The Worst CSI: Miami Season 8 Episode According To To IMDb

According to IMDb reviewers, Season 8 of "CSI: Miami" is generally regarded as one of the better seasons of the series. Interestingly, although Season 7 holds the highest season-average rating on IMDb, Season 8 has more high-rated episodes than any other season of the series. 

Of course, plenty of exciting things occur in Season 8. From the death of Assistant State Attorney Rebecca Nevins (Christina Chang) to the departure of Eric "Delko" Delektorsky (Adam Rodriguez) and the murder of fellow CSI Jesse Cardoza (Eddie Cibrian), Season 8 is a roller coaster of thrills. However, despite the aforementioned praise, Season 8 isn't universally considered peaches and cream when it comes to quality.

Like the many other seasons of the series, Season 8 has its fair share of low points, even if it happens to hit more often than it misses. According to IMDb's rating system, one particular episode can be singled out as the worst episode of Season 8. 

Season 8, Episode 20 ("Backfire") currently sits at a low score of 6.8 out of 10 on IMDb. Not only is this a near tie for the lowest-rated episode of "CSI: Miami", but it's also the only episode in Season 8 to sink below 7.0, indicating a pretty sharp drop in fan approval. Once you learn more about the episode, it's not hard to see why.

"Backfire" begins strong enough with CSI Calleigh Duquesne (Emily Procter) entering a burning building to heroically save a young boy. Unfortunately, the boy doesn't survive the ordeal and Calleigh quickly falls into a coma. At first, these stakes seem exciting as it's up to the rest of the CSI team to catch whoever caused the fire while they wait for Calleigh to wake up. However, "CSI: Miami" opts for a decidedly different story. Instead, Calleigh endures an extended out-of-body experience where she and the ghost of the boy manage to solve the fire case. This didn't sit well with regular "CSI: Miami" fans, who complained that the supernatural aspect was unexpected.

"This episode was just plain stupid," ccthemovieman-1 wrote in a 4-star review. "When Calleigh is seeing and speaking to a ghost, I could only shake my head in disgust." In another 1-star review, JeffSSaunders wrote, "I got the distinct impression that the script for this episode was submitted by a fan or a contest winner. The actors seemed genuinely uncomfortable with the sheer 'lameness' of some of the lines..."

Other users, however, found the ridiculous plot entertaining in its own right. One IMDb user left a 10-star review. "Kept me guessing on who did it," kdackerson wrote. "It was riveting from beginning to end."