(S05E14) Well this was unexpected. I think CBS actually did a good job about keeping this episode under wraps.

Wrong.

That statement would have been true had it not been for the multitude of previews that have been shown for this episode. And what did every single one of them show? Delko, lying motionless in a parking lot. Becuase of that, I think myself (along with the rest of America who watched the Super Bowl and caught one of those previews), knew who was going to bite the dust.

Don't get me wrong. I'm all about shaking up the cast and it makes sense that it would occur during February sweeps... but c'mon. Try and surprise me a little?

"When you go to Miami, watch your step. Because every move you make could be your last."

That's a line from the commercial that's been running all week for tonight's CSI: Miami. How does the city of Miami feel about this? It's probably great publicity when your city is not only the setting for the most popular TV show in the universe but the name of the city is actually in the title. But what an odd type of publicity.

Basically, the ad is saying "hey, you might want to come to the city, but you better give it a second thought or you might, you know, die." Sure, I know the show is about murder and the solving of various crimes (mostly, um, murder), but imagine Las Vegas having an ad that said "you might want to come to Las Vegas, but watch out: you'll lose all your money and might be approached by a hooker." Or how about an ad for It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia that said "if you think it's always sunny here, think again. Sometimes it rains, and you might just get raped."

(S05E12) Good-bye Rob Estes. I am so glad his guest stint on CSI: Miami didn't last long because he played a total ass. This was probably the best episode of the season and I'm not saying that just because I hated the character of Nick Townsend. If you actually think about how this episode played out, the way it was written, and how the few characters involved were all connected at the end, it was very well done.

There were a lot of things that I liked about this episode actually. Giving more time to some lesser characters (Jake and Valera) was very cool to see. It was also funny to see the night shift team and how inept they are. But nothing beats Horatio and those canned one-liners. I missed those.

There's a tongue-in-cheek article over at The New York Times about a theory among television critics that all the procedurals on CBS are an homage to Les Moonves. I'm starting to subscribe to this theory (and feel a little jealous that I didn't come up with it first!). The columnist argues that procedurals such as all the CSI franchises, Without a Trace, Criminal Minds, Shark and NCIS all have a lead male character in his 50s who is a workaholic and young minions eager to please him. The writer suggests that this is how CBS chief exec Les Moonves sees himself.

The article points out that while guys like Jerry Bruckheimer produce many of the series, it's Moonves who does the hand-picking of the series that make air. And he chooses the man who will play the 'fatherly' lead roles. The writer notes that, like Moonves, none of these lead actors is bald (except Stanley Tucci, but 3 lbs was canceled after thre episodes). And, Moonves' marriage to Early Show anchor Joey Chen reflects the common storyline in these series about young, beautiful women falling in love with the married-to-work men.

Is it a waste of newsprint? Maybe. But it's still a cute poke at Moonves and all the similar series he has on CBS.

(S05E11) This was a follow-up to that absolutely ridiculous episode from a few weeks ago. Remember the one where the guy and his family got kidnapped, it was somehow tied to a terrorist plot, and then it ended with Horatio blowing up a truck with his sniper rifle? That one? Terrible episode. That sort of bugs me now because this one was pretty decent.

It picks up with the trial of the female terrorist who was behind the plot to blow up with nuclear power plot at Turkey Point. Her name is Sonya Barak if you recall and her sleazy lawyer was able to get her off on bail much to the dismay of the father of the family she had a hand in kidnapping. Thus led to a good old fashioned cat and mouse chase and a bunch of corny, and hilarious, one-liners from Horatio.

Non-profit advocacy group People for the American Way are hosting a ten-day charity auction that includes some mighty tempting television-related items. If you've got the cash, TV-loving friends and an altruistic spirit, consider your holiday shopping complete. Up for grabs are set visits to Desperate Housewives and CSI: Miami, tours of South Park Studios and the Playboy Mansion, signed scripts from Family Guy and Oz, signed books by Al Franken and James Carville, lunch with Elvira at the Magic Castle and an invite to a table read with the cast of Family Guy.

How did a Washington-based advocacy group get so connected to the Left Coast? One of the organization's founders is none other than Norman Lear, the man who created The Jeffersons, Good Times, Maude and All in the Family.

(S05E10) Did this episode seem weird to anyone else? Weird as in something that shouldn't have even been tackled by Horatio and his team? One character even pointed it out during his interrogation: "Isn't Iraq a little bit out of your jurisdiction?" My thoughts exactly. Maybe it's just me, but damn near everything in this episode seemed like a bit of a stretch.

If anything, I appreciated that the writers for this show were willing to take on a tough subject like the war in Iraq but I think they handled it the wrong way. The episode had a clear negative view on the war (which was great) but I didn't agree 100% with the way they negatively portrayed the Marines and their recruiters. They made everyone seem so devious and two-faced which came across as disrespectful if you ask me. Although it is only one interpretation of what's going on and as I said, you have to at least give them a pat on the back for going near the topic.

David Caruso is so over the top as Horatio Caine and I'm not the only one who thinks so. Someone has edited Horatio one liners in a seven-minute long video clip and posted it on YouTube. It's a compilation of all the super-cool lines he has before the opening credits of CSI: Miami. And each one ends with the opening note of the theme song. By the way, you don't need to watch the whole seven minutes to understand that Horatio Caine is the master of the ellipsis (...). And, he uses his sunglasses as a prop way too much.

Video is after the jump:

(S05E09) I really do love this show and understand that you have to take it with a grain of salt to truly enjoy it, but c'mon. This episode was ridiculous! How did we go from a charity auction with gorgeous females to a terrorist plot to blow up the Turkey Point nuclear power plant? Only on this show.

I was glad they brought back Jake Berkley, Calleigh's old love interest. We haven't seen him in a few episodes. Now that he's left the ATF and joined the Miami-Dade police department, it'll be interesting to see if their romance continues. I'm thinking yes, or else why bother bringing him back at all? Speaking of Calleigh's love interests, whatever happened to Peter from the treasury department? I thought things were on the up and up for those two after last year's season finale and I'm only now realizing that we haven't seen him in some time.

(S05E08) After last week's episode, I read a decent chunk of comments about how viewers weren't too excited about Boa Vista and all the screen time she's been getting as the newest member of the team. As one commenter put it, "It seems the producers are trying to get us to like the Boa Vista character by making her the center of Season 5."

Well, I don't think most people realized it (unless they read it somewhere beforehand as I did), but this episode was based partly on a true story. Eva LaRue, who plays Natalia, went through a similar ordeal in real life with her sister Nikka. So I think in this case we can cut Boa Vista some slack.

(S05E07) This show is so bad and that's why I love it. It's a full hour of garbage every week and I can't help but watch it. I love that about CSI: Miami.

So imagine my surprise after this episode. It was actually so bad, that it was, well... bad. First episode all season that I didn't like and I've got a whole laundry list of reasons that began with the very first scene. Underground car racing? Really? Haven't we had enough of this Fast and the Furious junk? Sure the first film wasn't that bad, although I liked it better the first time I saw it when it was called Point Break. Second one wasn't necessary, then they went to Tokyo, and now it's invading my beloved CSI: Miami. Damn you Vin Diesel.

(S05E06) Has CSI: Miami ever had a Halloween themed episode before? I don't think they have. Good for us because they saved all the cheesy stuff for this one. What a great episode. Sort of creepy, completely laughable and it was chock full of hilarious lines. Take that picture to the right? Anyone else remember what Horatio mumbled as he was casually strolling away from the exploding car? "Burn baby, burn." Stuff like that? Another reason to love this show.

(S05E05) This was an interesting episode. It wasn't great... just interesting. The use of eminent domain as the focus for the primary case was an odd choice I thought. Not because it isn't a big issue in Florida. It is. I just thought the way they adapted it to this particular episode was a little self-serving and far-fetched. I mean, the city of Miami snatching up a whole neighborhood near the water to make strip-malls or whatever? Of course, it was all the result of dirty politics. All good reasons for Horatio to cock his head and say something brilliant.

(S05E04) People love to badmouth this show! "It's cheesy!" "It's so campy!" "A corpse could act better than David Caruso!" All of that may be true, but if people are badmouthing CSI: Miami, that means something else too. We're all watching it! That's got to count for something. Well I still think it's good, and despite the slow start to this episode, I think it turned into one of the best Miami eps yet.

(S05E03) 100 episodes... quite the milestone for any show. And how does CSI: Miami celebrate? By having Omar Gooding guest star. If that doesn't say milestone, I don't know what does.