Post by Forever Xena on Oct 14, 2005 2:35:26 GMT -6
'CSI: Miami's' Character Creating Procedure
(Saturday, October 08 12:01 AM)
By Kate O'Hare
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) According to conventional wisdom, one hallmark of the crime procedural is its lack of emphasis on character development in favor of tracking the mechanics of an investigation. But there's no law saying one can't do both. In fact, if success is any measure, that may be the way to go.
Airing Monday, "CSI: Miami" is the middle child of the wildly popular franchise, having premiered as part of a second-season episode of the original, "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (a favor "Miami" repaid by having one of its episodes launch "CSI: NY"). It focuses on a South Florida team of forensic investigators, led by former homicide detective Horatio Caine (David Caruso).
The third-season finale last spring closed out a story line about Horatio's supposedly dead brother, Ray (Dean Winters), a cop suspected of corruption. After discovering Ray was still alive and deep under cover, Horatio sent him off to a new life with his wife, Det. Yelina Salas (Sofia Milos), and their son, Ray Jr. (Alex Buck).
"We concluded a three-year arc last year with the brother," says Caruso, relaxing in his trailer after a day of filming at the show's Manhattan Beach studios, "and the little broken family that the brother had left behind, and all of those very interesting loose ends."
According to Caruso, all this is part of the master plan of the show runner of "CSI: Miami," Ann Donahue.
"Ann, our commander in chief," Caruso says, "has it blocked out in three three-year segments, almost like 'Star Wars.' In a very brilliant way, Ann is telling the entire saga of 'CSI: Miami' backwards."
Fans may remember that in the original "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" episode that launched "Miami," Caine commiserated with a little girl who lost her parents, saying that he had once lost someone.
"Ann takes three years," Caruso says, "with all these terrific brush strokes, to bring you back to what appears to be the source of that pain, the source of that conflict. It appears to be this broken family and the prodigal son, these things he can't really embrace because they're not his. And that appears to be what the source of all this is."
Told that it sounds like a "but" is coming, Caruso laughs. "There's a large but -- unfortunately it's probably mine. But, that is only the wrapping paper on what really happened. There's a deeper family conflict. There's a deeper family legacy that has begun to be revealed in this three-year arc."
As fans saw in the show's fourth-season premiere, which aired Sept. 19, the real source of Horatio's pain goes much further into the past, all the way back to a deadly crime he once committed.
"We finished that whole arc," Donahue says, "about Horatio trying to clear his brother's name, finding he's alive, and then sending him off to a good life with a woman, the love of Horatio's life. There's nothing sweeter than giving up someone you love for someone else you love.
"We felt it was a perfect ending, and now we had to say, 'Let's peel back another layer. What got Horatio so dedicated to saving people?' And we said, 'What's the one thing you wouldn't believe about him?'"
It's a testament to Donahue's flexibility and inventiveness as a storyteller that one line in the "CSI" crossover has now spawned two story lines -- both of which didn't exist in Donahue's mind when the line was written.
"It's providence; it's serendipity," Donahue says. "We aim to entertain and have some character development. Then when we watch our characters on screen, other stuff is revealed. Just like a good book, you start to fill in the backstory. So that's how it came to be.
"When David said that line in the crossover -- I still remember, I was standing right there on this gorgeous little island with Miami in the background -- he said, 'I lost somebody once,' we really didn't know the whole backstory at the time, because we did our whole crossover so fast.
"Everybody thought it was Ray. But I have to tell you, at that time, there was no Ray. It was a mysterious lost person, but we knew it would be someone important."
The new piece of Horatio's backstory expands during November sweeps, in a crossover episode with "CSI: NY," in which Horatio's past crime catches up with him.
"You see this man becoming slightly frayed," Caruso says. "He's carried the weight of this, and the closure that he received at the end of last year -- he believed it might have been a healing, but in reality, it opened a trap door to something that he's not in total control of."
On this particular day, the cast is shooting episode four, called "48 Hours to Life," airing Monday, Oct. 10, in which a young man goes to jail after a harsh interrogation with Det. Frank Tripp (new series regular Rex Linn). Although the plot doesn't deal specifically with Horatio's current issues, Caruso says they color his reactions.
Explains Caruso, "In this, the theme of this connection with children [that Horatio has], there's a young guy in this particular hour who's wrongly accused. Everything is obvious except for an emotional connection that I strike with this kid, which distracts me from the procedure of what we're doing.
"On paper, there's absolutely no reason to question this, but the event [from Horatio's past] and what Ann has evoked is causing me to see things differently. I connect with a crucial piece of information about this kid, and it turns out to be the case.
"My inability to protect myself from this past event is now causing me to see things differently, to respond differently. It's made me even more effective, because there's a totally different sensibility."
(Saturday, October 08 12:01 AM)
By Kate O'Hare
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) According to conventional wisdom, one hallmark of the crime procedural is its lack of emphasis on character development in favor of tracking the mechanics of an investigation. But there's no law saying one can't do both. In fact, if success is any measure, that may be the way to go.
Airing Monday, "CSI: Miami" is the middle child of the wildly popular franchise, having premiered as part of a second-season episode of the original, "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (a favor "Miami" repaid by having one of its episodes launch "CSI: NY"). It focuses on a South Florida team of forensic investigators, led by former homicide detective Horatio Caine (David Caruso).
The third-season finale last spring closed out a story line about Horatio's supposedly dead brother, Ray (Dean Winters), a cop suspected of corruption. After discovering Ray was still alive and deep under cover, Horatio sent him off to a new life with his wife, Det. Yelina Salas (Sofia Milos), and their son, Ray Jr. (Alex Buck).
"We concluded a three-year arc last year with the brother," says Caruso, relaxing in his trailer after a day of filming at the show's Manhattan Beach studios, "and the little broken family that the brother had left behind, and all of those very interesting loose ends."
According to Caruso, all this is part of the master plan of the show runner of "CSI: Miami," Ann Donahue.
"Ann, our commander in chief," Caruso says, "has it blocked out in three three-year segments, almost like 'Star Wars.' In a very brilliant way, Ann is telling the entire saga of 'CSI: Miami' backwards."
Fans may remember that in the original "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" episode that launched "Miami," Caine commiserated with a little girl who lost her parents, saying that he had once lost someone.
"Ann takes three years," Caruso says, "with all these terrific brush strokes, to bring you back to what appears to be the source of that pain, the source of that conflict. It appears to be this broken family and the prodigal son, these things he can't really embrace because they're not his. And that appears to be what the source of all this is."
Told that it sounds like a "but" is coming, Caruso laughs. "There's a large but -- unfortunately it's probably mine. But, that is only the wrapping paper on what really happened. There's a deeper family conflict. There's a deeper family legacy that has begun to be revealed in this three-year arc."
As fans saw in the show's fourth-season premiere, which aired Sept. 19, the real source of Horatio's pain goes much further into the past, all the way back to a deadly crime he once committed.
"We finished that whole arc," Donahue says, "about Horatio trying to clear his brother's name, finding he's alive, and then sending him off to a good life with a woman, the love of Horatio's life. There's nothing sweeter than giving up someone you love for someone else you love.
"We felt it was a perfect ending, and now we had to say, 'Let's peel back another layer. What got Horatio so dedicated to saving people?' And we said, 'What's the one thing you wouldn't believe about him?'"
It's a testament to Donahue's flexibility and inventiveness as a storyteller that one line in the "CSI" crossover has now spawned two story lines -- both of which didn't exist in Donahue's mind when the line was written.
"It's providence; it's serendipity," Donahue says. "We aim to entertain and have some character development. Then when we watch our characters on screen, other stuff is revealed. Just like a good book, you start to fill in the backstory. So that's how it came to be.
"When David said that line in the crossover -- I still remember, I was standing right there on this gorgeous little island with Miami in the background -- he said, 'I lost somebody once,' we really didn't know the whole backstory at the time, because we did our whole crossover so fast.
"Everybody thought it was Ray. But I have to tell you, at that time, there was no Ray. It was a mysterious lost person, but we knew it would be someone important."
The new piece of Horatio's backstory expands during November sweeps, in a crossover episode with "CSI: NY," in which Horatio's past crime catches up with him.
"You see this man becoming slightly frayed," Caruso says. "He's carried the weight of this, and the closure that he received at the end of last year -- he believed it might have been a healing, but in reality, it opened a trap door to something that he's not in total control of."
On this particular day, the cast is shooting episode four, called "48 Hours to Life," airing Monday, Oct. 10, in which a young man goes to jail after a harsh interrogation with Det. Frank Tripp (new series regular Rex Linn). Although the plot doesn't deal specifically with Horatio's current issues, Caruso says they color his reactions.
Explains Caruso, "In this, the theme of this connection with children [that Horatio has], there's a young guy in this particular hour who's wrongly accused. Everything is obvious except for an emotional connection that I strike with this kid, which distracts me from the procedure of what we're doing.
"On paper, there's absolutely no reason to question this, but the event [from Horatio's past] and what Ann has evoked is causing me to see things differently. I connect with a crucial piece of information about this kid, and it turns out to be the case.
"My inability to protect myself from this past event is now causing me to see things differently, to respond differently. It's made me even more effective, because there's a totally different sensibility."