CSI: Miami Brief Information

• CSI Level 3: Detective Ryan Wolfe (Jonathan Togo) was working as a police officer at the time he was hired for the lab virtually on the spot by Horatio Caine, who noted Ryan's immaculate care of his gun with approval, likely due to Wolfe having OCD. He first appeared in "Under the Influence" but did not become a regular cast member until "Hell Night". Ryan was replacing fallen CSI Tim Speedle, who died in the line of duty as a direct result of his poor gun maintenance. Ryan was impaled in the eye with a nail gun in "Nailed". At the end of the episode "Burned", Ryan was fired for being directly linked to a murder suspect and not disclosing it to the department. Seeking jobs as both a crime-scene expert, an expert witness for the defense, a firearms range technician, and applying to work as an ME Investigator while applying for reinstatement, he was later reinstated. In "Going Ballistic", Ryan receives a text message saying, "It is done," right after Horatio is shot and presumed dead. It is revealed in the seventh season premiere that he was asked by Horatio to assist in setting up Horatio's own execution, so he could go undercover. At the end of "Target Specific" and throughout the episode "Wolfe In Sheep's Clothing", Ryan was kidnapped and was forced by the Russian mob to cover up a crime.
• MDPD Homicide Detective: Sergeant Frank Tripp (Rex Linn) is a Texas-born homicide detective who accompanies the team to the crime scenes. He is known for interrogating suspects in his typical sarcastic manner and has a good working relationship with all the CSIs. He is divorced with three kids, revealed in "Dispo Day". After passing the Sergeant's Exam in the beginning of "Dangerous Son", Tripp was required to spend some time in uniform on a patrol rotation, but soon returned to the homicide unit and plainclothes in "Guerillas in the Mist". He often accompanies the CSIs to the crime scene to lend a hand and provide extra cover.
• CSI Level 2: Officer Natalia Boa Vista (Eva LaRue) is a DNA analyst who upon first arriving, was only allowed to work on cold or unsolved cases due to the restrictions of her federal grant. She escaped an abusive marriage before joining the department, when her association with a society for battered women was key to helping the team solve the murder of a woman. At the end of season four, it is revealed that Natalia is an FBI informant in the lab, assigned to help build a case against Horatio Caine and his team. Natalia was revealed to be the mole in the lab. In season 5, much to her distress, she discovered her abusive ex-husband Nick Townsend (Rob Estes) was out of prison when he served her with a restraining order and he was working for a private company that cleans up crime scenes. The two shared a tense relationship until Nick's murder, a crime for which Natalia was briefly considered the prime suspect. In "Darkroom", Ryan Wolfe finds a stash of photographed girls and Natalia discovers that one of the pictures is her sister Anya and DNA from a crime scene reveals that Anya is indeed one of the women that the CSIs are looking for. In "Tunnel Vision", Natalia was finally certified to carry a firearm, and she shot a suspect in self-defense with her Glock 26 for the first time. In "Count Me Out", Natalia was involved in a meth lab explosion that caused hearing loss.
• CSI Level 1: Officer Walter Simmons (Omar Benson Miller) a Louisiana native and art theft specialist who transfers over from the night shift to join Horatio's team. His first appearance was in episode, "Bolt Action". He became part of the main cast in episode, "Dude, Where's My Groom?"
• CSI Level 3: Detective Eric Delko (Adam Rodríguez) is the fingerprint and drug identification expert of Cuban and Russian descent. He is also the team's underwater recovery expert. In "Shattered", Delko's job is endangered when he is arrested for drug possession, but it is discovered that the marijuana was for his sister, Marisol Delko Caine (Alana de la Garza), to ease the pain of her leukemia treatments, who was murdered by a Mala Noche sniper after she married Horatio Caine. In "Man Down", while trying to rescue a woman kidnapped by escapee Clavo Cruz (Gonzalo Menendez), Delko was shot in the head by one of his henchmen and critically wounded. He survived and went back on the team, but suffered some memory loss. In "And How Does That Make You Kill?", Eric told his psychiatrist of his affection for CSI Calleigh Duquesne. In "The DeLuca Motel", it is discovered that he has been staying in a motel because someone is following him. They found out that his real father is from Cuba and is trying to kill him. In "Seeing Red", Eric was trying to help his father and is seen escaping a gun silo, only to be shot at by friend Calleigh. He survives and is shown waking up in a hospital room in "Out of Time". Actor Adam Rodríguez did not return full-time for the eighth season and was replaced by former CSI Jesse Cardoza (Eddie Cibrian). Delko shows that he is leaving by telling Calleigh that he is going to leave the CSI team because life is too short. On February 19, 2010, Adam Rodríguez announced on his Twitter page that he will be returning to the show as a regular. As of season 7 and season 8, he is in a romantic relationship with Calleigh Duquesne.
• CSI Level 3 Day Shift Assistant Supervisor: Lieutenant Megan Donner (Kim Delaney) was Horatio's predecessor who went on indefinite leave from her job following the death of her husband. She briefly returned to work alongside Horatio, who had since been promoted to head investigator of the CSI unit, but later resigned, finding the pressure of the job to now be more than she could handle. Some of this information appeared to be retconned early in the show's eighth season in an episode that featured flashbacks to the case that prompted the creation of the CSI squad; in the newly-established canon, Donner (who was mentioned but not seen in the episode) still worked at the lab, but the squad was headed by Horatio from its inception. Actress Kim Delaney's character was reportedly written out due to the lack of chemistry between her and Caruso.
• CSI Level 3: Detective Timothy "Tim" Speedle (Rory Cochrane) (known by his nickname "Speed") was a trace evidence and impressions expert; originally from Syracuse, New York, who worked for the St. Petersburg PD in 1997, and had a degree in biology from Columbia University. Speed was killed in the line of duty in, "Lost Son;" he had not maintained his firearm diligently and was shot by a suspect when it misfired during a shoot-out. The character was written out at the request of actor Rory Cochrane, who wanted to pursue a career in film and reportedly disliked the long, arduous shooting schedules for CSI: Miami. The actor later reprised his role as a hallucination of Eric Delko in "Bang, Bang, Your Debt". It was revealed in "Out of Time", that Jesse Cardoza knew Tim Speedle, who was working for the St. Petersburg PD in 1997, and Cardoza asked Horatio if he wanted him to be part of his new team.
• MDPD Homicide Detective: Detective Yelina Salas (Sofia Milos) was a Colombian homicide detective frequently attached to CSI investigations, and the widow of Horatio's brother Raymond Caine. She later starts a relationship with IAB Sergeant Rick Stetler, Horatio's personal nemesis. After her husband Raymond was revealed to still be alive, she left with him and their son for Brazil, where they planned to keep a low profile for Ray's safety. She reappears in the fifth season premiere, "Rio". Horatio and Eric fly to Rio de Janeiro to hunt down Antonio Riaz, who murdered Horatio's wife and Delko's sister Marisol. While in Rio, Riaz kills Raymond Caine and is enlisting Ray Jr. into drug running in the shantytowns of the area. Yelina and Ray Jr. wind up back in Miami, and Yelina goes into business as a private investigator revealed in "Burned". In "Dangerous Son", Yelina investigates a suspect for Horatio, and she locates a birth certificate that reveals that the parolee is in fact Horatio's biological son. Yelina also returns for the seventh season premiere, going undercover to help Horatio capture enemy Ron Saris. She was kidnapped in the episode "Seeing Red", but was rescued by Horatio.
• Medical Examiner: Dr. Alexx Woods (Khandi Alexander) was a Miami-Dade medical examiner. Alexx began her medical career in New York as a physician and became a medical examiner with the CSI team after moving to Miami for personal reasons. She is a very emotional person, and is more of a "mother" figure for the CSI team, showing great concern for them. She also often talks to the dead bodies in a comforting and caring tone as she examines them. She is married with a son and daughter. In "Rock and A Hard Place", her son is named the prime suspect in a murder; this causes Alexx to rethink her job in the M.E.'s Office (and her place on the team as well as her friendship with the other CSI's), and she quits, saying to Horatio, "I need to spend more of my time taking care of the living." Horatio responds by saying that should she wish to return, her post would be open for her. Alexx returned in "Smoke Gets in Your CSI's" as a part-time ER doctor at Dade General.
• Medical Examiner: Dr. Tara Price (Megalyn Echikunwoke) was the day-shift medical examiner who replaced Dr. Alexx Woods (Khandi Alexander) in the seventh season. She made her debut in "Won't Get Fueled Again" and became part of the main cast credits in "Bombshell". In "Cheating Death", CSIs Eric Delko and Ryan Wolfe play a joke on her that almost results in the entire case being compromised. In the end of "Divorce Party", Tara is shown to steal a bottle of Oxycodone (an opioid analgesic medication) from a victim in the morgue and blames it on Julia Winston. Also, Horatio Caine has his son Kyle working as an intern for her after he gets into trouble. In "Dissolved", Ryan Wolfe confronts Tara about the stolen pills in her locker. When Julia takes the autopsy hostage because of what she did, Tara is arrested. Actress Megalyn Echikunwoke's image was removed from the main cast credits after "Dissolved".
• CSI Level 2: Officer Jesse Cardoza (Eddie Cibrian) was a former LAPD officer, who transferred back to the MDPD. In "Out of Time", a flashback occurs back to 1997, depicting Cardoza's departure from the Miami crime lab and transfer to Los Angeles, following in the conclusion of a case that led to Horatio Caine becoming head of the new investigative unit that became CSI. He returns in "Hostile Takeover", as a member of the team, taking Eric Delko's place. When he returns, the lab is attacked and he is taken hostage along with three other people, but he was rescued by Horatio. After that, in the episode "Show Stopper", there was a discrepancy in the department's Hummer mileage log; Jesse did not explain it at first, but later on, in the lockerroom, he explained to Calleigh that he was following a woman and who was in danger from a man he'd dealt with in California, and that he'd transferred back to Miami because the man in question had also killed Cardoza's wife. In June 2010 it was announced that Cibrian was not picked up as a regular for the ninth season and his character would be leaving. It was revealed in the ninth season premiere that he died after being poisoned by halon gas in the eighth season finale, having suffered head trauma in the fall.

Recurring characters

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