Horatio Caine -- CSI: Miami

Off come the sunglasses, and you know he means business...

(Now would that make for an excellent tagline?)

Horatio Caine, masterfully portrayed by American actor David Caruso, is a dandy of an example of "leadership in action." As opposed to some of our more historical examples here on L.I., I've decided to present something a little more, er, current.

It's like this, see. Within seconds of arriving on any crime scene, Horatio's already knee-deep in the delegating.

So? Who cares? What makes Horatio such a dominating force, you ask?

Well, dear Reader, I've identified several characteristics which might shed some light on the issue:

1) Horatio's Experience --> there's nothing H don't know. While he does delegate most of the grunt work to his crew of Delko, Megan, Speed, & Calleigh ("sight for sore eyes" alert) -- in a pinch, "H" would know exactly where to begin if he had to dig right in.

2) "No" means "no" and "yes" means "yes" --> there's no double-talking with this dude. He earns the true respect of his crew because his word comes purely at face-value.

3) Decisive --> when Horatio decides on a particular course of action, there's zero deviating from the plan. And he's damn well relentless until the crime is solved and a job's well done.

4) The Paternal Figure --> while David Caruso is by no means an old geezer, his portrayal of H lends itself to mucho fatherly overtones. My professional belief is that it's Caruso's personal take on the drawn character, but that's too complicated for this blog entry. Let's just say he's, um, grown into this man, Caine. When Caine speaks, it's like a warm soothing balm.

5) Orderliness as Possible Sex Appeal? --> and there you have it, Ladies. Caruso is by no means a metrosexual looker, yet he does retain that cast-iron charm that's so highly attractive to the female folk. We'll tack it up to his, er, "X-Factor?"

I've been going through Season 1's episodes to gain a sharper angle on the evolution of the characters. Fine tooth comb like (can anyone think of a non-cliched way to say this -- I haven't slept all night?)

I've also invested myself heavily in this, um, Horatio. Was he -- for some asinine production reason -- no longer a part of the series, it might very well ring a death toll for my interest.

But I do recommend CSI. Any of them really. New York, Vegas, Miami, or trans fat-free.

Guess I love the Miami edition so much 'cause it's so damn-well Arctic-like up here...

Did I mention I dig Bruckheimer as well?

That, alas, is for another time.

-- Groovy