CSI: Vegas Season 2 Episode 18 Review: Fractured

Poor Folsom ended up dazed and confused.

First, Josh escaped severe injury after an explosion on CSI: Vegas Season 2 Episode 18. And that ended up being the less painful part of his day.

The rest of the team also faced a complicated case with way too many suspects.

Let’s begin with the strange bombing and follow Folsom later as his past threatened to endanger his future.

A gambling-style schmoozefest by a would-be casino developer got disrupted by an explosion, eventually drawing most of the CSIs into action.

The blast killed three people, including the developer and the contractor who would have built the casino. Neither was universally loved.

Of course, there was also a foot left over because this is CSI, where weird things like that happen with regularity. It would have little impact on solving the case, but it was strange nonetheless.

Even Milton mentioned it, joking that stray limbs showing up at his morgue made for odd paperwork. Yeah, that would be difficult to explain on a form.

The immediate and enduring suspects throughout were the environmentalists seeking to protect the breeding grounds of the desert tortoise upon which the casino was scheduled to be built.

Sure, sometimes ecoterrorists make bizarre choices to protect their cause of choice. But wouldn’t “Follow the money” be a better path of investigation in this case?

There was quite a bit that didn’t add up here. Only three were killed, and the recovered bomb components didn’t point to a weapon constructed to generate mass casualties.

At first, it appeared there were multiple bombs, including the explosion that injured Folsom after the bomb squad leader had given Max the all-clear. She was right to tear him a new one by making him double-check the scene before she sent her people back to investigate.

That was before Beau, after studying the bomb fragments, determined that there had been only one bomb and many propane tanks nearby that were damaged in the initial explosion. Those tanks don’t take much to explode after being punctured.

Beau’s discovery changed the direction of the inquiry as Max decided that it was likely that one of the three casualties was actually the target of the bomb.

The remaining evidence pointed to the developer as the target. His daughter, who had a history of animal activism, was a likely suspect, especially since she couldn’t stop getting caught telling lies.

In the end, the neighboring casino owner built and set off the bomb. Despite claiming otherwise, he didn’t want to give up any of the tiny piece of the gambling pie he had been receiving. Ultimately, he just didn’t have the skills to keep from getting caught.

Folsom missed much of that action because he was busy dealing with his past reaching out to him.

Josh was smartly ducking texts from Trey, his pseudo-brother, first introduced on CSI: Vegas Season 2 Episode 2.

Trey is a part of Folsom’s history who needed to stay in this past. Serena told him that, and he had been following her advice. Allie also knew better, admitting that she had turned down several overtures from Trey.

Yet Josh, after narrowly avoiding a concussion but with his ears ringing, bit when Trey texted that there was a problem with Folsom’s mother, Jeannette. 

He blew off a trip to the hospital to be checked out and instead ran to Trey, who admitted that he had lied about Jeannette. His real problem was Richie, a dead man who had overdosed in his apartment.

Josh phoned in to the police. But afterward, he failed to distract Serena with a trip to Maui. She made him see that he had to follow up on his hunch that Trey had dealt drugs to Richie. 

He found drugs in Trey’s usual hiding place, a cereal box. He ran multiple tests off the books, which kept coming out with the same results. The drug Trey had cut his meth with had killed Richie.

Max lectured Folsom, getting him to understand that he had to look forward, not back. Trey would ruin his future, especially if Josh tried to cover up his crime.

He made the hard choice, meeting with Trey to explain his decision and staying with him until Serena arrived to arrest him, regardless of how much that decision hurt.

Finally, there was the reunion of Greg and Catherine. There seemed to be genuine affection between the two former coworkers.

As the old veteran of the lab, Greg appeared to be wearing on the younger lab rats. Penny at least respected his history. Chris didn’t want to hear Greg’s “back in my day,” seeming annoyed that the slightly older man was lecturing him on techniques he already knew.

Greg finally admitted to Catherine that after filling in for a short time, he was ready to return to the lab full-time. He also planned to take some graduate classes so that he could become a forensics professor down the road.

Having Greg in the lab full-time for CSI: Vegas Season 3 would provide the legacy character the show needs without shelling out more for one of the original show’s stars.

To revisit Folsom’s history, watch CSI: Vegas online.

How long did it take for you to identify the bomber?

Did Folsom make the right choice?

Are you ready for Greg full-time?

Comment below.

Edit Delete