TROPICAL THUNDER! 'CSI: MIAMI' - THE FINAL SEASON...

Florida's finest, led by Horatio Caine (David Caruso), are back in CSI: MIAMI. Images: CBS.

Surviving a deadly gunshot wound to the chest, continued internal bleeding and diving into the Pacific to rescue friend and colleague Natalia (Eva La Rue) from a watery fate trapped inside a car boot, our superior television detective Horatio Caine, as uniquely personified by flame haired David Caruso, proved himself to be quite the dependable superman to the end-who needs Batman or THE AVENGERS, right?!- and finally put paid to the career of an escaped arsonist/serial killer in the premiere episode of CSI: MIAMI's tenth and final season, which began its exclusive UK airings on Channel FIVE from last Saturday night onwards.

So, in bidding adieu to the fine men and women in front of and behind the scenes of this always colourful, always fast paced, sometimes bonkers plotted, but always thoroughly enjoyable escapist television, here's a little pictorial taster of some of the last episodes to come:

Horatio and Natalia (Eva La Rue) are back in rue health in the series second episode, Stiff.

Trapped in a blazing fire, Calleigh (Emily Procter) tends to Delko (Adam Rodriguez) in Stiff.

More angst for Horatio and Eric as they tend to an injured Ryan (Jonathan Togo) in the tornado wrecking Blown Away.

There's a new baddie on the scene for Horatio. Ex-24 veteran Carlos Bernard as shady businessman Diego Bavarro in Look Who's Taunting.

Trouble in and out of court for Horatio and Detective Frank Tripp (Rex Linn) in A Few Dead Men.

Delko lashes out on guest star Taylor Cole in the search for an eccentric genius with a deadly weapon: Friendly Fire.

The lovely Bo Derek guests as a stable owner, and murder suspect, in The Last Straw.

Whilst another famous "body", the inimitable Raquel Welch, guest stars as a murder suspects influential supermom in Rest In Pieces.

The man who made MIAMI. So long and thanks for all the crime-fighting, Horatio!

Previous seasons of CSI: MIAMI are available on DVD from MOMENTUM PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT.

THE AXE-MAN COMETH! GOODBYE 'CSI: MIAMI'

Father-protector! Horatio Caine guards his turf in CSI: MIAMI. Images: CBS.

I'd been aware that there was a big cancellation decision going on with the suits at CBS over which of their two CSI spin-offs created by Anthony Zuiker would be axed this year: the Gary Sinise starrer set in New York or Mister Shades himself, David Caruso's version, set in sunny Florida. The result came in a few weeks back and I have to say that I'm pretty surprised by the outcome: that Horatio and his team were the candidates going to syndication heaven after its landmark tenth season had been completed, and that no real finale wrap-up was to be done for them or their hit series (and it truly was a hit right out of the gate, despite some early jarring between once series leads Caruso and a miscast, soon to depart after one season Kim Delaney).

Original Season One titles: CSI Miami - Season 1 Intro With Kim Delaney - YouTube

For me personally, I think it's all a bit of a shame really that MIAMI is going into the sunset, despite the fact that ten years is a very good innings for a TV series of this ilk (of which its previous ninth season had ultimately shown signs of a strong recovery episode wise after a very weak, sometimes quite absurd, previous year). Though there had been a few occasional long sub-plots a few seasons back that were pretty good (one noteworthy series peak point storyline being Gary Sinise's Mac in conflict with a powerful newspaper editor/media mogul (an excellently slimy Craig T. Nelson), and a pursuit of a highly dangerous, seemingly one step ahead of the game, gang of marine trained bank robbers), I've never thought that CSI: NEW YORK was as bright, breezy and enjoyable, or had as likable a cast, as MIAMI. Perhaps, overall in the bigger scheme of things that is the American TV industry, film star Sinise, a popular and very straight laced actor, had a bit more clout in his producership role of the series than Caruso had as a lead series star (a bit like William Peterson had in the early seasons of the original CSI series as an Exec Producer, before he got tired of it), or perhaps US viewers and the networks now preferred the second spin-off because it was a little more harder edged in its grounded New Yoik attitude or less stylised in the face of competitive shows of the genre on rival stations. Regardless of such decision-making, power politics and numbers crunching, I'm very much going to miss Mister Caruso in what has so far been his career best TV performance, as the determined man with a mission to keep Florida families safe, Emily Procter as the always deliciously cute sexy gun expert Calleigh Duquesne, Adam Rodriguez as the reliable and equally likable sidekick Eric Delko, and the rest of the ever-growing series cast in its colourful and mostly always popcorn style cinematic heroics.

The series reached its peak in its middle years with (L-R)  Delko (Adam Rodriguez),  Alexx (Khandi Alexander), Horatio (David Caruso), Ryan (Jonathan Togo) and Calleigh (Emily Procter).

The final series of CSI: MIAMI has yet to make its glorious, high-definition looking resumation in the UK on the FIVE channel (presumably around August-time), but I look forward to seeing the resolution of the previous season cliffhanger-Horatio actually shot down for real this time (no fakery, Horatio is dead gimmicks like a few years back) whilst Natalia Boa Vista (the firm and lovely Eva La Rue) was locked in a car boot and heading to a watery grave, as well as discovering how the final new sub-plots affecting our heroes will play out (including an appearance from 24's Carlos Bernard, now playing a baddy). KOOL TV will be previewing CSI: MIAMI's last hurrah in the not too distant future.