The Most Disturbing Criminal In CSI: Miami Season 3

When "CSI" became a popular TV hit, it was only natural for the series to start spawning spin-offs. "CSI: Miami" serves as perhaps one of the franchise's most successful attempts at a spin-off, as the procedural crime drama ran for an impressive 10 seasons. The series focuses on Lieutenant Horatio Caine (David Caruso) and his CSI team from the Miami-Dade Crime Lab. The show etched a special place in fans' hearts thanks to its wild cases, memorable one-liners, and its effective use of The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" for its opening theme.

"CSI: Miami" often featured a villain-of-the-week format, where investigations were usually handled by an episode's end. We're used to Caine and his team solving their cases, taking the criminals away in cuffs, and delivering a final quip before the credits roll. It's a comfortable formula the show often guarantees, no matter how dire the situation gets or how monstrous the criminals appear. Our heroes triumph unscathed. Yet that wasn't the situation in the Season 3 Episode, "Lost Son," as it includes a criminal worthy of being deemed the most disturbing due to being responsible for the shocking death of one of Horatio's colleagues.

"Lost Son" might have started much like any other case the "CSI: Miami" team usually handles, but it's not long before things get very personal. The episode begins with the discovery of a businessman on a yacht who is riddled with bullets. Further investigation reveals that the deceased businessman, named Reed Williams, was trying to deliver a ransom in the form of diamonds for his kidnapped young son. The death of Reed is eventually tied to a man named Pete Keller (William Mapother), who devised the kidnapping plot and murder of Reed because of his previous link to Reed's wife. However, Horatio and his team only find this out after the case takes a tragic turn.

Before solving everything, at one point, the case leads Horatio and Tim 'Speed' Speedle (Rory Cochrane) to a jewelry store, where two gunmen appear, and a shoot-out ensues. This leaves Speedle fatally wounded, and as a result, he dies in front of Horatio. Keller could be considered unsettling just based on murdering a victim and kidnapping a child. Heck, one of his partners in the kidnapping plot even tries to feed the kid to alligators. That's got to contribute more points on the evil scale. However, what elevates Pete to the level of the season's most disturbing status is that he manages to take out a main character in "CSI: Miami." On the show, Pete had the blueprints to become just another criminal of the week. Instead, he cements himself in our minds as the one ultimately responsible for Speedle's death, reminding viewers of the high stakes this line of work entails, and that's truly disturbing.