruso creates a wonderfully individualized character. But Caine is so Caine I believe one would need to like the weird character, with his sideways crabwalk and strange speech cadence, to enjoy the show. Even Caine had not much to go on this season. Too much of the prefab family, too little substance.
~~ Emily Procter is terrific on a bad day. And she has no bad days. Procter's Calleigh Duquesne is an excellently drawn character, pulled off with a surprising range of thought and emotions, with just the right touch of sly humor.
~~ I enjoy the other regular characters just fine, particularly Detective Tripp (Rex Linn). But another reviewer said it for me: Bring back Dr. Alexx Woods (Khandi Alexander)!

Spoilers Ahead!!! What an interesting season! In the very first episode of the season, we find out who wants Horatio Caine (David Caruso) dead and in the final episode, Eric Delko (Adam Rodriguez) has disappeared with his devious father. Both Horatio's son Kyle (Evan Ellingson) and Eric get thrown into jail,a new coroner named Dr. Tara Price (Megalyn Echikunwoke) turns out to have an addiction to Oxycodone pain killer pills, Eric and Calleigh Duquesne have a blooming relationship with each other, Yelina Salas (Sofia Milos) returns undercover, Horatio's mortal enemy Ron Saris (Kim Coates) turns out to be married to Horatio's ex Julia Winston (Elizabeth Berkley), Natalia Boa Vista (Eva La Rue) was lucky enough this season to not have so much of the drama focused on her, and Ryan Wolfe (Jonathan Togo) was forced to betray his team within the entire season's swirl and hinting of the Russian Mob's constant tabs on the team's every move. The crimes have become more intriguing from a con man who tricked married women into sexual relations for their money, a man who cannot remember how he could have killed an entire family, and explore the world of extreme plastic surgery. Season Seven has proved itself to be one of the best seasons yet to watch and I would definitely recommend it over the tedious CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Season Nine. Don't miss a second of this hard-hitting drama with non-stop action in each episode. Episodes I recommend are: Episode 1 "Resurrection" in where Horatio has been supposedly shot, Episode 10 "The DeLuca Motel" where a shooter targets the place where Eric is staying at, Episode 20 "Wolfe In Sheep's Clothing" where Ryan is forced to betray the team by altering evidence in a case, Episode 24 "Dissolved" where Julia spins out of control and Dr. Price is fired, and Episode 25 "Seeing Red" where Eric finds out about his father's involvement in a current case and disappears to help him out.