The episode undoubtedly had several twists and turns that sent the series off in new directions.
CSI: Vegas Season 3 Episode 2 also served as a spotlight episode for Catherine.
That’s always something to be celebrated by the returning viewers, who want to see that one O.G. character out in front.
Even better, it focused on a case that managed to be both cold and new simultaneously.
It was capably set up with Catherine reciting her “white whale case” to Maxine.
It certainly made sense that, with Catherine’s long connection to the lab, she would have that one case that’s haunted her.
How convenient was it that it too involved Rafael Tarquenio, the drug lord suspected of being behind Jeannette’s murder?
Well, it definitely figures that Tarquenio would have some hand in any number of open cases, so why not explore that?
And, with Folsom so recently going off the rails, the last thing Maxine needed was another CSI working off a vendetta.
But we’re talking two different levels of personal.
For Josh, it was his mother, with her vice she couldn’t shake, who got killed on CSI: Vegas Season 2 Episode 21.
With Catherine, it was a friendly colleague that no one had even met before this episode.
Max needn’t have been concerned about Catherine, a seasoned pro who knows which lines she can’t cross (not that that always stopped her).
But, unfortunately, Max has had to worry about optics for the past three seasons, with scandals both real and contrived with which to deal. It’s little wonder she loves to get her hands on the pure science whenever possible.
This time, climate change was Catherine’s friend, as she and Beau managed to hook a prosthetic limb that was underwater five years ago.
That certainly gave her a leg up (bah bah boom) in this investigation.
Once cleaned and identified, that leg led them back to Tarquenio, as it belonged to the former dean of a prep school that Tarquenio’s daughter attends and where he splashed around big-time donations.
Still, the case was going nowhere until Tarquenio got antsy, and another dean, the one to which Beau had been sucking up, suddenly disappeared, with blood splattered all over his lab.
It was an intriguing twist that the assassin, not the dean, ended up incinerating in the kiln.
The wounded dean knew enough to jump sides and confess all he knew about Tarquenio killing the former dean.
Since his chemistry skills helped Tarquenio dispose of her body, it’s doubtful that will garner him a “get-out-of-jail-free” card.
A tiny piece of bone was enough to take the big drug lord off the streets in a perfect CSI ending.
So Tarquenio didn’t turn out to be the Big Bad for the season as he might have been. Unless, of course, someone from his organization comes back seeking vengeance against the lab. That could happen.
However, while one storyline wrapped up rather quickly, the fate of Folsom lingers on, even though he was cleared of Schefter’s murder on CSI: Vegas Season 3 Episode 1.
That’s because Josh colored outside the lines, mounting his unofficial investigation while recruiting his felon, brother-from-another-mother Trey, to serve as his guide to the Las Vegas underworld.
It was a great idea in concept but a horrible choice in reality. There is a protocol for a reason.
Folsom has all kinds of strikes against him. The IA officer assigned to his case was Nora Cross, last seen on CSI: Vegas Season 1 Episode 4.
Then there’s the surprise that Serena has been performing oversight on the lab ever since being assigned there, and Nora was the person who put her up for the job.
So Nora had Serena’s files, including handing over the missing photo of Jeannette with the bloodstains on it.
That blood proved to be Jeannette’s, and now Max will have to put that in some perspective for I.A. She seems exceedingly conflicted about what Folsom did.
After confronting Serena about her connection to Nora, Allie didn’t know what to think. Even worse, Max had known about Serena’s role the whole time.
Serena was right when she proclaimed that she and Josh hadn’t been right for quite a while.
Part of that was Allie’s continued affection for him. Part of that was his off-the-books investigation. But another part had to be Serena’s guilt about the secret she kept from Folsom.
So, assuming Josh comes out relatively unscathed, do he and Allie become an item? The possibility has been simmering for some time. And now she’d be his boss, complicating matters.
Max finally explained why she was so down on Allie’s permanent partners idea. Folsom, the only CSI with a permanent partner, went rogue, so she was down on the whole concept.
So, how is this strategy working? Chris and Penny are great together. (Wonder Nerds Power, Unite!) The new hasn’t worn off for Beau, who is wearing somewhat on the jaded Catherine.
Let’s see how long Max allows this experiment to exist.
Were you surprised Tarquenio was written out this quickly?
What about Serena being an I.A. mole?
How long does it take for Folsom to be cleared?
Comment below.
Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on X.