The first season of CSI: Miami seemed to still be trying to find its specific style at the point of "Just One Kiss". I've watched so much of the final five years of the series that the first two seem to have a pace as slow as molasses. This is not necessarily a criticism as much as a noticeable difference in how the show would turn the adrenaline up a notch, with quicker editing from scene to scene, the camera a bit more frenetic, with lots of split screen and steadicam used, less time spent on one particular character and far more emphasis on the ensemble. At the start of the first season, the cast still lacked character development, although the actors involved applied personalities when given a chance. At this point, still, Horatio and Megan were directly front and center in everything that was going on in the plot, with the CSI team getting to investigate and apply the science needed for the two stars to go after the murderers and assaulters responsible for the damage inflicted on victims either dead or deeply harmed. The gist of "Just One Kiss" is that a "lowly" bartender is making out with some girl from a nearby beach party taken place at the posh estate of "American royalty", Drake Hamilton (Kevin Kilner) and his nephew, Tyler (David Denman). Tyler was interested in Jane (Jamie Anne Allman; later discovered nearly drowned, raped, with trauma causing repressed memories of that terrible night she was victimized), a girlfriend of his college buddy, Paul (Jeremy Garrett). A kiss between Tyler and Jane is traded in exchange for a $10,000 watch, but Paul would live to regret that as he becomes a suspect in the jugular kill of the bartender (as does Tyler, and later perhaps Drake). The green champagne bottle, a nose piece to glasses, penis skin in a mouth brace, a jacket zipper, and skin from the watch: clues all point to specific people, and Horatio can put to rest someone who had gotten away with a crime a decade previous. The unease and angst Horatio has for Drake is palpable. Money and prestige, power and influence, Drake has a past incident where he might have escaped a crime that has continued to haunt Horatio. This case may be a bit of sweet relief. Interesting enough, the case is over with about six/eight minutes to go, leaving room for Jane to walk away from Paul and Horatio going over this incident concerning Drake with Megan...again, it is odd how the show feels so laid back and in no hurry, yet about two years later, the pace would move with foot on the accelerator, with little space given to long dialogue scenes...unless essential to the cast's progressive development, that is (but even here, scenes never stayed still long enough to take too many breaths).
2 Reviews
Tragedy Caused by Pitiful Arrogance, Rage
biorngm29 December 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Exceptional episode combining a great script, top-notch acting by all cast members, well-paced with every scene adding to the story, nothing wasted. What crimes the nephew perpetrated, the uncle came in for the final tragic moment.
There are an extraordinary amount of details leading to clues from the onset of this episode. The forty plus minutes of episode run-time reveals hints how the CSI crew was to extract proving the guilty parties. Horatio states, the evidence, as always, will speak for itself.
Gathered evidence included a woman beaten, left barely conscious, her DNA swab and her retainer, green-glass fragments plus a burn mark on one victim, a nose piece from a pair of eyeglasses, the same pair of eye-glasses, illegal cigar, three sets of male DNA off a watch, a spent cigar and a zipper. Other important items included the denial of a search without a warrant makes suspects out of many, the float density of found glass-particles matched those from the victim's neck. Megan stated the only way you get spatter on a nose piece is to be there when the murder is happening.
There were two criminals, a nephew and his uncle. There were two victims, a male killed and a woman survived. Heinous crimes perpetrated from arrogant people submitting to rage in the end. An episode worth watching to see the terrible people brought down by the CSI.
There are an extraordinary amount of details leading to clues from the onset of this episode. The forty plus minutes of episode run-time reveals hints how the CSI crew was to extract proving the guilty parties. Horatio states, the evidence, as always, will speak for itself.
Gathered evidence included a woman beaten, left barely conscious, her DNA swab and her retainer, green-glass fragments plus a burn mark on one victim, a nose piece from a pair of eyeglasses, the same pair of eye-glasses, illegal cigar, three sets of male DNA off a watch, a spent cigar and a zipper. Other important items included the denial of a search without a warrant makes suspects out of many, the float density of found glass-particles matched those from the victim's neck. Megan stated the only way you get spatter on a nose piece is to be there when the murder is happening.
There were two criminals, a nephew and his uncle. There were two victims, a male killed and a woman survived. Heinous crimes perpetrated from arrogant people submitting to rage in the end. An episode worth watching to see the terrible people brought down by the CSI.
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