Cast Reveal What Makes 'Miami' Unique: The CSIs Care

On each of the CSIs, the team is led by an investigator with a strong drive to solve the crime. But on Miami, there's one thing that separates Horatio Caine from Gil Grissom and Mac Taylor: he cares just as deeply about the victims as about the killers.

"It does inform the storytelling, and his team feels that same drive," CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler told Maria Elena Fernandez at the Los Angeles Times for an extended article on the popularity of the CSI franchise's middle child. "They not only feel it because their boss needs it, but also because it's the right thing to do, because he's a righteous man. [...] When that line comes out of his mouth, you believe it."

Miami's interest in both victims and criminals developed as the result of the producers looking for a way to distinguish their show from the original CSI. But it's also something that fits in well with David Caruso's vision on crimefighters. "That concept of protecting the quality of somebody else's life, somebody you'll never meet, is fascinating to me. It's incredibly important to maintain reverence to the setting when a victim is shown slain on television," the Horatio Caine actor said. "When we as a team come into your life, the most important thing we can provide to you is a sense of safety."

That team, and the friendships that have formed within it, may be another reason for CSI: Miami's popularity, according to Emily Procter (Calleigh Duquesne). "For us being a spinoff, initially we were trying so hard to be like the other one," she said. "Maybe now our relationships with each other have congealed to a point on the show that we have a camaraderie that's very genuine and viewers are responding to that."

Although the viewers' investment in the characters makes them extra loyal to the show, it also means they will be more destressed if they have to say goodbye to one of the CSIs. Exactly that happened at the start of the season, when Rory Cochrane's character Tim Speedle was shot in "Lost Son." But according to writer-producer Ildy Modrovich, Speedle's death shows another strength of Miami: its willingness to take risks. "We try really hard to remain true to what it is to be a cop," she said. "I can't imagine what that would be like if, all of a sudden, the office next to you was empty."

One actor who's had to deal with something like this is Adam Rodriguez (Eric Delko), who shared many scenes with Cochrane. "We were always trying to one-up each other and we were constantly making jokes and kind of cracking on each other," he said. "I thought that brought a lot of levity to the seriousness of the science. I miss having that."

Thoughts from some of the other cast and crew members on the departure of Cochrane, as well as on how CSI: Miami grew into the show it is now, read the full article at the Los Angeles Times. Our thanks go out to Carol at DavidCarusoFans.com for this!

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