The first trailer for CSI: Vegas season 2 arrives with the promise of Catherine Willows' return and new disturbing cases. The show's first season aired in 2021 and acted as both a reboot and a sequel to the original CSI, which ran on CBS for 15 seasons from 2000-2015. It focused mainly on returning characters Gil Grissom (William Peterson) and Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox) as they joined a new team of forensic investigators. Unlike the original show, CSI: Vegas had a truncated 10-episode season and followed the team tracking down a single killer opposed to a different one every episode.
This new season promises to focus more on the new characters introduced in season 1, including Maxine Roby (Paula Newsome), Joshua Folsom (Matt Lauria), and Allie Rajan (Mandeep Dhillon). Neither Gil nor Sara are set to return, but CSI star Marg Helgenberger will reprise her role as Willows. Helgenberger appeared in the first twelve seasons of CSI, but made a special appearance in season 14 for the show's 300th episode. Willows' career trajectory grew over CSI's run, beginning as a lab assistant and working her way up to a supervisor, before finally leaving for a position in the FBI. While it's not yet clear what brings Willows back to the CSI team in Vegas, it could have something to do with the new serial killer teased at the end of the season 1 finale.
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The new trailer, first shared online TV Insider, shows hints of that killer's return, alongside Willows'. The trailer (via TV Promos) balances glimpses of ominous crime scene imagery along with classical CSI protestations like Willows saying, "Blood evidence always tells a story." Check out the trailer below:
The CSI: Vegas season 2 premiere, "She's Gone," will see Willows return to her old stomping grounds to convince Maxine to let her rejoin the team. The episode involves the murder of a dominatrix near her sex dungeon, and could be hiding the return of another supporting character from CSI's original run, that of Lady Heather. Should season 2 have any surprises ahead, they have been kept from the new CSI: Vegas trailer, which instead dives right back into what the series does best: Solving gruesome crimes. Based on the quick flashes shown in the video, it looks like there will be some truly twisted cases for the team to investigate.
CSI: Vegas season 2 looks to balance the new cases with some character-driven storylines, and that seems to be a positive change so far. The new characters introduced in season 1 were given short shrift and minimal space to make an impression. While Helgenberger's returning presence should be enough to keep old fans invested, giving more of a spotlight to Maxine and her team will likely help the show stand on its own two feet should Willows' return be a short-lived one. In essence, blending procedural plotting with serialized should fix CSI: Vegas season 1's biggest mistake. The trailer for CSI: Vegas season 2 looks like a return to the successful format that's made the show and all its spinoffs a TV mainstay.
Source: TV Insider (via TV Promos)