The best episodes of CSI are the ones where the criminologists get emotionally involved in the case.
That was certainly the case on CSI: Vegas Season 2 Episode 17, written by CSI creator Anthony Zuiker.
As the mother of an only child, Maxine couldn’t help but get pulled into solving this 41-year-old murder.
The storyline was timely, as, thanks to global climate change, bodies of water are starting to give up their dead.
What a perfect opportunity to tackle a cold case!
But if the victim had been just another Vegas thug, it wouldn’t have resonated like finding a young Jane Doe in a barrel. The mob has long taken advantage of the Nevada environment for stashing bodies.
The CSIs can toil in obscurity when investigating many of their cases. The public often doesn’t care.
But the media ran with this discovery of a body in a barrel. So there was added pressure to solve this murder from all the electronic looky-loos, especially from the politicians that were called about it.
But as soon as Max realized the victim was a child, she took a particular interest in seeing this through to its conclusion, regardless of the obstacles of investigating such an old case.
The first big surprise came when Dr. Milton Hudson returned to the morgue, supposedly covering for Sonya while she recovers from being poisoned on CSI: Vegas Season 2 Episode 16.
Is this an actual transition of medical examiners? Might that be addressed rather than just hinted at? Or is this an extended tryout for Milton? Inquiring minds want to know.
A nice touch was Max pulling in an anthropologist to rebuild a model of the victim’s head based on the skull. Without that, they never would have determined for whom they were looking.
Penny determining that the girl was shot after church helped narrow the search parameters. But photos of that model brought Raquel Williams into Max’s lab.
That moment elevated this episode, with Paula Newsome (Max) and the always formidable Regina Taylor (Raquel) squaring off.
Raquel was angry because the flyer had re-opened a four-decade-old wound that had never truly healed. She wanted Max to let Phoebe rest in peace because she didn’t believe law enforcement was interested in solving that murder.
Max was hellbent on finding justice for Jane Doe. But she was even more determined after she learned that the white police had ignored the murder of a black girl at that time.
Max couldn’t convince Raquel initially, but she eventually wore her down with her team’s dogged analysis of the evidence.
The sad part was that the squad was so proud of its re-creation of the crime scene, only to discover that Raquel already knew what had happened because she was there. They weren’t hearing her any better than the cops 40 years earlier.
For all those years, Raquel had held onto that second bullet, a crucial piece of evidence, in her chest. But she made Max promise to give Phoebe the proper burial if Raquel didn’t survive the surgery to remove it.
Raquel handed over the bullet to Max. But she didn’t live to see Max catch the killer, surprisingly the diver who brought Phoebe’s body to the attention of the authorities.
It was heartwarming to see Max’s team and family show up to support her when she arranged to have Raquel and Phoebe laid to rest together.
It was enjoyable to have Greg return for an unspecified time, even if his wisecracking self was somewhat jarring in such a somber storyline.
It was enjoyable to have Penny and Greg working together, two generations of lab rats. Remembering what it was like, he didn’t even lord his experience over her.
With the night-time supervisor out on maternity leave, Greg could conceivably be there for the remainder of the season. After all, his “book” is not going anywhere fast. And he would certainly add some much-needed humor to the lab.
Maybe then, he could even have a few scenes with Catherine. Every viewer would love to see that. Or is there a cap on the number of O.G.s per episode?
Amid the hunt for Phoebe’s killer, Max again dropped the ball on her personal life. That seems to be the norm for the CSIs, maintaining any relationship outside the lab, doesn’t it?
Let’s credit Daniel for coming to town to protect Max and Bryan from the Silver Ink Killer on CSI: Vegas Season 2 Episode 16. He seemed willing to try to rebuild his relationship with Max, even knowing what he knew about her workaholic tendencies.
But Max being Max, things fell apart quickly. Being consumed with Phoebe’s case, she blew off the gallery opening for Bryan’s girlfriend (who viewers will likely never meet). Daniel didn’t take long to recall why he and Max hadn’t worked out the first time.
He told Max he was leaving but would be there when she needed him most. Since he and Bryan showed up for Raquel’s funeral, apparently that continues to be the case.
To follow Maxine’s development, watch CSI: Vegas online.
What did you think of this special episode?
Will Max ever manage to have a personal life?
Were you glad to see Greg again, and would you like him to hang around?
Comment below.
Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.