#CSI: Vegas Season 1 Episode 5 Review: Let the Chips Fall

A locked-room mystery is a procedural staple.

CSI: Vegas Season 1 Episode 5 certainly took that concept a step forward, as a cargo plane landed on autopilot with all onboard killed in a bloodbath.

The killer had to have a particular set of skills to get on and off the airplane unseen.

Since Grissom and Sara were following a hot lead, Maxine and her team got very little help from them on this case.

Instead, they were assisted by the FBI’s “Agent Airplane,” Marcus Barron, who had something bordering on a romantic history with Maxine.

They had met previously. But although both were intrigued, Maxine was still unhappily married at the time, so their relationship remained professional.

This case threw them back together. But with Maxine’s lab under suspicion and her helping out with Gil and Sara’s shadow investigation, her and Marcus’s timing was still off.

But it was still fun watching them do a little mature flirting even if it ultimately led nowhere, this time anyway.

Besides, as an FBI specialist, Marcus wasn’t going to stay in one place too long, not a significant fact upon which to build a relationship.

With all that blood splatter, the Crime Lab crew had plenty of evidence with which to work. Just not any evidence that led anywhere.

It was refreshing to see Chris Park, the most interesting of the techs unveiled so far, make another appearance, even if it was just for a couple of scenes.

What was the purpose of that halfhearted game of “Never Have I Ever?” Was that just another reminder that Allie is a foreign science nerd, a storyline that’s getting beaten into the ground?

This case hit home for Folsom, usually the most stoic of the new CSIs. He certainly could age into becoming another Grissom if he’s not careful.

Finally, a little light was shone on Folsom’s back story. He grew up without a father, which is why he went above and beyond for Cole.

This case was an unfortunate tale, the pilot dying of cancer set up a heist to take care of his son Cole. Only Cole’s caretaker Laura decided to wipe out everyone and keep the $2 million in chips for herself.

While he was trying to keep Cole from being swallowed up by the foster-care system, Folsom remained focused enough to discover Laura’s frostbitten fingers, something that’s hard to come by in the Nevada desert.

Frostbite could happen much easier on a depressurized plane, and Laura was just the right size to be smuggled inside a suitcase onto the plane.

Also, she had the military training to jump safely after committing the crime. And thanks to Cole’s snowglobe, Josh was able to reconstruct what had happened aboard the bloody plane.

Then he did the sweet thing attempting to convince deadbeat Uncle Gary to man up and adopt Cole.

On the oldies front, just when it seemed that Grissom and Sara were gaining some traction in their investigation, things fell apart again, at least temporarily.

The framing of Hodges isn’t going to be solved as quickly as it appeared it would.

Thanks to their double-teaming the overconfident Nora, they had managed to identify their man on CSI: Vegas Season 1 Episode 4.

Only they failed to keep their investigation as quiet as they needed to while firming up their evidence against Kline.

Also, Kline didn’t feel like the mastermind behind this conspiracy. Sure, he had the skill to construct the frame. But it didn’t make sense that he was out to take down a fellow expert witness.

No, someone more significant, with deep pockets, is behind the frameup. And it’s not likely to be the lawyer organizing the class-action suit for those “wrongly convicted,” who also seems like small potatoes.

No, this isn’t about making money. The mastermind has got to be someone prominent the pair crossed during their time at the Crime Lab who wants to ruin their reputation. 

Kline overplayed his hand, confronting Gil and Sara after learning of their visit to the body farm to check out the remains of one of Kline’s “clients.” (Who would have thought the body-farm operator would be such a gossip?)

He should never had gone to them, essentially saying, “I know what you’re trying to do.” Like Grissom and Sara, he, too, would have been best served by remaining in the background.

Kline made a fatal mistake by calling his boss to complain that Gil and Sara were getting too close and needed to be taken care of.

Whoever is behind this conspiracy is more concerned with bringing down the life’s work of Grissom and Sara.

So it was Kline who got taken care of, being brutally fragged, before all the equipment he used to create the frame for Hodges got torched.

Having Kline and his setup taken off the board was no doubt a setback. But those red markings found by diligent Gil, whatever they were, may get their investigation back on track.

Still, for today’s short-attention-spanned viewers, let’s not make a season of this investigation.

To seek evidence of the mastermind, watch CSI: Vegas online.

Did you enjoy the spotlight on Folsom?

Were you surprised that Maxine got the first crack at a relationship?

Did Gil and Sara let on too much too soon?

Comment below.

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