Warning: this article contains spoilers for CSI: Vegas Season 1 Episode 1, “Legacy,” which aired October 6, 2021 on CBS.
Back in 2000, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation released on CBS and changed the face of television forever. Running for fifteen seasons and spawning three spinoff series — CSI: Miami, CSI: New York and CSI: Cyber — the show became a global phenomenon that was beloved by millions and ended up being the spark for many to look to forensics as a career. From books to games to an actual psychological effect, CSI has left an indelible mark on the world.
So you would expect, twenty-one years after the original first aired, CSI: Vegas would do well. Going back to the original locale of Las Vegas and bringing back many of the beloved original characters, CSI: Vegas has everything to be a great show. Updates to the forensic field can be shown to a new generation of budding CSIs, and Vegas can fill a void left when the last CSI show, Cyber, left the scene. The groundwork is already there to make an excellent show…but that’s not what Vegas is.
CSI: Vegas superficially hits the mark enough to inspire nostalgia. Fans knew that Sara Sidle and Gil Grissom were coming back, but Jim Brass opening the show was a happy surprise, as was him showing that despite his age and growing blindness, he’s still the rough and tough man we fell in love with in the original. Also returning from the original show is the theme song, “Who Are You” by The Who, which delivers a fantastic rush of joy for those who were hoping they’d bring it back. But even this early, there are issues. To start with, the teaser was well over five minutes long, an odd pacing issue considering there were plenty of workable spots to end it organically and cut to the theme song.
The pacing issue persists throughout the episode. Scenes feel choppy and transition strangely enough to be off-putting, even if the show moves on before you can process the abrupt change of scene. The B plot ends before the forty-five minute mark and in such an abrupt way that you’re certain they’ll come back to it — but they never do. The show also hops back and forth between the A and B plot, and yet it doesn’t feel as though they spent enough time on either one, or like they’ve handled either one well.
Plus, there’s the fact that the B plot touches on the hot-button topic of gun control, but handles it so poorly that it ends up being enraging instead of thought-provoking. The attack on Jim Brass prompting Sara Sidle to come back to CSI is the A plot, but it feels more like a tour than an integration — and the tour leaves something to be desired. The new CSI lab has supposedly been there for a couple of years, and yet it looks and feels like everyone just moved in last week. There’s none of the clutter that the original had, no personal touches that indicate these people work long hours here. It feels more like a set piece than an actual place.
And then there’s the cast that populates this world. The original characters still have their charm and chemistry, but that forcibly highlights how much the new characters lack these two things. Vegas may be a return to an old favorite, but the first episode is still the pilot of a new show, and the purpose of a pilot is to hit the ground running and hook the viewers so they come back. This means setting up an overarching plot that intrigues viewers, but what keeps people interested is connecting to the characters, and here there’s nothing to connect to.
With the other CSI shows, the pilot focused on a case of the week to organically introduce the cast to the audience. We were introduced to the characters through their behavior, seeing their personalities in how they banter and work. With Vegas, there’s nothing organic to go on. Characterization for the new CSIs feels as flat as crepes — there’s no quirks, no personality to go on. The cast is diverse, yes, but diversity is superficial without depth. At the end of the episode, there’s nothing to be said about who the characters are — they’re currently checkmarks on a list.
At the end of the day, CSI: Vegas is a pale imitator of its predecessor. The return of beloved characters, music and setting doesn’t overcome the weakness of the story or the new characters. There’s still a chance to win back viewers, we know the universe has appeal, but the show is going to have to work hard to do so, which is odd considering the history of the franchise and those involved in the production. CSI: Vegas was designed to appeal to the viewers’ nostalgia, and it succeeds — by making the audience want to watch the original CSI instead.
New episodes of CSI: Vegas air Wednesdays on CBS.
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