#CSI: Vegas Season 1 Episode 4 Review: Long Pig

Gil and Sara may have turned the corner in their investigation.

And that was despite helping the Crime Lab solve the murder of a man found cooked inside a luau pit on CSI: Vegas Season 1 Episode 4.

The way they played Nora proved why they’re so good as a team. 

You have to wonder why the Vegas politicians are pushing so hard to have Hodges convicted. After all, that is going to open the floodgates for that massive class-action suit for the “wrongfully convicted.” 

Then again, they want it to look like they’re righteously indignant about what Hodges supposedly did. It’s all about the optics.

So maybe they went for someone who could aggressively pursue the case, so it looks good, only to have it fall apart at trial for lack of proof.

Nora is jacked up about her big case in the public eye. But if she genuinely felt secure about her evidence, she wouldn’t be working so hard to turn Gil and Sara against Hodges.

Sara and especially Gil have been around too long to be intimidated by her. After their initial encounters with her, Sara came up with a plan to access the files of those convicts Hodges supposedly framed.

And how perfectly Grissom was it that Gil borrowed enough equipment to set up his lab in their hotel suite so that he could analyze the faked evidence?

Maxine stood up strong for Gil and Sara when Nora attempted to get her to admit that they were only back in town to rescue Hodges (which is true). Maxine argued that she would accept such expertise; however it came to be offered to her.

Sara played into Nora’s picture of Sara as an emotional being, giving up some of her back story, while Grissom played the hardheaded intellectual (talk about typecasting).

Sara convinced Nora that Gil could only be swayed by the evidence, which Nora offered up in the hope of Grissom becoming a witness for the prosecution. 

Gaining access to those files allowed the couple to reduce their suspect pool to one. They have the advantage now that they know who is after them.

Maybe this is a way to bring Brass back into the investigation. They need someone out of the spotlight to trail their suspect. Of course, the same guy tried to have Brass killed, so it’s not like Brass is unknown to him.

The case of the week was full of the ick factor for which CSI is known.

A luau pit was a stellar place to hide a body as JJ was pretty well cooked when he was discovered. It was a type of cultural revenge for the Hawaiians who murdered him.

It was terrific that Hugo was able to cool down that body enough that he was able to remove the clothes and perform a thorough autopsy.

What’s been interesting is how the technicians pitch in to help Hugo in the morgue. I don’t remember many others taking part in autopsies in Doc Robbins’ morgue.

This case was an exercise in misconceptions, with Allie most at fault in that category. Once pool guy Kai told her the victim was a rapist, she ran with that theory and tried to establish who might have killed him for that reason.

It turns out the rumor that JJ was a rapist is what got him killed, even though the evidence eventually proved him innocent, in Rachel’s case anyway.

What wasn’t explained was why Allie stopped considering every possibility once she decided it was justice that JJ had been killed. Maybe the reason why will be delved into more deeply down the road.

Cynthia won over Allie because she’s more comfortable in the company of intellectuals to the point where she didn’t even bother to take any notes. It wasn’t until after JJ was cleared by the rape kit that she even remembered that Cynthia had been at the crime scene.

Maxine nailed it when she said Allie needed to find an outlet outside of work to relieve tension. Otherwise, she is going to turn into, well, Gil. Screaming undercover seemed odd, but whatever works.

As if Maxine didn’t have even on her plate with the investigation and a tightly-wound technician, her son Bryan got arrested for pushing a cop.

We finally got to meet Bryan, who Maxine has been worrying about constantly. 

He appears to love his mother but is annoyed at her for uprooting him and moving to Vegas. That’s only fair. Vegas isn’t for everybody.

Fortunately, Maxine could use her connections to get Bryan community service and no black marks on his record.

Officer Chung was right that that gathering Bryan was attending probably wasn’t the crowd with whom he should hang out. Whatever that was looked a little sketchy.

But Maxine was right in questioning why Chung decided to arrest the big black man attempting to break out a fight. That was a valid question and about as close to social commentary as you will get from CSI.

To revisit the conspiracy building against the Crime Lab, watch CSI: Vegas online.

Why did Allie react so strongly to the accusation that JJ was a rapist?

Do Gil and Sara have an advantage now in their investigation?

What did you think of Bryan?

Comment below.

Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.