Cue Roger Daltrey Scream
OPEN: JANUS FILE #0198
Ah, the new TV season is getting underway. For me, the new season started with last night's season premiere of CSI: Miami.
It would have been difficult, if not impossible, to top last season's premiere. Particularly the teaser, which ended with a breathtaking 360-degree panoramic shot of Horatio Caine at the base of the Christ The Redeemer statue in Rio De Janeiro. And in the opinion of Xanga reviewer televinita, last season's finale fell somewhat short of the premiere as well. The final scene was another 360-degree panoramic shot of Horatio; this time, he was standing on the heliport at the top of some unnamed skyscraper in Miami.
(In the producers' defense, I will point out that Miami just doesn't have anything as distinctive. In New York, they could have put Horatio on the Statue Of Liberty, or on the 86th floor of the Empire State Building. In Chicago, the shot could have been made on the Sears Tower. Here in Louisville, you could have used the Kaden Tower, which has a distinctive look, even if it isn't the tallest building in the city. But as far as I know, Miami doesn't have a similar landmark.)
The CSI: Miami premiere was a good, solid opener. What disappointed me the most was that the show is using the exact same opening credits from last year. What I found especially disappointing is that after being added to the opening credits last year, Rex Linn and Eva La Rue didn't get equations this year. I really am hoping that the credits will change sometime during the season.
What really is attracting my interest, though, is something that will be happening in an early episode this season. According to reports that I have read from a number of sources, former cast member Rory Cochrane will be coming back. There is just one problem I have with this. Cochrane's character, Tim Speedle, was killed in a shootout several seasons ago. When we last saw Speed, he was coughing up blood as Horatio was exhorting him to hold on, that an ambulance was on its way. We saw his autopsy; we saw his funeral. As Dr. McCoy said oh so often during the original Star Trek, "He's dead, Jim!"
This is not a series like Charmed, where all of the Halliwell sisters died several times during the course of the series. They got better through various magical twists (with one notable exception). This isn't even a case like Horatio's brother Raymond, whose death was faked. No, Tim Speedle was killed in the line of duty, and we saw the body. So how do they plan to bring him back?
Okay, I can think of a couple of possibilities. First, it could be a flashback episode. Something about the current case has connections to a case from the past, and we could see scenes from the past where Speed was working on that case. Second, Cochrane could be coming back, but as a different character. (Dare I suggest that he would be playing Speed's identical cousin from England?)
It's going to be interesting to see how CSI: Miami pulls this off without getting the fans in an uproar over how they do it.
CLOSE: JANUS FILE #0198
Ah, the new TV season is getting underway. For me, the new season started with last night's season premiere of CSI: Miami.
It would have been difficult, if not impossible, to top last season's premiere. Particularly the teaser, which ended with a breathtaking 360-degree panoramic shot of Horatio Caine at the base of the Christ The Redeemer statue in Rio De Janeiro. And in the opinion of Xanga reviewer televinita, last season's finale fell somewhat short of the premiere as well. The final scene was another 360-degree panoramic shot of Horatio; this time, he was standing on the heliport at the top of some unnamed skyscraper in Miami.
(In the producers' defense, I will point out that Miami just doesn't have anything as distinctive. In New York, they could have put Horatio on the Statue Of Liberty, or on the 86th floor of the Empire State Building. In Chicago, the shot could have been made on the Sears Tower. Here in Louisville, you could have used the Kaden Tower, which has a distinctive look, even if it isn't the tallest building in the city. But as far as I know, Miami doesn't have a similar landmark.)
The CSI: Miami premiere was a good, solid opener. What disappointed me the most was that the show is using the exact same opening credits from last year. What I found especially disappointing is that after being added to the opening credits last year, Rex Linn and Eva La Rue didn't get equations this year. I really am hoping that the credits will change sometime during the season.
What really is attracting my interest, though, is something that will be happening in an early episode this season. According to reports that I have read from a number of sources, former cast member Rory Cochrane will be coming back. There is just one problem I have with this. Cochrane's character, Tim Speedle, was killed in a shootout several seasons ago. When we last saw Speed, he was coughing up blood as Horatio was exhorting him to hold on, that an ambulance was on its way. We saw his autopsy; we saw his funeral. As Dr. McCoy said oh so often during the original Star Trek, "He's dead, Jim!"
This is not a series like Charmed, where all of the Halliwell sisters died several times during the course of the series. They got better through various magical twists (with one notable exception). This isn't even a case like Horatio's brother Raymond, whose death was faked. No, Tim Speedle was killed in the line of duty, and we saw the body. So how do they plan to bring him back?
Okay, I can think of a couple of possibilities. First, it could be a flashback episode. Something about the current case has connections to a case from the past, and we could see scenes from the past where Speed was working on that case. Second, Cochrane could be coming back, but as a different character. (Dare I suggest that he would be playing Speed's identical cousin from England?)
It's going to be interesting to see how CSI: Miami pulls this off without getting the fans in an uproar over how they do it.
CLOSE: JANUS FILE #0198