CSI: Miami

So you find yourself looking (perhaps oggling?) a certain David Caruso on your television screen, with his calm and commanding demeanor, trying to make heads or tails of the crime scene at hand. After putting on his Silhouette Titanium Model 8568 sunglasses and spouting one of his trademark one-liners, you're stuck watching this show for the next hour. Well, you know, as one of the most sensational shows on television, CSI: Miami has to cover some sensational topics as well. Of course, you're probably thinking guns n' stuff with criminals' rights, but this blog is about gender issues, so that other stuff will have to be put aside.

Detective Calleigh Duquesne, Assistant Crime Lab Supervisor and lead female role on the show, has been in many different relationships throughout the series. Somewhat recently, she found out that her partner, Eric Delko, had fallen in love with her, but she can't seem to decide whether to shoot him down or start something with him.

Meanwhile, in this week's episode, Horatio Caine (Caruso), finally puts away a Russian mob leader who's been on his list for some time. Of course, as in almost all shows with conflict, the bad guy never really goes away. The ending sequence suggests that he is going to tear the CSI team apart from within, with the relationship between Duquesne, who is showing interest in a horse trainer from the case, and Delko as one of his prime targets.

So the question is: is Duquesne portrayed as an independent woman, who is intent on making her own choice in a love interest, or as a destructive presence, leaving behind trails of hurt feelings and broken relationships? Certainly this is an issue that is very common in today's media, so I'm sure it will come up again in posts to come.