CSI: Miami – “Kill Clause” – Review

One of the best things the Vegas CSI did last season was have a smaller subplot that played out over multiple episodes. They showed a little here and a little there, and it all added up to the big episode later in the season. I saw a little of that in last night’s CSI: Miami episode when it came to Jesse’s past and the mysterious woman.

Bouncing back from a sub-par episode last week, “Kill Clause” was the season’s ninth episode. The opening shots of sea life in an aquarium were channeling National Geographic as we saw Ryan gazing at the particular type of jelly fish swimming around in the tank. He was moonlighting for some extra cash, and he was providing security at a swanky party. Naturally he told his temporary boss that these particular jelly fish can kill a man, since we were going to need that nugget of information soon enough.

The security boss chastises Ryan and points out a particular guy meandering around. Camera zoomed in, and it was none other than Jesse, with actor Eddie Cibrian looking pretty dang dapper in a tux. Ryan strolls over and, after a few jokey comments, spied a dark-haired lady giving Jesse the evil eye. Jesse, reflexively, said he didn’t know the gal. Ryan didn’t buy it. Their conversation suddenly was interrupted when broken glass fell  to the ground floor and a man yelled for help. Ryan ran up there but was too late. The poor man fell into the aquarium, and the jelly fish did the rest. What I liked at the end of the pre-credit sequence is that Horatio strode in, sunglasses on, and said…nothing. No quip. His mere presence was enough. That’s the kind of style that built this show, and it needs to continue.

If you caught the previews this past week, you might have been mistaken into believing Calleigh gave Jesse the third degree regarding the woman he’s stalking. In the show, however, it appeared like a joke since Calleigh started laughing almost as soon as she said it after arriving at the party to collect evidence and take statements. Jesse’s reaction, however, clearly showed he had something to hide. Horatio and Walter investigate the part of the balcony where the victim–a janitor–fell. They saw signs of struggle and questioned Max DeSalvo (is that a bad guy name or what?), the CEO of the company, about it. In probably the funniest line of the night, Walter uttered a two-word query to Max after the rich guy just got his palm inked and printed for comparison: “Baby wipe?”

Back at the lab, Ryan, while studying the palm prints, questioned Jesse about the extra income needed to be a paying patron at the swanky party. For those of y’all in the back row, that would be Clue #2 tonight about murky details of Jesse’s past in LA. I continue to enjoy the just-below-the-surface sniping between Ryan and Jesse. I’m hopeful that we’ll get a Very Special Episode later in the season with them where they come to trust each other. Calleigh’s there with some paperwork by the janitor’s widow. Turned out the poor woman didn’t even know her husband had insurance. Well, that would be because it was the company that took out the policy. After Horatio made the not-too-subtle political statement about having a decent health care plan, the company conceded to Horatio’s desire to open their books. This they did, in the form of 103 boxes of documents.

Ryan and Jesse drained the aquarium and found sequins from a dress. They call all the ladies who attended the party and requested that they each bring the dress they wore. Jesse’s mystery lady arrived, of course, and Natalia (nice to see you!) gets to witness another verbal confrontation laced with anger and bitterness between Anna the Mystery Lady and Jesse. After Natalia questioned him on it, out of the blue, Jesse asked her out for drinks where he’d tell her everything…as long as she could get the rest of the CSI crew to shut up about it all. Natalia seemed surprised but accepted.

Horatio and team isolated an interesting pattern in the company’s records: in June, at the end of the fiscal year, various employees perish in random ways–suicide, accidents, etc. Further investigation revealed that all the employee had policies on them taken by the company. It’s not illegal, Max the CEO claimed, and you can’t prove anything. Word of advice: Never say that to Horatio Caine, especially since he has the accountant who just confessed to staging one of the murders. Max confessed to an altercation with the janitor in one of the stupidest lines I’ve heard in a long time. After discovering Max having a thing with his secretary and giving her diamond jewelry when Max doesn’t give his employees decent health care, Max said of the janitor, “He went all Christian Bale on me.” Seriously?

Nonetheless, Horatio knew that he had only circumstantial evidence against Max, and it would be Max’s word against his accountant. Jesse turned to Horatio and said, “We got nothing.” Horatio calmly replied, “These things have a way of working out.” Cue the montage where we saw Jesse standing up Natalia so he can stalk Anna the Mystery Woman. Natalia seemed peeved but also like she expected it. We saw Max drive to his fancy boat and pour himself a drink. We also saw the brother of the woman whose death was ruled a suicide but the CSI team proved to be murder walking with a gun in his hand. He shot Max, and, in a shocker of a closing scene, we got Horatio, shades on, trying to contain his grin.

I’ll admit that last shot was surprising. It was almost as if Horatio wanted someone to take a shot a Max. But here’s the thing: I liked it. It’s been a few seasons since we saw the Horatio who traveled to South America to take out the drug lords who murdered his brother. That calm, cool, collected Horatio has been AWOL for awhile, and it was good to see him return.

“Kill Clause” was a good step up from last week’s episode. I am intrigued about Jesse’s backstory. Where does he get the money to buy a ticket to stalk Anna? Who is Anna, and what is her relationship to Jesse? And will our veteran CSI team members be the ones to blow the lid off Jesse’s past, or will outside influences creep in an put the team at risk? I’m looking forward to the answers.

About Scott Parker

Scott D. Parker is a technical writer living in Houston, Texas. He writes about pulp fiction, crime fiction, music, and other things at his crime fiction blog. He writes about science fiction & fantasy at SF Safari and he has a weekly column at Do Some Damage. He has published a story at Beat to a Pulp and has written the historical mystery Treason at Hanford: a Harry Truman Mystery. A native Texan, one of his professional goals as a writer is to help put Houston on the crime fiction map.